[(proc text) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [4th Allotted Day]. (proc text)]
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
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As the largest buyer of goods and services in the market, the Government has significant market influence to shape enterprise behaviour and, through its procurement practices, incentivise businesses to draw on their research and innovative capabilities in coming up with solutions to public sector problems.
There is scope to enhance our procurement practices towards promoting innovation among our small and medium enterprises (SMEs) while, at the same time, delivering value for money for the public sector.
As a start, the public sector could earmark a portion of the public sector tenders specifically to promote and encourage innovation and creativity. I suggest that the Government establish a new \"buy innovation\" procurement framework where innovative solutions are being sought for public sector problems. This could be a new category of tenders carved out for projects where the public sector agencies intend to co-create solutions with SMEs.
In such tenders, the procurement of innovations is better achieved by specifying the public sector problems to be solved rather than by prescribing the solution and the work to be done, which is the usual approach.
Mdm Chair, at the Public Service level, our procurement rules and instruction manuals may also need to be reviewed and updated to cater to a more entrepreneurial and innovative society to come. We need to allow for sufficient discretion at the operating level for bite-size public sector projects to be awarded to small businesses which may be early movers or who are proactive in coming up with innovative solutions that the public agencies are looking for. Subjecting every proposal to an open tender would be the surest way to kill off initiative and creativity among the small businesses, and some could be start-ups.
Understandably, there is a need to devise new and alternative governance safeguards other than just making every tenderer compete on prices in the name of transparency and fairness.
Getting the best price tender may not necessarily bring out the most creative and innovative solution which serve the long-term needs of the public sector. The cumulative solution may not be a more sustainable solution.
In the private sector, awarding contracts on the basis of ideas and innovation by large companies to small firms are already prevalent. Many developed countries' public sectors do have tailor-made procurement practices too that promote innovations and co-creations.
We can take a leaf from the United Kingdom (UK). To help SMEs develop innovative solutions to public sector challenges, the UK government established the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) specifically to help small companies compete for government projects. SBRI helps to connect small businesses to government departments which have public sector problems and assist small businesses come up with innovative solutions and ideas. This scheme even helps with bridge financing and, in cases of new invention, to safeguard the intellectual property.
In Singapore, we do have a similar scheme known as Public-Private Co-Innovation Partnership (CI Partnership), which is the platform for Government departments and local companies to co-develop innovative solutions to meet the Government's needs. However, upon deeper study into the details on the CI Partnership website, it seems that this scheme has turned dormant. Despite being a $450-million scheme, only 28 projects were put up since 2011, with no mention of any take up. One of the criteria mentioned was that during the commercialisation phase, the agency may need to call for an open tender to procure the innovative product or service.
Mdm Chair, this is a good initiative, notwithstanding the poor take-up rate. It is probably ahead of its time. But now, with greater emphasis on working closely with businesses and to foster innovation, the Government should give this scheme another boost and fine tune the criteria and KPIs to be more innovation friendly.
Given the call in the Budget Statement for the Government to better partner industry and innovators, can the Minister share how the Government intends to co-create solutions with businesses and the public? What can the Government do to help smaller firms better access Government procurement opportunities and to build a track record for their overseas expansion?
Cumbersome procurement processes and irrelevant qualifying criteria, such as how big the company is and the number of years in operation, have deterred many SMEs, especially the start-ups, from supplying solutions to the Government where innovative and creative procurement is concerned.
We should introduce greater flexibilities in the way the Government sector procures goods and services, including looking at non-traditional safeguards to ensure value for money.
Developing a more SME-friendly procurement process will allow SMEs the opportunities to harness their creativity and capabilities, yet result in higher competition on ideas and solutions, leading to better value for money for the public sector agencies. This is a win-win for the Government and businesses.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Chen Show Mao (Aljunied): Madam, I would like to call on the Government to look into encouraging the increased use of price-adjustment or escalation clauses in Government procurement. These clauses provide that should some key costs in Government contracts rise significantly from the time of tender to the time of performance or over a long period of performance, then the contract price will escalate in accordance with some pre-agreed formula, typically with reference to an index. This would protect the contractor from having to assume the risk of sharp increases in key costs. This will also benefit the Government in that their contractors will be under less pressure to over-budget when they bid for a contract and build into their bids their estimates for future cost increases.
Escalation clauses need not be used only to protect the contractors when the costs go up. They can also be used to favour the Government when key costs drop, say, commodity or oil prices. They can provide that in such cases, the contract price to be paid by the Government will decrease accordingly.
In this way, escalation clauses remove some financial risks for Government contractors and may enable or allow SMEs to punch above their weight in more public tenders. To me, this would be in keeping with the spirit of this year's Budget, in the various forms of financing and tax incentives proposed to support the scale-ups of our SMEs.
The Chairman: Mr Yee Chia Hsing; not here. Miss Cheryl Chan, you have two cuts. Take them together, please.
Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling (Fengshan): Thank you, Mdm Chair. After 50 years of good progress, it is timely for us, as a nation, to reflect and begin charting new directions together to scale new heights for the next 50 years and more.
As the Minister for Finance calls for better partnership with industry and our people, what areas can we look at to co-create solutions? Here are some areas that may be worth considering. Let us start from the ideation process. With many sectors in the broad-based industry, each sector has its unique characteristics and needs. To enhance and find areas of synergy, it is pertinent for the different sectors to provide insights and champion ideas that they believe would put our industries on a better footing on the global stage.
The Ministry should provide platforms for such collective ideas to take shape. Each sector should allow natural champions in leading their own industry to define the framework and seek support in areas of assistance required to differentiate themselves as a business or as a Singapore brand.
For community leaders, we need flexibility in defining guidelines and, during its implementation, to encourage co-ownership and innovation with local adaptation of ground-up initiatives to suit their needs. This is a culture that we seek to foster with both our industries and our people. Reduce top-down directive that is, in return, strengthened by our social recognition of what we define together as a community.
Next, to create enhanced support with a planned roadmap for these outfits. Take, for example, our social enterprises that have emerged over the years. Many have embarked on the path due to their passion and belief to support specific causes.
However, many have closed down over time from an inability to sustain due to funding or other reasons. The Government should consider having the public sector outsource some of their functions in support of these organisations. This way, it allows the enterprises to harness resources and leverage capabilities to sustain or learn best practices.
Lastly, in all solutions initiated, it is critical to have a closed loop to improve the feedback channel and finetune the system instead of adding more features continuously which, invariably, result in some complexity and redundancies.
As the world transforms, so must we, to keep pace and remain relevant with the global environment, digitalisation being one of the ways forward as there are known benefits.
I would like to ask the Ministry, as we introduce more of such programmes, how can we ensure that all Singaporeans, including seniors and those without prior knowledge, will not be left out of the journey? And a clarification whether the Ministry has done anything to advance the use of e-payment.
Before we move full swing to introduce services, there are a few aspects that are necessary to be deliberated. First, sufficient effort must be made for different groups of participants, be they businesses, citizens, voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) and so on, to understand the significance and tangible benefits of such implementation rather than viewing the process as yet another target.
The initial process may be long, but these efforts are necessary, without which, any momentum in the transformation would be painfully slow and is likely to achieve a lower success rate. It may also cost us more since additional resources have to be injected at a later stage because it is more of a \"push\" than a \"pull\" process.
Assurance is also necessary that the push for such electronic service delivery within Government agencies does not result in lesser clarity of ownership on the issues or become a revolving door.
Second, how does digitalisation change our behaviour towards the auditing, security and data protection processes in organisations? As it stands, many organisations already have different forms of operating systems and databases that they use to handle the operational tasks. However, the regular audit process still requires massive amounts of manual backend paperwork, filing and keeping of records in order for all these audits to take place.
The question remains if the methods of handling audits are contradictory to the digitalisation efforts, while remaining a necessary and critical check of any organisation.
Third, the resistance to change will set in when users contemplate that they have to input similar data repetitively into different Government agencies. So, I would encourage the Government to create a unified base system structure where existing data can be shared across the different agencies. Time and cost on both parties would be alleviated when fewer processes are reinvented and streamlined.
And of course, the most critical link is the need for inclusiveness when systems and processes are designed because the ability of the different groups to adapt will vary in society. As we progress, we must not forget there are those who lack resources to keep pace.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong (Non-Constituency Member): Mdm Chair, more than 200,000 people are estimated to be providing regular care to family and friends in Singapore. This number is expected to rise as the number of elderly would more than double by 2030.
A Duke-NUS Medical School survey found that fewer than 5% of caregivers interviewed used individual support services, such as home nursing and respite care programmes. Care-givers are becoming a vulnerable group themselves while they care for their vulnerable loved ones. They face emotional stress, lack of social support and immediate and long-term financial burdens. This is worse for specialised caregivers who have to care for loved ones with specific illnesses, for example, caregivers for elderly with dementia, caregivers of people with mental illness and parents of children with special needs.
I understand that some of these specialised caregivers will qualify for tax reliefs, such as Handicapped Parent Relief or the Grandparent Care-giver Relief. However, tax reliefs are only meaningful for working Singaporeans with large enough incomes to pay taxes. Many specialised caregivers either cannot work or work part-time due to the nature of the specialised caregiving.
I also understand that some Government subsidies are available at the point of service, for example, for the Singapore Programme for Integrated Care for the Elderly (SPICE) and also the Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) grant. However, there are also specialised caregivers who feel that taking care of the dependants personally is the best care that they can give them.
I ask that the Minister consider giving means-tested refundable tax credits for specialised caregivers, meaning that some of these caregivers who do not work or work part-time would get the cash refund, a portion of which would go into their Central Provident Fund (CPF). This will lessen their financial burdens, improve their retirement adequacy, give them flexibility to use Government aid and empower them to seek individual support services for a better quality of life for themselves and their loved ones.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai (Marine Parade): Mdm Chair, income redistribution and social transfers have played an increasing role in our fiscal system for some years now. This year has not been any different.
We are a country with limited resources, and we cannot afford to be like some of the countries in the western world which spend a large proportion of their national budgets and gross domestic product (GDP) on welfare schemes. It is, therefore, necessary for us to strike a right balance in how we allocate our resources for these schemes that we put in place. There are a few basic issues here.
First is the philosophy that the less privileged should receive more. There cannot be any real disagreement there.
The second issue, however, is much harder – how do we determine who the less privileged are, and should there be a scale to distinguish them and, hence, how much assistance they receive? This issue undergirds the importance of means testing, which is the basis on which our resources for transfers are allocated.
Over the years, Singapore has enacted a wide range of welfare schemes that seek to benefit many low-income families and they are targeted at the vulnerable groups. These include system schemes such as Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), ComCare, the Silver Support Scheme, the Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) for education bursaries, and so on.
Currently, a majority of these schemes assess eligibility based on three broad key factors and these are: household income, per capita income and home annual value (AV). For example, in healthcare, the MediShield Life scheme, which provides medical coverage for all Singaporeans and Permanent Residents, tiers its premium subsidies solely based on home AV and monthly household income.
CHAS adopts the same criteria. The MediSave Top-Up scheme also looks at the home AV. PSEA, which is the entitlement for all post-secondary school education students, likewise, does the same, as does the CDAC top-up. I would suggest, Mdm Chair, that the factors which go into the means testing criteria be reviewed.
For instance, the emphasis on AV is perhaps something of a misnomer in the context of means testing. As a result of this, a number of people who need assistance could well fall through the cracks. And let me elaborate a little on this point.
There are families who live in private estates, but who may have little or no regular income to get by on. Many of them are likely to be elderly; they have inherited their homes or acquired it many years ago and have lived in this home all their lives. They may live in a property which has good AV, but they are cash poor. But we tell them that because of their home AV, they will fail to qualify for many of the social schemes which they might need. To this group of people, AV is indeed something of a misnomer.
It is really no answer to tell these people that they should sell their home, their property, relocate and live off the remaining proceeds of the sale. We would only be dislocating many of them from their homes; the environment they have grown comfortable with and this would directly, in my view, undermine efforts at fostering the social fabric within our communities we have strived so hard to build.
Another quibble I have with the present system is that the means test merely uses the home address on the National Registration Identity Card (NRIC). It does not matter to the means tester whether the individual owns the property or not, whether he or she is renting or not, or could even be only temporarily living there on the goodwill of a friend or a family member. The moment there is a private residential address, the means test criteria look immediately at the AV, regardless.
But is this right? Because these factors, such as whether they actually own it or are just living there temporarily while they find their own feet and gain financial independence, do matter, and they might tell us a very different story of the financial sufficiency of the individual concerned.
Finally, whilst income per capita is a useful gauge of a family's financial status, it fails to take into account other tiers of factors, such as factors which may significantly affect a family's cost of living, for example, dependants who are elderly, suffer from serious illnesses which need medical care or who have special needs in their families.
I, therefore, believe, Madam, that we need to look at refining the criteria for some of our social transfer schemes. Whilst current measures do provide a decent gauge of a household's or individuals' financial needs, I think more granulation needs to be undertaken. Could the Minister consider a revision of the means testing criteria to incorporate a matrix of factors with the following in mind?
First, consider home ownership rather than just home residency.
Second, go beyond mere household type, in particular, for the Silver Support Scheme. It has already been mentioned in this House that the current criteria need to be revised because indicators, such as household type alone, are not reflective of income and wealth, and I agree. Additionally, these factors need to take into account needs-based wants, such as the existence of permanent and also severe illnesses, which are factors that are, more often than not, present among our elderly.
Third, have a deeper inquiry into income status and also consider special cases where, despite having a good annual or per capita income, the family unit could be facing significant financial strains.
Fourth, consider the annual income over a longer span of time, say, three to five years, rather than just the preceding year.
Fifth, incorporate other needs-based eligibility factors. For example, where members of the family could be unemployed due to temporary sickness, disability, or where a family is headed by a lone parent of young children. In fact, some of these factors that I have mentioned have been borrowed from some of the factors that I have seen used by the UK government, in relation to how they qualify their citizens for support.
So, with that, I urge this House and the Minister to consider reviewing the means so that the means tested criteria are fairer and they allow for a bigger span and better allocation of our resources so that our Budgets can be maximised and our resources directly applied specifically to those who need them more.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mdm Chairman, Singapore is ranked first in the World Bank Group's index on the ease of doing business. Yet, among SMEs, compliance costs remain a significant burden on profit margins. Can the Minister update on the Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) plans to reduce the compliance burdens on businesses?
Among some of the biggest compliance burdens that companies face is the necessity of computing detailed records of inputs and outputs to qualify for grants. I have encountered business owners who complained of their grant applications being rejected multiple times due to submission of inadequate information. Sometimes, outputs are intangible and the applicant is unsure of how to put these into measurable amounts. These could lead to significant losses when the applications fail to get approved in time for the deadline of that particular financial year. Sometimes, businesses which cannot cope with the necessary administrative work will have to hire someone to handle the administrative work and that adds to significant compliance costs.
On top of that, SMEs may overlook regulatory and compliance requirements, and this can lead to even higher costs to the business when it is subject to penalties for defaulting on payments. More outreach and handholding must be done to ensure that SMEs practise voluntary compliance. SMEs should run through their business model with an appropriate professional, trained in legal matters to aid them in understanding and planning for regulatory and compliance requirements. Perhaps MOF might also want to look into setting up a consultation unit to help SMEs in this area in their first year of business operations and also when policies are updated.
Ms Sun Xueling (Pasir Ris-Punggol): One of the key thrusts of the Smart Nation programme is to harness info communications technology (ICT) networks and data to support better living, create more opportunities and enable stronger communities. Networks of sensors and smart devices will enable better collection of data and the creation of user-specific solutions that will enable more targeted and efficient service delivery of Government services to citizens and businesses.
While the greater use of data and technology can increase the efficiency of service delivery, how do we maintain a human touch in the process, especially if there are outlier cases? And how do we ensure that the needs of the elderly or the less Internet-savvy can continue to be met? And while technology allows our communities to connect to one another more easily and intensely, how do we guard against domination of data share by vocal groups and continue to deliver solutions that are beneficial to the majority of our citizens and businesses?
Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): Mdm Chair, many public transactions are now online, such as for Singpass and e-Government websites. Yet, a number of Pioneer Generation Singaporeans do not have a computer at home or a handphone. Some are not computer literate, and residents with mobility needs can find it difficult to go to the nearest community centre or shared computer facility.
As we move towards a Smart Nation, we must ensure that we are a Smart Inclusive Nation, where no Singaporean is left behind because they lack a computer, lack computer knowledge or lack access to a shared computer facility.
Our digital journey must empower all Singaporeans and not become a regressive situation where the less advantaged and those with disabilities are unable to access digital services.
Ms K Thanaletchimi (Nominated Member): Mdm Chair, with the looming economy, the middle-class earners may face the brunt of stagnating income growth, increased expenditure, possibly with the tax burden and also the possibility of not having a job secured.
I would like the Government and the Minister to also look into the plight of the middle-income earners, especially those with families. More often than not, they are sandwiched as they do not enjoy the benefits given to low-wage workers and neither do they have the high disposable income like those high up in the pyramid.
In Singapore, we all agree that the best security is job security and the best way to ensure employability is by staying relevant in the same industry through upskilling or in a different industry through reskilling. With SkillsFuture, can we push SMEs and larger companies to adopt the apprenticeship scheme or Place-and-Train scheme more pervasively like it was in the past?
The apprenticeship scheme should be age-blind or age-neutral, so that those inclined to take up the scheme with wage support assistance from the Government could benefit. This would allow the middle-income earners to stand a chance or career surf.
The Chairman: Senior Minister of State Indranee Rajah.
The Senior Minister of State for Finance (Ms Indranee Rajah): Mdm Chairman, I thank the hon Members for their thoughtful comments. I will address three broad themes that were raised in the debate: first, how the Government can partner industry to facilitate innovation and growth through our procurement processes. Members spoke about support for innovative SMEs, co-creation of solutions and helping smaller firms access Government procurement opportunities; second, principles underlying our procurement approach; and third, improving the ease of doing business and reducing compliance burdens. Senior Minister of State Sim Ann will address the other cuts.
We share Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Miss Cheryl Chan's views that Government agencies should be open to developing innovative solutions together with the private sector. The world today is becoming increasingly complex and the multi-faceted issues we face require us to work in partnership with one another, each playing our part. And this is the spirit of partnership underlying this year's Budget.
Government agencies are crowdsourcing ideas more, and involving communities and businesses in problem solving through hackathons and innovation challenges where individuals and firms can participate in developing and co-creating innovative solutions to challenges faced by businesses or the society.
So, in the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore’s (IDA) Hackathon@SG last year, Goji, the winning team, developed a data visualisation tool which allows corporate and financial data from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) to be easily and quickly viewed. This can potentially be developed further for credit risk analysis. ACRA is working with the team to explore how we can implement the idea.
Another example is the recently deployed Volunteer Broadcast System mobile app for Food from the Heart. Many are familiar with Food from the Heart, a non-profit organisation whose volunteers collect unsold bread from bakeries and hotels daily and deliver it to welfare organisations and self-collection centres within the heartlands for distribution to beneficiaries.
Previously, volunteers had to call in to the coordinating centre to plan their delivery routes. The centre staff had to manually search and suggest delivery routes for the volunteers. To get replacement volunteers, the centre had to call volunteers individually, a manually intensive task.
At a GeoHackathon event organised by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs), one of the winning ideas was an app that used SLA's geospatial data to update the organisation and its volunteers on real-time collection and delivery information. With the app, volunteers can quickly identify which collection or distribution point has not been visited and select their routes, without having to call the centre. What used to take 30 minutes to find a volunteer replacement is now just a \"click away\" and this has significantly improved productivity for both the centre and the volunteers.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa will be pleased to know that as we promote the generation of new ideas, we also seek to adopt more flexible procurement processes, where practicable, to facilitate the adoption of innovative solutions. Under the outcome-based procurement approach, we encourage Government agencies to specify desired outcomes rather than prescribe solutions in their tenders. This approach allows vendors to propose innovative solutions to develop prototypes and potentially be awarded the contract subsequently.
A good example is IDA and the Sentosa Development Corporation's (SDC) recent Integrated Guest Experience Innovation Challenge, an open invitation for participants to develop ideas to enhance guest experience for visitors to Sentosa. Proposed ideas included innovative solutions involving data analytics, wearable devices, virtual assistants and augmented reality.
SDC is currently exploring the possibility of inviting the shortlisted participants to develop their prototypes for implementation. Those shortlisted need not go through a separate open tender, as the objectives of fair and open competition, transparency and value for money would have already been met through the Innovation Challenge.
We are working on introducing outcome-based procurement in the cleaning, security and landscape sectors over time. For example, rather than specifying headcount for security contracts, agencies could specify areas to be monitored and the response time expected of security officers in the event of an alert. This would enable tenderers to consider using technology and innovative deployment of their staff to support our efforts to raise productivity and wages in these sectors, a point made by Mr Zainal Sapari in his Budget Debate speech.
This alternative procurement approach will require Government agencies to change the way they call and evaluate tenders and how they monitor service providers. It will also require changes by service providers in the way they respond to tenders and provide their services. It will involve some effort, but we believe that this is a move in the right direction.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa also asked about the PPCIP initiative and suggested that it be boosted. There have been some successes under PPCIP. Under this initiative, JTC partnered a local company, Samwoh Corporation, to successfully trial the use of sedimentary rocks excavated from the Jurong Rock Caverns to pave a stretch of road outside Mediapolis. The rocks had little value in themselves but, with this initiative, the rocks have acquired a new value, and the initiative has potential to be implemented across other new roads in Singapore.
This is an illustration of how a partnership between the public and private sectors can create value for our enterprises while meeting public needs. So, we are reviewing the initiative to see how it can be more effective in public-private co-innovation, alongside other existing efforts to promote collaboration.
On helping smaller firms access Government procurement opportunities, Members will be heartened to know that over the past three years, SMEs have been successful in securing Government projects under our open procurement system, capturing more than 60% of total Government contract value and around 85% of all Government tenders. This share of the total number of Government contracts is significantly higher than in other countries, such as the UK. Our SMEs have successfully tendered not just for smaller projects, but also for more sizeable ones. For the past three years, by contract value, about 50% of all contracts above $50 million were awarded to SMEs, a very respectable proportion.
We would encourage more SMEs to participate in Government procurement. Those who need information on how to go about doing so can refer to the Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (SPRING Singapore) and MOF websites. SMEs are also encouraged to attend the engagement sessions organised by industry associations and the Government to better understand Government procurement processes. For example, earlier this year, the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) organised a Government Procurement Fair for SMEs, where various Government agencies, including MOF, participated to clarify the Government's procurement practices. SBF is also developing a Best Practice Guide to help SMEs better understand Government procurement principles and processes and how to bid for Government contracts.
Another simple but useful thing which SMEs can do to improve their access to Government procurement opportunities is just register for a Government Electronic Business (GeBIZ) account. If you are registered on GeBIZ, you will automatically receive alerts on new procurement opportunities. The system also allows businesses to save their business information, making it easier for them to submit bids. Registration is straightforward and can be done online. Best of all, registration of the first GeBIZ account is free.
To help suppliers find and participate in Government procurement opportunities, we revamped the Government procurement portal GeBIZ in January this year. The revamped portal has a more user-friendly interface which was developed following extensive consultations with businesses that use the portal and has received much positive feedback from existing suppliers and new users. We will continue to work with the industry associations to improve outreach and education to SMEs in this area.
We also recognise that SMEs without a track record may find it challenging to win tenders. We are open to helping SMEs with innovative ideas and quality products to compete and establish their track record. An example of how we do this is the Accreditation@IDA programme. Set up in 2014, this programme helps promising Singapore-based technology startups to establish their track record to have a better chance at securing Government and private sector projects.
The accreditation programme evaluates and accredits companies to give potential buyers the assurance of their quality. IDA also partners companies in their development process by providing advice and recommendations to strengthen their product, improve financial management, and better manage intellectual property. To date, the programme has assisted 29 companies, of which 12 have obtained accreditation status. We expect more to be accredited in due course.
We have also revised our Government procurement rules, within the parameters of our international trade agreements, to make it easier for Government agencies to procure innovative solutions from these companies. They will be considered first when agencies seek to buy technology services or products. More than 15 contracts have been awarded to accredited companies and many more are currently in various stages of discussions towards signing of a contract.
Subject to obligations under international trade agreements, we are open to working with suitable industry partners to recognise promising startups in other sectors so that they can compete favourably for contracts and build up their track record.
In his Budget debate speech, Mr Zainal Sapari suggested using Government procurement practices to achieve certain objectives, such as raising wages for low-income workers. Mr Chen Show Mao also talked about price escalation clauses. I thought it would be helpful to clarify the Government's approach on this.
The objective of public tenders is to procure goods and services required for the delivery of public services in a fair and transparent manner and, given that we are spending public monies, to obtain value-for-money in our procurement. Value-for-money does not mean always and only going for the lowest price. Agencies also consider quality factors in their evaluation as this has a bearing on value and these are spelt out in the tender documents.
Where Government intervention is required to meet certain policy objectives, we generally do this through targeted measures rather than through conditions of procurement. This avoids mixing multiple objectives into the Government procurement process which could result in distorted outcomes. That is the broad principle.
So, for example, to help social enterprises, which Miss Cheryl Chan spoke about, the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise, also known as raiSE, was set up to provide support in areas, such as funding, business advisory and training. We believe that this is a better approach to helping social enterprises stay viable rather than to artificially set aside Government contracts to sustain them.
However, in very specific instances where the evidence suggests that Government procurement practices can make a substantial difference, we will take the appropriate action. For example, we have our effort to support the Progressive Wage Model in the cleaning, security and landscape sectors. To combat the risk of cheap sourcing and suppressed wages in these sectors, and following agreement with our tripartite partners, the Government took a deliberate decision to accredit or license companies that pay according to the Progressive Wage Model and to buy only from these companies in these sectors.
However, in other sectors where procurement policy is not a suitable or appropriate means of impacting wages, we have other ways to assist, such as through the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS), which has been enhanced in this Budget.
Mr Zainal Sapari also spoke about unfair contracts and options to extend. Options to extend contracts are a common practice internationally and in the private sector. The benefit of an option to extend is that it enables a longer-term relationship with the supplier if the supplier has provided good quality service and demonstrates the ability to continue to do so. The extension also means continued employment of the suppliers' employees. It could operate unfairly, however, if the extension does not allow for any increase in contract price in subsequent years to take into account wage increments. This can be avoided if price increases upon extension are factored in from the outset.
Our practice is to ask Government agencies to remind tenderers of multi-year contracts to factor in wage increments for their workers. We also explicitly allow tenderers to present their price bid on a year-by-year basis, so as to factor in annual wage increments.
Mr Chen Show Mao spoke about encouraging the increased use of price escalation clauses in Government contracts. We are open to this in the appropriate situations and where it is right to do so. For example, in standard clauses for construction contracts, we do explicitly allow for material price fluctuations based on material price indices which are published by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), and that is based on objective indices which are published independently.
What I would suggest in this case, really, is for the tenderers to propose this if they feel that either the price of the materials or anything that forms part of their costs, is something which would be subject to fluctuation and needs to have some sort of price escalation in years to come. It is something that they should raise with the Government.
Let me assure Members that we regularly review Government procurement practices to keep abreast of developments and ensure that procurement clauses are reasonable and fair. Of course, we welcome feedback as we learn from them as well as the practices in other countries and the private sector.
We will also continue to raise the capabilities of our procurement officers and community in the public sector, so that they can handle Government procurement well and ensure that public monies are spent prudently.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked what can be done to reduce the compliance burden and facilitate the ease of doing business. As Mr Saktiandi noted, Singapore has been ranked No 1 in the World Bank Group's Ease of Doing Business Index for the past 10 years, ahead of other countries, such as Korea, Japan and the United States. So, we are not doing badly. However, we cannot be complacent. As we press on to transform our industries, we will continue to review our regulations to facilitate doing business in Singapore.
