1 Mr Leon Perera asked\tthe Minister for Transport whether the Ministry will consider setting up a drone port to accommodate the rising transport of goods via drones.
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan):\tMadam, today is International Women's Day. Let me wish you, the Leader of our House and all the women in this House a great day ahead. [Applause.] I think one practical way is for everyone to halve their speeches. [Laughter.]
Mdm Speaker:\tI agree wholeheartedly, Minister.
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: Let me do my part. We recognise the potential for drones to be deployed for a large variety of uses both in the public and private sectors. We have been facilitating this while making sure that associated aviation safety, public safety and security risks are addressed.
On the use of drones to transport goods within Singapore, the technology is not yet mature for safe, widespread deployment in a densely populated, urban environment. We have been facilitating trials to better understand the technologies and the implementation and safety issues. One example is the Skyways Project between CAAS and Airbus Helicopters on the use of drones for last-mile parcel delivery at the NUS campus. We will be initiating other trials.
\tMr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Minister for his answer. Just a few supplementary questions. Firstly, is the Ministry monitoring the progress of drone port projects that appear to have started elsewhere, I believe in Rwanda and Nevada, USA, to see if there is something that we can learn from that?
Secondly, is the Ministry considering any kind of central infrastructure in the future, when the technology is more mature, that could enable us to harness the economic benefits from the forthcoming drone industry for instance, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), charging and other functions of that nature?
Thirdly, could the Minister share an update on the regulatory framework, whether the Ministry is forward planning the regulatory framework for a future where, maybe a few years down the road, drones may be widely used in the logistics industry?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: Indeed, we are not alone in trying out these various technologies and their applications. Yes, I am familiar with the Rwanda project. Last year, at the Venice Biennale, the British architect Norman Foster set up a pilot drone port. His idea was to set up one, preferably using recyclable materials. Out of that drone port, you can deliver drugs, medicine and so on to different parts of Africa. That was just an idea. Someone sort of picked up the idea and decided to do it in Rwanda. It is very early days.
Elsewhere in the US, UK and Europe, there are many such experiments being tested out. UPS is trying out mobile drone ports by using the roof of their UPS vans so that you can move around and launch your drones off the roof-top of your van.
Everybody is learning from one another. Singapore, ourselves, should be at the forefront of all these and that explains our proof-of-concept project with Airbus. Very soon, we will be launching a Request for Proposal for similar bright ideas. Do not forget that to run a trial is not cheap. As there are many such ideas, our job is to take a good look, select the better ones, especially those which can bring benefits for Singaporeans or help build capabilities among our companies.
The second question about whether there is any coordination or centralisation, the answer is yes, there is. My Ministry leads in this drone project. There is a multi-agency committee, led by us, to explore how else we can make use of drones and also to see how we can tap on scale, especially when we want to purchase either equipment, drones or solutions.
The third part about regulations, the answer is also yes. Out of that inter-agency committee, we worked on the first draft for the regulation of drones. As I have said, it has impact on safety, security and so on. My predecessor brought the Bill to this House. The Member was not in this House then, so he was not aware. We were among the first in the world to have a regulatory framework governing drones. As technology makes progress, we have to keep on tweaking the regulations.
Last year, when I was in Montreal for the ICAO meeting, our regulatory framework was a subject of great interest from many countries, because everyone is facing the same problem. Problem in the sense of the downside impact of the technology; but the upside potential is huge. The key is how to tap upside potential, while minimising downside effect.
Sorry for this long-winded reply.
Mdm Speaker:\tMr Perera, your second question.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Presidential Council for Minority Rights' Assent to Bills","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"2 Mr Leon Perera asked\tthe Prime Minister (a) over the past two terms of Parliament, how many times has the Presidential Council for Minority Rights suggested changes to, or withheld assent to, a Bill passed in Parliament; (b) when have these actions taken place; and (c) over what issues have the Council proposed changes or withheld its assent.
\tThe Minister, Prime Minister's Office (Mr Chan Chun Sing) (for the Prime Minister): Mdm Speaker, on behalf of the Prime Minister, first, two points of clarification.
First, under Article 77 of the Constitution, the function of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights (PCMR) is to draw attention to any legislation that it considers to be disadvantageous to persons of any racial or religious community. The Council's function is not to suggest changes to, or withhold assent to, legislation.
Second, the Member should be aware that the Council's opinion is publicly available. May I draw the Member's attention to Parliament's website, or National Archives Online at www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/government_records/highlights.
Since Independence, the PAP Government has made equality of races and religions fundamental to its vision of a multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore. Therefore, it is most unlikely that any legislation from the Government will disadvantage any racial or religious group and cause the Council to raise any objection. Nevertheless, the PAP Government created the PCMR as a unique institution that will help to protect the rights of minorities and reassure minority communities of their place in Singapore. The PCMR, as an institution and process, is valuable, in case any legislation passed inadvertently disadvantages any party, or there comes a day when a different government in Singapore operates on a different basis.
In addition, before a Bill is introduced in Parliament, it goes through legal and legal policy oversight. Ministries seek the Attorney-General's Chambers' (AGC) legal advice on the legality of their actions before implementing policies by way of new legislation or legislative amendment. MinLaw examines draft legislation to ensure that it is consistent with the Constitution and other legal policies. These include, for instance, whether the Bill might directly or indirectly be disadvantageous to persons from particular racial or religious communities. By the time a Bill reaches the PCMR, it would have been subject to three layers of checks: first, reviews by the AGC; second, MinLaw; and third, by Parliament. Former Chief Justice, Mr Chan Sek Keong, now Senior Judge, had previously observed that it is for similar reasons that the volume of judicial review in Singapore is relatively low.
Over the past two terms of Parliament, no legislation passed by Parliament has received an adverse report by the PCMR. The fact that there has not been any adverse reports bears testament to the robustness of the system of checks that we have and the commitment of the PAP Government to racial and religious equality.
The Member would be familiar with the Bills passed in the past few years. If the Member believes that the PCMR should have drawn attention to a certain Bill, we would be happy to invite him to indicate the Bills which he is referring to.
\tMr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member):\tI thank the Minister for his response. Just one supplementary question. Would the Minister be able to share if the PCMR in the past, at anytime in the course of its deliberations, has requested to interview any public servants or experts, or requested any data from the Government in order to assess the economic, social or other impact of any legislation?
\tMr Chan Chun Sing:\tMadam, as I have said, before any Bill is presented to the PCMR, it would have gone through three layers of checks. At any point in time, if the PCMR feels that it needs other resources or references, it would be at its own prerogative and it has the privilege to call on anybody to give his necessary input. But at any one point in time, before the Bill is presented to the PCMR, it would have gone through three layers of checks: the AGC, the MinLaw and Parliament.
Mdm Speaker: Order. End of Question Time.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Estimates of Expenditure for the Financial Year 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018","subTitle":"Committee of Supply − Paper Cmd 8 of 2017","sectionType":"OS","content":"[(proc text) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [5th Allotted Day]. (proc text)]
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply − Head W (Ministry of Transport)","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"Mr Sitoh Yih Pin (Potong Pasir): Mdm Chairman, I beg to move, \"That the total sum to be allocated to Head W of the Estimates be reduced by $100.\"
Madam, there are many who say that we live in an era where fast-developing technologies are disrupting businesses and industries at an extremely fast pace.
This is, however, not historically unprecedented. Trains reigned supreme until the emergence of automobiles and airplanes. Electricity replaced kerosene as our energy source for light. Steel outmuscled iron, bricks and mortar to allow us to build superstructures such as skyscrapers and bridges over large bodies of water.
Each and every time this happened, incumbent industries suffered and new ones boomed. This is the cycle of technology and business.
Just the other day, I read of Netflix's US$105 million purchase of Martin Scorsese's new gangster film starring Robert De Niro named \"The Irishman\". I must confess that I did not know what Netflix was. As usual, when it comes to technology, my daughters had to educate their father about how I can now watch award-winning TV shows, movies and documentaries, on-demand, via streaming through the Internet for a reasonably small subscription fee.
Through large volume subscriptions, Netflix now has the resources to compete with traditional movie production houses and even begin production of movies and shows of their own.
Locally, I understand that Netflix is fast gaining popularity amongst Singaporeans. What does this mean for cable television providers, such as StarHub and Singtel? How about movie theatres? Netflix has the latest content, with easy on-demand access, at a cost lower than cable television or movie theatres. While it is too early to tell what will happen next in the movie/TV entertainment industry, what we do know is that business can no longer be conducted \"as usual\" in the industry.
Netflix's entry into the movie/TV entertainment industry is not unlike the entry of private hire cars into the point-to-point transportation industry.
Private hire car companies made their foray into Singapore in 2013. Of these, Uber and Grab now constitute the largest market share. A key reason for the rapid growth of private hire car services in Singapore is their ability to address the perennial complaint of Singapore commuters − the difficulty of getting taxis during peak hours, in remote areas and during inclement weather. This is despite Singapore having one of the highest taxis-to-population ratios in the world.
Private hire car companies are able to plug this service gap through their mobile apps which provide a platform to efficiently match private hire car drivers and passengers directly in real time and space. Acting as a marginal supplier, private hire car drivers come onto the road readily to soak up latent demand as and when required. This significantly shrinks transaction costs, giving passengers greater choices and value.
Taxi drivers facing increased competition were naturally displeased. They argue that taxis have to adhere to a fixed schedule of charges and comply with availability requirements. There was a daily minimum mileage that taxi drivers needed to clock and a specified number of taxis need to ply the streets during peak periods. This makes them inflexible in pricing and uncompetitive against private hire cars.
There were, initially, also no regulatory requirements for anyone to be an Uber or Grab driver. All you needed was a driving licence and a car. No mandatory background checks were required. Private hire car drivers were not required to apply for or take any tests to obtain a vocational licence.
Uber and Grab used technology as leverage to match demand with supply and reduced transaction costs considerably to capture a significant portion of the point-to-point transportation market.
Private hire cars tripled its numbers on our roads in as many years. Private hire car drivers, on the other hand, point to exclusive advantages that taxis enjoy. Taxis are allowed to pick up passengers who hail them on the streets. Taxis also enjoy exemption from the child seat rule, which mandates that all children under 1.35 metres in height are required to be in a child seat when travelling in a car.
All the above issues have been well-aired in the mass media.
Madam, perhaps the pertinent question to ask is this: what is the Government's stand on this? Should the Government support the plea from some taxi drivers to ban private hire cars in Singapore? Or should the Government adopt a laissez-faire approach and allow the free market to regulate itself?
The Government picked an answer somewhere in between. Private hire car drivers are now subject to regulatory requirements. They, too, need to apply for a vocational licence which subjects them to screening and training. This not only levelled the playing field with taxi drivers but, more importantly, addressed the safety and competency concerns of commuters.
However, the Government did not step in nor interfered directly with the disruption that technology has caused in the point-to-point transportation industry. Uber and Grab were filling a demand and consumers were, ultimately, benefiting from wider choices at better value.
In fact, recent trends suggest that the industry, on the whole, may have benefited from the disruption. Minister Khaw had, in his reply to a Parliamentary Question on 20 February 2017, revealed that the total number of taxi trips remained relatively stable, with only a slight drop from 967,000 trips in 2013 to 954,000 trips in 2016.
With private hire cars tripling in numbers since 2013, the statistics suggest that the \"pie\" for point-to-point transport has grown larger. A larger \"pie\" means that the industry can sustain both taxis and private hire cars, while consumers continue to enjoy the best of both worlds at better value. Everybody wins.
The competition provided by private hire cars has now forced traditional taxi operators, who have been slow to change without competition, to consider revamping their pricing models in order to remain competitive and relevant. There was news last week that several taxi operators, including ComfortDelgro, Trans Cab and Premier Taxi, were all considering implementing the surge pricing model used by private hire cars. This is a positive sign for commuters and the industry.
New technologies will always disrupt stable, entrenched industries. This is clear from past and present examples. No industry will remain relevant in perpetuity. Stifling new innovative technology can only end in a negative outcome for the overall Singapore economy.
Madam, however, as I had raised in my Budget Debate speech, it is extremely important that we do not lose sight of the perspective of the individual Singaporean; the issues and difficulties that each Singaporean and their families face in their day-to-day lives.
I use a simple example. I had said in my Budget Debate speech that I empathised with taxi drivers. Why did I say that? I do not advocate protectionist policies for our taxis. However, in a reasonably short period of time, three events and their corresponding policies are likely to have repercussions on the livelihoods of taxi drivers.
They are: firstly, the entry of private hire cars into the point-to-point transportation industry; secondly, the restructuring of the diesel tax; and thirdly, the push for automated, driverless cars.
These policies have objectives designed for the collective good. They are important for Singapore and will ensure that we maintain our competitive edge globally. And yet, all three together are likely to simultaneously cause specific groups of individuals, such as taxi drivers, frustration, worry and concern.
We should be mindful of that. How do we take full advantage of new technologies in order to ensure that our economy remains nimble, vibrant and on the cutting-edge and still ensure that no one is left behind? This is where policy-makers and public managers need to strike a fine balance between the two.
I, therefore, invite the Minister to share with us any of the Ministry's current and/or future plans to address the issues arising out of new technologies disrupting the transportation sector.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang): Madam, breakdowns, as we have seen in recent times, not only disrupt our overall public transport system, they also undermine customers' confidence in it. Therefore, reliability of our train systems should be a major focus of the Government as it had done in recent times.
I would like to ask the Ministry: what are its plans to improve maintenance and expedite the replacement of old trains? May I ask whether LTA is considering employing a regime of predictive maintenance instead of waiting until something goes wrong? This will help us enhance the reliability of trains and tracks from contributing to breakdowns.
One other issue that concerns estates, such as the new BTOs of Keat Hong Pride and Crest in my constituency, is that they are not covered by noise barriers today. Trains on the North-South line increase in frequency due to signalling enhancements and, quite often, you can also hear trains travelling towards depots past midnight. Many residents are impacted by the level of noise from the tracks and trains. Residents have complained that the noise from concrete sleepers is much louder, compared to the old wooden ones.
NEA has set acceptable noise levels in decibels. Can I ask if this is a determining factor and what is the acceptable decibel level for LTA to put in place noise barriers? In our current situation, it does seem that LTA has put the responsibility on HDB to put in place noise mitigation measures, and we seem to be going in circles. If, indeed, the decibel levels are equivalent or higher compared to the areas that have benefited from noise barriers, such as those that are being implemented just 100 metres to 200 meters along the current track, then the decision to implement noise barriers should be quite clear-cut. LTA needs to be transparent in the criteria to implement noise barriers which, currently, is not clear to the public.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Mdm Chairman, allow me to declare my interest as I am also a staff of ComfortDelgro. In recent years, MOT has done a significant job in reducing MRT breakdowns. The Minister has set a very bold target of increasing the Mean Kilometre before Failure (MKBF) to 400 kilometres, a standard comparable to Hong Kong and Taiwan's sub-way, and this is laudable.
However, the recent MRT breakdowns that concentrate between Jurong East and Joo Koon stations have greatly inconvenienced Jurong residents. There were at least three major breakdowns between these two stations in January alone and there are numerous incidents where the residents had to add tens of minutes of travelling time between the two stations. These unfortunate incidents often occurred during the peak hours, affecting thousands of Jurong residents.
May I know whether LTA has identified the problems that caused the frequent breakdowns and delays specifically between the Jurong East and Joo Koon MRT stations? Are there plans to improve the train reliability between these two stations? Or would it be helpful to increase the engineering hours to fix the problems? I hope the Minister can look at this seriously.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, at the Committee of Supply (COS) in 2016, I highlighted the alarming regularity of train faults, breakdowns and disruptions, and asked for the Ministry's plans to abate these unacceptable occurrences.
Unfortunately, I have to repeat the cut again this year. Contrary to recent survey findings, train breakdowns and delays have been happening so frequently that commuters are getting increasingly frustrated. For example, half a dozen track circuit-related delays on the Clementi-Joo Koon stretch of the line have occurred in the past one and a half months, while a quick search on The Straits Times and TODAY from May to December 2016 brought up at least 18 times a train breakdown was reported. So, there are at least two breakdowns or more a month and these do not include the train faults and delays that were not reported.
It seems like train faults are becoming the norm for us now, which is not where we want our Singapore transport system to go.
As I have said at the COS last year, Singaporeans should not have to get used to this regularity of disruptions. We should expect our system to have far fewer disruptions. We should also be greatly concerned with the loss of productivity to all our workers and our economy arising from the man-hours lost to all delays.
So, I would like to ask the Minister what is the Ministry's assessment of the recent breakdowns? What are the Ministry's plans to improve the situation and will commuters see a significant decrease in the number of train delays, faults or disruptions this year?
The Chairman: Ms Low Yen Ling, please take your two cuts together.
Ms Low Yen Ling (Chua Chu Kang): Mdm Chairman, according to LTA, rail ridership in Singapore grew by 4.6% to above 3 million in 2015, which is more than double 10 years ago. In the same year, MRT trips climbed 4.2% to 2.9 million, and LRT trips grew by almost 11%. Bus passenger trips were also up by 3.7% to 3.9 million.
This uptake in public transport has come on the back of the Government's efforts to improve connectivity, with the addition of the Downtown Line, as well as more buses and trains.
This has been no easy feat. I would like to thank and commend LTA and MOT for their hard work and perseverance. Their efforts have paid off, as indicated by the latest annual Public Transport Customer Satisfaction Survey, where commuters' satisfaction in public transport scored 96.4% for 2016, hitting a nine-year high.
While more Singaporeans are enjoying better public transport options and higher commuter satisfaction, some 5,600 residents living in the Hume area are still being held back by low train and bus connectivity. Despite the presence of the Downtown Line's Hillview station, these Hume residents are caught in a long 2.6 km unserved span between Hillview and Beauty World MRT stations. This stretch is more than double the average 1.1 km distance found between most MRT stations. So, Hume residents have little choice but to make their way to Hillview or Beauty World MRT stations via a detour and crowded buses.
I sincerely appeal to MOT and LTA to review the merits of opening Hume MRT station. The Hillview and Hume resident population is set to increase further with the addition of more condominium projects to the current 20 over condominiums present in that belt.
Furthermore, the upcoming Rail Corridor development will certainly bring greater human and motor traffic to the area. The masterplan will create an attractive residential and community oasis. With eight distinctively themed stretches along its 24 kilometres, the Rail Corridor will attract nature lovers, history buffs, cyclists, runners, families and even tourists who wish to experience Singapore's history in a new way.
The Rail Corridor is the legacy of the Singapore-Malaya rail link that started in 1903. In its vicinity is the gallery \"Surviving the Japanese Occupation: War and its Legacies\". The confluence of rich history, greenery and recreational opportunities makes it a unique experience and attraction that can enhance tourism and boost Singaporeans' appreciation of our historical and green heritage.
However, without train connectivity for easy access by the masses, these treasures that I talked about may remain the enjoyment of those with vehicles, limiting its potential and pull for the rest of Singapore.
May we know if MOT will support the development of the Rail Corridor as well as the anticipated rise of human and motor traffic to the area with an MRT station in Hume? In addition, how will LTA and MOT help Hillview and Hume residents gain greater satisfaction in public transport, especially in train connectivity?
With easy access via a Hume MRT station, we hope all of Singapore will get to appreciate what the area has to offer. This is certainly a move that will be welcomed by all residents in Hume and Hillview.
Mdm Chairman, in recent years, LTA and MOT have worked closely with my community leaders and I to improve the commuting experience and public transport connections for Bukit Gombak residents. We would like to thank and commend them for their efforts.
We appreciate the recent addition of bus number 973 last month. It is connecting the areas between Bukit Panjang, Hillview Avenue and Hume Avenue. We are grateful for City Direct bus number 653 that has made it easier for Hillview and Hume residents to get to and from the CBD area at peak hours. Many residents have told me that because of the convenience and comfortable ride on bus number 653, they now leave their cars at home on weekdays.
These improvements are moving us nearer the vision of a green and car-lite Singapore. With new train lines and more public buses, more Singapore residents are taking public transport to work. According to the last General Household Survey in 2015, 59% of residents aged 15 years and above took the MRT and/or public bus to work or school. This is a rise of 4% from the year 2010.
We certainly want to encourage such commuter behaviour. However, we still face some bus connectivity challenges in Bukit Gombak. For instance, to get to Hillview MRT station, our Hume residents need to backtrack in their bus routes, and buses are always packed during peak hours. Those going to the city via the Beauty World MRT station are often subject to a long wait because most buses plying Upper Bukit Timah Road are full by the time they reach Bukit Gombak. Many residents report waiting 15 minutes or even more before boarding a bus. In addition, the new bus 973 can only stop 200 metres ahead of Hillview MRT Station instead of the bus stop just outside the Hillview MRT station, because of the bus route. I want to reaffirm my thanks and gratitude to the LTA team for working hand-in-hand with us. There has been much progress but in terms of offering a good \"first-and-last-mile\" experience, we do still have room for improvement.
In addition to addressing these commuting blues, we hope the authorities can look ahead to provide good bus connectivity for Bukit Gombak residents to get to their new and upcoming Community Club at Hillview Avenue. Currently, the location is under-served in terms of access to the MRT stations of Hillview, Bukit Gombak and Beauty World. We estimate about half of residents in the constituency do not have public transport connections to the Community Club, which is scheduled to open later this year.
The Community Club will be a central node of many activities. Among its many new features are a childcare centre, culinary school and rooftop garden. Hence, easy access by public transport is vital for Bukit Gombak residents to access these amenities and for community bonding.
Will LTA and MOT help to improve connectivity to MRT stations and access to the new Community Club in Bukit Gombak? This will certainly encourage more residents to join in the movement for Singapore to become car-lite and green.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Our Minister has been talking about a car-lite society, and I am all for it. To be car-lite, we need to further improve our public transport. We need to make bus journeys, especially in the morning and evening peak hours, more pleasant.
But for many Nee Soon South residents, this is not the case. The worst bus services in Nee Soon South are bus Nos 860 and 811 which pick up residents from new BTOs, like Acacia Breeze, Palm Breeze, Oleander Breeze, Angsana Breeze and Saraca Breeze, to Khatib MRT and Yishun MRT stations respectively. It is common to hear residents feedback that they must miss three or four buses before they can board as they are often over-packed − not so much of a \"breeze\" at all.
Besides that, my residents living in private estates in Mandai Road and Sembawang area have been telling me that Khatib is \"so near and yet so far\". There is no direct bus to go to Khatib. They have to travel north and come back south again, and then go to Khatib. A good public transport service should also cater to the residents living in private estates as well.
I also ask for covered linkways from the back gates of the condominiums to the nearest bus stop to improve accessibility, so that they, too, can enjoy taking public transport. I have put up requests for two condominiums, The Estuary and Forest Hill, and I hope this Budget will have good news for my residents. In fact, previously, it was offered to The Estuary but, at that time, they did not take it up because LTA had one caveat: they must build a covered linkway from the nearest block to their back gate, then LTA will continue from the back gate to the bus stop. So, this round, they agreed to do that but LTA's side has still not approved it.
Lastly, a sheltered linkway along Yishun Avenue 2 to the Yishun Sports Complex would also bring plenty of cheer to the residents on a rainy day. Mdm Chairman, Yishun is a beautiful place with nice nature parks and the soon-to-be-added Hot Spring Park. We have friendly and helpful people. It will be a perfect place to call home if our Transport Minister can have his magic touch to our bus services.
The Chairman: Mr Melvin Yong, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Tanjong Pagar): Thank you, Madam. Mdm Chairman, the Bus Contracting Model (BCM) has helped raise bus service standards. This is evident as commuters' satisfaction in public transport had climbed to a nine-year high in 2016.
The BCM introduced new service standards that the public bus operators are required to meet. Consequently, our bus captains carry the responsibility of fulfilling these standards every day, and it is important that we give them our fullest support.
First, bus captains are required to abide by specific arrival timings at bus stops. In particular, the first and last buses leaving the terminal are required to reach their next stop no later than five minutes. They cannot be early, too. Bus captains also tell me there is an increase in the number of bus stops now designated as checkpoints, where they must meet specified timing requirements.
However, narrow ingress and egress points at bus interchanges, traffic conditions and even weather conditions can adversely affect the arrival timings.
I would like to ask the Ministry for the percentage of bus services which failed to meet the above service requirements in the past six months. Can the Ministry review these timing requirements and the number of checkpoints to allow for some form of flexibility, considering bus operations are subjected to unpredictable road and weather conditions that are often not within the drivers' control?
Second, the running time for bus captains to complete their bus journey should be reviewed to accommodate peak and non-peak periods. Today, our Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates are reviewed quarterly by LTA to take into account peak and non-peak periods like school holidays. With data analysis, I hope LTA can review and adjust the bus running time in a similar fashion.
Commuters have complained that they do not understand why buses travel slowly even when there are no vehicles ahead. Many do not know that our bus captains need to meet the service timings. Can LTA work with the union to raise public awareness on these service requirements under the Bus Contracting Model (BCM)?
In 2012, LTA announced the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP). Under this programme, we have seen an injection of more buses over the past years. However, the current infrastructure, particularly the older bus interchanges, were not expanded to cope with the increase in buses. Bus captains now need to wait longer for available bus parking lots, which affect their already-short layover time. I would like to ask the Ministry if the planned fleet of 1,000 buses are placed on the roads already and if there are any plans to review the current infrastructure?
The BCM requires all public bus operators to use LTA's Common Fleet Management System (CFMS). However, ground feedback indicates that information on the CFMS used by the Bus Operations Centre Controllers is not always synchronised accurately with the Driver Display Unit (DDU) used by our bus captains in the bus. This means that the CFMS may show that bus captains are late reaching the bus stops, while their DDU in the bus shows otherwise. Can LTA do more to improve the stability of these systems?
Lastly, we have heard of cases where bus captains are abused and even assaulted by commuters while performing their duty. Bus captains should not be distracted from driving the bus for the safety of the commuters on board and all road users. I would like to urge the tripartite partners to collaborate with the union to do more to protect our bus captains. On the union's part, we will work with the public bus operators to make a police report for every case of assault against our bus captains. I hope investigations of such cases by the Police would be handled promptly and there should be strict prosecution of offenders. I also hope that commuters understand that our bus captains work hard to bring us to our destinations safely and on time, every day and every night. I ask for your support to ensure that they work in a safe environment.
My second cut. Many commuters depend on our public rail transport daily. However, they may be unaware of the hard work that our rail maintenance professionals put in − often behind the scenes − to keep our rail transportation running. With more focus on rail reliability, as highlighted by several Members earlier, the role of our rail workers is more critical than before. We need to uplift the profession and ensure that there is a consistent pipeline of talent into the industry.
First, we must ensure that our rail workers can perform their duties in a safe environment. Today, they battle challenging working conditions at the underground depot and poorly-ventilated tunnels. More can be done to improve their work environment. We need to ensure that the air conditions in the underground depot in our tunnels do not pose any health concerns for our workers.
Second, as technology continues to advance, our rail workers need to keep up with the changes and stay relevant. The new Singapore Rail Academy, recently launched, can play a vital role in training promising new entrants and also upskilling existing workers. Can the Ministry share more about the Academy's training programmes? Can we establish a Rail Manpower Development Plan to systematically build up our talent pool? We must be able to send our local talents to learn at the best foreign institutes.
Lastly, I hope that the Ministry can work with the union and our rail operators to raise public awareness on the important work of our rail workers. This would not only instil a sense of pride among our existing rail workers, but also help to attract future ones.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): I welcome the move by the Ministry to exempt the contribution of motorcycles to a quota to the open COE category. Hopefully, this move may help to ease the motorcycle COE price dilemma.
Madam, I still receive grievances expressed by motorcycle owners – specifically our fellow Singaporeans, who depend on their motorcycles for their family livelihoods – on the exorbitant motorcycle COE prices that have been going on for many years.
I believe a more encompassing and inclusive measure can be introduced and implemented to regulate the motorcycle COE prices. I would like to reiterate my call made at last year's COS debate, that is, to break down the motorcycle COE according to the different engine capacity and also to allocate the number of quota according to the percentage of these motorcycles on our roads.
If the COE for cars can be categorised in such a manner, why can it not be done for motorcycles? I still think it is one of the better ways to mitigate the issue of high motorcycle COE prices.
I have two clarifications for the Ministry.
First, observers and commentators viewed the introduction of tiered ARF as being meant to mitigate the high motorcycle COE prices. Can I have the Minister's confirmation as this was not mentioned explicitly during Minister Heng's Budget Speech. If the answer is yes, how can this be achieved and, if no, what is the actual purpose of this implementation?
Secondly, with a tiered ARF imposed on motorcycles, would the Ministry consider having paid Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) rebate for motorcycles, similar to that for cars?
Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng (Nominated Member):\tMdm Chairman, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Chairman, when implementing Government policies, blind spots often occur. However, problems will eventually be solved via effective communications between Government agencies and trade associations.
Two years ago, during the Chamber's luncheon dialogue with representatives from the transport industry, the Singapore Motor Cycle Trade Association gave us the feedback that, as a result of the COE system, the quota for motorcycle COEs keeps being reduced. We realised that motorcycle buyers actually fall under two categories. One category of buyers use motorcycles to make a living. The other category of buyers use motorcycles for leisure activities. With a smaller quota, the COE would be driven up, and the impact would be acutely felt by those who depend on motorcycles for their livelihood. The Singapore Motor Cycle Trade Association provided this feedback to Land Transport Authority, and SCCCI also helped to lobby by adding our views.
In this year's Budget, Minister Heng Swee Keat announced that the contribution of motorcycle COE quota to open category COE quota would cease, to address the problem of a decline in quota. LTA also announced that it would continue to seek feedback from the industry and public, so that the COE system could meet the demands of the population at large more equitably.
This case study shows that LTA has responded promptly to industry feedback and helped to solve their problems. SCCCI also engages in similar channels of communication with other Government agencies and, moving ahead, will help even more trade associations to provide constructive industry-related views.
Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry (Nee Soon): First of all, I would like to comment about the recent changes in motorcycle COEs. Motorcyles are the lifeblood for many of our working class. The recent effort to remove motorcycles from contributing to the Open Category COE is a good move, because it will mean more motorcycle COEs available than otherwise. Despite that, however, the recent motorcycle COE auction price continued to edge up. Therefore, would MOT consider adding COEs back to the motorcycle categories, so that we move back towards the historical percentage that motorcycles used to represent in the entire vehicle population?
Next, I would like to talk about light goods vehicles. Businesses, especially SMEs operating light goods vehicles (LGVs), face many challenges today, and this contributes to high business transportation costs. In view of these challenges, I have a few clarifications.
First, would MOT consider delaying the implementation of Euro 6 diesel standards by one year, from the current 1 January 2018, so as to give key LGV vendors time to ready the full range of vehicles, which includes more vehicles with manual transmission drive? Why is this necessary? At the Traffic Police department, foreign worker drivers need to prove that they have a manual Class 3 driving licence, which is a near impossibility, given the countries they come from. Otherwise, they will be issued automatic Class 3 driving licence. So, not having many manual transmission vehicles available for purchase is going to create real operational challenges for many companies.
Second, would MOT consider allowing LGV owners to renew their COEs with tenures equivalent to their remaining statutory lifespan, versus the current five-year mark, so as to reduce the cost and cash flow associated with the extended COEs?
Third, can the Early Turnover Scheme (ETS) hopefully, be enhanced as well as extended by increasing the current and upcoming discount on COEs for LGVs, similar to heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), and extending the ETS to include Euro 5 through perhaps lower incentives, and not just Euro 6 vehicles?
Fourth, can MOT consider delinking the COE supply contribution from commercial vehicle de-registrations to the Open Category, just like what has been announced for motorcycle COE whereby de-registrations from motorcycles will no longer contribute to Open Category COEs in the preceding quarter.
The Chairman: Minister Khaw.
The Minister for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan): Mdm Chairman, Budget 2017 positions Singapore for an uncertain future. There will be challenges, but we will be in a good position if we can succeed in capturing the many opportunities that will also arise. Budget 2017 calls on all stakeholders to work together to seize these opportunities. The transport sector will play its part.
The transport sector is a key pillar of our economy. Many Singaporeans make a good living working in it. Collectively, the industry employs more than 300,000 workers. The potential for further growth is also great. Many well-paying jobs are waiting to be filled.
More importantly, the transport sector is a key enabler for our economy. It connects us not just within our island, but to the rest of the world. This started from Singapore's early days as a centre for entrepot trade and allows Singapore to thrive as an international hub today. That is why we are continually upgrading our infrastructure. This year, we are working concurrently on multiple projects, including Changi Airport Terminals 4 and 5, the Pasir Panjang and Tuas Terminals, the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail, the JB−Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, the Downtown and Thomson-East Coast Lines.
The transport sector is also a crucible of innovation. It is ripe for disruption and transformation. The scope for using technology to raise productivity is substantial − self check-in facilities at the airport, robotics for baggage handling, driverless cargo vehicles, automated cranes at our sea-ports, LTA using big data to optimise traffic flow, predictive maintenance for trains, and drones for all kinds of deliveries. Who knows what else the future will bring?
Working with EDB, we offer Singapore as a test-bed, an incubator for new ideas, and for companies and start-ups to run trials here. What works can then be commercialised elsewhere and, along the way, we hope some local companies can acquire new capabilities and business opportunities.
Later, Second Minister Ng Chee Meng and Senior Minister of State Josephine Teo will elaborate on some of these exciting initiatives and trends. Many of these changes will happen during their career. It is appropriate for the young Ministers to spearhead these developments and see them through. As for me, I shall look forward to enjoying the benefits as a consumer during my lifetime.
I agree with Mr Sitoh Yih Pin on the inevitability of technology advancements. The human mind is wired to explore new ways of doing things. And we will always seek to better our lives. Last week, DeepStack was reported to have beaten the world's best poker players, and we knew that artificial intelligence had already beaten chess grandmasters and Go champions several years ago.
These technology advancements will create opportunities to change and improve our lives. If Netflix offers better value than Starhub TV, consumers will switch. I am familiar with Netflix, but I do not use it. I still enjoy going to the cinema, the old romantic ambience of the cinema.
This is the hard reality of the market that incumbents will always suffer. Such competition is unsettling for them, but it is good for consumers. As regulators, our job is not to stifle innovation but to be fair to all players, and we should always put consumer interest as our top priority. But I agree with Mr Sitoh Yih Pin that as a Government, we should also be concerned about the workers who will be impacted. He highlighted the stress on the taxi drivers. We should help them, not by insulating them from innovations, but by alerting them to the potential disruption and preparing them for change. Change is unpleasant but everyone can be helped to adapt to change.
As noted by the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE), the best way to ensure relevance is to acquire and develop deep skills, and going beyond that, to master competencies. Last month, I launched the Singapore Rail Academy, which aims to nurture a Singapore Core with deep technical expertise. As a start, the Academy has partnered the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) to develop a foundation programme for both fresh graduates as well as mid-career upgraders. Mr Melvin Yong was there with me at the launch.
We have great ambitions for the Rail Academy. It will develop programmes to train workers in critical areas of rail operations and maintenance. It will work with the rail operators and the Institutes of Higher Learning to offer pre-employment programmes, as well as continuing education and training. An example is the part-time Diploma in Rapid Transit Technology. I agree with Mr Melvin Yong that we should also learn from good rail operators overseas by attaching our professionals there to pick up best practices.
The Rail Academy will develop a competency framework for railway professionals and also accredit training programmes. This will facilitate job upgrading. The Academy will also take charge of industry branding and work with industry partners to improve working conditions by utilising technology to lighten workloads and enhance employee health management.
What is most critical is for our transport workers to be open to learning new skills. Then, they can ride the wave of technological change. I agree with Mr Melvin Yong that we must tap on the strong tripartite relationship and platforms to help our workers adjust. For taxi drivers affected by competition, we are working with the National Taxi Association and taxi companies to help them cope. For bus captains, we are working with the National Transport Workers' Union and the public bus operators to help them adapt.
Madam, new technology, disruptive business models and commuters' demand for higher levels of service are transforming the way we move about. History is truly in the making. Where these will lead us, we cannot be sure. But I think it sure will be exciting! We have simplified the evolving drama under the banner of \"Making Singapore Car-Lite by 2030\". But it is much more than about cars or their depopulation. It is also about making it easier and more enjoyable for everyone to walk, cycle and take public transport. There will be less need to own cars, and we can look forward to reclaiming many road lanes and car-park spaces and using them instead for the community and for greenery. It is about a lifestyle change, a mindset shift and improving the quality of life for all.
We are testing many of these ideas in Ang Mo Kio by making it a model cycling town. Phase 1 is done. Phase 2 will begin shortly. We are making Tampines Town the second model walking and cycling town. Design work will start soon. Today, many residents there already use bicycles and PMDs to get around. Many who work in Tampines live in adjacent towns, so we will provide trunk cycling routes, connecting Tampines to neighbouring towns and also to Changi Business Park and Singapore Expo.
We will improve crossings, widen footpaths and improve safety at bus-stops. We are determined to make cycling and the use of PMDs both pleasant and safe.
At its core, our public transport system will have a high capacity, highly connected and reliable public train system.
We are making progress. The expansion of our rail system is on track. Our rail network is growing, on average, by one kilometre every month. This year, we will extend the East-West Line by four stations to Tuas West, and the Downtown Line by 16 stations to Singapore Expo. We will soon select and appoint the operator for the Thomson-East Coast Line. We have begun to call tenders for Circle Line Stage 6. We have started planning for the Jurong Region and Cross Island Lines. When all these lines are completed, eight in 10 households will have a station within a 10-minute walk. I will be one of those eight in 10.
We particularly look forward to the opening of Downtown Line 3. It will be a game-changer for residents living in the east, just as Downtown Line 2 was for the west and north-west residents. When in full operation, the entire Downtown Line should serve a daily ridership of more than half a million commuters. A recent study found that one out of six rides on the Downtown Line was made using new EZ-Link cards. So, these are new travellers. This suggests that a sizeable number of commuters, perhaps living along the Bukit Timah corridor, are switching to rail. The experience of the Downtown Line gives us confidence that a car-lite Singapore is achievable.
Over at Bukit Gombak, Mayor Low Yen Ling has called for Hume MRT station to be opened. I have heard her appeal. The long-term development of that precinct, including the upcoming Rail Corridor development, can justify an MRT station. That is why we have made provision for it. However, the pace of development will determine the timing for the opening of the station. As soon as there is sufficient ridership justification, we shall open the MRT station. This is our commitment.
Mr Ang Wei Neng observed that train reliability is improving. Indeed, it is, although we are not yet where we want to be. But we will get there. Not to worry. As he noted, we have an objective measure called the Mean Kilometres Between Failure (MKBF) to track our progress objectively. Our MKBF crossed 160,000 train-km in the first half of last year. It further improved to 192,000 train-km in the second half, close to my target of 200,000. That is why I am raising the bar, to the next target of 300,000 train-km. And next year, we will shoot for 400,000. It can be done.
As I previously explained to Mr Dennis Tan in this House, raising train reliability is a multi-year effort. It is not multi-week or multi-month. It takes years because replacement of ageing assets takes years. We have replaced all the old sleepers. This year, we will replace the old third rail system which had been causing some problems to the East-West Line recently. We will soon complete the upgrading of the signalling system for the North-South Line, which will bring a lot of benefits to many residents, including the residents of my favourite Member of Parliament, Er Dr Lee Bee Wah. Next year, we will do the same for the East-West Line. But let me sound an alert. Re-signalling is a complex engineering operation. Er Dr Lee Bee Wah knows that. Getting it done perfectly, flawlessly, is almost impossible. That has been the painful experience of London, Hong Kong and Taipei. They warned us that we should expect many teething problems when we cut over the signalling system to the new one this year. So, I am all mentally prepared for criticisms from Er Dr Lee Bee Wah. We will do our best to minimise inconvenience, but be prepared for some hitches. So, please bear with us.
Mr Ang Wei Neng highlighted the recent hitches between Jurong East and Joo Koon stations on the East-West Line. We have very old signalling components there which need replacement. We are planning to replace them. But, sometimes, maintenance and replacement works cannot be completed during the limited engineering hours. That is why train service for that stretch was occasionally impacted when planned works extended into revenue hours. I have heard Mr Ang's suggestion and I shall ask LTA and SMRT to consider ending the revenue service for that stretch of the East-West Line earlier so that we have more engineering hours for these works.
Meanwhile, we have completed the transition of SMRT Trains to the New Rail Financing Framework (NRFF). We took ownership of SMRT's rail assets last October, and Temasek's delisting of SMRT also allows it to focus on its core responsibility without the short-term pressures of being a listed company. This is an important achievement. It took us many years and I am glad that we have now completed it. The rail industry structure is now in a better shape to allow us to replace and upgrade ageing assets promptly. This should improve reliability.
We will soon call tenders to upgrade the North-South and East-West Lines' power supply system. It has been a source of many problems in the last few years. Now that we have taken over the assets, we are going to change this replacing of the power supply system, and also to replace all our first-generation MRT fleet with 66 new trains. And it will not be just a mere one-for-one replacement. We will, in the process, upgrade the trains as well as the power supply system to tap on new technology which is now available.
