Mdm Speaker: Order. Leader of the House.
The Leader of the House (Dr Ng Eng Hen): Mdm Speaker, can I seek your consent and the general assent of Members to move a Motion to extend Question Time?
Mdm Speaker: I give my consent. Does the Leader of the House have the general assent of hon Members present to so move?
[(proc text) Hon Members indicated assent. (proc text)]
[(proc text) With the consent of Mdm Speaker, and the general assent of Members present, (proc text)]
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Resolved, \"That notwithstanding Standing Order No 22(1), Question Time shall continue till 4.00 pm at this day's sitting.\" – [Dr Ng Eng Hen]. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Rate-rigging Activities at Banks in Singapore","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"1 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Prime Minister (a) which bank has (i) the highest number of traders who tried and (ii) registered the highest number of attempts to rig the key financial rates between 2007 and 2011; (b) whether the banks' top management are aware of the attempts by their staff to rig the key financial rates; and (c) why MAS considered asking the banks to set aside extra reserves as a sufficient penalty for the banks.
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2 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Prime Minister (a) what is the impact on local interest rates and foreign exchange benchmarks resulting from the activities of the 133 traders found to have engaged in attempts to influence Singapore's financial benchmarks; (b) how does MAS determine the varying tiers of additional statutory reserves to be held by banks involved in the rate-setting scandal; and (c) how does MAS' supervisory action against the said banks, particularly the imposition of additional statutory reserves, compare with other Central Banks' prescribed actions.
3 Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Prime Minister (a) whether the existing framework is insufficient to prevent the rigging of financial benchmarks by the 133 traders or to prosecute them; (b) how many of the cases are referred to the Attorney-General's Chambers and Criminal Investigation Department; (c) what inappropriate practices are uncovered; (d) what have the affected banks done to correct their deficiencies; and (e) what is the impact of the traders' actions on the market and consumers.
4 Assoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Prime Minister whether our criminal and banking laws are sufficiently comprehensive to prosecute the 133 traders found to have engaged in attempts to rig Singapore's financial benchmarks; (b) whether MAS will name these 133 traders and impose individual sanctions on them, including suspending them from financial trading and other similar activities; and (c) whether the imposition of additional statutory reserves to be held by the affected banks is a proportionate sanction and a sufficient deterrent.
\tThe Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (Mr Lawrence Wong) (for the Prime Minister): Mdm Speaker, I am taking this Question on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Tharman Shanmugaratnam. With your permission, I would like to take Question Nos 1 to 4 together, please.
Mdm Speaker: Yes, please.
\tMr Lawrence Wong: I thank Mr Ang Wei Neng, Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Yee Jenn Jong and Assoc Prof Eugene Tan for their questions on MAS' supervisory actions against banks with regard to the attempts by some traders to influence the setting of local interest rate and foreign exchange benchmarks.
MAS carried out its review of the benchmark submission process, on an industry-wide basis, and calibrated its supervisory actions against all 20 banks,
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taking into account three factors: first, the number of traders within the bank who attempted to inappropriately influence the benchmarks; second, the number of banks with which the traders had collaborated, and, third, the number of times these attempts occurred.
MAS has censured the banks involved and directed them to adopt measures to address their deficiencies. The banks must report their progress to MAS on a quarterly basis and conduct independent reviews to ensure the robustness of their remedial measures. The banks have started implementing the remedial actions as directed by MAS. Nineteen banks have also been required to set aside additional statutory reserves with MAS for a period of one year.
The imposition of additional statutory reserves represents a financial cost to the banks, in terms of the borrowing cost or the income foregone as they would have to place these reserves with the MAS at zero interest. In considering the level of additional statutory reserves to be imposed on the banks, MAS had taken into consideration the amount of penalties imposed by other regulators for deficiencies in the setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR) benchmarks. At the same time, MAS also took into account the smaller size of our financial markets compared to those in the major economies. For example, the estimated contract size referenced to Singapore dollar benchmarks is less than 0.2% of that which is referenced to LIBOR.
The additional statutory reserves also serves as an incentive for the banks to put in place the necessary control measures required by MAS. MAS may vary the duration that the additional statutory reserves are to be placed with MAS, depending on its assessment of whether the remedial measures put in place by each bank are adequate. If any of the banks fail to comply with MAS' directives, MAS can impose other penalties, including fines.
Ms Foo and Mr Yee asked about the impact of the traders' actions on financial markets and consumers. While the investigations found clear evidence of discussions and agreements to influence benchmark submissions, there was no conclusive finding that the traders had succeeded in manipulating the actual financial benchmarks, or that their attempts have had any unidirectional impact on the financial benchmarks applicable to consumers.
Assoc Prof Tan asked if MAS would be taking any actions against the traders involved, while Mr Ang asked if the banks' senior management were
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aware of their traders' misconduct. Mr Yee Jenn Jong also wanted to know the number of cases that MAS had referred to the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the Attorney-General's Chamber (AGC). Let me clarify on these issues.
While a few line managers were aware of attempts to inappropriately influence benchmark submissions, MAS did not find evidence that the banks' senior management were aware of their traders' misconduct. In fact, the banks' senior management took the MAS-initiated review seriously and co-operated fully with MAS. Many banks dedicated substantial senior management time and financial resources to do the review. Their strong commitment to do the right thing showed that banks here believe in upholding the integrity of Singapore's banking system, its financial markets and its banking professionals.
Nevertheless, MAS takes a serious view of the inappropriate behaviour by the traders involved and has censured the banks' senior management for failing to exercise proper governance and oversight and to institute robust rate submission controls and processes.
While MAS has not named the line managers and traders involved, nor imposed individual sanctions on them, all of them have been subject to disciplinary actions by their employers, including termination of employment, loss of bonuses, or demotions. The banking industry has also put in place measures to facilitate reference checks, so that an institution would be made aware if a potential hire had been implicated in attempts to inappropriately influence benchmarks.
MAS referred five cases to CAD for investigation. AGC and CAD considered whether any criminal offences were disclosed by such alleged manipulation of benchmarks. However, there was insufficient evidence to support any prosecution based on our existing criminal laws.
Mr Ang and Mr Yee asked for more details about what MAS uncovered in its review. MAS found 20 banks with deficiencies in their governance, risk management, internal controls, and surveillance systems relating to submissions of financial benchmarks. These weaknesses allowed 133 traders to participate in attempts to inappropriately influence the submissions of financial benchmarks.
Financial supervisors internationally generally do not share detailed information about supervisory dealings with the financial institutions they
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regulate. Nonetheless, in this instance, MAS was of the view that it would be in the public interest to name the banks involved and to give an indication of the seriousness of the lapses in each bank, MAS, therefore, announced on 14 June the supervisory actions that it took against groups of banks.
Like other major jurisdictions, the setting of financial benchmarks is not a regulated financial activity. As financial benchmarks are typically developed by the industry in response to market needs, we have so far relied on industry self-governance of the activity. Hence, our regulatory frameworks do not provide for specific criminal or civil sanctions for the manipulation of such benchmarks. This is also the case in many other countries, which do not have the regulatory powers to comprehensively penalise rate-fixing activity.
Going forward, however, in light of this and other recent experiences abroad, MAS will strengthen its regulatory powers and oversight of key financial benchmarks, including the SIBOR, SOR and FX Benchmarks. Legislation will be changed to prohibit the manipulation of any financial benchmarks and to introduce criminal and civil sanctions for such misconduct. Taken together, these changes will enhance the credibility of financial benchmarks in Singapore, and minimise the risk of benchmark manipulation. MAS is conducting a public consultation on the proposed regulatory framework and will finalise the framework taking into account feedback from the consultation as well as the evolving global regulatory standards.
Besides the MAS regulatory measures, the industry also has an important part to play in enhancing the robustness of these benchmarks. In this regard, the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) and the Singapore Foreign Exchange Markets Committee (SFEMC) have announced measures to improve the robustness of the benchmark rates. These measures include enhancing the governance framework for benchmark rates setting, and changing the methodology used to determine certain benchmark rates so as to place more reliance on actual transactions. MAS welcomes these new measures.
In sum, MAS has taken firm and appropriate supervisory actions against the banks, based on a careful assessment of their respective deficiencies. Its actions are proportionate to the scale of the misconduct uncovered, and reflect the smaller size of our markets. MAS' prompt supervisory response, together with the enhancements to the regulatory framework for setting key financial benchmarks, will safeguard the credibility and reliability of such benchmarks set in Singapore.
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\tMr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Mdm Speaker, I thank the Acting Minister Lawrence Wong for the comprehensive reply. Given the severity of the interest rate rigging activities by the 133 traders, the punishment received by the banks appears to be a light tap on the hand. In contrast, RBS was fined $610 million for rigging LIBOR. With the current excess liquidity in the world, the banks would hardly feel a pinch by having to set aside extra reserves with zero interest rate for a year. Maybe MAS could consider asking the banks to pay a few million dollars in fine and use the funds to help the lower income families, for example, the lower-income families who were affected by the recent haze. Thus, my first supplementary question is: would MAS consider asking the banks to pay a fine, in lieu of extra reserves?
The second supplementary question is, in fact, a clarification. Mr Wong did not seem to have replied to the first portion of my question as to which bank has the highest number of traders who had tried to rig the interest rates, as well as the highest number of attempts to rig the rates between 2007 and 2011. If the information is confidential, I hope at least that Mr Wong can share with us who is the highest ranking officer who had rigged the interest rates and asked to leave the job? And of those who stayed, what is the highest ranking officer?
\tMr Lawrence Wong: Madam, I thank the Member for the follow-up questions. In terms of the severity of the actions taken by MAS and compared to what other regulators have done overseas – which was alluded to by the Member – I would say that MAS has, indeed, looked at what other regulators have done. We have looked at it and then adjusted according to the size of the markets. As I mentioned earlier, the estimated contract size referenced to Sing dollar benchmarks is only about 0.17% of the estimated size of contracts referenced to LIBOR and EURIBOR benchmarks. So, there have been some adjustments to take into account the different sizes of the markets. Other than that, we have looked at what other regulators have done in terms of financial penalties, and MAS has adjusted and calibrated our actions accordingly.
MAS' actions are not in the terms of a fine but in terms of additional statutory reserves. This, in itself, as I mentioned in my reply, would impose a significant burden on the banks. MAS is unable to impose a specific fine because we do not regulate rate-setting activities today; neither do many other jurisdictions. In fact, the jurisdictions that impose the fine did not rely on their financial regulations to impose the fine. They relied on other legislations and regulatory measures to impose the fines. It was not through financial regulations.
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In our case, we have looked at whether the actions undertaken by these individuals were criminal. CAD and AGC had investigated thoroughly and we were unable to find sufficient evidence to prosecute. We have not taken any further action, but MAS has taken firm and appropriate action through the imposition of additional statutory reserves.
On the second point about which bank had the highest number of traders who tried to manipulate the rates, I would say that MAS has put out information according to groups of banks based on the severity of the attempts to inappropriately influence the benchmarks. That information has been put out – in terms of groupings of severity. The group of banks that ranked highest in terms of severity of attempts is public information – UBS, ING and RBS. That is out in the public domain.
\tMs Foo Mee Har (West Coast): I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. I have three supplementary questions. One, in light of the fact that financial benchmarks in the future will be using actual trades instead of current survey method, which makes Singapore one of the first countries in the world to implement changes in the way benchmarks are calculated, I would like to ask the Minister how local interest rates and foreign exchange are likely to be impacted, especially during periods of high market volatility and tight liquidity under the new system where we use actual trades as benchmarks.
The second supplementary question which I think is in a lot of people's mind is that, given SIBOR is the most commonly used rate to peg local mortgage interest rates and has a large impact on the consumers, could the Minister share with the House the background and details on why SIBOR will exceptionally continue to be set using the survey method?
The last question is: at the individual level of responsibility, yes, Minister, I think all banks have taken action. But we have observed different banks had taken different kinds of actions against the traders, for example, some are forfeiting their bonuses; some have demotion and they are really at the discretion of the banks. What appropriate disciplinary action could MAS have taken on individual traders in proportion to their role and degree of misconduct to send a consistent and strong signal to the industry that such behaviour will not be condoned?
\tMr Lawrence Wong: The last question again? I missed that.
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\tMs Foo Mee Har: Different banks have taken different actions based on their discretion, or at least that was what came across as such. Could MAS have taken a consistent set of actions to send a strong signal?
\tMr Lawrence Wong: I thank the Member for the three questions. Let me take them in turn. In terms of a sort of assurance of actual rates, especially if volatility were to be high, I think that is something that we will have to monitor. This idea or the principle of relying more on actual versus survey rates is a principle that I think, internationally, regulators have discussed and have endorsed this move towards using actual rates. Will it have an impact when the markets are more volatile, when there is lack of liquidity, and then how do you actually look at actual rates, because there are not enough trades in the market, I think that is an issue that is real. But it is something that we have to evolve as we go forward. It is an issue that is not just us confronting it but many other regulators are looking at that same issue.
And that is also why, to answer the Member's second question, not all rates, not all benchmarks have moved to actual rates. For some benchmarks, we are still using survey data and that includes SIBOR. Likewise, we are not the only ones looking at this issue because, on some benchmarks where there are data, where there are actual transactions where the markets are liquid, we are using actual transacted data. For other benchmarks, we are still relying on survey submissions by banks. And SIBOR is one of them. Likewise, in other jurisdictions, they are moving step by step rather than doing a sort of conversion entirely. For SIBOR, even though it is still based on survey submissions, what we have done is to enhance the governance and look at improving the oversight mechanisms. And this was done with the Association of Banks and with that more robust system. Even though it is still on a surveillance method, I think the SIBOR system would be more robust than it used to be.
On the third point about sanctions on individuals and whether there is consistency in terms of what MAS can do, as I mentioned earlier, for the individuals that we investigated, we could not find evidence to prosecute for criminal wrongdoing. Therefore, the sanctions that have been done are taken at the company or firm level. Yes, there are differences because there are differences in the actions that each individual took and these have to be case-specific. Firms have done different things − some have demoted; some have asked these individuals to leave but, across the board, the actions that these individuals have taken will be on the record and the industry, as a whole, has committed to a reference check so that, in future, should they apply for jobs within the industry, the actions that they did this time will be on the record and
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will be taken into consideration for future employment.
That is the approach we have taken, taking into account the fact that there was not sufficient evidence to pursue further action on an individual basis.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Illegal Protest at Merlion Park by Malaysians","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"5 Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) why is a demonstration by Malaysians allowed to happen at Merlion Park on 8 May 2013; (b) whether the Ministry is aware of its impending conduct and the orchestration and logistics involved, such as the placards; (c) why does the Police take so long to act on the crowd; and (d) whether the demonstration will be classified as an illegal demonstration and what actions will be taken.
\tThe Second Minister for Home Affairs (Mr S Iswaran) (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs): Mdm Speaker, the protest held at Merlion Park on 8 May 2013 was illegal. The participants had not sought approval from the relevant authorities and no permit was issued for the event.
In dealing with such incidents, Police's primary consideration is to maintain public order and the safety of members of the public. Police will need to ensure that actions taken are appropriate to the situation and do not affect the safety and security of innocent bystanders or result in an unnecessary escalation of the situation.