Over the past year, ACRA has implemented significant changes to the Companies Act to reduce the regulatory burden, provide greater business flexibility and improve the corporate governance standards in Singapore. These include exempting small companies from statutory audits and allowing public companies to issue non-voting or multiple vote shares.
MOF and ACRA are reviewing other corporate regulations to facilitate business, including: (a) requirements on the use of common company seals; (b) the holding of annual general meetings (AGMs); and (c) the filing of annual returns.
Details of the proposed changes will be announced during MOF's public consultation on the regulations later this year. We will continue to work closely with businesses to avoid unnecessary burdens on businesses.
Ms Sun Xueling highlighted the need to ensure that our licensing requirements remain conducive for promising new technology and business models in her Budget debate speech. We agree. The Pro-Enterprise Panel, comprising business leaders and senior public officers, was set up in 2000 as an internal advocate for businesses within the Government. The Panel works closely with public agencies to provide timely, effective and practical solutions to address the regulatory concerns that businesses face, including those in new technology areas. Since its inception, the Pro-Enterprise Panel has reviewed more than 1,800 suggestions and more than half have led to changes in regulations and rules.
Mr Saktiandi also highlighted that some companies might inadvertently overlook regulatory and compliance requirements. On our part, we try to reduce the likelihood of default. Where possible, our agencies facilitate compliance by sending reminders ahead of statutory deadlines, such as for AGMs and filing of annual returns.
ACRA has also partnered other Government agencies, such as the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), the CPF Board and SPRING Singapore, to organise information sessions on statutory obligations for new and aspiring business owners. Feedback has been generally positive, and we intend to ramp up our outreach efforts to another 2,000 businesses this year.
Mr Saktiandi also commented on difficulties faced by SMEs in applying for business grants. It is a question of achieving the right balance. In administering grant schemes, the Government is accountable for the money spent. We, therefore, require information to monitor the output of the support we give to businesses to ensure that the money is used for the proper purpose.
At the same time, we recognise that applications for grants should not be unduly burdensome and a deterrent instead of an encouragement. As such, we constantly review the appropriate level of documentation and information that is required for grant applications.
In last year's Budget, we simplified the application process for SPRING's Capability Development Grants below $30,000 by reducing the information required. In this year's Budget, of course, Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the launch of the Business Grants Portal. That will simplify the application processes.
Mdm Chair, in conclusion, MOF will continue to review Government procurement processes to ensure that we remain open to innovative ideas and support the co-creation of solutions in delivering public services. We must continue to ensure financial prudence, but we must also be fair to our companies and their workers. We will also continue to review our corporate regulatory regime to ensure that it remains relevant while facilitating ease of doing business in Singapore.
The Chairman: Senior Minister of State Sim Ann.
The Senior Minister of State for Finance (Ms Sim Ann): Mdm Speaker, allow me to address the cuts by Ms Sun Xueling, Miss Cheryl Chan and Dr Tan Wu Meng on the various facets of digitalisation and the delivery of Government services, followed by the cuts by Assoc Prof Daniel Goh and Mr Edwin Tong.
Madam, the Government has, indeed, been using technology and data to improve service delivery. Advancements in ICT have raised public expectations of Government service delivery. On the Government's part, we have taken efforts to transform service delivery and bring about more convenience for the public.
The IDA's e-Government Perception Survey conducted in 2015 indicated that almost three in four citizens were very satisfied or extremely satisfied with the ease of completing transactions online using Government e-services.
There is room for improvement and the Public Service will continue to do so, amidst tighter constraints on public sector manpower growth. The Public Service has embarked on a multi-year transformation journey into a Digital Government, with citizens at the heart of it. We will redesign online services and underlying processes to make them simpler to use and easier to access, including providing more services on mobile devices.
Some agencies, such as the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), have already begun to do this. MOM has made online foreign domestic worker (FDW) permit renewals much easier for employers. Instead of relying on agents, more employers now directly interface with MOM, with 56% of renewals done directly by employers in the past 12 months, up by 11 percentage points from a year earlier. There has also been a 40% reduction in call centre enquiries related to renewals over the same period. Renewed permits are also directly couriered to employers, increasing the convenience of self-renewal.
We want more high-volume Government services to be similarly redesigned to be intuitive for users. An idea we are pursuing is to integrate and digitise key services around important milestones in life for individuals and businesses. We will facilitate more data sharing to make it easier for businesses and citizens to transact with the Government and deliver more targeted and effective services.
For businesses, the National Trade Platform (NTP) will significantly improve digital connectivity across businesses in the logistics and trade finance sectors. As announced by the Minister for Finance in his Budget speech, NTP will facilitate data sharing for both business-to-business and business-to-Government transactions to help SMEs cut costs and streamline processes. The potential for productivity savings is significant.
At the firm level, businesses will be able to digitise their documents or information to support data sharing, with the help of software tools or applications. Electronic data shared among all parties in the supply chain will allow them to have sight of information related to their cargoes and better manage their resources accordingly.
At the industry level, by connecting importers, exporters, logistics service providers, NTP will enable each party to establish linkages with multiple partners. Such data sharing on this Government-owned platform could yield further collaborations across partners in terms of resource sharing.
There may also be downstream benefits for associated sectors, such as trade financing. For instance, financial institutions could use the data transmitted to expedite trade finance operations.
NTP will be designed as an open innovation platform which businesses can tap on to develop new applications that support evolving business needs. As we embark on this, we welcome industries and businesses to come forward with ideas and partner us to create solutions that are relevant for the industry.
The National Electronic Health Records (NEHR) project was rolled out by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2012 to allow participating healthcare institutions to access the same set of patient records for seamless healthcare delivery across the national healthcare network. With NEHR, patients no longer need to worry about being brought to the nearest public hospital that is different from the one they regularly visit, as all public hospitals will have access to the same set of medical history.
Today, the secure use of data by authorised clinicians and healthcare professionals supports more accurate diagnosis, better treatment and patient-centric integrated care. It also helps to reduce the cost for patients as duplicated tests and referrals can be avoided. In the month of March 2016, there were more than 11,400 users of NEHR and over 600,000 searches made for patient records. Compared to a year earlier, there has been a significant increase of 63% in users and over three times the number of searches.
Miss Cheryl Chan asked whether digitalisation could inadvertently result in a lack of clarity over ownership of issues. We wish to assure Members that technology remains an enabler and will not displace or diffuse responsibility. In fact, technology allows for greater accountability as requests by citizens could be traced and tagged to specific agencies for resolution.
We agree there is a need to debunk the impression that digitalisation will create more work and lower efficiency. It is in fact the opposite. For example, through the electronic tax-filing and no-filing schemes, IRAS has saved time for taxpayers. It was also able to redeploy around 100 officers who used to handle manual tax filings to new and other areas of work, despite the tax base growth of 32% from 2009 to 2014.
Our Digital Government strategy aims to enhance productivity by actively using data and technology not just for service delivery, but also to change the way we work. This twin focus will be vital for the public sector to function more efficiently and respond more quickly to citizens' service needs.
By 2020, at least six agencies will digitise the majority of their records and processes for higher productivity. They are the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), IRAS, MOM, VITAL, the Supreme Court and the State Courts. Citizens will benefit from easier access to Government information and e-services from home or on the go. Some of these efforts will also reduce the need for repetitive submission of information to agencies.
For instance, ICA will digitise records and implement an enterprise-wide case and content management system. This is expected to lead to an overall productivity gain through integrated processes and better case management that will see a reduction in the need for duplicate data entry when a case is routed from one unit to another. If required, users of ICA's services will only need to submit supporting documents once, rather than resubmitting each time they apply.
Digitalisation will also reduce backend paper processing and result in better auditing, security and data protection processes within organisations. VITAL, the Government's shared services department under MOF, has begun integrating human resources (HR), payroll and claims processes for civil servants while concurrently using information technology (IT) systems to reduce paperwork, capture and retain information. This will facilitate better document management, thus making it easier to carry out audits and reduce paper handling in the process.
We are also improving arrangements and facilitating e-payments in order to reap similar benefits and greater convenience for users of Government services.
Dr Tan Wu Meng and Miss Cheryl Chan have pointed out that there will be some who will have difficulties accessing digital services. Indeed, even as we make transacting digitally a way of life, we must not forget that there may be some Singaporeans who may not be comfortable with or know how to use digital services.
Based on IDA's surveys, three in four individuals aged 50 to 59, and almost one in three seniors aged 60 and above used the Internet in 2014, with usage increasing considerably compared to two years ago.
Since 2005, we have built up a network of 26 Citizen Connect Centres (CCCs) islandwide for those who do not have computers or Internet connection and those who need help to use Government e-services. Trained staff are on hand at CCCs to assist and teach users to access Government services online. The goal for CCCs is to teach users to transact online independently, so that they can access Government services from the comfort of their own homes in future. But even if they find it hard to learn, they will still be helped at the CCCs. In 2015, CCCs helped around 120,000 citizens to access e-services.
We will enhance our CCCs to make it even easier for users to self-help by upgrading the equipment and redesigning the online interfaces. We will progressively upgrade the CCCs to become CCC+s, starting with pilots at the Toa Payoh Central and Chong Pang CCCs, and Our Tampines Hub by end of this year. If successful, the nationwide rollout of CCC+s will follow from 2017 onwards.
CCC+s will complement the existing suite of initiatives by the Ministry of Communications and Information and IDA for the elderly, persons with disabilities, and low-income households to help them get online and stay online.
Ms Sun Xueling also asked how we can maintain a human touch amidst more digitalisation within the Government. Even as we go digital, the Government will continue to provide face-to-face services, where necessary, for example, in reaching out to less connected groups like the elderly.
As Dr Tan Wu Meng pointed out, there are some Pioneer Generation residents with mobility needs who may find it difficult to access shared terminals. The Pioneer Generation Ambassadors (PGAs) serve as one key touch point to convey policy information, such as the Pioneer Generation Package and MediShield Life, to our Pioneers.
The Minister for Finance spoke about the Community Network for Seniors pilot led by MOH. We will continue to strengthen coordination among Government agencies, VWOs and local volunteers, and build strong community networks to provide support and engage the elderly within the community.
We are also continuing with the face-to-face approach when gathering feedback. Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home (REACH), the Government feedback unit, continues to retain face-to-face engagement. For example, for Budget 2016, it has held 12 such engagements so far, where close to 3,800 Singaporeans from all walks of life have participated and given their views.
Madam, I will now address the questions relating to building an inclusive society. Ms Thanaletchimi's points on the middle class, as well as apprenticeship, were largely addressed in the Minister for Finance's round-up speech and also at the MOM's Committee of Supply (COS) debate last week and, in the interest of time, I will not repeat those points here.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh asked if refundable income tax credits could be provided for specialised caregivers of dependants with special needs, including autism and dementia. In essence, the Member is asking if direct cash grants can be provided for caregivers.
Madam, this suggestion has been raised several times in the past by Members of this House, including Dr Lam Pin Min and Mr Christopher de Souza. We recognise that caregivers play an important role, which can be very demanding and challenging, and we should support them. Our approach is to focus on directly subsidising services required by people with special needs, thereby defraying the costs borne by their families and caregivers, rather than by providing cash allowances to people for looking after their family members. This has been our consistent approach, as reflected in previous replies on this subject by office holders overseeing health, social support and ageing policies.
Caregivers who work can tap on subsidised centre-based care services when they are working, such as Special Student Care Centres for students, and dementia day care and home help services for seniors. We will continue to expand the capacity of these services, especially as our population ages.
If caregivers hire a FDW, they can benefit from a lower FDW concessionary levy. If they are from lower- and middle-income families and are caring for an elderly person or a person with moderate disabilities, they can get an additional FDW grant. They also benefit from tax reliefs, such as the handicapped parent relief and the handicapped child relief, if applicable, which reduce the tax they have to pay.
Caregivers can also benefit from a training grant to equip themselves with the necessary skills to care for their loved ones, and self-care skills. We are also strengthening respite care to enable caregivers to take a much-needed break at times. Should caregivers require additional assistance beyond what is already available, we have existing social safety nets to help them when required.
We will continue to explore further ways to help persons with special needs and dementia, as well as their caregivers. The Ministry of Social and Family Development has recently set up a committee to look into the next Enabling Masterplan and it will be studying various initiatives to support persons with disabilities, and their caregivers. MOH will speak more about enhancing support for those with dementia as well.
Mr Edwin Tong asked about reviewing means-testing for our social schemes. I am glad that the Member supports our principle of having a progressive system of taxes and benefits, where lower- and middle-income households pay a smaller share of taxes and receive a larger share of benefits, while higher-income households pay a larger share of taxes and receive a smaller share of benefits. I am also glad that the Member recognises the importance of means testing so that benefits can be provided in a targeted manner to those who need help more. Very importantly, the Member has also affirmed that with limited resources, we have to be careful with spending. Indeed, we have a responsibility to manage our fiscal burden prudently and to be fair to future generations.
The Member has suggested other needs-based factors to refine the qualifying criteria for schemes, in particular, to overcome the perceived drawbacks of using the Annual Value (AV) of the property.
I also find myself frequently thinking about the points he has raised as I look after both Housing and Development Board (HDB) residents and private estate residents in my role as a Member of Parliament. The challenge in determining means-testing criteria for social support schemes is deciding on relevant measures that are clear, reasonable and practical to implement. Typically, this involves measures of income and wealth.
There are, of course, trade-offs with each criterion. If we take current income, we may not, as the Member has pointed out, have a longer-term picture of the families' financial means. But if we take income over a few years, as the Member has suggested, we might also not be as responsive to recent deterioration in the financial situation of a household.
AV is frequently used as a measure of wealth. While it is not a perfect measure for wealth, it remains the best available proxy. Furthermore, because the data does not need to be separately collected, using AV allows benefits to be delivered automatically to recipients without them having to apply. It is an important consideration for schemes like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Voucher, and indeed for better Government service delivery overall.
The Member can be assured that appeals by those who are in need and in exceptional circumstances will be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. This includes, for instance, appeals from those who are not related to the owners of the homes they live in.
The Member suggested that we consider incorporating other needs-based eligibility factors used in the UK's Income Support. We note that this scheme is a targeted one based on application, and also requires other criteria, such as the amount of personal savings the individual and his spouse have. We do have schemes, such as the ComCare Short- to Medium-Term Assistance, that take into account the unique needs of each family that applies. This is more similar to the UK's Income Support mentioned by the Member.
We will continue to review our means-testing criteria across all schemes to ensure that our assistance is targeted at those who need them most. I would also like to share that such targeted schemes form only a small part of the total amount of benefits that Singaporeans, including private property dwellers, receive. Broad-based schemes that involve less or no targeting include (a) healthcare subsidies, (b) education subsidies for primary education to tertiary education, (c) training subsidies like the SkillsFuture credit, (d) Marriage and Parenthood Package, (e) lower Foreign Domestic Worker levies for those with young children or the elderly, and (f) the Senior Citizen Transport Concession.
Mdm Chair, I thank all Members again for their comments and suggestions.
The Chairman: We have a little bit of time for clarifications. Dr Tan Wu Meng.
Dr Tan Wu Meng: I thank the Senior Minister of State, for her update on the upcoming CCC+s, which will make an important difference to our residents who have less access to IT facilities. Could the Senior Minister of State update us further on what she means by upgrading of equipment and redesigning of online interfaces?
Ms Sim Ann: I thank the Member for his support and efforts to bring e-services to more people. The CCC+s that I have talked about earlier, are kiosks which will comprise docked mobile tablets with touch-screen interfaces, that are less cumbersome and easier for the elderly to use. Some kiosks will also be height-adjustable to better serve the needs of those who are wheelchair bound. In addition, CCC+ landing pages would be redesigned for better access to the 10 most commonly used digital services by CCC visitors today, such as checking their CPF and IRAS statements. We will also ensure that CCC officers are well-trained to provide assistance to the visitors.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat: I would like to ask the Minister for Finance a question with regard to what I raised in the suggestion in my speech on the Budget debate. I actually suggested to move away from the preceding year system to a current year system. I was wondering whether MOF can share whether they are looking into it or are there any plans, going forward, to look into it.
One of the reasons why I raised that was because it could help some of the retrenched or some of the professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) going forward, given that it will also act as an automatic stabiliser for the economic system as well. I hope MOF can shed some light on my suggestion.
Ms Indranee Rajah: I think what we can say, Mdm Chairman, is that we have taken note of the suggestion. We will look into it, and in due course, if there is anything to be done further on it, of course, we will let the public know.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa: Mdm Chair, this year's COS is held in the month of April. We are into the new financial year (FY) 2016. I would like to ask the Minister: how is the Government able to stay funded in this month of April when we are still here in the midst of debating and passing the Supply Bill for FY2016? Are there any Government programmes or functions of the Government which are affected because of the later than usual COS?
Ms Indranee Rajah: Mdm Chairman, the Government's financial year is from 1 April of the year to 31 March of the following year. So, in this case, as Parliament opened at the beginning of the calendar year in January, we had a very heavy Parliamentary schedule, and so, the Government's Budget was presented on 24 March 2016, taking into account the President's Address and the debate on the proposed policies as well as programmes of the Government in January. The Supply Bill 2016 can, therefore, only be passed by Parliament and enacted after the start of our financial year and, under the Order Paper, Parliament is currently scheduled to vote on the Bill after the end of COS on 14 April 2016. Once passed, the Bill would be submitted to the President for assent before it can be enacted as the Supply Act. So, I think, really, Mr Liang Eng Hwa's question pertains to that period after the end of the preceding financial year on 31 March to the time the Supply Bill is passed and how we are funded for that period.
The Government is able to continue its operations as per normal because Article 148 of the Constitution allows for expenditures in the interim until the Supply Bill is passed. Under Article 148B (4) of the Constitution, the Finance Minister, with the Cabinet's approval, can authorise spending from various Government funds to keep public services running until the Supply Bills are passed into law. However, the amount that is spent must not exceed one quarter of the total sum approved for the particular service in the past year's Budget.
So, in this case, the Government is able to continue its operations as per normal as the Finance Minister has, with the prior approval of the Cabinet, authorised interim expenditure pending the Supply Bill becoming law under Article 148B (4) of the Constitution and we are, therefore, funded for this period. This has been done before, in 2002 when, likewise, the new Parliament opened on 25 March 2002 and Budget Day was on 3 May 2002, thus pushing back the Parliamentary calendar and requiring interim funding under Article 148B (4) of the Constitution.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong: One of the chief problems faced by specialised caregivers is their own retirement adequacy. Government assistance and direct subsidies, at the point of service, help them for the immediate needs. But many of them are themselves well advanced in age after the end of care and will not do well in the labour market. My question is: how is the Government looking into enhancing the retirement adequacy of this group in the long run?
Ms Sim Ann: The Government is concerned about the retirement adequacy of Singaporeans who may not have had the opportunity to work or to build up their savings either in cash or in their CPF. That includes, but is not limited to caregivers. To address this, there are CPF top-ups. There are also various assistance schemes which we have mentioned broadly, which are meant to supplement either the incomes of those who are in greater need or to help them cope with living expenses.
The Chairman: Mr Liang Eng Hwa, do you wish to withdraw your amendment?
Mr Liang Eng Hwa: Mdm Chair, I am sure it must have been a hectic few months for the MOF team. And in keeping with tradition, we have kept the MOF COS short and sweet. Once again, congratulations to Minister Heng Swee Keat and the MOF team for the truly transformational Budget and also thanks to Senior Minister of State Indranee Rajah and Senior Minister of State Sim Ann for their replies, notwithstanding the short time that they have. So, with that, Madam, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $767,425,400 for Head M ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $175,267,300 for Head M ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply – Head Q (Ministry of Communications and Information)","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"The Chairman: Mr Zaqy Mohamad, you have two cuts. Please take them together.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang): Mdm Chair, I beg to move, \"That the total sum to be allocated for Head Q of the Estimates be reduced by $100.\"
Today, technology is all around us, influencing new business models, disrupting old ones, creating new jobs and business opportunities as the world around us embraces the digital revolution.
Singapore's next phase of development towards a Smart Nation has opened up many exciting developments in terms of jobs and business opportunities. I recall the times in this Chamber when Members, such as Ms Jessica Tan, Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and I, spoke about how the engineering and technology fields have become less attractive professions in recent years.
But times are changing. According to TechSG, technology services represent the fastest growing startup sector in Singapore, almost tripling, from 1,539 in 2004 to 4,380 in 2014. Over the last five years, the number of tech services start-ups grew at 16% per annum, compared to average growth of 9% in other sectors.
Also, the tech services sector saw the highest employment growth of 11% per annum compared to an average growth of 3% per annum for startups in other sectors. In 2014, the number of technology talents in tech startups was about 33,000. Overall, the Government has indicated that 30,000 information and communication technology (ICT) jobs are expected to be filled over the next five years up to 2020. This bodes well for the technology sector.
Therefore, it is important that the Government develops a clear manpower strategy to maximise our local talent pool who are keen to develop a career in ICT. It is important to develop our manpower both in depth, for them to specialise and get certified in new exciting fields, and balance their development with a breadth of soft skills in areas of leadership, business management, functional design, creativity as well as sales and marketing, to differentiate our educated workforce from those of other low-cost countries. Otherwise, we are only competing on costs, which depresses salaries.
At the top end, it is also important that we produce ICT and business leaders who can compete on the international stage, given competition from other tech powerhouses here in Asia, such as Korea, China, India and Japan.
It is important that we build a world-renowned brand for our ICT workforce as innovators and being able to apply quickly the latest technology can offer. As a small nation, we may not always be at the forefront of invention, but it is important that we are able to be creative in the application of the best technologies from the world over and be able to leverage Singapore as a testbed to implement new ideas and market them effectively all over the world.
The war for talent is here. Over the next few years, I hope that the Ministry will do its utmost to attract more Singaporean students and workers into the ICT profession to ride on its growth for the years to come.
The challenged economy today presents an opportunity for the ICT sector to attract those outside the ICT profession with an aptitude for technology, especially many middle-aged professionals, who may find themselves displaced as the economy restructures to fuel this growth. As we embark on the Smart Nation, we must move quickly to ensure that our Singaporean workforce is ready with the skillsets and mindset to exploit the opportunities to come.
Mdm Chair, earlier this year, Changi Business Park, which housed many back-office functions, including information technology (IT) data centres and support units, came under scrutiny and was dubbed infamously as \"Changalore\", because of the higher-than-average foreign workforce that are employed there. This puts many other industrial and tech parks under the spotlight too.
Understandably, one may question whether we should retain such sectors if few Singaporeans are keen to take on jobs there. Understandably, these roles usually support the region, or even the world. Therefore, their working hours may be shift-based and because of its back-office nature, the salaries may be at the lower end of the scale.
But before we judge which jobs should be retained or moved out, we must recognise that it is not just about high-value jobs or jobs that Singaporeans want. The whole ICT ecosystem must be aligned for us to continue to attract leading technology firms to set up here.
If we swing too much to the extreme and move these perceived low-value operations, such as data centres, support operations, out of Singapore – we risk losing many high-value jobs too because the whole ecosystem is inter-dependent.
Given the enabling nature of ICT, companies across various industries are also dependent on these operations, particularly companies that serve the region or the world, including banks, logistics and manufacturing firms.
The revenue stream for many local and international ICT firms, including the leading brands, also rely on the international hubs here for business. Therefore, if these firms lose clients because of fewer ICT infrastructure and operations being based here, we lose a strong justification to retain the headquarters of these firms here. If this happens, we could lose more high-value jobs in the ICT sector.
So, I would like to hear from the Ministry on how it plans to balance our dependency on foreign manpower, while channelling our local manpower towards building a strong Singapore Core in ICT firms, and ICT professions that support our businesses and Government.
As Singapore becomes more and more digitally connected and moves towards the age of sensors and the Internet of Things, securing our cyber space, devices and personal data becomes ever more important. How does the Ministry rate the awareness of cyber security among individuals and businesses here in Singapore as well as the steps they are taking to keep the data secure?
Today, cybersecurity is not just about reputational risk. The risk to operations, even denial of access to public services, is possible if hackers take control of our critical infrastructure, not to mention, the mischief and safety risks that could be caused to our transport, defence systems and confidential Government information. Imagine if a hacker is able to take control of our train system, air traffic control or even poison our water by changing the chlorine composition of our water tanks.
To protect our national interests, does the Ministry have in place regulations that enforce a required standard of cybersecurity measures or cyber risk management framework that critical infrastructure providers, such as telecommunications, transport, energy and utility providers, as well as institutions dealing with financial transactions, to safeguard our people and businesses here?
I mentioned in my Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) cut that we need to be ready for \"hybrid warfare\", where our businesses and critical infrastructure may be targeted by cyberattacks to cripple our economy and business confidence in Singapore. How does the Ministry ensure that boards and senior executives of such firms, and even our Government agencies recognise the risks involved and are committed to invest to protect the interests of their firm and organisations for the interest of customers and the nation?
To complement the technology and risk initiatives, we must also have strong legal frameworks to tackle different forms of cyberattacks. Today, we have the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act. Are there additional pieces of legislation that the Ministry is considering to strengthen our laws? Are our cyber laws sufficient to handle cyber terrorism, and emerging platforms, such as blockchains?
Attacks may also come from foreign state and non-state entities. How does the Government handle concerted attacks either by foreign governments or groups originating from foreign countries?
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
The Chairman: Ms Sun Xueling, you have two cuts. Please take them together.
Ms Sun Xueling (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mdm Chair, I was in a discussion forum recently on manpower needs for the cyber security industry. It was well-attended by students, employers and mid-career professionals.
Students wanted to know if they could continue upgrading their skills in ICT after they leave IHLs, given the constant developments in the ICT industry, and if they could aspire to C-suite level jobs, given their technical backgrounds. Employers shared their immediate needs and requirement for industry-ready talent. Mid-career professionals from adjacent industries to ICT wanted to cross over in the quickest and most painless fashion.
Given the need to develop local talent so as to enable the healthy and sustainable development of the Smart Nation initiative as well as deal with cybersecurity concerns, how would the Ministry address local manpower development to address the concerns of the various groups I mentioned? Are we doing this in the most resource-efficient and timely manner?
Secondly, 70% of our ICT manpower is made up of male professionals. Even though female representation in our ICT workforce is higher than that, say, in the United States (US), how are we making ICT education attractive to female students given the rising importance of the industry and the availability of good jobs? There are good role models like Jenny Lee of GGV Capital who has made a name for herself as an ICT venture capitalist with a Midas touch. Can we leverage more on the positive influence of such female thought leaders?
Lastly, while company-led training programmes and internships are the best way to ensure skills fit to job requirements, not all companies may have the resources to devote time and manpower to training. Given the expected number of specialists required by 2017, are there sufficient company-led training and effective conversion programmes for mid-career professionals, so that we have a decent shot at meeting our manpower needs by 2017?
In December last year, the Ukrainian power supply was shut down by a cyberattack for six hours and, more than two months after the cyberattack, the power grid's central control is still not fully operational. Separately, in February this year, hackers attempted to steal almost $1 billion from the Central Bank of Bangladesh. State and trade secrets have been the target of hacking and cyberattacks in recent years. The perpetrators, whether state-sponsored or criminal groups, aimed to cause disruption to key systems for strategic reasons, ransom, theft and to make political points.
According to FireEye, a global cybersecurity company, cyberattacks are being increasingly mounted on Southeast Asian countries, due to interest in the region's growing industry sectors, such as energy, telecommunications, high-tech, transportation and finance. Territorial disputes in the South China Sea are also driving cyber espionage activities.
As we move towards greater connectivity via our Smart Nation programme, different sectors with various expertise in cybersecurity will be plugged into the system – Government, power, land transport, maritime, civil aviation, water, security emergency, health, banking and finance. Not all sectors have networks built in with security in mind. In fact, many sectors may not have designed security into their networks as they were built.
How does the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) intend to work with all the different sectors in Singapore to ensure that they are resilient against cyberattacks and, as such, ensure the resiliency of the nation? How are we doing this by design as we progress the Smart Nation initiative?