For the North East Line, we are also working with SBST to refurbish and upgrade their first-generation trains. For the Bukit Panjang LRT, we have started the process for its renewal. We target to call a tender this year for a complete replacement of the ageing components and an upgrade of its systems.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked if we can do predictive maintenance for our trains and tracks. Indeed, predictive maintenance is the way to go. We are acquiring the necessary tools and capabilities for this purpose. These include new generation automatic track inspection systems and condition monitoring tools for real-time data collection and analysis. I also hear Mr Zaqy's concern about the noise generated from passing trains. We are aligned with the NEA on what is the acceptable level of noise. We are closely monitoring the situation and are implementing system-wide noise mitigation measures. Our trains have noise-dampening wheels and our operators are servicing the train wheels and tracks more frequently. Where necessary, we will install noise barriers. This is, however, a major multi-year programme, as we have to coordinate it closely with so many other maintenance, improvement and upgrading works that compete for precious engineering hours.
Besides, buses complement our MRT. Under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP), we have injected 850 buses and introduced 70 new or amended routes. The improvement has been felt on the ground. I appreciate Mayor Low Yen Ling's feedback on new bus services in Bukit Gombak. But I know that we can never do enough. I have heard her call for better connectivity to the upcoming Community Club in Bukit Gombak. She is a very good Member of Parliament and I have a soft spot for good Members. Another good Member is Er Dr Lee Bee Wah. I have also heard her feedback on Services 811 and 860, and for more covered linkways. We will see what else we can do. But let me also plead and seek Members' understanding that, for financial prudence, bus service provisions require a minimum ridership. If ridership goes down as commuters switch to rail, we will have to remove or amend existing bus services. Otherwise, you will have half-empty buses running on the roads causing pollution and it is also a waste of taxpayers' money.
Meanwhile, our bus infrastructure has expanded in tandem with the larger bus fleet. We have now three new interchanges and more parking lots at existing interchanges. But, critically, we have moved all the bus operators to the Bus Contracting Model, with LTA taking over bus assets and infrastructure. This is another major transformation in the transport sector and for the bus industry. Next month, we will be awarding the tender for the third bus package at Seletar. The tender has now been closed. I was looking at the bids and it has attracted very competitive bids, with lower prices, on average, compared to the previous two tenders. This is good for taxpayers. Later this year, we will call the tender for our fourth package at Bukit Merah. With competition, bus operators are working harder to improve their service. This is good for commuters.
As Mr Melvin Yong pointed out, our bus captains are the key to delivering higher service levels. Our bus captains strive to improve bus arrival regularity and reduce bunching − a very big complaint from the ground. LTA has set fair but ambitious standards, and our bus captains are working closely with their service controllers to manage bus arrivals real-time. That is why, sometimes, some buses on certain routes have to be driven very slowly. That is because they want to arrive punctually, as scheduled, because road conditions can vary during the day. And this is the only way to solve the bunching problem. If you want the bus drivers to drive as fast as the roads can take, then sometimes they may arrive too early and there will be complaints about bunching. But I accept that this is still a new system, both for regulators as well as the regulatee, and we shall see how else we can calibrate the system to make it work better for us. But it has worked very well elsewhere − London, Australian cities − and I see no reason why it cannot work here, too.
As our public transport system improves and expands, fewer people will need to own a car. Going car-lite is, however, a journey. Meanwhile, the various vehicle control policies, like COE and ERP, remain relevant. But from time to time, we refine them as circumstances change. And one big move we made this year is to stop the contribution of motorcycle COEs to the Open Category. Very few motorcycles have been registered under Category E COEs due to the high Category E premiums. This recent move will stabilise the motorcycle population. It is in response to many Members' and motorcyclists' as well as the Chambers of Commerce's concerns that the motorcycle population is shrinking.
Another move is to improve the progressivity of the vehicle tax system. In 2013, we introduced the tiered ARF for cars, taxis and commercial vehicles. So, this year, we extended the same to motorcycles. This is the reason behind this move, because Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap had asked what was the rationale behind this move. But we are increasing the ARF only for the high-end models. The large majority of motorcycle buyers will not have to pay higher ARF.
I thank Mr Thomas Chua for his comment. Yes, indeed, we always consult the industry. LTA's dialogues with them are at least twice a year. Both ideas came up from the industry in the process of brainstorming and we are happy to be able to implement them this year. As I have said, the Singapore Motorcycle Trade Association is an important stakeholder and is our partner. We are on the same side. Other than market-sensitive information, we share with them as much as we can.
Mr Henry Kwek voiced the challenges faced by businesses and we are mindful of their difficulties. That is why there are several concessions to help them manage costs. So, the ARF for commercial vehicles is low, motor taxes are low, road taxes are low for them. And, secondly, commercial vehicles can go for repeated five-year COE renewals to help businesses better manage their cash flow.
As for Euro 6 emission standards, these are regulated by my colleague in MEWR. We did discuss in Cabinet and the intention to move it to Euro 6 next year, having served the industry notice since 2014, I think there is sufficient time for the industry to respond. I know there are some concerns about whether there would be enough vehicles, Euro 5, and some questions on why can we not go to Euro 5 first, and so on.
Having decided on Euro 6, I think we should just move. The market has enough Euro 5 vehicles and models to meet the demand. The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources will share more details later.
My own take on this issue is this. Transport does impact our health. Europe's embrace of diesel vehicles has now made many cities highly pollutive. It is a sad case of unethical commercial practices making money at the expense of public health. They are now trying to reverse the trend. Paris, Madrid, Athens and Mexico City have all announced that they will ban diesel vehicles from their city centres, latest by 2030. I think we, too, should nudge down the population of diesel vehicles and work towards becoming a diesel-free city. The restructuring of the diesel tax should be read in that context.
Madam, as we work towards Car-Lite 2030, let us be also mindful that the significant improvements to our public transport network require high capital investments and incur high operating costs.
Under the new Bus Contracting Model, the Government is now responsible for buying and replacing buses. We pay bus operators a fee to run the bus services. Although fare revenue goes to the Government, it is not enough to cover operating costs and the Government has to top up the deficit. And it is a huge deficit.
Over the next five years, we expect to subsidise public bus services by close to $4 billion. Similarly, with the transition to the New Rail Financing Framework, the Government is now responsible for replacing rail assets. And over the next five years, we also expect to spend $4 billion on rail. And all this − $4 billion plus $4 billion equals $8 billion − is on top of the about $20 billion we will be spending to build new public transport infrastructure.
We must ensure that the fiscal burden does not become too excessive for taxpayers. In the earlier years, I remember, as a young officer in the Civil Service, our objective was to split the responsibility in transport by having taxpayers pay for the construction of the infrastructure, in other words, capital expenditure (capex) − the Government and the taxpayers pay for it. But commuters must bear the operating costs through transport fares. In other words, transport fares must be able to cover the operating costs. But over the years, as fares have not kept up with rising costs, taxpayers have to subsidise more and more of the operating costs, especially as we have been raising service standards significantly.
This is clearly not sustainable. While the Government will continue subsidising public transport heavily, we must find a fair balance in the relative burden to be borne by commuters, taxpayers and operators. Remember also that commuters are also taxpayers.
Fares are regulated by the independent Public Transport Council (PTC), through a multi-year fare formula. The current fare formula will expire after this year's fare exercise. The PTC will be reviewing the formula. They will consult widely. I am confident that they will decide wisely. Last year, they took a big step to standardise the train fares across all MRT lines and no longer make a distinction between above-ground and underground lines. This was a major step. They slayed a sacred cow!
Many commuters have benefited. They have seen their fares reduced. I know. As a regular user of the Circle Line with a Senior Citizen card, I see my fare reduced from 92 cents to 87 cents. But remember: the PTC cannot always bring good news; sometimes, they have to adjust fares upwards. When they do, I hope commuters will be understanding.
Mdm Chairman, we are enhancing our transport system to meet the needs of Singaporeans and also to support our future economy. A good transport system connects people to places and also connects people with one another. Public transport is a common space where we interact with fellow Singaporeans and where collective memories are made. So, let us shape this common space together to raise our quality of life and make Singapore among the most liveable cities in the world.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Madam, I am heartened by how MOT has balanced the disruptive aspects of the industry, such as Uber and Grab, and embraced future technologies by creating regulatory sandboxes for autonomous vehicles, for instance.
Recently, our taxi operators announced that they will be implementing surge pricing. The private hire car industry has set themselves up to fill the gaps in availability of the traditional taxi companies. Now that taxi companies are moving in the same direction, many Singaporeans are concerned that there is no longer fare certainty if both the taxi firms and private car hires all adopt surge pricing. Also, many asked if they will be hit with a double whammy now that LTA has just relaxed earlier this year the requirements for taxi availability. How can the Ministry ensure that the public will be adequately served?
From a regulatory point of view, there are many possibilities for transport in the near future and I think the Minister just now covered some of these, such as autonomous vehicles. I would like to ask the Ministry what regulatory and policy changes it may require to manage this transition and how will this transform public commute?
I would like to propose that a Future Transport Committee be formed to conduct a comprehensive overview of regulations covering all forms of current and predictable future civilian ground transport. We must look at both the economic and social impact shifts in the transport paradigm; and what this means for commuters and Singaporeans whose rice bowls could be impacted, such as autonomous vehicles and other aspects. For example, today, you find taxi drivers being impacted, too.
On a more national strategic consideration, I would like to ask the Ministry how our sea and air ports will be differentiating themselves, with growing competition from the region, be it the new Malaysian port or the Kra Canal development. What new strategies and features will be put in place to ensure the continued attractiveness of our ports? I look forward to hearing from the Minister on these considerations.
Miss Cheng Li Hui (Tampines):\tIn Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Chairman, the high number of unhired taxis and rental cars is worrying. Currently, more than 1,700 taxis are sitting idle. To compete, taxi operators are introducing the dynamic pricing model. What is the way forward to balance traditional taxis and new market players?
Today, we have two pilot programmes for driverless vehicles running. Widespread deployment of self-driving vehicles is expected in 10 to 15 years. Can the Ministry elaborate on our future plans for driverless cars and buses? What kind of future is there for today's drivers?
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: Mdm Chairman, I am excited about many on-going trials on autonomous vehicles. But as Executive Secretary of the National Transport Workers' Union, I am equally concerned with the possible implications on some 50,000 workers who drive for a living. It keeps me awake at night.
Many of these drivers − bus captains, truck drivers and taxi drivers − are middle aged and are not highly educated. How can we help them transition into a driverless world?
What is the projected implementation timeline for autonomous vehicles in Singapore? Can the Ministry work closely with the union on methods and pace of implementation? How can we leverage the Singapore Bus Academy to upskill and multi-skill our bus drivers for future jobs and not just basic training for current jobs?
Widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles may be a decade away. But we need to start preparing our workers today.
Mr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio): There are about 100,000 people who possess a Taxi Driver Vocational Licence (TDVL). However, only about half of them are actively driving a taxi. Some of them have commented that hiring agreements with taxi operators are cumbersome and opportunities to drive a taxi on a part-time basis are limited.
Today, there are more flexible hiring options, including even an hourly rental scheme. Will the Ministry, therefore, consider piloting a trial to encourage inactive TDVL holders to keep their licence and driving skills current by driving a taxi?
As an incentive, the Ministry can consider reducing their licence renewal fee if they clock a stipulated minimum number of hours driving taxis on the roads within the year.
Secondly, there is the impact of a double whammy. The new diesel tax does translate to additional business costs burden on taxi drivers. Cabbies told me that they want to be made more competitive and not to seek less competition. So, will LTA consider reviewing the overall business operating costs of the taxi business, to seek new and effective ways to manage rental costs incurred by drivers, especially since they are also facing intense competition from private hire car drivers as well?
Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Madam, we have made concrete progress in recent years in making public transport more accessible to disabled persons. There are two areas I wish to highlight for further review.
First, the space available on buses for wheelchairs. The Minister previously confirmed that 92% of public buses today are wheelchair-accessible and the goal is to make this 100% by 2020. While certainly welcome, the fact is that the number of wheelchairs that a bus can accommodate is very limited. According to the operators' websites, SMRT buses can accommodate two wheelchairs, while some SBS Transit buses can only accommodate one.
I have received feedback from disabled persons living in a charitable home about the difficulties posed when a few wheelchair-bound persons need to travel at the same time. Due to the limited space on board, they would need to board the buses in turn and wait at their destinations for subsequent buses carrying their friends to arrive, greatly increasing their travelling time.
Besides their personal situation, they also rightly point out that as the general population ages, we can expect that a few wheelchair-bound persons may need to be on board the same bus at the same time. Now with the Bus Contracting Model, where the Government owns all operating assets, I ask the Government to look into having buses with more wheelchair space.
Secondly, while we may have made good infrastructural improvements and removed physical barriers, it is vital that our public transport emergency plans provide for the safety and safe evacuation of persons with disabilities. Should a contingency arise, say, in the MRT system that requires evacuation or diversion of passengers, do our emergency plans spell out how we will communicate and protect those who are physically or mentally impaired, including the wheelchair-bound or those impaired in vision or hearing? To what extent have such plans been exercised?
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Madam, LTA said last December that the Silver Zone initiative will be rolled out to many parts of Singapore by 2023. While there are merits to the Silver Zone initiative, there are also safety concerns and operation as issues that need to be resolved.
First, the implementation of the Silver Zone programme must go hand-in-hand with the widening of the pedestrian footpaths in the area. This is because the roads in the Silver Zone will be narrowed substantially to slow down traffic in the area. This will leave very little room for cyclists to manoeuvre. As some pinch points along Hougang Avenue 5 are designated Silver Zones, there is virtually no room for cyclists and buses to co-exist. Due to safety concerns, cyclists may take to the footpath and this will create another set of problems. The elderly, expectant mothers and young children are all at risk when cyclists are forced to share footpaths that are not designed to be shared in the first place. Without the widening of the pedestrian footpath for Silver Zone, it is an accident waiting to happen, either on the narrow road or on the narrow footpath.
Second, the courtesy crossing is probably one of the most misunderstood features of the Silver Zone initiative. Some courtesy crossings are designed to look like zebra crossings without the white stripes and light poles. In fact, when the Silver Zone was done up in Hougang, a few residents told me the contractors forgot to pain the white stripes and left.
Who is supposed to show courtesy at such crossing − the pedestrian or the motorist? According to LTA, it is the responsibility of the pedestrian to keep a look-out for on-coming vehicles at such crossings. Madam, here lies the confusion. I have seen motorists stopping for pedestrians to cross, while others did not. It is made more confusing when motorists have to slow down at such crossings due to the pinch points and the elevated crossing, but they may not have the intention to stop for pedestrians to cross. Furthermore, motorists may show courtesy on one side of the road while, on the other side, they may not. How would the pedestrians know who will stop for them? There is too much second-guessing at courtesy crossings, and that is a recipe for accidents to happen.
The term \"courtesy crossing\" is a misnomer to begin with because there is no change to the way pedestrians are supposed to cross the road. We look left, look right and look left again before we make a judgement call to cross the road. The pedestrians still have to stop for vehicles to pass. So, what is this added courtesy all about?
The Silver Zone is a good initiative. The safety concerns for cyclists and pedestrians over the narrow footpaths can be easily addressed. The confusion over the courtesy crossing, however, needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. Residents have shared incidents of near-misses at such crossings and I hope LTA will look into resolving this confusion soon.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles are key contributors to air pollution in cities around the world. Recently, the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources was quoted in a newspaper article stating that Singapore was not on track to meet our 2020 targets for reducing air pollutants.
Electric vehicles are seen as a solution to this problem and some are promoting it as a game-changing growth industry, especially if it is coupled with self-driving technology in the near future.
The electric car-sharing scheme that is being rolled out this year is an excellent programme in terms of scale and scope. The fact that the public can use up to 20% of the 2,000 charging points is a good move to encourage private electric car ownership. Other than the sharing of charging points, does the Ministry have plans to promote private electric car ownership?
However, since the Government's approach is to encourage public transport usage rather than private car usage, the key question when it comes to electric vehicles is whether our public buses would make the switch from diesel to electric. LTA announced in August last year that Go-Ahead Singapore was putting an e-bus on a six-month trial. I would like to ask the Minister what is the conclusion from the trial and whether it indicates a go ahead for more e-buses to hit our roads.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: Mdm Chairman, the Ministry is allowing certain footpaths to be shared by cyclists, users of PMDs and pedestrians. Allowing shared use of footpaths may invariably increase the risk of accidents. Besides suitable sign-posting, footpaths should always be sufficiently wide to allow for such safe shared use.
Last year, I filed a Parliamentary Question asking the Minister about the recommended width for footpaths and whether the Ministry will conduct an island-wide review to ensure that existing footpaths which are often used by cyclists are widened in accordance with the minimum width.
Minister Khaw replied to say, and I quote, \"most of our footpaths are at least 1.5 metres wide\". I assume the Minister meant that 1.5 metres is the \"recommended\" width.
In reality, there are some footpaths which are often used by both cyclists and pedestrians which may be narrower than 1.5 metres. One example is the footpath along Bedok North Avenue 4, specifically around the bus stop opposite St Anthony's Canossian Secondary School, right next to Block 95. It is 1.2 metres wide at least along certain parts of the path leading towards Bedok North Industrial Estate. This footpath is heavily used by cyclists and PMD users travelling between Bedok and the industrial estate, as well as pedestrians.
Some residents have shared with me during my house visits that there is a dangerous choke-point at the location around the bus stop where the footpath connects to the staircase leading to Block 95, right by the bus stop. Coming from the direction of the industrial estate, the footpath curls left round the back of the bus stop, effectively creating a dangerous blind spot made worse by the advertisement billboard which obstructs the view of both cyclists and people at the bus stop. According to the residents I spoke to, there have been accidents and near misses. I wrote a letter to LTA on 7 July 2016 but I have yet to hear from them on the action they may have decided to take or the reasons for not taking any action.
I urge the Ministry to carefully review the width of all footpaths which are often used by cyclists or PMD users, to ensure the safety of all users.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): Madam, with the passing of the Active Mobility Bill recently, bicycles, powered mobility devices and power-assisted bicycles are allowed to be used on public paths.
I understand and accept that these devices would allow more people, especially the elderly, to move around without the use of the car. This will be environmentally friendlier and help Singapore achieve a car-lite society faster.
However, members of the public have given feedback that they are still worried about the potential for accidents on the footpaths caused by reckless and inconsiderate users of such powered mobility devices or power-assisted bicycles. The concern is really for the young children and the elderly who are less alert to the dangers of speeding riders.
I urge LTA to have a greater outreach to all potential riders of powered mobility devices or power-assisted bicycles so that they can learn to be considerate and responsible riders. LTA should conduct safety courses not just in English but also in other languages for riders. If LTA anticipates that more seniors will be using such devices, LTA should conduct such safety courses in the vernacular languages and at convenient places like the Community Centres or Community Clubs. We need to do more to reach out to the potential riders so that they can learn to respect other road and public path users. In many parts of Europe and Australia, both pedestrians and riders of powered devices are able to co-exist because of mutual respect and consideration for each other.
I also call on LTA to enlarge its team of enforcement officers. Last month, I filed a Parliamentary Question and I learned that there are currently only 16 LTA active mobility enforcement officers. Madam, I submit that these 16 active mobility enforcement officers are simply inadequate and not effective. Without adequate enforcement, there is a real risk that riders may simply ignore the LTA rules and ride recklessly. In the process, they endanger other road or footpath users. LTA should not just rely on its 600 volunteers as the deterrent effect and impact are not the same as having dedicated enforcement officers.
Mr Ang Hin Kee: We are on track to achieving a car-lite environment with a well-connected bus and train network, more sheltered walkways and the push for bicycles and PMDs. To make our city bicycle-friendly will entail building cycling infrastructure, extensive cycling paths that are clearly marked out, and putting up signages.
With our cycling tracks gradually getting more crowded because they are popular with more cyclists and PMD users, we all need to do more to promote a cycling culture and inculcate a mindset for all on safety and etiquette, such as giving way to cyclists, road users and pedestrians.
As Minister Khaw mentioned earlier, Ang Mo Kio has completed Phase 1 of its dedicated cycling path project. I wonder if his Ministry has an initial assessment of its effectiveness and what lessons have we learnt from this project.
The national bicycle-sharing scheme to be piloted in some areas by year-end is another good initiative. Will the Ministry consider extending this scheme to Ang Mo Kio as well? The necessary infrastructure is already in place to support the rolling out of such a scheme.
Apart from the national bicycle-sharing scheme, other privately operated schemes are also in play. Are there plans to have more of these schemes ply other parts of the island which are not covered in the pilot trial of the national bicycle-sharing scheme? And what concerns will the Ministry have with regard to these privately run schemes?
In addition, how would the privately run bicycle-sharing scheme be addressing safety concerns? For example, how will the users' minimum age be ascertained should they participate in the bicycle-sharing scheme and use it on the roads?
Beyond bicycle-sharing, can we also push for greater inclusiveness and more efficient use of resources? Can we allow for the cycling infrastructure, such as docking stations and smart locks systems, be extended to other private bicycles and PMDs not on the national bicycle-sharing scheme as well?
Mr Ang Wei Neng: Madam, when I was in Shenzhen last month to study about electric buses, I also had the chance to witness the proliferation of bicycle-sharing schemes in Shenzhen city.
Three companies − Ofo, Mobike and Bluegogo − dominated the market. They provided thousands of bicycles for rental and the rental fee started from as low as 10 cents RMB per ride. These companies operate without government subsidies. One drawback, however, was messiness. These rented bicycles were parked all over the places haphazardly on the pedestrian pavements.
Ofo and Mobike, which are known as Obike in Singapore, have started operations in Singapore. Ofo charges as low as 50 cents per ride in Singapore. The rate is very competitive, attractive and affordable. Last Sunday, when I was in my constituency, I had the chance to try the use of an Obike. It was left behind at a void deck in Jurong West. So, I used the Obike app to unlock the bicycle and tried riding it. It was very easy to use. I was even given a $3 credit when I registered online. From the Obike app, I could see that the yellow rental bicycles were in abundance in availability in the nearby blocks as well as at the Lakeside MRT station. It was so convenient. Ofo and Obike have indicated that they will push out a few thousand bicycles over the next few months without the need for fixed docking stations. It appears that the services provided by these two innovative companies could help fix the first- and last-mile problem of connecting commuters to and from MRT stations.
In contrast, the bicycle-sharing scheme initiated by LTA will add 1,000 bicycles at fixed docking stations in the Jurong Lake District by end of this year. I understand that LTA is prepared to subsidise this bicycle-sharing scheme in Jurong Lake District. The companies bidding for this project will need to indicate the amount of subsidies they require.
LTA's bicycle-sharing scheme, as compared to those provided by Ofo and Obike, appears to pale in comparison in terms of speed of implementation, the number of bicycles on offer and the ease of use. Thus, I would like to ask the Minister if LTA would consider working with these companies like Ofo and Obike to proliferate the bicycle-sharing scheme and make it popular in all major towns in Singapore, besides just Jurong Lake District, but less the messiness.
The Chairman: Minister Ng Chee Meng.
The Second Minister for Transport (Mr Ng Chee Meng): Mdm Chairman, Minister Khaw spoke earlier about the immediate improvements we are making to our transport system. I will share how MOT plans to transform it over the longer term.
Singaporeans can look forward to a future transport system that will be smarter, greener and more inclusive.
Let me first share how we will leverage big data, mobile technology and automation, to make our transport system better and smarter.
We will use big data and analytics to improve train reliability. We will be deploying condition monitoring tools on our trains and equipment to collect data more extensively and on a real-time basis. All 66 new trains that the Minister mentioned for the North-South East-West Lines and our new power supply system will be equipped with monitoring sensors across all these.
We will also be deploying a new-generation Automatic Track Inspection System for the Downtown Line. Imaging sensors and lasers will be installed on revenue trains to scan the tracks of the entire Downtown Line to detect anomalies, so that we can arrest any faults early.
With such data, we will be able to improve the maintenance of our train system. We will adopt a more proactive, predictive approach to maintenance, away from the current model of preventive maintenance. To enable this transition, we will need to build an integrated asset management database, so that we can better monitor and predict the health of the entire rail network and all its components.
Data analytics are also helping us improve other aspects of our transport system. For instance, the public bus operators track the location of all their buses, and they are applying analytics so that they can instruct their bus captains to either slow down or speed up to avoid bunching with other buses, all in real time. This will, in part, answer Mr Melvin Yong's concerns.
And this is only the beginning. LTA is building an analytics system which will fuse data from various sources, such as fare cards, wifi and CCTV systems, and also cellular data from the telcos. This will enable LTA to better model commuter flows in our public transport network and improve its overall planning capabilities. We can then also respond more effectively to ground developments, such as by injecting additional bus and rail capacity, to cope with unexpected crowd surges or even train delays.
In time to come, we will be able to integrate private transport data as well. Using Global Navigation Satellite System technology and through the in-vehicle units that are installed in all vehicles in Singapore, we can get aggregated, comprehensive and real-time data on road traffic. We can use it to improve traffic flows, for instance, by providing motorists with access to real-time traffic data to decide on the fastest or least congested routes, and enable even our traffic light system to respond more intelligently and optimally to different real-time road conditions.
Apart from big data, mobile technology is another key enabler in our transport sector and this is already benefiting commuters tremendously.
In particular, just-in-time, demand-responsive transport has become more pervasive. For example, all of us know, just until a few years ago, if we wanted to book a taxi, we had to speak to an operator on the phone, and had access only to the taxis of that one company and this is not including all the holding time. This was clearly not convenient nor efficient. But today, we use an app, like GrabTaxi, to book taxis almost instantaneously from any taxi company. Commuters are better served because there are now more taxis that are reachable, literally at our fingertips.
But the greater disruptive change by far, enabled by mobile technology, has been private hire car services. PTC's recent survey suggests that almost one in two point-to-point trips are now served by private hire cars. At the same time, it seems that many more commuters are taking point-to-point transportation, both on taxis and in private hire cars.
I am glad to see that commuters are using these mobile technologies and are satisfied with both taxi and private hire car services.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Miss Cheng Li Hui expressed concerns about dynamic pricing. I am glad that taxi companies and drivers are rising to the competition. Taxi drivers, as I said, have improved their services. Customer satisfaction has improved from a year ago. And taxi companies are rethinking their business models. Some have lowered rental rates and introduced innovative rental schemes. More recently, I know that they have proposed dynamic pricing as one more option for booked trips. This is similar to the way fares for private hire car services are determined. The PTC is currently discussing the details with the taxi companies. Meanwhile, my view is that we should let the taxi industry innovate and adapt to the new market conditions and competition. Our taxi drivers have to make a living, too, and we should not restrict their ability to compete effectively.
On the other hand, I understand some commuters' concerns about dynamic pricing. Fares, indeed, will likely vary according to demand and supply, sometimes higher and sometimes lower during peak hours or off-peak periods. But importantly, before any journey begins, commuters will know exactly how much their fare would be. They can then choose to accept or decline the offer.
For commuters who prefer more familiarity, they will have the traditional option to book a taxi. The taxi companies, I understand, intend to retain the traditional metered fare system even as they introduce dynamic pricing. But ultimately, taxi companies should ensure that dynamic pricing improves and not worsens the matching of demand and supply.
I thank Mr Zaqy Mohamad for his comments on our approach to managing the changes in this evolving industry. Our light-touch approach has served commuters well so far. The new regulations for private hire drivers and vehicles are aimed at protecting commuters' interests, especially safety. From July 2017, private hire car drivers must obtain a vocational licence. To get the licence, they must undergo relevant training and pass requisite tests on road and passenger safety and be subject to background and medical checks.
We intend to maintain some differentiation in privileges and regulations between taxi and private hire car services for now, given their different roles. For instance, we intend to continue to allow only taxis to serve the street-hail market. Taxis also enjoy COE concessions. They pay the Category A Prevailing Quota Premium even though many taxis are larger Category B models. So, while we try to ensure that competition is fair, it is not always possible and desirable to impose the exact same regulations on both sectors.
There are likely to be further disruptions afield. The recent trend is ride-sharing among unrelated commuters. UberPool and GrabShare offer commuters the possibility of sharing a private hire car trip if they are headed in the same direction, which is cheaper than taking a ride on your own.
We also have SWAT, a local start-up that aims to provide on-demand bus services. The company uses a routing algorithm to pick up and drop off passengers on demand, while dynamically optimising the route real-time so that the bus can manage passengers most efficiently. This could potentially transform how bus services are operated in the future, including public bus services in areas where there is low ridership and maybe during low-demand hours.
Mobile technology is also re-shaping bicycle-sharing. A few years back, we studied the schemes in cities like London, Paris and New York. These are the traditional ones with docking stations. We thought they could potentially work in Singapore. But, they were however not sustainable commercially and required some Government subsidy. So, we took some time to work out how to fund this and, eventually, LTA put out a tender last year for a bicycle sharing service, starting small in the Jurong Lake District.
However, as Mr Ang Wei Neng has observed, in recent months, this has been disrupted almost. We have seen the emergence of dockless bicycle sharing systems here in Singapore. These dockless systems allow users to hire and return a shared bicycle at any location. There are obvious advantages: lower infrastructure costs, more convenience. The downside, however, is potential indiscriminate parking. It is still not clear whether these new systems or the traditional ones will work better for Singapore.
LTA will study both the docked and dockless systems. And we will assess whether to proceed with our plans and whether to extend them to other towns like Ang Mo Kio, as Mr Ang Hin Kee has suggested, given that Ofo and Obike are already rolling out their services independently of LTA's tender.
Let me move on to the topic of automation. We are focusing on self-driving technology in a big way because they have the potential to dramatically improve public transport. For instance, we could have a fleet of self-driving pods or shuttles that can be called on demand to bring us from our doorstep to an MRT station. Self-driving buses, on the other hand, could address our shortage of bus drivers.
Of course, significant technology challenges have still to be overcome before self-driving can take off in a big way. But we are working towards such a day by facilitating the development of such technology and mobility concepts in Singapore.
We have embarked on trials of self-driving pods. Initiatives are underway to develop self-driving buses and to explore how the technology can be applied for use in freight transport and utility vehicles.
We also launched the Centre of Excellence for Testing & Research of Autonomous Vehicles at NTU (CETRAN) in August last year, to establish a set of safety and performance standards for our local environment as well as testing requirements and protocols.
The advent of these technological innovations and new business models worries our transport workers, quite understandably. As Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Mr Melvin Yong and Miss Cheng Li Hui all similarly expressed, I understand their concerns as well. But the right approach is to prepare our workers for these changes and not obstruct them. In any case, these technological advances cannot be stopped, and even if slowed, we will lose out on the many new opportunities that they bring along.
We will help our workers to upskill and re-skill, so that they can take on the new jobs that will come as the industry evolves.
The Government has put in place the institutions to do so, with the Singapore Rail Academy and the Singapore Bus Academy. We are working closely with our tripartite partners through platforms, such as the Public Transport Sectoral Tripartite Committee chaired by Senior Minister of State Josephine Teo. This Committee will identify the relevant skills, build local capabilities and develop the curricula to nurture a future-ready workforce.
For taxi drivers, Mr Ang Hin Kee suggested some incentives to get more taxi drivers to ply the road by waiving their licence renewal fees. Today, active taxi drivers pay only half of the Taxi Driver's Vocational Licence renewal fee, that is, $20, every three years when they renew their licence. We will consider Mr Ang's suggestions, but I think what will be more meaningful in the longer run is for the National Taxi Association (NTA) to work with the taxi operators to innovate to meet the competition from private hire cars.
I trust that our workers will rise to the challenges and find a way to adapt. They always have. Some of our bus captains I have met in Punggol have upgraded themselves to take on interchange and operations control centre roles which allow them to continue improving the commuter experience in other ways and also upgrade their own incomes and responsibilities. As I have shared earlier, taxi drivers have also been improving services in response to competition and I look forward to the evolving situation to improve overall point-to-point services.
I have talked extensively about smart transport. The second feature of our future transport system is that it will be greener.
Emissions from motor vehicles are one of the largest sources of air pollution. Vehicular emissions contribute about half of locally produced PM2.5 pollution. And diesel vehicles are the main culprit. A study postulates that nitrogen dioxide produced by diesel vehicles is linked to around 23,500 deaths in the UK a year. London is setting up a Low Emissions Zone in its city centre to address this and is replacing most of its diesel buses with hybrid and electric ones.
In Singapore, we are enhancing our Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) to incentivise a shift towards the purchase of lower emissions vehicles. The current CEVS grants rebates or levies surcharges based on a vehicle's carbon emissions.
To more holistically account for the health and environmental impact of vehicular emissions, we will include other pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and particulate matter, into the criteria of the scheme. This will encourage buyers to choose models that are not only more fuel-efficient, but also emit less air pollutants, and thus further improve the ambient air quality and public health. Our colleagues from MEWR will elaborate on the enhancements to the scheme.
We will also make a shift towards a greener public bus fleet. By procuring buses which meet more stringent emission standards, we have already been greening most of our diesel-powered fleet. But no emissions is better than low emissions. That is why we have been trialling an electric bus on Service 17 and now Service 119. Assoc Prof Daniel Goh asked about the results of this trial. The initial feedback has been encouraging; while more costly, commuters enjoyed the quieter ride and the bus has been fairly reliable.
LTA intends to expand the trial and will be calling tenders to procure 50 hybrid buses and 60 electric buses this year. We will have three bus services which are fully served by electric buses. However, a problem with pure-electric technology is that it is not fully proven yet for tropical climates, in part because vehicles operating here consume a lot of energy for air-conditioning. The electric car sharing and electric taxi trials that LTA launched recently will also help us better understand the application of this technology in our climate.
The third feature of our future transport system is that it will be more inclusive. It must be designed thoughtfully to serve the needs of vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities; families, especially those with young children; and an ageing population which is likely to be less mobile.
Our journey towards a fully barrier-free public transport system is almost complete. All MRT stations and bus interchanges are now barrier-free. Ninety-two percent of our public buses are wheelchair-accessible. This will increase to 98% by the end of next year, and 100% by 2020.
I agree, however, with Ms Sylvia Lim that there is always room to improve. We plan to do more, within what is affordable. Ms Sylvia Lim also asked about derailment contingency. Rail staff will assist to evacuate any person who needs help. SCDF will also be called on site to help further. Regular exercises will be conducted. If I recall correctly, late last year, there was one done for staff and SCDF to familiarise themselves in case of such derailment.
One idea that has also been suggested occasionally in this House is to have audio announcements on our buses to help passengers with visual disabilities. LTA will start testing this as an enhancement to the new passenger information display system currently being trialled on Service 106.
LTA plans to collaborate with SG Enable for SG Enable to \"adopt\" Redhill MRT station, which is the station nearest to the Enabling Village and used by many of the disabled community to travel to the Village. Redhill Station then can be a test-bed for new mobility technologies, ideas and infrastructure designs that can make public transport more accessible for persons with disabilities. So, this move can, hopefully, enable all to co-create solutions with people who are affected, including the Enabling Village community.
The journey from Redhill station to the Enabling Village is a challenge for persons with disabilities, because of the hilly topography and the 400-m distance. So, I have challenged LTA and SG Enable to come up with a solution to improve this last mile and, hopefully, apply such solutioning to future projects.
Another frequent feedback is from families with young children. They want to have public transport made more accessible for them. I hear them and we will try.
I know it is challenging to have to fold up strollers before boarding public buses. On the other hand, LTA and the bus operators have genuine concerns for the safety of children in open strollers. For example, if the bus, for whatever reason, has to brake suddenly or swerve suddenly, we are concerned for the child's safety. But, on balance, we think we can move on this. Starting from 2 April, we will allow families to board public buses with open strollers. We hope this will make travelling with young children on public transport more convenient.
Parents will have to be fully attentive and please take responsibility for the safety of the children and hold on tight to the open strollers at all times. As we work towards a more inclusive public transport system, I urge other commuters to be patient if it takes a bit longer for families with open strollers to board our buses.
To improve pedestrian accessibility, we have been progressively installing lifts at pedestrian overhead bridges over the last three years. We have completed 23 bridges so far and are working on another 24 to be completed by end-2018.
However, lifts are not always the most optimal solution. They are expensive. They cost about $4 million in capital cost per pair of lifts and to maintain them takes about $40,000 a year. Two, if the lifts were to be shut down for maintenance or repair, the crossings will no longer be barrier-free. So, these are some of the set-backs.
I think a better solution is to implement at-grade pedestrian crossings where safety is not an issue and the impact on traffic not excessive. These are more convenient for the elderly and faster to build. With our Green Man Plus programme, the elderly and persons with disabilities can get more crossing time.
Another way in which we are making streets safer for the elderly and the less mobile is through the Silver Zone programme. Currently, we have nine Silver Zones and feedback has been positive. The programme will be expanded to another 41 locations island-wide.
Mr Png Eng Huat asked about the design and public education of Silver Zone features, including courtesy crossings. Before building Silver Zones, LTA works closely with grassroots leaders to ensure that the design and safety features meet the needs of the residents. As part of the public education process, LTA distributes posters and brochures, and also makes use of community events to address residents' concerns face-to-face.
Indeed, pedestrian safety must always be a primary concern for MOT and, in this regard, I agree with Mr Dennis Tan and also with what Mr Png Eng Huat has raised on the importance of safe path-sharing. We are working to improve the safety aspect of our infrastructure design. Where possible, LTA will widen the narrow footpaths with high pedestrian volumes, from the current 1.5 metres or less, to 1.8 metres or more. The location mentioned by Mr Tan is part of our plans to do so within the next two years.
Besides infrastructural improvements, we have introduced new rules to protect pedestrians sharing footpaths with bicycles and PMDs, such as a speed limit of 15 kilometres per hour, as well as the maximum width and weight and top speed of devices. We have also introduced a new code of conduct to guide cyclists on how to share paths safely. But more than infrastructure upgrades and rules and regulations, we need the cooperation of all users in order to have shared spaces, to make them safe. We need to develop a culture of gracious sharing through education efforts, amongst others.
Such education efforts are being expanded to more groups of users and in more languages, in line with what Mr Lim Biow Chuan has suggested. At the last Car-free Sunday, we announced that the new Safe Riding Programme will be expanded to riders of PMDs and power-assisted bicycles. And the programme curriculum can be found on the LTA website, with translations in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil to be available soon. To ensure compliance with the new rules and code of conduct, LTA has stepped up enforcement against reckless cyclists and PMD users.
Since May last year, LTA's team of Active Mobility Enforcement Officers has conducted more than 1,100 operations and issued advisories to more than 1,300 riders for unsafe riding. While the enforcement team is not very large, as Mr Lim has pointed out, they work very hard and intelligently. Enforcement officers are deployed to hotspots, which are identified using data and, importantly, from public feedback.
In addition, the number of volunteers has increased to 700 and they are supporting our enforcement officers well. In addition, officers from the Traffic Police and NParks have also stepped in to help in enforcement.
Going forward, we will be augmenting our enforcement efforts with technology, such as CCTVs and body cameras.
Mdm Chairman, let me conclude. We are investing heavily in upgrading our transport system. But investing in hardware is not sufficient. We depend on those who serve in the transport industry to make our everyday commute better, and I want to thank them for their hard work and dedication.
Our future transport system will be one that is smarter, greener and more inclusive. We aim to give every Singaporean a variety of mobility options to meet different needs at different times, and at different stages of their lives. We can count on having more convenient and reliable journeys. We will enjoy cleaner air and safer shared services and spaces. I look forward to these improvements which will bring about an intelligent and sustainable transport system for all Singaporeans.
Mr Yee Chia Hsing (Chua Chu Kang): Thank you, Mdm Chairman. Singapore acts as a regional air and sea transport hub.
Our forefathers had the foresight to build on our advantageous geographic location and sea trade was our first engine of growth. Spices, rubber and other commodities produced regionally were shipped through Singapore's harbour and sent to other parts of the world. We have, indeed, come a long way since. The concern on the ground is that our status as an air hub and regional port of call may be increasingly threatened by our regional peers.
Thailand has a proposal to construct the Kra Canal, which would allow ships to by-pass the Straits of Malacca and Singapore altogether. Another proposal is by Malaysia to construct a new harbour along the Straits of Malacca that aims to overtake Singapore as the largest port in the region. Recently, the Chinese launched a rail freight service between China and London, thus providing a land route alternative to the traditional sea freight route between Europe and Asia.
Madam, our transport trade hub status is an important pillar of our economy and people are worried that this pillar will be weakened with the regional developments that I have mentioned. As a small country, we must remain open and connected to the world, be it by air or sea. This is in line with the recommendations spelt out by the Committee on the Future Economy.
In fact, it was the first out of seven strategies to take the Singapore economy forward. The Committee recommends that we need to deepen and diversify our international connections and press on with open trade.