The authorities have so far taken action against 55 persons, and are reviewing actions to be taken against the remaining four persons involved in the illegal protest at the Merlion Park on 8 May 2013.
All the persons investigated for involvement in the protest on 8 May are foreigners. I want to emphasise that while foreigners are welcomed to work or live in Singapore, they have to abide by our laws. They should not import domestic issues from their home countries into Singapore and conduct activities which can disturb public order, especially as there can be groups with opposing views here. Those who break the law will be dealt with firmly. This may include termination of their work passes and visas.
\tPage: 16
\tMr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang): Madam, I thank the Minister for his reply. Two questions: one, based on my understanding, this was a publicised event, in the sense that this was a well-known event online and on the social media. Did the Ministry know about this event beforehand? And, two, based on newspaper reports, the event was allowed to go on for two to three hours. Why did the Police not stop the event before it happened? Why was it allowed to go on for two to three hours before action was taken?
\tMr S Iswaran: Madam, I thank the Member for his questions. Madam, at any point in time, there is a whole range of things that are being circulated on the Internet. The Police cannot realistically be expected to respond to every one of these possible events. So, the SOP is usually to respond to specific reports which have a basis in fact in terms of activity on the ground. So, that comes to the second question the Member has posed in terms of the response of the Police. First, the Police uniformed officers were on the ground within 15 minutes or so of receiving the report; second, there were also plainclothes officers deployed to the site.
Why did they allow the event to continue to the end? Well, the answer is because they made a tactical assessment on the ground that they wanted to observe, identify who were the main participants or players, and then to take action against them subsequently, which was what happened, rather than make an intervention. So, I think the assessment of the officers on the ground was that this was the best course of action and we accepted that.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Campaigning by Foreign Politicians","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"6 Mrs Lina Chiam asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether foreign politicians are allowed to conduct election campaign activities in Singapore; and (b) whether the Ministry can clarify the provisions of the Public Order Act in such a context.
The Senior Minister for Home Affairs (Mr S Iswaran) (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs): Madam, we have always taken a strong stand against the importation of foreign politics into Singapore or, indeed, attempts by foreign entities to interfere in our domestic politics and governance. We will not allow foreigners, be they politicians, social visitors or workers who are here, to use Singapore as a platform to conduct any political activities which contravene our laws. Foreigners, whether they are visiting or residing and working in Singapore, should be mindful that their
\tPage: 17
activities must conform with the laws in Singapore. They should avoid actions that could be misconstrued, as had happened recently during the recent Malaysian general elections.
In line with this, any application submitted by a foreigner for a permit under the Public Order Act will be assessed largely based on whether the proposed public assembly or public procession involves foreign politics or has the potential to harm domestic peace and public order. Firm actions will be taken against those who contravene our laws.
This approach has helped us to maintain harmony and public order in Singapore, as well as good relations with other countries.
\tMrs Lina Chiam (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Minister for the answer. I would like to ask what future policy or plans will his Ministry take in regard to foreign politicians conducting electioneering campaigns in Singapore.
\tMr S Iswaran: Madam, I thank the Member for her question, but I thought I have made it quite clear in my response earlier. Our stance is that campaigning activities are disallowed and we are quite categorical about it.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Government Support for Shelters for Women Victims of Domestic Violence","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"7 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Acting Minister for Social and Family Development (a) how is the Ministry helping in the running of halfway houses or shelters for women who have been abused domestically; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider partnering non-government organisations in reaching out to these vulnerable women.
\tThe Acting Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Chan Chun Sing): Mdm Speaker, MSF funds four shelters run by voluntary welfare organisations for women who have been abused domestically. They provide temporary accommodation and assistance, such as counselling to the women and their children. The funding covers the capital development of the shelters as well as part of the operating costs.
Tackling domestic abuse requires strong partnership among the Government and community partners. For this reason, MSF works with non-
\tPage: 18
government organisations in public education initiatives, such as community road shows, radio and TV programmes, to promote awareness on family violence. The Ministry also works through the multi-agency National Family Violence Networking System to allow victims to approach community facilities, such as shelters and family service centres or the Police and other Government agencies for assistance.
However, some domestic abuse victims may be reluctant to seek help. Members of the community can play their part by reporting abuse immediately and seeking help for affected individuals and families.
\tMr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): I thank the Minister for his response. One of the shelters called DaySpring is within Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Constituency and it fulfils the task of putting abused women and children back into school or at work, and I have visited them. Arising from the response and my visit, I would like to ask a supplementary question whether the Government or, in particular, MSF, would provide more space in terms of the shelter accommodation. Secondly, whether they would be able to work with support networks to facilitate the reintegration of the abused women and children either in school or at work. And, thirdly, whether more could be done to partner between the Government and charities or the private sector to provide the support that these children and women need.
\tMr Chan Chun Sing: Mdm Speaker, I thank Mr Christopher de Souza for the questions. Let me answer them in reverse order. The answer to the third question is yes, certainly, we would like to partner more VWOs and community organisations to help the families in need to reintegrate with the community. On the second question, again, the answer is yes, we would like to provide the support networks necessary which brings us to the first question. We will definitely allocate sufficient space for the families who require it but we also seek the community's support to integrate them back into the community.
\tMr Alex Yam (Chua Chu Kang): Thank you, Mdm Speaker. I would like to ask the Acting Minister for a quick clarification. My understanding is that many of these crisis shelters do allow the children of abused women to be housed with them, with the exception of older boys within the family. I am wondering if this is something that the Ministry is looking at addressing and whether there is a downstream impact on the family unit if these older boys within the family are not allowed to be housed together with their mothers.
\tPage: 19
\tMr Chan Chun Sing: Mdm Speaker, I thank Mr Alex Yam for the question and comment. Yes, indeed, there is an existing rule that, as far as possible, we try to house the mothers together with their children. Currently, older boys and those found to be not suitable to be housed in the same shelter would be assisted to find alternative arrangements. But we do make arrangements for them to make sure that the families spend time together to rebuild their lives as much as possible.
\tMr Christopher de Souza: In relation to my supplementary question on space, I am given to understand that there are some shelters, certainly one shelter in particular, which are being given concessionary rates for rent from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). But with many of these territories belonging to SLA, the leases are coming to an end and the territory is being used for some other development. So, my question or my request, on behalf of these organisations, is whether MSF could facilitate an appropriate re-housing of these shelters so that the charities' work can continue notwithstanding a short lease.
\tMr Chan Chun Sing: Mdm Speaker, the answer to the question is yes, certainly, because the services that we provide for many of these vulnerable families, indeed, need to be on a sustained basis. So, we certainly will need to relocate them and help them to continue to provide the services to the families in need, for whatever reasons that SLA or URA requires to repossess the land.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Cases Filed with Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"The following question stood in the name of Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar –
8 To ask the Acting Minister for Social and Family Development for an update on (i) the number of cases filed by elderly Singaporeans with the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents for Maintenance Orders; (ii) the number of cases where the Maintenance Order has been flouted or not adhered to; and (iii) the number of cases where elderly Singaporeans have been abandoned by their children or families, both locally and overseas.
\tMr David Ong (Jurong): Question No 8, Madam.
\tMr Chan Chun Sing: Mdm Speaker, annually, about 300 elderly parents seek maintenance from their children. Most of these cases are resolved through
\tPage: 20
mediation by the Commissioner for the Maintenance of Parents. The number of elderly parents taking legal action at the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents has remained relatively low, at 110 applications in 2011 and 84 applications in 2012.
The default rate of maintenance orders is also low, at about 5% to 7% over the past three years. Elderly parents who have no means of support when there are payment defaults will be referred to social agencies for interim assistance while the default is being addressed through mediation or the court process.
There were less than five cases of abandonment referred to my Ministry over the past three years. Social service agencies and hospitals have also reported an average of less than 10 cases annually. Nevertheless, we are closely monitoring the cases. Our priority is to ensure the elderly's welfare. Where required, the elderly may be placed in a shelter or welfare home while we work to reintegrate him or her back with the family. For cases where the elderly has been abandoned overseas, we will work with MFA to bring them back and work with the families to re-establish their care arrangements.
\tMr David Ong: Thank you, Madam. One supplementary question. Will the Ministry consider naming and shaming those who have flouted the Maintenance Order for elderly parents, both abandoned locally and overseas?
\tMr Chan Chun Sing: Mdm Speaker, such cases are always very difficult and very troubling. Our first priority is always to help the families to re-establish their care arrangement for the elderly. For those who are able to care for their elderly, we hope that they will take on their responsibilities dutifully. For those who are already in trouble, we will find some other ways to support the elderly. As to whether naming these people will be the most effective way to help their family re-establish the ties, we will have to think through that very seriously.
We should also take into account the considerations of the elderly. Many of them do want to try their best to reintegrate with their families, which is why it is always a very difficult decision for some of the elderly to even bring their children to court or to take legal actions to enforce the payment. Because I think for many of the elderly in such situations, they already feel very bad and sometimes quite shameful that their family has abandoned them. So, our first priority is really to take care of the welfare of the elderly and make sure that the elderly is taken care of and re-establish the care and long-term care arrangement for the families. And, of course, we urge every member of the community to do our part to take care of our elderly so that we do not have a
\tPage: 21
situation whereby the elderly are either abandoned or neglected at the homes, even in Singapore.
\tMr Alex Yam: Thank you once again, Mdm Speaker. Another point of clarification for the Acting Minister: it is interesting to note that there has been a low rate of cases over the past few years that have been reported to the Tribunal. I would like to ask the Acting Minister whether this is a reflection of the general family-friendly environment that we now have in Singapore or the success of mediation at Family Services Centres or, perhaps, because of the societal shame of wanting to bring a family issue into a public sphere. And my second supplementary question would be whether the Ministry would be considering more educational efforts to educate older Singaporeans about their rights under the Maintenance of Parents Act.
\tMr Chan Chun Sing: Mdm Speaker, on the reasons for the declining numbers of the elderly who have their cases heard at the Tribunal, I can put it down to two main reasons. One is because, over the years, we have cleared the stock of people who may need such services ever since we implemented the rule. The other reason is really because mediation has, over time, taken the bulk off the load and, over time, I think there are more cases that have been successfully dealt with through the mediation route and that is our preferred route. And, of course, we will continue to extend our educational outreach not just to the elderly about their rights but also to the children on some of their responsibilities and obligations. So, I think, in an Asian context, very few families, as you would know, would like to have their dirty linen washed in public. Very often, I think many of them, if not most of them, would like their cases to be settled amicably through mediation rather than through a tribunal process.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Town Councils' Role in Cleanliness of Hawker Centres ","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"9 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what is the role of the Town Councils in the maintenance and cleaning of hawker centres under their charge; (b) what is the normal schedule for the cleaning of these hawker centres in a calendar year; and (c) who has to bear the cost of the cleaning of these hawker centres.
\tThe Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): Mdm Speaker, let me begin by reading section 18(1) of the Town Councils Act since it applies to all of us. This section states that the
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functions of a Town Council are (a) to control, manage, maintain and improve the common property of the residential and commercial property in the housing estates of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) within the Town and to keep them in a state of good and serviceable repair and in a proper and clean condition; and (b) to exercise such powers and perform such duties as may from time to time be conferred or imposed on the Town Council by or under any written law. Commercial property includes any market or food centre developed by the HDB.
For more than a decade, this, in fact, goes back to the 2003 SARS epidemic, NEA has directed all Town Councils to conduct quarterly spring cleaning of all markets and food centres under their charge. The quarterly spring cleaning includes all common areas, including drains, columns, floors, fans, roof gutters and the elimination of potential mosquito breeding sites.
The ceilings, beams and exhaust ducts are to be cleaned at least once a year and the costs of such cleaning, including the erection of scaffoldings in order to access the high areas, are to be fully borne by the Town Council, without any additional charges levied on hawkers, since the Town Council already collects monthly service and conservancy charges from all the hawkers. The hawkers are only responsible for the erection of scaffoldings for the protective canvas to cover their own individual stalls when the high areas are being cleaned.
NEA monitors the outcome of the cleaning exercise in order to ensure that public health and hygiene are safeguarded, pursuant to section 60 of the Environmental Public Health Act.
\tEr Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, the Minister said that the Town Council is responsible for cleaning the hawker centres, with no extra charges to the hawkers. In that case, what went wrong at the hawker centres in Bedok North?
\tDr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mdm Speaker, as I have explained, the spring cleaning of hawker centres, including the cleaning of high areas, has always been the responsibility of the Town Councils and the costs fully borne by the Town Councils. This is a well-established precedent. Mr Low, in a short discussion with me yesterday, agreed with this principle.
Unfortunately, the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council − it is a very long name, can we just call it Aljunied Town Council for short − the
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Aljunied Town Council saga has been a very long story and, quite honestly, I do not want to impose further details of the dispute on the Members of this House or on members of the public.
However, in the minutiae of the to-and-fro, I am afraid the key issue of integrity has been obscured. The problems arose in Blocks 538 and 511 in Bedok North, because the Aljunied Town Council (a) denied its responsibility to clean the high areas of the hawker centres and markets; (b) tried to levy additional charges on the hawkers for doing so; (c) failed to clean Block 538 properly; and (d) prevaricated and made untrue statements to conceal this.
Mr Tai Vie Shun – I believe he is the Property Manager of Aljunied Town Council – tried to impose additional charges for the cleaning of high areas on the hawkers on three occasions. Not once, not twice – three occasions. The first occasion was on 8 March 2013 at a meeting attended by representatives from the NEA, the hawkers and the Town Council. The second occasion where this claim was made was on 26 April 2013 at a meeting attended by representatives from NEA, the Town Council and, this time, the Block 511 Hawker Association. The third occasion was on 28 April 2013 in a meeting with the Chairman of the Block 511 Hawker Association. We have notes of these meetings and we have a list of witnesses who can attest to what was said at these meetings.
Subsequently, the hawkers repeatedly asked Aljunied Town Council by email to confirm whether they would clean the high areas. Mr Tai Vie Shun refused to give the hawkers a direct answer. Instead, he responded three times. Three times by email with a stock answer. Let me quote his answer: \"Spring cleaning is a practice set by the NEA, not the Town Council. As such, we advise the Merchant Association to liaise with the NEA directly on the requirement.\" Despite repeated entreaties by the hawkers and subsequently by the NEA, this was the cut-and-paste stock answer that was issued on three occasions. In other words, he was telling the poor hawkers that \"This is not the Town Council's responsibility. It is NEA that imposed this requirement, go and ask them.\" These emails would be made available for public viewing.
Despite these facts, Ms Sylvia Lim, Chairman of the Town Council and Mr Pritam Singh, Vice-Chairman of the Aljunied Town Council, denied that the Aljunied Town Council ever tried to get the hawkers to pay more. These two denials were issued on 1 and 7 June 2013.
On 1 June 2013, Mr Pritam Singh issued a statement which stated and I quote, \"We reiterate that no authorised Town Council staff told any hawker or anyone of
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any additional charges to be imposed for the cleaning.\" On 7 June 2013, Ms Sylvia Lim issued the statement. I quote the statement, \"The whole episode started with a Sunday Times report alluding that the AHPETC is collecting money from stallholders for the cleaning of the market and the hawker centre\". Ms Sylvia Lim then goes on to ask, \"Has any stallholder been approached by the AHPETC staff or its contractors for the extra charges? If so, please make it public. AHPETC has investigated the claim and found the claim published in the press report to be baseless\".