Lastly, given the international aspects of cybersecurity, with attacks either mounted or routed through other countries, how is CSA promoting cooperation with other international bodies, so that there is an aligned and concerted effort to guide against cyber threats?
Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang): Mdm Chair, cyber threats are on the rise and are worrying because of their scale.
I had spoken about the hacking of the Bank of Bangladesh's accounts in New York during the Ministry of Defence's (MINDEF) Committee of Supply (COS) debate. Attempts were made to squirrel out almost $1 billion. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York managed to prevent about $850 million from being moved but more than $100 million was still transferred out. If hackers can target bank accounts in New York, they will likely have the capability to target banks and other IT infrastructure in other parts of the world, including Singapore.
I understand that the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) has been set up to build up capabilities and to respond to cyber threats. CSA brings together Government agencies as well major players in critical sectors such as energy, banking, and financial sectors, and other critical parts of our infrastructure. How does CSA ensure that these critical sectors are prepared for cyber threats?
Minister Yaacob Ibrahim also announced in January this year that new legislation was intended to provide CSA with new and wider powers. What does the proposed legislation add to the existing law, which is covered by the Computer Misuse and Cyber Security Act?
The Chairman: Ms Jessica Tan; not here. Mr Saktiandi Supaat.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mdm Chairman, as our economy restructures, we will likely be seeing more growth in the infocomm sector, and this expansion will require skilled and multidisciplinary manpower to facilitate. There are mid-career professionals who may be willing to explore the possibility of switching careers and joining other sectors and some may even be from the retrenched group.
I would like to know whether the Ministry is doing anything to attract some of these mid-career professionals with relevant Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and also those with non-STEM backgrounds to join this sector. If possible, can the Minister also share his plans to prepare our young for the pre-infocomm sector and make it even more enticing?
The Chairman: Assoc Prof Randolph Tan; not here. Mr Darryl David.
Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Madam, I would like to focus on improving the quality of media content. Mdm Speaker, legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock once said: \"To make a great film you need three things – the script, the script and the script.\"
At the heart of every successful film, video or television (TV) programme is a top-notch script. Go further beyond that and you could argue that at the heart of every successful script is an engaging and well-told story.
I recall the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) previously announcing that it would develop a Creators' Space to nurture the digital film and video sub-sectors. Could the Ministry provide an update on this Creators' Space and also what is being done to enhance the quality of idea generation, storytelling and scriptwriting in the media industry?
Mr Ganesh Rajaram (Nominated Member): Thank you, Mdm Chair, for allowing me the privilege to speak in this Committee of Supply (COS) Debate. Let me declare my interest as a Board Member of the Media Development Authority (MDA).
Much has been said by the Members of this House about readying our economy and people for the future and about encouraging a spirit of partnership, care and resilience. I would like to add to the debate as a media practitioner and one who has spent his entire career in the media industry. They centre on the themes of \"partnership\" and \"transformation\".
The single most important issue facing the media sector today in Singapore and the world, is convergence. Convergence is the merging of media like print, television, radio with the Internet and with portable and interactive technology, and this has transformed the way information is created, distributed and consumed globally.
This throws up many opportunities as well as challenges for Singapore. The 2016 Budget, in my opinion, addresses many of the issues brought on by convergence and I am heartened by the Government's foresight and support. But areas of concern remain.
Many of us know that countries, such as China and India, are spearheading the growth of the infocomm sector globally, both in technology and talent. They bring new technologies to market faster, and many talented individuals from overseas are now in Singapore running and working in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as large companies. This is not a bad thing, as we can, indeed learn, and improve by working with top talent.
The Government has done much to manage this sensitive area while ensuring a global business-friendly ecosystem. But it is still far too common for us in the media industry to see companies flying in individuals from overseas to take on lead roles in big projects and initiatives, when these positions could have been filled by capable, homegrown talent.
I strongly urge the Government to consider further fine-tuning its approach to the accessibility of Singapore jobs to talent from overseas. Where local and highly capable talent already exist in that particular sector, then Singaporeans should be given first priority. We must encourage a talent ecosystem where local and international companies which prioritise Singaporean talent see the benefits of being our partners for growth, and transform, over time, into commercial pillars for the local community. While the Government must take the lead in setting this tone, those in positions of leadership and influence must themselves make a conscious effort to mentor homegrown executives.
Singaporeans are not just highly efficient in functional roles. Singaporeans today can be truly exceptional in leadership and management roles. For if we do not make hiring our own people a priority in Singapore-funded projects, then who will?
Mdm Chair, I run the Asian business for a multinational corporation (MNC), and I am very proud to say that my entire team is Singaporean. It can be done. It must be done.
Mdm Chair, I also had the privilege of serving on the Convergence Review Committee in 2012. A key recommendation by the committee then was to strengthen and enhance local vibrancy of original content.
The Government has increased the quantum of Public Service Broadcast (PSB) funding and, in 2015, announced $250 million a year in funding from financial year (FY) 2015 to FY2019 to be disbursed. The impact is beginning to show.
Viewing patterns on local TV have stabilised, with Suria, Vasantham and Channel NewsAsia growing their viewership. Programmes like \"Wild City\" and \"Food Empire\", just to name two, on Channel NewsAsia, are getting rave reviews here and overseas.
The increase in funding and the use of specialised foreign expertise have resulted in strong local TV productions. \"Tanglin\", a daily drama series on Channel 5, is my personal favourite. Beyond the steady TV ratings, the online viewership has been very extremely encouraging. Average weekly views on Toggle are about 135,000 and reached 194,000 in the last week of March. So far, since the launch of \"Tanglin\" in June 2015, 5.5 million people have watched the show on Toggle. I urge Members to watch \"Tanglin\". Its local stories, multiracial cast, fresh talent and good production values make the stories very watchable. So, kudos to Mediacorp, well done!
Mediacorp today outsources 40% of PSB-funded projects to production houses; there are about 80 to 90 SMEs in this sector. Cable broadcaster StarHub has also recently joined the fray and is also commissioning projects to independent production companies as a result of the contestable funding initiative.
These funds are absolutely crucial to the survival and growth of our independent production community and will be a lifeline in a period of slowing economic growth. Feedback from the production community has been for more transparency with regard to budgets and quotas. Perhaps the Government could consider making public the projects that are commissioned under the PSB framework, from Mediacorp as well as from the independent production companies, including details like durations and production budgets. This will create greater transparency in the marketplace. It will also create more goodwill and trust between the broadcasters and the production community.
Can we survive just on local audiences? I think not, Mdm Chair. Just five years ago, South Korean platforms used to buy most of the available American and overseas content, be it drama or lifestyle shows. Today, South Korean companies invest almost totally in local, original content, mainly drama and K-pop, that have become highly popular at home and, increasingly, around the world.
At a global television market in Cannes, France, last week, the South Koreans were trying to sell distributors, such as myself, content and formats for distribution in the American and European markets. It is a reversal and, indeed, a transformation of the industry.
Convergence has resulted in greater variety and, with it, greater expectations of high-quality content. We must, as an industry, become better at mentoring our homegrown talent, particularly in the areas of production and commissioning. We must also become better at facilitating the transition of our SME production companies from local set-ups to international players.
In recent years, we are seeing fewer and fewer Singaporean production companies venturing beyond our shores. The Media Development Authority (MDA) was one of the pioneer Government agencies in the region that embarked on industry development initiatives. Today, homegrown outfits, like The Moving Visuals Company and Beach House Pictures, are regional and global players, doing work for broadcasters like Discovery and National Geographic.
More can be done to encourage the spirit of adventure among our local SMEs. Mentorship programmes too can be tweaked to better match experienced international mentors with local talent. For example, a young, quirky Singaporean producer I met recently was matched with a mentor from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). While this could conceptually result in something interesting, a lot could also be lost in translation between genres and generations. She would have been better suited for a mentor from a younger skewing channel, perhaps like Channel 4.
Mdm Chair, the Government has also invested millions into industry development schemes as well as infrastructure. Mediapolis@one-north is Singapore's first digital media hub, where emerging media technologies, content, services and applications are being developed, produced, financed and distributed to the world. It is not yet complete, but is already facing rising competition from our neighbours and beyond.
A major part of this ecosystem is Infinite Studios which houses Singapore's largest sound stages. But, today, Iskandar in Johor has overtaken much of the production and post-production services in the region. The jewel in that crown is Pinewood Studios. It has world-class facilities designed for major productions.
The most important attraction of Iskandar, however, is the financial incentive. Spend RM5 million in production expense and you immediately get a 30% rebate! And this has effectively meant that Singapore has become the No 2 port of call in this sector.
Mdm Chair, what we need are viable solutions. Mediapolis in Singapore boasts world-class facilities as well. More effort should be made in raising the profile of Mediapolis and celebrating its advantages and successes. Perhaps, local companies could also be incentivised to use the facilities more regularly. In the last few years, I have also noticed that Singapore has a more muted presence in international conventions —
The Chairman: Mr Rajaram, your time is up. You have to conclude your speech.
Mr Ganesh Rajaram: In summary, Mdm Chair, challenges notwithstanding, I laud and support the Government's efforts and provisions in the Budget that will help the media sector transform itself for future challenges.
The Chairman: Assoc Prof Randolph Tan, take your two cuts together.
Assoc Prof Randolph Tan (Nominated Member): Thank you, Madam. Between 2001 and 2014, total revenue of the local and export market for the overall infocomm sector grew at a compound annual rate of 14%. The hardware market segment grew fastest during this period, at 19.4%. The second fastest growing market segment was that for software/IT services, growing less than half as fast, at just under 9%. This was followed by telecommunications, which grew at 6.5% and, finally, content activities, which grew slowest at 5.6%.
In recent years, the hardware segment has been expanding the proportion of its contribution to overall revenue, from 54% in 2008 to 69% in 2014. The proportions of revenue contributed by the remaining segments have all either remained flat or shrunk.
Although good performance in the hardware segment is a good thing, the question I have is whether and to what extent the software and infocomm services segments are being affected by the lack of required manpower.
Although employment in infocomm has not grown as quickly as in some other sectors, the compound annual growth rate of 4.9% between 2001 and 2014 has been very healthy. At end-2014, infocomm accounted for 3.3% of overall employment. This was almost unchanged from 2011, when the proportion stood at 3%.
In 2015, infocomms was the third fastest growing sector in the economy. Its expansion of 4.2% was more than twice that of the overall economy. Although its contribution of 0.2 percentage points to overall economic growth appeared small, this was important in achieving the overall two percentage point growth that we had last year. However, the proportion of infocomm output in overall gross domestic product (GDP) shrank from 4.2% to 3.8% between 2001 and 2014.
The manpower crunch appears to have been casting a long shadow over the future prospects of growth in our economy. If the problem lies with the preference of Singaporean workers, it may be possible to make the jobs more attractive. However, many jobs in the ICT sector should not be considered unattractive by virtue of their standing in the technological hierarchy. If the reason for their lack of appeal is because they are technically demanding, then we must have a serious and deep-seated problem. Is the problem also to do with limits in the supply of local manpower? In the meantime, what can be done to prevent the manpower shortage from permanently diminishing the potential for the ICT sector?
Madam, Singapore has the fastest peak Internet speeds in the world and our average Internet speeds have been climbing in global rankings. This is a good sign of the progress of the Smart Nation initiative. We have clearly achieved an Internet infrastructure whose quality is up to the demands of a Smart Nation. But are we exploiting this infrastructure mainly just for consumption? How much of the capacity of this world-class infrastructure is actually being employed to drive our technological development? What is being done to encourage software and content development to ride on our magnificent Internet infrastructure?
The relatively weak performance in the infocomm industry of the software and services segments compared to the hardware segment appears to suggest that the excellent infrastructure that has been built for Internet connectivity is not being exploited to its fullest.
To contrast what I had said earlier about the expanding contributions of the hardware segments, in more recent years, from 2008 to 2014, the contribution of revenue from content services has remained flat at 2%, while that for software shrank from 18% to 12%.
Can more be done to motivate our population to move beyond mere consumption of content towards making a greater impact as developers in areas, such as Internet gaming, marketing platforms and content provision?
The Chairman: Minister Yaacob Ibrahim.
The Minister for Communications and Information (Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Madam, I thank Members for their thoughtful comments and suggestions.
Madam, with your permission, I would like to show a short video on the efforts of my Ministry to connect people to opportunities, community and the Government, with the help and support of trustworthy infrastructure and technology.
The Chairman: Yes. [A video was shown to Members.]
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Thank you, Madam. Madam, last month, I spoke about the manpower situation in the infocomm sector, that the current rate of demand for infocomm professionals has outpaced the rate of supply.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Ms Sun Xueling and Assoc Prof Randolph Tan also observed this, and they asked how we can prevent ICT manpower shortages and in particular, reduce our reliance on foreign manpower in certain ICT sub-sectors.
Mdm Chair, the ICT sector is, indeed, expected to see good growth, and with that, increased demand for infocomm professionals. Together with our Smart Nation initiatives, we expect an additional demand of 30,000 infocomm jobs to be filled by 2020. As demand far outstrips current supply and because the landscape is changing so rapidly, it is difficult to meet company needs for skilled manpower without non-Singaporeans entirely. But we must do our best to support our Singaporeans to be highly skilled so that they can compete with global talent.
Hence, today, I will talk about how we will do more to accelerate infocomm capability development and build a strong Singapore Core for infocomm media. Madam, the Clerk has distributed a flyer and I hope Members can make reference to this in the latter part of my speech.
Madam, it is not enough to ensure that we have sufficient computing science or IT places in our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs). We must also ensure that our students have work-ready skills and our current workers in the sector can easily renew their skills. We will focus our efforts in high demand areas such as software development, data analytics, cyber security, and network and infrastructure. We will, hence, set aside $120 million to support training efforts in developing infocomm manpower capabilities to address immediate and future manpower needs.
To build the future pipeline of infocomm professionals, we must start young. Hence, we launched the Code@SG movement in 2014 to nurture interest in technology among our young. We will continue to develop coding and computational thinking as a national capability.
Next, Madam, we will focus on the 6,000 or so students from each cohort, who are already in infocomm disciplines.
Today, our estimates indicate that a significant proportion of them do not enter the sector upon graduation. This is indeed a missed opportunity. The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) has studied this together with the stakeholders and one reason is that employers are looking for applicants with strong experience, even prior to graduation.
So, we will launch an Industry Preparation for Pre-Graduates Programme (iPREP). IDA will work with IHLs to select students and place them on this structured internship and mentorship programme, so that they can build their portfolios and gain sufficient entry-level skills and experience even before they graduate. Over three years, we hope to increase the supply of professionals by 2,400.
This will help more young Singaporeans like Tan Kai Heng, an NTU Computer Science alumnus. During his internship at Gametize, he worked with a dynamic team and even co-led to develop an Android app from scratch. The internship helped him become a confident software developer and he was subsequently offered a job with Gametize upon graduation. He has been with them for almost four years now.
We will do more to support our working ICT professionals. We currently co-fund company-led training (CLT) programmes with industry partners. For example, Google has partnered IDA to roll out the Squared Data Analytics Programme.
Let me share two examples, Madam. Vicnan Pannirselvam, a graduate in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, wanted to pursue a data-related career. After the training, he was deployed to TBWA, an international advertising agency. There, he gained practical experience in integrating data with advertising. He did so well that he was offered a job as a Data Strategist. Celestine Goh found that the programme helped to open doors for trainees like her to access a large community of like-minded individuals and mentors. She also developed her skills and gained valuable experience there. She is now a Data and Analytics Specialist at Maxus.
In fact, every single participant in Google's programme found a job after the programme. Hence, we will expand our CLT programmes to help more than a thousand professionals each year, compared to 160 today. Mid-level professionals will now also benefit from the local and overseas training and attachments to build expertise and competencies for jobs in demand, especially in emerging areas like cybersecurity and analytics.
We will also help experienced professionals deepen their skills or convert to new infocomm disciplines. IDA's Critical Infocomm Technology Resource Programme (CITREP) helps approximately 3,000 mid-level professionals take up professional short courses and certifications every year. Moving forward, we will expand the CITREP+ programme and also help entry level professionals to start acquiring ICT skills and professional certifications early in their careers.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about our efforts to help non-infocomm mid-career professionals make a career switch and join the infocomm sector. Mdm Chair, last year, IDA partnered a company called General Assembly to offer boot camps that provide short but immersive training for people with no background or industry experience in tech, but who have interest in a tech career. Participants are taught through industry projects by industry practitioners, receive career support and have job placement opportunities with potential employers.
We will ramp up the capacity for such accelerated Tech Immersion and Placement programmes, to support more than 1,000 Singaporean trainees over the next three years, especially those with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) backgrounds.
Mdm Chair, in his Budget Speech, the Minister for Finance announced the setting up of the Technology Skills Accelerator. We will work very closely with industry to grow this into our flagship platform where all Singapore ICT professionals can receive training and career advice.
The infocomm industry associations – Singapore IT Federation, Singapore Computer Society and the IT Management Association – have already played a huge role in the past to develop the National Infocomm Competency Framework. These associations, Madam, will continue to define new competencies under the TechSkills Accelerator, and support our shift towards greater recognition of skills mastery.
To this end, we have already partnered Proxor, a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff, to introduce their skills validation platform, so that employers can use it to test potential employees' skills in solving realistic problems, rather than referring only to academic qualifications. We will also provide funding support to Singaporeans who use the platform to validate their skills
A new feature of the TechSkills Accelerator is that the partnership will be anchored by major employers in the sector. This is important because employers must also themselves want to develop a strong Singapore Core and offer competitive remuneration to recognise skills achievement and not just paper qualifications. I am happy to confirm that several anchor employers, including the new Government Technology Agency, SingTel, Mediacorp, ST Electronics, Integrated Health Information Systems, Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) and United Overseas Bank (UOB), have already committed to be part of the TechSkills Accelerator. I encourage more companies to come on board and to put more emphasis in talent development, so that we can together build a strong Singapore core for infocomm.
Madam, Mr Ganesh Rajaram asked about the media sector and how we can encourage media companies to be independently competitive. Assoc Prof Randolph Tan asked about how we can encourage more Singaporeans, especially our young, to create more content. I am pleased to share that, this year, MDA will expand on its efforts to help enhance the capacity of the media sector to create new content for new platforms, so that we can transform the media sector to be future-ready.
I previously announced that we would launch a Creators' Space at Pixel Building in one-north. It is on track to start operations by the end of this year. Key partners, such as Adobe, digital creative brand NewMedia, online video platform Dailymotion and Disney's Maker Studios, the global leader in online short-form videos, have been confirmed.
We will take it one step further, by running other initiatives related to content development at Creators' Space. In this way, we will enable synergies between professionals in the various media sub-sectors and create a truly vibrant space for learning, experimentation and collaboration.
One of the initiatives that will leverage the Creators' Space is Story Lab. Mr Darryl David asked how we can improve the quality of film, video and TV, especially in the area of idea generation and content creation. Our Story Lab initiative helps to enhance the creative capacity of our media industry to develop compelling story ideas and innovative ways to tell these stories across various media platforms. Just last month, we ran a \"Game Writing versus Narrative Design Masterclass\", in partnership with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the National Book Development Council (NBDC). About 40 media and literary professionals came together to learn about game writing techniques and tools to develop game stories. We will launch more programmes later this year, such as the WritersLab, to hone scriptwriting for television.
For the film sector, programmes such as the Chinese scriptwriting with local film producer mm2 Entertainment has indeed been very successful. They brought in notable Hong Kong and Taiwan writers as mentors. This programme will help our promising local screenwriters develop deeper script writing skills, to better serve the Mandarin-speaking market in the region.
Madam, another of our initiatives that we will co-locate with the Creators' Space is the Games Solution Centre (GSC). The games sub-sector is one of the fastest growing media sectors in Singapore. GSC offers budding game developers mentorship programmes, support for them to take their business and ideas overseas as well as business networking and access to financing opportunities. In fact, in just five years, GSC has benefited close to 50 Singaporean game companies, of which, three-quarters have successfully completed games or game demonstrations with more than 20 commercial game releases. In addition, more than five of them have gone on to secure seed funding from about $100,000 to $2 million.
Many of our game developers have made their mark, both locally and internationally. For instance, Rotten Mage's Spacejacked won the Best Linux Game award at Intel's Level Up 2015 game developer contest. Another game, Autumn Dynasty Warlords by Touch Dimensions, was among the top grossing strategy games on iTunes Store in several countries. These two games are among many that grew out of GSC.
The co-location of the Story Lab and GSC with Creators' Space will be a significant step to help our Singapore media companies become even more independently competitive. It will help facilitate collaboration between various media sub-sectors to bring about richer consumer experiences. For example, game developers today use data to better understand their consumers. This capability can be shared more widely to other media professionals, so that they can develop more innovative ways to commercialise their content. I am confident, Madam, that when the Creators' Space opens later this year, we will inspire more Singaporeans to create original content for consumers not only in Singapore, but around the world.
Finally, Madam, to encourage early to mid-career Singaporeans to take ownership of their own skills upgrading, we will give out more than 300 SkillsFuture Study Awards by this time next year to support Singaporeans' aspirations in the infocomm media and design sectors. Recipients will receive a monetary award of $5,000 which can be used to defray out-of-pocket expenses associated with the course that they will take.
Mdm Chair, we are making significant efforts to attract Singaporeans, both male and female, to careers in infocomm, media and design. We believe these sectors offer good careers. We also believe that it is essential that these sectors develop a strong Singapore Core of talent. We will succeed, if we can attract more Singaporeans with a passion for their craft.
People like Fadli bin Sidek, whom I met earlier this year at a SGfuture dialogue. Fadli developed an interest in cybersecurity very early in his teens. He tried to enrol in an IT course at a polytechnic but was unsuccessful. Undeterred, he pursued private courses in IT and infocomm security. He worked various jobs to pay off his study loans and to gain experience. Eventually, he managed to graduate with a degree in cyber forensics, information security management and business information systems. Today, he is Lead Intelligence Analyst at a cyber threat intelligence company.
Young Singaporeans like Fadli exemplify the spirit of SkillsFuture, and the new Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) will do all we can to help them. The Cyber Security Agency (CSA) will also help to nurture Singaporeans' interest and awareness of cybersecurity. I will now\ttalk more about our cybersecurity efforts.
Some hon Members have raised questions about cybersecurity. We established the CSA last year, as the national agency overseeing cybersecurity strategy, education and outreach and industry development. I am pleased to report that since its formation, we have made good progress.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked how we can ensure executives of firms in critical sectors and important industries are committed to cyber security. While bigger companies are better-equipped against cyber threats, cyber security is seldom a top priority. Businesses need to come around to the fact that cyber threats can hurt bottom lines. I am glad to share that CSA is working on an awareness programme to educate and sensitise the C-suite to potential cyber threats to their firms.
The hon Member also asked how cybersecurity awareness among individuals and businesses in Singapore is measured. Madam, IDA surveys companies and individuals annually on the infocomm security measures they adopt. In 2014, 94% of companies used virus-checking or protection software, while 81% of home Internet users had anti-virus software installed on their computers. These figures are encouraging, but there is always room for improvement, especially as the threats grow more complex.
CSA advocates a multifaceted approach to cybersecurity, including risk-based mitigation, early detection and robust response. Cross-sector responses are coordinated between CSA and other sectors to mitigate widespread cyberattacks. Ms Sun Xueling and Mr Vikram Nair asked about how CSA has worked with critical sectors to ensure resilience against cyberattacks.
CSA works closely with critical sectors to assess the critical infrastructure for vulnerabilities, taking a cybersecurity-by-design approach. This ensures, Madam, that security capabilities and measures are in place to detect, respond to and recover from cyber threats. To strengthen cyber resilience, CSA also conducts cybersecurity exercises with critical sectors.
Recently, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and I were present at CSA's multisector exercise, codenamed Exercise Cyber Star. This exercise gave us the opportunity to evaluate the capabilities of CSA, the banking and finance, Government, energy and infocomm sectors in incident management as well as their operational processes and coordination functions in a simulated cyberattack. I was pleased to observe that all parties worked well together. The exercise also saw a good demonstration of CSA's ability to mobilise resources and experts from across multiple sectors to address a crisis.
The successful conclusion of Cyber Star marked CSA's achievement of initial operational capability. CSA will continue its close collaboration with various partners, including Government agencies, to better respond to cyberattacks and proceed with its plans to further build up its capabilities.
However, as Members have pointed out, cyber threats are borderless. There are many international efforts that Singapore is involved in to strengthen cybersecurity cooperation, such as the ASEAN Computer Emergency Response Team Incident Drill and the ASEAN Regional Forum Seminar on operationalising cyber confidence-building measures. Last year, CSA also signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the UK, France and India to strengthen international cyber security cooperation.
Apart from building up the CSA's capabilities, we also intend to review the policy and legislative framework for cybersecurity. This is especially important as we move towards building Singapore as a Smart Nation and I thank the Members of the House who have asked about the proposed cybersecurity legislation.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Mr Vikram Nair also asked how the legislation will complement the powers in the existing Computer Misuse and Cyber Security Act (CMCA). Mdm Chair, CMCA grants powers for law enforcement agencies to investigate and apprehend individuals or entities behind cybercrime. However, cyberattacks have increased in sophistication and attackers have become faster and bolder. It is inevitable that Singapore's critical information infrastructure will, at some point, be targets. The interconnectivity in our networks also means that the effects of cyberattacks can be contagious.
Globally, governments have been strengthening their cybersecurity legislation. In Germany, a law was passed last year to enforce minimum cybersecurity standards for critical infrastructure operators. It also mandates the reporting of significant cybersecurity incidents. Last December, the US government approved the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, to facilitate the sharing of cyber threat information. The law also protects information sources from being sued.
We need to likewise strengthen Singapore's cybersecurity legislation. We will commence work on developing a standalone Cyber Security Act that provides for stronger and more proactive powers
Mr Christopher de Souza, during the Budget debate, asked for an update on the timeline. Madam, CSA will consult stakeholders on the scope of this new Bill. Broadly speaking, the Bill will ensure that operators take proactive steps to secure our critical information infrastructure and report incidents. It will also empower CSA to manage cyber incidents and raise the standards of cybersecurity providers in Singapore. We look forward to Members supporting the Bill when it is tabled in Parliament in 2017.
Madam, to sum up, we are stepping up our efforts to enhance our cybersecurity and also the resilience of our infrastructure. This is the necessary foundation for a successful digital economy. We are also ramping up our efforts to grow a strong Singapore Core in the infocomm, media and design sectors, sectors that offer good jobs for Singaporeans, and also play an important role in helping to transform the rest of the economy towards an innovation-led growth.
The Chairman: Mr Zaqy Mohamad.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Mdm Chair, as Singapore embarks on our Smart Nation initiative, it is imperative that we must have public wi-fi that is more pervasive and faster. Many developed cities, such as New York, Seoul and Tokyo, are also investing in their public wi-fi infrastructure.
I would like to ask the Ministry to consider enhancing our Wireless@SG network to improve connectivity for our people in our push for a Smart Nation. Today's Wireless@SG speeds are slower in performance than what our 4G mobile networks provide.
Given our high penetration of smartphones among the population, this is also an opportunity to connect citizens with real-time data and sensor networks that will benefit them in areas such as transport and retail. An enhanced wireless infrastructure will also boost our workforce engaged in entrepreneurial or freelance opportunities.
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Mdm Chairperson, the withdrawal of second-generation (2G) phone services by April 2017 will affect up to 250,000 individuals, in particular the elderly who seek a basic device for their use and foreign workers who rely on the cheapest handsets. Customers are also likely to pay more when they transit from 2G pre-paid plans after April 2017. It is known that seven out of 10 of the 250,000 affected individuals are on pre-paid plans.