Against this backdrop, I would like to ask MOT to share its plans on how Singapore can maintain its position as the regional hub for air and sea trade flows.
Miss Cheng Li Hui: Madam, Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelapas and Port Klang are of lower cost, compared to our port. In addition, a new Malacca harbour, the Melaka Gateway, is being developed. What will be the impact of these ports on our sea hub status?
Would the Ministry also share an update on how we can strengthen Singapore's competitiveness as an air and sea hub? How will the Industry Transformation Maps for Air Transport and Sea Transport help Singapore to stay ahead, and when will these ITMs be launched?
China, India and Indonesia are three of the five fastest-growing markets in terms of additional passengers. How are we tapping into the growth of these markets?
Mr Lee Yi Shyan (East Coast): Mdm Chairman, air traffic growth in the Asia Pacific region is one of the fastest in the world. A 2015 study by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation shows that $226.8 billion will be invested in building new airports and expanding airport facilities in the Asia Pacific. That is 37% of global investment and the highest of any region in the world. From Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei to cities in India and the Middle East, airports are fast expanding to capture a slice of the rising long-haul business travels and intra-regional traffic boosted by low cost carriers.
Obviously, there are many economic spin-offs arising from a city's comprehensive and international connectivity. Just as we have experienced in Singapore, a thriving air hub benefits directly not just the overhaul and maintenance industry, but also brings measurable benefits to other sectors, such as logistics, convention and exhibition, hospitality, financial, healthcare and so on. A vibrant air hub also renders Singapore ideal for regional headquarters operations.
Competition to be the premier air hub is, however, most intense. I would like to ask the Minister how would MOT ensure that Singapore maintains its edge as a vibrant and leading aviation hub? How does MOT work with the industry players to map out a collective vision for our future? Would MOT take on an industry-development role to evolve a comprehensive Industry Transformation Map? Could the Minister highlight the kind of new jobs Singaporeans can expect from being a vibrant air hub of the future?
Mr Ang Hin Kee: Changi Airport Terminal 4, slated to open in the latter part of this year, will be our latest aviation investment to be realised.
As part of the Committee on the Future Economy's (CFE) recommendations, aviation falls under one of the sectors identified to have an Industry Transformation Map to up productivity and workers' skills and to promote innovation and adoption of technology.
How is the newest airport terminal a showcase of industry transformation? What are the efforts to develop and implement productivity initiatives for higher efficiencies in airport operations, such as baggage handling and cargo management, at Terminal 4?
How are the roles of workers in Terminal 4 different from Terminals 1, 2 and 3? For example, will there be less reliance on manpower and manual work; and a bigger push for automation, self-serve counters for commuters and even the use of robotics?
Mr Ang Wei Neng: Mdm Chairman, please allow me to declare my interest as I am an advisor to the Singapore Port Workers' Union (SPWU). Recently, there have been reports that China is investing S$14 billion in the Malacca Gateway Project, which includes building a deep seaport on an island off Malacca which will be ready as soon as 2019. The development is likely to challenge Singapore's position as the major trans-shipment hub and the new cruise ship jetty will also have an impact on cruise tourism in Singapore. A November 2016 CNBC article stated outright that Malacca is eyeing a slice of Singapore's shipping business, and the new port's selling points are lower costs, less congestion and less stringent port rules.
Similarly, there are also reports that China is financing the cost of Thailand's Kra Canal so that ships coming from the Indian Ocean can go straight to the South China Sea, bypassing the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. An academic paper, published in March 2016 by two researchers for the Institute of Developing Economies, sought to project and forecast the economic impact of the Kra Canal. In most scenarios, Singapore stood to suffer a negative impact.
Could the Minister provide a realistic analysis of these threats and their impact on Singapore's ports? Would it divert trade from Singapore and to what extent? What is MOT's plan to strengthen the position of our ports?
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): The recent oil spills severely affected native diversity and fish farms in the vicinity. MPA launched investigations into the cause of collision and various agencies conducted beach clean-ups. However, the SOP for clean-ups varies from agency to agency. Would the Ministry consider organising a roundtable to engage stakeholders and agencies, such as MPA, NEA, NParks and AVA, as well as other stakeholders and experts, to come up with a comprehensive oil spill response plan which can apply to future mishaps? Would the Ministry hold responsible parties accountable for the impact and ensure that compensation is made to those affected, for example, the fish farms?
The Chairman: Senior Minister of State Josephine Teo.
The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Mrs Josephine Teo):Mdm Chair, I thank Members for their interest in the continued success of our air and sea hubs.
The aviation and maritime sectors contribute around 10% of our GDP and provide nearly 250,000 jobs. They are anchored by well-connected ports that link Singapore to the rest of the world. As noted by Minister Khaw Boon Wan, they are both pillars and enablers of our economy.
Our approach has been to plan ahead and yet remain responsive to new developments and market opportunities. We invest heavily to develop infrastructure and human capital so that Singaporeans can take up the good jobs created.
Over the next 10-15 years, many of our infrastructure investments will take shape. With the new Tuas Terminal and Changi Terminal 5, we will have the capacity to comfortably handle twice the volumes of passenger and container traffic today and still have room for growth.
However, we will not need twice as many people. Innovation and the intensive use of technology will transform the way people work and companies do business. Miss Cheng Li Hui and Mr Lee Yi Shyan asked about the two sectors' Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs). CAAS will launch the Air Transport ITM in April this year, while MPA will develop the Sea Transport ITM over the course of the year.
My response to Members' cuts will outline the three key strategies embedded in our ITMs that will strengthen the competitiveness of our aviation and maritime hubs. They are: smarter ports, vibrant enterprise ecosystems and systematic manpower development. I should, of course, add that when we say manpower development, we include woman power also.
Let us start with smarter ports. I note Mr Ang Wei Neng, Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Mr Yee Chia Hsing and Miss Cheng's concerns about the regional port developments. Given that it will take some time for the Malacca Gateway project to be fleshed out and the uncertainty surrounding the Kra Canal project, it is still too early to determine their impact on us.
But international competition has never been far away from our aviation and maritime sectors. Our starting point is that others can and will up their game. Whatever the analysis, the only response that will serve our long-term interests is to keep improving to stay ahead. Therefore, it is not enough to build bigger ports. We will need smarter ports.
We have two strong industry champions − PSA in maritime and Changi Airport Group (CAG) in aviation. So, what kind of smarter ports are they developing?
Put simply, our smarter ports will apply advanced technologies to achieve scale that is matched by superior connectivity, efficiency and reliability. You need scale but what you really want is to deliver superior connectivity, efficiency and reliability. That is what the customers want.
In our seaport, it will not simply be about buying automated guided vehicles or installing automated cranes. Rather, it will be about advanced planning and optimisation of equipment deployment to allow the seamless transfer of containers from vessel to wharf, then to truck, then to yard and then vice versa.
It may sound easy but is actually very difficult to execute. As a transhipment hub that is connected to over 600 other ports − if you take Shanghai, they are connected to under 300 ports; we are connected to over 600 ports − container movements here are much more complex than ports that mostly handle origin-destination cargo. In other words, cargo that is either coming out from your own port city or going into your port city. Here we do transhipment, where we do connections for shippers, and the vessel calls involve mind-boggling permutations of synchronised unloading and reloading. And when 30 million containers are moved each year, even a small margin of error is highly problematic. And imagine, at Tuas, we are going to get to double that volume − 65 million.
The complexity of container movements will increase as we enhance the connectivity of our port and attract higher volumes. That is why PSA is studying the use of data analytics that will generate insights about the flow of vessels and containers, and test-bedding automation solutions that will optimise processes and the use of equipment.
What we learn at Pasir Panjang will be used in the planning of Tuas Terminal which, when fully developed, will have a capacity bigger than Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, Brani and Pasir Panjang Terminals combined.
Likewise, the bigger challenge for us at Changi is Terminal 5 which, Members may recall, will have an eventual capacity bigger than Terminals 1, 2 and 3 combined. This will enable us to host more flight connections and tap the growth of civil aviation in the Asia Pacific region.
Miss Cheng Li Hui asked for an update on developments at Changi. T4 will begin operations in the second half of this year. There is a lot of testing going on. Planning for T5 is on track, and CAG will soon begin to identify the architects to take on the challenge of designing it.
T4, which is smaller than the existing terminals, is, in some ways, a testbed for T5. On opening day, passengers will have a full suite of self-service and automated options for check-in, bag drop, immigration clearance and boarding. Airports elsewhere may have implemented some of these components, but not the entire suite as far as we know.
Beyond what passengers see, at the back-end, T4 will have automated baggage screening, sorting and storage. Smart cleaning initiatives, centralised support functions for retail and F&B will further reduce the manpower needed. Mr Ang Hin Kee will be pleased to know that, at steady state, we expect T4 to realise up to 10% in manpower savings due to automation. The experiments at T4 will also shape what is possible at T5 in future. And I think that is where the bigger savings have to be.
Our existing terminals, too, are raising their performance and productivity. CAG and CAAS are bringing airport stakeholders onto a common collaborative decision-making platform to share operational data. For instance, airlines and ground handling agents now can view real-time flight movements on the airfield. This helps them efficiently deploy resources to quickly rectify problems. Since its implementation last year, one benefit has been the reduction of aircraft taxiing time by 90 seconds during peak hours. We are talking about each aircraft. This may seem negligible − just 90 seconds − but we must remember that we have about 1,000 aircraft movements in our airport every day. So, the cumulative impact on runway productivity and, of course, for the airlines, fuel cost savings are really not trivial, not at all.
Why does it matter that PSA and CAG develop smarter ports? Ultimately, their customers, the shipping lines and airlines − and the end users − the shippers and passengers − they all vote with their feet. To keep the customers and end-users coming back, scale must be matched by superior connectivity, efficiency and reliability. This is what will help Singapore to build a sustainable edge, which is exactly Mr Lee Yi Shyan's question.
For Singapore to extract the full value of our smarter ports, we will also need vibrant enterprise ecosystems and systematic manpower development.
Let us talk about vibrant enterprise ecosystems. With well-connected ports as anchors, our maritime and aviation hubs have grown far beyond PSA and CAG. Today, Singapore is ranked as the world's top international maritime centre, with a diverse maritime services cluster comprising over 5,000 establishments. In aviation, Singapore is home to world-class air freight, aerospace, and maintenance, repair and overhaul companies.
When we ask companies why they choose to be in Singapore in spite of our higher costs, they tell us that it is the value of being plugged in into a vibrant network, a thriving ecosystem, if you will.
Through this network, they can be closer to their customers and gain quick access to market intelligence which helps them make timely decisions to respond to market shifts: pricing, what to do with the commercial arrangements − all of these require intelligence. They can also find good partners more easily to share risks in business ventures or jointly develop new projects.
A vibrant enterprise ecosystem is a natural magnet that attracts and retains more businesses to weave a denser network. That makes it harder to replicate. This is why we actively seek to anchor key players across many types of aviation and maritime services in Singapore − to stay relevant and strengthen our hub competitiveness.
Our international maritime centre continues to grow in breadth and depth. New companies, like LH Shipping from Switzerland and the West of England Protection & Indemnity Insurance Club, set up shop in Singapore last year, while those already here, such as K Line and Marubeni, expanded their operations.
Through new joint ventures with PSA, major shipping lines, like CMA-CGM and China COSCO Shipping, are shifting more of their activities to Singapore. It is helpful that both CMA-CGM and China COSCO are also leaders in the ever-shifting landscape of alliance partnerships among the container lines.
When the companies open up new lines of businesses, it enables our aviation and maritime hubs to capture emerging opportunities and stay relevant. Take, for example, the movement of time- and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products. Singapore will be the first in Asia to build up a cluster of businesses certified by the International Air Transport Association in pharmaceutical handling. With this, companies like Global Airfreight International, SATS and SIA Cargo will be better placed to benefit from the growth in pharmaceutical trade as the region becomes more affluent. Similarly, the recent acquisition of the Baltic Exchange by SGX will allow Singapore to take active part in the fast-evolving landscape of maritime risk management.
But perhaps the biggest value of vibrant enterprise ecosystems is that they help Singapore's drive for innovation.
This year, we will see the results of our first two Aviation Challenges, one of which focuses on automating baggage handling for narrow-body aircraft. As Members know, the process today is largely automated − screening, sorting, storage − but still has some parts that require manual handling. Behind the scenes, bags have to be transferred from a baggage carousel to a baggage trolley which is towed to the aircraft. They are then unloaded and moved into the aircraft belly hold, which, for a narrow-body aircraft, is 11 metres deep but just one metre high. We ought to salute our baggage handlers who do this back-breaking work. But we should not leave this process unchanged.
We searched all over the world for solutions, but found none that would fully meet our needs. So, we resolved to develop our own solution. As we speak, five teams from industry and academia are developing prototypes to automate this laborious process.
Platforms like Aviation Challenges are attempts by CAAS to bring together the best minds to develop innovative solutions for our airport. But these attempts will not succeed unless we have a vibrant enterprise ecosystem to draw on. The first two challenges have drawn on the capabilities of over 100 engineers and researchers from several entities.
We are involving local companies, such as Cyclect Electrical Engineering and ST Dynamics, and I have asked CAAS and CAG to bring more on board. It is not just the airport that will gain from the innovations. Businesses, too, can capture value through deepening their capabilities and spinning off other innovative products and services to support their internationalisation.
Start-ups are also getting into the action.
Take, for example, Ascenz Solutions which started in 2008 as a two-person show. With co-funding from MPA's Maritime Innovation and Technology Fund, Ascenz created a system called Shipulse that collates data from sensors installed on board ships and transmits it back to shore. Shipulse allows shipowners to remotely analyse a ship's speed and fuel efficiency in real-time and then instruct the crew to adjust the ship's route or carry out energy efficiency measures to save fuel and improve vessel performance. Shipulse has been installed on over 400 vessels and thousands more could use it. Having expanded to a team of more than 30 with operations in nine countries, Ascenz is now eyeing the European market.
A likely shift towards digitalisation in the aviation and maritime sectors can give more start-ups like Ascenz their big breaks. You know, this is serious stuff, when even an established giant like AP Moller-Maersk decides to nominate as its new Chairman someone with a track record as \"Mr Digitalisation\". This is going to be a harbinger of major industry transformation.
Interestingly, the maritime sector is not usually thought of as a beacon of innovation. But I am bullish about the prospects for Singapore because the market here for innovative products and services is significant and quickly evolving. As their innovations gain market acceptance in Singapore, start-ups will be in a stronger position to internationalise. PSA has already taken the lead by launching PSA unboXed last year. And what PSA unboXed does is to invite start-ups and potential partners to propose technology solutions for the port, in which PSA unboXed may then decide to take an equity stake and try to make a success of them. I have asked MPA to work with SPRING to see how best to expose more local start-ups to opportunities in maritime businesses.
To give a further boost to innovation, MPA will set up the \"MPA Living Lab\" at our port by the end of this year. The MPA Living Lab will provide the essential \"live\" operating conditions that will facilitate the test-bedding of potential innovations. Because this is critical − you can have a great idea, but if you are not able to prove the concept in \"live\" operating conditions, that would be a gap in the innovation journey. Areas being explored include autonomous vessels, multi-purpose drones and next-generation vessel traffic management systems. We believe this could be a game-changer for Singapore, bringing together technology developers and industry players to anchor their innovation activities in Singapore and help our sea hub stay ahead.
Let me turn now to manpower development. Smarter ports and more vibrant enterprise ecosystems bring many more good jobs. All in all, we expect some 13,000 new jobs in the air and sea transport sectors by 2025.
The jobs created over the next decade will be markedly different from today. The increasing deployment of smart technologies means that new jobs will be more knowledge-intensive. At the port, more data scientists and operations research analysts will be needed to optimise shipping routes, port operations and vessel traffic management. At the airport, we will require data scientists skilled in air traffic operations research and analysis, to optimise our runway and airspace capacities through modelling and simulation.
Technology will also transform existing jobs into higher skill, higher value-added jobs. For instance, port equipment engineers today are responsible for maintaining and repairing the port's equipment and facilities. With the introduction of AGVs, they will also plan and design operations to segregate manned and unmanned activities and to synchronise the AGVs' operations with other automated equipment. We are also investing in baggage and cargo robotics systems at the airport that will leave the more repetitive tasks of lifting and loading to the machines, freeing up our workers to oversee other parts of the operations.
We are committed to helping Singaporeans make the most of the exciting and rewarding career opportunities, by working closely with our tripartite partners.
For fresh school-leavers, CAAS and MPA are working with the Institutes of Higher Learning to develop new industry-specific training schemes. Two SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programmes for passenger service agents and ground operations specialists at the airport were introduced in October 2016. The next intake for these two programmes is scheduled for April this year. Three other Earn and Learn Programmes were launched last year for port operations officers, deck officers and marine engineers.
We are also helping mid-career Singaporeans switch to maritime and aviation careers. To prepare them for roles in flight operations, baggage, catering, maintenance and cargo, Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) will provide structured training and career progression, with corresponding salary increases. PCPs for more occupations will be launched in due course.
For Singaporeans already in the aviation and maritime sectors, we will help them progress in their careers. MPA will enhance the Maritime Cluster Fund for Manpower Development to support a wider range of training. This will enable Singaporeans to be trained in new and increasingly important areas, such as data analytics and new maritime technologies. We expect this to benefit some 5,000 locals annually.
To help Singaporeans better plan their careers, we will develop Skills Frameworks that help them identify those which are relevant and necessary for advancement. The Skills Framework for the Sea Transport sector, which was developed in consultation with the industry and unions, will be launched in April. A Skills Framework will also be developed for the Air Transport sector. But let me make clear that we cannot make this work without the companies taking an active interest and the workers being willing to adapt. So, tripartite involvement and commitment will be key.
Mdm Chairman, even as we strengthen the competitiveness of our aviation and maritime hubs, we should remember that our fortunes are closely tied to those of the region. We will, therefore, continue to promote a region that stays open and connected.
In aviation, last year, all 10 ASEAN countries ratified all the ASEAN open skies agreements. ASEAN has also started negotiations on an EU-ASEAN Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement which would be the first bloc-to-bloc air services agreement in the world.
Open sea lines of communications, too, are critical to trade. Today, almost half of the world's seaborne trade by tonnage passes through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, and we must ensure that these waters remain safe and secure for ships. Through MPA's Safety@Sea campaign, the number of marine incidents has been kept low. There was only one major shipping incident in our waters in 2016, no easy feat, considering that Singapore is one of the world's busiest ports with over 130,000 vessel calls every year.
We also look to more environmentally-friendly and sustainable growth.
For example, CAAS has worked with neighbouring airports to develop an Air Traffic Flow Management System. It sounds a bit abstract − Air Traffic Flow Management System. But what it really means is that you want to regulate the flow of aircraft even before they take off from the departure airports. Why? Because we want to have more certainty in managing, at the receiving airports, the incoming flights.
To passengers, what this would mean is that you could spend less time circling in the air before landing because the airport is congested. But to airlines, the fuel cost savings is very much appreciated. A 2016 operational trial showed that, on average, each aircraft saved about 300 kilogrammes of fuel burn. With more than 150,000 landings at Changi each year, the cumulative effect on the environment is quite significant.
On the maritime side, MPA already has the Maritime Singapore Green Initiative with five programmes − the Green Ship, Green Port, Green Technology, Green Awareness and Green Energy Programmes.
To promote the adoption of cleaner marine fuels, MPA will soon pilot LNG bunkering operations in Singapore. MPA has been working with industry and like-minded ports around the world to harmonise LNG bunkering processes and to grow a global network of LNG-ready ports. It is no use if we are LNG-ready but other ports are not. The ships cannot move this way. These efforts have seen good progress, with authorities in Japan, Korea and Norway recently coming on board.
Mr Louis Ng asked about our response to oil spills. We are highly vigilant towards environmental incidents and have a well-established, multi-agency response plan which is regularly exercised.
During the oil spill off Pasir Gudang in January, agencies responded swiftly and effectively. Within hours, MPA, which is the coordinator for the inter-agency response, had already modelled the spilled oil's trajectory and worked with the agencies to take measures, such as laying out oil-absorbent booms, to prevent its spread. As a result, traffic in the East Johor Straits and Singapore's port operations were not affected. Affected beaches were quickly cleaned up and key biodiversity areas at Pulau Ubin, Coney Island and Pasir Ris were protected. They were not harmed. We are now working with the insurers of the vessels responsible for the incident to compensate the affected parties, including the fish farms. The Bunker Convention puts the responsibility on the shipowners.
Mdm Chairman, to conclude, our aviation and maritime sectors not only provide critical connectivity for our economy, but are also growth engines that create exciting and rewarding job opportunities for Singaporeans. We will strive to strengthen the competitiveness of our air and sea hubs through Smarter Ports, more Vibrant Enterprise Ecosystems and Systematic Manpower Development.
Through initiatives, like the Aviation Challenges and MPA Living Lab, we will help the businesses in these sectors help themselves by deepening their capabilities and developing innovative products and services. Through tripartite cooperation and enhanced funding support, we will help Singaporeans acquire and master the deep skills that are needed to stay relevant.
Our officers have been working quietly but tirelessly, and I am mighty proud of them. Whether in 10, 20 or 50 years, we still want to be leading aviation and maritime hubs. Our businesses and workers will have every opportunity to be at the frontier of the industry transformations and ride this wave of growth.
The Chairman: We have a bit of time for clarification. Mr Ang Hin Kee.
Mr Ang Hin Kee:\tMadam, I have a question for Minister Ng Chee Meng. He mentioned earlier that he found that the calls made to taxi operators being rather ineffective and already overtaken by disruption. Therefore, I would like to ask if he will work with LTA to remove Call Catering from the Quality of Standard yardstick measurement for taxi operators.
Mr Ng Chee Meng:\tI thank the Member for that but I need to clarify. I did not say anything about calls being ineffective.
Mr Ang Hin Kee:\tEarlier, the Minister mentioned that people calling up taxi operators for the person over the other side of the phone to book a taxi, that being relatively overtaken by third-party apps and the likes of other bookings. So, if that is already obsolete, will, therefore, the Call Catering Quality of Standard yardstick be removed from the taxi operators' standards?
Mr Ng Chee Meng:\tThank you for that clarification. I understand it better now. We will look into all these as the industry evolves. If the phone calling becomes completely displaced by apps, then maybe we will do away with it. But there are still proportions of commuters that will be still using the phone bookings.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad:I have three clarifications. One to Minister Ng for replying to my cut on dynamic pricing. I am all for dynamic pricing and companies innovating with new models. But my question was how LTA, as a regulator, will ensure that in shifting to demand pricing, you do not have a deja vu of taxi availability being an issue, because that could shift behaviour in terms of how taxis make themselves available.
The second question is I thank the Minister also for demystifying the slow bus-driving for some services like 983 where you travel from between Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Panjang. Residents have complained that buses sometimes travel at 30km/h or 40km/h on an empty road or stop at bus stops where there is no one.
Are these service levels determined by LTA or the service provider? Despite repeated feedback, does LTA review the service level based on commuters' experience?
Finally, on noise barriers, I am heartened that Minister Khaw Boon Wan spoke that LTA and NEA are aligned. May I just check what the qualifying decibel level is before noise barriers are erected? I understand these projects compete for resources within the LTA budget but if you could give residents and citizens clarity on how they can qualify and when they qualify, I think they are more inclined to —
The Chairman:\tMr Zaqy, just the clarification, please, no speeches.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Thank you.
Mr Ng Chee Meng:\tMadam, I thank the Member for the clarification. It is early days yet. The Public Transport Council and the taxi companies are still in discussion. We will watch the situation carefully to monitor taxi availability whenever the programme is instituted. So, as we let it evolve, as always, we will monitor, review and see what is to be done.
The Chairman:\tYes, please, Minister Khaw.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan:\tTo answer the Member Mr Zaqy's query, and relying on memory, I think it is 67 decibels. But I am relying on memory; I am 65 years old.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad:\tI had two other clarifications.
The Chairman:\tTwo other clarifications? So, if you keep your clarifications short, the front bench will remember them better. Please, Minister.
Mr Ng Chee Meng:\tCan the Member repeat his questions?
Mr Zaqy Mohamad:\tThe slow bus-driving. Is the service level determined by LTA or the service provider? Why are these buses driving slowly? Could they be adjusted based on commuters' experience?
Mr Ng Chee Meng:\tIt is always a collective effort that we want to ensure the best service to commuters. When we involve this technology, it is still dependent on real-time traffic conditions. You can imagine in peak hours, I have got three buses that start from the depot. From the very start, the first bus collects more passengers, it actually slows down along the whole route; whereas the second bus coming through, where there are less passengers, let us say a headway of five, 10 minutes, the second bus actually catches up. You can imagine if we have more than three buses and you have a peak-hour period of two hours of this bunching and relaxing. So, the real-time data is needed for them to adjust and this will be a real-time operator responsibility. But LTA will see what we can do to facilitate this use of technology, as I have said.
Ms Sylvia Lim: Thank you, Madam. I have a clarification for Minister Ng. Earlier, he spoke about the steps to make the public transport system more inclusive for disabled passengers as well as families. And he mentioned a new scheme where families would be allowed to bring children in strollers on board, rather than to have to fold up their strollers.
So, I would like to clarify whether, actually, he would agree that this ties in nicely with my cut on wheelchair space because you would need more space on the buses now for these various wheelchairs, prams and so on, and that the Government will bear this in mind when it looks at the design of buses.
Mr Ng Chee Meng:\tI thank the Member for that clarification. The short answer is yes because they are similar. In the new standards that we have imposed on buying new buses, there will be two spaces available either for wheelchairs or strollers. In the current wheelchair-accessible buses that we have, more than 5,000 of them, there is at least one available space for wheelchair or stroller.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong:\tMinister Ng, you said that electric buses are costlier than regular buses. I would like to clarify three things. First, is this in terms of operational cost or capital cost? Second, how much more costly? Third, whether this will eventually factor into fare increases, especially with the revision of the fare adjustment mechanism which is due this year?
Mr Ng Chee Meng: I thank the Member for the clarification. I do not have the numbers offhand but in terms of capital expenditure (capex) and operational expenditure (opex), yes, they are more expensive. In a trial stage, right now, we have not raised any fares; they are still consistent with whatever the fares are for the rest of the buses.
As Minister Khaw mentioned just now, the Government is already subsidising $4 billion over the next four to five years on buses. So, realistically, whether we go green or not, we will have to be realistic about fare prices in the long term.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Thank you, Madam. I just want to follow up on the clarification by Mr Zaqy Mohamad. I suppose he was referring to the Bus Service Reliability Framework which is really a good intention by LTA to keep the bus to the timings and to arrive punctually and so on. But what happens on the ground, sometimes, is that the bus may arrive too early and then, therefore, they stop at the bus stop for a while or they slow down the speed of the travelling and so on. It is causing disservice to the commuters instead.
I would like to ask the Minister whether for some buses like those along trunk routes where it is a loop service, maybe the whole loop will take about three hours, should there not be more leeway given to the bus operator, so that they do not have to do such things as to slow down and then, overall, the commuter will have a bad experience because of that.
Mr Ng Chee Meng: I thank the Member for the clarification. Where the bus may have to slow down, it may inconvenience some. But in terms of the overall system of buses plying the whole three-hour route, the overall service to more passengers is better. Indeed, some commuters may notice that this bus is slowing down but it gives proper spacing between buses. In a long route, it prevents bunching of buses that if you miss the two buses, you have to wait a long, long time for the third bus to come.
Mr Yee Chia Hsing: I thank Senior Minister of State Josephine Teo for her explanation. Good to know that we are staying competitive by offering smarter technology solutions to our stakeholders. However, I also know that some of our air and sea agencies have a consulting arm that offer their technology know-how to other countries. May I suggest that we hold on to this technology as our strategic advantage and we do not offer it freely to an airport or seaport which may threaten our hub status?
Mrs Josephine Teo:\tMadam, I think Mr Yee might be referring to the case of Changi Airports International (CAI). CAI does not, in particular, hold intellectual property rights with regards to, say, technology. What they do have is great operational insights. When it was set up, the idea was that, as part of Singapore enterprises internationalising, there was also benefit in having CAI offer their expertise to airports elsewhere that would like to tap into this expertise. But I take the Member's point; we want to keep some of the crown jewels. The entities that are involved in this are equally mindful about it.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap:\tThank you, Madam. Madam, I have one clarification for Minister Khaw. He earlier mentioned that the implementation of the tiered ARF is to further suit the implementation of tiered ARF for cars in 2013, basically, to have some form of consistency. My clarification is, similarly, on the basis of consistency, would the Minister consider having PARF rebate for motorcycles?
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The reason for extending to motorbikes is not so much because of consistency but because we wanted this principle of being more progressive in our taxation system.
As for PARF, PARF's main purpose is to incentivise deregistration. In other words, you get rid of your old vehicles, whether it is cars or motorbikes. But because the bulk of the motorbikes, even with the tiered ARF, we will still be paying very low ARF, which is about 15% of Open Market Value (MOV). Without PARF, the incentives to deregister would be greater.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong:\tI seek a clarification from Senior Minister of State Mrs Josephine Teo. I thank her for sharing with us the Government's plans to deal with the competition for sea hub. Can I just ask the Senior Minister of State what is the Government's view on the likely competition that may be posed by the recent opening of the China-Britain freight train, at least, in the future years?
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mdm Chairman, the Member asked a very interesting question. The China-UK freight train has started off in Yiwu and it has traversed across China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium, France and then to the UK, to London. Twelve thousand kilometres. It took them 18 days, which is about half of what it would take if the same set of containers were to have to travel by ship.
So, there is obviously some value in that because there may be some types of cargo which will be too expensive to transport by air. But, if you transport it by sea, then it takes twice as long. So, items could include things like prototypes that you want to deliver to the market very quickly. But this type of transportation − rail transportation − is constrained by the scale. This particular voyage that was undertaken, if I remember correctly, involved 40-foot containers − bigger boxes − but there were just 344 of them. If you compare that to what one of the mega-vessels would take these days, that is, closer to 18,000 to 19,000 TEUs, the scale that can be transported is completely different.
From that perspective, as a transhipment hub that serves quite a lot of the Asia-Europe traffic, for the moment it does not appear that the China-UK freight link is going to be a game-changer. But the landscape is always evolving and we will have to pay close attention.
One other area that really deserves close attention is the Arctic Circle. With the melting of the icecaps, I think Mr Dennis Tan would know that the northern sea route offers something compelling, too. It is just that, in the foreseeable future, it is not likely. In the foreseeable future, it is not likely that even though you are able to sail through, you can cut up to 60% of the voyage time. It would be very difficult to schedule services.
We watch all of these developments very closely, including the Kra Canal, which has been talked about for decades actually. The short answer to your question is that we monitor all of these. We do analyse what their impact could be. But, as I have said in my earlier speech, we cannot stop others from upping their game. We just have to do everything within our power to stay ahead.
Mr Ang Wei Neng:\tMadam, about the point made by the Senior of State Mrs Josephine Teo on the seaport, I also want to reflect the plight and concerns of the port workers. It is exciting to learn that the Tuas Terminal would be a state-of-the-art smart port. I hope the Senior Minister of State can elaborate on the transport infrastructure linking to the Tuas Port. Otherwise, the new port can be large but few workers would like to work there.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Ang is not just a good Member of Parliament, he is also a very good adviser to the union. Indeed, the union has been in discussion with us and has highlighted the concerns.
There are about 8,000 to 9,000 local port workers who, from the year 2021, will start to have to move as the Tuas Terminal gets its first few berths operational. We are very keen to make sure that the land transport options will be good ones. We are in discussions with other agencies and also with PSA which remains the biggest employer there. So, please be assured that this is very much on our minds.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: Madam, just a clarification for the Senior Minister of State. I appreciate that the agencies are working together but can we have a roundtable so that the agencies can work together with the other stakeholders and experts − the NGOs and the scientific community − for oil spills?
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Ng, roundtable or not, we will meet with them. I have shared earlier MPA's inter-agency response. Some of the inputs that NGOs have given us include the use of non-toxic oil dispersants and also in terms of where we will prioritise the containment activities. What we have done is to say we will protect the areas that have got greater bio-diversity value. So, I think the conversation continues.
The Chairman:\tMr Sitoh Yih Pin, do you wish to withdraw your amendment?
Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: Yes, Madam. I would like to thank MOT staff for their hard work and Members for their contributions. Further, on behalf of Members, I extend our gratitude and appreciation to Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Second Minister Ng Chee Meng and Senior Minister of State Mrs Josephine Teo for answering our questions and sharing with us MOT's plans for the future. On that note, Madam, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $1,541,987,600 for Head W ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $8,680,257,000 for Head W ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply − Head L (Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources)","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mdm Chairman, I beg to move, \"That the total sum to be allocated for Head L of the Estimates be reduced by $100\".
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global energy intensity − the amount of energy used per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) − improved by 1.8% in 2015. This surpassed the 1.5% gain seen in 2014 and triples the annual rate of 0.6% seen in the previous decade, according to the IEA Energy Efficiency Market Report for 2016. But the report added that and I quote: \"However, global progress on energy intensity is still too slow, falling short of putting the world onto a sustainable pathway toward a decarbonised energy system. IEA analysis shows that annual energy intensity improvements need to rise immediately to at least 2.6% in a trajectory consistent with our climate goals.\"
I would like to ask the Minister how is our performance in industrial energy efficiency efforts compared with other countries? What is the feedback from industries on the obstacles they are facing and what can the Ministry do to address these concerns? How are we to fulfil our commitment to the Paris Agreement? Are there any new plans to improve on our industrial energy efficiency?
Our city state has done well in managing the air quality from vehicle emissions. Unlike the days before year 2000, certainly we hardly see smoky vehicles on our roads, except some from across the causeway. Even the public can report to NEA if they see any smoky vehicles on our roads.
NEA requires periodic checks for buses and diesel vehicles and we strive to reduce domestic emissions to meet the 2020 air quality targets benchmarked against WHO standards. We have been successful and there are lessons to be learnt from what is happening in China, India and France where smoke from vehicle emissions had created havoc on the ambient air quality. The toll can be very serious as we can see how the haze has impacted the health of the people.
WHO has pointed out that air pollution poses one of the biggest environmental health risks, especially for heart diseases. Can the Minister update the House on what is the strategy to achieve these targets and what has been done so far to improve the air quality in Singapore?
Diesel vehicles are found to be the major culprit in polluting the air. In December 2016, four of the world's largest and most polluted cities have decided to ban diesel cars and trucks from their streets by 2025.
Diesel engines emit particulates into the air at ground level, as well as emit nitrogen oxides. Nitrogen oxides can help form ground-level ozone, which can lead to breathing difficulties for those suffering from respiratory problems. According to WHO, seven million deaths every year are linked to exposure to outdoor air pollution.
At the last COS debate, we were told that a study on diesel vehicles would be undertaken by SUTD. I understand that it has recently submitted a report on alternative technologies to the Ministry. Can the Minister share with the House the outcome of this study? What next after this?
There are some older commercial vehicles retained by their owners which do not meet current day emission standards. What are the Ministry's plans to address these old commercial vehicles? Will the ETS be extended? Apart from this, what are plans to curb emissions from petrol cars and motorcycles?
Next, I would like to briefly point out that there is much that can be done to improve the waste collection system. Frequently, we can see cleaners manually hauling refuse to the bin centres from the chutes at the HDB blocks. This gives rise to complaints from residents about the odour and the spread of pests when this exercise is not done properly. Are there any plans for the Ministry to improve on this waste disposal by cleaners?
I note that the cost of water supply has risen over the years and the Government is raising prices by 30% in two phases from this July. I think what we need to do is to share with Singaporeans what the Government is doing to meet future demand and make our country resilient against any supply disruption, especially in the current uncertain weather conditions. This would, I feel, at least make the people understand and appreciate the big picture behind the price increase.
On climate change, I would like to ask the Minister what are PUB's plans to cope with the unpredictable and intense rainfall that we may encounter in this age of weather turbulence. I know there were drainage works carried out to alleviate flooding, but as the past months have shown, there are many pockets in our midst where more work is required.
I hope the Minister can update the House on the work done so far on the Stamford Diversion Canal, Stamford Detention Tank and the Bukit Timah First Diversion Canal. Has any of these been completed and if so, how have they helped to prevent flooding in key areas?
On PUB, I would like to ask if the Minister can update us on the Active, Beautiful and Clean Waters Programme which was launched a decade ago. Where are we now? What more can we expect of ABC Waters for this financial year?
Recently, the NEA has designated smoking areas in busy downtown Orchard Road. I do not know if this is after taking a cue from Nee Soon South, where we have successfully put up 42 Designated Smoking Points (DSPs) and eight more in progress; a total of 50 DSPs. I hope the Orchard Road experience is positive. May I ask what plans are there to further expand this to other parts of Singapore and protect the public from inhaling second-hand cigarette smoke?
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Ms K Thanaletchimi (Nominated Member): Madam, regarding the recent announcement on carbon tax, though it is in the right direction to reduce carbon emissions it will, however, have an impact on the industries' financial sustainability and, ultimately the workers and consumers. Are there other measures that we can put in place to incentivise the individual firms to be prudent and compel them to use alternative sources of energy?
With this tax, are we on track to meeting our commitment to lower carbon emissions? Has the Ministry explored other initiatives, considering the level of carbon emitted in our day-to-day life may have compounded the problem? Perhaps, the Ministry can consider further reviewing the following. One, creating greater awareness of the importance of addressing climate change and its implication on Singapore and its people. This can be done through schools, at workplaces and in public places with educational posters and documentary films, extensively promoting recycling, reducing or replacing the usage of plastics. This can be done by providing greater access and incentives for one to exchange empty bottles for coins − a practice found in Sweden. Pushing for consumers to bring their recyclable bags and not providing the alternative of plastic carrier bags could also be considered. It is the age-old culture that we need to reignite.
About 19% of carbon emission comes from transportation. Can we do more in getting electric vehicles instead of petroleum cars to ply our roads if our effort to make Singaporeans switch to public transport remains a challenge? Can we better incentivise companies and individuals to encourage such efforts?
The food we eat is what we are and what the environmental impact will be. It is important to educate Singaporeans on food that poses a negative impact on the environment. \"The biggest intervention people could make towards reducing their carbon footprints is to eat significantly less red meat,\" said Prof Tim Benton at the University of Leeds.
A research, led by scientists at the Oxford Martin School, found that shifting to a mostly vegetarian diet, or even simply cutting down meat consumption to within accepted health guidelines, would make a large dent in greenhouse gases. Adhering to health guidelines on meat consumption could cut global food-related emissions by nearly a third by 2050, while widespread adoption of a vegetarian diet would bring down emissions by 63%.
Lastly, the eco-friendly award is a timely reminder —
The Chairman:\tMs Thanaletchimi, your time is up. Can you please conclude?
Ms K Thanaletchimi: — of what we need to do and that protecting the environment is everybody's duty. Thank you, Madam.
The Chairman: Mr Gan Thiam Poh, you have two cuts. Please take them together.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): At the beginning of this year, NEA warned that we could see an increase in the number of dengue cases towards the middle of the year. The agency had detected 60% more Aedes aegypti mosquitoes the previous month over last October in its Gravitrap surveillance system. This is, indeed, very worrying. I am especially concerned about the impact of the disease on our elderly whose immune systems are weaker.
Can the Ministry provide an update on the study of the male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia bacteria? Initial studies have suggested that these released male mosquitoes have successfully mated with the urban females whose eggs do not hatch. Does the Ministry detect a fall in the number of dengue cases in the estates where these studies were conducted? In how many more estates will these male mosquitoes be released in the future?
The high diversity of circulating dengue serotypes is also worrying as immunity for one strain does not offer protection against other strains. Although the world's first dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, is now commercially available here, it is much less effective against two of our most common strains, Den 1 and Den 2. Nonetheless, since the vaccine reduces severe dengue by 84%, I hope that the Ministry will help publicise the availability of this vaccine to increase awareness.
I would also like to ask how successful our public education programme on the prevention of mosquito breeding has been. Are industries and residents more aware of the dangers and being more cooperative now?
The industry sector, as the largest emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, plays an important role in reducing our emissions. Consumers can also help by using more energy-efficient appliances. What plans does the Ministry have to improve industrial and household energy efficiency and thus reduce GHG emissions? How will these contribute towards Singapore's pledge to reduce our emissions under the Paris Agreement on climate change?
Dr Chia Shi-Lu (Tanjong Pagar): Madam, the Ministry announced air quality targets under the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint in 2015. Unfortunately, we are not on track to achieve our air quality targets by 2020. For the last two years, we have not been able to meet our targets for pollutants, such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), particulate matter (PM10) and ozone. I would like to request an update from the Ministry on its plans to achieve these targets.
For pollutants that are carried here by the winds from neighbouring countries, what is the progress of our collaborations with these nations to cut down on activities which produce haze?
On to the carbon tax. The carbon tax will affect between 30 and 40 direct emitters, such as power stations, should it start in 2019. How much improvement in air quality resulting from this tax does the Ministry expect and will the reduction be in time for us to reach the 2020 deadline?