In the light of the evidence, the meetings, the witnesses, the emails, the consistent account by the hawkers throughout this entire sorry episode, I am afraid it leads to the conclusion that these two public denials by Mr Pritam Singh and Ms Sylvia Lim were therefore false and untruthful.
\tMs Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Madam, I would like to make some clarifications and also ask some supplementary questions of the Minister since he has made very serious allegations against myself and Mr Pritam Singh's integrity. First of all, as far as obligations of the Town Council are concerned, I think the Minister would be aware that all conservancy contracts of Town Councils typically contain a clause requiring our conservancy contractors to conduct cleaning of high areas of hawker centres at least once a year. And he would also know that this is the case with the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council as well. So, would he not agree, first of all, that there is no incentive for the Town Council to get hawkers to pay extra because our contractors are obliged to provide this service in the first place?
Secondly, the Minister makes a lot of substance over certain emails that our Property Manager, Mr Tai, may have sent to the hawkers about spring cleaning. Does he not agree that spring cleaning and annual cleaning of high areas are not the same thing? His emails, as far as I recall the Minister talking, were referring to spring cleaning as such, and not the annual cleaning of high areas.
The third point is that the annual obligation of the Town Council to clean the high areas of hawker centres, I do not think NEA goes as far as to dictate the dates of these annual cleanings. There is no law requiring the annual cleanings to coincide with the spring cleanings as such. And during our Town Council's discussion with NEA, we are given to understand that NEA is open to us having alternative dates for the cleaning of the high areas. So, does he not agree that really annual cleaning and spring cleaning need not coincide?
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The next point is he mentioned the incidents concerning Block 538 in Bedok North, saying that we have not fulfilled our responsibilities, we have tried to deny our role and also lie about it. But does he not remember that this whole confusion started because of an email from an NEA official on 7 February? In fact, if he looks at that chain of correspondence, he will see that the Town Council staff were asking NEA to confirm the dates for the scaffold erection and dismantling, and the reply that came back was, that the Hawkers' Association would be making arrangements with their own contractors for the scaffold erection and dismantling. So, how is the Town Council supposed to read that? Is that something that the Town Council is supposed to be blamed for? Madam, I will just make these clarifications from now and respond later.
\tDr Vivian Balakrishnan: Madam, the key issue is integrity. I have put forth to this House that Mr Tai Vie Shun, whom you do not deny is your Property Manager, whom I believe is an employee of FM Solutions & Services (FMSS), had on three occasions asked the hawkers to pay more. That is the crux of the issue. We can discuss all the other peripheral issues but this is what Mr Tai had said and done. You have denied that publicly. What is your version today?
\tMs Sylvia Lim: Madam, I do not think the Minister has cited any correspondence from Mr Tai which says that the Town Council is asking the hawkers to pay extra. What the Minister mentioned in the email just now was that Mr Tai was saying that arrangements with spring cleaning, those details should be discussed with NEA. I do not think Mr Tai asked for any extra charges to be paid.
\tDr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mdm Speaker, I really did not want to go into details. But I think since Ms Lim is asking for it, I hope the Clerk of Parliament would be able to distribute the dossier of documents which will provide the details needed [Handouts were distributed to hon Members. Please refer to Annex 1].
I am going to ask one more time. Did Mr Tai Vie Shun ask the hawkers for extra money and did he deny the responsibility of the Town Council to clean the high areas? I just want a \"yes\" or \"no\" answer.
\tMs Sylvia Lim: Madam, as far as our investigations go, Mr Tai at no point in time asked for extra money to be paid to the Town Council for high area cleaning.
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\tDr Vivian Balakrishnan: I will wait for Mr Low to get a copy of the handouts. Mr Low, you have been in politics for 22 years; you have run a Town Council since then. I have known you as an honourable man for 12 years. I would humbly suggest that you conduct a careful internal investigation, including perusing the email trail which I may not have sight of between officers and staff of the Town Council before the Town Council makes a pronouncement which is wrong in fact.
Mdm Speaker: Are there any more supplementary questions? Yes, Ms Sylvia Lim.
\tMs Sylvia Lim: Madam, the Minister has just given us a stack of documents. I would like him to point out where it is quoted that Mr Tai has asked the hawkers to pay extra for the high area cleaning under our annual obligation.
\tDr Vivian Balakrishnan: Let me take Members through the dossier. The first thing to notice in the dossier on page 7 is a quotation from ATL Maintenance Pte Ltd. ATL Maintenance Pte Ltd is not just another independent maintenance company. It is the contractor of Aljunied Town Council, and according to Ms Sylvia Lim, has within its contract an obligation to clean all areas, including the high areas.
The first irregular event is ATL's quotation delivered by hand on 19 February 2013. Now, there are three critical irregularities to this quotation.
First, the hawkers never asked for a quotation. Mr Low has met the hawkers. They have told him the same thing. They never asked for the quotation because they never expected to be stuck with this bill.
Secondly, ATL Maintenance Ltd is your own contractor. When your own contractor issues a quotation for $7,200 to the hawkers, asking for payment for work which you say is already covered by your contract, that amounts to a demand for double payment for the same quantity of work.
The third point that is irregular with this quotation is that – do not be taken in by this claim that the Town Council was confused. If the Town Council was confused, read this quotation carefully, it says: \"Scope of work: provision of manpower, equipment, materials, chemicals, insurance and supervision for the cleaning of entire premises, consisting of 40 market stalls.\" If the Town Council was merely confused, this quotation would have said \"erection of scaffolding
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for access to the ceiling\". It would not be for the entire scope of work.
So, this mysterious quotation shows that something was not quite right in the Town Council and the way it was handling its contractor and the relations, the engagement between the contractor and the poor hawkers.
Next, Ms Lim asked for the statements of Mr Tai.
Turn to page 9 and page 11. These are contemporaneous file notes of meetings that occurred on 8 March 2013 when the hawkers discovered that Block 538 had not been properly cleaned and on 26 April 2013, when the hawkers of Block 511, having seen what happened to their brothers in Block 538, got very worried. Now, both Ms Lim and Mr Pritam Singh are lawyers. You will know that a contemporaneous filenote has significance. Now, let me highlight the portions highlighted in yellow.
Page 9, under \"Actions taken\", the paragraph reads, \"An urgent meeting was called by Chin Peiyun\". Now, move down to the next sentence. I will read it out for avoidance of doubt, \"The scope of spring cleaning was highlighted by Property Manager, Mr Tai, during the site meeting. AHTC is to provide conservancy workers during the spring cleaning which includes manhole flushing, wall fans, toilets, tables, chairs, lighting, exhaust, oil trap and dusting of exhaust ducting in the centre\".
The next paragraph is the important one: \"Those unreachable area (sic) which is more than 2.5 metres which needed scaffolding does not come under AHTC's responsibilities. Those considered skilled workers were (sic) not provided by AHTC. Property Manager Mr Tai mentioned under the workplace safety regulations under MOM, area where scaffolding (sic) are provided, safety supervisors and safety officers must be around to supervise the high level cleaning works. This (sic) additional costs should be bear (sic)\" – I am repeating all these grammatical mistakes – \"by either NEA or the Hawker Association (HA) of Block 538 Bedok North Street 3 Food Centre.\"
Now, turn with me to page 12. This is the meeting with the hawkers of Block 511 on 26 April, third paragraph: \"The HA (Hawker Association) reps commented that the ceilings and beams were dirty, and were covered with bird droppings. However, the TC (Town Council) commented that they will not be bearing any costs for the erecting of staging/machinery for cleaning of areas beyond the height of 2.5 m. Mr Tai mentioned that the cost of erecting the staging/machinery for cleaning of areas beyond 2.5 m shall be borne by the HA
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instead of the Town Council.\"
I do not think we need to go on and on. The point is: on three occasions, Mr Tai made these claims. There were meetings, there were witnesses present. They will attest to the veracity of this. So, I ask you again: did Mr Tai deny responsibility for cleaning the high areas? And did he ask the hawkers to pay extra? A simple \"yes\" or \"no\".
\tMs Sylvia Lim: Thank you, Madam. The documents of minutes that Minister showed us clearly took place in the context of the discussion on spring cleaning. And he has not answered my earlier question as to whether he agrees that there is a difference between the quarterly spring cleaning and the annual cleaning of the high areas. That is, the first question.
Secondly, does he not accept that NEA was open to the Town Council conducting high area cleaning on dates which did not coincide with the spring cleaning?
Third, if we look at the quotation that he mentioned on page 7 of the bundle – he mentioned some discussions which some hawkers may have had with Mr Low. I will leave it to Mr Low to talk about that [Interruption].
Looking at this quotation, this is a quotation from ATL, the cleaning contractor, addressed to the Market Association. They issued a separate press release, I think round about early June, to state that this quotation was requested by the Market Association and does not coincide with their annual obligation to clean the high areas under the Town Council contract. Does Minister not agree that nowhere is the Town Council implicated in this quotation? It is a quotation by a commercial company.
\tDr Vivian Balakrishnan: You know, this is very painful, and Ms Lim, you are a lawyer. Let us not beat around the bush, arguing about annual and quarterly spring cleaning.
\tMs Sylvia Lim: It is important.
\tDr Vivian Balakrishnan: Read the context of those meetings. The hawker centres were closed – Block 538 hawker centre was closed for five days. Five days. Why? Do hawker centres close for five days, four times a year? The answer is \"no\". Look at what you yourself did in Block 511 after, fortunately, Mr
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Low intervened. Right? Let us not beat around the bush. I just want to come back with a simple yes-no question. Did Mr Tai deny responsibility for cleaning areas above 2.5 metres and did he demand extra money for that work to be done?
I want to emphasise that at all these meetings, NEA began a meeting by sharing with everyone, with the agreement of the hawkers, that this is about cleanliness and hygiene within the hawker centres. For spring cleaning exercises, there are four – they are quarterly, right? On three of those occasions when the high areas are not involved, it is only a one-day affair. On a major cleaning, which involves the roof, you close for five days. Why were the hawkers in Block 538 so angry? I will tell you why they were angry with you. They closed for five days. They lost income for five days. And when they came back, they discovered they had paid $140 each to cover the individual stalls – and they came back, and the covers were pristine. Clean. Why? The ceiling was not cleaned.
And then, when they enquired, they found out that your workers spent maybe half a day or a day, not five days. So they closed five days for a completely unnecessary reason. They lost income. This is why they were so upset.
Let us not get side tracked. My point to you – which you have still not yet clarified – did Mr Tai Vie Shun tell the hawkers that the Town Council is not responsible for areas above 2.5 metres and that if they wanted that to be cleaned, the hawkers would have to pay extra? That is my question to you. That is the central issue here. Because we believe, based on consistent testimony of all the hawkers, filenotes and emails, that this is what really happened. You have denied it. Because you have denied it and your denials are not consistent with the facts, I put to you that you have been untruthful and that your statements are false. The debate, if you want to continue, should fall on this point.
\tMs Sylvia Lim: Thank you, Madam. Minister, it is still the consistent position of our Town Council that Mr Tai, at no time, said that the hawkers had to pay extra to fulfil the Town Council's annual obligation to clean the high areas. At no time was this said. I do not think that these documents showed it either.
\tMr Low Thia Khiang (Aljunied): Thank you, Madam. Madam, I do agree with Ms Lim. From my understanding, the Town Council is well aware of the obligation to clean the high areas of the markets. What I gather from the whole
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episode is that it arises from the misunderstanding between annual cleaning and spring cleaning.
In the past, in Hougang, we do not require the market to close for annual cleaning. And we fulfil our obligation to clean the market once a year. It includes everything, scaffolding and all that. And thereby, I can understand the perspective of the email, or the meeting, because they are talking about spring cleaning.
Spring cleaning is conducted quarterly four times a year. Annual cleaning, cleaning the high rise areas of a market, once a year. So, if the Town Council is obligated to clean also the high rise area in the spring cleaning, then the question is how many times do we have to clean? I have not spoken with Mr Tai. This is the first time I read all these things but I gather that is how it came about because of the spring cleaning.
The next issue about the ATL quotation. I am trying to find out who actually asked them for the quote. Obviously, someone asked them to quote or otherwise they would not have quoted. But it has nothing to do with the Town Council. The Town Council has not asked them to quote either. What happened? I do not know but I am very certain the quotation has nothing to do with the cost of the cleaning of the high areas of the market. It is not. This is my understanding of the whole issue.
Because of the difference in the terms used and of the arrangements of the cleaning of the high rise areas of the market, thereby, there was this problem of spring cleaning and the market was closed for five days, but it is not necessarily that the Town Council will go in to clean. In fact, the Town Council has come up with a schedule for annual cleaning. But I thought it would be good, if you get the annual cleaning together with the spring cleaning. Thereby, you save all the problems of coming back to clean the high areas after the spring cleaning. That is why I went to speak to them, and to persuade them, \"Let's do the work together\". Once a year, out of the four spring cleanings, for one of them, let us do the high rise cleaning. Finish. That is the position.
\tDr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mr Low, that is precisely the point. There are four cleanings a year. One of those four will be a full comprehensive cleaning, including the high areas. This is not something new. This has been going on for 10 years. Even in Block 511, your Town Council did it last year. Of course, I think it was a different contractor, but you did it last year. So, you cannot say that your staff are confused or did not know, or that Ms Sylvia did not supervise,
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and all these were a misunderstanding. I am afraid it is not, you see. The evidence is incontrovertible that Mr Tai said, \"Not my problem, anything above 2.5 metres.\" It is clear. And he also said – and not once, you see, on three separate occasions, with witnesses – \"You want it clean? Pay me extra\". That is the crux of the whole matter, you see. Unless you say Mr Tai is not your officer, not your authorised one. But by my understanding, and when I checked, I understand that he is an employee of FMSS, your Managing Agent; he is the Property Manager of Aljunied Town Council. So, what he says, those words have to be taken seriously. What he says is the position of the Town Council and you have asked for money, you have denied responsibility. I have tried to show you in my answer. We are not inventing new rules here. It has been around for 10 years. Everyone, including you, when you were personally supervising Hougang Town Council, had no problem. We had no problem working with you. But now – I do not know whether it is lack of supervision or people somewhere in your organisation, someone is trying to cover up – we have this unnecessary distraction. That is basically why I said we can discuss all the minutiae that Ms Sylvia Lim wants to, but the simple crux of this matter is what did Mr Tai say and what did he fail to do? To me, that is very clear. And because that is very clear and backed up by evidence, I find the denials – the public denials by Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Pritam Singh – very, very troubling.
You know, let me make this further point. Politics is a contest for power. But you know the key principle when you have power is – do not take advantage of people under your charge. And always be honest and upfront with your people. All of us will make mistakes. But when a mistake is made, just come clean and say so. But do not cover up.