Can the Minister share how many elderly Singaporeans are represented in this group? Can I enquire if IDA will consider working with the three telecoms companies (telcos) to consider a special upgrade or rebate voucher for elderly Singaporeans on pre-paid plans who would likely see higher bills after April 2017? What is the anticipated percentage of the rise in their bills after the withdrawal of this service? Can the Minister also explain how the Silver Infocomm Initiative has been rolled out and implemented to assist elderly Singaporeans who would be affected by this transition?
In addition, are the outreach efforts available in Chinese dialects and the vernacular languages, such as Malay and Tamil, as well since our elderly comprise a very diverse group?
Ms Chia Yong Yong (Nominated Member): Madam, technology is a powerful enabler. Despite medical advancements, the number of persons with functional disabilities, whether congenital or acquired, will increase.
As Singapore ramps up its drive to be a Smart Nation, it is critical that we integrate considerations of the needs of persons with functional disabilities in the planning process. Beyond infrastructural cost savings and business efficiency, Smart Nation can play a critical role in homecare and healthcare support and disability intervention and mitigation right from our homes, offices and community spaces, as well as mainstream integration of persons with functional disabilities and limitations.
In this connection, can the Government give an update of the integration on such considerations? More than Smart Nation, let it be an instrument for One Nation.
The Chairman: Mr Saktiandi Supaat, you have three cuts, please take them together.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat: Thank you, Mdm Chair. I start, first, with ICT infrastrcuture. Having a pervasive public wi-fi network is becoming expected of smart cities. Many cities like Taipei, Helsinki and New York are investing heavily in free public wi-fi. Link New York City (LinkNYC), an infrastructure project designed to create a network to cover NYC with free wi-fi service, was rolled out at the end of last year. It has been lauded for its gigabit speed Internet that will be available from 7,500 hotspots all over the city. Singapore could do well to benefit from an extensive and high-quality wi-fi network in our push to become a smart nation.
As wi-fi becomes increasingly important to tourists, public wi-fi capabilities would also be a point of attraction in our endeavours to boost our tourism sector. Currently, Wireless@SG network is available for free until 31 March 2017. Will this deadline be extended? How does the Government or MCI intend to enhance our Wireless@SG network?
Madam, I shall take the second and third cuts together. Innovation and technology are increasingly crucial for productivity in all sectors and in enhancing the quality of life. We are now in the era that celebrates digital innovation and automated services.
The Government has made a sound investment with its commitment of $19 billion to a five-year plan for research and development (R&D). How does the Ministry intend to tap on this fund to develop Singapore's digital innovation capabilities in the Services and Digital Economy (SDE) domain?
The Committee on the Future Economy was launched earlier this year, and corporate capabilities and innovation are among the key areas it will explore. Given that technology will undeniably be one of the key drivers of the future, how does the Ministry envision technology shaping Singapore's future economy? How will businesses be affected and how are they expected to adapt?
The Chairman: Minister of State Janil Puthucheary.
The Minister of State for Communications and Information (Dr Janil Puthucheary): Mdm Chair, digital technology is changing and at the same time driving change at an astounding pace. Many view these developments with anxiety: will a machine take over my work? Will social media divide society? Will I be left behind as technology progresses? Is cyberspace safe?
We cannot ignore such concerns. We cannot pretend that as a small, open country, we can shield ourselves from these forces. The only way ahead is to prepare for the threats and opportunities and to try to be the disruptor rather than the disrupted.
This is what being a Smart Nation is about: we have a national plan. We will develop, deploy and exploit digital technology. We will secure the future of our jobs and drive the transformation of our quality of life. We will maintain the cohesiveness of our society, and our relevance to the rest of the world. To succeed, everyone needs to come together: citizens, companies and the Government.
What can the Government do to enable this vision of a Smart Nation? Three things: first, we must build a first-class infrastructure for pervasive, seamless and high-speed connectivity to benefit citizens and businesses. Second, the Government must lead in the use of technology for our daily business: to serve people, make policy, plan ahead. Finally, we need to nurture research and innovation to build new solutions, create and capture value.
First, let me speak on connectivity. I thank Assoc Prof Randolph Tan, Mr Saktiandi Supaat and Mr Zaqy Mohamad for their questions about Wireless@SG. It is already faster than most public wi-fi services around the world. But demand is increasing and so we will increase its speed from the current two megabits per second (Mbps) to five Mbps This is faster than existing 3G speeds. It will be more than enough to surf the web and stream high-definition videos. Also, we will double the number of Wireless@SG hotspots from 10,000 to 20,000 across Singapore by 2018.
In doing so, we will focus on public places, such as community clubs, hospitals, polyclinics, Government service centres, Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations, hawker centres, voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs), retail and tourist spaces. This will increase the penetration and pervasiveness of Wireless@SG. Already today, our hotspots-to-population ratio is second only to Tokyo. Our efforts and investments will help Singaporeans stay more connected. We will continue to support this programme for as long as necessary because we need the wireless ecosystem to develop into one that is vibrant and self-sustaining.
It is not the connectivity that makes us smart; it is what we do with it. We need businesses to ride on our network to build and deploy new products and services, as alluded to by Assoc Prof Randolph Tan. There are already new players in the market taking advantage of the open access mandate in broadband infrastructure. They provide a new range of products and services, such as real-time surveillance and time-critical financial data. Operators can also use Wireless@SG to offer improved services, such as cashless payment and location-based analytics. All these benefit consumers, businesses, and productivity.
We are forming the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) to drive transformation in the Government and to use digital technology to serve citizens better and improve our processes.
One of the immediate responsibilities for GovTech is to roll out the Smart Nation Platform. Today, each Government agency collects their own data, deploys their own sensors and develops their own applications. This slows innovation and increases costs. The Smart Nation Platform will provide a shared sensor communication platform for the whole-of-Government to allow collection, sharing and analysis of different types of data to benefit all.
The first phase of Smart Nation Platform development and deployment is already under way, covering high traffic areas in the city and Yuhua. The first priorities for using the data will be transport and security. Working with the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA), we will be using the Smart Nation Platform video sensors and analytics to enable incident detection, vehicle count, speed analysis and crowd sensing. We want to use the data to reduce crowdedness, improve bus waiting times and improve comfort.
This citizen-centric impact is what we want to achieve, and the Smart Nation Platform is not just a bunch of devices but a way for different agencies to come together, and put citizens at the centre, build and share innovations that will serve people better. This is what GovTech is all about and I am confident that we can achieve this vision, with the support of all agencies.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked how we intend to develop Singapore's digital innovation capabilities under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2020. Out of the $19-billion fund announced by Prime Minister Lee earlier this year, $400 million will go to support the Services and Digital Economy (SDE) domain to drive research and innovation for our Smart Nation.
A new Smart Systems Strategic Research Programme (SS SRP) will be launched this month. This is a collaboration among MCI, the Smart Nation Programme Office (SNPO) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) and will have two strategic imperatives: first, to support the development of digital technology in areas that affect citizens the most, such as transport, health and service productivity; and second, to build capabilities in platform technologies to open up possibilities for innovation in many different fields. Examples are sensor communications, 3D geospatial science and cybersecurity.
Globally, digital services were projected to have generated approximately US$1 trillion in revenues last year. We want Singapore business to share in this, to be part of this and to drive this. With these investments and plans, we can make sure that we give our businesses every opportunity to be part of the global action.
For example, leveraging on Singapore's access to Asian languages, Dr Li Haizhou from A*STAR's Institute for Infocomm Research is leading an international effort with over 27 countries to develop a multi-lingual speech translation service over the Internet. This will enable 95% of the world's population to communicate with one another. This is an example of our competitive advantage as a result of the people that we have, the place that we occupy in the world, and the opportunities available to individuals, enterprises and academia here in Singapore.
The public sector can be the enabler and catalyst, but it is the private sector that needs to lead in innovation, to bring ideas from the research lab to the market, to deal with the disruption and be disruptors themselves. I am working together with representatives from the technology sector, such as Mr Caesar Sengupta, who is the Vice President of Google located here in Singapore, together with a group under the Committee on the Future Economy, to examine the impact of disruptive technologies on our economy and to come up with some recommendations for the Government, private enterprises and individual citizens.
We will look at how technology presents opportunities to re-engineer our business processes for better outcomes, leveraging on Singapore's competitive advantages, for example, our high level of connectivity, very high rate of literacy, as well as technological literacy and the high level of trust that exists in the Singapore brand name.
At the same time, we must anticipate risks from new technologies, such as the threats to traditional businesses and jobs from automation. We must find ways to ease the transition for our people into new jobs and allow them to thrive in future work environments.
We have a vibrant startup ecosystem but, to seize the opportunities out there, this ecosystem needs to grow. Last year, Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd (IIPL) set up a startup space called BASH, which stands for Build Amazing Startups Here. And we did. BASH has built 65 amazing start-ups in the one year that it has been operating. Across the whole of Singapore, IIPL has accelerated about 230 startups, including the 65 from BASH.
We have found that our strategies also increase the survival rate of our startups. Lots of startup ideas exist and there is a lot of initial excitement, but a key part of the process is the ability of the startup to get past the initial stage and attract further follow-on funding and investment. The survival rate, under our strategy, has increased significantly from 10% to more than 60%. Most have chosen to be based in Singapore, and, in turn, create jobs for Singaporeans.
This achievement would not be possible without a growing number of Singaporeans who are offering their time and expertise to help other aspiring entrepreneurs. One example is Teik Guan. He was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of DS3, a Singapore-based company, before he moved on to Gemalto, a digital security MNC. He decided to make a mid-career change this year and became a full-time mentor at BASH. With his rich experience, he has been an extremely valuable resource for promising young entrepreneurs. He is advising several startups on issues like optimising shareholding, identifying good business channels and improving their business strategies.
Thanks to such efforts, the quality of our startups is improving. More and more homegrown startups are developing products that could potentially transform their sectors. I would like to highlight one example. It is a programme called Jaga-Me. A graduate of IIPL's pre-acceleration programme, Jaga-Me is a local startup that connects patients and their families with quality home nursing services on-demand. In doing so, it helps families to manage the stress of caregiving.
The success of our Smart Nation will ultimately depend on the choices that we all make. For BASH, their secret is experienced mentors like Teik Guan who wants to nurture the next batch of entrepreneurs. The Government also needs people with the technical skills and the passion to serve. So, IDA has launched the Smart Nation Fellowship Programme last month. This programme invites experienced Singaporean tech professionals to come into the Government and deliver meaningful digital and data solutions for citizens. In the first three days alone, we received about 100 applications, many of them working in top software firms, an overwhelming response.
IDA has also pioneered a Technology Associates Programme to build a pipeline of technology leaders and experts for the Government through training and mentorship. Over 350 applications were received for 15 spots under this programme. Technology Associates have worked on projects such as the Business Grants portal announced by Minister Heng Swee Keat in the Budget and the online Student Learning Space being developed by the Ministry of Education (MOE). I am glad to see Singaporeans responding enthusiastically, not just to the Nerf Guns but also to our call to action to come and build our Smart Nation together.
Even if you choose not to join the Government or work at BASH, there is a lot to do. If you like to play with data or programme an app, visit our open data portal. The url link is data.gov.sg. We revamped it last year to make our data clearer and more meaningful. It is also machine-readable and, so, easier for anyone to use it to develop their own ideas and products.
Here is a map from data.gov.sg that allows you to make a comparison among the telecom operators by region. [A slide was shown to hon Members.] If you click on the different hexagons or type in the address, you will be able to compare the speeds of the different operators at the places that you are interested in. We want to make data open, accessible and easy to use. We want to encourage all the innovators out there to create something useful on top of our data, maximise its value for the public or do something just for the fun of it.
This is what the digital platform must do: bring us together as a people, each contributing our knowledge and experience in small and big ways and to be of service to one another.
This is also why it is important that we take an inclusive approach as we take on the challenges and opportunities of the digital revolution and help one another adapt to the inevitable change.
Some disruptions are easier to manage, such as the cessation of 2G mobile services that Mr Pritam Singh highlighted. This is not expected to affect many people, as 2G subscriptions comprise less than 3% of the total mobile subscriptions in Singapore today. The bulk of them are not senior citizens, but rather foreigners living in Singapore, corporate users and prepaid users. IDA is working with mobile operators to help them migrate smoothly to 3G and 4G networks. I would like to reassure Mr Singh, and I hope he will help me reassure them, that they can continue with their existing 2G subscriptions at current prices on the 3G network, until they choose to change or upgrade their plans.
Other issues need more deliberate action, like bridging the digital divide. We must ensure that no segment of the community is excluded from computer and Internet connectivity, especially low-income households, the elderly and people with special needs. We have, to date, connected more than 29,000 low-income households since 2006. Internet usage by our seniors aged 50 and above has also increased significantly from 33% in 2012 to 51% in 2014.
I would like to assure Mr Pritam Singh again, for our Silver Infocomm Programme, our digital inclusion programme, they are available in vernacular languages. I attended a very nice multigenerational boot camp in Punggol East together with Mr Charles Chong and there were 10-year-old Primary 4 students training the people of their grandparents' age on how to access the various programmes on Toggle, how to do their online banking, and they were doing so in a mixture of English, Malay, Mandarin and Hokkien. It was really a very interesting experience.
Getting people online is only the start. Serving them online is just as important. Today, Government websites are held to standards by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for use by people with disabilities. But we are not satisfied to stop here and are looking at how e-Government services can be designed to better serve all Singaporeans, especially the elderly and people with special needs.
We also use technology in other ways. For example, the recent Budget 2016 speech had \"live\" captioning to enable the hearing-impaired and the deaf community to have direct access to the Budget speech.
Ms Chia Yong Yong mentioned the Enabling Village. This helps people with disabilities live and work independently using infocomm and assistive technology. This is Nur Madiah Hidayah Lim. [A slide was shown to hon Members.] She is 34 years old and born without limbs. She has benefited from some of the technology-driven programmes and devices we have put in place, and through SG Enable's Programme at Tech Able, she is now working as part of our digital economy. She has benefited from Tech Able and is now an active contributor to our digital economy, having found a job in SingTel as a Call Centre Operator.
Mdm Chair, in conclusion, the world faces an uncertain and anxious time ahead, but it is also a time full of surprises, potential and opportunity. Smart Nation is a rallying call to the Government, industry and all our citizens, and all of us need to work hand in hand and seize these possibilities. We will need to take risks and be prepared for change and keep a look out for one another. Smart Nation is not about building technology. It is about us and the relationships we build with one another, as one people.
The Chairman: Mr Vikram Nair.
Mr Vikram Nair: The Ministry's support for public sector broadcasting has played an important role in keeping local content alive on television in Singapore.
Local content has faced increasing competition. First, in cable channels. Now, the media landscape is set to change again; Netflix appears to be coming on the scene. This is likely to provide even more competition to our local content. Our local content has survived the challenge of cable TV; the question remains whether or not it is going to survive the challenge of Netflix. I would be interested to know if the Ministry has any ideas on how we might help local PSB content remain relevant and interesting to Singaporeans to keep up with these new entrants.
In this regard, I would also be interested to know the details about the Ministry's review of Okto and Channel U. Besides the reviews to these channels, what improvements can be made to public service broadcasting (PSB) content on the vernacular channels?
Mr Darryl David: Mdm Chair, to say that the TV landscape has changed in the past couple of years is an understatement. Indeed, there is an increasing number of viewers who no longer even use an actual TV set to consume their content. Mobile phones, tablets, laptops, personal computer (PC) monitors, these are the screens that are becoming more popular. There are also new players entering the market, new genres of programmes and new production models as well. Anyone who understands the references to \"House of Cards\" and \"Orange is the New Black\" will know what I am talking about.
Yet, in this landscape, I agree with my Parliamentary colleague, Mr Vikram Nair, that we cannot ignore the need for public service broadcasting (PSB). Like Mr Nair, I would like to ask what the Ministry is doing to ensure that PSB remains relevant and continues to capture Singapore viewers, in particular, the young.
I also have another question for the Ministry whether they would consider extending PSB funding to more media organisations and companies if they meet the PSB criteria?
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Mdm Chair, the arrival of digital broadcasting in Singapore and the adoption of the Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Terrestrial (DVB-T2) broadcast standard, which boasts higher efficiency, robustness and flexibility, will free up some valuable spectrum when the analogue broadcast is finally switched off.
I call upon the regulatory authority to relocate some of this spectrum to support the schools and the arts community under the Public Service Broadcast (PSB) framework. The programming for this dedicated free-to-air channel should be supported and managed by the respective stakeholders.
The local theatre and performing arts scene could use a fully funded free-to-air arts channel to help artistes and performers promote their work and labour of love beyond the limited coverage given by the state-owned media.
The National Arts Council (NAC) said on its website that it celebrates excellence in the arts, and it will work to make it accessible to all. DVB-T2 will allow the vision to become a reality because everyone can have access to free-to-air channels using the mobile device in his or her hand.
Madam, how many times have we seen sports events in our school covered in our free-to-air channels in the course of an academic year? The sports scene in our school will certainly breathe a new lease of life and excitement if such competitive events are covered and broadcast on free-to-air PSB channels. Such programmes can be produced and directed by the many arts and communications students in our polytechnics and universities as part of their curriculum and training. I believe our students would love to take on the challenge to produce such programmes and have their production carried on free-to-air channels. The experience these students acquire in the course of doing that is immeasurable.
The arrival of digital broadcasting in Singapore presents a wonderful opportunity for regulators and policymakers to deepen the skillsets of our own talents and broaden the scope of our expertise to become a media hub in the region. It also presents an opportunity for regulators to widen the PSB Framework to include areas which were not given much attention in the past.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Madam, the entry of new players in recent years such as Netflix and Spotify into our media landscape has provided citizens with more options in entertainment. Today, our media content producers and broadcasters, predominantly Mediacorp and StarHub, provide public service broadcasting to Singaporeans. Can the Ministry elaborate on its plans to ensure that the public service broadcast (PSB) will continue to reach out to Singaporeans in this new digital landscape?
As our public service broadcasters face greater competition, what are the Ministry's strategies to ensure that they remain competitive and continue to provide local content to compete more effectively against more sophisticated media players that have global reach and economies of scale?
I agree with hon Member Darryl David, and also Alfred Hitchcock as well, that the good movies and good TV programmes start with the script, the script and the script. So, can the Ministry consider a special scheme to have our PSB operators bring in good scriptwriters or screenwriters to mentor our local content providers as well as, in the short term, uplift the quality of local content? Is the Ministry considering adding more local players such as Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) or SingTel, or others who meet the requirements, to further develop the PSB options for Singaporeans? What are the Ministry's plans to enhance the use of social and digital media as channels for PSB?
Today, our public service broadcasters also provide avenues for developing local talent. PSB providers, therefore, become a platform to grow local talent, strengthen our production capabilities and, hopefully, some may become world beaters. Therefore, I hope that through PSB, the Government will also place a strong emphasis on investing in our local talent pool and ensure that the sector continues to provide good jobs and opportunities for all.
Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin (Nominated Member): I declare my interest as a co-founder of a media production agency. I never thought much about Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) until I thought about how we can use it to help disrupt the poverty cycle here. In the 1980s, two psychologists investigated why Head Start, America's programme for uplifting poor children, was having limited success. They discovered that richer parents spend more time reading and talking with their children than poorer parents do. That means that by the time both the poor kid and the rich kid hit four years old, there is a 32-million-word gap that exists between them. And the gap is not just in number, but tone, complexity and type of words as well. I do not have the Singapore statistics, but I am betting we will see similar patterns.
Research shows that many children in our poorest households stay at home because going out costs their parents too much money and inconvenience. These kids attend preschool inconsistently and cannot go for enrichment classes like their richer peers. So, they spend their time watching Youtube and TV at home. Our PSB funding can be so much more deliberate in what social good it can achieve.
Growing income and educational inequality is a real problem here. What if we carved out some of our PSB funds to create programmes for TV and Youtube that focused on closing this 32-million word gap? Could the funds encourage producers to collaborate with educators and researchers to deliver innovative children's programmes guided by educational curriculum? What if we also asked for a cast that reflected racial and socioeconomic diversity and a show that promotes empathy and even very basic bilingualism?
If you think that sounds way too idealistic or boring, it has actually been done before to tremendous effect. It is called Sesame Street. Sesame Street was born in 1969 as an experiment designed to prepare poor pre-schoolers for school. It was the first time a children's TV show was not just co-created with educators, but simultaneously monitored by researchers. Its producers developed the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) model, a system of TV show planning, production and evaluation based on collaborations among producers, writers, educators, and researchers. Its positive impact on education of kids in America and all around the world has been well documented. It is regarded by some as the most cost-effective and impactful early childhood education intervention ever implemented in the US, and it was essentially the first massive open online course freely available for children.
The world has not seen another Sesame Street. But maybe now is the time for one to rise in Asia, and I think Singapore is a perfect place to give it a go. Let it be a gift, not just for the poor in our own country, but to Asia and the world.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Public expectations of Government communications have heightened, with increased scrutiny on how the Government postures and positions policies. In our diverse society, the Government needs to customise its approach in communicating policies and handling crises, especially to its intended target segments.
The Pioneer Generation Package campaign was a good example of how the Government showed much flexibility in its communications across channels, be it on TV, video and publicity material on the ground, customising the approaches to engage different races and age groups, even selling its messages in dialect.
There are many schemes covered in this Budget, and how each citizen will benefit from it will vary. How can the Government leverage its experience with the Pioneer Generation Package and extend it to simplify the communications on more complex policies such as MediShield Life, CPF LIFE and the many different housing schemes being rolled out? How about Budget 2016?
We must make simplifying our complex policies a habit in our communications, so that the ordinary citizen can easily \"get it\" and be clear on the benefits, rationale and trade-offs in each of our policies.
Commercial service providers today and also applications are increasingly moving towards personalisation, targeted outreach and being able to push recommendations in how their products are being marketed. Will the Government go the same way to reach each Singaporean in his or her mode of communications, be it email, short message service (SMS), mailers, booths or even adverts on the street? Ultimately, can the Ministry share how it plans to further strengthen public communications to reach different groups of Singaporeans more effectively?
Mr Ong Teng Koon (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Mdm Chair, we live in the era of mass communications where broadcasting has been democratised and every individual can now have his or her voice heard online.
The old channels of television, radio and newspapers face unprecedented competition and are struggling to maintain their audience. This proliferation of media has made Government communications more and more challenging. Whereas in the past, there were only a few channels that were consumed by the vast majority, we now instead have an intricate tapestry of different media, each targeting a different audience.
At the same time, the audience has become more and more discerning and demanding. No longer forced to accept whatever was delivered to them, they now pick and choose what they watch or listen to.
In our diverse society, it is clear that a one-size-fits-all approach to communications no longer works. A successful communications strategy must tailor both message and medium for the intended audience. The days of one message being broadcast on one or two channels are gone, and winning in the future will require the ability to tailor \"narrowcasts\" for specific audiences, when necessary
Recognising these challenges, the Government has already rolled out several communications initiatives, including the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP) campaign. This cleverly use different forms of communications that were designed to gain the attention of the elderly, for example, by using Teochew opera.
Can the Ministry share how it plans to further strengthen public communications to reach different groups of Singaporeans more effectively?
Singapore is a multi-lingual society. Combined with an ageing population, the need for quality translations is more crucial than ever. Can the Ministry provide an update on the work of the National Translation Committee (NTC) to meet this need in the long term?
Mr Vikram Nair: Mdm Chair, in Tamil.
(In Tamil): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The National Translation Committee (NTC) was set up in 2014 to improve the quality of translations across the whole of Government. However, the Tamil community is one of the smallest and we often get feedback on issues with Tamil translations. I suspect this also has to do with resource constraints. Are there any plans to improve the quality of Tamil translations services?
Dr Teo Ho Pin (Bukit Panjang): Madam, quality design will increase the functional lifespan, customers' satisfaction and the competitiveness of products, systems and services of firms. Quality design can also be a strategic tool to help firms to expand their businesses globally and develop a Singapore brand.
Madam, Singapore is known to the world for being a \"clean and green\" garden city. Our city, town and community planning have won many accolades. Over the years, we have planned and developed Singapore into a liveable and lovable city where our people enjoy a good quality of life.
Madam, I support the five strategic thrusts of the Design 2025 Masterplan namely: (a) infuse design into our national skillset; (b) expand role of design in businesses and Government; (c) strengthen the competitiveness of design firms; (d) bring design into the community; and (e) develop the Singapore Design brand.
Madam, I wish to ask the Ministry the following questions. One, what are the desired outcomes and key performance indicators of the Design 2025 Masterplan? Two, what is the role of design in fulfilling the aspirations of Singapore to be a Smart Nation? Three, what plans are in place to expand Singapore Design Mark (SG-Mark) globally?
The Chairman: Mr Darryl David, you have two cuts. Please take them together.
Mr Darryl David: Thank you, Madam. Madam, before I begin, I would like to declare that I am part of the Management at the School of Design in Temasek Polytechnic.
Madam, Singapore has increasingly recognised the significance of design and the creative industries as an important growth factor. We have continued to grow the Singapore design brand globally, culminating in 2015 when Singapore was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Design.
Today, more and more businesses, even in traditionally non-design fields, are utilising design strategies and design thinking toolkits in planning better customer experiences and product innovations. My own experience as an educator and part of the team at the School of Design in Temasek Polytechnic has reinforced how critical it is to embed design awareness and appreciation into young people as a whole.
My Parliamentary colleague, Dr Teo Ho Pin already mentioned the Design 2025 Masterplan, which is the way forward for the design and creative industries and has mapped out several strategic thrusts and focus areas. I would like to pay attention to the recommendation to infuse and build a greater sense of aesthetics and design awareness in the young. While this is commendable and desirable, I hope that the Ministry could share their plans on how they intend to move this forward.
Given the already highly packed school curriculum geared towards high-stakes exams, design studies and design appreciation should not be tagged on as an afterthought, or be perceived as an unnecessary addition to the already heavy load our young students bear. In fact, I believe it should be integrated as seamlessly as possible, through lively discussions and exposure to arts, popular culture, photography, film, fashion, architecture and so on. The dialogue with design begins at the primary school level at least and should continue into the later years.
I believe this is important as this exposure to design and design thinking should be for all students and not just for those who want to pursue a career in the creative industries. Having such an early foundation produces curious and innovative thinkers who are analytical, bold, experimental and expressive, skillsets that would serve them well in this 21st century world. This would perhaps lead to the creativity and innovation of our society that my Parliamentary colleague, Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin, was talking about in her earlier Budget debate speech.
Finally, to raise the bar for design professionals entering the industry, we should take a closer look at design education in our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) as it is now, and to boldly seek ways to approach this differently and creatively.
Madam, my experience in design education has taught me that design should be taught differently from other courses in business, engineering, ICT and so on. There should not be a one-size-fits-all approach to design education and greater autonomy should be given to design schools to shape their own pedagogy, for example, the formation of smaller class sizes. I know we talked about class sizes in the COS debate when the Minister for Education spoke. I do not want to go into this now, but suffice to say that, coming from the ground, it does make a difference when you teach subjects like design to have smaller class sizes – admission based more on aptitude, passion and interest than aggregate at the various entry points; and the recruitment of design lecturers from the pool of design practitioners based on skill sets and experience, rather than educational and academic qualifications. I sincerely hope that MCI will engage MOE and various other stakeholders in a deeper discussion to make all these aspects of design education realistically possible.
The next area to consider, then, is accreditation. With the many design courses in the market and so many education providers, professional accreditation and benchmarking are important to maintain standards in the industry. For example, right now, anyone with a bit of aesthetic-sense can call themselves an interior designer. I understand that the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects (SILA) has taken a step forward towards accreditation for landscape architects. Can the Ministry provide an update on the plans for possible design accreditation for other sectors in the design industry?
Madam, I will next focus on promoting a reading culture in our society. Copious amounts of research have shown that reading is critical to children's neural, intellectual and even socio-cultural development. Reading also introduces children to magical worlds of adventure and fantasy that allows them to develop creatively.
I would just like to ask the Ministry if we can do more to nurture a love for reading, not just among the young in our schools, but also for young adults, adults and even seniors, and possibly across different languages as well.