Will the Ministry consider giving much more attractive rebates for cars which emit less pollutants to convince more buyers to switch to these cars while increasing the surcharges for more polluting vehicles?
Lastly, I hope the Ministry will look at measures to improve the quality of air in our estates by restricting indiscriminate burning for religious offerings and installing more accessible burners to encourage responsible usage. Can the Ministry also commission studies to improve the design of these burners?
Next cut, please. At last year's COS, the Ministry announced that it would undertake a study on diesel vehicles. Commercial vehicles, such as vans and lorries, are mostly diesel-driven and account for nearly 60% of our total pollution from vehicles although they make up only about 30% of vehicles on the roads.
I understand that SUTD has recently submitted its report on alternative technologies to the Ministry.
Diesel emissions are an area of concern. In 2016, some major cities around the world have taken actions to curb diesel vehicles which are known to emit higher levels of Particulate Matter (PM) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOx). For example, to improve air quality, Paris, Mexico City, Madrid and Athens have recently announced that they will ban the use of all diesel vehicles by 2025. I hope our Government will consider incentives, such as road tax exemptions and other rebates, for petrol-electric hybrid commercial vehicles or, even better, perhaps to follow in the footsteps of the above countries. May I know how MEWR's study is progressing and what are the likely findings and recommendations that they will make?
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, in September 2016, a research scientist from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (Smart) found that commuters who wait at bus stops could suffer more from the pollution of the toxic ultrafine particles emitted by vehicles. His research showed that a two-way bus journey five days a week could lead to a commuter inhaling about 3.5 times more tiny pollutant particles than at ambient level.
The Singapore Air Quality Data, provided by the NEA, only measures up to PM2.5. However, the particles found in vehicle emissions are 100 times smaller and thus are not currently captured in our air quality indices. Also, in many cities around the world, curbside pollution along main trunk routes is included in air quality indices. We should develop our own roadside index as part of our slew of air quality indices. Other than the informational function, the roadside air quality index will serve an educational purpose and as a progress tracking instrument in our fight against this specific pollution.
Vehicular emission control is the ultimate solution to this problem. But even as we make progress on this front, would the Ministry work with the relevant agencies to promote technological and design innovations to mitigate the effects of curbside pollution on bus commuters?
Recently, the experimental next-generation bus stop in Jurong made the news. Equipped with a swing, rooftop garden, artwork, library books and broadcast screens, the bus stop makes waiting productive and may even encourage more waiting. But this is actually a dangerous proposition given curbside pollution. I hope such experimental bus stops would also test technologies and designs to mitigate curbside pollution.
Mr Yee Chia Hsing (Chua Chu Kang): Mdm Chairman, the motorcycle traffic jams at both the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints are a daily common occurrence. Anyone who has crossed the causeway can see the long line of motorcycles entering and leaving Singapore.
Many motorbikes entering Singapore from Malaysia for work during dawn and rush back by night, often riding fast to beat the jams. Some of these motorcycles, with modified engines and exhaust, tend to emit loud noises, which cause a nuisance.
I have received several feedback from residents who stay along the PIE leading to the Tuas checkpoint about this noise pollution. I would like to ask the Ministry if enforcement measures against noisy motorbikes can be implemented or stepped up.
The Chairman: Mr Louis Ng, you have three cuts. Please take them together.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Thank you, Madam. One way you we can fight climate change is by promoting the use of hybrid cars or cars with lower emission. This can also contribute to cleaner air. Can the Ministry look into providing more incentives for buying vehicles with cleaner emissions, as well as introducing tighter emission standards for new vehicles.
Ultimately, we need to make sure that hybrid cars cost cheaper, at least slightly than high emission cars, so that more people will buy them.
My next cut. The haze pollution in 2016 was much less severe than in 2015. Did the Ministry's effort in naming the companies who may have contributed to the haze help? I am sure the Government's decision to buy only green label paper helps significantly as well.
As such, will the Government now look into procuring only sustainable palm oil, considering that it has announced support for the roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil recently? Lastly, what are the Ministry's expectations for the haze situation in 2017?
A haze-free ASEAN is only possible if all ASEAN states work together to resolve this longstanding problem. What is the progress of the Ministry's effort on the regional front to achieve a haze-free ASEAN? Specifically, how will Singapore be working with Indonesia and assist in the effort to prevent and clamp down on forest fires? What role can businesses and the general public play in contributing to this vision?
The Chairman: Mr Gan Thiam Poh, take your two cuts together.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh: Madam, the Linggiu Reservoir in Johor, Malaysia, is an essential source of our water supply. Its size is five times, larger than all of our 17 freshwater reservoirs combined. Our entitlement draw of 250 million gallons per day (mgd) of water from Linggiu meets over 60% of our current demand for 430 mgd of water.
Hence, the drastic drop in its water level over the past few years, from 84% to the lowest recorded level of 20% last October, is a matter of grave concern. How will the water supply in Singapore be affected if Linggiu reservoir runs dry? How we can build our water resilience against contingencies, such as weather uncertainties and supply disruptions?
Our demand for water is expected to rise to 800 mgd by 2061 as a result of growing population, commercial and industrial needs. In the same year, our 99-year water agreement with Malaysia will expire. How will our water supply be affected if Malaysia decides not to extend our water agreement? What plans do the Ministry and PUB have to ensure that our water supply is adequate in meeting future demand?
We have been experiencing more instances of extreme weather conditions, from prolonged dry weather to intense downpours resulting in flooding. More recently, we have lots of rain in the afternoons. Is the Ministry working on a long-term infrastructural solution to collect water during the heavy rains while mitigating the problems of flooding?
It is just as important for us to minimise water wastage. How efficient is our system of inspection to detect, prevent and minimise water wastage and leaks?
For many years, most of us have taken the flow of clean water from our taps for granted. We must step up our efforts to increase public awareness of our water conservation. How has the progress of our public education efforts been? Can the Minister share updates on water saving designs and installations in our buildings? Next cut.
Would the Ministry elaborate on the Government's expenditure, investments and subsidies for water made to ensure sufficient and reliable water supply for Singapore? How does the Government reach the figure of 30% for the increase of water price?
Given the current poor economic climate, businesses, in general, will find it difficult to stomach the water price increases. Is it possible for the Ministry to defer the price increase or stagger it over the next five years with smaller annual adjustments?
Our individual households play an important role in water conservation as they account for 45% of the water demand. What are the plans the Ministry has to help and encourage Singaporeans to practise water conservation and adopt water saving measures at home? What are the available technologies families can tap on to reduce their water bills?
Miss Cheng Li Hui (Tampines): Madam, the water price increase is applied across-the-board to all households and businesses. However, industries that use large amounts of water, such as food, paper and chemicals, may be more adversely affected. As water is a basic cost for these industries, this cost may then be transferred to consumers. Can the Ministry consider a \"Tiered Pricing System\" to help those industries which are more reliant on water?
Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): Madam, household size matters. Each person in a household may be trying their best, saving water, reducing their water consumption. But it adds up if you have many people at home in a big household. Progressive water taxation calculated at a per-household level does not distinguish between big or small families. This may end up having a regressive effect on large families living in the same home at the same address, some of whom may be lower-income families. Has the Ministry studied the possibility of per capita consumption as a new measure, if not for now, then for the future, as our technology improves? Some other agencies already consider per capita measures for forms of financial assistance and subsidy.
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim (Nee Soon): Mdm Chairman, Singaporeans were informed that water tariffs will go up by about 30% by 2018 in two steps − one in July this year and, the second, on 1 July 2018. As a Singaporean, I am grateful for the efforts made by Minister Masagos and other Ministers and Members of Parliament, agencies and fellow Singaporeans as well, helping to clarify and give a clearer picture about this move.
These clarifications, via parliamentary debates, media coverage and ground engagement, have given some Singaporeans an accurate picture on issues relating to water and the recent proposed initiatives to increase water tariffs. I, myself, have attended and carried out my own engagement with my residents and fellow Singaporeans. I realised that we need a lot of explanation, sometimes argument, and, finally, most importantly, many get the accurate picture. And there were a few comments made by them after the engagement. For example, one person I met, who after speaking to him for a while, told me, \"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?\" Another one I met, who was very concerned about needy Singaporeans, shared with me and said that, \"Fortunately, I met you this morning. I have a better perspective about the issue now. But you must help needy Singaporeans.\" And another one shared with me that he has read this post which shows that the water price will increase by more than 30%. He said, \"The social media is a dangerous place. I got all my facts and figures wrong.\"
So, I feel that without our efforts and clarifications, I fear that many Singaporeans will get the wrong information and may be misguided. Still, there are residents whom I met who were concerned about the increase in water tariffs. I would like to ask the Minister: with the price hike in water, is water still affordable to Singaporeans, especially to the low- and middle-income households?
Dr Chia Shi-Lu: Thank you, Mdm Chairman. I think many of my comments echo the previous Members'. For the first time in 17 years, our water price will increase, with the first 15% in July this year and another 15% in July next year. Many residents that I have spoken with understand and do support the rationale for this increase, considering the enormous sums of money that we have to continue spending on our water infrastructure in order to achieve water self-sufficiency in the long term. However, many of them have made suggestions. First, is it possible to perhaps stagger the increase even further, perhaps, say, 10% over three years, instead of 15% over two years? Another question is: what are the Ministry's plans to mitigate future increases in the price of water down the road?
It has also been reassuring to hear over the last few days in this House, the help which lower and middle income families will get to manage this increase. After subsidies, households in 1-room and 2-room flats will hardly see any increase in their bills, and 75% of our HDB households can expect less than a $12 increment in their bills per month. Nonetheless, I am still concerned about some financially vulnerable households which may still be coping or struggling with utilities arrears, despite the subsidies. How will the Ministry assist this group of low-income households cope?
Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Madam, hawker centres are an integral part of Singaporeans' everyday life. It is also an important part of Singapore's social landscape where Singaporeans from all walks of lifes and all backgrounds come together to enjoy a good meal and at an affordable price.
We must retain and strengthen this unique identity of ours and keep the culture of hawker centres alive and well. This is why, like many Members here in this House, I have always pushed for more hawker centres in Parliament as well as during my engagements with the Ministers and Ministries during GPC meetings. Hence, it was with great joy and satisfaction for me personally when the Government finally announced to resume the building of new hawker centres in 2011, and, in total, 20 centres by 2027, which I thought is not an ambitious timeline. We should do it faster.
I am glad that the Ministry commissioned a Hawker Centre 3.0 Committee, chaired by Senior Minister of State Amy Khor, to look into how we can make improvements to the overall offerings of hawker centres, making them more vibrant and to sustain the hawker business.
The report, with a list of recommendations, was released last month. I would like to use this opportunity of the COS to seek the Ministry's response to the recommendations put up by the Committee. In particular, I have four specific questions.
Firstly, on sustaining the hawker trade, what training programmes would the Government be introducing that are different from the existing culinary courses?
Secondly, productivity initiatives usually have cost implications, such as requiring upfront costs. Are there any measures to address the cost implications of productivity initiatives on the hawkers?
Thirdly, what plans does the Government have to increase the vibrancy of hawker centres?
And fourthly, NEA has been advocating tray-return with varied levels of success. What more will the Government do to improve tray-return rates in existing centres?
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Madam, when the tray return initiative was launched in 2012, it was briefly touted as a success in the early days, but with a caveat − the high return rates came only when volunteers were around to encourage patrons to return trays. Back then, NEA acknowledged that the tray return initiative had still some way to go before the practice takes root.
It has been more than four years since the return tray initiative was launched. I am not sure if my experience and observation at hawker centres is an outlier, but the practice has not taken root and the initiative does not seem to be achieving its objective. Tables at hawker centres and food outlets continue to be cluttered with leftover food, dishes and trays, regardless of peak or off-peak hours.
I seek an update from the Minister on the progress of the roll-out of the return tray facilities in all hawker centres and the effort NEA intends to take to make this initiative work. Without a sustained effort to promote this facility, which costs an average of $11,000 per hawker centre, it will not be money well spent.
Next, I wish to seek an update from NEA on its anti-littering campaigns. The 2010 campaign \"Do The Right Thing. Let's Bin It!\" was rather a mouthful and forgettable as the message was not sustained as well. Littering remains a problem in our city state despite the many years of effort to educate the public on the anti-social behaviour.
As a first-world country, we are certainly not living like one in the area of cleanliness. Madam, the success of the tray return initiative and anti-littering campaign is an important part of the equation in our effort to keep bird nuisance and rodent infestation at bay. I urge the Ministry not to let up in its effort to imbue the public with social responsibility for the good of the country.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong: Madam, it has been three years since the social enterprise model for managing hawker centres was piloted. Recently, in December 2016, NEA announced that it was moving forward with the next phase with two components.
The first component is the call for social enterprises to tender for the management of two new hawker centres at Yishun and Jurong West. The second component is the appointment of NTUC Foodfare to manage what NEA calls a \"pilot group\" of two new hawker centres in Woodlands and Pasir Ris, and five existing hawker centres in Toa Payoh, Old Airport Road, Whampoa and Chong Pang. NEA believes this would offer NTUC Foodfare economies of scale and greater flexibility to experiment with new ideas and operational processes.
I have several questions. Concerning the \"pilot group\", given the geographical spread of the hawker centres, how are economies of scale achieved? Why is there a need, in the first place, for economies of scale? Is the operator under cost pressures and what are these? Have rental rates at the Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre gone up in the last three years? Similarly, have the prices of the food there gone up in the last three years?
For the two new hawker centres in the group, will there be a mix of subsidised and non-subsidised stallholders paying market rentals?
The same question applies to the two new hawker centres being tendered out for social enterprise management. Also, would NTUC Foodfare be excluded, in the interest of allowing for a diversity of operators, to experiment with new ideas and operational processes and to develop expertise? If NTUC Foodfare requires economies of scale, then what about the new operators?
The Chairman: Mr Gan Thiam Poh, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh: Thank you, Madam. Littering tickets issued by NEA rose 18% last year to reach 31,000 tickets. This is despite years of ongoing public education and enhanced fines for litterbugs. Would the Ministry share how many repeat offenders were issued Corrective Work Orders (CWOs) in the last three years and does it think that they have been effective? Will there be changes to how the CWO is conducted to increase their effectiveness?
High-rise littering is such a hazard. All of us know that it is called \"killer litter\". But it is difficult to apprehend the culprits. The Ministry has been deploying mobile surveillance cameras to catch such residents in the act. Can the Ministry provide an update on the effectiveness of these cameras in deterring high-rise littering? How many cameras are in use and how many litterbugs have been caught in the last year?
The Chairman: Mr Louis Ng, you have two cuts. Please take them together.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: Thank you, Madam. Can NEA provide an update on the effectiveness of the designated smoking areas and points in Orchard Road and Nee Soon South? What are the Government's further plans to protect the general public from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke? Will it be moving towards only allowing smoking at designated areas, instead of having a list of prohibited areas? Will the Ministry consider expanding the ban on smoking outside designated areas to other busy streets, such as the Central Business District and the Civic District, as done in other cities like Tokyo and Kyoto?
Singapore is currently the second largest producer of e-waste per person in Asia. I am encouraged by NEA's intention to implement a regulated national system to collect and recycle e-waste and would like to ask the Minister for an update about this.
In the meantime, we still face the problem of appliances, such as fridges and air-conditioners which contain refrigerant gas, such as HCFCs, a gas which is extremely harmful to the environment and to human health. It seems that, currently, there are insufficient facilities and industry incentives for proper disposal of these appliances and many are not properly discarded. In the US, the venting of HCFCs is illegal. And Hong Kong and Australia have also set guidelines. I understand that NEA will phase out the import of these fridges with HCFCs by 2030. But what is our interim solution? What facilities are currently available in Singapore for the venting of HCFCs, and has the Ministry set any industry guidelines? Would the Ministry consider setting up a national facility for the proper removal of HCFCs from appliances before they are incinerated?
Assoc Prof Randolph Tan (Nominated Member): Mdm Chairman, there is an urgent need for a national plan for managing e-waste. As the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources has explained in his responses to some Parliamentary Questions over the last few months, 60,000 tonnes of e-waste are generated annually in Singapore. This is not a small amount for our size. According to a 2013 article published in the journal, Waste Management, 500 million computers became obsolete in the United States between 1997 and 2007. China generated 1.11 million tonnes of e-waste annually. While I should point out that precise comparisons are difficult because of differences in definitions and time period considered, we should not delay making strong moves to address what will certainly turn out to be a growing problem for our environment.
Because we have limited space and disposal options, any accumulation over time will be more difficult for us to manage later. Also, the scale of the e-waste challenge in Asia is unclear but, by all accounts, growing, adding to the concern. The lack of a visible nature of e-waste at present appears to suggest that the problem is obscure. As e-waste accumulates, without a comprehensive management scheme, the problem, including the requirements for specialised methods of dealing with toxic materials, will grow. A national management plan should include the capability for tracking e-waste production and address improper disposal.
Dr Chia Shi-Lu: Madam, I think we all agree that there is much room for improvement of waste collection in Singapore. In HDB estates under my care, I frequently see cleaners manually hauling refuse to the bin centres from the chutes. I also get complaints from residents on the odour and pests when these activities are not done properly or when the bin centres are not properly secured. How does the Ministry plan to improve waste collection in our housing estates and hawker centres? And will the Ministry act to upgrade the older bin centres in some of our estates?
I would also like to suggest that we improve the way that waste is disposed of in the first place. For example, food waste is the primary culprit for causing odour and attracting pests. The Eco-Wiz's EcoDigester breaks down food to produce water that can be reused for cleaning or landscaping. This system, as I understand it, is already installed at around 30 hotels, restaurants and schools and at the Ang Mo Kio market. Each digester can process about one tonne of waste per day. Can this system be studied further and, perhaps, be installed at each precinct so that we can involve residents to dispose of their food waste in an environmentally-friendly way and also generate some water along the way?
The Chairman: Assoc Prof Dr Faishal Ibrahim. You have two cuts. Take them together, please.
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Mdm Chairman, as Singapore becomes a more affluent country and as our population grows, we generate more waste. Further, the waste that is generated is more complex to process. For example, many residents replace their mobile phones or computers once every two to three years and electronic goods would come in several layers of packaging.
Could the Ministry share what it sees as key waste streams and outline its broad plans to handle the waste in the upcoming years?
The domestic recycling rates in Singapore seem to have stagnated at around 19%-20% for many years. As a result, the amount of refuse being burnt and buried at the Semakau landfill has been steadily increasing with the growing population and economic activity. This is not sustainable as Singapore has limited land and sea space for landfills.
What is the Ministry's plan to improve domestic recycling rates to 30% by 2030 under the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint?
Mr Liang Eng Hwa: Mdm Chairman, the public may not know this but we generate a tremendous amount of waste each year. As I understand from the Ministry, in 2015, an estimated 785,500 tonnes of food waste were generated, a 40% increase from the amount generated in 2005. So, a 40% increase over 10 years. Besides efforts to reduce waste, we should also look at how we could better recycle waste.
I understand that NEA has already worked with the private sector to treat food waste, for example, in hawker centres. Many large F&B operators have also installed their own on-site food waste digesters. May I seek an update on the progress of these initiatives?
While these are commendable, these premises only treat the waste they generate. There are benefits to adopt a district-level approach to treat food waste from various premises, such as economies of scale and avoiding the need for individual premises to set aside space for their own digester. Last year, the Ministry announced a project to collect food waste from various premises in Clementi for treatment at a centralised facility. Can the Minister provide an update on the project?
The Chairman: Miss Cheng Li Hui, you have three cuts. Please take them together.
Miss Cheng Li Hui: Madam, Singapore generates 140 kg of food waste per person each year but combustion of food waste is inefficient.
At Our Tampines Hub, we have an Eco-digester Centre. Every month, the hub generates about 10 tonnes of food waste. From this, we are able to derive approximately 100 kg of fertilizer, 1,000 litres of non-portable water and 600 litres of liquid nutrients. The water is used for general cleaning of the Eco-digester centre and the nutrients are used for landscapes in our hub.
In 2016, the Ministry announced its plans for a district-level food waste recycling pilot. Could the Ministry give an update on its plans to promote food waste recycling on a larger scale? And will we involve more children in these programmes to raise their awareness of food wastage?
The domestic recycling rates in Singapore have stagnated at around 19% to 20% for many years and our contamination rate is high. This is possibly because the rubbish chutes in our housing estates are so convenient. What is the plan to tackle this problem going forward and how can we encourage more people to recycle?
There is much potential to improve waste collection in Singapore. I frequently see cleaners manually moving garbage from the chutes to the bin centre. Sometimes, we get complaints from residents about the smell and the pests when these activities are not properly carried out. What is the Ministry's plan to improve waste collection?
As Singapore becomes more affluent and as our population grows, we also generate more waste. Furthermore, waste is getting more complex to process, and many residents replace household electronic items that come in different packaging. How can we educate the public on better ways of disposal? Could the Ministry share the plans to handle waste in future?
The Chairman: Minister Masagos.
The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): With your permission, Mdm Chairman, may I ask the Clerks to distribute the infographics for MEWR COS 2017?
The Chairman:\tYes, please. [Handouts were distributed to hon Members.]
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The environment has been at the top of our minds this Budget. I thank everyone who has spoken about the need to protect our resources for future generations. Singapore is not alone. Many other countries are paying closer attention to the environment, even as they grow their economies.
We have a plan called the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint (SSB). This plan brings together all that we are doing, in pursuit of a Liveable and Endearing Home, a Vibrant and Sustainable City, and an Active and Gracious Community.
I am glad to say that we have made progress over the course of 2016 and remain on track to meet the SSB targets progressively by 2030. A strong commitment to sustainability remains critical as we build our future economy. As Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and Ms K Thanaletchimi have highlighted, it will take not only Government support but also the collective effort of every individual to realise this SSB vision. That is why we launched the Sustainable Singapore Movement in July last year to galvanise the community to action.
Climate change. While we stand on solid footing, the road ahead is uncertain. A major concern for us is climate change, a far-reaching threat that we can already see and feel today. Our Meteorological Service recorded 2016 as the hottest year since 1929, when we started keeping temperature records. In recent years, our water managers, too, have had a foretaste of the looming challenge of coping with extended dry spells on the one hand and higher intensity rainfall on the other. Singapore has to plan ahead to deal with climate change impacts. We will not only need to protect our buildings, coasts and infrastructure, but also foster greater awareness, so that we are a resilient people.
As a responsible member of the international community, Singapore is committed to fulfilling our pledge under the Paris Agreement to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Both households and industry play a role in this, as Mr Gan Thiam Poh has noted. Industry, however, contributes the lion's share − 60% − of Singapore's greenhouse gas emissions. We, therefore, need to focus our efforts here.
The upcoming carbon tax to be imposed on large emitters, as announced by the Minister for Finance, will help send the right price signal to industries to reduce their emissions when and where it makes the most business sense.
The carbon tax, however, is not a panacea for achieving our 2030 emissions pledge. We will need other measures to complement the tax. That is why we introduced the Energy Conservation Act (ECA) in 2013, to put in place measures, such as mandatory energy management, and encourage companies to enhance their energy efficiency. I am pleased to report that we have made progress on this front since then.
Let me give an example. Mdm Chairman, with your permission, I would like to show some slides please.
The Chairman: Yes, please. [Slides were shown to hon Members.]
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Murata Electronics Singapore, which manufactures electronic components, is becoming an early adopter of efficient motors. Murata is replacing 50 motors with higher efficiency ones. This will save Murata some 160 MWh of electricity each year. These annual savings of $21,000 in energy costs will last throughout the 15-year lifespan of the motors.
Murata is a good example of how industrial energy efficiency measures can benefit the environment as well as the company's bottom line, but, for the industry sector as a whole, there is clearly more to be done.
Data collected shows that our companies achieved an annual energy efficiency improvement rate of 0.6% in 2015, a slight improvement over 0.4% in 2014. This is still low. To meet our 2030 pledge, we need to work towards the 1% to 2% improvement rates achieved by leading countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands.
On a positive note, companies that I spoke to at a recent consultation session recognised the importance of improving their energy efficiency. They, however, mentioned that they faced operational and capability constraints. Some also asked for best practices and useful data to be shared with them.
We are studying their feedback and, for a start, we will amend the Energy Conservation Act to introduce a new set of initiatives to help companies improve their energy efficiency.
First, all ECA-registered companies will now be required to implement structured energy management systems and conduct regular energy efficiency opportunity assessments.
Second, companies expanding their facilities will need to factor energy efficiency into their designs upfront, as well as measure and report energy usage for key energy-consuming systems.
Third, NEA's data shows that a substantial proportion of common industrial equipment is inefficient. Hence, Minimum Energy Performance Standards will be introduced, first, for motors, and then other systems and equipment progressively. These practices are in line with that of leading jurisdictions and will help companies to adopt more efficient equipment, conserve energy and enjoy life cycle cost savings.
To pave the way for a robust carbon tax regime, we need to have a sound Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system. The ECA will thus be amended to require larger industrial emitters to improve the quality of measurement and reporting processes for their greenhouse gas emissions. This will help companies to better understand and manage their emissions.
My Ministry will continue to work closely with the NCCS and MTI to consult the affected companies on how to best achieve this.
We have also received feedback on the need to improve the current incentive schemes. NEA will be consolidating their existing energy efficiency incentive schemes into a single fund called the Energy Efficiency Fund (E2F). NEA will redesign the E2F to better support companies to identify and undertake energy efficiency retrofits. We will, especially, help our SMEs by co-funding up to 30% of their investments in energy-efficient technologies. Further details will be released by NEA.
We need a sustainable way to grow our economy. It is even more important if the world becomes increasingly carbon-constrained.
Mdm Chairman, let me move on to another key priority of the SSB: ensuring good air quality, which Dr Chia Shi-Lu, Assoc Prof Daniel Goh and other Members have spoken about. Indeed, just this week, the World Health Organization reported that, worldwide, more than 0.5 million children die every year, due to air pollution.
Over the years, we have taken steps to improve Singapore's air quality, all to safeguard the health of our population. Measures include tightening industrial emission standards, updating emission standards for new vehicles and introducing schemes to turn over older, more polluting vehicles. Just last year, we tightened the emission standards for new motorcycles to the latest Euro 4 standards. These measures have made a difference. NEA's studies show that the amount of pollutants emitted by vehicles have fallen by between 20% and 35% over the last decade. However, we have still some way to go to meet our SSB targets.
I announced last year that my Ministry would conduct a review on the diesel vehicle landscape, given rising global concerns over the health and environmental impact of diesel emissions.
Diesel vehicles are a major source of local air pollution, especially particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Studies have found that PM can penetrate the lungs and contribute to heart attacks, strokes and even dementia; while NOx becomes ground level ozone, which can result in respiratory problems. It is not surprising that many cities around the world have taken drastic steps to limit diesel vehicles within their city centres.
Given these concerns, Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and Dr Chia Shi-Lu have asked for an update on our progress. As part of our review, we commissioned Asst Prof Lynette Cheah from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) to study the impact of diesel vehicles and the availability of alternative technologies. The study found that there are, indeed, cleaner alternatives for certain classes of vehicles. At the same time, we recognise these alternatives also have limitations and may require infrastructure that is not widely available today. Nevertheless, my Ministry will explore ways with other agencies to encourage the adoption of viable alternatives to diesel vehicles.
The volumetric diesel duty, which the Minister for Finance introduced two weeks ago, is in line with our plans. A usage-based tax better accounts for the harmful effects of each litre of diesel fuel used. We hope that this will encourage individuals and companies to optimise their use of diesel fuel and even switch to alternative technologies with lower emissions.
Apart from this, we will continue with our three-pronged approach in managing vehicular emissions.
Firstly, we encourage the purchase of cleaner vehicles, such as low emission hybrid cars, which Mr Louis Ng spoke about. The Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) was first designed to nudge consumers towards vehicles with lower carbon emissions. This remains important as vehicles contribute the second largest share of Singapore's greenhouse gas emissions, after industries.
However, we now need to revise CEVS to include tailpipe emissions of harmful air pollutants, on top of carbon dioxide. The revised CEVS will be renamed as the Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES). To incentivise the purchase of car and taxi models which are more environmentally friendly overall, the VES rebate or surcharge will be determined by the worst performing pollutant. This incentive framework has worked well in the past and we will continue to review its effectiveness.
Secondly, we inspect vehicles already on the road to minimise harmful emissions from them. The in-use emission standard for diesel vehicles was already tightened in January 2014. We will now introduce new in-use emission standards for petrol vehicles and motorcycles, similar to those already in place in Europe and Japan. These standards are designed to be easily met by properly maintained vehicles. The new standards will take effect on 1 April 2018 and will help minimise excessive emissions due to vehicle defects or poor maintenance.
Thirdly, we encourage the removal of older and more polluting vehicles. To incentivise this, we will revise the Early Turnover Scheme (ETS). The ETS has been successful, with over 27,000 older diesel vehicles being replaced by newer ones, resulting in significant reductions in NOx and PM. We will extend the scheme for Euro II and III diesel commercial vehicles that switch over to Euro 6 and equivalent models, for two years from August 2017.
Given industry feedback, as well as the findings that Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs) remain a major contributor of diesel pollution due to their large population, the scheme will also be enhanced by increasing the COE bonus for LGVs from 13% to 35%. We hope that through this, more diesel commercial vehicles and buses will switch to Euro 6 models or cleaner electric hybrids or petrol alternatives.
Transboundary haze − as a small city-state, clean air is not just a local issue. Forest and peatland fires in the region can produce haze which affects us. Transboundary haze is not only detrimental to the social and economic well-being of Southeast Asian nations, it represents a major setback to the global effort to fight climate change. A scientific study has shown that the 2015 fires in Indonesia released nearly 1 gigaton of greenhouse gases. Daily emissions during that haze period were even higher than that of the entire European Union.
Fortunately, the relatively wet southwest monsoon season in 2016 and active efforts by the Indonesian government have prevented a repeat of the 2015 haze. However, as we approach the next dry season, we appreciate the recent commitment by the Indonesian government to take action to prevent fires. In fact, as we speak, the Riau province is under emergency alert for potential fires.
It is important that we continue to send a strong deterrent message to errant companies responsible for these fires, that they must change their ways. That is why we enacted the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act (THPA) in 2014. We will continue to take all steps necessary to enforce the THPA, while ensuring that we operate within the ambit of international law.
Businesses and the general public can play their part, too. Large companies should especially ensure that sustainable practices extend throughout their entire supply chain. I am glad that, last year, WWF-Singapore, together with Unilever, Danone, Ayam Brand, IKEA and Wildlife Reserves Singapore, launched the Singapore Alliance for Sustainable Palm Oil. This alliance aims to transform the palm oil industry by increasing the availability and usage of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) in the region.
At the same time, the Singapore Environment Council has enhanced the criteria for the Singapore Green Label for pulp and paper products to take into account the companies' efforts to prevent fires on their plantations and manage their plantations on peatland. With the enhanced label, consumers will be better able to identify paper companies with sustainable business practices and make their choices accordingly.
As Mr Louis Ng has pointed out, regional cooperation remains essential to tackle the haze problem. Last year, ASEAN member states came together to develop the Roadmap on ASEAN Cooperation towards Transboundary Haze Pollution Control. This is a laudable development and underscores the region's commitment to realise the vision of a Haze-free ASEAN by 2020. We all look forward to the completion of the ASEAN study on the social, health and economic impacts of the 2015 haze crisis, which will consolidate the case for the ASEAN member states to strengthen efforts to prevent the recurrence of haze.
Mdm Chairman, I have laid out our plans to secure clean energy and clean air. Let me turn to clean water. Firstly, I appreciate all who have given their comments on the water price revision over the past week and during the COS, and the many Ministers who have responded. I would like to revisit our water story. To do this, let me begin with \"the tale of two countries\" − the Netherlands and Singapore.
Both our countries face acute water problems. However, the Dutch have a different problem from us − that of too much water. They have plenty of water from rivers and much of the country lies below sea level and is prone to flooding. The massive flood of 1953, in which thousands perished, is etched in their national memory.
A few months ago, I visited the small town of Zuidplas, the lowest point of the Netherlands and all of Europe. Can Members see the man standing there, below the marker which says 7.8 metres below sea level? This marker shows that people in Zuidplas live 7.8 metres below sea level and are actually hardly aware of it. Even so, people all over the Netherlands are always reminded that the rivers could overflow anytime, inundating their homes and destroying their livelihoods. Thus, to adapt, the Dutch, over time, built a complex system of dykes, pumps and water storage capabilities across the country.
This was possible because each household contributed its share of water taxes, establishing the world's first and only water bank which could finance large investments. In fact, this bank was instrumental in the recovery and the aftermath of the 1953 floods. Today, the Dutch continue to pour over EUR$400 million into flood protection each year. Climate change threatens catastrophes if they do not. This capability has turned into a great advantage. They have attracted water-intensive industries to invest and their expertise is exported globally. Even Singapore is now learning how to construct a polder at Pulau Tekong with their help.
We know that the Singapore Story is at the other extreme. We do not have enough water. But we must take the same determined approach as the Dutch. We have strived relentlessly to secure a reliable and good quality water supply through innovation, sound management and a national awareness of our unique situation.
Our strategy involves not just long-term planning, but also right-pricing and water conservation measures. All these levers work in tandem.
Let me touch on planning. Planning and investing in water resources ahead of time is in our DNA. This is even more critical in the face of looming challenges of climate change to water security, and this applies around the world. We have only to look at Linggiu Reservoir, which is about a third full now and can dry up if current extractions continue and prolonged dry weather returns, unpredicted.
It has always worried us because a dry Linggiu Reservoir will be disastrous for both Singapore and Johor in many ways. The Dutch will recall they did not pay heed to the 1928 and 1934 studies, which repeatedly warned that their dykes were inadequate. Even when high water in 1943 reached the dykes, only simple repairs were made, because they were distracted even after World War II was over. The fact is nobody felt like spending a vast amount of money on raising the dykes. After all, there were no floods for years. So, when the storm surge of 1953 happened, water broke through the dykes and claimed 1,800 lives.
For us, because we were adequately prepared in 2014, the prolonged dry weather in Singapore did not cost us dearly. But low rainfall continued to take a toll on Linggiu in 2015 and 2016, leaving it at its lowest level of 20% in October 2016.
For PUB, it is always about ensuring resilience in our water supply so that disruptions do not occur to our businesses and no Singaporeans will die of thirst.
How have we done this? Last year, PUB completed its latest review of the Water Master Plan, a strategic blueprint for our water till 2060. The plan provides for development of NEWater and desalination plants to meet up to 85% of our water demand by 2060, as well as new pipelines for drinking water and used water. We are making good progress on the plans. Singapore's fifth NEWater plant, located at Changi, officially opened in January this year.
The third desalination plant in Tuas will be completed this year, and the fourth and fifth desalination plants in Marina East and Jurong Island are underway. Phase 2 of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS), which includes the new water reclamation plant at Tuas, is on track for completion by 2025.
All these have now become critical so that we have a resilient water supply when the weather does not favour us. The Dutch have taken a leaf from the lesson of history and likewise planned ahead and built storm barriers, one of which is the largest moving structures on earth, to defend against exceptional storm surges and the new climate predictions.
We also need to maintain and upgrade our existing water assets, as the Dutch have done with their dykes. As our infrastructure ages, PUB will accelerate renewal plans to minimise pipe leakages and supply interruptions. Our unaccounted-for water losses, which include leakages from our supply network, are around 5%. This is among the lowest worldwide. In London, leakage is about one-fifth of water demand. We cannot afford that. It equates to losing all the water produced by two or three desalination plants.
That brings me to water conservation, another key lever in our system, which Mr Gan spoke about. My Ministry and PUB have a suite of measures, in addition to right-pricing, to promote greater water savings for households and businesses.
In 2016, households used 148 litres of water per capita per day, down significantly from a decade ago. We still have some way to go to reach our SSB target of 140 litres by 2030, not to mention trying to achieve even lower levels, as seen in cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen. If each of us can save 10 litres of water per day, that is almost half a desalination plant.
Over the past weeks, I have been inspired by the many stories of people who have gone the extra mile to conserve water. Some save the rinsed water discharged from washing machines for toilet flushing, while others used the water from washing rice to water their plants. HDB residents are now used to having their corridors washed every four weeks rather than two weeks. This is the right spirit. We should do more together.
To help water saving initiatives, PUB will introduce several new measures. As part of our plans to phase out less water-efficient products, PUB will raise the minimum standards to two-tick rating for the sale, supply and installation of water fittings from April 2019. PUB will also extend labelling requirements to dishwashers from October 2018.
PUB will also introduce two new water conservation programmes for households.
First, PUB will roll out a community project for lower income households to replace their existing nine-litre water closets with more efficient ones. This can help them save up to 10% in their monthly water bills.
Second, PUB will be installing smart shower devices for 10,000 new homes as a demonstration project. The smart shower device provides real-time information on water consumption during showers. An earlier small scale study found that a person could save up to five litres a day using these devices. If the positive effects are validated in the demonstration project, PUB may roll out the devices to even more households.
As for businesses, we will continue to work with them to optimise water use. For large users, PUB has, since 2015, required the submission of Water Efficiency Management Plans (WEMP), which help companies better understand to manage their water consumption. At a recent consultation, some companies, including SSMC, a wafer fabrication facility, said that they invest in water-saving measures as a matter of principle, even though water formed only a small part of their costs. I am heartened that, for these companies, they are driven as much by water conservation DNA as company profit and loss (P&L). I hope many more businesses will follow suit.
Let me now turn to drainage. As Er Dr Lee Bee Wah pointed out, climate change will pose challenges to flood management as well. PUB will continue with its island-wide programme to rehabilitate and upgrade our drains to higher design standards. This year, we will start work at another 27 locations.
The Stamford Detention Tank will be ready this year, while the Stamford Diversion Canal and the Bukit Timah First Diversion Canal will be completed in 2018. These works, when ready, will enhance flood protection for the catchments.
Our water bodies are critical assets, but we have to make them accessible. Just over a decade ago, we launched the Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) Programme, to allow Singaporeans to own and enjoy our water resources.
I am pleased to share that 34 ABC Waters projects have been opened to the community to date. This year, we can expect the opening of four new ABC Waters projects across the island, including Pang Sua Pond and Siglap Canal, which should be opened later this month. Another four projects at Sungei Tampines (Tampines Ave 7 to TPE), Chestnut Drive Outlet Drain, Sungei Simpang Kanan and Alexandra Sub-drain A will commence construction this year. I hope this serves as a constant reminder of our precious asset.
Mdm Chairman, I have touched on our approach to water to ensure that we do not have too little and to help us manage when there is too much. Many of us are familiar with the Singapore Water Story. Perhaps there is a risk of over-familiarity, a certain jadedness from one too many social studies lessons. Just like water flowing from taps everywhere, it can become invisible, overlooked, undervalued, just like the people in Zuidplas who are not aware that they live 7.8 metres below sea level.
This month, we celebrate World Water Day, to highlight the importance of water sustainability. It is a timely reminder that even today, 663 million people around the world do not have access to clean water. It is in this context that we should relive and encounter afresh our Water Story, the story of what it takes for our people to remain free.
Our Water Story is not concluded; it is not history. Instead, the Water Story is a living story and continues to be written by all Singaporeans today, whether in producing it or conserving it. Sometimes, it is in the larger things, in PUB continuously investing for water supply and their unceasing effort to discover new technologies. Sometimes, it is the smaller things, like when we use a mug to brush our teeth or when the coffeeshop downstairs installs automated cup washing machines that use less water. These are all stories that make our Water Story.
Mdm Chairman, I hand over now to Senior Minister of State Dr Amy Khor to address our other strategies to make Singapore a sustainable and liveable home.
The Chairman: Senior Minister of State Dr Khor.
The Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan): Mdm Chairman, may I have your permission to display some slides and a video on the LED screen?
The Chairman:\tYes, please. [Slides were shown to hon Member.]
Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: Thank you. Mdm Chairman, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew once said, \"After Independence, I searched for some dramatic way to distinguish ourselves from other Third World countries. I settled for a clean and green Singapore\". Thus, Mr Lee, together with the Pioneer generation of Singaporeans, embarked on an unprecedented journey to transform Singapore from a slum into a Garden City.
Today, as we work towards further enhancing Singapore's liveability, we, too, need to think and act boldly on matters relating to the environment, as Mr Lee did. All the more so, as we face huge challenges, such as manpower constraints, an ageing population and acute land scarcity.
Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim and Miss Cheng Li Hui raised relevant points on waste management. Let me first outline my Ministry's overall strategy and priorities in managing waste. There are three key waste streams of greatest concern to us.
The first is electrical and electronic waste, or e-waste for short. As Assoc Prof Randolph Tan and Mr Louis Ng have highlighted, about 60,000 tonnes of e-waste are generated annually. Currently, consumers can participate in e-waste recycling programmes which industry stakeholders voluntarily provide. For example, StarHub provides e-waste recycling bins at almost 280 convenient locations, such as shopping malls and community centres, through its RENEW programme. The e-waste collected is sent to recyclers, such as Tes-Amm, where resources, such as copper, aluminium and gold are extracted for reuse.