That is why I have not let this go. Because it is not about cleanliness of the ceiling, it is about clean politics. And I appeal to you – because I know you to be an honourable man – I appeal to you; go back and do a thorough investigation of what has gone on and what has gone wrong in your Town Council and put it right. Set it right. I have confidence that you will do so, Mr Low.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Review of Tourist Guide Regulatory Framework","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"10 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Trade and Industry if he will provide an update on the review of the regulatory framework, enforcement, changes and enhancements to the tourist guide industry which the Ministry and Singapore Tourism Board have embarked on.
\t
\tPage: 32
The Second Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr S Iswaran) (for the Minister for Trade and Industry): Mdm Speaker, over the past two years, STB has stepped up enforcement action against unlicensed tourist guiding activities. The enforcement checks increased from 200 in 2011 to 247 in 2012. In the first five months of 2013, STB conducted another 105 checks. STB is also working closely with other agencies, such as MOM and ICA, to take action against unlicensed tourist guides.
STB is also reviewing the regulatory framework for tourist guides and travel agents. The aim is to strengthen the enforcement powers of STB officers on the ground and increase the penalties to more effectively deter illegal tourist guiding activities. The review is ongoing and amendments to the relevant legislation and regulations will be implemented progressively.
STB needs the support of the industry stakeholders to effectively curb illegal tourist guiding. STB has stepped up its engagement with stakeholders such as the NTUC Tourist Guide Chapter and the Society of Tourist Guides, inviting them to give feedback on enhancing regulations and enforcement. STB will continue to work closely with stakeholders on ideas that can be incorporated in the ongoing regulatory review.
\tMr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (Nee Soon): Madam, I thank the Second Minister for the answer. Three supplementary questions. First, we have received feedback from our NTUC Tourist Guide Chapter activists that some of these unlicensed guides are still operating and the investigations, when reported, take quite a while before enforcement action is taken. My question is: what is MTI and STB doing with regard to that?
Secondly, we are aware that foreigners are needed for certain native languages, but are MTI and STB considering ring-fencing this profession to Singaporeans as they act as ambassadors for Singapore?
Finally, how do MTI and STB intend to further promote professionalism in the industry?
\tMr S Iswaran: Madam, I thank the Member for his questions. On the first point about the problem of illegal tour guiding persisting, from STB's perspective, the enforcement activities continue. As I elaborated earlier, they have stepped up the activities. Inevitably, there will be some instances which persist. The other element in this is the regulatory review. We need to ensure that STB has the full range of powers in order to be able to take action on the
\tPage: 33
spot on the ground when some of these activities are detected. This is one of the areas we are working on and that might account for, in some instances, some delay after enforcement to be able to bring the perpetrators to book.
On the second point of ring-fencing the profession, statistically today, of the over 2,000 registered tourist guides in Singapore, less than 5% are foreigners. They serve very specific niche purposes, including in some instances, guiding in foreign languages – Russian, Korean and so on. They serve a useful and important purpose. More importantly, the overwhelming majority of our registered tour guides are Singaporeans and locals who understand our context best, and therefore they enjoy a significant comparative advantage in this sector. At this stage of our assessment, there is no need for such ring-fencing as the Member has suggested. However, we will continue to track this matter and see if there is any need for further intervention in that regard.
Thirdly, on professionalism in the sector, this is an on-going effort. This is also why as part of our efforts in productivity and enhancing the value-add from the tourism sector, STB is working with the whole range of stakeholders to see how we can, not just professionalise but also enlarge the job scope so that we are able to create greater value out of this service industry.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Progress of ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"11 Mr R Dhinakaran asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what is the progress of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) and whether it can be completed in totality by the 2015 deadline; and (b) which sectors within services has Singapore committed to for complete foreign equity participation.
\tThe Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr Lim Hng Kiang): Mdm Speaker, to date, Member States of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) have completed eight out of 10 packages of services liberalisation under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS). The eighth package was completed in August 2012, and ASEAN Member States are currently working to finalise the ninth package by the end of 2013 and the tenth package by 2015. ASEAN Member States remain fully committed to meet the eventual level of liberalisation that they have pledged to meet by 2015.
As of the eighth AFAS package of services liberalisation, Singapore has committed to open 71 sub-sectors under 10 services sectors for complete
\tPage: 34
foreign equity participation.
\tMr R Dhinakaran (Nominated Member): Mdm Speaker, I thank the Minister for the response. Which of these sectors include Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) to recognise the professionals in ASEAN?
\tMr Lim Hng Kiang: Mdm Speaker, the AFAS packages involve, in the jargon of the trade negotiators, Mode 1, 2 and 3. Mode 1 means providing services across borders; Mode 2 means you partake of services overseas; Mode 3 is opening up of markets, whether it is foreign equity participation, market access or national treatment; Mode 4 is what we call movement of natural persons, meaning allowing people to enter your country to provide services. Under AFAS, we have taken out Mode 4 for separate negotiations. Currently, ASEAN is negotiating an agreement on the movement of natural persons. Therefore, when we talk about Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) to recognise professional and people in different sectors, that come under Mode 4. So far, we have been very careful in granting MRAs for very selective professional groups. The future negotiations will then come under this ambit, Mode 4 or the agreement for the movement of natural persons, and under which we will then have MRAs for different professions. This is on-going and it is not covered under the AFAS currently.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Encouraging HDB Rental Flat Tenants towards Home Ownership","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"12 Mr Hri Kumar Nair asked the Minister for National Development (a) what incentives are in place to encourage occupants of rental flats who are able to work, to obtain or upgrade their employment; and (b) whether the Ministry has any plans to help those staying in rental flats to eventually own their own flats.
\t
\tThe Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman) (for the Minister for National Development): Mdm Speaker, HDB works closely with the Community Development Centres (CDCs) and Family Services Centres (FSCs) to identify and help rental tenants who need employment assistance to find a job or upgrade, such as through the Work Support programme.
\tPage: 35
HDB also waives any rent increase at tenancy renewal for tenants who upgrade and improve their income from \"$800 or less\" to \"$801 to $1,500\". They continue to pay the lower rent for another two-year tenancy. Thereafter, if their income increase is still low, relative to the rent increase, HDB will waive the rent increase for another two-year term. In this way, they need not worry that their additional income from upgrading goes towards a higher rent. Instead, they can use it to provide for their families and build up their savings towards home ownership.
We support low-income families in owning a home through various ways. First, a first-timer household earning $1,500 or less can get $60,000 in housing grants to buy a flat. This is about 60% off the price of a typical 2-room BTO flat, which is already priced with a substantial market discount. Second, we build 2-room and 3-room new flats to provide affordable housing choices for low-income families, and safeguard supply for them through an income ceiling of $2,000 and $5,000 a month for 2-room and 3-room standard flats in non-mature estates respectively. Third, public rental tenants are given priority allocation of 5% of new 2-room and 3-room flats in Build-To-Order or Sale of Balance Flats exercises.
These measures have helped low-income families buy a flat. In 2011 and 2012, 630 rental tenants have progressed to own a home.
\tMr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mdm Speaker, I have a supplementary question. I have encountered instances of low-income residents who have asked their employers to not give them increments for fear that that would push them over the edge in terms of either qualifying for a flat or having to pay a higher rental. I appreciate that the HDB has discretion as to whether to impose an increase or not, but I think the difficulty, essentially, boils down to the fact that the discretion will be exercised after the increment is given or accepted. The fear is that this discretion may not be exercised favourably and so they would rather not take the chance.
Could the Ministry consider communicating these efforts and policies clearer to low-income families so that they can be rest assured that they will be treated fairly and properly when it comes to accepting increments? I also thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the statistics in terms of families that move from rental to ownership. However, my experience is that there is a number of families which are really in a chronic stage, which are not likely – in the short term – to go into ownership status. Is there a long-term solution for such families? Because the way we were continuing to build up our rental stock, it is likely that more and more families would go into a rental status and then
\tPage: 36
possibly create a permanent underclass sector.
\tDr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Mdm Speaker, first please allow me to clarify. We now give automatic waiver of the rental increase if their income moves from $800 to $1,500. Previously, it was discretionary, depending on a case-by-case basis. I had made that announcement in an earlier session. So, we now give automatic waiver of the rental increase. This is what we call the cliff effect. Previously, the moment you hit above the $800 mark, they will charge higher rental. The concern is that the higher rental is higher than the income increase that they have.
Now, the moment they go into the next bar, we give them automatic renewal of the same rental for one term tenancy, which is two years. If after the first two years, their rental increase is still higher than their income increase, we will still allow them to keep to the same rental rate for another two years. The Member is absolutely right in that during this two-year plus two-year term tenancy period, we need to work with the families. This is why we always say that housing is just one aspect of the life of the low-income families. We need to look at the various social infrastructures that we can put in place to support them.
Income and employment are critical. We need to look at how we can enhance the income levels of these families. Sometimes, they are single-income families; sometimes they have the potential to be dual-income families but because of circumstances, they were not able to do so. The interface between the housing and social aspects is very important. What do we do now? We work with the FSCs and the CDCs very closely. HDB has got in every branch housing counsellors; they will help these families look at a trajectory; we call it the \"pathway of housing opportunities\". We look at what is possible for them. If they are first- timers and they have potential, we look at what that potential is. We will then work with them, for example, to get grants and with the grants, the price of the flat is maybe $60,000 or $45,000 or $50,000. This is for a 2-room flat, for example.
With that loan that you may take up to own a flat, what kind of jobs and income will you be required to have? We will work with the CDC to try and facilitate upgrading opportunities so that they can get the relevant skills to get the relevant jobs to get incomes that are suitable for them to buy those flats.
The public housing policy remains the same: we want to promote home ownership because it makes better sense for them to own their own homes.
\tPage: 37
Their self esteem will be higher, and in due course, because of appreciation in the value of the property, they do have good investments. The point is that we work with closely with the different social service agencies. For these families, the challenge really is to work with all the other social aspects, issues that they are facing. It could be an issue of the skillset. It could also be issues of childcare or an issue of taking care of elderly patients. This is one group – especially for those who are first timers, it is easier for us to work with.
The challenge is really when we have rental flat dwellers who are second- and third-timers. They are even more challenged because of the age that they are in. When they are in the mid 40s, 50s, to work with them on longer term employments is a greater challenge. But that does not mean we cannot help them; that they cannot become home owners subsequently. We work with the relevant agencies to also help such families.
\tMr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines): Thank you, Madam. I understand that the HDB looks at the combined household income to assess the financial ability of the family. I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary what is the Government's position on such a scenario: a low-income couple stays in a rental flat with a child. When the child starts working, the total household income exceeds the $1,500 income ceiling for rental flats. Would the family then be required to leave the rental flat and buy their own flat in line with the house-ownership policy? If the child were to get married possibly a few two-year cycles later and would like to get their own flat, would he be disadvantaged as a second-timer? And how would HDB be able to help families like these – both the parents as well as the child who are potentially flat owners in their own right?
\tDr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Madam, when we look at the housing trajectory for families, first, we always look at it from the perspective that the family is still the first line of support for families, especially for parents also. So, when you look at a scenario of this nature, they grew up in a rental flat, a young adult grows up, works and has the capability to own a flat, if the income goes beyond $1,500, we do not immediately tell them, \"Please go out\". We want to tell them that you have the potential to own a flat and if you have the potential to own a flat, why not, so that the availability of rental flats could be given to others who are more deserving. Because there will be people who are asking for rental flats. People go through different life cycles, different life challenges and sometimes the rental flats could be better given to those who really are in need. So, if they have the potential to own a flat, we will encourage them to own a flat, but we give them time. We give them time to work towards home ownership.
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It is certainly not almost immediate that we expect them to move. That is why we introduce \"term tenancy\" where for every two years, we assess their capabilities. Even if they have gone into income levels like $2,000, sometimes circumstances do not enable them to own a flat, perhaps there is disability in the household, HDB is very, very compassionate. We look at such cases very compassionately. We allow them to continue to stay in the rental flat. We do not force them to move into home ownership unless we are quite certain that they really have the potential to do so.
To the question of what happens to the individual if the adult child chooses to buy a flat, what happens to the parents? Of course, we hope the whole family goes together, if that is a family household and we hope the child can also help to support the parents. So, when they buy a flat, I think they have to look at the long-term implications. Long-term implications are whether the child can continue to live and co-live with the parents and support the parents in the new flat, should they choose to purchase. Certainly, if the parents are old, we would advise them on the ability of the parents to own the flat on their own if the child chooses to marry. For such cases, the housing counsellors will actually look at each of the individual cases, assess them, provide them with relevant advice to look at the long-term implications of such choices that they can make.
Wherever possible, we would facilitate the possibilities of home ownership for them but I want to assure the House that we are not out to misplace people who are in the rental flats. What we are trying to do is to strike a balance because there will always be people who are subjected to different life circumstances and they fall below the cracks and they need the rental flats. But because of the limited stock of rental flats, we want to facilitate this continuous movement where those who are able to purchase and own their own flats should do so to provide space for those who may need the rental flats. And for those who have gone into the rental flats, we want to continue working with them such that they can own their own flats subsequently again.
\tEr Dr Lee Bee Wah: Mdm Speaker, in last night's MPS, I had just seen a case like that. The child has grown up, got married, bought a flat and this old father received a letter from HDB asking him to shift out by 17 July. So, I have just put up an appeal. There are people who live in rental flats and when their children get married they face problems like this. So, I would like to ask the Minister what help can be given to them. Can we be more compassionate to help elderly parents in that situation?
\tDr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: As I have mentioned earlier, the context of housing and family support is intertwined. We hope that the adult child, who
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is able to purchase a property – it depends on the property that the child is able and capable of purchasing – if a child is able to purchase a 5-room flat, for example, and there is available space, extra room to accommodate their parents, we will encourage that. If the child is a low-income person who is able only to afford, say, a 3-room flat, and he has his own family, of course, we will be more compassionate to then say that maybe the child cannot provide for the parents, then we will be more sympathetic, and I will certainly take a look at the case when Er Dr Lee Bee Wah refers that case to us.
As I mentioned earlier, HDB really tries to understand the issues that every family faces and I think the House would probably appreciate that every case comes along with a complex array of issues and no one case is similar to the other. We have to look at every individual case differently so that we can try to help them better.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Controlling Population of Stray Animals","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"13 Mr David Ong asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the policy governing stray animals, particularly with regard to the uncontrolled growth of their population; (b) what is being done and can be further improved upon in respect of measures to balance the well-being of residents with the welfare of stray animals; and (c) what kind of support is rendered to voluntary organisations in the rehabilitation and shelter of stray animals such as dogs.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for National Development (Mr Tan Chuan-Jin) (for the Minister for National Development): Mdm Speaker, the priority in our approach in managing the stray animal population is to ensure that public safety is not compromised by any potential danger that is posed by stray animals in the community.
AVA adopts a range of measures to manage and control the stray animal population, and they include the removal of the animals, sterilisation, working with Animal Welfare Groups (AWGs) to rehome suitable stray animals, such as dogs and cats; and, as a last resort – I repeat, as a last resort – to humanely put down the excess strays that cannot be rehomed.
AVA supports the AWGs by waiving its fees when they rehome suitable stray dogs from AVA's pound. The Government also supports two ground-up pilot initiatives on the rehoming of stray dogs and cats which were launched
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last year. Project ADORE, which is ADOption and Rehoming of dogs, led by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD), was to pilot the rehoming of suitable mid-sized mongrels in HDB flats. Project LOVE CATS, led by the Cat Welfare Society (CWS), was to pilot the keeping of cats by HDB dwellers in Chong Pang. Both projects are progressing well. I personally hope that it works because I think it is a key component in terms of the solution to housing strays.