Ms Sun Xueling: Mdm Chair, in a recent survey by the National Arts Council, less than half of the Singaporeans surveyed had read a literary book between March 2014 and March 2015, and a large proportion of the people surveyed preferred online pursuits to reading books. In fact, tiny bursts of information in the form of short Facebook posts, Instagram pictures and Twitter, have dominated the communication of ideas, and reading a book almost seems to run counter to the trend in the age of instantaneous gratification and information.
But reading has a part to play in our drive for creativity and innovation. In the bestseller \"Natural History of Innovation\", the author, Steven Johnson, discusses the role serendipity plays in innovation and identifies reading as one of the best ways to cultivate serendipity. He suggests that the accidental combination of ideas that powers serendipity requires an abundance of ideas and for them to reside in one's memory waiting for an instance to associate with one another.
Reading plays a key role in transmitting ideas to the reader and, where there is opportunity to read a variety of books over a compressed period of time, creates possibilities of serendipitous collisions among the ideas of different book authors. It is interesting that the founder of Facebook and promoter of bite-sized information bits, Mark Zuckerberg, has set up a Facebook book club and, to quote him: \"My challenge for 2015 is to read a new book every other week, with an emphasis on learning about different cultures, beliefs, histories and technologies\".
Given the importance of reading, can we kick-start a reading movement and have role models share the impact that reading has on their lives? Further, to increase the marketing of reading, I would like to enquire if there can be pockets of smaller libraries so as to capture mindshare. I understand that the Ministry has a current planning parameter for a library to every 150,000 residents.
But for new estates like Punggol, which has many residents with young children, proximity to libraries is important. Further, young residents would greatly benefit from earlier access to libraries.
Can the Ministry consider supporting community children's libraries or building interim container libraries, such as the one in Sengkang, so that young residents can have earlier access to books?
Mr Ong Teng Koon: Mdm Chair, we celebrated SG50 last year and have seen how important it is to have a good understanding of our own history and nation-building efforts. One can only truly value how far we have come by understanding where we came from and how we did so. At the same time, the rapid changes in Singapore's urban landscape can create the impression that everything is new and temporary and that our heritage has been sacrificed in the name of progress. How are we riding the wave of increased interest in Singapore's history brought about by the SG50 celebrations?
Since 2011, the Singapore Memory Project movement has helped to generate significant public interest in our history as a people. I am sure the National Library Board (NLB) can accomplish much more with the help of the community. How could we build upon this momentum and encourage more Singaporeans to contribute and enrich NLB's collections of our history and heritage?
In this digital age, the preservation of our heritage, be it pictures, videos, oral recordings or text, becomes easier, but also, in some ways, less tangible. Since there often is no physical object that the user can interact with in a tactile way, we need to combine technology with physical records, and this suggests a role for libraries and archives. What plans does the Ministry have for libraries and archives in nation-building?
The other challenge for nation-building efforts is the need to compete with all the other sources of information and entertainment out there. Most Singaporeans probably know more about other countries from watching travel documentaries than they do about the rich history of their home. For example, most Singaporeans are quite unaware that the National Archives holds a rich historical collection. We should help them discover this hidden treasure and enrich their understanding of the Singapore story. How would the National Archives improve public access to its heritage materials?
The Chairman: Minister of State Chee Hong Tat.
The Minister of State for Communications and Information (Mr Chee Hong Tat): Mdm Chair, I thank Members for their thoughtful suggestions. I will speak about MCI's priorities in three areas: strengthening Public Service Broadcasting (PSB), enhancing Government communications and translation, and expanding the role of design in our lives.
PSB is an important part of our lives. PSB programmes not only entertain and educate Singaporeans, they also reflect our societal values, celebrate our local heritage and help shape the Singapore identity. News and current affairs programmes keep Singaporeans well-informed about the world around us and unite Singaporeans with shared experiences. For instance, we mourned as one during the National Mourning week last year when our founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away. And we cheered with one heart during our SG50 National Day Parade.
Only locally produced PSB programmes can have such effects. Foreign programmes will not reflect our local values and culture. Through PSB programmes, our media industry players can tell the Singapore story from a Singaporean perspective and with a Singaporean heart.
That is why the Government has long supported PSB and, indeed, increased our funding for PSB in recent years. Like many other countries – Britain with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Japan with the Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK) – we recognise the importance of PSB.
In the last financial year, we provided $250 million of PSB funding, almost double the amount three years earlier. As Mr Ganesh Rajaram observed, this sustained investment has enabled Singaporeans to enjoy many more quality programmes over free-to-air TV and radio, as well as through online platforms like Toggle.
Let me share some examples. Channel 8's \"118\", which addresses social topics in a light-hearted way, reaches more than one million viewers every week. Channel 5's \"Tanglin\" is watched by more than 300,000 viewers. Suria and Vasantham have grown their viewership significantly in the last few years. I visited them recently and was impressed by how they have built strong relationships with their audiences, organising community roadshows so that the public can meet the stars in person.
Mr Darryl David asked if PSB funds support media organisations other than Mediacorp. The answer is yes. While most PSB programmes are produced by Mediacorp, a significant proportion is outsourced to independent production companies and will continue to be the case.
Since 2013, we have also set aside some PSB funding for independent producers. For instance, this has enabled companies, like WaWa Pictures, to produce shows like Crescendo, or 起飞. The show included a live xinyao concert for the public that was featured in the series' finale. Through this show, Singaporeans learnt about the development of xinyao and the Chinese music scene here.
I am encouraged by the progress that Mediacorp and our media companies have made. But the operating environment for our media companies is getting more challenging. Our viewers are consuming content from a variety of sources such as Netflix, iTunes, Spotify and many others. A few Members have spoken about this. Mr Ganesh Rajaram spoke about convergence. Indeed, we are facing that challenge. Free-to-air TV has to jostle to keep the attention of viewers.
Several other Members, including Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Mr Vikram Nair and Mr Darryl David, have also asked what we are doing to strengthen PSB in a digital age. We will strengthen PSB by focusing on three \"C\"s: content, channels and capabilities.
First, content. I have spoken about how additional investments in PSB have improved the quality of PSB content. We will not be able to match the budgets of blockbuster American productions like Game of Thrones, or Korean drama Descendants of the Sun. But we can find other innovative ways to attract viewers by producing quality local content by focusing on our cultural heritage and featuring interesting aspects of Singapore society.
We have had several of such well-received programmes. Mediacorp dramas like \"The Little Nyonya\" in the past and, more recently, excellent documentaries commissioned by Mediacorp like \"Wild City – Islands\" and \"All Access Changi\". These were produced by Beach House Pictures, an independent production company founded by Mr Donovan Chan and Ms Jocelyn Little in 2005.
This brings me to my second point – building strong capabilities. Media is a talent-driven and knowledge-based industry. PSB funding plays a useful role to support Mediacorp and local media companies to attract, train and retain their Singaporean talent.
Besides funding, we want to create opportunities for learning and collaboration. In May last year, we launched Fox Format Labs, a partnership between MDA and Fox International channels. Fox worked with five Singapore production companies to produce content for National Geographic Channel. Through the collaboration, our companies could screen their shows to an international audience.
Last December, MDA and HBO Asia announced a two-year collaboration to raise local capabilities in drama production. I am pleased that the industry has responded positively to our initiatives. Mr William Lim from Xtreme Media said this was \"exactly what local producers need\".
We must also continue to raise our capabilities in storytelling, set design and videography. When I visited the set of \"Tanglin\"¸ I met its group of talented scriptwriters. They work in a team, constantly learning from one another and also challenging one another to think of fresh ideas. Mediacorp also brought in Ms Kathleen Beedles as a consultant. She is a UK producer who has worked on several successful dramas like the long-running Emmerdale, which has been on the air in the UK since 1972. Working with somebody like Ms Beedles gave our local production team and our young talents opportunities to learn from experts in their field.
Third, we must proactively embrace new channels to reach audiences who are consuming news and entertainment through different media. Many Singaporeans today, especially the young, spend a lot of time online. So, PSB must extend its reach online to engage and connect with our audiences.
Mediacorp launched Toggle in 2013. Within three years, Toggle's viewership has grown eight times. The increase in viewership was especially significant after its relaunch in April 2015. I met the Toggle team during my visit to Mediacorp and congratulated them on their success. I also urged them to continue to look for innovative ways to increase Toggle's reach.
Toggle is a great platform to experiment with new concepts. Over the next two years, Toggle will release a slate of 11 original programmes aimed at younger viewers. The first, \"A Selfie's Tale\" by Oak3 Films, has done well so far with 600,000 views. PSB funds have also supported \"Pursuit of Champions\", a documentary about young Singaporean athletes, produced by The Moving Visuals. This programme is currently available on StarHub Go. Singapore Airlines also acquired the programme for its inflight entertainment, bringing local content to an international audience.
We must ensure that our channels remain relevant and can meet viewers' preferences. Mr Vikram Nair asked about Mediacorp's review of Okto and Channel U. Mediacorp is exploring the idea of positioning Okto as a channel focusing on children and young adults, as well as sports. We have been discussing with Mediacorp on the idea of including coverage for school sports. I think there is value to supporting quality PSB programmes for children, as Ms Kuik Shiao-Yin has suggested. We have a good local children's programme called \"Mat Yoyo\". It is now available in English.
As for Channel U, Mediacorp is examining ways to further enhance its Chinese content, which is currently delivered through Channel 8 and Channel U. Over the years, our vernacular channels have contributed significantly to the development of bilingualism here. They allow Singaporeans to stay connected to our language, culture and communities. Besides Chinese programming, we will also ensure that Suria and Vasantham have adequate resources to continue producing quality programmes to serve our different ethnic communities.
The successful transformation of PSB will require persistence and hard work. Our industry players like Mediacorp need to have a steadiness to ride through business cycles, and not allow short-term commercial ups and downs to affect the longer-term goals of producing good quality content, building strong capabilities and developing effective channels.
But the external environment is challenging. Public broadcasters in many countries face difficulties due to increased competition from online media and falling advertising revenue. Even BBC is not spared. It moved its youth-focused TV channel, BBC Three, entirely online. It also plans to overhaul its organisational structure in response to these challenges. Besides BBC, other public broadcasters like RTHK in Hong Kong and NOS in the Netherlands, also regularly review their structure, strategy and funding models.
This is why Mediacorp and its shareholder Temasek Holdings have decided to review Mediacorp's operations to better position the company for the future. The Government is fully supportive of this review and we will work closely with Mediacorp and Temasek Holdings in this effort. We want to help Mediacorp to further strengthen the three \"C\"s – content, capabilities and channels – so that the company can continue to do well as Singapore's national broadcaster and produce good quality local programmes for Singaporeans to enjoy for years to come.
Mdm Chair, I will now touch on the ongoing efforts to enhance Government communications and translation.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Mr Ong Teng Koon asked about further strengthening Government communications for different groups of Singaporeans. This is a priority for the Government. We believe communications is an integral part of policy formulation and implementation. We have built up stronger communication capabilities over the past few years. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on three areas: content, platforms and languages.
First, we need to create engaging content that can connect with Singaporeans. The most powerful and effective messages are simple to understand and contain a strong emotional element that people can relate to. MCI worked with Mr Jeff Cheong and his team from Tribal to pilot a new approach for our recent MediShield Life video, \"Love of a Lifetime\". Some of you may have watched it. It had one simple message – just as the love between a husband and wife is lifelong, so, too, is the lifelong coverage of MediShield Life. The video has garnered more than 4.5 million views on social media and was much talked about during Chinese New Year when it was launched.
Next, MCI will use multiple platforms and channels to reach different segments of the population. Last year, we revamped Gov.sg and optimised it for mobile devices because that is what more people are using these days. We are now looking at Instagram and Telegram to supplement our communications.
At the same time, we recognise that online platforms are not for everyone. Face-to-face interactions will continue to be a key part of Government communications. The human touch is important. A good example is how Pioneer Generation (PG) Ambassadors communicate with the elderly. This has been very effective. In 2015, awareness of the PG Package among Pioneers reached 96%.
We want to help our seniors to understand how they can benefit from different Government policies and measures. We can build on the PG Ambassadors network and expand it to reach more seniors beyond Pioneers and to explain a range of Government policies beyond the Pioneer Generation Package and MediShield Life.
Let me now touch on the importance of raising translation standards. I agree with Mr Ong Teng Koon that this is important to strengthen Government communication in Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
The National Translation Committee (NTC) has rolled out various initiatives in the past two years to strengthen translation capabilities in Singapore. For example, we started the Information Service (Translation) Scholarship to groom more translation talents for the future.
It is important to nurture passion from young and help our students to see the relevance of translation in their daily lives. We will work with schools and community partners to reach out to more young Singaporeans.
Mdm Chair, please allow me to now say a few words in Mandarin about the \"Community in Translation\" initiative.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Early this year, we launched the Community in Translation initiatives. Through this platform, we hope to plan and organise various activities together with the community to raise awareness and interest in translation among our young. Our ultimate goal is to groom more translation talents and raise our translation standards in Singapore.
This February, we held an English-to-Chinese translation workshop with the Ministry of Education (MOE). More than 100 secondary school students participated. More than 80% of the participants found the workshop useful, informative and fun. They felt that they acquired useful knowledge related to translation. We are delighted to know that some students indicated that they would continue to learn translation. We also plan to hold similar workshops and other translation-related activities in Malay and Tamil later this year.
Another community partnership event is the National Chinese Language Challenge 2016. So far, this programme has attracted more than 1,000 students. This event is currently ongoing and will conclude in April. As with the translation workshop, we are looking to expand this to Malay and Tamil and use creative methods to increase the interest in translation among our young.
(In English): Mr Vikram Nair asked what we can do to improve Tamil translations. Indeed, this topic was raised at a recent NTC meeting, as we had observed a number of Tamil translation errors in recent months. These were avoidable errors, and they should not have been made in the first place.
I have reminded all Government agencies that it is important to get their translations done properly, including Tamil translations. I have also asked NTC and its Tamil Resource Panel to conduct a systemic review and recommend areas for improvement. The review will be led by Parliament Interpreter Mr A Palaniappan, who is heading the Tamil Resource Panel. It will also involve other community leaders with expertise and passion in Tamil language and translation.
To our friends from the Tamil community, I would like to say: (In Tamil) Correct translation is our commitment! (சரியான மொழிபெயர்ப்பே, நமது கடப்பாடு!)
(In English): We are committed to doing better and getting our translations done correctly.
Let me conclude with my last topic on expanding the role of design in our lives. Dr Teo Ho Pin and Mr Darryl David asked about the Design 2025 Masterplan. Singapore's design firms have done well. Through the Masterplan, we want to support them further, so that they can grow and thrive beyond our shores.
One initiative is Design Accreditation. Since the launch of our accreditation programme for landscape architects last October, 120 have been accredited. About 80% of firms have at least one accredited Landscape Architect. Among them is Mr Franklin Po of Tierra Design, winner of the President's Design Award in 2015. Franklin is a Singaporean designer who used to work in the US before he returned to start Tierra Design. He is now developing other young designers in Singapore and giving them opportunities to work on different interesting projects.
We hope to have another 40 accredited landscape architects by the end of 2016. We also plan to expand the programme to include other design sectors, starting with interior designers, and urban designers and planners.
Another initiative is the Singapore Good Design Mark (SG Mark). This recognises exceptionally designed products and services that are developed in Singapore. In the last three years, SG Mark has gained considerable traction with our trade partners. We will work with the Design Business Chamber of Singapore to further establish SG Mark as a regional standard for good design.
As a major consumer of design services, the Government, too, can play a part by providing opportunities to design firms of all sizes to take part in Government projects. This way, promising local firms will get the chance to demonstrate their capabilities and build up their track records. When I met some of the local designers, they told me that such opportunities are more important and more valuable for them than Government grants.
We also want to involve our citizens and communities in the design process to co-create conducive spaces to live, work and play. In Yuhua, for example, the DesignSingapore Council is working with the Citizens' Consultative Committee to organise co-creation sessions for residents and community leaders. During these sessions, participants get to redesign and co-create programmes to engage their communities and enhance the experiences of residents.
This user-centric approach is key not only in design, but also in our journey towards a Smart Nation, as noted by Dr Teo Ho Pin. Design humanises technology and makes it smarter and more user-friendly.
Mr Darryl David mentioned that design is not only for designers. I agree with him. It is something that can benefit everyone and across different sectors. To infuse design into our national skill set, DesignSingapore will work with six secondary schools to pilot enrichment workshops in design thinking. Students can pick up design thinking skills and apply these in their projects. They may or may not become designers in the future, but we believe design thinking can benefit them and different aspects of their life. We will consider the suggestions from Mr Darryl David to further enhance our efforts to nurture a nation of creative thinkers from young.
Mdm Chair, I have covered three areas in my speech: the need to strengthen PSB; continuing to enhance Government communications and translation; and expanding the role of design in our lives.
To achieve these goals, the Government needs to work closely with our industry and community partners, so that together, we can create a better future for ourselves, our children and generations to come.
The Chairman: Minister Yaacob Ibrahim.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Madam, several Members have asked about the work of our libraries. I would now like to talk about our efforts to further inculcate the habit of reading and its impact on how we will continue developing and growing as a nation.
Madam, one of the most indispensable tools for learning in a knowledge economy is reading. We can read to learn, to broaden our minds and perspectives of the world around us, or simply for leisure and enjoyment. It can also be a means to open new doors and opportunities.
Last month, I attended an NLB SGFuture engagement session at the library@orchard and spoke with many participants there about reading. They shared very passionately about why they thought reading is important and how we can encourage more to read. One of the young adults at the session, in particular, had this to say, and I quote: \"I grew up very poor and books were my only escape. When I was a child, my mother and father split and they both remarried, and somehow the first ‘set' of children got lost in that whole mess… But in books you find an escape without going very far. Reading really saved me.\"
Madam, a recent survey conducted by NLB revealed that the library has reached one in two Singapore residents through its programmes and services. This is a good number. The people I met at SGFuture make me believe that NLB can do even more, by making reading convenient, enjoyable and interesting for everyone. This is why we will begin the next lap of our journey as a society by redoubling our awareness and emphasis on reading.
Madam, NLB will launch a National Reading Movement this year to galvanise Singaporeans into Reading More, Reading Widely and Reading Together, so as to create a vibrant reading culture in Singapore.
To meet these objectives, NLB will focus on three priorities for the Reading Movement as a start. Firstly, we will reach out to new audience segments; secondly, we will put more focus on reading in mother tongue languages; and thirdly, expand our network of partners to work together on this initiative.
Mr Darryl David asked about how we could promote reading not just among the young but to all members of society. Indeed, Madam, we have done very well in helping children read, through our kidsRead and Read@School programmes. We will now turn our attention to services for adults. While many adults visit our libraries, we often see them borrowing books for their children, more so than for themselves. So, we want to help adults rediscover the joy of reading for themselves so as to be a role model for their children.
Madam, we understand that the challenges of work often make it difficult for our working adult population to read consistently. Hence, to make it easy and convenient for us to find interesting reads, NLB will bring books to people, instead of merely encouraging people to come to the books. We will bring good content and services to working adults in the office and when they are on the move.
We will do this by curating and pushing out short reads and articles to commuters, which they can read on their mobile devices during a train ride or while waiting at the bus stop. Later this year, NLB and LTA will also launch a special library-themed MRT train, a train which will not only take you to the libraries but also function as a library. Anyone with a mobile device can scan a QR code to download recommended e-books via the NLB mobile app or access other content like short essays during their train journey. NLB will also run a Spot-A-Reader campaign on social media to recognise and encourage readers on board this train.
Madam, in addition, NLB will partner organisations in a new Read@Work initiative, a programme that will be tailored to the businesses of the companies involved. For example, NLB will curate reads on common management topics, industry trends that are useful for work or even a good piece of short fiction for leisure reading. Some partners which NLB has already started working with are DBS and the National Trades Union Congress’ U Associate.
Next, Madam, we target our seniors. Through reading, they will be able to keep their minds healthy and alert, as they stay abreast of current affairs and learn new things. Therefore, NLB will expand the range of reading programmes that cater to the many interests and needs of our seniors. These programmes include do-it-yourself craft groups and also writing workshops where seniors can discuss autobiographies and perhaps even pen down their own memoirs.
We will also bring books to the elderly if they are unable to visit the library. NLB has plans to start book clubs and set up more reading corners in community-owned centres, doubling outreach to Senior Activity Centres by 2020. Earlier this month, I visited the Thye Hwa Kwan Senior Services Centre at Taman Jurong. The centre has over 1,000 members and was the first Senior Activity Centre to partner NLB in 2012. Today, it runs programmes to promote reading and learning among the elderly through hands-on activities like origami workshops. It also has a reading corner set up by NLB with fiction and non-fiction books that are refreshed on a quarterly basis.
Madam, I would like to respond to Ms Sun Xueling's comment about making libraries more accessible, especially in newer estates. If there is interest among residents to set up and lead in running an \"interim\" library in a new estate without an existing library, NLB will facilitate residents' efforts in doing so. We can provide a seed collection and equip volunteers with sufficient know-how to run this interim library independently. As Ms Sun has pointed out, this is already being done in Sengkang, where volunteers have set up a community library in a container with books from NLB because the Sengkang Public Library is temporarily closed due to renovations at Compass Point.
By being innovative about how we approach the reading endeavour, and by focusing our attention on adults and seniors, we hope to make reading a convenient, relevant and accessible part of everyone's lives. We hope to help people read more.
The second priority of the National Reading Movement is to place greater emphasis on reading in our mother tongue languages. Reading is a gateway to culture and reading in one's mother tongue cultivates an understanding of languages, culture and history. Reading widely in more than one language also helps build a strong foundation for bilingual literacy in our children, as stories are a fun way to ignite children's love for the language.
NLB has encouraged reading in Chinese, Malay and Tamil in many different ways – through exhibitions, publications, book displays, reading clubs for adults and children and week-long Mother Tongue Language Festivals. These, Madam, have been very well-received by the public.
To further advance this effort, NLB will double the number of mother tongue language reading clubs in all languages, from the current five to a total of 10 by this year. These reading clubs have ignited interest in reading and helped to improve participants' language skills.
One such participant is eight-year-old Dhiya Durrani Ashraf Adri, a Primary 2 student from Junyuan Primary who is a regular at the club Kelab Wira Pintar, or the Smart Heroes Reading Club, at the Tampines Regional Library. His mother noticed that, since his participation in this club, Dhiya's Malay vocabulary has improved.
We also want to encourage adults to read in their mother tongue languages. I am pleased to announce that NLB has partnered with Lianhe Zaobao and Lianhe Wanbao in a collaboration to encourage more adults to read in Mandarin. The first project is a news and current affairs interest group led by Zaobao and Wanbao journalists at the Toa Payoh Public Library. This group, which just started in March, will meet regularly at the library to discuss news articles and issues of the day. NLB is also working with other media organisations to promote reading in other mother tongue languages.
Apart from newspapers and books at our public libraries, our National Library also puts on exhibitions of very intriguing multilingual books from their collections. Among the items displayed in the ongoing exhibition \"From the Stacks\" are early dictionaries, like the Hokkien-Malay dictionary which was published in the 1880s and used by the Hokkien-speaking Chinese population to help them in their conversations with their Malay neighbours. This dictionary transposes the phonetic sounds of Malay words into Chinese characters. For example, the Chinese character for \"9\" or 九 is presented with three other accompanying Chinese characters below it. These characters, when read in Hokkien, sound like \"sem-bi-lan\", the Malay word for \"9\". Creative, right?
Books like this not only give us a glimpse of the context and culture of their time, but also show us how important such bilingual books are in bridging the natural language divides of the various races in Singapore. This then leads to a deeper understanding of one another's culture, resulting in stronger community ties.
To complement these activities and exhibitions and to meet the changing needs and interests of the various communities, NLB will also further enhance the libraries' mother tongue language collections. We will do so by setting up groups of Reading Advisors this year to provide expert recommendations on the libraries' Chinese, Malay and Tamil collections and reading programmes.
Madam, a National Reading Movement naturally encompasses the entire community. To create a vibrant reading culture, NLB will work with partners from all sectors – individuals, businesses, Government agencies and others. In fact, the NTUC, Zaobao, Wanbao and LTA partnerships that I mentioned earlier are but the start of many more collaborations that NLB is embarking on to encourage reading.
To kickstart the entire Reading Movement, NLB will launch a two-month campaign in June and July this year to get as many people as possible to \"Pledge to Read\"; that is, \"to Read More, to Read Widely, and to Read Together\". Organisations and educational institutions will also be invited to take part in the pledging to get their staff and students to read. I am happy to announce that DBS, Temasek Polytechnic, SIM University (UniSIM) and the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) are four organisations which have already given us their support to be part of this campaign. I hope Singapore Parliament will join soon, Madam.
The pledging campaign will end with an inaugural National Reading Day on 30 July. Please block your diary. On that day, we hope to see everyone reading, be it in groups or otherwise. We hope to focus the nation's attention on reading and to encourage busy Singaporeans to set aside time to read by creating opportunities for people to Read Together. The National Reading Day will, of course, be organised with the help of the community, public and private sectors.
By reaching out to new audience segments, putting a renewed focus on reading in mother tongue, and expanding our partnerships and networks, we hope to galvanise all Singaporeans into adopting reading as a lifestyle.
Mdm Chair, our libraries must be a key resource and partner in the lives of Singaporeans. To ascertain how best they can play this role, NLB will be conducting a nationwide survey on Singaporeans' reading habits this year. The insights gathered will help us to finetune our long-term plans for how the library can help promote reading and learning, be it through the National Reading Movement, physical libraries or other library resources.
While we put all these initiatives in place, we must also remember that reading goes far beyond what the libraries can do; it extends to each and every one of us. The SGFuture sessions that NLB has organised so far – one in English and the other in Mandarin – have given us many good ideas on how to encourage more to read, such as books-on-the-go, \"gamifying\" reading, and having Reading Ambassadors for mother tongue languages. Some of these ideas are already being taken up by NLB. We will have another two SGFuture sessions coming up soon, in Malay and Tamil, and I look forward to hearing even more ideas from the public so that we can co-create solutions together. It is only with the community's help that the Reading Movement can be a truly national one.
Mdm Chair, Mr Ong Teng Koon has spoken about how NLB's initiatives and resources can play a part in community-building and nation-building. I agree with him that there is great potential for the community to play an active part. Since 2011, the \"Singapore Memory Project\" has been a good platform for Singaporeans to share their memories and stories of Singapore. This has helped in understanding who we are and where we came from, and this will help to strengthen our national identity. Our National Archives' Citizen Archivist Project which was launched last year also lets people go online to transcribe handwritten documents or tag old photos. To date, more than 280 contributors have described more than 1,600 photographs and transcribed about 9,000 pages of documents. Our historical records are enriched by these contributors offering both their time and knowledge.
In the ensuing years, we will continue to enhance outreach efforts, introduce more programmes, provide greater access to archival records and encourage more Singaporeans to partner us in uncovering our history. We will also improve physical access through revamps of our gallery spaces so that our heritage and past can resonate even better with Singaporeans.
Mdm Chair, in conclusion, around the world today, countries are grappling with the need to be future-ready in a landscape of ever-changing demands, values and technologies which are set to disrupt the paradigm in which we have been used to operating. The push to become Smart, that is, connected, knowledgeable and engaged, is a global endeavour that our country is very much a part of.
Everything that my Ministry has set out to do is about connecting Singaporeans with the community, the Government and opportunity, with the help of trustworthy infrastructure and cutting-edge technology.
This is why we have seized the opportunities afforded by the convergence of infocommunications and media. We will work closely with industry to build a strong Singaporean Core in these sectors by developing future skills. To be ready for the future also means being innovative and enterprising. So, we will invest in research and launch programmes which will apply emerging technologies to improve productivity.
Our digital economy will only be as good as our infrastructure is resilient. So, we will also invest in strengthening the resilience of all our critical info infrastructure and enhance Singapore's connectivity.