We are currently consulting industry stakeholders on an enhanced national e-waste management system, which would cover both the collection and disposal of e-waste. Some countries, such as Germany and South Korea, have implemented similar systems. We will take into account our local context, such as product coverage and the physical and financial responsibilities of key stakeholders, when developing the system. More details will be released later this year.
Mr Louis Ng spoke about HCFCs. Singapore is a party to the Montreal Protocol and will phase out the use of HCFCs by 2030. We have put in place measures to help us achieve this, such as controls on the import of HCFCs for local use. Apart from regulatory control, we encourage the recycling of refrigerants recovered from refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. Local recycling facilities, such as Vemac Services Pte Ltd, recover refrigerants from decommissioned industrial and commercial systems. We will monitor developments in this area and assess the feasibility of implementing a management framework for HCFCs, taking into consideration the risk to human health, technical limitations and the potential compliance costs which businesses would have to bear.
The second concern is packaging waste, which makes up around one-third of our domestic waste. Since the launch of our voluntary Singapore Packaging Agreement in 2007, we have achieved a cumulative reduction of more than 32,000 tonnes of packaging waste, but more can be done. We are exploring possible regulations for businesses, such as mandatory reporting of packaging placed on the local market and the submission of packaging waste reduction plans, over the next two to four years. We will study the issues and announce the details when ready.
The third concern is food waste, which Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Miss Cheng Li Hui have raised. My Ministry has been pursuing several initiatives on this front.
We are encouraging more on-site food waste initiatives in individual entities, such as hotels, shopping malls, educational institutions and hawker centres.
Mr Liang asked for an update on the district-level food waste treatment pilot in Clementi. Since the end of last year, source-segregated food waste from nine sites, including schools, army camps and a food court, has been transported to a demonstration facility in the Ulu Pandan Water Reclamation Plant. About three tonnes of food waste are collected daily, but we aim to increase this to 15 tonnes a day. If successful, this process will allow us to recover energy from food waste more efficiently.
Good practices start from young and our schools have always been an enthusiastic partner in our recycling efforts. As part of these efforts, we will be launching food waste digesters in 10 schools in the second quarter of this year.
Under the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint (SSB), we have set an overall recycling target of 70% by 2030. Over the last few years, our overall recycling rate has been around 60%. The non-domestic sector comprising industries and commercial premises have achieved a recycling rate of 77%. However, our domestic recycling rates have stagnated at around 20% in recent years. More needs to be done to put recycling at the heart of our culture.
Referring to Assoc Prof Faishal Ibrahim nd Miss Cheng Li Hui's queries, we will be reshaping the infrastructure of our physical environment to make recycling more convenient for households. We hope this will bring us closer to our domestic recycling rate of 30% by 2030. Since January 2014, all new HDB Build-to-Order (BTO) flats have installed recycling chutes adjacent to centralised refuse chutes at every level. Studies have shown that households living in apartments with dual chute systems recycle up to three times more than those in apartments which do not have such facilities. We are now ready to widen the adoption of such systems.
The provision of recycling chutes will be extended to private residential developments. Buildings taller than four storeys in all new non-landed private residential developments will be required to install dual chutes for refuse and recyclables. This measure will apply to all new non-landed residential development applications submitted from 1 April 2018.
Regarding Miss Cheng Li Hui's query on plans to reduce contamination rates of recyclables, education remains key. Through continued public education programmes in schools and at grassroots events, we encourage everyone to practise responsible recycling habits and ensure that only items which are suitable for recycling are deposited in the recycling bins and recycling chutes.
As Dr Chia Shi-Lu and Miss Cheng Li Hui have observed, our current methods of manual waste collection in the older flats are manpower-intensive and unsustainable. Moving forward, we will transform our waste collection system into a more efficient, manpower-light one.
The Pneumatic Waste Conveyance System (PWCS) is an automated system which transports waste by air suction through a network of pipes to a central collection station. This reduces our reliance on manpower to collect refuse. The whole system will be enclosed and residents will enjoy a more liveable environment, with a reduction in pest nuisance, odours and exposed waste.
There is increasing adoption of PWCS in Singapore. In the public sector, HDB piloted the PWCS at Yuhua estate in Jurong under the HDB Greenprint Programme and will be installing PWCS in new HDB areas, such as Tampines North and Bidadari. Private developers, such as City Developments Limited and CapitaLand, have done likewise. To date, more than 100 condominium developments, such as the Palette at Pasir Ris and Sky Habitat at Bishan, have installed the PWCS.
Therefore, to improve the efficiency and hygiene of waste collection, all new non-landed private residential developments with at least 500 dwelling units will need to be installed with PWCS. This measure will apply to all new non-landed residential development applications submitted from 1 April 2018.
We have consulted extensively with industry players, including the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (REDAS), and have taken their feedback into account in determining the threshold limits and the implementation date. We will also work closely with managing agents and community partners to educate residents on the correct use of the PWCS.
To reap greater economies of scale, my Ministry is studying the feasibility of implementing PWCS at the district level, where different developments can be connected to the same network. An automated and enclosed network of district-level PWCS will bring us even closer to our vision of a manpower-efficient waste collection system in a liveable environment.
Next, I turn to smoking. As Mr Ng highlighted, our long-term goal is to prohibit smoking in all public spaces except at designated areas. Last year, we extended smoking prohibition to areas around reservoirs and more than 400 parks. With this, more than 32,000 premises are now smoke-free in Singapore. We will look into progressively extending the smoking prohibition in other areas.
We recently set up five Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) in Orchard Road to study the effectiveness of DSAs in reducing smoking in a commercial area. We hope this will encourage smokers to be considerate by smoking only at the DSAs. This study, when completed at the end of the year, will inform us on the public's reception towards DSAs and give us insight into the location and design considerations of DSAs. We will take into consideration the results of this study before we consider extending the implementation of DSAs to other locations.
On public cleanliness, we have stepped up enforcement against littering. NEA issued more than 31,000 tickets to litterbugs last year. This is almost 18% more than 2015 and the highest since 2009. To Mr Gan Thiam Poh's question about the effectiveness of CWOs, over the past five years, less than 6% of litterbugs who have undergone CWOs have been caught for littering again.
Mr Gan also asked about the effectiveness of cameras against high-rise littering. NEA adopted the use of surveillance cameras in August 2012 and has since made more than 4,100 deployments and taken more than 3,300 enforcement actions against high-rise litterbugs. These cameras create an effective deterrent effect, as only about 1% of high-rise litterbugs are caught offending again.
But beyond enforcement, the most effective and sustainable way to have a litter-free environment is to inculcate the right social values, so that the responsibility for keeping Singapore clean and caring for our environment is part of everyone's DNA.
Madam, our hawker centres are a unique and integral part of Singapore's identity. Not only do they serve an important function of providing affordable food in a clean environment, they are key social spaces where people from all walks of life can enjoy a meal together.
The Government had previously announced that 20 new hawker centres will be ready by 2027. This will add about 800 more cooked food stalls across the island. I am pleased to update that three new hawker centres have been completed so far, with the latest being at Our Tampines Hub, which commenced operations in November last year.
As highlighted by Assoc Prof Daniel Goh, NEA has been exploring alternative management models by engaging socially-conscious operators, such as NTUC Foodfare, Fei Siong and OTMH, as managing agents for our hawker centres. The feedback from both hawkers and patrons of these centres has been largely positive. NFC, in particular, is an established socially-conscious operator and has been managing the existing Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre since 2014. Rentals at these centres have remained unchanged and food prices have been kept largely stable. Besides monitoring food prices for affordability and ensuring that any price revision is justified, these operators have put in place initiatives like offering bulk purchase of ingredients to help hawkers reduce their cost, or putting in place productivity measures, such as centralised dish washing, to help hawkers address their manpower constraints.
Given the encouraging outcomes of these initial efforts, we have extended this approach to other hawker centres. We have appointed NFC to manage a group of five existing centres with incumbent stallholders and two new centres. Allowing NFC to manage a bundle of hawker centres will enable them to have the necessary scale to enhance the vibrancy and hygiene standards across more hawker centres, as well as the flexibility to experiment with new ideas and processes, to benefit patrons and hawkers. This is the first expanded pilot and we would need to evaluate the results of this approach before we decide on the next steps.
We are calling for tenders for the two new centres in Yishun and Jurong West. The tenders are open to all socially-conscious operators who are interested to manage the centres. We will select the best tender proposal to ensure that our hawker centres continue to fulfil the fundamental objective of providing affordable food in a hygienic environment while allowing our hawkers to make a decent livelihood.
To Assoc Prof Daniel Goh's query on subsidised rent in new centres, subsidised rents were offered to encourage street hawkers to relocate to hawker centres in the 1970s and early 1980s. Some hawkers were also allowed to operate stalls at subsidised rents under the previous hardship scheme, which was discontinued in 1990. Since then, all new hawkers are required to pay rental at market rate. Hence, there are no subsidised rents in all our new centres.
Last year, I announced the formation of a Hawker Centre 3.0 Committee to review and make recommendations to improve the management of hawker centres and ensure the sustainability of the hawker trade to benefit Singaporeans.
Following a year of extensive consultations with many stakeholders, including hawkers, patrons, cleaning service providers and members of the public, the Committee submitted the recommendations to the Minister in February this year.
Mr Liang asked about the response to the Hawker Centre 3.0 Committee's recommendations. I am pleased to announce that the Ministry has accepted all the recommendations. We will, therefore, work together with relevant stakeholders to implement them. Let me highlight a few plans that we will put in place in the coming months.
First, one key recommendation is for the Government to provide training opportunities and pathways for aspiring hawkers − young or the not-so-young. For a start, we are working with the People's Association to develop a \"Hawker Fare\" series of culinary classes, starting in May. Members of the public can learn how to cook hawker dishes, like chicken rice, yong tau foo and mee goreng from the veteran hawkers themselves. While not all trainees will eventually become hawkers, such courses will also help to generate interest in hawker food and culture among Singaporeans and contribute to sustaining the hawker trade in the long run.
There are a handful of culinary certification courses in the market today. However, these courses are largely not tailored for the hawker trade. Hence, in addition to the Hawker Fare series that focuses on culinary skills, we are working with ITE to develop a separate short course to teach aspiring hawkers relevant business management skills, like basic profit and loss analysis and how to tender for a stall, to help them set up and manage a hawker business. More details will be released later in the year. We welcome other interested parties, such as training providers, to work with us to provide appropriate training to aspiring hawkers.
In the second half of this year, we will set up a one-stop information and service centre, which will provide useful information to both existing and aspiring hawkers, like how to tender for a stall, where to go for courses on food hygiene and the hawker trade, and the range of kitchen automation equipment available.
During the second half of the year, we will also be launching an incubation stall programme, where some hawker stalls at several hawker centres will be pre-fitted by NEA to let eligible aspiring hawkers try out being a hawker for a period of, say, six months. This will allow them to decide if they are cut out for the trade without putting in heavy investments.
Mdm Chairman, with your permission, I would like to say a few words in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Committee's second recommendation focuses on improving productivity of the hawker centres. The Committee recommended that the Government implement productivity measures in the hawker centres to help hawkers reduce their workload and address the manpower challenges that hawkers are facing.
In fact, productivity initiatives, such as centralised dishwashing and cashless payment, are already a requirement in the new hawker centres. Some stallholders in existing centres have also voluntarily subscribed to centralised dishwashing services, such as those at Boon Lay Place Market and Food Centre.
The Government will set aside $90 million to facilitate the adoption of productivity initiatives, which will help lighten the workload of hawkers and address manpower constraints. This will include some funding to increase the adoption of centre-level productivity initiatives, like centralised dishwashing and stall-level productivity initiatives like the purchase of kitchen automation equipment.
(In English): We recognise that hawkers are concerned about the cost of productivity initiatives. Hence, as noted earlier, to alleviate these cost concerns, the Government will set aside about $90 million to facilitate the adoption of productivity initiatives in hawker centres. The funding will support the progressive reconfiguration of up to 25 existing centres over the next few years to facilitate the rolling out of centre-level productivity initiatives, such as centralised dishwashing integrated with tray return, and cashless payment solutions similar to those seen at the hawker centre in Our Tampines Hub or Ci Yuan Hawker Centre. We will also co-fund up to 70% of the operating cost of such initiatives for hawkers in these centres for a period of time. This will help lower the initial cost of adoption of productivity measures that will help realise manpower and cost savings in the long term.
To promote stall-level productivity, we will set up a Hawkers' Productivity Grant to co-fund the purchase of suitable kitchen automation equipment for cooked food stallholders. Each stallholder can claim 80% of the qualifying cost of the equipment on a reimbursement basis, up to a total of $5,000 within three years. Hawkers can start applying for this grant in the third quarter of this year.
Some hawkers are already using kitchen automation equipment. When I visited Smith Street Food Centre recently, I came across a cooked food stallholder who sells steamed yam cakes. She uses an automated stirrer to mix ingredients which reduces a lot of manual labour. Through the Hawkers' Productivity Grant, we hope to encourage a greater adoption of such labour-saving equipment.
Third, more than just dining spaces, hawker centres are places where Singaporeans of all walks of life can interact. In response to the Committee's recommendation to encourage regular organised activities at hawker centres in a sustainable manner, I am happy to announce that we will be providing funding support of $2,000 per event to adopters of hawker centres, up to an annual cap of $10,000 for each adopter, to organise events to enhance the vibrancy of hawker centres. Such events can enhance patrons' dining experience at hawker centres, while increasing footfall and benefiting hawkers.
Fourth, on graciousness in hawker centres, people recognise that the act of tray-return is a kind and considerate behaviour to be cultivated. To Mr Png Eng Huat's question, we introduced tray-return to hawker centres in 2012 and, since 2015, tray-return facilities have been implemented in all hawker centres. The tray-return rates vary, with the highest tray-return rates at Tiong Bahru Market, Blk 157 Tampines Street 11 and Our Tampines Hub. We have also been working on making tray-return stations more visible, prominent and accessible, as seen in the newer hawker centres.
To study how to further improve tray return rates, we are also currently running a pilot involving the use of specially designed tray decals and working with our cleaning contractor at Zion Riverside Food Centre to train the cleaners to encourage patrons to clear their trays after their meals.
These initiatives that we are rolling out are part of our efforts to ensure the sustainability and viability of the hawker trade. They should help to support both existing and aspiring hawkers. This, in turn, will allow Singaporeans to continue enjoying affordable food in a clean and hygienic environment.
Lastly, let me give an update on our dengue cases. Despite earlier concerns that warmer weather would contribute to a spike in dengue cases to beyond 30,000 last year, we managed to bring the situation under control. There were instead 13,000 dengue cases last year. The World Health Organization has also commended our efforts in managing the Zika outbreak. However, we cannot be complacent and should remain vigilant by doing the five-step Mozzie Wipeout.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked for an update on the small-scale field studies of Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes that commenced last year. We have seen encouraging results so far. About half of the Aedes aegypti eggs collected from a trial site were unable to hatch. Our panel of international experts recently affirmed the good progress and expressed their support for NEA's plan to move to the next phase of the suppression trial later this year.
Mdm Chairman, in conclusion, everyone must take responsibility for the environment. To achieve the vision of a liveable and sustainable Singapore, as laid out in our Sustainable Singapore Blueprint, everyone needs to be part of the solution. The little things that we do, like throwing away our trash properly, recycling our waste responsibly and returning our trays with the crockery properly, can make a big difference. With the support of this House, Singaporeans can rise up and do this together.
The Chairman:\tWe have a bit of time for clarification. Mr Png Eng Huat.
Mr Png Eng Huat:\tThank you, Madam. This is a question for the Senior Minister of State. With regard to the Pneumatic Waste Conveyance System (PWCS), will it be rolled out to existing HDB estates as well, the older estates, the ones with a lot of bin chutes?
Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan:\tThe plan now is to roll it out to the new HDB estates because, to put in the infrastructure, greenfield, will be much easier and more cost-effective to do. But in Yuhua, we have implemented the PWCS for an existing estate. We will have to phase this out but, currently, the plan is for the new HDB estates.
Mr Yee Chia Hsing:\tI would like to ask, currently, do we have enforcement teams stationed near the two checkpoints just looking at the noise pollution from the Malaysian motorbikes?
Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan:\tI will have to check if we, indeed, do have this. I know that we have enforcement officers there to check for smoky vehicles. In fact, I suppose our enforcement officers can also check for noise pollution.
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Thank you, Mdm Chairman. Just two quick questions for the Minister pertaining to the handout under Water Efficiency and Conservation. Can I ask the Minister to give us more details on the community project to replace the nine-litre water closets in low-income households?
The second question pertains to the Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee mentioning that 70,000 flats are still eligible for HIP, in MND's COS yesterday. HIP involves the renovation of toilets, spalling concrete and so forth. Would the Ministry consider bringing forward the installation of some of the smart shower devices and these water-efficient water closets under the HIP umbrella, because that may accelerate the Ministry's water conservancy efforts?
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I thank Mr Singh for the questions. For the first question, PUB will be replacing those 1- and 2-room households, rental flats which do not qualify under the HIP at the moment, to accelerate the change of their systems from the nine-litre ones to the more water-saving four-litre ones. For those who are already undergoing HIP, there is a programme for them, in time, to be replaced.
For the second question on the water volume devices used for the shower fixtures, these are still new and we want to see how consumers would behave and study them. So, we have decided to do this in new homes because then there is no need for fixtures to be put on by the residents themselves, it can be done by the contractors; study them and, hopefully, it will encourage and motivate them to save water.
Dr Chia Shi-Lu:Thank you. Just a quick clarification for the Senior Minister of State. With regard to waste collection, the PWCS is a very good system. I was just wondering about the existing households and estates now and the state of all the bin centres. Are there measures that we can do to improve the situation for the existing households?
Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I thank the Member for the question. As I have said, really, we can only do so much, and education and outreach must go hand in hand. It is key for the National Recycling Programme, where there are recycling bins at every HDB block, one of the issues, of course, is contamination. We need to continually go out, do outreach, put up signages about proper recycling habits as well as to educate residents on proper recycling habits. Even with the dual-chute system, we will still need to reach out and educate residents as to how they use these chutes properly.
That experience is the same even in the private residential developments. There is no shortcut. We need to go out and reach out. I want to encourage all Members in this House to work together with us, rally our grassroots and volunteers to reach out regarding, not just imbuing proper recycling habits, but socially-gracious behaviour like not littering, for instance.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: Just two clarifications. Looking at the handout for the Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) that will replace the Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS), it looks like we are reducing the rebate from $30,000 to $20,000 and also reducing the surcharge from the current $30,000 to $20,000. Can the Minister clarify this because it looks like we are taking a step back?
Second, can the Minister clarify if the Government will look into procuring only sustainable palm oil?
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: The VES first takes into consideration what we think will be the choices made by consumers. We hope that, at the end of the day, it is either revenue-neutral, at the very least, and that consumers, with this VES incentive or disincentive, will make the right choice. It is not meant to subsidise or make ownership of cars cheaper. It is meant to incentivise and we think $20,000 will be enough for them to make the right choices.
For the second question, there is already labelling by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) which encourages big sellers and buyers to comply with sustainable palm oil production. Most buyers and sellers are in this consortium to make sure they comply. I think this is currently the best one we have. To make sure that everybody or compel them to buy only RSPO label products would not be productive nor possible.
Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: Thank you, Madam. I just wanted to make a further clarification about the PWCS. What we are doing is to make it mandatory for private non-landed residential developments with 500 units or more to have PWCS. But that does not preclude anybody else with less than 500 units to put in a PWCS system if they wish. In fact, there are already private residential developments with less than 500 dwelling units where they have already implemented PWCS.
When I talked about HDB dwelling units, what I am saying is that HDB has announced that they will be implementing PWCS in some of the new estates. Of course, they have done one at Yuhua, which is an existing estate. It will depend on HDB's plans, going forward, where else they will be implementing the PWCS system.
The Chairman: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, please withdraw your amendment.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: Mdm Chairman, I would like to thank my Parliamentary colleagues for giving their precious time to MEWR; every minute counts. I would like to thank the Minister, Senior Minister of State and all staff in MEWR for working very hard, not just for the Committee of Supply but planning ahead to meet the needs of Singapore. I am sure, together, we will have a liveable and sustainable Singapore. Mdm Chairman, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $1,284,472,100 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $1,559,636,100 for Head L ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]
The Chairman: Order. I propose to take the break now.
Thereupon Mdm Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.
Mdm Speaker: Order. I propose to take a break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair at 4.50 pm.
Sitting accordingly suspended
at 4.28 pm until 4.50 pm.
Sitting resumed at 4.50 pm
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
[(proc text) Debate in Committee of Supply resumed. (proc text)]
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply − Head I (Ministry of Social and Family Development) ","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson): Mdm Chairman, I beg to move, \"That the total sum to be allocated for Head I of the Estimates be reduced by $100.\"
This Budget has been focused on the need to transform for the future. While this is necessary if Singapore is to stay relevant and thrive, it is important for us to not lose focus on our foundation − the social structure on which we are built on and the values that have shaped us as a people. Even as we transform our economy and workforce, we need also to strengthen families, reinforce values, such as family support and self-reliance, as well as nurture empathy and compassion within our community.
First, we need to continue supporting families of low income or unstable income, including families with retrenched workers. As we work towards helping them attain income stability and financial security, we must be ready to assist struggling families in a timely manner, before the situation gets out of hand, when it would be even more challenging to resolve. Proactively seeking them out and offering timely interventions will give such Singaporeans more breathing room to focus on their jobs or studies, both of which are essential in ensuring their families' longer-term independence and success.
Hence, may I know what the Ministry is doing to proactively seek out families showing signs of distress, such as escalating arrears in rent, utilities and service and conservancy charges (S&CC)? How is the Ministry coordinating the assistance necessary to help these families stay afloat and progress?
Second, we need to continue our support to ensure all children of Singapore, regardless of their family circumstances, will enjoy equal opportunities and good access to resources critical to their development. After all, their success determines Singapore's future.
In recent years, I have been heartened by the changes made to ensure that all child-specific benefits are given to all Singaporean children, including children of unwed parents. This is precious help for the latter group. However, children of complex families and single-parent families still risk falling behind. Amongst other disadvantages, they may lack proper guidance, good role models and a conducive home environment that allows them to focus on positive development. They risk developing restrictive world views, a distorted sense of how things work and habits detrimental to their future. As such, when KidSTART was announced last year, I was very heartened as it supports the provision of a conducive environment for low-income and vulnerable children in their early years so as to give them a good start. Hence, could the Ministry provide an update on the implementation and observations made so far of the KidSTART programme?
When we speak of a conducive environment for children of more vulnerable backgrounds, I cannot help but also think about children of unwed parents. These children, typically, are raised by one parent, usually the mother, who is the sole caregiver and sole breadwinner, and can only rely on the resources of this single parent. The unwed parent may often suffer strained relationships with his or her immediate family members and may be pressured to move out with the child, feeling unwanted. Prolonged absence of the other parent, pressures and the stigma of a child born out of wedlock and the risk of not having a proper, safe home all have an adverse impact on the child's development. As such, how does the Ministry help children in such situations? For example, will there be interim arrangements to home unwed parents and their children till they are eligible to purchase a flat of their own? How can we help to ensure that these children will not feel unwanted, but that they are just as precious as any Singaporean child?
Third, we need to reinforce the values that shape and bind us. Values, such as family support and self-reliance, complemented by traits, such empathy and compassion. Values cultivation begins from the day we are born. Schools play an indispensable role of educating and moulding minds, but nothing can fully substitute the role of parents.
In the course of my constituency work, I have come to know two families. Family A is structurally intact, with a father, mother, three sisters and two young granddaughters. Father is reluctant to work, despite being physically fit, preferring to subsist on donations. Mother cannot work because her third daughter and two granddaughters are young children who need her care. Elder sister did not complete her education, could not hold down a job but does try to pay the bills, whilst waiting for her husband, who is a serial offender, to be released from prison. We gave financial assistance wherever possible. Younger sister refuses to complete her education despite offers of bursaries, as her career \"aspiration\" is to make a quick buck exploiting her youth. And her parents seem unconcerned.
Family B, however, is an unwed mother with five children. She has had her fair share of challenges trying to raise her children and make ends meet, with some financial assistance from us. But despite the very trying circumstances, her daughter Atiqa, who is now in Primary 2, aced her examinations and topped her class. I have known this family for years and I have witnessed how the mother cared for her children. She is not well educated but she made sure she is a very responsible mother. When I was told of Atiqa's achievements during the Edusave Merit Education Awards earlier this year, I was so, so, so proud of her! Not only did Atiqa do well academically, her siblings are doing well in school as well.
At that moment, it struck me that responsible and good parenting makes a difference, a big difference, in who the children become. Therefore, I would like to ask what is the Ministry doing to support parents better or, in instances where parents are absent, the families?
Madam, it is important that we work on strengthening our families and reinforcing the values that shape and bind us. We need to continue to minimise the income inequality which risks undermining the precious social cohesion that we enjoy today. We need to help families in or at risk of financial distress to stand tall and strong again. We need to ensure that all children of Singapore have equal opportunities, good access to resources and have their potential developed to the fullest. We must continue to strengthen our foundations for the future of Singapore and for the betterment of our children and theirs.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Madam, the family is the foundation for a strong community and a strong Singapore. I must say that parents play a key role in the family but, ironically, I think we all agree that while parenting is a big role, nothing quite prepares you for parenthood. MSF has initiated many family policies and programmes aimed at creating a total social environment conducive to family formation and the strengthening of family ties.
With smaller families, apart from the various initiatives to increase centre-based services for child and student care, what support and programmes are in place to support parents in providing platforms to build stronger relationships within the families, including the importance of the role of both father and mother, in the care and development of their children?
As our population is rapidly ageing, as we look at strengthening the family, we must also give attention to how we support families in helping the seniors in families age well, as well as help families prepare and cope with the challenges of ageing, such as mental and emotional wellness.
Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok): Our families and seniors are important anchors of our social fabric. Strong families are the building blocks for strong communities. This was recognised by this House in the debate on the Motion on Shared Values in 1991.
The late Dr Ong Chit Chung, my predecessor and mentor, said as follows in Parliament 26 years ago, \"You may characterise the family as the building block of society, but I would rather call it the pillar of society. If the pillar is eroded or weakened, society will not stand\".
I agree. The family is the first place where we learn how to care for one another, to compromise and to maintain loving and respectful channels of communication. The values that we learn within a family unit later transcends into how we interact with each other within our communities. Strong communities, in turn, cultivate a sense of belonging and support the basic framework of our resilience, competitiveness and quality of life. This is a framework that ensures a strong, caring and prosperous nation.
It is in this context that I would like to highlight a suggestion that was made to me on how our community can play a signalling role to reinforce family values.
I propose that our President send congratulatory messages to Singaporean centenarians on the occasion of their 100th birthday and every year thereafter, as well as married couples on the occasion of their diamond jubilee and every jubilee thereafter. There can be no higher accolade for the recipients coming from the symbol of our nation.
Our communities can also use the opportunity to celebrate these significant milestones with the families concerned.
This symbolic act would be a tangible acknowledgment and appreciation of the sacrifices and contributions of our seniors and married couples within our families and community and a collective celebration of their life. This will motivate and encourage others in our communities to emulate them, leading to a stronger community and nation for all.
This is by no means a novel suggestion. Heads of states in other countries, such as the UK and US are already doing this. However, we can have a unique Singapore adaptation to getting our community involved in celebrating these milestones.
Mr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio): To make sure our children receive quality care and education in their foundation years, the Government and, specifically, ECDA, has made substantial investments in the early childhood sector over the past years.
Madam, more preschools are built to cater to growing demand and the Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework has been put in place to make sure that the centres meet quality standards. The recent tightening of the regulatory framework to raise quality is another good move.
Given the rapid expansion of childcare facilities in recent years, what are the Ministry's plans to fill shortages in manpower, especially in the area of infant care? What else can an individual or centre operators do to contribute to the need for more manpower?
Can we explore new job roles, such as that of an allied role, to support and complement the work of the infant and childcare teachers? The scope of work can focus on child-minding, routine care of children and helping with early detection of symptoms of infectious diseases, such as Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, or to look out for signs when a child is feeling unwell. They can also help with child-minding work on Saturdays, while the teachers concentrate on curriculum planning or attend training.
This allied role will open up new job opportunities for the elderly and stay-at-home moms who wish to take up this kind of job. Most would be a good natural fit for the job as they would have relevant experiences and skillsets caring for their children or grandchildren.
Will the Ministry also explore setting up a registry of allied care-takers? This registry can serve as an alternative solution for parents who are unable to take leave or seek childcare support from family members to care for their children when the kids are unwell or come down with infectious diseases, such as Hand, Foot and Mouth.
Can ECDA coordinate with Government agencies to operate schemes and grants to help preschools tap on or work with partner vendors to set up systems, whether in the design of their programme or setting up apps to tie up for this thing of a registry of allied care-takers so that parents can gain access to resources to help them in minding their children?
Assoc Prof Randolph Tan (Nominated Member): Mdm Chairman, in this Budget, Finance Minister Heng has announced a doubling in the capacity of centre-based infant care to be achieved by 2020. This is just the latest expansion in funding for this sector that we have seen over the last few years.
As the Finance Minister mentioned in his Budget Statement, the current capacity is already enough to accommodate more than half of all children between 18 months and six years of age.
Beyond increases in capacity, the Government has also been focused on quality of childcare provision and the training of manpower. Just last week, the House passed the Early Childhood Development Centres Bill which will impose additional requirements on all kindergartens and childcare centres, including a stricter licensing regime.
Since the number of births began its somewhat tentative recovery from the record lows around a decade ago, we have seen a large increase in childcare centres, with the number growing by two-thirds from 2008 to 2015. The number of centres providing infant care services grew by much more during that time, 245%.
Despite these increases, the strong growth in demand is likely to continue.
As average household sizes fall, as the number of households with both parents working rises, and as older persons extend their participation in the workforce, childcare needs will have to be increasingly taken up by service providers.
This is clearly a happy situation from a demographic perspective. Even though we are far from reversing low birth rates, this indicates that a combination of efforts is making inroads.
However, the day-to-day situation is much more complex and full of coordination challenges for both parents and childcare providers.
On the one hand, we have heard, as well as seen, rapid increases in demand for childcare and preschool services. Colleagues in this House often remind us that they come across working couples with young children who depend heavily on childcare and preschool support and, are very sensitive to gaps in supply. One common situation we have heard of often occurs in new housing developments, when there is a lag between new childcare centres that commence operations and when residents shift into a development.
This suggests that it is not just the quantity of demand that is increasing, the pattern of demand changes is also adding to the pressure on service providers.
These gaps occur against a backdrop in which there is not only no shortage of overall capacity, there has, in fact, been excess capacity of around 15% since 2008. According to the latest published figures, and even before taking into account the Finance Minister's recent Budget speech update, the excess capacity has been increasing and reached 23% in 2015. That is a lot of excess capacity.
This continuing growth will lead to an increase in pressure on skilled manpower, in competition with other sectors that have growing manpower needs.
At the same time, the improved regulatory regime will no doubt increase the requirements, including manpower training, for operators in this sector.
Only one question: despite the fact that the excess capacity is a sign of responsiveness by the Government, it comes at a cost. How has the Ministry been managing this cost?
Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo: Madam, with smaller families and many families having both parents working, there is an increasing need for quality, access and affordable childcare to enable our young children to have a safe and conducive environment for them to learn and grow. This will allow parents to have peace of mind that their children are in good care while they are at work.
To meet the demand, there has been a rapid increase and expansion of infant and childcare centres in Singapore. While capacity is important, what are the measures that the Ministry is taking to ensure that the quality of care is able to keep pace?
There has been focus on professional and career development to ensure qualified professionals for the sector. Can the Minister share what the progress has been in attracting and building the required talent base of professionals for this sector?
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Many of my residents in the new BTOs told me that though they have shifted in, their children are still at their old place. This is because the childcare centre in the estate is not ready. So, for those few months, they have to keep sending the child to the old childcare centre which could be in another part of Singapore. Can the Ministry work with HDB to hand over the block with the childcare centre earlier, so that ECDA and the operator have time to set up the childcare centre?
Even when the childcare centre is ready, these parents are not guaranteed a place. According to Childcare Link, none of the centres in the Nee Soon South BTOs have any space right now.
The current provision is clearly inadequate. Therefore, some parents are not able to enrol their children in the nearest centre. For parents who do not drive, it is time-consuming to send their children to centres that are not near their homes. If they have two or three children under different care arrangements in different locations, then the problem is even greater. I hope the Ministry can work with HDB to review the provision of childcare spaces in new BTOs.
I understand from operators that the difficulty in expanding is the shortage of preschool teachers. Very often, they have the space but then they cannot take in so many students and this could be due to their salary being less than school teachers, even if both are graduates. What is more, preschool teachers have to bathe and clean up after the children. It is no wonder that many graduates and diploma holders do not want to become preschool teachers or quit shortly after joining. I hope the Ministry can look into this.
On this note, I would like to ask the Minister whether there will be any more mega centres setting up in Nee Soon because I have a lot of residents telling me that they have difficulty in getting a childcare centre?
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): Madam, today is International Women's Day. I wish all Happy Women's Day.
As more women and grandparents enter or remain in the workforce, the demand for infant care and childcare increases. We need to build a strong system of caregiving support to help young married couples in their parenthood journey.
Currently, parents with children in childcare and infant care centres benefit from a basic subsidy and an additional subsidy which help offset the centres' fees.
In order to encourage more couples to have children, in view of our low fertility rate, will the Government consider offering additional infant care and childcare subsidies for the second or third child? This will help these families cope with the higher expenses incurred in looking after more children.
I would also like to appeal for an increase in the provision of childcare and infant care facilities in Sengkang South.
Ms Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong): Madam, we should continue in our efforts to enhance social mobility. In the face of the uncertain future economy and global competition, it is likely that lower income families will be affected more. Parents from low-income families may be struggling with day-to-day expenses and may have very little time, money or energy left to focus on things like enrichment or additional classes. These enrichment classes I am referring to are not only those for the children, but for the parents, too, like parenting skills or courses that will help them develop their children's potential. If they are not able to invest in these classes, their children may, in the long run, lose out because of the stiff competition in the world today. We should ensure that these families have access to as many programmes without having to worry about the cost so that their children can be as equipped as the children from a better-off family.
In this respect, I believe KidSTART is a key initiative that can help in this cause of enhancing social mobility. This was a pilot programme introduced last year to provide upstream support to low-income and vulnerable children. I would like to ask about the status of the implementation of this programme over the past year. What are the components of this programme and what is the number of children and families that have benefited from the programme?
It may still be too early to assess the effectiveness of the programme but I believe that any effort to help strengthen the capabilities of low-income families and help their children move up the social ladder is a good effort. Are there plans to enhance the programme in the future and reach out to a bigger group? I think it is useful to consider replicating these efforts beyond the pilot programme so that we could also collectively learn from experiences with different groups. I would also ask that the Ministry consider developing a template possibly that could be rolled out to various constituencies so that more families can benefit from such programmes.
The Chairman: Mr Louis Ng, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Thank you, Madam. Some children are being looked after by their extended families when their parent or parents are in prison. These children are often neglected and have poor school attendance. The Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS), which provides assistance to some of these families, currently requires, a minimum school attendance of one day a month. Considering that one day a month is generally insufficient for the child to develop well in school, would the Ministry consider increasing the minimum number of days of school attendance to at least one week a month instead? What other measures are being taken to ensure that these children receive adequate schooling?
Our current policy appears to penalise stay-at-home mothers since they receive less subsidies for infant care and childcare as compared to working mothers. It does seem odd to provide more financial subsidies for working mothers who have an income and provide less financial subsidies for stay-at-home mothers who do not have an income. The quantum of subsidies for full-time or part-time care should be based solely on family income or per capita income instead. Can we level the playing field and not penalise parents who choose to spend more time with their children and sacrifice their careers?
Mr Gan Thiam Poh: Madam, I would like to appeal to the Ministry to consider giving to families and individual caregivers the equivalent grants or subsidies given to infant care and child-care centre operators. These are parents who have family members or caregivers from their neighbourhoods who can help to look after their babies and children. To ensure that these caregivers meet standards in caring for young ones, the Ministry can organise a training and certification process for them. Those who pass the training will then be entitled to the grants. People who provide such freelance care-giving services for children should be supported as professionals, too.
Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling (Fengshan): Madam, building of infrastructure to match community needs costs us money and time. It is also limited by how much more we can build. While it is essential to continue investing in these areas to enhance our social safety net, we need to balance this by enabling our elderly to age successfully at home. Can the Minister provide an update of the pilot programme for the Home-based Care Services (HBCS) under SG Enable? I know this is for those with disabilities, but the learnings can be equally relevant for the caring of our elderly.
With a smaller family unit, the responsibility of caring for our elderly will fall on the shoulders of a smaller pool of individuals. How can we encourage a shared caregiving model within our communities? Let me focus on two aspects − preventive care and community caregiving.
Preventive care begins with awareness. I feel that caregivers should be given courses on how and what it takes to care for the elderly. The caregivers who have to work should be further aided with digital apps. The apps are to be linked to intelligent sensors and gadgets that are installed at home or worn on the elderly to indicate their conditions, for example, in cases of falls, or for them to provide reminders for medication. These notifications can be sent to the caregivers. Will the Ministry work with MOH to provide the caregivers with free essential basic training? Also, can the Ministry work with healthcare providers to develop an information kit of proven digital gadgets that can be installed at home to assist the caregiver in monitoring?
The community can also play a part and serve as connectors. But who are the connectors and how can they contribute? Connectors are the family members, students, community groups and healthcare partners. To cater for the diverse needs in our society, we need to cultivate a culture where everyone plays a part, takes ownership of their lives and pays it forward.
I would suggest we train community groups similar to those like the SCDF myResponder volunteers. The trained individuals can register themselves on a system and, when a known case of an elderly calls for help, volunteers within the nearest location can respond swiftly to them. We can begin with training the healthy and socially-active seniors. They can contribute significantly when we help to connect them.
Another connector is the students. Today, they have the Community Engagement Programme (CEP), but I feel that the focus is diluted and the purpose of doing it is not well communicated. I suggest to refocus and begin with the Secondary and tertiary students. Allow them to focus their engagement in different neighbourhoods with elderly-related topics. This will help build stronger bonds within the communities and encourage our young to participate in active volunteerism.
Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin (Nominated Member): I state my interest as a director in a social business involved in youth training and development.
I read reports last year that the number of drug abusers under 30 years old is growing in Singapore and that the young drug abuser profile is also evolving and more of them are actually academically successful students from middle to high income households. Underage smoking is reportedly on the rise. And, anecdotally, other forms of risky behaviours, like self-mutilation, anorexia and online gambling, have also been gaining traction among young people for some years.
Our current solutions feature public educational talks and materials, but many young people can share with you that just telling them not to do something and telling them why it is bad for them does not work and does not get to the root of their problems.
From my training experience, I can confirm this: nobody changes just by being told a solution at the intellectual level of the head. People change fundamentally only when they experience the solution as an emotional connection in the heart and a physical connection in their body. This is as true for the young students as much as for the adult professionals that we train.
I propose that we explore an alternative approach to solving the risky behavioural problems of our youths by following what Iceland has already done to tremendous success. They are a small country, just like us, and I believe we can see similar success as them if we give their model a shot.
Twenty years ago, Iceland faced a severe troubled teen crisis. Their youths were among the heaviest-drinking youths in Europe. Smoking, drug abuse and other forms of risky behaviour were actually quite prevalent. But, today, Iceland boasts some of Europe's cleanest-living teens. In 1988, their percentage of 15- to 16-year-old hard-drinkers was 42%, and now it is only 5%. Their percentage of young cannabis users was 17%, now it is 7%. Their percentage of young daily smokers was 23%, now it is 3%.
The Icelandic model is based on the research of American psychologist Harvey Milkman. His theory was that it was not the different versions of self-harm themselves that people were getting addicted to. He discovered that what people were addicted to were the specific changes in brain chemistry that were induced by these actions. And their harmful behaviours of choice were linked to their preferred coping mechanisms of dealing with stress. Those who preferred to numb their stress away would choose solutions like heroin, sedatives or alcohol. And those who preferred to actively confront their stress would use solutions like stimulant drugs or online gambling.
In 1992, with a US$1.2 million government grant, Milkman formed Project Self-Discovery, which offered youths natural-high alternative solutions to drugs and crime. The amazing social innovation here was this. The programme did not tell the teenagers, \"You're going to come in for treatment.\" It simply told them, \"We are here to teach you anything you want to learn − music, art, dance, martial arts, hip-hop.\" And these classes were deliberately curated to provide youths a wide variety of alterations in brain chemistry and give them alternative solutions to cope better with life's stresses. Those who liked to numb their stress could go for experiences that reduced anxiety, like painting or yoga, and those who liked to confront their stress could go for experiences that provided a sudden rush, like karate or hip hop.