In addition, AVA engages other stakeholders such as the Town Councils, caregivers and feeders to mediate between disputing parties. There are many animal lovers out there but there are also those who are less than tolerant. And we need to conduct control operations to also remove aggressive animals, as well as to educate the caregivers and feeders themselves on responsible feeding.
Managing the stray animal population and the nuisance posed by them requires a collective effort by Government agencies, the AWGs and also the public, and especially, I think, if you go upstream, including the pet owners. Pet abandonment adds to the stray animal population, existing and potential pet owners need to understand the care and responsibility that comes with owning a pet. To spread this message, AVA has in place a Responsible Pet Ownership (RPO) programme which reaches out to the public through school talks, roadshows and mass media such as advertorials. In addition, my Ministry has also accepted the recommendation by the Animal Welfare Legislation Review Committee (AWLRC) to increase penalties for animal cruelty and offenders, including those who abandon pets.
\tMr David Ong (Jurong): Thank you, Mdm Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. In fact, I am sure that Mdm Speaker shares the same sentiments as me that balancing the well-being of stray dogs as well as the welfare of our residents is a very complex and emotive one.
I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether the Ministry can also review the adoption criteria of stray dogs such as the weight, the size and even the breed so that more strays such as stray mongrels or crossbreeds can be rehomed, freeing up very critical space that the shelters are currently facing. They actually run in full capacity at this point in time. Can more support and subsidies or help can be given to these welfare groups and dog shelters so that they can expand their capacity and also better rehab these dogs for rehoming.
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Lastly, does the Ministry also look at ways to better manage the growth of stray dogs, especially in places where they propagate in large numbers, and would the Ministry consider a mass sterilisation project to manage this population?
\tMr Tan Chuan-Jin: Mdm Speaker, with regard to the second question on how do we manage the stray dog population numbers, I think, very briefly, AVA manages the stray dog population as a preventive measure. It is important to understand that because there are potential threats to public safety, it is not just about sterilisation. I think when dogs operate in packs as well, it can be threatening for public safety and security, and that is something that we are concerned about. In fact, many members of the public do raise concerns, especially where children are involved, and there is also the concern with regard to rabies.
Essentially, when we receive public feedback, AVA will carry out surveillance and control operations. AVA will work with Animal Welfare Groups such as SPCA or Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD) to rehome impounded dogs where we can, and dogs which are healthy and with a suitable temperament. And those that are not able to be rehomed will, as a last resort, be put down in a humane fashion. This is why it comes back to the earlier point about Project ADORE, which I think it is important.
The Member also raised an important point about the criteria, which is why Project ADORE is meant to address that to see whether we are able to house mongrels – up to mid-sized mongrels − in HDB flats.
As you are aware, and as I have mentioned, there will be those who are comfortable with pets and there will be those who are less than comfortable. So, we need to create a common space so that people are comfortable. I think that if this project can succeed and it moves forward, it allows a greater capacity for strays to be rehomed and this would be an important step forward in terms of making sure that we manage the stray population. But as with all cases, there will be dogs with temperaments that are not suitable for rehoming and/or those which are less than healthy; in those cases, as a last resort, we will put them down in a humane fashion.
\tPage: 42
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Award of Contracts for City Direct Public Bus Services","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"14 Mr Teo Siong Seng asked the Minister for Transport whether the upcoming tender for the nine City Direct bus services will be extended only to competent private bus operators, excluding related companies of public transport operators, to better utilise available resources in the private sector in contributing to the Bus Service Enhancement Programme.
\tThe Minister of State for Transport (Mrs Josephine Teo) (for the Minister for Transport): Mdm Speaker, as Mr Teo has correctly pointed out, the move to invite private bus operators to run City Direct bus services is to tap on their existing resources to improve bus service levels. These operators may have existing buses and drivers available in between their other assignments, such as ferrying school children or workers, and it is our aim to contract them for the required bus services.
All private bus operators can participate in the tender for the nine City Direct bus services that LTA rolled out last month, as they could for the earlier Jurong West City Direct tender that closed in March 2013.
If a company meets the tender requirements and can offer commuters good service at a competitive price, there is no reason why it should be barred from taking part. These include companies like ComfortDelGro Bus Pte Ltd and Bus-Plus Services Pte Ltd which operate separately from the public transport operators even if they are related. They have different management structures and are run by different personnel. Like other private bus operators, they have their own fleet of buses providing contracted bus services for school children and workers, as well as shuttle and premium bus services licensed by the Public Transport Council.
\t
\tMr Teo Siong Seng (Nominated Member): First of all, I congratulate the Ministry for awarding this contract after I brought it up in the Budget debate in 2012. What I am concerned is this. As the Minister of State said, ComfortDelGro, Bus-Plus and the other company are run separately from their parent company but, inevitably, they belong to the same company, same parent, which is ComfortDelGro, and SBS is the other public transport operator. So, to the real private operator, it seems to be unfair competition – they can never compete with them.
\tMrs Josephine Teo: Sorry, Madam, what is the Member's question?
\tPage: 43
\tMr Teo Siong Seng: My question is that this company, ComfortDelGro, was actually awarded the Jurong West City Direct services contract, but in the public eye it seems to be part of the public transport operator's parent, with ample resources and all that. Even though this company is run separately, it is not really a private operator. So, to the genuine private operators, it is unfair competition.
\tMrs Josephine Teo: Mdm Speaker, I thank the Member for raising this point. I think his question is how do we ensure that the competition is fair. I would like to assure him that when the LTA evaluated the bids that had been obtained for the City Direct services, they evaluated the operators on criteria such as the ability to fulfil the service commitment that is required of them, and their financial standing has to be sound. And I think, most importantly, it is whether we are able to really deliver the improvement to bus service levels. That was the whole intention behind this exercise. So, I would like to assure him, based on the question that he is asking, that the competition will be conducted – the contest is fair.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Express Bus Terminal for Long-haul Coaches","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"15 Mr Teo Siong Seng asked the Minister for Transport whether he will reconsider setting up an Express Bus Terminal for coaches plying long distances as the joint study by URA, STB and LTA which concluded that a centralised bus terminal for inter-city buses was not needed was made in 2010.
\tThe Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Transport): Mdm Speaker, when the Member raised a similar question last year, Minister Lui had explained that the projected demand for intercity bus services in the near to medium term did not merit the provision of centralised intercity bus terminal. Since then, there continues to be little indication of growth in intercity travel. In fact, the number of intercity bus licences this year has declined by 9%.
The existing approach where bus operators ride on existing infrastructure at various premises for their passenger boarding and alighting operations remains adequate to support the projected growth in demand. LTA will nonetheless continue to monitor the demand for intercity bus services and, if necessary, review the need for a centralised bus terminal.
\tPage: 44
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Expanding Use of MediSave for Scans and for Elderly Patients","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"16 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Health in light of the Ministry's current review of the 3M system of healthcare (a) whether the review will consider expanding the use of Medisave for outpatient CT scans and MRI scans; and (b) whether the review will take into consideration how retirees can fully tap on the 3M system even for outpatient medical services without having to pay cash.
\tThe Minister for Health (Mr Gan Kim Yong): Mdm Speaker, currently, patients can use up to $600 of Medisave per year for outpatient scans required for cancer treatment, as well as up to $400 for outpatient treatment for chronic diseases under the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP). Nevertheless, Singaporeans have shared with us, including through Our Singapore Conversation, that they are concerned with the cost of scans, as well as for outpatient treatments. As part of our healthcare financing review, we are exploring ways to reduce the cash outlay for outpatient treatments, especially for the elderly, including greater flexibility in the use of Medisave.
However, in deciding on which procedures to allow for Medisave use, we need to strike a judicious balance between helping our people defray the out-of-pocket cost of outpatient treatment and preserving Medisave to help patients pay for larger hospitalisation bills.
\tEr Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister when will the review be completed and the results be known because scanning costs quite a lot and our residents feel that it is quite a strain on their pockets.
\tMr Gan Kim Yong: Mdm Speaker, I am very heartened by the concern that our Member has for the needy patients and we too are concerned about their needs. We do have schemes in place to help should they require financial assistance, whether it is for scans or outpatient treatment. I assure Er Dr Lee that the Ministry officials are working very hard to try to complete the financial review. But it is a complex issue as it covers all the 3Ms – MediFund, MediShield and MediSave – as well as the Government subsidy as part of it.
There are various factors which we need to balance. We want to ensure that the healthcare services continue to remain affordable. At the same time, we want to encourage prudent use of the healthcare savings of our patients and
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we also want to find ways to encourage considered and calibrated decisions on treatment so as to prevent over-consumption. At the end of the day, it is important as we design our healthcare financing framework to continue to have the motivation and incentive for individuals to stay healthy and to strengthen their family support at the same time.
There are many factors that we need to consider and we are working very hard and we will announce them as soon as we are ready. Some of these measures may be announced progressively over a period of time. It need not be a whole package, waiting for the last bit to fall in place. As and when we are ready, as and when the schemes are being worked out, we will announce them accordingly.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Regulation of Paramedic Services","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"The following question stood in the name of \tDr Lam Pin Min –
17 To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether there is a need for paramedic services to be regulated; and (b) how is the standard of paramedic training determined and maintained to ensure that patient care is not compromised.
\t
\tEr Dr Lee Bee Wah: Question No 17, please.
The Minister of State for Health (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan) (for the Minister for Health): The Emergency Ambulance Services in Singapore are provided by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). The emergency ambulance crews are led by paramedics who are trained to handle all medical and trauma emergencies. The service operates round the clock and will respond to any 995 call for medical emergency in Singapore. SCDF also conducts clinical, operational audits and protocol reviews regularly to maintain the high standard of emergency medical care rendered to patients. The paramedics are also subject to oversight by an independent external medical advisory committee under MHA.
In 2009, SCDF embarked on a public-private partnership to engage private ambulance operators to add capacity to SCDF emergency ambulance service. These ambulances have to meet SCDF's standards for ambulance design, equipping and their staff have to meet the requisite medical skills certifications
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as part of the contract to operate with the SCDF EAS.
As the ambulance sector develops, there is a need to upgrade the capabilities of ambulance personnel. A key component in the Pre-hospital Emergency Care (PEC) Transformation Plan, jointly developed by MOH and MHA, is the professional development of ambulance personnel, including paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and medical transporters/drivers. This plan will cover the development of professional standards, competencies and related training of these personnel.
ITE and the Singapore Armed Forces Medical Training Institute already offer essential training programmes for the paramedic trainees. MOH and MHA are also working on a framework for continuing education to enhance the skills and training of paramedics in the areas of cardiac emergencies, trauma, paediatrics and the management of other time-sensitive emergency conditions. To raise the standards of other ambulance personnel working closely with the paramedics, MOH and MHA have partnered WDA to develop a Pre-Hospital Medical Care Track, administered by SingHealth's Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing, for EMTs and Medical Transporters in Singapore.
\tEr Dr Lee Bee Wah: One supplementary question, please. Besides working on the skills of these paramedics, are there any guidelines on the charges of these ambulances or paramedic officers, especially those from the private sector?
\tDr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I thank the Member for the supplementary question and for the opportunity to clarify regarding the ambulance charges. If the call is made to the telephone link 995 Emergency Ambulance Service that is operated by SCDF and it is ascertained by the doctor at the medical institution at the emergency department that it is an emergency case, there is no charge. If it is ascertained that it is non-emergency, there is a charge of $198.
The ambulance service provider is divided into the 995 telephone link service by SCDF and there are also private operators that operate essentially non-emergency patient transport service. There are also some that operate emergency services.
There is a set of guidelines for private ambulance service that MOH has stipulated but these are primarily to ensure or safeguard patients' safety. The charges are not regulated but it is actually listed or put up on the SCDF website. The advice will be that if you want to use private ambulance services, please
\tPage: 47
check the website so you make an informed decision. The private ambulance operator is supposed to tell you what the charges are before you take up the service.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"National Emergency Response Plan to Deal with MERS","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"The following question stood in the name of \tDr Lam Pin Min –
18 To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether there is an emergency response plan to handle the possible emergence of a Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in Singapore, especially during this haze period and its impact on the stockpile of N95 masks; and (b) whether the Ministry has any precautionary measures for Singaporeans performing the Haj in Mecca.
\tEr Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Question No 18, please.
\tThe Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Health): Mdm Speaker, MOH continues to closely monitor the global Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) situation. As at 7 July, WHO has reported a total of 80 cases of MERS worldwide, with 44 deaths. These cases have been reported in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, UK, France, Tunisia and Italy. Cases in the UK, France, Italy and Tunisia were detected after returning from the Middle East. Person-to-person transmission has been documented amongst close contacts, but there is yet no evidence of sustained community transmission. Overall, MOH's current assessment is that the risk of serious public health impact to Singapore due to an imported case of the MERS infection remains low.
MOH has put in place various precautionary measures to prevent and cope with possible emergence of MERS infection in Singapore. Firstly, Health Advisory posters have been put up at the airport to alert inbound and outbound travellers to the Middle East of the MERS situation, while Health Advisory notices are also issued to travellers on flights from the Middle East. Persons who have been in the affected areas are advised to seek medical attention if they become unwell with fever and cough, and to inform their doctors of their travel history.
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Secondly, our doctors and hospitals remain vigilant to the threat of MERS in symptomatic travellers returning from affected areas. As of 5 July, a total of 51 suspected cases have been investigated locally since January 2013 and all have been tested negative for MERS. All suspected and confirmed cases will be isolated. MOH will conduct contact tracing when appropriate and all close contacts of confirmed cases will be quarantined.
Thirdly, we have also stepped up our operational readiness in the event of an imported case. For example, we have put on standby the Home Team NS (HTNS) Pasir Ris chalets as possible quarantine housing from 17 June this year. MOH is also in contact with the WHO and our overseas counterparts and will monitor the situation closely.
With the recent haze situation, we have drawn down from our national stockpile of N95 masks to augment the supply to the public. We are now in the process of replenishing the national stockpile so that we will be fully stocked should there be an outbreak of MERS in Singapore as soon as possible. In the meantime, hospitals have retained sufficient stocks of N95 masks to ensure that they would be able to safely care for patients suspected of having the MERS infection.
Precautionary measures are in place for Haj and Umrah pilgrims. MOH works closely with MUIS and has issued health advisories to pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia. All pilgrims are advised to avoid close contact with persons suffering from acute respiratory infections and to adopt good food safety and hygiene practices to reduce the risk of being infected. All pilgrims are required to go for a medical check and will receive recommended vaccinations, including an influenza vaccination, prior to their trip. There are also briefings organised for the pilgrims by MUIS as part of the pre-trip medical advice and preparations, including the health advice from MOH.
As MOH had done for the Haj last year, we will monitor the health status of all Haj pilgrims through the accompanying medical team from Singapore. In addition, MOH has established links and contacts with the Haj medical team as well as travel agents so that we can be alerted early to possible suspect MERS cases amongst our pilgrims.