At the same time, we will build up the Government's design and engineering capabilities so as to provide better digital Government services for all Singaporeans.
Ultimately, our singular aim is to improve the quality of life for all Singaporeans. I hope the initiatives that we have shared today will lay the groundwork for Singapore to thrive in our next lap of development and maturity.
The Chairman: We have a bit of time. Any clarifications? Mr Pritam Singh.
Mr Pritam Singh: Thank you, Mdm Chairperson. My question is directed to the Minister of State on the cessation of 2G services. How many elderly Singaporeans are affected by the cessation of these services and how many of them are on prepaid plans?
Secondly, for those on prepaid plans, they would likely see a rise in their bills when they re-contract, as 2G services are the cheapest, and they would have no choice but to get on 3G or 4G plan when they re-contract. Would the Ministry consider a voucher or rebate scheme in conjunction with the telecommunications companies to assist these elderly Singaporeans?
Dr Janil Puthucheary: I thank the Member for his question. I do not have the exact number of the prepaid as opposed to post-paid plans. The overall number is likely to be low. The total number of 2G users is less than 200,000. By some estimates, the number of elderly is probably less than a third of that. But it is actually hard to be sure when the registrant is not always the user. It is small. I would like to reassure the Member that the agency is now working to reach out to these customers, the consumers, the operators to help the migration.
The migration from 2G to 3G is necessary because the 2G radio spectrum is to be freed up for many of our ongoing plans for improving connectivity. We do want to find a way to ensure that these elderly stay in touch. This is an important part of the connectivity. My understanding is that if the customer has a 2G service and retains their plan, even if the device comes with a 3G SIM card, their current plan will continue. I need to go and look into this specific question that the Member has brought up and I will do so.
Whether a rebate scheme is necessary, my understanding is that their current 2G subscription plans will continue even if the device has to be changed to a 3G device in order for them to access this spectrum. But the intent we all have is the same as what the Member has raised. We do want to ensure that the elderly who are currently using mobile devices will have every opportunity to continue to do so.
The Chairman: Mr Ganesh Rajaram.
Mr Ganesh Rajaram: Mdm Chair, my question is directed to the Minister of State. With regard to PSB content, with 40% being actually farmed out by Mediacorp to independent production companies, would the Ministry think about actually making the contract as well as the projects and the amounts public so that there is more transparency between the independent production community and the platforms? The second question is: given what is happening in Iskandar and the rise of Pinewood Studios, how are we trying to encourage companies within the Mediapolis to step up and fare better with the competition?
Mr Chee Hong Tat: Mdm Chair, I thank the Member for his questions. On the first question, indeed, a significant proportion, up to 40% of PSB through Mediacorp, can be outsourced and Mediacorp has been doing that to support local media companies. The process in which they do that is that they would call for proposals and, in addition to what Mediacorp does, we also have a contestable funding that we do, separate of Mediacorp, that could go to a range of different companies as well.
So, strengthening of PSB, it is important, and we do look for different opportunities, whether through Mediacorp, that means produced in-house by Mediacorp, or through Mediacorp to outsource to independent producers, or directly from the contestable funds to support independent producers.
As to Mr Rajaram's second question on Iskandar, I think that is why we cannot stand still in this industry. It is fast-moving, and convergence is one challenge. I see it also as an opportunity for some breakthrough and innovation. So, it is both a challenge as well as an opportunity for breakthrough.
What we need in the end, because it is such a talent-driven industry, is that building capabilities would be a very key part of any strategy. Whether there is Iskandar or not, I think we do need to build up capabilities, strengthen the production of local content, strengthen capabilities and develop effective channels because the competition is not just physically next door. It can come from as far as from Northeast Asia, across the Pacific from America. Because in today's day and age, the competition can come from anywhere in the world.
The Chairman: Mr Png Eng Huat.
Mr Png Eng Huat: Mdm Chair, I would just like to seek a clarification from the Minister of State Mr Chee Hong Tat. He talked about the effectiveness of the outreach for PG. I want to ask if the use of dialects in those promotional videos is a contributing factor, as well as what is the Ministry's stand on the use of dialects in our broadcast in view of reaching out to the elderly in a more effective and engaging manner.
Mr Chee Hong Tat: Mdm Chair, I thank Mr Png for his questions. The use of dialect videos for the PG Package has, indeed, been an effective communication tool. This has been used as part of the overall communication strategy in addition to the broadcast media, in addition to, very importantly, face-to-face interaction between our PG Ambassadors and the Pioneers. That is what we want to try and do, which is to use a range of different channels and platforms and to customise the messages in a way which is simple to understand, is able to connect and use these platforms and these effective communication messages to reach out to different target audiences, whether it is the elderly, working adults, or the young. That is something which I covered in my speech earlier. We want to enhance the content, make it engaging, look for different platforms and use different languages.
The Chairman: Mr Zaqy Mohamad.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: I have a question for the Minister of State. In my speech earlier, I spoke about the possibility of expanding PSB to include other new players. I want to ask whether the Ministry is considering that or is in dialogue with any new players and whether it is considering bringing in new players. Would independent broadcasters or providers also be included if they meet certain requirements?
Next, I noticed that when it comes to Government public communications, the translation for materials and publicity for the Malay and Tamil languages always come later. So, I would assume that in doing translation, there would be separate teams and probably with different capacities. So, do we have a capacity issue that some of these translations for the Malay and Tamil language materials come much later and whether the Government has sufficient talent and resources to upkeep the standards of Malay and Tamil translations for Government materials?
Mr Chee Hong Tat: Mdm Chair, I thank Mr Zaqy Mohamad for his questions. The first question on PSB, as I mentioned in my speech and also in my response to Mr Ganesh Rajaram, PSB is used to support our media industry, both Mediacorp as well as other local media companies. And we want to do this because, in the end, it is about being able to produce good quality Singapore content, tell the Singapore story and engage our audiences. This can be done by Mediacorp but it can also be done by other players, whether it is directly through contestable funding or through Mediacorp.
One important point I want to stress is this. Mediacorp plays a very critical role as our national broadcaster. While we want to support the independent producers and grow many of these local media companies, create good jobs for Singaporeans, it is also important that while we do that, we must provide the necessary support and resources to help Mediacorp to succeed because, as a national broadcaster, there are certain important roles that they play to shape the Singapore identity, spread Singapore values, heritage and culture. We should work not as a zero-sum game but on how we can strengthen Mediacorp and the local media industry together.
As to Mr Zaqy Mohamad's second point about translation, this is a challenge for all languages. It is an area which we are trying to build up. We do need more resources and capabilities in all three languages − Chinese, Malay and Tamil. And, in fact, our friends from the media will sometimes tell us that when we send out information, it is very often done in English and, for the Chinese papers, the Malay papers, the Tamil papers, they have to spend quite a lot of time to do the translation. Within the Government, this is an area which we are trying to build up and we do want to, whether it is through scholarships or other schemes, reach out to more young Singaporeans and get them to have an interest in translation.
I am quite realistic. Translation is a specialised niche area. It is difficult for us to have large numbers but we do not need large numbers. We need good, quality translators. I am confident that with the support of our community, media friends, resource panels and language experts, we can do it.
The Chairman: Ms Sun Xueling.
Ms Sun Xueling: I applaud what Minister of State Janil Puthucheary shared, regarding the promotion of ICT startups. Smart Nation serves as the lead user of technology and creates demand for local solutions. But for a startup to scale up, they need to solve big problems such as those of international markets. How is MCI supporting our ICT startups to internationalise and provide solutions for international markets?
My second clarification: I note that company-led training will train 3,750 professionals. Given that company-led training is, perhaps, the most direct way to ensure skills fit to jobs, how do we encourage more companies to provide on-the-job training?
Dr Janil Puthucheary: I thank Ms Sun Xueling for the question. Indeed, it is an important part of how a start-up has to deal with the brutal realities of both the technological space as well as our small market. Very early on in the development of a technologically based start-up, they do need to consider an internationalisation strategy. And there are some components to this.
The mentors that we are bringing in through IIPL and BASH and several other mechanisms, a guide is that enthusiastic young people driving the startups have to think about internationalisation strategies. The young people themselves need to have some opportunity to expose themselves to what happens outside of our own market. That means that the companies that are operating either in the region or internationally need to be located here to provide these opportunities. So, there are multiple things that we need to do. But it comes down to connecting the businesses here with opportunities in the region, connecting the people here with businesses that operate outside of Singapore and educating them as they develop their business, as they develop their startups think about the internationalisation strategy very, very early on in the process. There are a number of things that we need to do at MCI, and its partners are very much focused on this. I thank the Member for the question.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Madam, on CLT, I agree entirely with the Member that this is a very good initiative. Overlaying the initiatives for the professionals is the Tech Skills Accelerator which we hope, as mentioned in my reply, to work with major employers, to work together with them, so that they can determine what sort of skills sets are needed for the emerging technologies.
We manage to get a few companies to come and be involved in the Tech Skills Accelerator. The programmes below this can be part of it, but the Tech Skills Accelerator will also define new skill sets. I think we need to go out and reach out to the companies. The initial response has been very good. In my response on the Google programme, all of the professionals who undergo the programme have been employed. Therefore, it is a very, very good programme. I agree with the Member that this is something which we should encourage more companies to do and IDA will continue to get more companies on board.
Madam, with your permission, if I can just add to Mr Zaqy Mohamad's question on Government communications on translations. Apart from written translation, you and I know that if we have a programme which is a video, for example, PG in Mandarin or in English, to translate that into Malay you cannot do a direct translation. Obviously, the nuances are different, the cultural backgrounds are different and, therefore, you need talent, you need companies that can do that within the cultural context.
Currently, there may not be many companies which are able to do so but our staff have been working very hard to be able to roll out the PG Package in different languages. It shows that we can do it with a lot of effort where we built a lot of capability, and we hope we can also energise the private sector to step forward and think about what they can do to help us in the upcoming Government communications of the new policies.
The Chairman: Mr Zaqy Mohamad, please keep it short.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: My question is on Smart Nation. There is always a perception that the application of technologies is for the young and the savvy. However, it is great to know that many applications being piloted under Smart Nation, are also for the elderly and seniors. In terms of deployment of assistive technologies and how we can make applications more inclusive for seniors, what are IDA's plans to make this so?
Dr Janil Puthucheary: I thank the Member for the question. It is, again, something that is not based on a single strategy. There are a number of things that we have to think about.
It comes in right at the beginning of the design stage, whatever the strategy or whatever the platform, whatever the issue to bring in that thinking about making sure that people who either have a physical impairment or do not have the technological literacy to be able to access the programme can do so. The ability for people to pick up these skills is really quite significant. The multigenerational boot camps that I referred to, all the participants − the seniors − this was the first time they were able to go online and stream the videos and check the bank accounts and so on and so forth, and they were being taught by Primary 4 students.
I mean, what has become cutting-edge in a couple of years has become very normal and, in that transition, we have to make sure that there are no groups left behind in terms of accessing what has become essential services. There is not one strategy; the idea of this digital inclusion and access is pervasive throughout many of our Smart Nation programmes.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Madam, if I can add, as mentioned by Minister of State Janil, one of the programmes that IDA rolled out is the Silver Infocomm Junction. It is an event basically to engage our seniors. I hope maybe one day we can invite Mr Zaqy to attend one of these sessions to see how we have been able to enthuse the elderly generation to become comfortable with technology.
They have learnt how to use Skype, they have learnt how to use email and they even learned how to do online banking, just from their mobile devices. This is a good start to make sure that no group is left behind.
Ultimately, this cannot just be the effort of IDA. The community has to come in and, as mentioned by Minister of State Janil, that boot camp was an inter-generational effort. Recently, the People’s Association has launched a whole series of courses available at many, many community centres to encourage the elderly to pick up IT skills. We will roll out programmes but we also need partners to work together with IDA to make sure that this becomes a reality.
The Chairman: Mr Png, keep it short, please.
Mr Png Eng Huat: Just a question for the Minister. Would the Minister be open to expand the PSB framework to include the promotion of sports in schools and the local arts scene, using dedicated free-to-air channels and using students' productions, just to encourage our students to start early in the production of quality programmes?
Mr Chee Hong Tat: Mdm Chair, I will take the question by Mr Png. I mentioned in my speech earlier, Mr Png, that we are discussing with Mediacorp on sports coverage, and we will discuss with them the possibility of looking at schools' sports coverage. Likewise, Mr Png may be aware that Okto today shows arts programmes and local productions. It is something which we are also happy to discuss with Mediacorp and other players to see whether we can use the channels to be able to give opportunities to our young people to showcase their talent.
Importantly, we have to think beyond free-to-air TV because there are many possible channels to encourage arts and sports, whether it is through community events or online platforms like Toggle, which I think will appeal to our younger viewers. These are different possibilities that we will explore and discuss.
The Chairman: Mr Zaqy Mohamad, do you wish to withdraw your amendment?
Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Thank you, Mdm Chair. Throughout history, great nations were able to make their mark because of the mastery of technology of their day to further economic, defence and social objectives. At the same time, what stands out are the culture and knowledge expressed by societies through design and creative arts and collecting the knowledge of the day through libraries and other platforms to fulfil the thirst for knowledge and broaden the minds of their people.
I see parallels in the role that MCI plays through its agencies in promoting the adoption of technology and managing its impact on society, also in making knowledge accessible through our libraries and national digital infrastructure, making communication and information more accessible to people through PSB and translations and also making our mark in the areas of design and innovation.
I would like to thank Minister Yaacob as well as Minister of State Janil Puthucheary and Minister of State Chee Hong Tat as well as Permanent Secretary Aubeck Kam and the various Chief Executives and public officers involved in the COS for putting in their hard work in the Budget together. And special thanks to the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPCs) as well as all Members who put in their cuts today for making this a lively discussion. So, on behalf of the GPC, I wish the Ministry all the best in the execution of the Budget and may this further our nation to its next phase of development and transformation. So, Mdm Chair, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
3.15 pm
The Chairman: Thank you for the speech, Mr Zaqy Mohamad.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $974,546,800 for Head Q ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $200,238,900 for Head Q ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply – Head T (Ministry of National Development)","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Mdm Chair, I beg to move,
\"That the total sum to be allocated for Head T of the Estimates be reduced by $100.\"
衣食住行 – clothing, food, shelter, transportation – the basic necessities of life. In Singapore, there is one element of these four that has pervaded all aspects of our recent history, politics, policies, lives and perhaps even our future, and that is housing.
Many key policies like the Central Provident Fund (CPF), education, employment, ethnic integration, social mobility are intimately linked with housing. When the People’s Action Party (PAP) was elected as the Government in 1959, it had two key priorities – provide employment and house the people – to feed and to shelter. Fifty-seven years later, we need to look further ahead to uphold the housing priority. I call it the \"Up, Down, Left-Right and All around\".
First, \"Up\", supply. While we cleared cemeteries and backfilled mudflats to create living space over the years and build new towns, the question is: how much more and where? Eventually, we will reach a point of saturation. The Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) we can do selectively, but at greater cost. I, therefore, ask the Ministry to look to the far horizon, identify future sites early – be they greenfield sites, reclaimed sites, SERS sites – inform early, consult early, discuss widely, and plan prudently. What does the next 10 years look like for Build-To-Order (BTO) supply as well as public rental housing? What has previous economic downturns taught us about the housing market?
Second, \"Down\", keeping prices low and affordable. As blocks go up, concerns about affordability also go up too. We often trot out examples of how families earning about $1,000 can afford a flat. That is true. But for many lower-income Singaporeans facing complex issues, it is still elusive for them. Middle-income families also fear that their incomes are not keeping pace with the rising cost of housing as well as the cost of living. I, therefore, ask and seek the Ministry's reassurance to Singaporeans that public housing prices will be kept stable and affordable for the majority, especially young families starting out.
As the economy slows, there is also the added fear that retrenchments may rise and loans defaulted. The current financial assistance measures by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) may not be sufficient. I, therefore, suggest for the Ministry to work with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and CPF on a variant of the Home Protection Scheme for coverage beyond catastrophic loss of income, due not only to physical incapacity or death, but also include an unemployment protection clause in the event of major recessions.
Next, \"Left and Right\", broadening our overall choices. Mr Lee Kuan Yew once said that \"If every family owned its home, the country would be more stable\".
The stability that we have today also challenges us to look beyond homes just for the masses. Today, many of our elderly are asset rich. The Enhanced Lease Buyback Scheme, which was introduced in April last year to help them further monetise this, is a step in the right direction.
However, the last available statistics indicate that we only have close to 1,000 applications so far. This seems like a very low take-up rate as 75% of elderly households are eligible. Is it a matter of publicity and awareness?
On my house visits, many older residents whom I speak to are unaware of the scheme. Good schemes like this cannot be hidden away. So, we need to do more to promote it. I, of course, also have a significant number of elderly 5-roomers in my estate. Many of them have asked about the scheme and so I would like to appeal for, over the long term, an eventual Enhanced Enhanced Scheme for them.
Homes are aspirational after all; it gives us stability and grounding. I am glad that the Finance Minister announced the quantum for the Fresh Start Housing Scheme. Before formal announcement of the details, I would like to make a number of recommendations based on families that I have met and interacted with. One, full-fledged employment counselling programme to address job difficulties that these families face; two, community-based childcare or infant care facilities that they have priority for so that we will allow mothers to go back to work with ease of mind; three, minimal 85% school attendance for children to make them future-ready; four, enhance marriage and family stability through social work support; and lastly, five, bigger flats, with shorter leases beyond the 2-room flexi, to provide flexibility especially for those with larger families.
We need to make sure that the Fresh Start Housing Scheme has a good start and not end up with a false start. Let us help rental families move out of rental into home ownership and give them a leg up for their future while keeping costs down for them.
Lastly, \"All around\", 360° engagement. The next step in the housing landscape is to build communities, rather than just building houses. The kampong spirit of the past is not easily translatable from horizontal kampong to the vertical ones that we have today. Community space must be deliberately planned to create circulation for residents to meet, greet, interact and bond.
To this end, new towns should have this as a basic planning parameter, integrate facilities and different flat types, work early to create opportunities to form communities of support. For older towns, I also urge that the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP) be expanded and made a staple of the revitalisation of towns with a focus on building communities.
I spoke about my concerns over the Revitalisation of Shop Scheme in the Budget debate which I hope the Ministry will also address. Shops and services make community possible, but a simple paint job does not make town centres come alive again, especially with the competition from malls.
Lastly, the Finance Minister made no mention of relaxing the crimps on the property market, despite having cooled down the bubble significantly. As I mentioned earlier, housing affects all sectors, a slowdown in the housing sector is a slowdown across many sectors. Such a policy would also have impacts across other policies. My hon colleague Mr Christopher de Souza, among others, has called for the lifting of the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty to stimulate demand. I agree, as the Total Debt Servicing Ratio and loan limits will still go along the way to calibrate the market.
Mdm Chair, five decades have transformed squatters into stakeholders. Let us move into the next five as a community. I reiterate my call to continue a steady supply to meet demand, keep costs affordable, broaden choices for different home owner groups and promote all-round community building to achieve better homes for all.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Chong Kee Hiong (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mdm Chair, I declare my interest as a professional in the real estate industry. We need to work together to build better homes with Singaporeans, for Singaporeans. First and foremost, we must ensure that the housing market is stabilised. When the market was rising, cooling measures were necessary in preventing a housing bubble. But now, with a more subdued market, we have to respond quickly to prevent the market from further decline. Otherwise, there will be negative impact on real estate related industries such as construction, interior design, renovation contractors, furniture and consumer electrical and electronics, which, in turn, affect jobs.
Housing affordability must remain a top priority, especially for our first-timer families. For most young Singaporean couples, they must have their own homes first before they proceed to have children. Hence, with our birth rate hinging on our housing policy, HDB must ensure that we make available plenty of nests to welcome the stork.
We should have a wide range of flats for every budget and need. Wherever possible, public and private housing, even public rental blocks, should be integrated in each estate to facilitate community bonding. For the most vulnerable of our households, I hope the Ministry will be able to accommodate them quickly to reduce the anxiety for the elderly and children in their midst. Does the Ministry have plans to ramp up the supply of public rental flats to cut waiting time?
Our home buyers have benefited from recent enhancements to the income ceiling and housing grants, but individual choices, such as the preference for housing in mature estates and proximity to family members, pose challenges for buyers and HDB. One of the solutions is to build our new estates even better to attract these home buyers and their families.
These new estates must have the full range of facilities, well-designed and well-integrated with the surrounding ecosystem. They have shared public spaces, barrier-free accessibility and better connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists and are visually appealing. How would HDB ensure that with more and better facilities, the flats remain attractively priced and running estate maintenance costs remain affordable and will not escalate significantly over time?
For home buyers purchasing homes in mature estates so as to be nearer to their families, HDB also provides housing grants as the resale prices of these flats are higher than direct purchases from HDB. These flats have shorter remaining leases. As the lease gets shorter, it will eventually lead to declining HDB flat values which will affect retirement planning. Would the Government consider lease top-ups for older flats, in addition to the SERS programme, as not all precincts are suitable for SERS?
To further protect against the declining HDB flat values for older estates, would there be the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) schemes for flats built after 1986 after the completion of the current HIP in 2018?
The Chairman: Mr Gan Thiam Poh, you have four cuts. Please take them together.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): Mdm Chair, the Executive Condominium (EC) is a good scheme and meets the aspirations of Singaporeans for affordable, higher-end flats with the finer finishing and facilities of private condominiums, such as swimming pools and function rooms.
However, there are concerns that the price of ECs may be getting beyond the reach of middle-income Singaporean households. Would the Government consider putting an upper limit on the pricing of each type of EC unit or limiting the type of frills which can be included in the development plot so as to ensure that EC flats will always remain affordable?
I would like to propose the removal of the income ceiling for the purchase of flats directly from HDB for first-time applicants. Increasingly, many couples are getting married later due to the pursuit of higher education and work commitments. By the time they meet their other half and get married, their combined income would have exceeded the income ceiling. I hope we can give every couple a chance to own and live in an HDB flat.
In addition, it may not be a bad idea to have a few more families with higher incomes live within an HDB estate. There should be more opportunities for people of different income groups interacting with one another for better community bonding. Removing the income ceiling could improve social integration and enhance social stability. HDB may consider selling flats to those with higher incomes with reduced subsidies.
Next, I would like to appeal to the Ministry to consider giving third-timer applicants another opportunity to buy their own flats. Some of these applicants might have run into financial difficulties or have personal problems which result in them having to sell their flats. A number of these applicants could have been co-owners for their parents' flats because their parents could not afford or run into difficulties servicing their mortgages. Later, when these applicants get married, they would be considered second-timers, and by the time they wanted to upgrade or downgrade, they would be considered third-timers. Would the Ministry consider allowing them to do so, subject to the restriction that they can only sell the flat back to HDB?
Singapore is often credited for its successful housing policy. According to the latest statistics, the home ownership rate of resident households in Singapore is 90.8%. However, we must also consider the other 9.2% who do not own their homes. In particular, we should help the low-income families with young children secure home ownership.
I would like to ask if HDB would consider increasing the number of 2-room flats that it is building. These will be more affordable for the low-income families. Those who are currently living in public rental flats would prefer to own their own flats eventually.
Families with low incomes struggle to secure mortgages. It is especially difficult for second-timer families that are not eligible for the more generous first-timer grants and concessionary loans under HDB. These families should be given a second chance to secure a home. Not only would home ownership motivate them to stay in their jobs and work hard, it would also provide a stable environment for their children.
Hence, I strongly support the new Fresh Start Housing Scheme which would provide families with children in rental housing a second chance to own a home. Of course, measures should be put in place to prevent people from profiteering off this scheme. For instance, the minimum occupation period for families under this scheme could be longer.
Furthermore, the Government should look into the reasons these families sold their first flats in the first place. For instance, if the family had sold their first flat to pay off the gambling debts of a problem gambler within the family, then this problem gambler should be identified and referred to specialists for help so that history would not repeat itself.
The Chairman: Miss Cheryl Chan, you have two cuts. Please take them together.
Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling (Fengshan): Mdm Chair, housing affordability is a frequently raised topic. While affordability is a function of supply and demand, but for some families, this is not merely about the price of a flat.
In the Fresh Start Housing Scheme, the Ministry's focus is on young families who are currently living in public rental flats and aspire to become home owners as a second-time buyer. For some, this is a welcome move as it will enable them and their families to start afresh. However, there are others who, though desire to have a place of their own, may have other considerations that deter them from making the purchase. Some of the considerations include flat locations, whether they can purchase their existing rental flats, upfront cash payment, shorter lease period and so on.
Some families have school-going children or preschoolers already enrolled in nearby childcare centres. If they have to move to flats located far from their current rental place, the availability of suitable schools and childcare to transfer their children into will be a key priority for them, without which, they may not be able to continue working and have care support for their children. As such, some may prefer to purchase their existing 2-room rental flat. If there are more such requests, would the Ministry consider? And how will the proportion of rental versus sale flats in such blocks or areas be managed in the long run?
A number of these eligible families may have difficulties having sufficient cash for the downpayment of the flat. Does the scheme allow them to make the downpayment using CPF only, and can the maximum mortgage loan period for the flat be equivalent to the full lease period?
Given that flats of this nature may have a shorter lease period, the possibility of resale for such flats after the minimum occupation period (MOP), assuming MOP is longer than five years, unlike in a BTO or the regular direct sale flats, will become less attractive. This will actually discourage some families to take up the scheme as they would be concerned that their investment in such flats will not ensure they can afford a home during their retirement.
I suggest that the Ministry consider further what more can be done to address the aforementioned points.
In addition, I propose that this scheme be also made available to young married couples who are in the process of family planning or soon to expect their first child. The grants made available could be reduced to match the income level, so as to maintain a fair treatment in financial assistance rendered. This may be helpful for those young families who wish to live closer to their parents and want to have a flat sooner than BTO flats or have been repeatedly unsuccessful in the sale of balance flats exercise. The results would be a win-win solution where they have better extended support from their parents and are also able to start a family earlier at a lower cost.
What is the definition of a sustainable and connected town in a developed city? The answer can vary widely depending on who we ask and people's expectations. For a developed city, continuous planning, creation and renewal efforts need to be in place for new towns and mature towns. Let me share some key objectives I think it needs to fulfil.
First, the planning horizon has to take a longer-term perspective for better integration of the old and new towns, to prevent fragmented developments as we move from one town to another.
Second, renewal of old towns must be sustainable. Thus, designs must be practical for maintenance and yet aesthetically lasting.
Third, basic amenities and infrastructures to support new developments have to be built in tandem, rather than as add-ons or an afterthought.
Lastly, connectivity between and within townships has a broader implication beyond just transportation.
Planning of new towns, in some aspects, is easier than in mature towns as requirements can be designed in to meet the needs. For mature towns, direct or simple modifications may not necessarily be possible at times to achieve the same outcome as in a new town. In such instances, master planning for purposes of land use and land sale should have systems in place for early notification and enable integration or adaption of feedback from local communities. Co-development would increase acceptance from the local communities and allow better collaboration.
In fitting amenities for public usage, sometimes, it is easy to forget the pragmatic need for maintenance and ease of upgrading. So, from material selection and design to ergonomics, it is important to fully consider all aspects before the build. This will help to ensure practicality, functionality and better cost management of common amenities in our neighbourhoods. As estates begin to mature and are more built-up with time, it is inconvenient to bear with the modifications that are required to cope with the capacity, but this is understandably acceptable as it is necessary.
However, moving forward, I hope that the need for integrated planning, design and executing solutions ahead to manage potential practical challenges of a developed living community is an area that the inter-agencies can consider and improve upon.
In our efforts to improve connectivity, much of the focus has been put on connecting and moving people through transportation. We emphasise on the availability of hardware and timeliness of putting them in place, but very often, lacking is a fundamental thought around how users could actually be integrated into the process as infrastructures are being made available over time.