In 1991, Harvey Milkman started going to Iceland regularly to share about his findings and Iceland was so taken by his research that they started to run it on a national level. The first thing that they did was gather fresh and specific data.
So, in 1992, every school in Iceland got their 14 to16-year-olds to fill in a questionnaire with questions like, \"Have you tried alcohol? If so, when did you last have your drink? Have you tried cigarettes? Do you have a close relationship with your parents?\" This questionnaire was repeated in 1995 and 1997.
Then, they drilled into the data to identify precisely which schools had the worst problems and which had the least. Their analysis revealed clear differences between the lives of kids who self-harmed and those who did not. Kids who stayed away from risky behaviours were those who participated in organised activities, especially sports, three or four times a week. They were also the ones who felt cared for at school, spent more time with parents during the week and were home during the late evenings.
Based on the survey data, a new national plan was gradually introduced. It was called \"Youth in Iceland\". Laws were changed to make purchase of alcohol and drugs more difficult. Parental organisations were to be established in every school. State funding was increased for organised sports and arts. Kids from low-income families received help to take part. And, in Reykjavik, each child receives $430 a year to pay for recreational activities that fall under the Youth in Iceland programme.
Most crucially, the surveys were continued and updated. Each year, almost every child in Iceland completes one. So, in Iceland, up-to-date, reliable data on where youths are currently, is always available. The Icelandic researchers have a saying \"Like vegetables, information has to be fresh.\" As well as fresh, information has to be local, so that schools, parents and officials can see exactly where the problems exist in which areas.
Iceland's turnaround is innovative, evidence-based and remarkably common-sensical. So, I hope very much to see a national level \"Youth in Singapore\" questionnaire done sometime soon. Because I think it will give us fresh year-on-year data to create an always relevant and powerful programme of alternative stress-relievers for all our kids to experience.
Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo: Madam, the family plays an integral role in the development of children.
For families whose relationships have weakened due to various circumstances, parents may face challenges in providing the appropriate care and environment for their children.
I would like to acknowledge MSF's approach to support at-risk families. Can the Minister provide an update on the Safe and Secure Families pilot announced last year with its attention on \"family preservation\" and \"family reunification\" services? How is the programme supporting vulnerable families stay together? What services have been established to provide support to vulnerable children to allow them to stay in safe family environments?
Mr Amrin Amin (Sembawang): Our demographics, in terms of families, are changing and our economy is changing as well. This confluence places great stress and pressure on families and this may strain relationships. Sadly, some may resort to violence. It is important that we keep our family ties strong.
What are MSF's plans to identify vulnerable families and intervene to strengthen the relationship and prevent escalation to family violence? What programmes are there to guide, counsel and support family members?
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Madam, chronic debt is one of the key factors perpetuating poverty. I am concerned about the families I met who are unable to get out of debt, sometimes even after receiving Government help.
Now, I am not speaking about families who owe money, that run into hefty amounts due to business failure or gambling. I am referring to families who are often in arrears for phone, utilities, rental, mortgage payments and simply cannot make ends meet because of their low income, or debt burdens left by spouses, or debts accumulated due to inaction.
The current financial help that MSF's Social Service Office (SSO) offers may not solve this debt spiral. One of the possible reasons is that the formula that is used usually does not factor in a needy beneficiary's financial liability status when computing the help quantum. I can understand why the state would not want to use taxpayers' money to solve financial mismanagement issues of other citizens.
The SSO officers themselves may also not be trained in financial counselling. However, the effect of ignoring this is that the family continues to be in a state of poverty, impairing their ability to get out of the spiral. When they cannot clear their debts, they simply borrow more to make ends meet, getting deeper into debt. Measures like skills upgrading for better jobs or ensuring their children attend school may end up as low priority.
This is the reason why the Methodist Welfare Services, during its Jubilee year, embarked on a scheme to help families clear their debts with gifts of up to $2,000. But in the absence of bonuses like this, I would like to make two suggestions to the Ministry.
One, develop a \"Turn-key Solution\" for families of this profile. Many times, the persons in debt have to work this out themselves and they often give up. Do not pack them off to general money management courses or send them to an external Financial Counsellor. Help them work out a financial debt redemption plan. At times, it may mean being more generous also, in the financial help given directly to assist dependants, such as their children and their elderly parents.
Two, work with partners and develop creative \"Get-out-of-Debt\" Schemes that will incentivise affected families to clear their debts. One such scheme that Methodist Welfare Services has started was to match every dollar of debt paid off by the clients, up to $100 a month. Another could be creating flexible job opportunities to allow them to work part-time to earn some extra cash.
Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Madam, there are two broad ComCare schemes to assist those in financial difficulties − Temporary Assistance via the Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance Scheme, and Long-Term Assistance, the latter commonly known as the Public Assistance (PA) Allowance.
Regarding Temporary Assistance, I would like to clarify how the Government tracks its success. Is it simply based on the number of persons helped, or is there tracking as to how many persons managed to attain self-sufficiency to no longer need the scheme? Based on the cases I have encountered, there seems to be a rule or guideline that, after a number of months, the quantum of help is reduced and then help is refused altogether. While I support the rationale of incentivising persons to be self-sufficient, we sometimes see families stricken with illness and mental problems who have limited means of helping themselves.
Another issue about Temporary Assistance that has recently cropped up is how it interacts with the Silver Support Scheme. Some Singaporeans who receive both Silver Support and Temporary ComCare assistance were apparently advised that their Temporary ComCare assistance might be reduced in view of the Silver Support payments. Could the Ministry please clarify this?
Finally, I move to the Long-Term Assistance scheme. Currently, the Public Assistance allowance of $500 for a single person is meant for the person to defray his living expenses. The PA allowance is usually given in a cash lump sum, from which the recipient is expected to pay his bills, such as rent, utilities and Town Council S&CC. This is different from those on Temporary Assistance, where the Government commonly makes direct payment of utilities and S&CC bills to agencies. Many on Public Assistance are elderly and/or permanently unable to work, are usually not in robust health and have no relatives to help them. Would it not be more efficient for the Long-Term Assistance scheme to make direct payment to the relevant agencies?
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Madam, can I take the two cuts together?
The Chairman: Yes, please do.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: Madam, ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance (SMTA) currently includes help for rental, utilities, S&CC, monthly cash grants, medical assistance and employment assistance, such as training. However, there are SMTA recipients who still struggle with additional expenses and who have few alternatives to turn to.
Although SMTA is able to cover basic daily expenses, it is still lacking in terms of ad hoc big-ticket expenses, for example, repairing of damaged household appliances or items and repairing damaged spectacles. These are expenses that do not occur daily but can rack up substantial costs when they do.
I would like to ask the Minister if he will set up a special claims fund to provide additional assistance for ad hoc repairs and one-off expenses. This can be modelled on the discretionary assistance under Public Assistance. I am putting up two recommendations for consideration.
First, allow recipients to claim up to 70% funding for ad hoc repair expenses, such as broken shoes, spectacles, damaged appliances, replacement of faulty light bulbs, up to a maximum claim of $300 annually. By allowing only up to 70% claim for annual repairs allowance, recipients still have to take responsibility for 30% of the expenses and the annual cap prevents excessive spending and abuse of the system. However, a more in-depth review should also be done to understand the amounts that these groups have to fork out for such expenses.
Second, allow recipients to claim a one-off 100% funding for household item purchases, such as beds, furniture and so on. This can have a maximum lifetime cap of up to $300 per recipient. For one-off claims, it will be administratively more efficient to allow a 100% claim, since it is only a one-time funding and cannot be reclaimed.
This is to emulate part of discretionary assistance under PA to extend additional coverage support for SMTA recipients who are unable to qualify for additional welfare programmes.
Madam, the establishment of Social Service Office (SSO) in 2013 is with the objectives to provide better accessibility for low-income families who need assistance and also to play a role in integrating the social service delivery in their respective towns. I would appreciate if the Minister can provide updates on the SSO meeting its objectives, in particular, its role in integrating social service delivery.
In addition, I have two questions and one suggestion to make.
First, in reply to my 2013 Parliamentary Question (PQ) on whether SSO will be staffed by social work-trained officers and what is the proposed number, the Ministry mentioned that some of the staff may have social work training. It was further mentioned that the Ministry will provide the requisite training to enable all staff to perform their roles. Can the Minister share how many of the current SSO officers are social work-trained and also what are some of the requisite training provided to the staff?
[Deputy Speaker (Mr Charles Chong) in the Chair]
Secondly, whether SSO practises making referrals to ECDA to assist with childcare matters, such as placement and grant assistance, for low-income young parents who are open to seeking employment? I am asking this because I have come across many such cases where these young parents are receiving financial assistance from SSO but came to me to seek help with childcare placement.
As for my suggestion, can each SSO produce a mini directory with a map on all the social and community services available within its boundary so as to better assist residents, especially elderly residents\tto locate the services?
Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Chairman, last year, my colleague, Assoc Prof Daniel Goh suggested establishing a Commissioner for the maintenance of families, empowered to recover maintenance on behalf of families and provide means-tested support where needed during the process. Today, coincidentally, is International Women's Day. I would like to repeat this call.
The Department of Human Services Child Support in Australia can collect child support payments on behalf of the parent, investigate cases of non-payment and issue overseas travel bans, amongst other actions. The UK, too, has a child maintenance service that is empowered to take action against the defaulting party if maintenance is not paid.
In our system, the onus still lies mainly on the claimant to make trips to Court to enforce the maintenance order. This can take a toll on the emotional well-being of spouses who are affected and may even affect their earning power if they have to repeatedly take leave from work to make visits to the Court. The current enforcement process is one that punishes claimants with unrepentant or spiteful ex-spouses. A central agency would help relieve this unjust burden.
I would like to ask the Minister if the situation in this regard has improved since new measures were introduced in 2011 to strengthen maintenance enforcement.
Lastly, the Minister also said last year that a maintenance records officer would be appointed to facilitate firm Court action against incorrigible defaulters. Has this officer been appointed? Can the Minister share more details on this office, including the staff and number of investigations that have commenced and concluded, as well as an assessment of the initial impact?
Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Mr Chairman, the Government has enabled unwed mothers to be given the same 16-week maternity leave that all mothers get in Singapore as well as a Child Development Account.
These changes are important. We should, however, still seek to provide a complete ecosystem of support. For example, unwed mothers are still not given the Baby Bonus cash gift and various tax rebates. Can the Ministry consider providing such support?
They are also not able to buy an HDB flat as they are deemed to not have a family nucleus. Hence, they can only buy a flat under the Singles Scheme or from the resale market. Yet, under the Singles Scheme, they get smaller grants, compared to first-time married couples. Resale flats are more expensive. Unwed mothers who need a home to bring up a child will find it challenging.
Could we re-look at the definition of a family nucleus so that unwed mothers can be granted with full housing grant and truly make it \"Happy Women's Day\".
Mr Kok Heng Leun (Nominated Member): We often say that the family is the \"bedrock of society\". In our ideal conception, family is where people are cared and provided for, protected and loved.
There are many people who do these things every day − for their spouse, their partner, their children, their parents. Yet, in the eyes of our laws and Government policies, they do not fit into the conventional and official definition of family. These are single parents, unwed mothers, foreign wives, cohabiting same-sex couples, and the list goes on. Because they do not qualify as family, access to basic necessities, like housing, is a real problem.
Single parents and children shuttle from one temporary home to another, live in overcrowded units and not having personal space to study and play are undesirable to a child's development. Not belonging to a heterosexual, nuclear family is not a personal failing − relationships fail, partners die, some are just not that into the opposite gender.
I urge the Government to make inclusive policies for family. Fellow Members have spoken about lowering the income cap for rental housing and I repeat the same call. I also urge the Government to allow unwed mothers and families consisting of one foreign spouse to form a family nucleus for the purposes of purchase and rental of HDB units.
Numerous policies continue to disadvantage unmarried mothers and their children, who are being classified as \"illegitimate\". These children will not inherit from their father's estate if the father dies without a will. They can inherit from their mother only if she has no other children from within a marriage. There are also tax reliefs that are available only to married mothers.
The Government has said that the distinctions are there to promote \"strong marriages\" and the norms of family. But is it really true that people will cultivate aspirations and norms based on these challenging technicalities?
The only real effect these policies have is to disadvantage some families by making their affairs more burdensome to manage and also stigmatise the children. Can we do away with the use of \"illegitimacy\" in inheritance and tax reliefs?
Ground experiences from VWOs working with single parents show that housing policies are hard to understand and that there is a lack of coordination between Ministries and Departments to provide support for families in transition who are usually in a stressful situation. Dealing with complicated policies or having to navigate the system adds to the stress. Could the Ministries consider setting up a central agency for such families? It could function as a one-stop shop where, for example, divorced parents can go to for assistance on legal matters, advice on housing options, post-divorce and child welfare-related services.
In a classroom, the students were once asked to make images of an ideal family. A group of male students formed this image: two guys sitting in front; two guys standing behind. So, the classmates asked, \"Who played the mother?\" Refusing to be seen as playing a female character, the male student said, \"We are all males!\" Some asked, \"How come ideal family got no mother?\" Then a student spoke up, \"Why can this not be an ideal family? Father, uncle, two brothers.\" It was a very strong plea by this student, for whatever reason, this image meant a lot to her. And, so, I urge our policies not to bring further harm and hurt to these families.
Ms Rahayu Mahzam: Sir, from my observation, recently, there is increased awareness amongst my residents about the Lasting Power of Attorney and the need to make preparations before losing mental capacity or becoming incapacitated. This is possibly because of the talks conducted at the grassroots level on these matters. I have met some elderly residents who do not have children or family members whom they can depend on when they are no longer healthy. Naturally, some would have concerns about their options and what they can do to make the necessary preparation.
The Mental Capacity Act was amended last year to introduce the broad framework on professional donees and professional deputies. This was a very important move, in light of difficulties faced by the elderly who may not have any family members or close friends to rely on to make arrangements when he or she loses mental capacity.
During the debates on the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill, the Minister acknowledged the need for robust registration criteria and regulation of professional deputies and donees. There were also concerns raised about the costs that may be charged by these professionals.
In light of the matters raised during the debates, I would like to get an update on the development of the training and regulatory framework for these professional donees and professional deputies. In addition, could more be done to ensure access to services to the elderly, especially those without next-of-kin, to help them prepare and plan for the situation when they lose capacity and are not able to care for themselves?
The Chairman: Dr Lily Neo, you can take both your cuts together.
Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar): The social problem of \"abuse of vulnerable adults\" is unacceptable in any society. I have spoken in Parliament on this topic many a time since 1999. May I ask MSF when will the \"Vulnerable Adults Act\" be translated into law and allow actions for early reprieve for those who are presently in this predicament?
Today, some vulnerable adults are suffering in pain because the state has been unable to enter their homes to give timely assistance. The earlier we can have the Vulnerable Adults Act, the better. In many cases of abuse, the best way to end their plight is to remove the vulnerable seniors from their homes and place them at designated facilities that can provide better support and care.
May I ask MSF whether we have such avenues and such facilities available? It is for fear of losing whatever little care and support they are getting that many vulnerable adults rather suffer in silence and not report their predicament. Thus, whilst we intend to have the Vulnerable Adults Act in place, we need to ensure that alternative assistance is also readily available to them.
It is a pity that very few people will come forward to report cases of abuse. This may be due to lack of awareness, fear of being worse off without their own families or being afraid of their liabilities, especially with Court proceedings. I hope the Vulnerable Adults Act will change this. Could MSF start raising awareness of elderly abuse? Has there been a study on the prevalence of elderly abuse? Could MSF publish the prevalence of elderly abuse cases in Singapore?
Knowledge about cases of abuse is often limited to some family members, neighbours and friends. We can help more of these abuse cases only when more people are made aware of elderly abuse, its prevalence and what help is available. And for a start, we need a facility for easy one-stop reporting and good follow-up by MSF.
Whilst the Vulnerable Adults Act will cover physical abuse, psychological abuse and neglect, there is no mention of financial abuse. Social workers are seeing more seniors being cheated or financially abused by their children. A 2014 study by Trans Safe Centre, a charity that specialises in tackling elder abuse, showed about one in three involved a senior who had been financially abused. Financial abuse cuts across all income groups. Could MSF start equipping seniors on abuses, especially financial abuse, as a first step to assist seniors to safeguard their money? What kind of assistance can MSF provide to such cases who seek help? Can MSF consider setting up a bureau to investigate, mediate and counsel the parties involved following complaints of abuse? Can MSF enable the bureau, if all else fails, to prosecute the offenders for abuse of the elderly?
Sir, our population is ageing, families are getting smaller and our needs are growing. This is especially so for seniors living alone in HDB rental flats. They usually do not have family members to depend on.
Has there been any \"needs analysis study\" done to ascertain the vulnerable seniors requiring assistance for various reasons, such as financial need, daily living difficulty, loneliness and depression? How is MSF helping this group presently? Would MSF extend comprehensive social assistance to the vulnerable seniors, especially those with mobility disability, to enable them to age gracefully in their own homes?
The proportion of seniors among those who take their lives each year has risen. It had been reported that there was a near 60% jump in elderly suicides in 2014, compared to 2000, and 126 seniors aged 60 and above killed themselves in 2014. Although the causes of suicides are often multi-factorial and they include physical and mental illness and social isolation, the latter, leading to loneliness and depression in seniors, is one of the more important contributing factors for the seniors here to take their own lives. Long-term social isolation may also result in deterioration of physical well-being and health.
Many seniors, especially the frail ones, usually prefer not to go out of their own homes. Thus, having volunteers and befrienders visiting them will be helpful. Could MSF implement measures to combat loneliness amongst the seniors as part of comprehensive assistance to vulnerable seniors?
The challenge is how to ensure a steady stream of volunteers, especially those who are willing to commit long-term and build lasting relationships with seniors. Having befrienders who stay for a long time makes for greater continuity. It is this kind of relationship that the seniors value.
Will MSF consider providing more funds to ensure sustainability in this scheme? Funds are needed for the running and training costs. More mature jobseekers and able-bodied seniors, especially those who are interested to contribute back to society, can be recruited as permanent befrienders. MSF can encourage this group of befrienders by providing a reasonable amount of allowance for them to befriend seniors closer to their homes.
Volunteers can go through training sessions to understand basic know-how at identifying any potential psychological issues, such as suicidal thoughts. Volunteers can also be taught how to refer the seniors they visit for social needs like food delivery, financial assistance, home help or medical escorts and so on.
MSF can collaborate with other Ministries, such as MOH, VWOs and companies for better coordination of services. Young families who wish to inculcate good values, such as filial piety, in their children might consider visiting the seniors on a regular basis as a befriender family. Could MSF facilitate \"adopt a grandparent\" scheme by families?
On the group of persons with disability, will MSF enlighten this House on the Enabling Masterplan 3? How does the Government plan to build an ecosystem of support for persons with disabilities? What is the plan on supporting caregivers of persons with disabilities on care-giving issues, such as physical and emotional burnout? What is the Government doing to improve the employability and employment options of persons with disabilities?
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Sir, the recently concluded third Enabling Masterplan (EM) is a testament to the Singapore Government's commitment to build an inclusive country in which the potential of persons with special needs can be maximised.
I want to thank the Minister, the Ministry, the Steering Committee chaired by Ms Anita Fam, and my fellow Steering Committee members and all who made this possible.
The Masterplan is an important milestone for our nation-building because Singapore is neither just an economy nor a corporation. If Singapore is to be a home worth defending, then every citizen born to it is worth valuing, regardless of race, religion or abilities. I would like to make six suggestions as the Ministry coordinates the roll-out of this Masterplan in the next five years.
Suggestion one − set up an Enabling Masterplan Roll-out Committee. The EM3 was intentionally broad in its directions and recommendations. There is more to be uncovered, more to be added, especially in the light of a need for a 21st century social services sector in an age of digitalisation, disruption and sea changes in demographics.
To me, leaving the EM3 plan to be interpreted and rolled out solely by the Government, seeking inputs and reporting only when it wishes, is not a wise and progressive strategy. This self-check and self-reporting mode will reduce the transparency and trust that the Ministry has diligently built up in the last decade. Of course, who would want to install a body to check on itself, but this is a Government Ministry. More than many other Ministries, this is a Ministry that needs to rely on the ideas, trust and volunteerism of many stakeholders to create accurate, out-of-the-box and impactful social solutions.
I, therefore, propose that an EM3 Roll-out Committee be set up and headed by the Minister himself or someone appointed by the Minister, no less. This Committee should comprise key members of the EM3 Steering Committee representing the key disability groups and representatives from other EM3-Implementing Ministries and agencies. Its mission will be to provide inputs to an Implementation Plan; and to track and report on the progress of the EM3 over the next five years.
Suggestion two − encourage mini Enabling Plans by disability groups so that there is more ownership by them. Just as there is a strong need for self-driven and innovative enterprises and learners in the economy of the future, so should the social service of the future start to transform itself. There will never be sufficient public resources to meet the needs of all the disability groups, in the face of so many competing demands of the displaced, the rapidly ageing and other disadvantaged. We need to enable, recognise and nurture self-driven and innovative disability groups.
The Ministry should encourage the key disability groups to start developing their own Enabling Plans so that their highest priority needs can be identified, implemented with support from parties which do not only include the Government. These mini plans are not mere inputs of the randomly assembled focus groups; their content will provide good inputs for the accurate and impactful roll-out of the Enabling Masterplan in the next five years.
Suggestion three − develop a more comprehensive profiling of caregivers and needs. Caregiver needs differ, depending on the age of child, age of parents, education level, interest, disability and age of the charges. The history of caregiver support in the disability sector has been dotted with centralisation and decentralisation, with the DIRC, Centre for Enabled Living, SG Enable and also the whole Caregiver Support Centre networks in, for example, Asian Women's Welfare Association (AWWA) and Rainbow Centre.
I feel strongly the need for caregiver needs to be more carefully analysed and segmented according to demographic and disability profiles. We should not spend resources setting up yet another Caregiver Centre or Village. Existing hubs, such as SG Enable, can coordinate and equip current centres and increase more accessible touch-points at the hospitals, schools, VWOs and even SSOs and community centres.
Suggestion four − develop a more systematic and structured way to rope in community helpers. There ought to be a more structured and effective way to organise a stronger and more consistent community volunteer and help network, involving neighbouring schools, corporations, grassroots and residents in the precinct. To me, a vast resource to tap on. People want to do good.
Suggestion five − conduct a review of the school-to-work scheme. I suggest that the school-to-work scheme be independently reviewed to determine its strengths and areas of weaknesses. I understand that the scheme has strong merit because it is well resourced and has the ability to tap on a network of corporate partners. However, I hear it needs to be improved because of less than structured support and follow-up. There is room for MOE, MSF and SG Enable to tap on the current job assessment and placement centres with MINDS, Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD) and Autism Resource Centre (ARC) so that there can be more structure, streamlining and continuity after the students graduate.
For the more severe trainees, there is also strong merit for the Ministry and its agents to bring back a more updated version of sheltered enterprises that could create piece-meal paid work so that those with moderate to severe needs need not adopt the more costly options of staying at home or using a day care service. I have personally witnessed programmes like these which are very successful and I am sure we can scale some of these models for this target group.
Suggestion six − take a deep-dive review of the real needs of adults with moderate to severe needs. This is the most challenging of the groups that we have to support in the disability sector. It is important that the various options for adults with moderate to severe needs be studied carefully in the areas of work, care-giving and residential living. In residential living, for instance, there is sufficient literature to look at a continuum of living models. We need not only look at institutionalised built-up options. There are more community-based models of partially supported living elsewhere in the world.
Conclusion − finally, Sir, the clarion call in the digital economy of the future is just as loud for special needs, for the social service sector. For a sector with many diverse needs with limited resources, the need to deep-dive, innovate, pioneer, scale and persuade other people to join us in solving the many challenges, is very necessary. I recently came across an Australian competition in which start-up digital firms pitched their digital ideas to find innovations that will revolutionalise the lives of people with disabilities − 3-D printed prosthetic limbs; a one-stop-shop that stores all the forms the community will ever need in a smart phone.
Sir, these are exciting times for the special needs sector. We must take heed to not populate the EM3 with last-century mindsets, tools and solutions, otherwise, we will be throwing good money after bad and we will be pouring old wine into new wine skin, causing the wine skin to burst.
Nonetheless, I am very grateful that Singapore has our own Masterplan and that I am able to share my proposals for the Minister's consideration.
Mr Desmond Choo: Chairman, while we restructure the economy to be vibrant, let us also continue to help our disabled jobseekers and their needs. SG Enable's open-door programme has helped many Singaporeans with training and jobs. This is good progress. Can the Ministry also update on the latest progress? Are there enough positions to meet the demand? Which sector has been the most progressive in hiring Singaporeans with special needs?
Acceptance and opening our office doors to Singaporeans with disabilities require a shared appreciation of each other's capabilities. This must be ingrained from the very start. I encourage creating funding and platforms for our schools and youths to start joint projects where the disabled and able-bodied youths will get the opportunity to work together. Through these activities and interactions, mutual respect and understanding can germinate early, reaping returns of greater inclusivity at the workplace at the later stages.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: Sir, the Assistive Technology Fund provides means-tested subsidies of up to 90% for persons with disabilities to purchase assistive technology devices, such as motorised chairs, wheelchairs, hearing aids and screen readers. The fund has a fixed lifetime cap of $40,000 per person.
While the changes that have been made to the scheme are encouraging, we believe that the Assistive Technology Fund can be enhanced if the financial burden for persons with disabilities and special needs is over their lifetime. Somebody who is diagnosed with special needs or has a disability from a young age will use up the grant much faster than a person who is diagnosed later in life, as will a person whose disability may require more expensive assistive devices. If required, is it possible for the Ministry to assess the needs of these individuals on a case-by-case basis and exercise flexibility, even if they have exceeded the cap?
The purpose of the fund will be better served if it can be made more flexible to take into consideration the lifetime needs of individuals. It is also stated that after the approval of an application to use the fund, touchpoints such as hospitals and VWOs, will assist individuals to purchase the devices and reimbursement will either be made to the touchpoint or to the vendor. Will it be more cost effective for SG Enable to consolidate these orders, so that it can negotiate with vendors and pass cost savings to the end-consumers?
The benefits of bulk purchasing of assistive technology devices could be extended to those whose household income puts them just above the income eligibility cap but who will still find it onerous to fork out thousands of dollars for an assistive device.
Ms Chia Yong Yong (Nominated Member): We are shocked and saddened when a person ends his or her life. But it is even sadder when it is a parent who ends his or her life, as well as the life of a disabled child. But for every life ended, hundreds and thousands of people, caregivers and parents plough on.
Suicides do not happen overnight. Pressure builds until it becomes unbearable and then enough is enough. But by then, it is too late. And, so, before it is too late, caregivers must be cared for. They live difficult lives, painful lives, for love. They rarely live for themselves. And while I think that support groups are important, I doubt that caregivers will want to spend their free time revolving around support groups.
I suggest that caregivers would want to spend \"me\" time and have the confidence that, as they spend \"me\" time, the disabled child, sibling or parent will be well looked after − to have \"me\" time without the guilt, without the worry; to plan their time off, without guilt, without worry.
I look forward to hearing from the Minister on my question as filed. I look forward to the Disability Caregiver Support Centre playing a differentiated role from what it is already offered by VWOs − a role that is insightful, impactful and empathetic in strengthening and powering caregivers.
The Chairman: Mr Desmond Choo, you can take both your cuts.
Mr Desmond Choo: Mr Chairman, as Singapore matures and ages as a nation, the demand for quality early childhood and social services increases. Having a pipeline of quality manpower in this sector is critical. Can the Ministry update on the progress in attracting, retaining and deepening competencies of manpower in the childcare and social services sector? Mid-career candidates have shared that they can take 1.5 to two years to be qualified to work in these sectors. Can the Ministry look at shortening the training period for prospective entrants without compromising the necessary depth of training?
Mr Chairman, let me continue in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] A career in childcare or social services is very meaningful. Yet, many workers have told me that the remuneration and opportunities for career development lag behind other professions.
This may become a barrier, as many new entrants decide to switch jobs so that they can establish a good economic foundation for themselves. Hence, I would like to suggest that we actively promote a shared-services business model which can do away with unnecessary expenses, and benefits can be shared with the workers. This will not only strengthen organisational capabilities, but also help better childcare and social service centres expand quickly. The Government can work with social enterprises under the union movement to promote this.
My next cut. Helping those with special needs speaks of the conscience and grace of our nation. Both corporations and the larger community have important roles in weaving our tapestry of social hope and support. The SHARE as One programme is a meaningful platform for Singaporeans to give towards charities through their workplaces. It also helps companies to build CSR programmes. Can the Government provide an update on the scheme? Are there plans to further enhance the scheme?
A growing group that requires support are parents of autistic children. Treatment and therapy can be costly. Anecdotally, children might wait for a year or more to get into a special education or SPED school or centre. As these families have to cope with the high cost of raising the child, could subsidies or greater tax considerations be given to them?
The community which embraces special needs persons is critical to making Singapore inclusive. Can the Ministry also share on other public education and outreach programmes they have, to educate the public about autism and the challenges in raising an autistic child? Would the Ministry also consider the further implementation of the very popular and successful inclusive playgrounds in the heartlands?
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong (Non-Constituency Member): Sir, I would like to call out for better pay structure and pay increments for our social workers, as well as increased professionalisation of the social work profession.
According to figures released by MSF last year, the number of social workers doubled from 2012 to reach 1,600 in 2016. However, this number is still far from what Singapore needs. Social workers play an integral role in alleviating the problems faced by vulnerable members of our society and they deserve remuneration that reflects the job complexity and high amounts of stress they face in their line of work.
Despite pay increments announced in Budget 2015, the wages of fresh graduates in social work are still a distance from the overall median wage of fresh graduates. Even though the Government has pledged to review and provide salary guidelines \"based on market data and benchmarks\", it is not clear exactly how the benchmarking is conducted.
I would like to propose that the Government benchmark the pay of social workers to another noble profession − teachers. Back when the Government was looking to make teaching an attractive profession, it raised the salaries of teachers and increased the quality of their training. I ask that the Government do the same for social workers. I would also like to appeal to the Government for transparency in the salary benchmarking process and to set a timeline for regular wage reviews for social workers.
Ms K Thanaletchimi (Nominated Member): Sir, I am heartened to note that there is more support for families with infants or children under 18 months of age. The Government's support for families, especially the Additional CPF Housing Grant for first-timer couples buying resale flats and the increase in capacity of centre-based infant care to 8,000 by 2020, is, indeed, welcomed.
As we move towards a more caring and inclusive society, people with disabilities are also included in the Government's initiatives for lower income families, such as the U-Save rebates, to mitigate the increase in water tax.
However, many sceptics doubt these measures are sufficient to moderate the cost of living and believe that consumers will take the brunt of the price increase. There is fear that cost increases can potentially spiral and this should be addressed in two prongs. First, to ensure that sellers are not exploiting and profiteering from the situation; and, second, to educate the people to be prudent in all aspects of their daily consumption.
The sandwiched class is usually the most affected but given the least support. These are the mid-level professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) − the new vulnerable group of people, both in terms of securing employment and managing the family's cost of living. Perhaps the Government can provide more short-term support for this group, especially when the economic prospect looks bleak with lower employment rate.
Next, I am glad that the Ministry will be doing more to help caregivers and assisting people with disabilities find work. The third Enabling Masterplan aims to better integrate people with disabilities into the workforce by giving more support to caregivers. This is the joint effort and initiative by the committee comprising both private and public sector representatives. The Disability Caregiver Support Centre is one promising initiative.
I do hope that more can be done in assisting people with disabilities gain employment so that they can earn a dignified living. For this, we will need corporate organisations to support the employment of people with not just mild disability but also moderate disabilities.
My personal experience working with people with disabilities has been a promising one. They are consistent, reliable and diligent; performing well in their given job scope. SG Enable has instituted programmes to create awareness among companies and conduct training for potential corporate organisations which show a keen interest in hiring people with disabilities. We must applaud such organisations for their willingness and pursuit to do good in Corporate Social Responsibility.
With that in mind, I urge the Government to consider providing some wage support for companies hiring people with disabilities as a permanent employee, instead of offering them contract-based employment. This will give the individuals and their care-giving families more certainty and assurance.
I am also heartened that, over the next five years, the Ministry will provide additional funding, up to $100 million in total, to further develop the capabilities of our VWOs and charities. In an effort to attract and retain talents, will the funding for VWOs-Charities Capability Fund be used to provide staff with training and better remuneration, especially for VWOs-Charities that provide some form of healthcare services? In this way, we can enhance the attractiveness of the sector, strengthen ability and build up the Singapore Core.
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Sir, in a newspaper article in June 2015, it was reported that the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) was looking into ways to help smaller VWOs with weak or no fund-raising capabilities. It was stated that NCSS intends to help these VWOs strengthen their organisations and develop alternative resources to support their functions.
The same report cited that in 2012, less than 1% of the total funds raised went to small charities with annual receipts of less than $250,000 while large charities with annual receipts of above $10 million took the lion's share of 85%.
Hougang has been blessed with the presence of these small charities. I am sure these outfits are doing good work in other parts of Singapore as well. These smaller VWOs are able to complement and contribute to the collective effort of big charities and the Ministry to help needy Singaporeans in filling the gaps and providing very targeted assistance at times. They are able to reach out to the needy at a personal level and with great speed. Thus, I wish to seek an update from the Ministry on the reported effort to help these smaller charities serve the community. What are the possible alternative ways to help them raise the much-needed funds effectively?
It was reported that grassroots organisations raised about $7 million from community trade fairs in the last financial year. The GROs were also given $206 million to spend the same year. Would the Ministry consider allowing smaller VWOs to raise funds through trade fairs instead, as these charities do not have many opportunities to raise meaningful donations effectively? Giving the trade fair quotas to these VWOs will also help bring awareness to their presence in the community and the good work they have done to serve the needy residents there.
Ms Chia Yong Yong: Sir, I would like to thank the Government for the Budget measures in making provision for persons with disabilities and strengthening community bonds. However, given the limited resources and the limited expertise of VWOs in applying for grants and engaging competent service providers. I would like to know if the Government would be streamlining and simplifying the criteria for the application process for Government grants, whether the Government could provide consultancy services to help VWOs to put up their proposals, and whether also the Government could recommend suitable consultants and service providers that could help improve the services as well as the operations of VWOs.
Mr Amrin Amin: Providing a helping hand should not just be the job of social workers or VWOs. I believe all of us can be our brothers or sisters' keepers. As we continue to professionalise the social service sector, what are the plans to tap on the wider community of volunteers? Volunteers can supplement the tight manpower in the social service sector. I hope we can empower and encourage more Singaporeans to play a part, no matter how small, to reach out to Singaporeans in need of assistance.
Ms Tin Pei Ling: It takes a village to raise a child. Likewise, a community plays an important role in caring for the vulnerable and in engendering social cohesion. But it is increasingly important for practical reasons, too.
Manpower shortage cuts across various sectors. Even with new workforce entrants, there will always be stiff competition for manpower. But with calls for more and higher quality programmes to address unfulfilled needs, the need for people will only increase.
The community has so far demonstrated how we can organise ourselves and achieve many things. With the manpower shortage and increasing needs, we should look more to the community as a new resource pool − perhaps having \"gig volunteers\".
We have corporates and residents who have diverse skillsets and knowledge. They may also have the capacity outside of work and family time to help. Does the Ministry intend to leverage on them more? How can we rally, incentivise and organise the community better to address unfulfilled social needs?
The Chairman: Minister Tan Chuan-Jin.
The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Tan Chuan-Jin): Sir, I would like to start my speech by speaking in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I would like to thank Members of the House for the suggestions on making Singapore a more caring society. My Ministry is on a constant lookout for new ways to make our social support system more responsive to the changing needs of Singaporeans.
The global economy is slowing and we expect greater uncertainties in the labour market. Naturally, some of us may be concerned about the challenges in the coming years. I would like to assure everyone that my Ministry is ready to respond to these challenges, through the existing schemes and upcoming initiatives.
In the coming years, my Ministry's efforts will remain focused on these three areas.
First, we will stay committed towards building an inclusive society in Singapore where no one will be left behind.
Second, we will also work on strengthening families so that families can continue to serve as a pillar of support for individuals and the basic building block of society.
Third, we will continue to enhance the capabilities of the people sector, so that they can continue to do good work for our community.
Amidst the economic uncertainties, MSF stands ready to provide the necessary additional support to the families and individuals who have fallen on hard times and are trying to bounce back. We believe that for those who can work, apart from tiding them over difficult times in the short term, the best support we can provide for them is to enable them to find and sustain work. Only then can they be empowered to improve the situation of their families and themselves.
We will try to do this through our Social Service Offices (SSOs). The majority of our SSOs now are standalone SSOs that are not co-located with WSG and e2i. At these SSOs, appointments are made for clients requiring employment assistance to see WSG or e2i officers who come down to the SSOs once a week. At some SSOs, the wait time can be two to three weeks or more. Last year, we experimented with bringing together social assistance and employment services under one roof at two SSOs. This year, we will extend the pilot delivery of both social and employment assistance by the same SSO officer to three more SSOs. The goal is to provide unemployed clients who are able to work easier access to employment assistance so that they can get back to work sooner. They can also get more holistic support and assistance, with employment goals tied closely to social assistance.
This is one of the many ways that MSF innovates to make service delivery more client-centric. We will continue to explore other possible ways to make it easier for those in need to get the help they need and to do so in a manner that does not diminish personal responsibility, self-reliance, as well as family and community support.
We are making progress in better supporting persons with disabilities. The third Enabling Masterplan submitted by the 22-member committee to my Ministry in December last year put forth a number of recommendations. The recommendations range from improving the quality of lives of persons with disabilities and supporting their caregivers, to building up the community's capabilities in supporting them and charting the way forward in building an inclusive society.
The recommendations highlight the importance of building an ecosystem of support for persons with disabilities in enabling them as integral and contributing members of our society. Family members form the core in the ecosystem of support. The larger community, comprising the health, education and social services and the society at large, provides the other layers of support in the ecosystem. My Ministry will continue to work on strengthening this ecosystem in enabling more holistic support and a smoother transition for persons with disabilities at different stages of their lives.
We will also continue to ensure Singapore remains a great place to raise children and form stable families. For families facing challenges, we will continue to support them at critical junctures of their lives, to strengthen both immediate and extended family bonds. It is every parent's hope that their child can start off on a strong footing. We, too, want every child to have a good start in life. This is why we piloted KidSTART for low-income and vulnerable children who may need additional support since last July. KidSTART seeks to proactively identify children aged six and below, provide them with early access to health, learning and developmental support, as well as monitor their progress during their early years. Under KidSTART today, some Anchor Operator centres are provided additional manpower to engage Child Enabling Executives to work closely with parents of low-income and vulnerable children enrolled at these centres, and, if need be, work with parents to improve their children's attendance. Today, we have supported more than 300 children in three pilot sites. Parents and partners have responded positively to the support provided under KidSTART so far. We have also been receiving encouraging feedback on improved parent-child interaction and preschool attendance.
While good efforts have been made, we know very well that our work is not finished. There are many opportunities ahead for us to improve the quality of our lives, and extend our help to vulnerable ones. To achieve our vision of a caring society, the Government's efforts alone are not enough. I would like to encourage more people to step forward and work with us in making Singapore a more caring society.
(In English): Mdm Chairman, I would like to thank all Members for sharing their thoughts on fostering a more caring Singapore.
As we progressed economically in the past 50 years, we created opportunities for Singaporeans to pursue their dreams and to provide for their families. Individual effort, strong families and active involvement by the community remain important principles. Our growth also allowed us to enhance support for families and to give our children a good start, regardless of background.
We increased assistance to those who need help and improved the quality of life for the elderly and persons with disabilities. We also strengthened protection for the vulnerable. We now have better support for young couples as they plan to start families and raise their children.
Now, looking ahead, we face different challenges: ageing population, shrinking family sizes and more people working abroad have resulted in fewer members within the family to share the care-giving load. While our elderly enjoy longer life expectancy, they also require sufficient resources to see them through their twilight years. More of them are developing disabilities as they age.
Family structures are evolving as we have more choosing to remain single or childless, or living alone. We are also seeing more remarriages and intercultural marriages. More children are being diagnosed with autism earlier. Social services, therefore, have been expanding to meet these needs. But like many sectors, getting more manpower to keep pace with demand remains a continuing challenge.
During the Budget debate, Members spoke about new economic realities, such as evolving business models, disruptions and labour market uncertainties. What does this mean? It will probably mean that more persons will require support and, probably, for longer periods, during job transitions. Therefore, it is imperative for us to take a whole-of-Government approach to enable all Singaporeans, including the vulnerable, to adapt to these changes.