MOH will continue to assess the MERS situation. Our priority remains to ensure that there are robust and well-established measures to protect and care for the health of Singaporeans.
\tPage: 49
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Use of HDB Rooftop Space","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"19 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Communications and Information what is the justification for the change in policy, arising from the Code of Practice for Info-Communication Facilities in Buildings 2013, requiring Town Councils to henceforth provide use of common property, such as rooftops of HDB blocks, to telecommunication companies without charging for use or access.
\tThe Minister for Communications and Information (Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Madam, there has been a growing dependence on mobile telephone services by businesses and consumers. With increasing expectations from end-users for better mobile coverage, IDA enhanced the quality of service standards imposed on mobile operators for both in-building and outdoor mobile coverage. Accordingly, IDA reviewed the Code of Practice for Info-Communication Facilities in Buildings. This was to ensure that building developments would be equipped with the minimum space and facilities necessary for mobile operators to deploy equipment required for better mobile coverage. The requirement to provide this minimum amount of mobile deployment space at no charge to the mobile operators was meant to facilitate the quick deployment of mobile equipment, so that end-users could benefit faster from the improved mobile coverage.
To balance the needs of all parties, building owners and developers have been accorded flexibility to determine the location of the mobile deployment space, whether on roof-tops or in car parks, for example. Furthermore, this space need not be set aside upfront, but only upon request of a mobile operator. Existing lease agreements for space purposed for the provision of mobile coverage within the developments will also be allowed to continue until their expiry. As such, developments that currently lease space to the mobile operators would only need to comply with the new mobile deployment space requirements after the expiry of these existing agreements.
Mdm Speaker, these changes are applied consistently to all buildings, including those in the private sector, as well as to Government-owned buildings. I would also like to point out that in the case of deployment of mobile equipment on HDB premises managed by Town Councils, the most direct and immediate beneficiaries of improved mobile coverage are the residents themselves.
These new requirements have also taken into account industry feedback via two rounds of public consultation. Both public consultations saw no objections from most respondents, who understood and acknowledged the need to
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facilitate the better mobile coverage within building developments for the benefit of end-users.
\tMs Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Madam, supplementary questions for the Minister. We would like to facilitate IDA's rationale of improving coverage for mobile users, including our residents. Does the Minister agree that the coverage would probably be better from the rooftop as compared to a lower lying space?
Secondly, we have done some checking on the frequency of access requests by these mobile operators at our Town Council for the first six months of this year and it works out to about 74 requests a month. So, it is a significant number of requests and there is a certain cost incurred by the Town Council to provide access to the rooftop because it is supposed to be a secured space and so on. I think the Minister understands that. So, I wonder whether the Minister would agree that this change in the COPIF would pass some burden to the Town Council, taking it away from a profit-making entity like the telcos. Would he consider reviewing at least this aspect, where access is given, could there be some arrangement where we could have a reasonable charge or get reimbursed for the cost incurred?
\tAssoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: In terms of the location, this is about in-building coverage. So, it does not have to be on the rooftop. It could be in the car parks or basement. But we leave it to the MTOs to decide where exactly is the best location, in consultation with the building owner. We do not have a preference. What COPIF does is to specify a minimum space in which the building owners would have to give to the MTOs. Anything beyond that, they have to agree on a commercial basis.
I do not quite understand why there are so many checks in Aljunied Town Council – 74 requests. I am quite curious which MTO, but we will check on that. But on the issue of access, as mentioned by the Member, clearly we understand why it is important for us to give access to the MTOs so that they can go in if there are rectification and maintenance work that needs to be done. But notwithstanding this, we have to consider the issue of access charge, given the feedback that we have received from the previous meeting the IDA had with the Town Councils. So, we are prepared to look at this again.
\tPage: 51
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Annual Government Funding for Community Leaders Forum","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"20 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (a) if he can provide details on the annual amount of Government funding received by the Community Leaders Forum (CLF) from 2010-2012; and (b) whether the inclusion of Malay members from a political party as resource persons has infused in this community initiative a partisan element.
The Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Madam, the Community Leaders Forum (CLF) was set up in 2003 to harness the expertise and experience of policy makers, community leaders and partners to address issues affecting the Malay/Muslim community. It aims to engage the Malay/Muslim community on how resources can be best used to meet its needs.
Projects under the CLF are funded by Mendaki's Malay/Muslim Community Development Fund (MMCDF), which consists of donations and Government matching grant in broadly equal proportions. From 2010 to 2012, Mendaki invested approximately $4.8 million in CLF projects.
The work of the CLF is extensive and requires participation, support and leadership at many levels. I chair the CLF Steering Committee, while other PAP Malay Members of Parliament serve as Resource Persons or Co-Chairmen to advise the four CLF networks of Education, Youth, Family and Employability.
Madam, Government Members of Parliament who serve on platforms that receive Government support are clear about their role, which is to help achieve the social, cultural or educational goals of these bodies and not to exploit them for political ends. We are no different in the CLF. We serve with the goal of helping CLF achieve its objectives more effectively and ensure progress of the Malay/Muslim community.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Encouraging Property Owners to Construct Pedestrian Linkages between Buildings","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"21 Mr Alex Yam asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many buildings in the Central Business District and main shopping belt have
\tPage: 52
direct pedestrian linkages either above or underground; (b) what have been the challenges of getting business owners to agree to link their buildings; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider changing legislation to make such pedestrian linkages compulsory.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for National Development (Mr Lee Yi Shyan) (for the Minister for National Development): Mdm Speaker, over 40 buildings within the Central Business District, Marina Bay and the Orchard Road to the City Hall shopping belt are connected by underground pedestrian links. Another 28 buildings are connected by elevated links. Notable pedestrian links include those at the buildings around Orchard MRT and commercial areas at Tanjong Pagar, City Hall and Raffles Place. In Marina Bay, all buildings are required to have basement level links to the adjacent buildings.
An extensive network of all-weather pedestrian links is necessary for our city to be well-connected and pedestrian-friendly. Pedestrian links also support the use of public transport. We are realising more pedestrian links in the following ways.
First, where relevant, URA will stipulate requirements for pedestrian links for new sites launched under the Government Land Sales programme or private buildings undergoing redevelopment.
Second, LTA will develop pedestrian links as new MRT stations are built and these links will be joined up with adjacent buildings where possible.
Third, URA administers a cash grant incentive scheme to encourage owners to develop underground pedestrian links between existing buildings. So, this is a retrofitting programme. The take-up for the URA cash grant incentive scheme has been slow partly because it has just been revised in August 2012. Apart from the cost of constructing the links, which the scheme seeks to address, owners may prefer to retrofit their buildings to incorporate the links only when the buildings are being redeveloped. Some owners may also be concerned about disruption to businesses during the construction period, loss of lettable commercial space to accommodate these links, and potential diversions of customers to adjacent buildings.
There is currently no legislation for the Government to require owners to link up existing buildings.
\tPage: 53
\tMr Alex Yam (Chua Chu Kang): Madam, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his response. I have four quick supplementary questions. Firstly, is the Ministry satisfied with the current rate of adoption based on the Master Plan? Secondly, I quote an interesting example that made it to the press – The Straits Times, January 2010, called \"A Bridge Too Short\". Iluma at Bugis had a bridge that did not link. There was about a 2-metre gap. But, surprisingly, when Bugis Junction bought over Iluma, magically the bridge joined up. Is there something that the Ministry can do, since it is encouraging new projects to take on these so that they are not a loss?
Thirdly, will the GFA exemptions that are currently provided for elevated pedestrian walkways for places like Jurong Gateway and the cash grants be made more attractive so that more business owners may want to come onboard on the scheme? Lastly, in response to part (c) of my parliamentary question, will the Ministry therefore consider introducing legislation to make this a compulsory part of development?
\tMr Lee Yi Shyan: I thank the Member for his various suggestions. The co-funding programme has just been revised about a year ago and it is our intention to work closely with the various property owners to introduce the rebuilding of the pedestrian links, it will take a while for the links to be established over time.
The Member mentioned the example of Iluma and also Jurong Gateway. Sometimes, the GFA exemptions are being used because we need to provide space for some of the common mechanical and electrical ventilation systems. So, where it is appropriate, URA will consider giving these. But for other redevelopment and new developments, when the property owners are submitting their plans for approval, URA would require them to build those links, including covering any 2- or 3-metre gaps that may be there. We are, at this stage, not considering legislation as yet because we think a better way is still to work closely with the building owners to hasten the building of the links.
\t
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Development Plans for Pulau Ubin","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"22 Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the development plans for Pulau Ubin and how will they affect residents living on the island; and (b) why did HDB's Land Clearance Section send residents there a letter with the header \"Clearance Scheme: Clearance of Structures Previously Acquired for Development of Adventure
\tPage: 54
Park on Pulau Ubin\".
23 Mrs Lina Chiam asked the Minister for National Development with regard to HDB's recent notice to the 22 households on Pulau Ubin (a) what are the reasons for serving this notice since the Ministry has no plans to evict them; (b) what resettlement benefits are they entitled to; (c) what will happen to these households if they cannot afford to pay the rent after obtaining a Temporary Occupation Licence; and (d) what future plans does the Ministry have for this plot of land.
\tThe Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman) (for the Minister for National Development): Mdm Speaker, may I take Question Nos 22 and 23 together, please?
Mdm Speaker: Yes, please.
\tDr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: There is currently no development plan for Pulau Ubin. Our intention is to keep Pulau Ubin in its rustic state for as long as possible and as an outdoor playground for Singaporeans.
Both SLA and HDB have clarified that the letter sent to the 22 households on Pulau Ubin in March 2013 was meant to notify them of a census survey to determine their eligibility for resettlement benefits arising from the land acquisition exercises in 1987 and 1993. The letter was not an eviction notice.
SLA and HDB acknowledged that the letter could have been more carefully worded and the language updated to reflect the eventual development on Pulau Ubin. They had already apologised for the anxiety caused to the affected residents.
While the affected land owners were all compensated for the land acquired by the Government earlier in 1987 and 1993, not all the households had claimed the resettlement benefits. Furthermore, as these households have been staying on state land since the acquisition exercise without a Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL), SLA is taking this opportunity to regularise the TOL for these households, which is a requirement for them to remain on state land.
The resettlement benefits that some of these affected Pulau Ubin residents are eligible for include an ex-gratia amount payable to the house owners and
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tenants for their houses and improvements made to their surroundings; priority allocation of HDB flats for those who wish to relocate to mainland Singapore; and a transport allowance for the relocation.
To help those residents who decide to remain on Pulau Ubin and not relocate to the mainland, SLA will not be charging them the full TOL fees immediately, but phasing it in over five years. This means that the residents only need to pay the full TOL fees from the sixth year onwards. Most of these households will only need to pay less than $20 per month in the first year and less than $120 per month in the sixth year.
For residents who face financial difficulties in paying the rent, SLA will be facilitating the assessment for them to receive financial assistance from the Government.
\tMs Faizah Jamal (Nominated Member): Madam, I have three questions to clarify. Firstly, I know some of these people personally, having gone to Pulau Ubin in the last 30 years, both for leisure as well as in my role as an environment educator and nature guide. Some of these residents have told me that not only do they not understand English but they are not literate. Some of them have never gone to school. And they came back only to find this letter in English and, naturally, they were concerned. So, my first question is: moving forward, could the Ministry give some assurance to these residents that, in future, any sort of clarifications be made in a language and dialect that they can understand, and also to speak to them personally perhaps if need be?
Secondly, I am heartened to know that Pulau Ubin will be kept in its rustic state as far as possible. One resident who has been living there for the fourth generation is Kamariah Abdullah. She has done great work in her house which is a really beautiful Malay house in its natural state and has encouraged people to come and stay and enjoy what we call the \"kampung\" spirit. So, what I would like to ask the Ministry is whether the Ministry has any plans to encourage people like Kamariah Abdullah to stay and rejuvenate this whole life, the \"kampung\" spirit and encourage people to go. And in addition, to support her financially or in some other ways to continue this kind of existence for the betterment, not just of Singaporeans and future generations, but also tourists who come to the island.
And lastly, moving forward, in terms of future plans, will the Ministry consider engaging not just stakeholders like nature groups and other environmental groups but also people who are living there at the moment as
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stakeholders to get them and their ideas as to how we can encourage Pulau Ubin to stay as rustic as possible for the longest time possible?
\tDr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Madam, I thank the Member for the three questions. First, I want to assure the Member that we take the interests of the residents very closely to our hearts. I say that because I am also the local Member of Parliament for Pulau Ubin. I meet the residents as regularly as I can, and I know most of them. We engage the residents very regularly through my house visits to them, as well as various events that we organise in Pulau Ubin.
We are very mindful of the concerns that the residents may have. The Member is absolutely right. We could have done better in our communications. We have a local committee in place: Pulau Ubin Changi Village, with various subcommittees which include residents in Pulau Ubin as well as Changi Village because it is their main point where they come to the mainland. Many of the residents, they used to live in Pulau Ubin and they do have some residential property in Changi Village. But they go to Pulau Ubin regularly. We are very mindful of how we should be engaging these residents. I assure the Member that I will personally connect with the residents there.
On the issue of Mdm Kamariah, I know her also. I think she has done a lot of work, too. On how best we can facilitate her work, we can discuss with her on a separate occasion and to look at how best we can look at the whole Pulau Ubin, not as a tourist destination of sorts. I do not like to see it as a tourist destination but I like to see it as a destination for Singaporeans to go back to experience what rustic life is about in Pulau Ubin.
The Member is absolutely right. We continue to engage the residents. Even when we do any form of upgrading works, it is also to tie in with the nature and rustic environment. We engage the residents quite regularly, even when they have issues with regard to things that needed to be upgraded, we will continue to work with them on the nature and how we go about putting in place some of these facilities for them. So, I assure the Member that we will continue as best we can to keep Pulau Ubin as rustic as we can because that is something that I think Singaporeans can treasure.
\tMrs Lina Chiam (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, I have a supplementary question to ask. Will the Minister consider developing part of Pulau Ubin into a retirees village with medical facilities like hospital and shops and land made available for farming and growing flowers so that retirees can be gainfully retired and employed? Retirees can then lead a simple and healthy
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life in their golden years. If Pulau Tekong can become an army camp, why not Pulau Ubin become a retirees' village?
\tDr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: I think that is quite a different proposition. I am not sure Ms Faizah will agree to that. Well, I think the issue really is whether that is something that Singaporeans want. When we talk about retirement village, there are also ageing and elderly issues. To put our elderly on an island, you would need to put in a whole slew of services and a lot of issues with regard to cost and whether we can put those infrastructures in place.
That is a proposition that is worth considering in the longer term if it does merit such a proposition. For now, we are quite clear. We want to leave Pulau Ubin the way it is for as long as we can. Even when we have chalets, the chalets try very hard to keep it to the way it is without too much of modern facilities going into it. We want to try to provide an avenue for Singaporeans to go back to something that we used to have.
So, whether it would turn into a retirement village one day, I am not quite sure. Whether that is something that we want to consider at this point in time, I think there are other alternatives for our retirees to age in place. We also want our retirees to age in place rather than go to an island. We want them to be part of the larger community because I think that is where the social support ought to be made available for our retirees.