An example would be cycling as we strive to be car-lite. I think cyclists and pedestrians both have a right of way on shared pavements. Unfortunately, the lack of thoughtfulness in shared spaces have resulted in one accident too many. Instead of pleasant, shared spaces, over time, what is sighted are increasing measures and enforcements that may not actually be enforceable over time, because we cannot counter these reckless behaviours.
What I hope the Ministry could look into are: the basic awareness and education which should be the primary tasks before infrastructures are being put in place, can the Government prioritise this, and if so, step up on all these measures?
The Chairman: Mr Zainal Sapari; not here. Mr Faisal Manap, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Thank you, Madam. Madam, one case of homelessness in Singapore is one too many for our collective comfort. Deprived of a permanent shelter and essential human needs, it has a direct negative impact on the well-being of the affected individual, as well as our society at large.
To date, I have on several occasions, raised the problem of homelessness in our midst. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), on its part, has stated in the previous reply to my Parliamentary Question that it has, on average, rendered assistance to 300 homeless cases each year.
I, like many Members in this House, have also personally attended to a number of cases and it is certainly a heartbreaking process to see our fellow Singaporeans being left without a place where they can call home. I understand that this issue of homelessness is a multifaceted and complex one, a problem that requires the assistance of several stakeholders, including the affected individual and his family.
As a Member of this House, I would like to share my observations and put forward proposals to better mitigate this issue and bring some comfort to our fellow Singaporeans.
In a previous reply by MSF to my Parliamentary Question, the House was informed that in 2014, a study on families in transitional housing was conducted and it was found that these families often experienced occurrences, such as divorce and financial difficulties. In fact, many had sold their flats and spent their monies to clear existing debts or for other purposes, prior to becoming homeless.
Madam, under existing policies, a home owner who has sold his flat, regardless of the circumstances behind the sale, is not allowed to rent a flat under the Public Rental Scheme within 13 months of the sale of their last flat. It is argued that home owners will benefit from the sales proceeds, but as many Members of this House would concur, some home owners are left without much cash proceeds after clearing their personal debts and arrears, arising from personal circumstances or legal rulings.
As such, we need to have a more strategic and systemic manner in which we can capture the most vulnerable in our midst, especially those who potentially face a higher risk of being homeless after the sale of a flat, such as the elderly and families with young children.
As such, I would like to urge the Ministry of National Development (MND) to consider a more flexible and accommodative approach to the implementation of the 13-month rule, with scope for greater deliberations and discussions with affected families. A proactive and flexible approach to the implementation of the 13-month rule would certainly be comforting to many, akin to the spirit as expressed in the Chinese proverb \"sending warm coal in the midst of a harsh winter\".
Madam, retirement adequacy is a major issue for many low- and middle-income Singaporean families. As the family nucleus in Singapore shrinks in size, help should be given to elderly owners to use their flats to supplement their retirement income, without requiring them to move out.
Currently, there are two options. One is the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS), a monetisation scheme to help elderly households in 3-room or smaller flats unlock their housing equity. The other, often suggested by the Ministry, is the sub-letting of a bedroom in the existing household. There are many issues involved in the execution of the latter option. It could range from the infringement of personal space to elderly owners facing difficulties obtaining tenants without the engagement of a real estate agent.
Engaging a real estate agent could constitute an added financial burden on our elderly when, in the first place, they already do not have much for retirement to begin with. As such, I would like to propose an Elderly Subletting Facilitation (ESF) Scheme where HDB connects elderly flat owners who would like to sublet rooms with potential tenants.
This could encourage up to two-fifths of elderly owners to sublet their flats to support their retirement. Furthermore, ESF could be combined synergistically with the Public Rental Scheme so that there is no need to turn away over 10,000 applicants to the Public Rental Scheme yearly. We can and must do so much more for our elderly Singaporeans who have toiled to transform Singapore to what it is today.
Mr Chen Show Mao (Aljunied): Madam, I believe the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) has an important role to play in providing for the retirement adequacy of our seniors. Since last year, the Ministry has enhanced the scheme in various ways to improve the take-up rate. I welcome these efforts.
Today, I wish to reiterate an earlier call for LBS to be enhanced to give the children of the deceased the option to buy back the portion of the lease that has been sold, provided, of course, that they qualify to own an HDB flat. And significantly, to allow them to buy this back at the price of the unit, valued at the time the LBS was executed by their parents.
I believe this will help address the concern on the part of elderly parents that their children will not be able to inherit the flat from them and hence, would not enjoy that financial benefit to help them cope with the higher property prices in the future.
These seniors worry that property in the future may be unaffordable to their children, especially those who do not currently own flats. They wish to pass on to their children, as much as possible, the value that has accrued to their flats over the years, less, of course, the amount of financial support that the seniors expect to receive from the lease buy out.
This could well result in their children acquiring their property at below market rates in the future, but this is no different from parents passing on their property to their children – an accepted principle.
All that changes here is that those seniors who are in need will get another option to monetise their flats now, while their children may be unable or even unwilling to provide for them in full. But still, as parents, they wish to offer better protection to their children from future property price inflation, a concern that may now be holding them back from taking up the LBS.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Madam, all of us want to have a roof over our heads. I am sure our Government remains committed to aiding low-income and vulnerable households to achieve this.
Some families cannot afford to own their flat due to some difficulties. So, they have to take a public rental flat. I would like to ask for faster allocation of rental flats for those with young children or aged parents. Some families may have previously owned a flat, but due to some difficulties, they sold it and ended up in public rental housing.
I think for those who pick themselves up, work hard and are determined to give security to themselves and their family, the Fresh Start Housing Scheme, which provides another housing grant, will certainly make their dream of owning their home a reality.
I sympathise a lot with divorcees with children. Having to go through divorce is already very painful. What more, if they have to shift out of their matrimonial home? Without a roof over their head, they will have difficulty deciding which school to send their children to. Single parents are particularly stressed in such situations because they are often the sole breadwinner and caregiver of their children.
Can special priority be given to those divorcees with children or those in the process of going through a divorce to get a flat? Administrative red tape only contributes further to their predicament. Are we able to expedite the approval process?
Last but not least, it is those who applied for new BTO flats under the singles scheme. I have heard quite a lot of feedback from my residents. They told me that they had applied many times. However, every application ended up in disappointment.
So, can the Ministry build more 2-room flats for singles so that they can get their flats faster? What is the current building plan for this category? Mdm Chair, in Chinese, please.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Ten years ago when I first came to Nee Soon South, residents would always ask me when I was walking around in the constituency, \"MP, when are you going to help renovate my lift?\" Now, 10 years later, as I walk around in the constituency, residents will always say to me: \"Aiyo, I am getting old. My house is run-down and the toilet is falling apart. When are you going to help me renovate my toilet?\"
What they are referring to is the Home Improvement Programme (HIP). Every day, my residents hope that HIP can be accelerated to benefit them as well. Hence, I hope that the authorities can do more and do faster.
The Chairman: Mr Louis Ng, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Madam, keeping our HDB flats affordable is important to maintain the cost of living for Singaporeans. While home ownership rates have been traditionally high compared to other countries, there are still some Singaporeans who are unable to afford flats and count on HDB to provide rental housing.
Most Singaporeans who need this rental housing have no other immediate alternatives and, as such, need the housing urgently. Some may be able to rent rooms in the open market in the short term but, with high rental rates, these further cripple their already dire financial situation.
What are the Ministry's plans to ramp up the supply of HDB rental flats and therefore reduce the waiting time for low-income families who are in urgent need of these flats? Also, with the launch of the Fresh Start Housing Scheme, how many families are expected to benefit from this scheme and be able to own their own flats finally?
Next, Madam, as a small country with limited land, the Government is rightly continuing our expansion of affordable and reliable public transportation. For example, by 2030, Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network will increase from 178 kilometres to 360 kilometres.
However, beyond public transportation, I hope we can also focus on expanding our cycling track network in our efforts of becoming a car-lite city.
In addition, how can we better support the use of bicycles for transportation between homes and MRT stations or bus interchanges, and between MRT stations or bus interchanges to workplaces? Will the Ministry consider the setting up of more bicycle rental stations near homes, MRT stations or bus interchanges and at various workplaces?
The Chairman: Mr Saktiandi Supaat, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Thank you, Madam. Low-income, vulnerable households and young families waiting for their BTO flats require more help in securing temporary housing. There should be greater empathy for single parents, and second- and third-time HDB loan applicants who may be compelled by circumstances to move, such as having to downsize their homes for financial reasons.
Whether it is to start afresh or to start a new family, stability and insecurity are important influencing factors. That usually means being able to settle down in a place to call their own. Can the Minister share with the House if there are plans to ramp up the supply of interim rental flats and reduce waiting times?
The Fresh Start Housing Scheme is a thoughtful scheme that gives low-income households hope to progress into home ownership. Unemployment is a common problem in vulnerable households and probably one of the main reasons a family would have to rely on this scheme. Some single parents are in transition, for example, and I have residents who are newly divorced homemakers who would require some time to get their children settled in and then find a job, which would be another hurdle.
May I ask the Minister how stringent are the conditions and whether suitable applicants could move into the flat and be given a window or buffer time to meet the requirements? Will some priority assistance be provided to help genuine applicants seek employment?
In our pursuit of a car-lite city, travel efficiency and connectivity must also be improved so that citizens do not find the need to rely on their own transport to get around. New towns must be designed with better connectivity, while mature estates should have their infrastructure enhanced.
The Masterplan for HealthCity Novena is highly inspiring in this respect, for it will physically link Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the medical school and all public and volunteer healthcare facilities. This mirrors my expectations of a well-connected estate, which not only facilitates greater ease of travel and convenient access of amenities, but also brings neighbours physically closer together.
It would be ideal if agencies could work together and come up with a design master plan that fully integrates the residential areas with amenities and public transport through a network of linkways. Does the Ministry have such collaborative projects with other agencies in the pipeline?
Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Madam, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is committed towards developing Singapore as a car-lite city and making cycling a more attractive transportation option, as my two Parliamentary colleagues Mr Louis Ng and Mr Saktiandi Supaat have already mentioned.
Mr Louis Ng talks about the need for more bike rental options, possibly in town and residential areas as well. But I think more needs to be done to support the overall cycling infrastructure, as dedicated cycling routes that have been designed with cyclists in mind should be considered to better connect our towns to the city.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat talks about the design of HDB towns, and I agree that URA should work with HDB and other agencies to build a car-free, pro-cycling and also pro-pedestrian network. The ideal scenario for such new towns would be entire vehicle-free zones where residents can walk, cycle and scoot as they go about their activities.
While mature towns would provide a different challenge, I would like to ask the Ministry if they could share what its plans are for enhancing mature towns to ensure better car-lite connectivity.
Mr Ong Teng Koon (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Mdm Chair, interest in electric vehicles (EVs) has been growing, with coverage of the case of the imported Tesla and the launch of pre-orders for the Tesla 3 gaining widespread attention.
In many ways, Singapore is an ideal market for EVs, with low driving distances and high petrol taxes. By some estimates, it is already economical to own an EV, relative to more traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, and, with battery costs falling, this will increase in the future.
Singapore is uniquely positioned to avoid the biggest obstacle to kick-starting EV adoption, which is the need to build a dense public charging network, as home charging would be sufficient for the majority of users.
However, more than 90% of Singaporeans live in high-rise homes and hence, currently do not have the right to install the required charge points in their common carparks, be they HDB or condominiums. Hence, they could not get an EV even if they wanted to.
On this point, I would like to ask the Minister what role EVs play in the Ministry's plans for a more sustainable living environment and whether the Ministry plans to facilitate access to EV charge points in existing HDB estates, as well as condominiums.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Mdm Chair, on a rare occasion when I accompanied my wife to shop at the Orchard Road shopping malls last month, it was raining cats and dogs. Many shoppers, local and international, had to brave the rain to walk from Paragon to 313 Orchard to catch the MRT train. This is not quite acceptable if we want to make Orchard Road a world-class premier shopping belt. Neither does it gel well with the Ministry of Transport's (MOT) big push for the walk-and-ride scheme.
In response to my Parliamentary Question last month, the Minister for National Development replied that URA only requires building owners to build linkways on new developments or when existing developments undergo major upgrading. As there were only a few developments or redevelopments along Orchard Road in the past 10 years, the progress of building underground linkways has been quite slow.
I hope that MND can re-look the existing policy and take the lead in building overhead and underground pedestrian linkways along Orchard Road, so that shoppers can shop in comfort and be shielded from the elements along the stretch of Orchard Road from Ion Orchard right up to Plaza Singapura.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): Mdm Chair, during my house visits to residents living in the landed properties, I receive many complaints about vehicles that do not belong to the residents but are parked along the road just outside their homes. The residents tell me that these vehicles include large pickups, lorries and vans belonging to non-residents. The drivers of these vehicles would park along the road because parking is free. In the morning, the drivers would collect their vehicles and then go about their business.
The parking of such vehicles has caused disamenities to the residents as they are unable to find places for their own cars at night. Although the vehicles are not classified as heavy vehicles which require a heavy vehicle parking certificate, many of these vehicles are large commercial vehicles. Often, these vehicles are parked in an indiscriminate manner, obstructing other road users. Residents are also concerned that there are total strangers parking just outside their homes.
In contrast, I do notice that there are places like URA car parks and sports stadiums which are heavily used during the day or during sporting events but are relatively less occupied in the late evenings or at night, depending on where these car parks are located.
We can find a win-win solution for the residents if we can persuade such vehicle owners that they can park their commercial vehicles at an URA car park or at a sports stadium, either free or with minimal charge.
May I appeal to the Minister to study which car park lots are underutilised in the late evenings or at night which can be converted to free parking. The key objective is to try to ease the woes of residents who have total strangers parking their vehicles, including large commercial vehicles, just outside their own homes. We need to think out of the box to better utilise scarce resources like parking lots which are not well used during off-peak hours.
The Chairman: Order. I propose to take the break now.
[(proc text) Thereupon Mdm Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]
Mdm Speaker: I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 4.20 pm.
Sitting accordingly suspended
at 4.00 pm until 4.20 pm.
Sitting resumed at 4.20 pm
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
[(proc text) Debate in Committee of Supply resumed. (proc text)]
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
The Minister for National Development (Mr Lawrence Wong): Mdm Chair, I thank Members for their many comments and suggestions on MND issues.
When I came to MND last year, many people told me I was going to a hot seat and wished me good luck. Indeed, housing has always been a hot-button issue, and as I was preparing for this Committee of Supply (COS) debate, which is my first COS for MND, I went back to the Hansard to look at the records of previous years' debates. So, I did some extra homework. Indeed, from the start of our housing programme, going back to the 1960s, there have been lively debates on the MND Budget and on housing issues. It is no different this year, if you look at the number of cuts we received.
But in fact, sentiments on housing have improved considerably after 2011. We ramped up the BTO supply and cleared the first-timer backlog. We made new flats more affordable, and we have managed a soft landing in the property market and HDB resale prices.
Here, I would like to acknowledge the work of the MND team, especially the HDB officials who have worked very hard to ramp up our building programme over the past few years. And I also want to recognise all who have partnered us in this effort – our consultants, contractors, construction workers, as well as the many members of public who participated in our focus groups to give us feedback and help shape our policies.
I think this demonstrates the importance of partnerships in the work we do. It applies not just to public housing and HDB, but also to the rest of our MND work, including our other Statutory Boards – the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), Building and Construction Authority (BCA), Council of Estate Agencies (CEA), National Parks Board (NParks) and URA.
There is a common thread across all that we do in MND, about building a better home in partnership with Singaporeans and for all Singaporeans. As Mr Alex Yam said, it ultimately is about building communities, and it is our people who shape our sense of community and our sense of home. That is why over the past years, we have stepped up our engagement with Singaporeans to \"inform early, consult early, discuss widely\", as suggested by Mr Yam. We did this with \"Our Singapore Conversation\" in 2013, continued with engagements on public housing over the past two years. We started our SGFuture dialogues this year to shape our next phase of development.
Today, I will share some of the key priorities we have identified for MND based on these engagements. First, we will strengthen our home ownership programme to meet the needs of Singaporeans, especially the more vulnerable groups. Second, we will transform our urban landscape to invest in new infrastructure for our future economy and to build a future city that we can be proud of. Third, we will create a quality living environment for all to enjoy and make Singapore a more car-lite and people-friendly city. Let me elaborate on each of these in turn.
Firstly, in terms of strengthening our home ownership programme. This has always been the hallmark of our public housing system and we must and will continue to strengthen this key pillar of our social compact. Our focus is to help young couples own their first flat. Our pledge to young Singaporean couples is that we will always keep new BTO prices stable and affordable for them. That is why we enhanced our housing grants last year, and since then, many more homebuyers have benefited. One such couple is Mr See Cheng Long and his fiancée Miss Felicia Poh. They booked a 3-room flat in Bukit Batok in the BTO exercise last November. They were eligible for $60,000 in housing grants. So, they were able to buy the flat for less than $140,000.
This meant that the mortgage loan was completely paid for or will be completely paid for using their CPF. There is no need for any cash outlay and so they end up having more savings. I hope this gives them confidence to plan for the next step – to get married and hopefully start a family soon.
Our housing subsidies are rightly focused on the lower and middle-income households, but we have not neglected those in the higher income groups as well. Last year, we increased the income ceiling to enable more households at the higher end to buy a subsidised flat.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh suggested that we do away with the income ceiling altogether. I appreciate his intent to allow all Singaporeans to buy an HDB flat. That is something we would like to do as well. We want to move in this direction and that is why the income ceiling has been progressively moved up over time. But we have to calibrate these moves. Firstly, there are fiscal constraints to manage and, secondly, having just made a move last year, we will need time for the increased new demand to flow through the system without adversely affecting the interest of the rest who are already in the queue.
At the same time, I want to assure Mr Gan that we will continue to take steps to ensure that Executive Condominiums (ECs) remain affordable. We already do so through various measures and that is why ECs today, are more affordable than comparable private properties. Indeed, if you look back over the past few quarters, EC prices have remained relatively stable. We will continue to monitor and take necessary action if needed.
Besides housing grants, we have also shortened the queues considerably for first-timers. One measure of this is the application rate of first-timer families for new BTO flats in non-mature estates. It is an indicator which we monitor very carefully. This has remained stable at about 1.6 last year.
In practice, it means that most will be able to select their new BTO flat within their first or second application, and definitely on their third try. I understand Members have shared concerns about newlywed couples who have repeatedly applied for an HDB flat without success. I have heard similar experiences during my Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS). In fact, one couple told me at MPS that they had applied more than five times! So, I asked for their details. I went back to HDB and asked for a check. I found out that they were, in fact, interested in flats near the city centre and so all their applications were for flats in mature estates around the city centre, for example, in Ang Mo Kio and Toa Payoh.
I have already announced that HDB will offer more flats in mature estates this year. For example, we have new projects in Bidadari and Tampines North. But there is a physical limit to how much more we can build in these already developed areas.
I would encourage first-timer couples to consider applying for flats in non-mature estates. As I have mentioned earlier, if you look at the application rate, there is a very high chance of them getting it within their first and second try, and definitely within their third try. And the flats, in these estates are also more affordable. While waiting for the flats to be completed, they can consider renting a flat under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS).
I recognise that some want a flat more urgently or would prefer specific locations for good and practical reasons, for example, to live near their parents. In the current market, they can consider buying a resale flat. Resale prices have moderated and are more affordable now. For example, we can compare HDB resale prices against household income.
At one time, prices were rising faster than income. But this is no longer the case. Between the last property market troughs in 2009 and 2015, HDB resale prices increased by 35% but median household income increased by a higher 44%. So, housing affordability has improved and there are many attractive options available in the resale market.
In addition, we introduced the Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) which helps families who wish to live near or with their parents or married child to buy a resale flat. This means that a young couple can enjoy up to $90,000 in housing grants to buy their first home from the resale market – $30,000 in the CPF Housing Grant, up to $40,000 in Additional CPF Housing Grant, and $20,000 in the Proximity Housing Grant.
Miss Cheryl Chan asked if we can do more to help young married couples to get their flats early and live nearer to parents. I share her desire to do so and we will continue to study ways to help them further.
We have also managed to reduce the queue for second-timer families and they, too, can benefit from the Proximity Grant. Here, I would like to share the experience of one couple, Mdm Nur Liza binte Roslan and Mr Yulandi bin Abu Bakar. They bought their first flat which was a 4-room flat at Taman Jurong from HDB. As their family grew, Mdm Nur Liza wanted to move out and move closer to her parents who are living in Bukit Batok so that they can help look after the children. They looked at several housing options and, eventually, they managed to find a 4-room resale flat in Bukit Batok on the same floor, just down the corridor from her parents' place. So, with the Proximity Grant, they were able to buy the resale flat for about $324,000. This is, in fact, comparable to what they would have had to pay for a new 4-room flat from HDB as second-timers. In fact, they are better off by going to the resale market. The amount they pay is about the same as a BTO after the grant. They get a flat closer to their parents and get to move in earlier as well.
So, for both first timers and second timers, the softening of the property market and the introduction of the new Proximity Grant and enhancements of all the various grant that we have had mean that there are many more attractive options to consider for purchasing a home.
Likewise, there are also more housing options for singles. In 2013, we made a significant policy shift to allow first-timer singles to buy a new 2-room flat from HDB. Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked about this and I would like to assure her that we have launched more 2-room flats to meet this new demand from singles. We also increased the quota for singles from 30% to 50% last year. As a result, the BTO application rate among singles has been steadily improving. It started out very high, over 30 when we made the move in 2013. It came down to 8.5 last year, and it was 7.7 in the most recent BTO exercise.
I intend to bring down this application rate further. It will take time, but we will make it happen. The move to open new flats to singles is a significant one and has met with a strong demand surge. We will need some time to clear the bulk of this demand, but we will bring down the application rate.
In considering their home options, home buyers will have to do their homework, and they should evaluate carefully the different factors before making the purchase. Mr Chong Kee Hiong mentioned one concern about the lease of existing flats. He is right that, like all leasehold properties, the value of an HDB flat will decline as leases run down. Flat buyers and home buyers have to take this into account in their financial planning. But for now, a large majority of flats have more than 60 years of lease remaining. They continue to be highly liveable and the neighbourhoods will benefit from upgrading from time to time. There is still value in our resale flats. We will continue to find ways to help our elderly Singaporeans monetise the value of their flats in an orderly fashion and we will also publicise the schemes for doing so, as Members like Mr Alex Yam, Mr Faisal Manap and Mr Chen Show Mao have highlighted. Minister of State Koh Poh Koon will elaborate on this later in his speech.
At the same time, whether buying a new BTO flat or a resale flat, there is a need to be financially prudent. We have homes for every budget – 3-room flat can vary from $180,000 for a BTO in Bukit Batok to $368,000 for a resale flat in Queenstown. My message to home buyers is this: we will do whatever we can to support you in your home ownership goals. But please choose a home that meets your needs and is within your means. I understand the desire to buy a large flat or one with a central location, but this should not come at the expense of a huge debt burden overwhelming the entire family.
Having cleared the backlog for first timers and made progress for singles and second timers, we are now getting more requests for new flats to accommodate other buyer groups. For example, Mr Gan Thiam Poh suggested giving Singaporeans the chance to buy a third BTO flat. I understand why people would like to buy a new flat from HDB. That is why we are allowing them to do so twice. We also have short-lease 2-room flexi flats for seniors to buy a third flat from HDB. But I do not think we can go beyond that.
To allow a \"third bite of the housing cherry\" for all is not sustainable. And we have to be realistic. Our land is limited; our financial resources are finite. We must, therefore, prioritise among various home buyers. It is easy to give in to the demands and accommodate all the immediate requests and build as much as we can today and not think about tomorrow. But this would not be a responsible thing to do. We must consider the impact of our actions today on the next generation. We must always be mindful of the implications of over-building and consider how a glut of flats will have a negative impact on the value of homes for all Singaporeans
So, we need to strike that balance. And that balance includes looking at resale and new flats. This year, we are building 18,000 new flats. This is more than the previous year, and we have done so to accommodate the increased demand from recent policy changes. But we cannot continue at this rate perpetually. We intend to gradually taper down our building programme to achieve a more sustainable level over the medium term.
Likewise, we are monitoring the property market very closely. Several Members spoke about this and called for a lifting of the cooling measures. Mr Christopher de Souza mentioned this earlier in the Budget debate. Mr Alex Yam and Mr Chong Kee Hiong suggested this earlier as well.
Madam, our cooling measures have been effective in stabilising the property market. But it is too early to declare victory and unwind the measures. Any relaxation of the measures now may risk a premature market rebound and I am sure that is an outcome we all want to avoid. Nevertheless, we recognise that the property market is affected by the broader economy and global events. We are also very mindful that the property market, in turn, can have a broader impact on other sectors of the economy. We are keeping a close watch and will be prepared to respond where needed.
While we have made progress in housing, we know that there are some families who may not be able to afford a home. Many Members spoke about this, including Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap and Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, and they asked about how we can help these lower-income and vulnerable families.
We will exercise flexibility and compassion and do all we can to help the families in need. For those in need of housing, we have ramped up our rental flat supply to ensure that they have a roof over their heads. We will continue to build more rental flats to accommodate this demand. Minister of State Koh Poh Koon will say more about this later.
Besides providing rental flats, we want to do more to help second timers in public rental buy a home. For many of them, second-timer families in the rental flats, they are no longer eligible for housing grants; they are probably unable to get a bank loan and so they will face greater difficulties in moving out of their rental situation to have a home of their own. That is why we are introducing the Fresh Start Housing Scheme. It is aimed at parents with school-going children, so that their children can grow up in a stable home environment.
Let me share the key features of the scheme. First, the families who qualify will be able to buy a new 2-room flexi flat. The flat will come with shorter leases, ranging from 45 to 65 years, to keep the price affordable. It will also come with a longer MOP, I think Mr Gan Thiam Poh also suggested this just now. The longer MOP will be 20 years to ensure a stable home for the children.
Second, we will give them another HDB concessionary loan, regardless of the number of HDB loans they have taken before. They may have taken two loans before from HDB, but we will give these families another HDB concessionary loan. They can use their CPF for the downpayment and also for the mortgage payments.
Third, we will help them with a Fresh Start Housing Grant of up to $35,000. The amount of grant will be prorated according to the lease of the flat they buy. Together, I believe these measures provide significant help for second-timer families in rental flats to own their own home again.
The scheme is not just about buying a new flat, but also about integrating financial assistance with personal responsibility and social support. To qualify for the scheme and receive the full grant, families will have to show commitment to remain in stable employment, manage their finances well and ensure their children are attending school regularly. These are conditions that we have worked out through our consultations, and they were also highlighted by several Members, including Mr Alex Yam, earlier. In line with the efforts they make, the grant will correspondingly be disbursed in tranches over time: $20,000 will be given out when they collect their keys, and the remainder will be disbursed annually over the next five years.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat expressed some concerns about the conditions attached to the grants. I am very mindful that these conditions should not be onerous. But at the same time, we are making a major move for these families by giving them another grant. So, it is fair that they must be able to show a certain level of commitment towards homeownership. And I want to assure Members that our approach is one where we will handhold the families closely and walk this journey with them.
We will be working with MSF on this. So, MSF officers will check in with the families regularly to ensure that they are doing well and they will link them up with partners for social support where needed. If along the way, some families encounter difficulties, the social agencies will be there to help them. We will consider their individual circumstances and the effort that they are making to meet the conditions. In doing so, we will not rely on just a single matrix or single criterion because we will exercise judgement and discretion and will look at it case by case. We hope this approach will keep the families motivated, so that they can make the most of this opportunity to get a fresh start and own their own homes again.
How will the Fresh Start Scheme help a rental family? Mdm Chair, if I may have your permission to show a worked example for illustration?
The Chairman: Yes, please. [Slides were shown to hon Members.]