Keeping our economy healthy with good jobs growth remains key because it helps our people stay employed. Work, I think, in many ways represents the best form of welfare because it enables dignity and self-respect.
Secondly, we will continue investing in education and training, to ensure our workforce remains skilled and competitive. We will also help workers to upgrade their skills on an ongoing basis, so that they remain relevant as the economy evolves. We will also help with job matching where we can. While seemingly economic in nature, I would suggest that many of the measures taken by CFE and with SkillsFuture have a lot of bearing on our social well-being as well.
But, lastly, invariably, where individuals fall on hard times, this is where the social safety net − by which I mean families, the community and the Government − will all have to come together to strengthen support. We believe that, as we help, we must foster hope for the future and a very real improvement in lives.
If Members noticed, and many of us often ask, what is MSF doing, what is the Government doing? But I think it is important for us to realise that we all have a role to play. So, I would like to reiterate these principles and values that I believe should guide us.
Firstly, dignity and self-reliance. Every Singaporean must be able to stand on their own two feet and live a life of dignity. Enabling those who can work to work helps to maintain self-respect and empowers one to improve his or her circumstances. We must not only help individuals with short-term needs, but help them to help themselves in the long term.
Secondly, family support. Families, we all know, form the foundation of any society and, definitely, in our society, and they should be the first line of support. Family bonds help us get through tough times. Fostering strong families is a key imperative. Imagine a society where, when there are troubles, the first thing people ask is not so much what are the families doing, what is the individual doing, but what is the community doing about it. I think it would represent something that we should be worried about. But I think these are values that many of us continue to hold true today.
Lastly, community support. The wider community plays a part, which is all of us here, as leaders in our own respective spaces. I think different players − some of you have suggested about how volunteers can play a part − and, certainly, different players like VWOs, grassroots, philanthropists and volunteers from all walks of life – can and should come together to provide care and support in big and small ways and they, definitely, augment the support provided by the Government.
So, we need to prepare for the future. While the underlying values and principles that guide us do not change, we do need to redesign assistance to meet changing and diverse needs. At the same time, we still have to pay attention to sustainability, to ensure that resources are going to where they are most needed.
My Parliamentary Secretary and I will be elaborating on the Ministry's work in three key areas.
Firstly, to Build an Inclusive Society. An inclusive society is one where each Singaporean is enabled to lead a fulfilling life, regardless of their starting point. Developing this sense of inclusiveness is and has to be a whole-of-society effort. Beyond initiatives and programmes, we need a mindset shift in the way we support the needs of fellow Singaporeans, the way we look at them, especially those with more disadvantaged circumstances and different abilities.
Secondly, it is about Strengthening Families. The family plays a critical role in preserving a closely-knit society and in serving as a pillar of support for individuals. We want to ensure that Singapore remains a great place to raise children and give them a good start in life. We want to establish stable family units, while supporting families that do face difficulties.
A strong family goes a long way in helping individuals overcome challenges. I am talking not just about immediate family, but also the extended family. As individual family units come under strain, such as through difficult life events like illness, extended family members can play an important role in providing support, especially when family units are becoming smaller. However, there will be families whose ties have been weakened and help from within is not immediately available. It will happen. And that is where the Government and community partners, neighbours, can help them to resolve their issues and rebuild their ties.
My Parliamentary Secretary will speak on how we will strengthen and support families through better childcare and infant care services, as well as early intervention measures for young families. He will also outline how we will help families to mend fractured ties, and how we should deal with domestic violence.
Thirdly, we will enrich our social assets by Strengthening the People Sector. Our community partners are doing very, very good work and I urge them to continue. Given the nature and complexity of needs, all of us need to play our part to provide holistic help to those in need. This way, we can achieve greater impact and we can scale what we do. When you scale, you can begin to go upstream and look at preventing problems and not just dealing with problems when they happen. So, developing our social service organisations, as well as enabling and empowering caring communities, continues to be an important priority for MSF.
At the end of the day, all our efforts − family, community and Government − contribute towards our vision of a caring and inclusive society.
For this first section, I will elaborate on our work in building an inclusive society.
Individuals who are disadvantaged and have complex needs will feel the challenges of livelihood most acutely. If displaced from their jobs, they might not have sufficient savings or other sources of income to tide them through these rough patches. Those without family support will require greater support from the community and the Government.
It is not only about extending more help. We need to be innovative to help them more holistically and try to break the cycle of disadvantage. Just providing and disbursing help is the easy part in some sense, but helping them to break out of the circumstances so that they can fundamentally change their circumstances, that is where the important work lies.
Another group that we will strengthen support for are persons with disabilities. They face different challenges and, invariably, have less options than the rest of us. In the past few years, we have made good progress in areas, such as early intervention, education, employment and in raising awareness and recognition of persons with disabilities. The recommendations in the third Enabling Master Plan set out quite a few areas where we can further strengthen support over the next five years.
I will elaborate more on our plans, starting with how we intend to support those who need financial help.
In recent years, we have progressively strengthened our social safety nets. Let me provide an update on the Social Service Offices (SSOs), as requested by Mr Faisal Manap.
The SSOs are the cornerstone of our social assistance framework. In 2013, we started rolling out a network of SSOs to bring more accessible and coordinated social assistance to Singaporeans. By 2015, we had set up the full network of 24 physical offices across the island. Today, 95% of SSO clients live or work within two kilometres of an SSO. For seniors who may require social assistance but are unable to travel to the office, our officers can conduct the assessment at their homes. For immobile seniors who are already on our schemes, our officers can also directly credit the payment to agencies for their household bills if there is such a request or when officers assess that doing so will be helpful to the seniors. Ms Sylvia Lim asked about some of these possible arrangements. We have those options available.
Being forward deployed, SSOs develop a good sense of the local community's needs and enjoy better collaboration. The SSOs are not the only players in the community. There are various stakeholders, VWOs, FSCs, so the partnership with them also enables the SSOs to get a better feel of the situation on the ground.
What are some of the products as a result of these partnerships? For instance, one of the SSOs has partnered North East CDC to pay for pest control services to assist rental flat residents deal with their bed bugs. In Bukit Merah, for example, our SSO initiated a Spooner Road POW WOW platform where all partners could coordinate their action plan for vulnerable families in the area. This enabled clients to be better served in a holistic manner and avoided duplication of effort among the agencies. The various partner agencies continue to meet through this platform to share best practices and resolve complex cases.
This is something that we want to encourage, we want to see it happening on a wider basis. Some of us, as advisors, are playing an active role trying to pull together the different stakeholders. It is important for the stakeholders to get together because when they talk, they build relationships, they exchange information, that is when there is real coordination and the real coordinated work happens on the ground. It is much more effective that way.
Mr Faisal Manap also asked about the training received by SSO officers. One out of six officers have social work training. Officers also undergo training in areas pertinent to their work, such as engagement and interviewing skills, the assessment of needs and financial literacy. It is also important to realise, as I mentioned earlier, that the SSO does not exist on its own. It works very closely with the local Family Service Centre where the social workers will then follow up with the individual clients. There are also other players, such as the SAC and other stakeholders where the partnership is established. So, the social work community that exists on the ground comprises SSOs and the key partners who work together to try and address some of the needs that our residents face.
Mr Faisal Manap and Ms Sylvia Lim asked about the ComCare Scheme. We have extended the coverage to more families. Since 2014, we have increased the monthly household income cap for families seeking Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance from $1,700 to $1,900, and the cap on income per person was raised from $550 to $650. So, basically, we have extended the coverage in terms of those who may need ComCare assistance. We have also increased the quantum of Long-Term Assistance. The most recent enhancement was last year, where financial support for one-person households on Long-Term Assistance was increased from $450 to $500 a month. The rates were also increased for larger households. Households may also receive additional support to meet other needs, such as medical consumables, adult diapers and one-off items like commodes and wheelchairs for their frail elderly. So, these are some of the ad hoc needs that may sometimes arise and assistance can be provided.
These are system-level improvements and scheme enhancements. At the individual-level, SSO officers are empowered to exercise flexibility when providing social assistance to low-income families under the ComCare scheme. That is something that is important. It is important for officers not to just follow a rule rigidly. But the space is accorded to them to make some of these discretionary calls.
Our officers will then calibrate both the amount and the duration of Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance according to the different needs of families. For one-off and ad-hoc expenses, as mentioned by Mr Faisal Manap, they also exercise flexibility and also tap on community resources to assist. I think many of us are familiar, at the CDC level, initiatives are initiated by us, working with the various stakeholders − the local merchants, the local VWOs. Collectively, we also help to provide some of these means to assist individuals on a need basis. We do want to help families get back on their feet, but some will progress faster than others.
Ms Sylvia Lim asked, \"How do you measure?\" The honest truth is that it is actually quite difficult. Is it about the numbers we are talking about? By extending the coverage, we do have more numbers of those we are assisting. Is it about how long they remain on help? But the reality is that it really depends. Some are temporary because they have lost their jobs, so they need something to tide them over. Others have more chronic family problems, but they are not work-capable; some have health issues and that is a bit more long-drawn. But the key thing is: when they need help, are we able to provide help? And even though it may be short or medium-term, it does not mean that after a few months, we will cut it off. We do have the capacity and we do actually extend it when they continue to have those issues. Of course, those on long-term assistance are very different. We will review them from time to time. For those on Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance, we will adjust accordingly and will not cut off the assistance prematurely. And if you do meet individuals who seem to have some of these challenges, do flag it to us and let us know because we will be quite happy to adjust as we do make those accommodations. As we all know, on the ground, the stories that we receive are not always necessarily complete. But, when in doubt, surface it and we will be more than happy to assess it. So, we do look at it from a needs-based approach and we consider all sources of income.
Ms Sylvia Lim also asked about Silver Support. For those on Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance, there will be some that are not receiving Silver Support. Some of those who receive Silver Support do not need Short-to-Medium Term Assistance. But for those who are on Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance but are also eligible for Silver Support, in these cases, we do compute the Silver Support quantum into the overall assistance. Because, otherwise, the quantum increases quite significantly. We are also quite mindful as to how to calibrate the amount. So, Silver Support is factored in for the Short-to-Medium-Term assistance recipients.
Ms Denise Phua asked about families facing problems with debt and arrears. In fact, I was just having a discussion on this recently with an expert from overseas. These families can approach their nearest SSO. The SSOs will work with relevant agencies, such as Singapore Power, HDB, Town Councils, to see if the debt can be restructured. That is a very simple step, but it goes a very long way and, for many, it makes a lot of difference. For example, it allows these families to go on instalment plans. Concurrently, our officers will assess the family's situation and they will look at ComCare to support their basic living expenses, if necessary. And these efforts will resolve some of the pressing issues for many of them.
However, ComCare cannot be used for the repayment of debts, to ensure we also do not erode the values of personal responsibility. Can you imagine a scenario where, if you are in debt and, therefore, public monies are then re-directed to service your debt? Invariably, you can imagine the kind of behaviours that this can create. But we are also aware that, for some families − and I do face them, I think many of us in this House face them − where for whatever reason, the mistakes that they made, wrong decisions in life, they end up mired in quite serious debt and it seems almost impossible to break out of that cycle. So, in these instances, we would refer them to VWOs who are looking at these issues from a more specialised perspective where they provide debt-related support and advice, or refer them to organisations like the Institute of Financial Literacy and Credit Counselling Singapore. Basically, exploring different ideas to see how best to equip our social workers with the ability to integrate financial advice into their intervention plans for vulnerable families. So, we welcome partners who are keen to explore such solutions. I am aware that Methodist Welfare Services provides some of these. I think it is early days yet. I think it is too early to conclude. And for those who are operating in that space, they would realise it is not quite so straightforward either.
But we are mindful that, for a number of families, this is a serious issue, and we are looking at whether there are better ways to support them. The ideal way is to prevent them from getting into that position in the first place. That is where providing better financial planning advice and education early would be important. It is also important for us to surface problems earlier so that we are able to step in, because a range of assistance schemes is available to help families, rather than let them try and figure out solutions on their own, incurring more debt and, thereby, creating much more complex problems for themselves. So, this is where the community needs to step in to support them, surface the problems, so that we can step in and see what we can do, early on.
We do need to be forward-thinking. We need to try new methods because social safety nets also need to evolve with changing conditions. So, I am keen for us to be as proactive as we can to go upstream to pre-empt issues. At the same time, it is also important to reiterate that we have to strike a balance in terms of being resilient and preventing a sense of entitlement. Because by being so proactive, before you surface a problem, you come in and help somebody. I am not sure that is always a wise thing to do either. So, it is a balance that we need to strike, but I am very mindful that I would like to look at prevention as far as I can.
Prof Michael Sherradan, a distinguished professor of social development at the Washington University in St Louis in the US, described Singapore as \"a relatively young and very tiny nation, but it has some of the most innovative social policies in the world\". He has also said that \"social policies can never be perfect − trade-offs are always involved − but overall Singapore has made thoughtful and effective choices.\"
I actually believe we can do better, especially in the way we provide more seamless and holistic help to individuals and families. When you meet individuals, they have a range of different problems and it is multi-dimensional. They do not organise their lives according to the way we organise ourselves in the Ministries and agencies. So, we, at the backend, need to see how to wrap around services to support them.
For those with multi-faceted needs and challenges, clearly, financial assistance is just one part of the solution. It does not solve everything. There are other difficulties − family problems, relationship problems at home, challenges in finding and holding down stable employment, health concerns, mental health issues and so on. Therefore, our SSO officers need to work with them on an action plan to achieve financial and job stability, link them up with other agencies and community partners that can help them address their other challenges, such as childcare placement. So, as mentioned earlier, I think we can do better in trying to make this as seamless as possible. If you have one individual who is able to do everything, it will be challenging, because I do not think he will have that level of competency. So, you do need to leverage on the experts that are providing those services within the community. But what we can do is to link them up much better. Basically, it is a team attending to the individual − but how do you help them navigate and how do you hand them over from one individual to the other and, collectively, try to address these issues? I think that can go a very long way and that is something we can do better.
We recognise that it is very taxing. These individuals and families are already having a lot of emotional stress, a lot of concerns on their minds and then they have to approach multiple agencies for help, and to repeat their stories. So, having technology to help streamline that so that there is a common database will help to go a very long way to prevent social workers from asking the individuals to repeat some of these instances. These experiences, we know, can be demoralising and can diminish their will to follow through with their action plans. In the first place, for many, I would suggest do have a great deal of dignity and self-reliance, which is why sometimes they actually come to us rather late. But because of that, it is also very painful to keep repeating why you are needing help. That is something that we recognise and, through SS Net, we are trying to address some of these issues. Also, the processes at the backend, I think we can do better and we will.
So, we will constantly explore better ways to be more client-centric. One area of focus, to illustrate, is employment assistance to enable job stability. Some of our SSOs are co-located with WSG or e2i Career Centres, and clients can immediately follow up with WSG or e2i for employment assistance. Two SSOs − Taman Jurong and Kreta Ayer − have social assistance, family services and employment services all under one roof. At these two SSOs, the same SSO officer provides both social and employment assistance, an arrangement that clients have found helpful. At the other SSOs, separate appointments for employment assistance are made for clients to see the WSG or e2i officers who come to the SSOs once a week.
This year, we will extend the pilot delivery of both social and employment assistance by the same SSO officer, to three more SSOs. For clients who are unemployed but able to work, this will provide easier and quicker access to employment assistance. They can also get more holistic help with employment goals tied closely to social assistance. Much as we want to help, individuals must walk that last mile themselves. Many of us who have been in this field, working with individuals, we will also meet individuals that, for one reason or other, somehow, are not prepared to embark on that. How do we nudge them on that journey, especially when they are work-capable? So, we will train our officers to provide employment assistance.
This is just one example, amongst various others, that we will need to continue to pursue to make sure that we can provide help as effectively as possible but also in a manner that helps the individual retain his dignity and, at the same time, not to erode the importance of self-reliance and also to include the families because family support remains important and, again, the community, which is where we are in. We have also a responsibility in our local community to look out for our neighbours and our residents. There are many different ideas and schemes that can actually work on the ground, and many of us have tried that. All of us play a part.
Let me move on to persons with disabilities. The Enabling Masterplans are five-year blueprints that guide the development of policies, programmes and support services. The third Enabling Masterplan Steering Committee concluded their work in 2016. They seek to improve the quality of lives of persons with disabilities, importantly, to support caregivers and also to build up the community's capabilities and chart the way forward in building a more inclusive society. The third Masterplan builds on the progress of earlier Masterplans. Focus group discussions were carried out with many stakeholders − persons with disabilities, caregivers, VWOs providing disability services, employers and members of the public. I would like to place on record my thanks to the 22-member Steering Committee, which comprised the people, private and public sectors, including persons with disabilities and caregivers, for their hard work and recommendations.
The recommendations highlight the importance of building an ecosystem of support for persons with disabilities. This ecosystem starts with family members and encompasses the larger community, such as health, education and social services and the society at large. We will focus on strengthening this ecosystem to enable more holistic help and a smoother transition for persons with disabilities at different stages of their lives.
Let me share some upcoming initiatives in early intervention, education, training and employment, adult care and also caregiver support, which Dr Lily Neo and Ms Denise Phua have asked about. I will also touch on the plans to build the community's capabilities to better support persons with disabilities and their families.
Early intervention will remain a key area of focus for children with developmental needs. Timely and appropriate support in the early years can maximise their potential. The Developmental Support Programme (DSP) provides learning support and therapy for children with mild developmental delays, such as speech and language learning difficulties and behavioural issues. The programme is available in the mainstream preschools. Since its inception, it has helped about 4,000 children across 350 preschools. DSP will be expanded to another 50 preschools this year. We are also studying how it can be enhanced to support children with moderate developmental needs.
We will build up the capability and capacity of the preschool sector. This includes training a pool of 200 preschool teachers called Learning Support Educators or LSEds, over the next five years. LSEds provide targeted intervention for children with mild developmental needs and they support classroom teachers in integrating these children with typically developing children in a group setting.
We will also promote greater inclusiveness within the educational setting. So, we are looking at the feasibility of an inclusive preschool model that enables special needs children to attend preschool with other children. Such a model will need to be supported by LSEds and early intervention teachers.
We are keen on earlier detection and clearer classification of developmental needs to facilitate timely and appropriate intervention. In Singapore, this is something that we can do. Personnel in the health and preschool sectors, they actually form a network of early touchpoints for our children. These include doctors and family medical practitioners as well as preschool teachers. We will work with MOH to see how to better train these personnel to pick up signs of developmental delay and also to raise awareness and to deliberately look out for some of these indicators so that the children can be noticed at the early stage. And where it is appropriate, they can be referred for early and quicker intervention and appropriate support. The earlier the intervention, especially for those with issues, the better it is.
MOE will introduce Compulsory Education for special needs children from 2019. Children with special educational needs (SEN) who are able to benefit from formal education will be supported to access mainstream or Government-funded Special Education (SPED) schools.
Employment is integral to enabling persons with disabilities to live independently and integrate with society. It is something that also weighs on the minds of all parents with children with disabilities. We share Ms Denise Phua's and Mr Desmond Choo's concerns on employment opportunities. We will continue to do more to improve employability and employment options and support the acquisition of relevant skills. Over the past three years, SG Enable and its VWO partners have collectively placed more than 1,200 persons with disabilities into employment through job support and placement assistance, mainly in the hospitality, food and beverage, retail and administrative support sectors. SG Enable has also supported internships for about 80 tertiary students with disabilities in our Institutes of Higher Learning.
MSF, together with MOE and SG Enable, has piloted the School-to-Work Transition Programme with five SPED schools in 2014. This programme provides counselling, motivation, soft skills training and work trial opportunities for SPED students before they are matched for employment.
The feedback has been very good. I am heartened to hear the feedback from students, parents and employers about how the programme has allowed students with special needs to acquire work skills, develop good work habits and build a sense of self-worth and confidence to carry out daily activities on their own.
I am pleased to announce that we will extend the School-to-Work Transition Programme to more SPED schools and students who are work-capable but not work-ready. This will include those with higher needs. The programme will be expanded from supporting about 30 students last year, to about 60 work-capable students a year by 2019.
Training and lifelong learning are also crucial for persons with disabilities to keep current and relevant in this changing economy. It is challenging for us, but more challenging for those with disabilities. Since 2014, more than 1,400 persons with disabilities have enrolled in training courses and more than 2,200 employers and co-workers have undergone training to learn how to recruit and integrate persons with disabilities at their workplace. This effort at the workplace is important.
Let me share an example. Mr Shahidir was diagnosed with mild autism at a young age and has difficulty in verbal communications. Following a vocational assessment at Autism Resource Centre (ARC)'s Employability and Employment Centre in 2015, he was trained in work-related hard and soft skills. His job coach recognised his strengths in reading and ability to follow visual instructions, and matched him to an administrative role in DataPost Pte Ltd in April last year. His employer has been pleased with his consistent work performance so far. Shahidir, like many of his peers, are assisted through job placement and job support services by SG Enable and its partners, and managed to become independent through employment.
SG Enable will work with training providers to enhance the availability and affordability of training. Persons with disabilities are now able to use their Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA), in addition to SkillsFuture Credits, to offset costs across a wider range of courses, such as those offered by SG Enable.
Persons with disabilities can also tap on other schemes to enhance their independence, such as the Assistive Technology Fund (ATF). This was introduced in 2003 to defray the cost of assistive technology devices. In our recent review of the ATF in 2015, Mr Faisal Manap will be glad to note – and he is aware of it as well – that we doubled the lifetime cap from $20,000 to $40,000. We raised the monthly household per capita income from $1,500 to $1,800. We broadened the scope of coverage. Persons with disabilities can now use ATF to purchase devices for rehabilitation or for assistance in daily living, in addition to work and education purposes.
With these changes, the number of supported ATF applications went up from 175 in 2014 to about 1,600 in 2016.
For those who still face difficulties in financing their purchases, our VWOs will work with them on a case-to-case basis. We will monitor the needs of persons with disabilities and consider further enhancements in future.
Mr Faisal Manap suggested to keep prices affordable by aggregating demand. I think that is a useful idea; we will study the matter further as many AT devices are used by persons with disabilities. While some are standard, some actually do require customisation as well. Sometimes, bulk purchases may not be quite so applicable. But this is something worth pursuing and we will study it.
Ms Thanaletchimi asked about wage support for companies employing persons with disabilities. The Special Employment Credit (SEC) scheme was introduced in 2012 to support companies that employ persons with disabilities earning $4,000 and below a month. These employers receive support of up to 16% of employees' wages, capped at $240. For persons with disabilities in low-wage jobs, the Wage Income Supplement (WIS) scheme further supplements their income and savings through cash payments and CPF in Workfare. As at December 2016, $59 million in Special Employment Credit has been given to employers of about 10,000 eligible persons with disabilities. Twenty-eight million dollars in WIS has supplemented persons with disabilities' salaries in low-wage jobs.
Some special needs children graduating from the education system might not be able to enter employment, and they require longer term care services. For older adults with disabilities, their elderly parents who are their primary caregivers may find it harder to continue to care for them. So, a gap in caregiving may also be more keenly felt. As I have mentioned earlier, our families are becoming smaller.
The call for more support for caregivers is a key area of focus in the Third Enabling Masterplan. The role of a caregiver is physically and emotionally demanding and they can really be at risk of burn-out. In fact, it is not a risk. Burn-out is very likely to happen.
The National Council of Social Service (NCSS), together with VWOs in the sector, will develop a network of support for caregivers. I do note Ms Denise Phua's point about the need to be clear about the needs in the sector. We will work with various stakeholders to tap on their experience in this particular space.
This network will enable better access to information and resources, services, such as respite care, and capability-building resources, so that caregivers can perform their role with greater confidence. This is important because, sometimes, the stress comes from a lack of awareness. They feel that they may not be getting the support they need when, actually, some of these measures are available. A lot of it is about improving training and providing awareness. The greater the awareness, the lower the uncertainty. It also helps in managing stress. So, this is something that we will help to ensure – that information and resources are made available to families. This will also enable caregivers to, more importantly, be able to care for themselves, even as they care for their loved ones.
VWOs and Family Service Centres in this network will help to link caregivers for further assistance based on their needs. Caregivers will also have access to support groups that offer emotional support. VWOs will also provide caregivers access and connectivity with specialised services, such as counselling and specialised training.
As part of this network, NCSS will establish the Disability Caregiver Support Centre. Ms Chia Yong Yong has asked about this. The Centre will focus on new caregivers or caregivers of persons with disabilities who are currently not accessing services. Adopting a \"Hub and Spoke\" model, the Centre will link these caregivers to VWO service providers in their community and other resources. The centre will also explore new support initiatives needed by caregivers.
We agree with Ms Denise Phua that this network has to be forward-looking. NCSS will ensure the Centre stays open to incorporating new care-giving ideas, innovation and practices. In order to make sure that it is forward-looking and it remains innovative, we ask stakeholders in the community to step forward and provide us some of these inputs and to work closely with NCSS on this front.
One foremost concern by caregivers is what would happen to their child with special needs when they no longer are able to care for them. The Special Needs Trust Company (SNTC) will provide more assistance in future care planning and trust services and step up its outreach and engagement efforts to assist caregivers. SNTC will also collaborate with key community partners, such as the Institute of Financial Literacy, in their outreach efforts.
Earlier, Ms Denise Phua touched on the range of residential living options for persons with disabilities. The family, as I mentioned, is the first line of support. The majority of persons with disabilities today are living with their family members. Some are supported by home-based or community-based services. For a small group of higher functioning persons with disabilities where family support is unavailable, we have Adult Disability Hostels and the Community Group Home. For those whose only option is to stay in residential care facilities due to high support needs, the Adult Disability Homes provide them with the required care and support.
My Ministry will continue working with stakeholders to expand the continuum of support for persons with disabilities living in different residential settings. Together with MOH, we will explore synergies across the health and social services. This would require collaboration amongst VWOs in areas of manpower training and transition management.
I would say that one part that all of us can play is really in the community because persons with disabilities live amongst us. Their families live amongst us. This is where, I think, the community can play a very active role, whether in terms of volunteers, whether in terms of the local neighbourhood, because we are there in the community with them. We would urge that, even as we look at NCSS' initiatives, we look at the Government, the VWOs, I would remind us that, apart from the family, the community plays a very big part.
We can go a very long way in terms of providing support and respite for caregivers. When they are out and about in the community, you see them. But when we are less than sympathetic, when their children act up, when we are less empathetic, and we react in ways that are insensitive, it does not help at all. It makes them retreat into their own shell. They dare not come out; they are reluctant to come out. How do they then draw on support? But the more we are able to actively involve them on a day-to-day basis in our community activities, let us deliberately plan for it, bring them out. If we are able to provide some form of care for their children or their family members, at least a couple of hours, half a day here or there, that can go a very long way in terms of making a real difference.
That is something all of us can do. We do not need to mandate that from the agencies. That is for us, as leaders in the community; that is something we can do. And we should think about how to embark on it.
Over the years, in terms of building community capabilities, my Ministry has introduced initiatives to build up the capabilities of our community partners so that they can do their work more efficiently and effectively. In the next phase of the Social Service ICT Master Plan, we will look into the automation of work processes in terms of case management, transition management, as well as case monitoring. VWOs providing disability services would be able to reap the benefits of having a holistic view of clients and timely delivery of services enabled through technology. Just as we embark on Smart Nation initiatives, the Smart Nation initiatives must be all-encompassing in every facet of our lives; no difference in this space as well.
Studies have also shown that Singaporeans are unsure about the appropriate behaviour when interacting with persons with disabilities. As I mentioned earlier, the more we are able to interact, the more we are consciously able to learn, the more we are able to be empathetic. This is one reason that employers are still apprehensive in hiring persons with disabilities.
There are many little things that we can do to start creating greater inclusiveness. Employers, for example, can look at designing more inclusive workplaces. Our schools and communal places are natural settings, as I mentioned. For starters, my Ministry will work with MCCY to provide more opportunities for persons with disabilities to participate in sports, cultural, community and youth activities. MSF and our partners, NCSS, SG Enable and VWOs in the disability sector will continue to promote disability awareness and support efforts to bridge the social distance between members of the public and persons with disabilities. Of course, we can bridge that gap as well.
But as much as we create the opportunities, again, for the rest of us, we must take that step. There are limits to how much we can force this down all our throats. We create the opportunities, create the platforms but we must step forward and be there, be present, be involved. It does not take much. Those who have been involved have found it enlightening. They began to have greater insights and that is the start of that journey. I think we are progressing but surveys show that we still have a long way to go. There is every possibility that we can make good improvements on this front.
As shared by the Finance Minister, including existing initiatives, we expect to spend around $400 million per year in supporting persons with disabilities. While I have elaborated on the upcoming new initiatives under the Enabling Masterplan, I think it is important for us to note that the on-going support for persons with disabilities range from early intervention, special education, wage support to supporting caregivers. And it straddles across many, many different Ministries and agencies as well. Together, the key thing for us is to make sure that these schemes are able to come together, are able to be interwoven effectively to enable the holistic support to be provided.
Sir, a truly inclusive society requires commitment from the wider community to play their part which is why I have reiterated some of the principles earlier. As a society, we all must subscribe to that, rather than to just turn to the Government, agencies, VWOs, and ask: what are you doing about it? Because all of us can play a part.
We need to be more aware, we need to remind ourselves, ask ourselves what role we can play to be more inclusive towards persons who have more needs than us, or whose capabilities differ from ours.
It is our people that make this country special, and inclusiveness for the less fortunate amongst us should be an abiding value of our society. I hope that we remember that even as we provide initiatives to help those who are disabled, those who have special needs, those who are disadvantaged, really, it is not just about helping them. In the process, it is about us helping ourselves change. Because when we participate in the process, that is the change that will happen.
I do urge all of us, that, in this effort to build an inclusive society, it is not just about coming up with the schemes, it is not just throwing money at the problem, building infrastructure. It is about the people being involved. And that is something all of us can do.
The Chairman: Parliamentary secretary Faishal Ibrahim.
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social and Family Development (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim): Sir, please allow me to begin my speech in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Sir, strengthening families has always been a key priority of my Ministry. Over the past few years, my Ministry has implemented several broad measures to strengthen families. We will continue to support families across life stages, from pre-marriage to new parenthood and the challenging teenage years. For instance, we have enhanced paternity leave and introduced the Child Development Account (CDA) First Step for all parents.
Since 2012, the number of childcare places has increased by more than 40% to about 140,000 places today. We will continue to support families with small children by adding another 10,000 childcare places in housing estates that have many young families. We will also enhance support for families with infants, by increasing the number of infant care places from 4,000 infants enrolled today, to over 8,000 by 2020.
In order to support this increase in infant care and childcare places, we will enhance our efforts to attract more workers to this important sector. We will pilot a new approach to training, to attract capable and experienced individuals to take care of infants. We will also improve career prospects and professional development in the early childhood sector.
We will also provide targeted support for children from needy families. This is to ensure that they also receive quality early childhood development support. I would like to share the progress of the KidSTART pilot programme that we launched in July last year.
Under this pilot programme, we worked with the Social Service Offices, Family Service Centres, hospitals and community partners that manage the KidSTART programme. We identified, reached out to and then provided holistic support to these children and families. For instance, KidSTART home visitors regularly visit parents who have infants at home to share knowledge and skills about the child's growth, health and nutrition.
One of the families that benefited from this pilot programme is the family of Mdm Azlinah Binte Jumali. Mdm Azlinah is a mother of four. Two of her children attend a childcare centre and her youngest child is waiting to enrol in infant care. Under the KidSTART programme, she has learnt more about early childhood development issues. Mdm Azlinah was also able to socialise with other mothers participating in the programme and received help for her children's necessities. This initiative had a positive impact on her children's development and her family's well-being. We hope that KidSTART can continue to create such success stories for parents and their children.
So far, more than 300 children in Bukit Merah-Kreta Ayer, Boon Lay-Taman Jurong and Geylang Serai have been assisted by this programme. Although we are still in the midst of rolling out this pilot programme, we are encouraged by its positive impact on the interaction and relationship between parents and their children so far.
In the near term, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) will partner community organisations to roll out more community playgroups in areas where the KidSTART programme is being piloted. We plan to support 1,000 children through KidSTART over the next three years.
Families are the basic building blocks of society and key pillars of support for individuals. We want to make Singapore a great place to raise children and build families. We will do all we can to continue to support families through significant milestones and life-stages, especially those who need help to stay together and strong. I would like to urge all Singaporeans to work together with us to make Singapore a great place for our families and for future generations.
(In English): Strengthening families has always been a key priority of my Ministry. Families are the basic building blocks of society and key pillars of support for individuals. We want Singapore to be a great place to raise children and build families. We will do all we can to continue to support families through significant milestones and life-stages, especially those who need help to stay together and strong. We want every child to have a good start in life and grow to become caring, resilient and engaged individuals in society. Starting from the early years is key.
To realise these aspirations, my Ministry has undertaken various initiatives in recent years.
We have introduced broad-based measures that support families across life stages, from pre-marriage to new parenthood and the challenging teenage years. We have enhanced paternity leave and introduced the Child Development Account (CDA) First Step. We have also extended Government-Paid Maternity Leave and the CDA benefits to unwed mothers.
Since 2012, the number of childcare places has increased by more than 40% to about 140,000 places today. We have also enhanced means-tested childcare and kindergarten subsidies. Since 2012, the number of beneficiaries from these means-tested subsidies has doubled to about 45,000 children. To support low-income and vulnerable children, we have piloted the KidSTART and Safe and Strong Families initiatives, which I will talk more about later.
This year, we will continue efforts to build strong families, support parenthood and ensure a good start for every child. We will provide comprehensive support for families who experience abuse and neglect.
Ms Jessica Tan asked about the measures to support parents and build stronger family relationships. We believe that building strong family relationships should be supported from the very start. Children grow well when they are raised in a close-knit family. This starts with a strong marriage. Hence, we work with community partners to provide marriage preparation programmes, covering communication, problem-solving and conflict resolution between couples.
Parenting skills have to evolve as children become tweens and teens. Under the FamilyMatters! initiative, we piloted the Positive Parenting Programme (Triple P) and signposts in schools to support parents during their children's transition years. Based on our study, parents who completed the programmes reported greater parenting competence, lower parenting stress, improved emotional states and reduced behavioural problems in their children. We are encouraged by the positive results and plan to expand reach out to 175 schools by 2018.
Partnerships with the community are critical in rejuvenating and reinforcing family ties. We work with family champions, such as the Families for Life Council and the Centre for Fathering, to reach out to families. I would like to thank Mr Murali Pillai for his suggestions to appreciate seniors in our community and celebrate strong marriages. We will explore them further. Last year, the Registry of Marriages sent commemorative certificates to couples celebrating their 55th anniversary. Families for Life also organises meaningful and celebratory programmes, such as the 2017 Marriage Convention, for couples to reaffirm their lifelong commitment.
Mr Kok Heng Leun and Mr Desmond Choo asked about the support for single-parent families. Over the years, we have reviewed and introduced new programmes to better support children from families with single parents, who may be divorced, widowed or unwed.
Today, we already extend benefits that support children's growth and development to all children, regardless of their parents' marital status. Single parents in need of financial and socio-emotional support can also approach our Social Service Offices and Family Service Centres.
We have stepped up support for divorced and widowed single parents, who form the bulk of single-parent families. Four Divorce Support Specialist Agencies have been appointed to help divorcing couples understand the impact of divorce on their children and look out for their children's well-being. In our housing policies, divorced and widowed parents with children are recognised as a family nucleus, similar to married parents. HDB's Assistance Scheme for Second-Timers (ASSIST) also gives priority to divorced and widowed parents. As our policies may not address every circumstance, HDB exercises flexibility to help single parents with their housing needs on a case-by-case basis.
Mr Kok asked if we could do away with the use of \"illegitimacy\" in inheritance and tax reliefs. This suggestion has far reaching implications and will need careful consideration. Our society continues to desire parenthood within marriages and we should promote it.
Mr Leon Perera spoke about the role of the Government in collecting maintenance payments. Maintenance of children as well as spouses and ex-spouses is, first and foremost, a family responsibility. A collection agency may not guarantee that claimants receive maintenance, if it is unable to obtain payment from the other party. There is thus a need to differentiate between those who can afford but refuse to pay maintenance, from those who are genuinely unable to pay.
To this end, we are piloting the Maintenance Record Officer initiative, which the Member mentioned, to help the Courts identify recalcitrant defaulters earlier. Concurrently, the referral system to the Social Service Offices has been enhanced, to help families and individuals in financial need if they are identified. We will continue to explore ways to make our enforcement regime more effective and robust, without eroding the principle of family responsibility.
Let me now share our plans to support families with young children.
Given the ramp-up in childcare places, we have already exceeded our 2017 target of providing one place for every two children. We agree with Er Dr Lee Bee Wah that there is still unmet demand in estates with more young families. Over the next year, we will add another 10,000 childcare places and the market should be able to better meet demand within the next few years. At the Second Reading of the Early Childhood Development Centres Bill, Ms Joan Pereira also suggested building childcare centres and HDB flats concurrently. ECDA is already looking into this. They will work with HDB to bring forward the completion of childcare centres for new Build-To-Order (BTO) developments as much as possible.
Mr Ang Hin Kee asked about our plans to expand infant and childcare services. As announced at Budget 2017, we will increase the number of infant care places from 4,000 infants enrolled today, to over 8,000 by 2020. Many of these new places will be in new housing areas, such as Punggol, Sengkang, Tampines, Woodlands and Yishun.
Overall, parents now have more options for affordable and quality childcare. Almost half of all the preschool children are enrolled in an Anchor or Partner Operator centre where fees are capped.
Mr Louis Ng also asked for childcare to be made more affordable for stay-at-home mothers. We do see more working mothers requiring full-day childcare services to help manage their work and care-giving responsibilities. For non-working mothers, they can choose to place their children in shorter kindergarten programmes that focus more on child development. These are generally more affordable, with a median monthly fee of $170 compared to around $850 for childcare before subsidies.
Regardless of the mother's working status, low- and middle income children enrolled in Anchor Operator or MOE kindergartens receive further support with the Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS). With KiFAS, a low-income family can pay as little as $1 a month for preschool.
We will continue to pay close attention to the cost of raising children and regularly review the affordability of preschool.
While we continue to improve centre-based infant and childcare, we acknowledge that some parents may prefer to have their children cared for at home, as mentioned by Miss Cheryl Chan and Mr Gan Thiam Poh.
It is not feasible to extend centre-based grants to home-based care. While our centres are governed by regulations to ensure quality and service standards, home-based care is more informal and based on mutual trust and support. As home-based care is varied in nature, it is impractical to apply common standards. Also, while we recognise the contributions of these home caregivers, we must be careful not to monetise personal relationships. Nevertheless, we have been progressively enhancing parental leave schemes to support parents who prefer home-based care. Parents can also tap on the CDA First Step to help defray approved child-related expenses.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, Assoc Prof Randolph Tan, Mr Ang Hin Kee and Ms Jessica Tan mentioned the need to increase the supply, salaries and capability of educators to support the expansion of early childhood services.
Our work with operators and training agencies to attract, retain and develop early childhood educators has started to bear fruit. Salaries have been rising steadily across all job roles − salaries of entry-level diploma trained teachers are competitive and comparable to other sectors. Student intake for early childhood diploma courses has also grown by more than 70% last year from 400 to 700 places. To further support these efforts, my Minister launched the Early Childhood Manpower Plan last October to provide professional development opportunities, better recognition and a more supportive working environment for early childhood educators.
Even as we attract fresh school leavers, the early childhood sector offers meaningful and attractive careers for mid-career workers who want to switch sectors and women wanting to re-join the workforce.
To support our expansion plans for infant care, we will need about 1,000 more infant educarers over the next four years. To meet this large demand, I am pleased to share that my Ministry will pilot a new job role called Allied Infant Educarers. These Allied Infant Educarers will work with existing infant care staff to provide holistic care and development for infants aged two to 18 months.
To train Allied Infant Educarers, we will also pilot a new training approach. We understand that some people with the interest, aptitude and competence to care for infants may be unable to join the sector, either because they do not want to attend classroom-based training, or they lack the appropriate academic records. Under this pilot, ECDA will work with the SEED Institute and Anchor Operators to provide new entrants with on-the-job training and coaching to work as Allied Infant Educarers. Our emphasis will be on aptitude and competency, rather than academic qualifications. This is in line with Mr Ang Hin Kee's suggestion to look into allied job roles.
Training for the first batch of Allied Infant Educarers will begin later this month. With the Allied Infant Educarers supporting our existing infant educarers, the more experienced ones can then progress to become Senior Infant Educarers. These Senior Infant Educarers will receive training to coach and mentor new entrants. Some will play a more active role in facilitating developmental activities for our infants. Overall, parents can feel assured that their infants will benefit from higher-quality infant care.