\tMs Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Tampines): Madam, I welcome Senior Parliamentary Secretary's assurance that Pulau Ubin will be kept rustic for as long as possible, and also welcome the apology for the anxiety caused by the notice. I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, in the first place, how can such a notice go out, phrased in such a way that gave the wrong impression that it would be an eviction notice and that mentions an adventure park to be developed when it is not so? Is there a process and a system in place to vet important notices that go out to residents, especially those which are potentially sensitive and distressing? And, also to do it in the various languages that they would understand; and also to echo the point that the Nominated Member made about explaining it to residents so as to allay their fears.
My second question relates to preserving Pulau Ubin as a place for local culture heritage as well as its natural heritage. Can I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether there are plans to recognise Pulau Ubin for the special place it holds in Singapore? As you know, the cityscape is always changing with construction and reconstruction. Many Singaporeans go to Pulau
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Ubin for a simpler way of life and to also enjoy the FEW rustic corners left in Singapore.
\tDr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Madam, as mentioned earlier, we acknowledge that we could have done better, in terms of the communication. The letter was not the first that was sent. HDB officers sent a letter earlier last year, in 2012. The same letter, but it did not create that misunderstanding. At that point in time, they were also doing the same census. Unfortunately, this time round, it came up quite negatively and we acknowledge that we could have done better in the communications and the processes. I think we have rectified the processes to make sure that it does not happen again.
On the issue of the local cultural heritage, I think Singaporeans acknowledge what Pulau Ubin offers. Whether it is a formalised process we can put in place, various agencies can come together and review that possibility. Even if we do not formalise that process, today, the natural environment and attraction of Pulau Ubin are sufficient for Singaporeans to acknowledge that that is something that we have already. If Singaporeans themselves continue to visit Pulau Ubin and experience the wonders of the rustic lifestyle, Pulau Ubin will continue to be the way it is.
Many times when I visited my residents there, and I visit the shop owners, they are very happy because, over the weekends, there are so many people who come back. During the weekdays, they are quite quiet; naturally, because people do flock over during the weekends. They are quite happy with the way things are happening in Pulau Ubin. And whenever I go there, not only Singaporeans, I also see tourists come and enjoy the various aspects of Pulau Ubin.
Mdm Speaker: Miss Penny Low, last question.
\tMiss Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Madam, I am very heartened by the flurry of interest in Pulau Ubin and, therefore, I would like to put in my pitch, too. As a kampung\tgirl born not too far from Pulau Ubin, every time I go back there, there is a certain sense of nostalgia, history and culture. Therefore, perhaps it is worthy to think about gazetting the place into a cultural heritage site, and giving it some resources so that some of the buildings, especially the old kampung\thouses, are not too rundown. After this particular generation of home owners, I am not sure whether there is a next generation that will be staying there. Perhaps, the Ministry can consider some of these suggestions.
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\tDr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: These are suggestions for the various agencies to consider.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Insolvency of Main Contractor for MRT Downtown Line","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"24 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Transport what are the expected implications regarding the schedule and cost of works of the Downtown Line arising from the insolvency of Alpine Bau GmbH who is the main contractor for three upcoming stations on that MRT line.
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Lui Tuck Yew): Mdm Speaker, I understand that Mr Christopher de Souza1 had also filed a similar question on this issue and so I hope that my answer would also help to shed some light on what is happening in your part of the constituency.
Alpine, which is the main civil contractor for two of the contracts on Downtown Line Stage 2 unexpectedly filed for insolvency on 19 June this year. The contracts are for the construction of King Albert Park, Sixth Avenue and Tan Kah Kee stations and they include the tunnels that connect these stations to Botanic Gardens.
Following Alpine's insolvency, LTA's immediate priority was to ensure the safety and security of the worksites and equipment. Partially completed structures were secured and specialists were called in to maintain the tunnel boring machines and the recharge wells. LTA worked with MOM to ensure that Alpine's workers were properly looked after. While all works on site have been suspended, LTA has appointed subcontractors to ensure safety on site and to carry out maintenance of the machines and recharge wells before new contractors are appointed.
Following this, LTA will need another few weeks to assess the full impact to the work schedule and cost implications. Unfortunately, given these circumstances, there will be a delay to the Downtown Line Stage 2 project timeline, as well as additional costs to be incurred to complete the outstanding works, as new contractors would need to be appointed. LTA will do everything possible to keep the delay to the minimum possible, but we will need some time to properly assess what this delay will entail and also the additional cost involved. In the meantime, let me assure Members that we would want to try to
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keep the completion of the Downtown Line project with as little delay as possible because this is, certainly, a key priority for the Ministry.
\tMs Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Thank you, Madam, two supplementary questions for the Minister. First, I understand that in some other countries like Norway where Alpine Bau has got some works, there is an option being explored about whether they could resume works even though they have filed for insolvency. Am I reading the Minister correctly that that option is not being pursued, in other words, the contracts with Alpine have been terminated by LTA?
And the second question is, since there is going to be additional costs incurred, is there any contractual provision by Alpine, for example, some performance bond or guarantee, where we could recoup back some of these additional costs for their non-performance?
\tMr Lui Tuck Yew: The Member is right that we have terminated their contracts. There is no option for them to come back nor do we believe that they have the ability to do so.
On the options available to us, we, of course, will file our claims with the insolvency administrator at the right moment. The due date is, I believe, in the middle of August. In the meantime, we hold quite a significant sum of money as a result of the performance bond, the retention sum and works that had been completed, but we have not yet been able to make payment to Alpine. So, we do have some money under LTA that rightfully would have belonged to Alpine if the project had been completed to our satisfaction.
\tMr Christopher de Souza: Madam, why I filed the question is because there are many schools involved. The three stations are Tan Kah Kee station, Sixth Avenue station and King Albert Park station. King Albert Park feeds MGS; Tan Kah Kee feeds NJC, Chinese High as well as Nanyang. My concern is the number of students and parents who would have relied or put in their plans, the fact that they could be sending their children to school via the MRT, and thereby alleviating the Bukit Timah corridor of traffic congestion. Therefore, it is an appeal, not only for the constituents but the parents of these students who live beyond the constituencies, for LTA to work with the alternative contractor to try to achieve a completion deadline on time. That is an assurance I hope to receive from the Minister.
\tMr Lui Tuck Yew: Certainly, I share those same concerns because my constituency is on the other side of the same road. So, believe me, I have great,
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great interest to make sure that any delay is kept to the minimum possible, because we know it affects the residents, we know it affects the students. We want to reinstate Bukit Timah and Dunearn Roads as quickly as possible. And therefore, LTA is looking at all means available to it to keep the disruption to the minimum and the delay to as short a time as possible.
Mdm Speaker: Order. End of Question Time.
[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3) Written Answers to Question Nos 25-27, 29, 34-35, 38 and 40-44 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix. Question Nos 28, 30-33, 36-37 and 39 have been postponed to the next available sitting of Parliament.]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["1 : \"Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Transport what steps have been taken to ensure the insolvency proceedings against Alpine Gmbh do not shift the construction completion timeline for the three affected MRT stations and the Downtown Line passing through them.\" for a sitting on or after 19 July 2013."],"footNoteQuestions":["24"],"questionNo":"24"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Adjournment","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"[(proc text) Resolved, \"That Parliament do now adjourn to a date to be fixed.\" – [Dr Ng Eng Hen]. (proc text)]
Adjourned accordingly at 4.00 pm
to a date to be fixed.
\tPage: 62
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Free Pre-Peak Hour Travel on MRT Trains","subTitle":"Considerations for free travel","sectionType":"WANA","content":"25 Mr R Dhinakaran asked the Minister for Transport what are the considerations which the Government has taken in deciding that morning pre-peak hour transport fares be made free.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: The one-year trial for free pre-peak travel aims to alleviate the morning peak hour crowding on the rail network on city-bound routes, which typically experience the highest level of crowding. A 10% to 20% shift should result in a more comfortable ride for commuters.
The trial was launched on 24 June 2013. The results in the first two weeks have been encouraging. On average, comparing the first two weeks' data with the exit patterns in May and June 2013 before the start of the trial, and making appropriate adjustments for overall ridership changes so that higher or lower ridership and seasonal effects are corrected, we are seeing about 6% to 7% decrease in exits for the peak period of 8.00 am to 9.00 am, and about 18% to 19% increase in exits for the pre-peak period of between 7.00 am and 8.00 am.
Another way to measure the effectiveness of the trial is how much we have been able to smoothen the morning peak in our rail network. Again, this will take time to fully study, but just based on the exit patterns of the past two weeks, we are seeing some smoothening. Prior to the trial, peak period exits for the one-hour period between 8.00 am and 9.00 am through the 16 city MRT stations was around 2.7 times that of the one-hour pre-peak period between 7.00 am and 8.00 am. The first two weeks of the trial has reduced this ratio to about 2.1 times.
Flexible work arrangements will help this initiative to succeed. The Public Service has implemented flexible working hours, which enables its staff to take advantage of the free pre-peak travel trial, and we are also working with several large private sector organisations to likewise offer flexible working arrangements. I would like to encourage more employers to adopt flexible work
\tPage: 63
arrangements.
Finally, let me put this free pre-peak travel trial in the context of all the other initiatives that we are undertaking to increase the capacity of our rail network and reduce train crowding. These include new rail lines, additional trains, and upgrading projects like re-signalling of the North-South and East-West Lines, all of which will be ready progressively in about two to three years' time. We are determined to do whatever it takes to reduce crowdedness on our rail network, both in the short term and the longer term.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Emergency Response to MRT Disruption along North East Line in June 2013","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"26 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Transport regarding the service disruption between Woodleigh and Punggol MRT stations of the North East Line on 19 June 2013 (a) whether the response to the incident by the public transport operator, SBS Transit, and Government agencies is adequate and meets the standards expected; and (b) whether the Government can be more proactive in assisting public transport operators to put in place effective incident management plans.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: LTA and SBS Transit (SBST) are still investigating the cause of the train fault that disrupted services on the North East Line on 19 June 2013.
Preliminary investigations show that when the train fault occurred at about 6.15 pm, SBST attempted to recover train operations by pushing the faulty train to Hougang station and allow passengers to alight there before withdrawing the train from service. This is the normal procedure, when the safety of passengers is not compromised and lighting and air-conditioning in the train are still functioning. Passengers will then avoid having to detrain in the tunnel and walk along the tracks to the nearest station. However, in this instance, the rescue train and the faulty train could not be coupled, and the push-out operation was not successful. SBST then decided to commence detrainment. Throughout the process, SBST staff were on hand to provide assistance to the detrained passengers.
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At the same time, SBST activated bus bridging services and allowed free boarding on regular bus services for commuters at other affected North East Line stations. Short loop train services were also maintained between HarbourFront and Woodleigh stations. At bus bridging points, LTA and Police officers were deployed for traffic and crowd control. SBST put up signages and made public announcements in trains and at stations to update commuters on the disruption and the alternate services available.
Nevertheless, as I had noted in my immediate response to the incident that evening, SBST's management of the incident could have been better. Many commuters have given feedback that more information could have been made available in a timely manner. Many affected commuters also had difficulty boarding buses at Woodleigh and Serangoon stations, due mainly to the heavy commuting traffic during the evening peak period which delayed bus arrivals.
I take a very serious view of how this incident was managed. When LTA put in place stricter requirements for incident response following the Committee of Inquiry's recommendations last year, the intent was to avoid subjecting passengers to great discomfort during train disruptions. In this incident, the required timing to commence detrainment was not met2. LTA is investigating the circumstances for the delay in detrainment, and will continue to work with both operators to improve incident management. Since last year, the public transport operators have refined their incident management plans and processes. LTA, in turn, has updated the Codes of Practices on incident management to include lessons learnt from past incidents, and conducts random surprise audits at train stations to ensure that operators are adequately prepared to deal with disruptions and are familiar with the execution of their incident management plans.
In addition, LTA regularly conducts table-top and ground deployment exercises with both operators to enhance their preparedness and capabilities in handling disruptions. LTA shares lessons learnt from these exercises as well as from past incidents and audits with both SMRT and SBST. I have emphasised to LTA that it must continue to work closely with them to continuously improve their incident management.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["2 : Under the revised Code of Practice for incident response following the Committee of Inquiry's recommendations last year, operators are required to commence detrainment within 30 minutes of a train being stalled, taking into account various considerations, such as the safety and health of passengers on board, whether in-train lighting and ventilation are properly functioning, and the time taken to move the stalled train to the nearest station for passengers to alight. For this 19 June NEL incident, SBST took more than 60 minutes to commence train-to-track detrainment at around 7.30 pm, from the time the train stalled in the tunnel at around 6.15 pm."],"footNoteQuestions":["26"],"questionNo":"26"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Benefits and Allowances for Non-Singaporean Academic Staff at Universities","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"27 Assoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Minister for Education (a) what are the basic benefits and allowances provided to only non-Singaporean faculty (whether on the tenure-track, tenured, or non-tenured track) in each of the Autonomous Universities (AUs) and Polytechnics; and (b) what is the cost of providing such benefits and allowances over the past decade in each of these AUs and Polytechnics.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: The total remuneration package for each faculty member is negotiated and decided separately, taking into account the competitive situation, the seniority and standing of the faculty member and the specific circumstances for the hire.
The specific amounts for housing and other allowances are not meaningful, as these are part of the total remuneration package. Many of the Autonomous Universities and Polytechnics grant relocation allowances and housing subsidies to non-Singaporean faculty and returning Singaporean faculty alike, although the exact terms differ across institutions. Non-Singaporean faculty are typically granted a gratuity payment, in lieu of Central Provident Fund contributions, which is payable for Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents. Some institutions grant children education allowances to non-Singaporean faculty to take into account the fact that school fees for non-Singaporean children are higher than that for Singaporean children in Singapore. These measures have been put in place to meet the different needs when hiring faculty.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Use of Past Reserves since 2002","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"29 Mrs Lina Chiam asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance in light of a 2011 media report that past reserves have been used 27 times for Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) projects since 2002, how many times have the past reserves been used for all purposes since 2002.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: I thank Mrs Lina Chiam for her question in which she referred to a Straits Times interview with former President S R Nathan in August 2011. The article mentioned that Past Reserves had been used to fund land reclamation projects and land acquisition for the Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) since 2001 and 2002 respectively. She has asked how many times the Past Reserves have been used for all purposes since 2002.
Past Reserves refer to the reserves accumulated during previous terms of Government. There are several ways that Past Reserves are used.
First, the Constitution provides for the Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC) spending framework. This enables the Government to tap the investment returns on Past Reserves in a disciplined and sustainable manner. The NIRC benefits Singaporeans substantially each year. It contributes almost $8 billion to the FY2013 Budget.
Second, Past Reserves have been used to fund land-related projects, such as reclamation, the creation of underground space and land acquisition projects like SERS. This is, in essence, a conversion of Past Reserves from one form (financial assets) to another (state land), rather than a drawdown of Past Reserves. The land and space that is created or acquired forms part of our state land holdings and is, hence, protected as Past Reserves. The use of Past Reserves to fund these land-related projects follows principles agreed to between the Government and the President. Further, when such land or space is subsequently sold, the proceeds accrue fully to Past Reserves.
Since 2002, Past Reserves have funded 23 projects that create new land by reclamation from the sea or new usable space underground like the Jurong Rock cavern. The land and space that is created forms part of our land holdings and, hence, part of the Past Reserves.
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Past Reserves have also been used to fund the land acquisition costs of projects like SERS which seek to enhance the value of the existing land. To reiterate, the acquired land forms part of Past Reserves and the land value is enhanced with the more intensive redevelopment. Since 2002, the Past Reserves have funded 32 such projects.
There is a third use of Past Reserves, reserved for exceptional circumstances. With the approval of Parliament and the President, Past Reserves may be drawn down to deal with extraordinary crises. Members would recall that the Government had obtained the President's approval to draw up to S$4.9 billion from Past Reserves to fund the Jobs Credit Scheme and the Special Risk-Sharing Initiative in January 2009, at a critical time in the global economic crisis.
The use of Past Reserves for spending in such exceptional circumstances may result in an actual drawdown of Past Reserves, unlike its use for land projects as I have described. However, Members would also recall that in this recent episode, the Government decided in February 2011 to put back the full amount that it had drawn down from the Past Reserves, after the economy had recovered from the recession.
In conclusion, our Past Reserves form a critical part of our nation's resources. Any usage of Past Reserves is done in a disciplined and sustainable manner. An actual draw on Past Reserves, as was done in 2009, can only be contemplated in extraordinary circumstances and with the approval of Parliament and the President.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Lifting Participation Rates in Arts Courses at Grassroots Organisations","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"34 Ms Janice Koh asked the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth given that in 2012, drama-related courses constitute only 1% of the total performing arts courses conducted at community clubs and residents' participation in drama formed less than 2% of the total number of residents who took part in performing arts courses, whether there are plans to address this gap in provision and to boost participation rates in this area.
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Mr Lawrence Wong: In 2012, a total of more than 200 drama courses were conducted in the Community Clubs. Beyond the \tCommunity Clubs, our libraries and the Esplanade also present drama-related workshops.
To cultivate more interest in drama, we have integrated theatre-related activities and workshops into our community events. For example, during the recently-concluded PAssionArts month, residents had the chance to work with drama artists and arts groups. A total of 30 theatre programmes and workshops were conducted for the community. These gave the residents the opportunity to tell their personal stories through drama, and co-create drama works under the guidance of theatre professionals. Residents can also join theatre interest groups at their local \tCommunity Clubs. Some examples include \"Ageless Theatre\", a theatre interest group for seniors based at Marine Parade \tCommunity Club; and \"Yellow Chair Productions\", a community theatre group based at Tampines Central \tCommunity Club.
Theatre groups supported by the National Arts Council, such as The Necessary Stage (TNS), also actively engage the community through a variety of drama-related programmes. For example, under its Theatre for Seniors (TFS) programme, TNS trains senior citizens in the basics of theatre, and provides them with opportunities to participate in public performances. To reach out to youths, TNS also offers arts education workshops in areas, such as playwriting, acting and drama tasters.
Cultivating interest in drama involves a partnership between the Government, artists and the community. My Ministry and our agencies will continue to provide opportunities for artists and theatre groups to engage the community through drama-related activities and programmes.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Financial Literacy among Elderly Singaporeans","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"35 Ms Tan Su Shan asked the Prime Minister (a) if he will give an update on the financial literacy levels amongst the elderly since the introduction of MoneySENSE; and (b) how successful is the Mental Capacity Act in protecting the elderly who lack the ability to make the right financial decision for themselves.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): The last national-scale financial literacy survey was conducted in 2005. Retirees and
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those soon to retire, or pre-retirees, were found to have some good basic money management habits and had taken some basic steps in retirement planning. However, as with the working population, they were not very knowledgeable about features of common financial products. Pre-retirees, generally, had not planned how to use their CPF savings during retirement but were keen to learn more about retirement planning.
In response to the findings, MoneySENSE has worked with partners, such as CPF, Council for Third Age (C3A) and industry associations, to make available educational guides and talks for seniors on investing, retirement planning, stretching the dollar during retirement and estate planning.
We will continue to do so. A National Financial Literacy Survey will be conducted shortly which will provide an updated picture of the financial education needs of different population segments, including the elderly. The findings should be ready in Q4 of this year.
Ms Tan also asked about the Mental Capacity Act and how successful it has been in protecting the elderly who are unable to make their own financial decisions. Since the Act's provisions came into force in 2010, more than 4,000 applications have been made to appoint a Lasting Power of Attorney, in other words, a decision-maker on financial matters for persons who no longer have mental capacity. About 70% of these Lasting Powers of Attorney were made by persons older than 55 years.
Under the Act, the Public Guardian also has powers to supervise the Court-appointed decision-makers, and deal with any complaints on how the nominated and Court-appointed decision-makers are exercising their powers. Based on annual reporting, the majority of Court-appointed decision-makers are discharging their responsibilities. Only a very small number needs closer monitoring.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Investigations into Claims of Police Brutality for Bus Drivers on Strike","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"38 Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs if he will give an update on the investigations into claims by
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former SMRT bus drivers of police brutality.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: The Police Internal Affairs Office (IAO) has completed its investigation into allegations by former SMRT bus drivers He Jun Ling (He) and Liu Xiangying (Liu) that they were abused by Police officers in the course of investigations, in relation to the illegal strike by SMRT drivers. He and Liu had instigated other SMRT drivers to take part in an illegal strike in November last year. The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has independently reviewed the case and concurred with the IAO's findings that the allegations were baseless.
These allegations were made in two video clips shot and uploaded online by Ms Lee Seng Lynn under the heading \"I Have Ways to Make You Confess\". The videos were posted on Ms Lee's website \"Lianain Films\" on 28 January 2013, two months after He and Liu were arrested for their involvement in the illegal strike. The next day (29 January 2013), several civil society groups and individuals released a joint statement calling for an independent inquiry into He and Liu's allegations.
Prior to the videos, neither He nor Liu made any allegations of physical abuse during Police investigations even though they had every opportunity to do so. They could have raised the issue at any time while they were in Police lock-up, when they appeared in court on 29 November 2012 to be charged, or after they were released on bail on 6 December 2012. He was examined by a doctor on 4 December 2012 for gastric pain, less than a week after the alleged incidents, but did not tell the doctor of the alleged abuse. Neither He nor Liu nor their lawyers raised the allegations in court on 19 December 2012. The Police also did not receive any complaints from the Chinese Embassy in relation to the two men's allegations of abuse.
Even after the videos were released, neither He and Liu nor their lawyers reported the allegations to the authorities. Their lawyers would have known that the proper procedure was for them to raise the matter in court, or to file a formal complaint with the Police. After repeated attempts by the Police for He and Liu to be interviewed and give their statements, the IAO was finally able to record statements from He and Liu on the alleged abuse on 15 February 2013, in the presence of their lawyers. Their statements gave details of the alleged abuse, but were found by the IAO to be inconsistent. Subsequently, in further statements recorded on 27 February 2013 and 20 March 2013, both He and Liu retracted their allegations of abuse.
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During its investigations, the IAO interviewed a total of 10 persons, including six Police officers involved in the complaint. After thorough investigations, the IAO concluded that the allegations were not substantiated. The AGC agreed with this assessment.
We take allegations of Police abuse very seriously, especially when they are formally lodged, and investigate them thoroughly. Where there is wrong-doing, the officers will be dealt with. This is essential to maintain professionalism, public trust and confidence in the Police. However, we should also stand up for our officers when individuals or groups who break our laws or condone illegal actions, make baseless, false allegations against them. Our officers carry out their duties to keep us safe and secure, often in difficult and trying circumstances. The investigations have vindicated the officers in this case and protected their reputations.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Bukit Brown Cemetery as a UNESCO Heritage Site","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"40 Ms Janice Koh asked the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether the Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery meets the \"Outstanding Universal Values\" criteria to qualify as a UNESCO World Heritage site; (b) whether the Government will conduct a study to ascertain if the Bukit Brown cemetery meets these criteria; and (c) whether the Government will consider gazetting a portion of the Bukit Brown cemetery that is not designated for future residential development.
Mr Lawrence Wong: We recognise that there is heritage value in the Bukit Brown municipal cemetery. This is why Government agencies, including the National Heritage Board (NHB), have been working with experts and stakeholders on various efforts to document and commemorate the memories of Bukit Brown for future generations. NHB is also studying how the heritage of Bukit Brown can be preserved, taking into account future development plans for the area.
Not all sites with local heritage value will qualify as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The standards required by UNESCO are very stringent, especially to meet the criteria of \"outstanding universal value\". This was why when the Ministry first explored the possibility of a UNESCO listing, it had engaged a technical expert to do a thorough and in-depth assessment to determine the
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site with the best chance of meeting the UNESCO criteria. As part of this process, we had done a consultation on possible sites that could be put up for the UNESCO bid. At that time, none of our stakeholders had surfaced the Bukit Brown cemetery as a candidate for consideration.
As I had mentioned previously in Parliament, having worked through an extensive process of identifying the Singapore Botanic Gardens as our first nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage Site, our efforts are now focused on this bid. This will also give us an opportunity to better understand UNESCO's requirements and processes, before exploring other possibilities in the future.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Implementation of Cultural Donation Matching Fund","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"41 Ms Janice Koh asked the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) if he will provide an update on the implementation of the Cultural Donation Matching Fund; (b) what can be done to ensure that the Fund attracts new cash sponsorships rather than replacing existing sponsorships; (c) whether the matching funds will be subject to the same funding guidelines as those of the National Arts Council for arts groups and, if so, why; and (d) whether the Fund will recognise donations made from 1 April 2013 onwards.
Mr Lawrence Wong: MCCY has been actively consulting our stakeholders on the design of the Cultural Donation Matching Fund. We have met many arts groups and donors in the last few months. We also launched an online public consultation exercise in April, and have just posted a summary of the responses on the MCCY website.
The Matching Fund is a strong signal of the shared responsibility between the Government, private and people sectors in driving Singapore's cultural development. This signalling effect can and should encourage more new donations. Indeed, many people we engaged, including potential donors, were optimistic about the positive impact that the Matching Fund will have on new donations to the arts and culture. Arts groups have also told us that the Matching Fund will create opportunities for them tap new sources of giving. In fact, they see it as their responsibility to make this happen.
The Matching Fund will have its own funding guidelines to ensure proper governance and accountability in the use of public monies. In working out these
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guidelines, we will take reference from existing funding guidelines that are already in place today, including those of the National Arts Council.
When we announced the Matching Fund in the Budget this year, we made clear that we would engage in a process of consultation to work out the details of the scheme over the subsequent months. So far, we have kept to this timeline and we are on track. In our consultations, the vast majority were also comfortable with this timeline. So, we aim to finalise the scheme within the coming months and there should not be a need to backdate it to 1 April 2013.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Incidence of Hit-and-Run Accidents","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"42 Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs over the past five years (a) how many hit-and-run accidents have been recorded; (b) whether there is a rising trend in such accidents; (c) how many of such incidents involve large vehicles; and (d) what measures are put in place to encourage hit-and-stay and discourage hit-and-run behaviours.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: The number of hit-and-run accidents each year has declined by 60% since 2008 (from 330 in 2008 to 133 in 2012). In the last three years, between 2010 and 2012, about four (or 2.6%) of such accidents each year involved heavy vehicles.
All motorists must stop when they are involved in an accident. It is irresponsible and unlawful to flee from an accident scene. The Traffic Police takes a tough stance against such motorists, especially where injury has been caused in the accident. Any delay in rendering aid to the victim can mean a difference between life and death. Severe penalties are meted out to hit-and-run offenders to deter motorists from fleeing after getting into accidents.
The driving licence of a hit-and-run motorist can be suspended pending court prosecution. Upon conviction, the offender can be fined up to $3,000 or to imprisonment for up to a year. In addition, the offender will be disqualified from driving for at least a year. This means that he will have to re-take the driving tests to obtain a new licence if he wishes to continue driving after the disqualification period. These penalties are in addition to the punishment meted out for the principal charges under the Penal Code for causing death or hurt in
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the accident.
The Traffic Police will continue its education, engagement and enforcement efforts to ensure road users abide by traffic rules. At the same time, we urge all road users to exercise care and consideration, and motorists to stop to provide assistance if they are involved in an accident. They should also call for medical help where this is necessary. All motorists are required to inform the Police as soon as possible if injury or serious damage to property is caused.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Punishment for Conmen Passing off as HDB Contractors","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"43 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs with recent reports of elderly residents falling prey to bogus HDB contractors (a) what is the current maximum penalty for such an offence; (b) whether they can also be prosecuted on the grounds of cheating by impersonation under the Penal Code; and (c) whether the Ministry will review the penalties for such offences to impose heavier punishment as a form of deterrence.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: The specific offence that a bogus HDB contractor who preys on unsuspecting residents may face would depend on the facts and circumstances of the case. If he is charged under section 419 of the Penal Code for cheating by personation, he can be sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years, a fine or both.
The number of bogus contractor cases reported to the Police each year accounts for less than 1% of the overall cheating and theft in dwelling cases. Police's view is that the current penalties are adequate to deter would-be perpetrators and punish those who have committed offences under the guise of bogus contractors.
Aside from detection by the Police, we also urge the public not to allow anyone claiming to be a repairman or contractor to enter your house without verifying his identity. If in doubt, verify his identity with his company, or contact your family members or the Police for assistance. The public can help by keeping a lookout and reporting such dubious activities in their neighbourhood. Local community leaders can also reach out and educate elderly persons who are staying alone as they can be vulnerable to such crimes.
\tPage: 75
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Average Waiting Time for Foreign Spouses for Citizenship","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"44 Mr R Dhinakaran asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs for the 70,600 foreign spouses granted citizenship as at 31 December 2012, what is the average time they spent waiting for their applications to be successful.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: The foreign spouses granted Singapore citizenship (SC) under the Family Ties Scheme were typically Permanent Residents (PRs) for about five years before they took up citizenship.
The vast majority, 95% of them, had their SC applications approved within 12 months of submitting their applications.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Request for Public Bus Service Plying between Potong Pasir and Orchard Road","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"1 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Transport whether there can be a public bus service that plies directly from Potong Pasir to Orchard Road and vice versa.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: When planning bus routes, while LTA tries to ensure comprehensive connectivity, it has to balance this with the limited resources available and, hence, not all requests for bus services can be met.
As for the Member's specific request, part of Potong Pasir Estate is within walking distance of Potong Pasir MRT station on the North East Line, which provides Potong Pasir residents a direct connection to Orchard Road at Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. Service 142 connects residents to Potong Pasir MRT station as well as to Toa Payoh MRT station on the North-South Line, which is just three stops away from Orchard MRT station. In addition, multiple bus services on Upper Serangoon Road provide direct links to the city. Given these existing connections, there are currently no plans for a new direct bus service between Potong Pasir and Orchard Road.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null}],"writtenAnswersVOList":[],"writtenAnsNAVOList":[],"annexureList":[{"annexureID":561,"sittingDate":null,"annexureTitle":"Annex 1","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20130709/annex-Notice Paper on Guillotine Times.pdf","fileName":"Notice Paper on Guillotine Times.pdf","sectionType":"OA","file":null}],"vernacularList":[],"onlinePDFFileName":""}