Ms Nyaneswari d/o Paramasivam is a mother of two. She previously worked as an untrained staff at a childcare centre but, more recently, worked in other jobs in security, administration and after-school care. With this new opportunity to become an Allied Infant Educarer, she has decided to come back to the sector. Ms Nyaneswari welcomes the new training approach with more hands-on practice. This is similar to how she learnt to care for her own children; by observing how her mother cared for her and her siblings. We need more individuals like her to join this meaningful profession.
Mr Ang Hin Kee and Ms Jessica Tan rightly highlighted the need to ensure quality, even as we scale up these early childhood services. The Early Childhood Development Centres Bill recently passed in Parliament is one initiative to raise and ensure consistent quality standards across the sector. To enhance quality in the sector, we will provide more structured professional and career development opportunities for our educators.
Today, I am happy to announce that we will be launching the Professional Development Programme (PDP) for Educarers this month. Educarers are early childhood professionals who work with infants, toddlers and nursery-age children.
Similar to an earlier PDP for preschool teachers, educarers will undergo a structured training over three years to deepen their skills and prepare them for larger job roles, such as team leaders and mentors to newer colleagues. Educarers will also receive cash awards ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 at the end of each professional development milestone.
Overall, our approach towards raising the quality and professionalism in the early childhood sector is aligned with the SkillsFuture movement. Early childhood educators should be provided opportunities to deepen competencies throughout their career. Last year, ECDA launched the Skills Framework for the early childhood sector to map out career pathways and competencies for various job roles.
To enhance the skills of our early childhood teachers, I am pleased to announce the launch of a new Advanced Diploma in Early Childhood Teaching and Learning. We will extend the SkillsFuture Study Award, worth $5,000, to support preschool teachers embarking on this programme. With this Advanced Diploma, teachers will be better prepared to take on larger roles, such as lead teachers and curriculum specialists, and thereby raise the quality of our preschools.
We recognise that low-income and vulnerable children will need more support to get a good start in life. Mr Louis Ng asked whether we could strengthen the Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) to improve the attendance of preschoolers in kindergartens. He has rightly highlighted that the reasons behind irregular preschool attendance are not so straightforward. There are many other needs of the child, such as health, social skills and emotional development. This is why we introduced the KidSTART pilot last year to proactively identify and support these children in their early years. Let me provide an update on this programme.
Since KidSTART was launched in July 2016, we have supported more than 300 children at the pilot sites in Bukit Merah, Kreta Ayer, Boon Lay, Taman Jurong and Geylang Serai. As part of the programme, KidSTART home visitors regularly visit parents and their infants. They support parents with practical skills and knowledge for the child's growth, health and nutrition. These home visitors also work closely with social service agencies, such as Family Service Centres, to address the multiple challenges faced by some of these parents.
Any success under KidSTART depends on close partnerships with the community. Ms Nur Azlinah Binte Jumali is a mother of four, with two children in childcare and the youngest waiting to enrol in infant care. Under KidSTART, she learnt more about early childhood development issues from professionals, socialised with other mothers in the community and received help for her children's necessities. Her children also attend preschool more regularly. These have improved the children's development and her family's well-being. We hope that KidSTART can continue to create such success stories.
We are also piloting an enhanced support model at preschools. Today, 10 Anchor Operator centres are provided additional manpower to better engage parents of children from low-income and vulnerable families enrolled at these centres. These Child Enabling Executives closely monitor the children's developmental needs and improve their school attendance.
Ms Rahayu Mahzam asked about the plans for KidSTART. We have had an encouraging start and plan to support 1,000 children over the next three years. We will need to review and refine our processes before introducing KidSTART to more locations. In the near term, ECDA will partner the community to roll out more playgroups and enhance support for preschools in the pilot areas.
Let me move on to talk about how we are supporting children who have experienced abuse and neglect. We believe that children grow best in families where they can bond with familiar persons who can help them develop socially and emotionally. Unfortunately, there are times when a child cannot be safe in his family because of abuse and neglect. In such times, my Ministry believes in empowering these families to provide proper and safe care for the child where possible. If this is not feasible, the child should be cared for in a nurturing foster family, where available, until we are able to reunite them safely with their natural families.
To better care for abused, neglected children, my Ministry began efforts to transform the out-of-home care sector in 2013. The emphasis is on creating more options for family-based care by growing fostering capacity and providing intensive support to keep children with their families.
My Ministry has been expanding our fostering capacity by stepping up outreach and setting up two fostering agencies. Run by MCYC Community Services Society and Boys' Town, these fostering agencies are currently supporting 150 children. We plan to set up a third fostering agency later in the year.
We previously aimed to recruit 500 foster families by 2019. After intensive recruitment efforts, we are closer to that target with 420 foster families today, which is 70% more compared to 2013. With more foster families, we have been able to place 40% more children in foster care as compared to 2013. This achievement is very encouraging and I would like to thank these warm-hearted foster parents for opening their hearts and homes to vulnerable children who need love and care.
Last year, my Ministry celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Fostering Scheme and published a commemorative book. One of my favourite stories is that of Mr Tan Kah Poh and his wife, Mdm Chua Siew Gek. They previously managed a chicken rice stall. When their first foster child came to them, he was traumatised and anxious. Through their daily care and nurturing, the foster child is now well-adjusted. The couple have even taken in a second foster child. I hear that the foster children like their delicious chicken rice and this was the secret to their \"chemistry\". We often take simple family meals for granted. Yet, as shown in this story, these little family rituals make such a positive difference to our children.
While we encourage fostering, it would be even better if more natural families can care safely for their own children and not require out-of-home care at all. Many caregivers who come to our attention through the child welfare system do want to care for their children. With additional support and links to resources, it is possible for them to learn how to provide better and safer care for their children.
Hence, MSF announced the Safe and Strong Families (SSF) pilot last year. The pilot aims to preserve the care of children within their families and reunify children who were temporarily removed, back with their families when conditions are safe and stable. Under SSF, professionals work intensively with parents at home to rebuild their relationships with their children and learn how to care for them safely.
Ms Jessica Tan asked for an update on the SSF pilot. It is well on track. We have eight newly appointed agencies. These are AMKFSC Community Services, Boys' Town, Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home, Kampong Kapor Family Service Centre, Montfort Care, Muhammadiyah Welfare Home, Singapore Children's Society and The Salvation Army. Families and children have started receiving services. We expect to reach out to 400 families over three years.
Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin asked whether national surveys could be conducted to understand youth well-being and improve interventions for youths-at-risk. Today, many agencies already do so, to better understand our youth trends and concerns. These include the Student Health Survey by the Health Promotion Board, the National Youth Survey by the National Youth Council as well as the Youth Perception Survey by the National Council Against Drug Abuse. In addition, the National Committee on Youth Guidance and Rehabilitation has commissioned an inter-agency longitudinal study to better understand the factors that affect offending and drug abuse, as well as successful rehabilitation and reintegration among at-risk youths.
One key programme that has yielded positive results is the Youth GO! Programme which was launched in 2012 to reach out to at-risk youths on the streets. Under this programme, social and youth workers keep a look out for youths on the streets who may be at risk and befriend them over multiple sessions to better understand their situation as well as build trust. During these sessions, the Youth GO! workers also help youths who may be experiencing trouble in school or with peers and family, and work closely with them to resolve or cope with these issues better. Early findings showed that youths engaged under the Youth GO! Programme displayed a positive change in attitude towards their parents, studies and career plans.
Mr Amrin Amin asked a timely question about our plans to strengthen family relationships and prevent escalation to family violence. While the number of reported family violence cases is low and stable, every case is of concern to us. Furthermore, family violence is often a hidden problem and cases may go unreported. We have completed a study to understand public perceptions on family violence. Findings showed that awareness about family violence remains low. Four in 10 respondents were unsure what family violence meant. In addition, children were less likely to seek help compared to adults. What does this mean for us?
We need to go upstream and educate all segments of our society that strong, positive relationships are the best way to prevent escalation of family violence. We will focus on family violence prevention strategies targeted at different stages of a person's life.
For the young, we will continue to cultivate understanding about respectful relationships in schools. In Character and Citizenship Education, students learn how to develop positive relationships with their family members, manage family conflicts effectively and seek help when the situation calls for it. For couples who intend to get married, we have worked with community partners to enhance marriage preparation courses to emphasise respectful relationships.
It just takes a small act to prevent the escalation of family violence. Last November, MSF launched a three-year \"Break the Silence\" campaign to encourage all persons, especially bystanders, who have witnessed family violence to report it early.
Family violence is unacceptable and should not be allowed to perpetuate. It is not a private affair. We should continue to encourage those affected by family violence to seek assistance and urge the community to play their part by reporting abuse immediately. Let us \"Break the Silence\" against family violence.
Dr Lily Neo asked about the progress of the Vulnerable Adults Act. We are working towards introducing the Bill in Parliament in 2018.
There are two key principles under the Vulnerable Adults Act. Firstly, family remains as a first line of care and protection, and the community plays a critical role to support families. Secondly, a vulnerable adult who does not lack mental capacity is best placed to decide how he wishes to live and whether or not to accept any assistance. If the vulnerable adult has to be removed from the place where he is staying, MSF will explore if he or she can be placed with any suitable relatives. We will also work with community agencies, such as Social Service Offices and Family Service Centres, to provide additional support. If community and family options are not feasible, MSF will be empowered to place the vulnerable adult at gazetted places of temporary care and protection and places of safety.
Ms Rahayu Mahzam also asked about the progress of the Mental Capacity Act which was amended last year. We are developing the framework for the professional deputy and donee scheme. When the scheme is launched at the end of this year, professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, social workers, doctors and nurses, may register to be professional deputies or donees. Interested applicants will have to undergo certification. We are finalising the details.
I would like to encourage all Singaporeans to pre-plan and appoint someone they trust to make decisions on their behalf if they lose mental capacity.
Miss Cheryl Chan asked whether the Government is working with the community to provide home-based care options for the elderly, many of whom prefer to age in their homes with their loved ones for as long as they can.
In addition to programmes by MOH, MSF also has Senior Cluster Networks to coordinate and integrate services for vulnerable seniors living in rental flats, within each town. The Networks reach out to low-income and vulnerable seniors living alone so that they can age within the community. In addition to that, we have the Smart Elderly Monitoring and Alert System (SEMAS) which is piloted by HDB in Yuhua and this will provide another form of support to our seniors.
Sir, as a Ministry, we can develop meaningful programmes and services to support families. However, there is much more that goes into enabling and sustaining strong families.
At the individual level, we have to make deliberate efforts to make time for our own families and engage them through quality activities and conversations. Relationships will only grow stronger if we invest the necessary time and effort in building them.
At the corporate level, employers can create supportive environments for families by providing flexible working arrangements for employees to strike a balance between family and work.
At the community level, we should extend support to fellow peers, neighbours and co-workers if they face marital or familial distress. We can encourage them to invest quality-time with their spouses and families, resolve their issues amicably and seek professional help when needed. Where there is reason to suspect that there is abuse or neglect, everyone has the responsibility to \"break the silence\" and alert the authorities.
Let us work together to make Singapore a great place to raise children and build strong and resilient families.
The Chairman: Minister Tan.
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Sir, I would like now to talk about how we will develop the social service sector, and how all of us, both within and beyond the sector, can be a vehicle for social change.
MSF and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) have worked steadily with partners on a number of fronts.
First, developing manpower pipelines. We expanded these, for example, by starting the UniSIM full-time Social Worker degree programme last year. This programme has the capacity to produce up to 50 social work graduates a year. We also expanded professional hubs for therapists and started one for psychologists.
Second, up-skilling the workforce. In the areas of manpower development and skills upgrading, the Social Service Institute under NCSS has expanded its range of courses and learning platforms and, today, offers close to 700 courses for social sector leaders, professionals and volunteers.
Third, improving career prospects. We enhanced career development opportunities in the sector. And this helps retain our professionals and attract more to join the sector. Assoc Prof Daniel Goh asked about improving wages for social workers. NCSS publishes salary guidelines for the social service sector and these are updated every year to ensure salaries keep pace with wage movements in the market. Every three years, there is a major review of salary benchmarks for the different professions. The last major review was in 2015 and the recommended salary increases for social service professionals ranged from 3% to 19%. In between the major reviews, there are salary guidelines that incorporate a recommended salary increment. In 2016, this was about 4%.
To ensure that the salaries remain competitive, the benchmarks are pegged to professions in the main competing markets, for example, the healthcare and public sectors. The salary guidelines for social workers take reference from those in the Civil Service.
As we all know, beyond salaries, other factors contribute to retention. NCSS launched the People Practice Consultancy last year to help VWOs improve their human resource practices. These efforts at the organisational level continue to be important. Well-run organisations are better able to retain their professionals and provide better service to their clients as well.
While we have made progress on some fronts, the sector faces certain challenges going forward, such as – and we are all familiar with them − an ageing workforce, slower workforce growth and increasing complexity of demands. These challenges raise questions on whether our service models are sustainable and whether our skills will remain relevant in future. We also need to prepare our workforce for these challenges.
Achieving our vision of a caring Singapore in this environment requires all of us to play a role. The three key groups are the VWOs; secondly, the social service workforce, and lastly, volunteers.
Let me deal with the first − VWOs. There are over 450 VWOs registered as members of NCSS. They ensure that social services are able to meet clients' needs even as resources get leaner.
Mr Png Eng Huat asked how we are helping and funding VWOs, especially the smaller ones. MSF and NCSS have been supporting VWOs in strengthening their organisational capabilities, so that they can be more effective. The VWOs-Charities Capability Fund, or VCF, was started in 2002 to support these initiatives. Through the VCF, VWOs can grow and they can develop their organisations.
Ms K Thanaletchmi asked if the VCF could be directed towards talent attraction and retention. This is done through the Professional Capability Grant. VWOs can apply for subsidies for their staff to undergo local or overseas training, upgrade their professional qualifications and introduce supervision frameworks for professional development. With stronger skills, they can make better progress in their careers and take on larger job roles.
The Organisational Development Grant supports VWOs in improving their effectiveness as organisations. VWOs can engage consultants to help them in strategy development, as well as review and improve internal work processes, such as HR practices and service delivery.
The Innovation and Productivity Grant helps build a culture of continuous improvement. It funds applied research that leads to improved services and productivity gains. These include IT systems and other efforts to make better use of resources.
All these grants are open to all NCSS members regardless of their size. Over the past five years, the VCF has benefited around 400 organisations. NCSS has enhanced its website over the past year to improve the availability and clarity of information on the VCF. It will also be sharing information on past projects supported by the VCF on its website, so that VWOs can consider relevant ideas or collaborate with one another. Allow me to share one example.
The Association for Persons with Special Needs, or APSN, tapped on the VCF Innovation and Productivity Grant to develop a Student Management System. This would automate previously manual tasks, such as class and academic management, at the Special Needs Schools and Centres that it runs. The first phase of the system was implemented last year. With the system, teachers now have more time for teaching and supporting their students' learning and development. I encourage more VWOs to also make use of the available VCF resources to gear up for the future.
To continue our support for VWOs, the Government and Tote Board will commit additional funding to the VCF, up to $100 million over the next five years. In addition to the existing areas of support, we encourage the sector to utilise the VCF to scale up adoption of capability and productivity initiatives.
Ms Chia Yong Yong asked about support in project scoping and the use of consultants. For some key areas of capability building, NCSS will pre-select consultants to work with our VWOs. This was done for the on-going People Practice Consultancy that I mentioned earlier. And in the later part of this year, NCSS will also launch other pre-scoped consultancy projects, in areas with potential productivity improvements, like financial processes and space utilisation.
Secondly, let me talk about the social service workforce. We have care workers who tend to the daily needs of clients, professionals who deliver specialised interventions and executives who head the VWOs. All of them play critical roles in caring for the vulnerable in our society.
Some of you asked how we are developing them and improving their competencies. Firstly, we put in place clear career and competency maps through the Social Service Sectoral Skills Framework. This framework will provide more information on the job opportunities available and the qualifications required. It will also inform social service professionals on the career development pathways and the skills required to perform the key jobs.
Both MSF and NCSS are working with SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) to develop this framework. Professionals, such as social workers, psychologists, early intervention teachers, youth workers and care workers, will be able to use this to guide their growth in the sector. We aim to complete this in 2018. We are also working with MOH in developing a Skills Framework for therapists.
Secondly, we will contextualise and implement SkillsFuture initiatives in the sector. In 2015, the SkillsFuture Study Award was launched to enable Singaporeans with some working experience to deepen their skills in the social service and early childhood sectors. Last year, we also launched the SkillsFuture Study Award for persons with disabilities and disability employment professionals. As Assoc Prof Dr Faishal Ibrahim mentioned, we will extend the SkillsFuture Study Award later this year to support preschool teachers who are embarking on the new Advanced Diploma in Early Childhood Teaching and Learning. To date, a total of 122 individuals in the social service and early childhood sectors have received the SkillsFuture Study Award.
Thirdly, it is the volunteers. Mr Amrin Amin and Ms Tin Pei Ling highlighted the important role that the community and volunteers play in complementing the work of our professionals. During the Budget debate, a number of Members talked about growing the community network of support. Indeed, VWOs need to work with the members of the communities they serve for them to be effective. Everyone can play a part.
Let me share with you Shafik's journey. Shafik was a Secondary 1 Normal (Technical) student at St Gabriel's Secondary School. His father was incarcerated. His mother became the sole breadwinner, working two jobs to support Shafik and his three sisters. With the troubles he faced at home, his self-esteem was affected; he nose-dived. He was involved in bullying, fighting with other boys and even teachers.
Along the way, he was selected by his school for the \"\"Uth\" Power!\" Programme. This is a motivational support programme by CARE Singapore, a VWO, which aims to help at-risk students stay in school. Derek, who is a CARE Singapore staff, reached out to Shafik and spent extra time with him after school. Shafik refused to respond for more than a year, but eventually came around owing to Derek's fatherly presence and persistence and the continual support of the volunteers that supported this programme.
After graduating, Shafik volunteered with CARE as often as possible. In 2010, he was employed by CARE as a youth support worker and continues to grow as a professional. He is aiming to complete his diploma in counselling in June this year. He is also planning to eventually obtain a degree and a masters in counselling.
He has touched the lives of many students, first as a volunteer, then as a professional. His journey was made possible through the support of many members of the community, including those who played the role of volunteers.
I strongly believe that as we care through volunteering, we are tending to the soul of the nation. Why? It is in giving that we receive. It is in receiving that we change. It is in changing that we become better people. It is in having better people that we begin to become a more caring and inclusive society, a better society. That is why we must find ways to grow our community of support and encourage even more to volunteer. It is not just about helping the disadvantaged, the disabled, the elderly. It is very much about helping us all change.
First of all, we can catalyse, support and publicise volunteering initiatives using Singapore Cares (SG Cares) as a platform.
The Singapore Cares movement aims to involve more individuals to get them involved in building a compassionate and inclusive society.
Jointly coordinated by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) and NCSS, Singapore Cares seeks to create an environment where we all feel empowered to make a difference. We want to mobilise the community to meet real needs. We celebrate ground-up efforts. We can also help by fostering partnerships between corporates, non-profit organisations, schools and other partners. The biggest partners in this movement are the volunteers. By organising ourselves better, by sharing information and by enabling volunteers through training and effective use of technology, we can not only help more but help more effectively as well.
SG Cares is not a Government scheme. It is really about more giving and volunteering by individuals and groups, and a lot of this is already taking place in the community. SG Cares provides an overall umbrella to encourage and support these efforts, to help and facilitate even more outreach.
Why be part of SG Cares? For one, we can help with training of volunteers. Secondly, we could share information that can help groups be more targeted and effective, avoiding wasteful duplication of efforts that we often see on the ground.
To facilitate the volunteerism efforts, NCSS is launching an e-learning module for volunteers on \"Working Effectively with Youths\" later this year. Other e-learning courses will also be developed to equip volunteers to work with persons with disabilities, with the elderly, children with special needs and so on. NCSS is also working on an app to better match interested volunteers to opportunities at VWOs. Many people want to help but are not sure where to go, what to do. NCSS targets to release the app at the end of the year.
Volunteer work takes many forms. With SG Cares, we aim to work with various community partners to facilitate collaboration.
In our schools, we want to make volunteerism a way of life for all our children. For example, the WonderKids programme is a partnership between student leaders at Hai Sing Catholic School and the Pasir Ris Family Service Centre. As part of this programme, the students befriend and mentor children from lower income households. They interact through games and study sessions. Besides benefiting these children, Hai Sing students have also grown to have a deeper understanding of community needs.
In the workplaces, we are helping corporates to partner with VWOs within the same neighbourhood, making it easier. We want to facilitate long-term, meaningful partnerships to meet real needs in the local community. For example, the Singapore Power Group partnered TOUCH Senior Activity Centre in Geylang Bahru. Located in close proximity, staff from Singapore Power Group are able to commit to regular visits to the Centre and accompany the elderly for their morning exercises and then prepare and serve them breakfast. We would like to see more of such local partnerships leading to long-term and meaningful impact.
At home in the community, we are working with community Advisors on how to grow a network on the ground. Collaboration is key. We need stakeholders to come together, share information and coordinate. VWOs, GPs, childcare centres, merchants and other independent groups are examples of stakeholders who may be able to pick up early indicators of problems of people in need and then we are able to then match them with sources of help, to be more attractive and to be able to deal with it upstream.
Dr Lily Neo talked about recruiting volunteers to reach out to lonely seniors. MSF and MOH have been funding befriending programmes for seniors, such as the Caring Assistance from Neighbours, or the CAN programme, Befriending Service and the Community Befriending Programme. As part of these programmes, volunteers pay regular visits to seniors, befriend and engage them. This helps to reduce social isolation. These three programmes have almost 2,000 volunteers serving over 6,000 seniors. MOH's Community Befriending Programme is currently found in 33 constituencies, with plans to expand to 50 constituencies by 2020.
Ageing, we all know, will be a significant feature of our landscape. Without volunteers, it is very difficult for us to just depend on healthcare and social workers to deal with all the needs that we know will be facing us in the community in the years to come.
Secondly, let me talk about Share as One where we can rally and mobilise corporates and other organisations.
As Members know, last year, ComChest launched the Share as One programme to encourage more individual giving and create more workplace giving and volunteering opportunities.
Under Share as One, the Government will provide dollar-for-dollar matching for all new and incremental donations to the SHARE programme till March 2019. Please spread the word. Encourage companies to come on board.
In 2015, 2,590 companies participated in SHARE. Last year, around 300 new companies came on board, which is an increase of about 11% from 2015. In addition, more than 630 companies have increased their SHARE donations. These are improvements but, frankly, we really can and should do more. Many companies are not on board but more of them can be. Please do encourage them to come on board and we will do our part as well.
In closing, let me highlight that our VWOs, social service workforce and volunteers collectively form the community that my Ministry and our partner agencies are working to empower, so that each can have a stronger and more lasting impact on society, particularly for those who are most in need.
As Ms Tin Pei Ling has noted, values really lie at the heart of all we do. Values, such as care and compassion, resilience, as well as strong and supportive families and communities, these will stand us in good stead as we face the various and many challenges that are looming ahead on the horizon. We need the concerted effort and commitment of the people, private and public sectors to come together, to work hand-in-hand, to overcome these challenges.
Through the process, we will forge stronger bonds between the sectors, stronger communities, stronger families, more resilient individuals and we will create the bonds that will bind us as a society. That is the kind of resilience that we will need.
Together, we will build a more inclusive and caring society. It is really about enabling us to be not just compassionate, but to look at ourselves as a community. To not just look at \"my own interests alone\", but to look at \"us\" as a community, not just for the present but for the long term. That is where, perhaps, you deal with the issues of self-entitlement; that is also where we deal with the issues of sacrifice, where we deal with the issues of community. Where there is a sense of that, that is where we can truly see that we have an inclusive society. That is when we can begin to build the best home possible for all Singaporeans. [Applause.]
The Chairman: Ms Tin Pei Ling.
Ms Tin Pei Ling: Thank you. I have two questions. Firstly, I am heartened to hear the Minister say that it will be helpful to surface more of the Singaporean households or families who may be in need of assistance, especially in this uncertain climate. I would like to ask, how does the Ministry plan to do so? On one hand, the community can definitely play a role but, sometimes, the community cannot comprehensively identify these families whereas the Government, as a whole, may be able to identify them in a more effective manner, such as escalating arrears in HDB rent, utilities and, perhaps, even S&CC. May I know what is the Ministry intending to do in terms of looking at these indicators and coordinating the assistance that is available?
The second question would be, I am heartened to also hear that MSF is going to introduce the allied infant educarer programme. I would like to know whether introducing this will compromise the quality of care in infant care.
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Let me take the first question. I will leave it to my Parliamentary Secretary to take the second question on allied infant educarers.
In terms of identifying problems early, there are many indicators in society. For example, we will arrears not just in Town Council, but arrears in terms of utility bills. You also sometimes pick up indicators from the local kindergartens, where we note certain families are having issues paying fees.
This is something that we are looking at, how best to tap on information and data. Partly, there is also information protection that we need to deal with across the different agencies. But we are also very mindful, as I mentioned earlier, if we are too proactive, because from time to time, individuals may have cash flow problems, they can deal with it. Do we step in at that stage? We are quite clear that our agencies need to collaborate better at the backend. For example, we are picking indicators as one agency; another agency might be picking up another indictor within their realms of responsibility. When you put it all together, the picture begins to surface that certain families might be facing financial duress, for example. That is something that we are looking at, in terms of how do we facilitate the sharing of information that can better address some of these problems earlier.
The other issue to me is the community which is why I think there are efforts that we can put in at the local level to pull in the different stakeholders. We are living there, we are encountering the individuals in different capacities − whether they will be going to the local mosque, to the local church or the marketplace, at the hawker centres, or the GPs. Sometimes, conversations may arise when the individuals are facing some stress. One, is to make sure that the information is available. They know where to go − they can look for the Advisor, they can look for the ComCare hotline or the SSO. The increase in numbers is not just because we have increased our coverage, but because it has become more accessible, a lot more awareness is beginning to arise amongst the public. More are coming forward. We see residents surfacing to us that their neighbours or their friends may be having some of these issues.
The key is, when problems arise, individuals must know what is available. We encourage them to step forward where they can. But that is where the community can also play a big part. At the backend, at the agencies, as I have said, what we can do better is between the agencies – watching that space, could we share the information a lot better? This is something that we are working on.
We are mindful of confidentiality issues but we are trying to deal with that as well. But as I have said, as we are dealing with this, I am very mindful that we need to strike that balance − how intrusive you want us to be. We can be very, very intrusive but I am not sure that is necessarily a wise way to deal with it. But the main thing is make sure information is available, people know where to go. Please come forward to see us when help is needed.
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: I thank the Member for the supplementary question. Essentially, we will make sure that the new approach of training will not compromise the quality.
What will happen is that ECDA works with the SEED Institute and the anchor operators to ensure that we train the Allied Infant Educarers (AIEs) carefully and well. There are a few things that we will do.
First, we make sure that the anchor operators nominate only experienced senior infant educarers with the relevant experience as mentors. We want to make sure that the right person becomes the mentor.
Secondly, we also develop the structure in such a way that there is a proper structured framework. There are milestones that need to be met so that the On-the-Job training (OJT) will be very meaningful and can replicate what is really out there.
We will work with the pilot centres and we will have visits and make sure that developmental and regulation kind of processes will be in place. With all these, I strongly believe it will help the educarers to focus on their job. With the additional support by the AIEs, this will translate into better quality services for our infants and our parents.
Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin: I have two requests. First, on the youth surveys, there is a very distinct difference between the questions that are currently asked in youth surveys and the kind of questions that the Icelandic researchers did. So, I will request that the Ministry take a look at it. But, anyway, I am thankful that you mentioned all those surveys. Could I request that the National Youth Council compile any youth-oriented surveys and share it on an annual basis with the youth development ecosystem so that we can all be on the same page about what we should be looking out for?
My second request is about the single unwed mothers issue. I understand the desire to protect the principle of encouraging childbirth in the context of marriage. I personally stand by this principle and I believe it serves society well. However, the Parliamentary Secretary mentioned just now that responsibility to the family is a critical guiding principle to protect in Singapore. So, in the case of unwed mums, are they not demonstrating responsibility to the family in their choice to keep and raise their child? And if we say, \"Yes, they are exercising responsibility to family\", then are we not —
The Chairman: Ms Kuik, could you please put forward your clarification; you are making another speech.
Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin: Right. So, are we saying then that we actually do define the unwed mother and child as family? Based on that, I would request, could we still reconsider including them sometime down the road as part of family?
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: I thank Ms Kuik for the question. On the first question, we will take note of the Member's request. On the second question, as I have said, if we look at how our society has evolved, we have been making progress on this front. Nevertheless, we will help, wherever possible, whoever we can, every Singaporean. I want to assure Members of this. I mentioned earlier that there are policies that cannot cover everything but we will look at issues on a case-by-case basis. I, personally, have seen my residents who may not come under certain policies, but they are being helped. At the end of the day, we want to make a difference to the lives of Singaporeans.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: Many of our residents want to have childcare centres near their home. I would like to ask the Parliamentary Secretary whether the Ministry is going to review with HDB on the childcare provision for new BTOs, for future projects. The current provision is clearly not adequate because our residents have to send their children elsewhere. The 90-100 places per BTO is grossly inadequate.
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim:\tSir, I thank the Member for the question. We will take back the Member's feedback.
Ms Rahayu Mahzam:\tI thank the Parliamentary Secretary for his explanation on KidSTART. I would just like to seek clarification on the different components that he mentioned in his speech: in particular, what is the breakdown of the numbers of children that have been reached out to by the Ministry per component of the programme?
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim:Sir, in my speech, I mentioned more than 300 children have been reached out to. We have three components: one is the home visitation; second, the KidSTART groups; the third is the KidSTART enhanced support to preschools. The actual number is more than 300 − which is 389. For home visitation, it involved 89 infants; for the KidSTART group, it involved 50 children and 45 parents; for the KidSTART enhanced support to preschools, it involved about 250 children across the selected preschools receiving enhanced support.
It is a very good mix. And it has been an enriching process, not only for the parents and children but for the people involved in KidSTART. Again, I would like to encourage more Singaporeans to come forward to play a part in making a difference in the lives of our fellow Singaporeans, especially the needy ones.
Mr Kok Heng Leun: I thank the Minister and Parliamentary Secretary. I just want to say that meaning and policies do affect the way people perceive things. And so, here, I hope you also would agree that the word \"illegitimate\" is actually quite negative. When you were saying that if we do away with the \"illegitimate\" issues on tax relief and inheritance issue, that would have a far-reaching impact. I would like to know what that far-reaching impact would be. We must be able to justify this impact or else these kids are going to bear this stigma for the rest of their lives. So, we need to see how we justify that.
A second question. I just want to seek a clarification on whether those families consisting of one foreign spouse, would you still consider them as part of a family nucleus so that they can then purchase and rent HDB flats.
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: It has to be how our society has evolved. So, as I have said earlier, it is something that we have to consider carefully. It is not an overnight issue. We hear the different groups of people and we want to make sure that we journey on this together with our society. About the question on foreign spouses, as I have said, even though policies may not allow as such but, more importantly, if you know of anyone facing such an issue, ask them to see their Members of Parliament and we will see how we can facilitate that.
Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling: I have this question for the Minister. I agree that community involvement is very important in society. I have raised in my question just now about the need to improve on the community engagement programmes for our students because they do spend a substantial number of hours contributing to community today. But I have also seen many cases because of the ineffective management of the programmes, we have kind of lost the interest of all these youths and, eventually, we could not bring them towards active volunteerism. Can the Minister respond to it?
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: I would suggest that it is not just schools but, I think, every platform, including corporates − doing it for corporate branding reason, corporate social responsibility motivation − notwithstanding that, if done well, it can have a transformative effect. We have seen how it has happened for some, whether in schools or elsewhere.
We are working with schools. I, myself, am a parent. I have experienced the various Values-in-Action\t(VIA) programmes. Some, you know, connect emotionally with the children and you can see that even though children may do it compulsorily because they have to – they have got to clock up the hours, they want to enhance their CV – but, as a result of the experience, it changes them. Which is why volunteering is not just about doing the thing, it is about changing lives. You can imagine the individual wanting to continue to give and to be involved, perhaps, for life.
Imagine if every child can leave the school system having some semblance of that. That is a vision that is worth working towards. Is it impossible? Well, I am sure it is difficult to get everyone to be converted that way. But I think it is possible because they are still in school, you have a captive audience. You can run and curate structured programmes where you are able to enable such learning to take place. It is not about forcing it down their throats but by making sure that their journey is meaningful. The school plays a very big part; I think how the school appoints the teachers. It is not just being arrowed to do that, but putting heart and mind into how do you educate the child in the process.
My message is also to VWOs as well. Your KPI cannot be just about people coming in, helping you and, therefore, doing the thing that you need to do to service your clients and to look after those you are looking after. But your responsibility is also to make sure that every volunteer that joins you believes in your cause and wants to come back. So, you pay attention to the volunteer journey as well.
I would say that this is something that we can do better and we are working with the schools on this. MOE is supportive. They do very much believe that values can be inculcated. The very term \"Values-in-Action\", I think it is a very apt term for the programme because values are realised in action. We are working with them to see how to curate some of these experiences. We know some schools have done a fantastic job − very good outcomes – and we would like to see more of this happening. But I would also suggest that not just for schools but even corporates and even other organisations that are looking at volunteering, I think we can pay attention to their journey as well.
Ms K Thanaletchimi: With regard to VWOs, how integrated in terms of systems are they in the social sector so that the case management of individuals that come for help is well taken care of? The second question is, have you considered shared services for certain operational admin services which VWOs, about 400 of them, require in commonality? These shared services can bring down the so-called operational costs. And the third question is: have we considered forming an association in the social sector for VWOs so that they can learn the best practices and even complement each other with the resources and exchange views?
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Sir, with regard to the last point, it has been done via sharing in the community of practices. We have gatherings of the leaders and the various VWOs coming together; sometimes,there are focus areas of discussion. I have participated in some of these and they have been quite energising sessions. It serves to re-motivate many of them as well. They establish relationships and friendships, renew them and establish new ones which are very important in terms of collaboration work and, importantly, the exchange of good practices. We can do more and we aim to work with the social work fraternity to grow this.
Secondly, in terms of shared services, we definitely would like to support this. You have many, many different VWOs. Some are very small. So, the scale is really not quite so ideal in terms of your own resourcing, in terms of your HR system, financial system. We are supportive of them trying to develop more shared services. That is the direction that we would like to see it going so that some of these services can, indeed, be shared and allow the social workers and the set-ups to really focus on the social work.
The first question on how integrated we are. Well, SS Net, which I have mentioned, and some Members will be familiar with, is a database that we have made available not just for SSOs but, eventually, to push down to the Family Service Centres as well. What it means is that the social workers can also tap onto the same base where we look at the individual. It is not just the SSO. We are not only linking up at the backend but at the front end as well so that at least there is a common database. As I have mentioned earlier, they do not need to repeat the same story again.
Different social workers may pick up different issues but, collectively, when we put them all together, some semblance of the truth might emerge and we have better clarity. That is something that we are doing and we are unfolding on the ground.
Strengthening of processes goes beyond technology. I would suggest a very big part of it is the relationships. The more the different stakeholders get together to know one another, the more they are prepared to share information and a lot of this is tacit information and makes a lot of difference. We are embarking on the journey and I think we can do better.
The Chairman: We just have time for two more. Mr Leon Perera, followed by Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Leon Perera:\tJust one clarification to the Parliamentary Secretary regarding the Maintenance Records Officer that he mentioned which the Minister announced last year. I would like to ask if this MRO has been appointed and started work and, if so, what sort of actions is the MRO currently taking to help the Courts take firmer action against those recalcitrant defaulters that the Parliamentary Secretary referred to. What sort of actions are underway?
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim:\tSir, the MRO's task is help us to identify those who can pay but do not want to pay. So, this will help the whole process on focusing on which among the spouses can pay and do not want to pay. There are cases whereby they really cannot pay. So, we have the SSOs to help. We believe this will help to somehow close the gap and to improve the processes and the system.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: I share Mr Kok Heng Leun's sentiments about how the wording and how our policies are very important. The Parliamentary Secretary rightly pointed out that working mothers usually need full-day childcare and stay-at-home mothers usually need the half-day childcare. Can we just base the level of subsidy on that, on whether one is full-day or half-day? This is so that we do not make it seem like we are penalising stay-at-home mothers, especially at a time when we are urging parents to spend more time with their children.
A second clarification is about KiFAS. I raised it, that the requirement is just for one day of attendance a month. Can we understand why we have set the requirement so low − for only one day of attendance a month?
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: With regard to the two different categories of childcare highlighted by Mr Louis Ng, I personally feel that we should not go into that danger zone of monetising personal relationships. The Government has been helping so much, to support families to take care of their children. The calibration needs to be very carefully done. If we are not careful, we enter a danger zone where our future generations will start to monetise all aspects of personal relationships. This is something we are watching. We want to make sure that it is affordable and we want to support family and child development but we do not want to go that line of monetising personal relationships, and go into the deep end.
Secondly, about KiFAS, as I mentioned earlier, we have KidSTART. This is an area where we want to identify as many kids as possible in the future. We are doing a pilot now. We are not only going to minimise the incidence of not attending school, but we want to develop the child fully and holistically, so that even the needy among us have the opportunity to develop to the fullest.
The Chairman:\tMs Tin Pei Ling.
Mr Tin Pei Ling: I would like to thank my colleagues, the Minister and Parliamentary Secretary and all the staff of MSF for all their hard work in building a caring and inclusive society. There is so much to do. Chairman, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $2,441,030,900 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $85,823,800 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply Reporting Progress","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Tan Chuan-Jin): Sir, may I seek your consent to move that progress be reported now and leave be asked to sit again tomorrow?
[(proc text) Resolved, \"That progress be reported now and leave be asked to sit again tomorrow.\" − [Mr Tan Chuan-Jin]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Thereupon Mr Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin:\tMr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2017/2018, and ask leave to sit again tomorrow.
Mr Deputy Speaker:\tSo be it.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Adjournment","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"[(proc text) Resolved, \"\tThat Parliament do now adjourn.\" – [Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong]. (proc text)]
Adjourned accordingly at 8.20 pm.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Annual Breakdown of New Jobs Created from 2011 to 2016","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"1 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the breakdown of new jobs created each year from 2011 to 2016 amongst MNCs, SMEs, GLCs and the public service; and (b) what is the breakdown of net new jobs created each year from 2011 to 2016 amongst MNCs, SMEs, GLCs and the public service.
Mr Lim Swee Say: The net employment change of workers in SMEs1, non-SMEs2 and the Public Service3 from 2011 to 2016 is provided in Table 1 below. Data on gross job creation is not available.
2 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) in the past three years, how many applications for the enforcement of maintenance orders have been made using video-conferencing facilities at the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations and the Tampines Family Service Centre; and (b) how does this compare to the overall number of applications.
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: From 2014 to 2016, 23 to 26 applications for the enforcement of maintenance orders were filed annually through video-conferencing at the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations’ Maintenance Support Central (SCWO-MSC), Tampines Family Service Centre (FSC) and at HELP FSC1, one of the Divorce Support Specialist Agencies, as shown in Table 1 below.
The cases comprised around 1% of the total number of enforcement applications annually from 2014 to 2016, which was around 2,600 to 3,000.
The Ministry has been working closely with the Family Justice Courts (FJC) to simplify and increase accessibility of the enforcement process. Apart from video-conferencing and assistance with applications, SCWO-MSC and HELP FSC provide a more comprehensive suite of services to parties seeking enforcement of maintenance, including credit bureau reporting and counselling. The Ministry will continue to work with the FJC and the service centres to raise awareness of the services provided at the centres.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["1 : Tampines FSC has ceased provision of this service since July 2014; we have also included the number of applications from HELP FSC from when they started offering the service in September 2016."],"footNoteQuestions":["2"],"questionNo":"2"}],"writtenAnswersVOList":[],"writtenAnsNAVOList":[],"annexureList":[],"vernacularList":[{"vernacularID":1757,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20170308/vernacular-Thomas Chua Kee Seng(1).pdf","fileName":"Thomas Chua Kee Seng(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":1758,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Miss Cheng Li Hui","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20170308/vernacular-Cheng Li Hui(2).pdf","fileName":"Cheng Li Hui(2).pdf"},{"vernacularID":1759,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20170308/vernacular-Amy Khor 8 March 2017_Chinese(pf).pdf","fileName":"Amy Khor 8 March 2017_Chinese(pf).pdf"},{"vernacularID":1760,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Desmond Choo","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20170308/vernacular-Desmond Choo(4).pdf","fileName":"Desmond Choo(4).pdf"},{"vernacularID":1761,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Tan Chuan-Jin","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20170308/vernacular-Tan Chuan-Jin(5).pdf","fileName":"Tan Chuan-Jin(5).pdf"},{"vernacularID":1762,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20170308/vernacular-Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim(6).pdf","fileName":"Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim(6).pdf"}],"onlinePDFFileName":""}