Mr Lawrence Wong: On the slide are Mr and Mrs Tan. They have a son and are now staying in a rental flat paying rental of $240 a month. With Fresh Start, they will be able to buy a new 2-room flat with a 60-year lease. They will have a monthly instalment of about $300. It is slightly more than their monthly rental. But the key is this: they can now pay for this largely through their CPF. If you look at the illustration, the bulk of it will now be paid through CPF and their cash outlay is $10 a month. Ultimately, this will be their flat. It is not a rental flat. They will own this place. It is a comparable amount that they have to pay overall, but a large part of it is paid through CPF now and they would be able to own their own flat eventually.
We plan to implement the scheme by the end of this year. If you look at the profile of those living in rental flats today – those who are second timers, with school-going children, based on the demographic profile that we are aiming for and who do not have excessive rental arrears with HDB presently – the estimate is that this group is about 1,000.
Not all of them may choose to take up the scheme. It will depend on their individual finances and circumstances. The numbers may not be very big, but I believe the scheme can and will have a meaningful impact on the families that we are reaching out to. That is our first priority on home ownership and the different ways in which we are strengthening home ownership.
Our next priority is to transform our urban landscape and build our city for the future. Over the last 50 years, we have succeeded in making Singapore a modern global city. This did not happen by chance. We had bold and innovative plans for urban renewal. We did it through systematic implementation over many terms of Government.
We must consider how we want to build our future city over the next 50 years. In some ways, it will be a more difficult journey because we are starting from a higher base with more biting resource constraints. The competition is also becoming more intense. We are in a new era of city competition. There are more than 400 cities in the world, each with at least a million people. Among them are many emerging world cities, all vying for talent and investments. There is intense competition. We are starting from a higher base, but we cannot afford to stand still. We should take comfort that we are moving from a position of strength. Despite our limitation of size, we are far from saturation. There are still many possibilities for urban development and transformation.
Members will know that we are consolidating our port at Tuas, and this would free up more land for redevelopment at the Greater Southern waterfront. How much land will it free up? That parcel there is about three times the size of Marina Bay. I am not saying that we are going to build three Marina Bays there, but it is to give a context that it is three times the size of Marina Bay.
We are expanding Changi Air Hub with a new Terminal 5 and relocating Paya Lebar over at Changi. Again, this will free up 800 hectares of prime land for mixed-use development. What does that mean? Again, in comparison, that is equivalent to half a Jurong Industrial estate, one Ang Mo Kio Town and two Tampines Regional Centres. I am not saying we are going to do that. But this is the perspective of what kind of scale we have, and the mix of uses can vary because we have to plan and think through what plans we want to do with this land that is freed up.
Over the next 10-20 years, we will be building up several regional nodes. We have the second central business district (CBD) at Jurong Lake District which will also be the site for the high-speed rail terminus to Kuala Lumpur. We have a new Creative Cluster at Punggol, together with the new Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) campus. We have a new Northern Growth corridor at Woodlands and Sembawang, with many opportunities to transform the waterfront for new jobs and homes.
We are also looking at new and innovative infrastructure solutions, for example, exploring autonomous vehicles, infrastructure needed for driverless cars, smart power grids and underground options for electrical substations and drainage reservoir systems. There is a lot to do, there is a lot of potential for us to move forward and we are studying all of these ideas in the Committee on the Future Economy, in particular, in the subcommittee on the Future City which I co-chair.
We are also planning ahead for our HDB towns and estates. In the early years, priority was just to get the blocks of HDB flats completed. But over the years, much more attention has been paid on planning the entire HDB town − the amenities and facilities that come with it, as well as ensuring that there is access to greenery and public spaces.
Planning work is not easy, but we are trying very hard to have a range of facilities and shops in our housing estates ready when residents move in. HDB will ensure that there will always be some shops built in tandem with new flats, so that residents will always have access to some facilities, greenery and public spaces.
But development plans that are based on assumptions may not always pan out or the assumptions may not always pan out, or they may take time to be staged. It is easy to criticise our civil servants for \"poor town planning\", as Mr Dennis Tan said earlier in the Budget debate. But I think that is not being fair to them and the work that they do. At the end of the day, what is important is the ability to continually update our urban plans to keep pace with the needs of society. That is the approach we take in our HDB estates.
For existing towns, we are continually upgrading and rejuvenating them through various upgrading programmes. Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee will elaborate on them later. For new housing areas, we learn from our past experience, and we are developing HDB estates and towns with distinctive character. We pay attention to the history and heritage of the place, we provide for beautiful greenery, beautiful blue spaces, and neighbourhood amenities. And we can see these in all our new projects, be it in Bidadari, Punggol or Tampines North.
Soon, we will be opening up a new HDB town called Tengah. That is next to the Jurong Innovation District. Members have seen the slides and the video that Minister Heng Swee Keat showed on the Jurong Innovation District. Tengah will be just next to it. It is an area surrounded by greenery. We will plan this as a \"Forest Town\". It will be integrated with nature and also the nearby Jurong Innovation District. I am not going to do an extended sales pitch here in Parliament. Members can see a picture of what Tengah can be. I have seen many more plans, pictures and visualisations of what our planners are doing. I think it will be a very exciting place to live, work and play. HDB will release more details in due course.
Finally, a key priority for us is to make Singapore a more car-lite and people-friendly city. Cities are centres of economic activity. But they are, first and foremost, places where people meet, interact and connect with one another. That is even more important for us in Singapore, where we only have one city, which is our country and our home. As we transform our city, we must make this place more sustainable, more beautiful and more invigorating to the human spirit.
That is why we emphasised clean and green from the outset, and we are making progress as a City in a Garden. In our next phase, we must focus on our public spaces, streets, squares and footpaths. We must make sure that these developments, these public spaces, are well designed, they relate to the human scale and are well-connected and conducive for walking and cycling.
Several Members, including Miss Cheryl Chan, Mr Saktiandi Supaat, Mr Darryl David and Mr Louis Ng spoke about this, and I fully share their views.
I am also glad that Mr Saktiandi Supaat shared the example of the Novena Health City. I think this is one area which we have planned for a comprehensive coverage of underground pedestrian links, street-level walkways and elevated link-bridges. It is a good example of what we are striving to achieve. Indeed, we have similar plans for other areas too – in the CBD, Jurong Lake District and all our regional centres.
To further bolster these efforts, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and URA will be introducing a new requirement for developers. This new requirement will make sure that developers incorporate the needs of pedestrians and cyclists upfront in their development plans. For example, developers will have to review the locations of the vehicular access points to minimise conflict with pedestrians and cyclists, taking into account key pedestrian and cyclist access routes and the location of bicycle parking facilities. This is especially critical for developments with high footfall like our schools, shopping malls, office buildings and business parks. Through these requirements, we will ensure that our built environment is more conducive for pedestrians and cyclists.
Besides new developments, I agree with Mr Ang Wei Neng that we need to do more for greater connectivity in existing buildings. In fact, I am not sure if Mr Ang heard this earlier, because we had a debate when Dr Tan Wu Meng moved an Adjournment Motion on this. I had shared earlier in the House that we are studying and reviewing legislation to allow us to mandate existing developments to receive new elevated and underground links. Once this is in place, we plan to get more pedestrian connections along Orchard Road and other areas as well.
What do we hope to achieve with all of these changes? How can we be a better, more attractive city for walking and cycling? Let me paint a picture of what we can see in the future. First, within every HDB estate, we will have more dedicated paths for active mobility, be it walking, jogging, cycling or the use of other personal mobility devices. This will enhance our first-mile/last-mile connectivity to MRT stations. Our newer housing areas, such as Bidadari, Punggol and Tampines North, are already designed with these paths. For existing towns, we will progressively improve the infrastructure through our upgrading programmes.
Here is one example in Bedok Town, which I will show on the slide, where a comprehensive cycling and walking network of approximately 14 km will be completed next year. This will allow better connectivity to MRT stations, major employment areas, parks, schools as well as the Neighbourhood Centres. Intra-HDB towns, new ones, we will do it upfront; existing ones, we will do so through upgrading progressively. We will have a very well-connected route of dedicated walking, cycling paths within each HDB town.
Next, we will also have active mobility routes that connect our residential towns to our city centre. This will enable people to get to their workplaces without having to drive. For a start, we are looking at towns that are within a 30-minute cycling distance to the city. So, we have identified six possible routes to the city, as shown in the map.
These cover connections from towns and estates in various regions: from the east, such as Geylang and Marine Parade; northeast, such as Hougang and Macpherson; and the west, such as Queenstown and Bukit Merah. These routes are largely already in place today. These are not new routes because they are largely in place today through our Park Connectors. If you actually travel or take a cycling ride through one of these routes, you will realise that they are not fully seamless and there are some gaps along the way. We intend to plug these gaps, so that the routes can be seamless, and they can better connect our HDB towns to the city centre.
I give an example of the Bishan to City route which runs along the Kallang River. Today, if you take that route, as a cyclist or jogger, you will have to traverse several pedestrian overhead bridges and underpasses, and the biggest obstacle is that you have to cross the Pan Island Expressway (PIE). So, it is very difficult if you want to cycle down that route to the city. You have to dismount, go up the pedestrian overhead bridge, underpass, and then you have to find some way to get round the PIE.
URA has initiated a consultancy study to look at possible solutions to bridge these gaps. So, this is just one possibility of how something can be done to bridge the gap. The picture on screen shows a bridge across Serangoon Road, a potential bridge that you can cycle through. So, if we are able to smoothen out these different kinks in the route, say, with potential links like this, then residents staying in Bishan, Bidadari, Toa Payoh would have a more direct and seamless travelling experience, whether it is through walking, cycling or any other personal mobility device, from their HDB towns to the city centre. This is an example, conceptually, of what we are looking at, how we can enhance connections from HDB towns to the city centre.
We will also look at active mobility routes within the city centre itself. And here we can have potential for wider pedestrian sidewalks and dedicated cycling and walking paths as well. These will connect to the major office developments. Some of these pathways in Marina Bay have already been implemented and we will continue to do more in other parts of the CBD.
These are some of our ideas and plans to make Singapore a more attractive city for walking, cycling and active mobility. URA will hold a major exhibition later this year. They will seek the public's views on these different active mobility routes and the types of enhancements needed to make them more useful.
The infrastructure is important, but we must certainly go beyond infrastructure planning to embrace a car-lite mindset. I think Miss Cheryl Chan spoke about this and highlighted the need for more basic awareness and education. I fully agree with her. MOT will be sharing more about this in its COS later.
We also need strategies to better manage the use of cars. One way is to facilitate more car sharing schemes. It can be through electric vehicles (EVs), as suggested by Mr Ong Teng Koon. Our agencies are studying this, as well as the charging infrastructure that may be needed to facilitate the take-up of such EVs.
Car park charges are another important lever that we can use. I know Mr Lim Biow Chuan has called for more free parking in car parks. But free parking is not really free. Free parking is a subsidy to the motorists that is paid for by non-motorists. It is not really free parking. It is a subsidy to motorists. In fact, our car park charges are generally lower than most other major cities. Perhaps, we should not be thinking about lowering car park charges or making them free, but we may even have to look at raising car park charges if we want to move in the direction of a car-lite city.
But the specific concerns raised by Mr Lim Biow Chuan are, I think, about the availability of lots which are being used up for commercial vehicles today, or it is really about how we can provide for more lots for commercial vehicles in residential areas, so that they will not have to park next to his residents' homes. We have to look at that more specifically and find other ways to address this issue.
Madam, I recognise that it will take time to bring about this mindset shift towards a car-lite Singapore. That is why we have started by pedestrianising our vehicular roads, where possible, to create car-free zones, be it on weekends or even on a permanent basis. It is our attempt to show how car-free streets can become attractive public spaces for all to enjoy.
We have held our first Car-Free Sunday. In fact, we have had two editions of it so far. We have it at the Civic District and the CBD area and there has been a tremendous response to this. We are also expanding car-free zones to streets all over Singapore. Currently, if you look at our city centre, there are 18 streets which are closed for pedestrians to use on a regular basis, such as during weekends. These are marked out in the map, in addition to our car-free zones on Sunday.
With more support from the community, we can do more in other areas as well. In fact, recently, additional roads have been closed for car-free events – Jalan Pisang, Keong Saik Road and Armenian Street. We want to do more, not just in the city but also beyond the city, so that we can have more pedestrianised and car-free zones in our HDB estates as well.
How do we decide which roads to close or which streets to activate? It is not done centrally by URA. It is really based on ground-up feedback and proposals. For example, I visited Kampong Glam recently on one of the car-free weekends, trying to revisit my childhood with the kids skipping. I think I can still keep up with the kids because if you look at the picture, I am the one who is jumping among the highest. [Laughter]
This is a completely ground-up initiative by the business owners and stakeholders in the area. It is a completely ground-up initiative by the stakeholders there, the business owners. They decided to do it and URA supported them. The feedback has been very positive. The business owners reported an increase in sales due to higher footfall and the public also enjoyed the bustling street life.
We want to support more of such ground-up initiatives, not only to activate our streets, but also our public spaces in the city and in our HDB estates. URA has an existing programme which they will enhance and will call it, \"Our Favourite Place\", to invite Singaporeans to collaborate and play a greater role in shaping the use of our public spaces.
Through this programme, we will support individuals or groups who have ideas and are keen to activate public spaces. We will assist them to streamline regulatory approvals from Government agencies and we will provide seed funding to get the ideas implemented on the ground. I hope that, in time, a network of like-minded volunteers and civic partners will grow through this programme. This will help us catalyse a broader movement to get Singaporeans involved in shaping our streets and public spaces. It will strengthen our sense of ownership, identity and emotional connection to home.
Mdm Chair, we are all familiar with the song \"Home\", and there is one line in the lyrics that says, \"There is comfort in the knowledge that home's about its people, too.\" Indeed, everything we do in MND, and the whole-of-Government, is about the well-being of Singaporeans. People are always at the centre of our policies, be it our housing programme, our urban transformation plans or our initiatives for more vibrant public spaces.
People are also a critical factor in the success of our policies. That is why we want Singaporeans to be actively involved in shaping our policies and our future city.
Madam, I began by noting how housing has always been a hot-button issue, and that is to be expected, because ours is a stakeholder citizenry with the highest home ownership rate in the world. Taking ownership of the spaces we live in is what makes a house a home. So, as we take our first step towards SG100, let us make this a journey of closer partnerships. Let us work together to build a better home with our families and a better community with our neighbours and fellow Singaporeans. Let us shape, together, our residential and urban landscape and build the best Singapore we know how for all Singaporeans. [Applause.]
The Chairman: Mr Alex Yam.
Mr Alex Yam: Mdm Chair, rarely has one fishball stick meant so much on Government policies. Municipal issues may seem mundane, almost ordinary but the extra-ordinary efforts are taken to solve the problems of our citizens.
What must really make the work of the Municipal Services Office (MSO) difficult in the last one year must be ploughing through, what I call, the three big mountains – a mountain of feedback to sort, a gunung of red tape to unravel and one bukit full of agencies to coordinate. While the Minister-in-charge has lauded partner agencies for the progress made by MSO, are there still challenges yet to be resolved? Though the response time has come down from eight to six and a half days, would MSO be setting a target for even better response time for the next one year?
The OneService mobile app has been downloaded currently by close to 40,000 users, which is low. Does the MSO project more for the coming year and what other feedback mechanisms are in place, especially for the elderly? I am also sure I am not the only one to notice the app has a minor bug that seems to make the name the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) officer who worked on the app appear every time we load it. I think thanks are due to this particular staff and the team for their good first effort at an all-encompassing app.
Would MSO also update on the integration of the systems with Town Councils? Has the pilot progressed and what are the major hurdles, if any? I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the MSO staff for all the hard work over the last one year.
Mr Chong Kee Hiong: Mdm Chair, it has been over a year since the Municipal Services Office (MSO) was set up. Would the Ministry share what have been the improvements in terms of the coordination among its partner agencies? What have been the challenges encountered? One of the key initiatives by MSO was the OneService app. What has been the usage rate of OneService app and how much has it facilitated the timely response to the problems brought to the attention of the agencies? What proportion of the partner agencies' feedback comes from OneService app?
I understand that MSO has been making enhancements to the OneService app, including adding new reporting categories. Would the Minister share with us an overview of the enhanced features and what are the plans for the OneService app going forward? What other agencies will be added as partners?
Last year, the focus had been on making feedback easier for residents and working with agencies to address feedback more effectively. Would MSO take on a further role to review partner agencies' actions on the feedback? Would MSO provide feedback to partner agencies to improve their processes and workflow so as to improve service delivery to the public? With growing manpower and resource constraints, how does MSO and its partner agencies leverage technology to boost the productivity of municipal service delivery?
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: Madam, one of the key initiatives started by MSO last year was the OneService app. In the past, members of the public might not know which agency to call and get bounced around by the different agencies before action is taken. The app was designed to make it more convenient for the public to report municipal issues in Singapore.
In the follow-up to the OneService app, MSO mentioned that they will continue to fine tune and improve on the functionalities and performance of the app, taking into account public feedback and suggestions for improvements. MSO also plans to invite more agencies to participate in the app and include additional features in future versions.
Can MSO now provide updates on how it will improve the app further, whether more agencies will be participating in it and what are any further plans for the OneService app going forward?
Mr Ong Teng Koon: Mdm Chair, the Municipal Services Office (MSO) was one of the landmark announcements of the 2014 National Day Rally Speech. Its objective was to help provide a one-stop shop for municipal issues, such as estate cleanliness and maintenance. That way, residents would not need to navigate the various Government agencies in charge of different operations and services.
It has now been slightly more than a year since the MSO was set up. I would like to request an update regarding the progress that has been made, specifically whether there are concrete indicators that the overall service experience for residents has indeed been advanced.
Looking back at this first year, a key initiative of the MSO was the launching of the OneService app. With the widespread use of mobile communication devices in Singapore, such an app should in principle help the MSO extend outreach more effectively. I would like to ask for an update on the following: how many times has this app been downloaded? And how many requests for assistance have been received via this app? Looking ahead, what plans does the MSO have in terms of enhancements to the OneService app?
Moving beyond the issue of gathering feedback more effectively, the real test of the MSO's effectiveness will be in its ability to respond to and resolve municipal issues in a timely fashion, in collaboration with existing agencies, such as local Town Councils. This has started in a modest way, with a pilot involving two Town Councils. I would like to ask for an update regarding how successful this pilot has been, as well as what MSO's concrete plans are for scaling up and rolling out such working arrangements to all Town Councils in Singapore.
Last but not least, given the existing manpower constraints in Singapore, what plans does the MSO have to seek to leverage technology to raise the productivity of municipal service delivery?
The Chairman: Mr Baey Yam Keng, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines): Mdm Chair, last year, MSO announced that NParks will take over all greenery maintenance works, like grass-cutting, that were previously done by different agencies such as the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), Public Utilities Board (PUB) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB). I would like to ask the Minister how that is panning out and the challenges faced.
I note that the new arrangement does not include grassland under the Town Councils' responsibility. However, there are areas where a plot of Town Council land and another plot under NParks are side by side, for example a strip of land between Tampines Block 498 cluster and the Tampines Expressway, which does not have a clear physical boundary. I would like to suggest that MSO assign just one agency, so in this case, either NParks or Tampines Town Council, to handle the grass-cutting for better maintenance. Currently, when both agencies have different schedules, there is no one time when the grass of the entire strip is nicely cut.
Apart from public greenery maintenance, there are still other municipal services today that are provided by several different agencies. Having similar issues handled by various agencies could slow down response time to feedback, especially when it is not clear which agency should be the one to follow up or if no agency steps up to take up the lead.
One area that MSO could look into is the treatment of pest problems. Pests as defined by the National Environment Agency (NEA) include rodents, mosquitoes and cockroaches while general wildlife handled by AVA includes crows and pigeons which can also become pests. Bees or birds on roadside trees are referred to NParks while those on trees on state land are handled by HDB, and Town Councils will handle insect or bird complaints on trees in common properties of HDB.
Unlike grass and trees, rodents move, insects and birds fly. Residents can complain to the Town Council about a pest problem, but the nest or source could be across the boundary in a non-Town Council area.
In a compact environment where land boundaries of various agencies are in close proximity, having multiple agencies work together to manage a pest problem is not efficient and often not effective.
The current approach of handling such issues by referral to different agencies is based on land boundary. I would like to ask MSO to identify such similar functions that are handled by various agencies and have them integrated to avoid duplication of services.
Mdm Chair, the Town Councils play an important role in residents' experiences with municipal services as Town Councils maintain the common spaces of HDB estates. As such, many residents approach the Town Councils with feedback on municipal issues. Some of these fall under the public agencies' purview and we have to redirect to the agencies accordingly.
Therefore, as the Chairman of Tampines Town Council, I am glad to hear that MSO started a pilot with Jurong and Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Councils last year to finetune feedback management protocols and to better channel feedback cases to the right agency for follow-up.
It has been a year since the pilot started. I would like to understand how the pilot has helped to improve feedback management between Town Councils and the public agencies.
Minister Grace Fu also indicated in March on her Facebook post that MSO is now ready to extend the collaboration to other Town Councils. How many Town Councils will be partnering MSO and when can we expect to come onboard?
Besides improving feedback management, are there other initiatives under this collaboration with the Town Councils?
Can MSO also look at matters under private companies providing public services, for example Singapore Power and telecommunications companies? These companies have pipes, cables and meters at HDB common corridors and residents tend to complain to the Town Council when something is amiss. The Town Council refers the feedback accordingly to the respective companies but the tracking and closing of loops need to be better managed. Would MSO be able to look into this by tapping on the existing system with public agencies?
Mr Gan Thiam Poh: Mdm Chair, MSO was set up to resolve municipal issues, especially those which involve multiple agencies or where the lines of reporting are not clear. MSO's objective is to provide a convenient single point of contact for residents to make reports and coordinate multiple agencies or Ministries to help solve the problems at hand.
I would like to ask the Ministry what some of the technologies are which MSO and its partner agencies have utilised to improve service delivery to residents so far.
The Chairman: Minister Grace Fu.
The Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien): Mdm Chair, thank you for allowing me to speak. A famous writer once wrote: \"What is essential is invisible to the eye\". Municipal services are a bit like that. They are often overlooked, like having a clean pavement to walk on or a damaged railing repaired promptly. But these are essential things in our living environment.
It has been slightly over a year since MSO was formed to work with various agencies to improve these essential services. Let me share an update on our progress in response to Mr Chong Kee Hiong and Mr Ong Teng Koon.
In our recent survey, 77% of residents indicated that they are satisfied with municipal services in their neighbourhoods. This is a good base to build on.
For feedback that involves multiple agencies, MSO is actively improving the work process. You may have read about the case concerning the cleanliness of waters around Marina Country Club earlier this year. Litter accumulated on the waters and an adjoining temporary drain, making the area look unsightly. MSO brought together the relevant agencies – the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA), NEA, PUB, SLA – and facilitated a coordinated response. With SLA fronting the operations, the agencies cleaned the area and embarked on constructing a permanent drain. The agencies also agreed on procedures to address future cases.
Mr Alex Yam and Mr Chong Kee Hiong asked about our challenges. Complex cases like this are inevitable and invariably take longer to resolve. But through systematic culling of issues, one by one, ascertaining responsibility, facilitating coordination, we have reduced the average time taken to close such complex cases that require multiple agencies to work together by about eight days over the past year, from 21 to 13 days.
Improving response time to feedback is not our only goal. We have also been working to make it more convenient for the public to get to us on municipal issues. MSO launched the OneService app in January last year. Several Members asked about the public response to the app. More than 55,000 users have registered. More than 31,000 cases were submitted.
Many users have found the app useful. In February this year, Mr Darren Siow used the OneService app to report on a pothole along Thomson Road, without having to identify the owner of the problem, and this is what he said, \"The efficient OneService ecosystem of receiving reports, assigning cases to the relevant agency and the resolution of issues is indeed praiseworthy.\"
Indeed, digital channels, such as mobile apps and web portals, make it easier for the public to provide feedback and speed up our response process. There has been a four-fold increase in the proportion of municipal feedback received via digital channels over the past year, from about 3% – a low base – to 12%. Specifically, 5% of feedback was received via the OneService app. MSO and our partner agencies will continue to improve our digital channels.
We have received suggestions on the app and introduced several enhancements. These include adding new reporting categories and push notifications on the status of your cases. Many Members wanted to know our upcoming plans. This year, we will introduce a new crowdsourcing feature to collect information that helps our agencies to address municipal issues which users do not expect a reply.
We will pilot crowdsourcing in the retrieval of abandoned supermarket trolleys. I am sure many of us have encountered the odd supermarket trolley at void decks or walkways, which caused obstruction or was being used as a litter dump. To address such problems, MSO is working with five supermarket chains on an initiative called \"Spot Abandoned Trolleys\". This feature will be available on the OneService App by the end of this month and it marks a milestone in extending our partnership beyond Government agencies to the private sector.
When you next see an abandoned trolley, simply use the OneService App to submit its location. We will pump the data to the supermarkets which will go around to collect them periodically. This is a win-win arrangement. For residents, there will be fewer abandoned trolleys in the community; for supermarkets, they will be able to retrieve their trolleys more efficiently. If the \"Spot Abandoned Trolleys\" initiative works well, we will look at expanding crowdsourcing arrangements to other municipal issues.
Besides the OneService App, MSO will be introducing the OneService Web Portal in the latter half of this year. This will be a one-stop platform that aggregates relevant information from our partner agencies that affects your neighbourhood, such as dengue clusters in your neighbourhood, HDB block-cleaning schedules in your precincts and traffic incidents in the surrounding areas.
You can also report and track your feedback on either the app or Web Portal through the same account. We hope our efforts will make it even easier for you to interact with Government agencies on issues relating to you and your neighbourhood. Of course, residents can still submit feedback to agencies via existing channels.
Mr Chong Kee Hiong asked if MSO would look into improving processes and workflows. During the Budget debate, Dr Tan Wu Meng similarly called for better coordination on the ground. Indeed, MSO will focus on improving the coordination between agencies in operations this year.
Having a lead agency as your point-of-contact helps us to ensure timely response to your feedback. AVA has been the first responder for animal-related issues since 2012. As Mr Baey Yam Keng mentioned, MSO facilitated the centralisation of public greenery maintenance under NParks last year. NParks has been taking over the greenery maintenance functions in phases, starting with grass cutting. From June this year, NParks will be taking over other forms of greenery maintenance from HDB, SLA and PUB.
Mr Baey also asked that MSO look into other functions that cut across agencies to better streamline processes. I am happy to announce that from June this year, LTA will be the first responder for feedback on the maintenance of connectivity-related infrastructure. What are they? It means that if you see a damaged footpath or sheltered linkway and are unsure of whom to contact, you can use the OneService app, which will route such cases to LTA to assess and lead in the response.
As first responder, LTA will promptly attend to cases of public safety concerns to mitigate the risks. For instance, LTA was recently alerted to a footpath damaged by tree roots in front of Hong Kah Secondary School. LTA immediately inspected the site and placed safety cones to warn pedestrians of the hazard. And together with NParks, both agencies worked together on the repair works.
For non-emergencies, LTA will also be a first point of contact and coordinate the issue, although the repair might be done by another agency.
As for other cross-cutting issues, including the issue of pest control mentioned by Mr Baey Yam Keng, given their complexity as well as the local context involved, we will accumulate experience and knowledge as we go through the cases, helping the agencies to solve local cases one by one. We will explore how to improve on the process and look at systemic improvement over time.
It is not enough for MSO to work with just the Government agencies, as more than 80% of Singaporeans live in HDB estates which are managed by Town Councils. We started a pilot with Jurong-Clementi and Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Councils last year to align the feedback management process between Town Councils and agencies. To answer Mr Ong Teng Koon and Mr Baey Yam Keng, the pilot was a success. For instance, MSO co-created a manual with the pilot Town Councils and our agencies to clarify responsibilities for common municipal issues and facilitate prompt referrals. This is to ensure that residents' feedback will be promptly attended to, regardless of who they first approach.
A number of Members asked about our plans, following the pilot. I am glad to update that we have invited all 16 Town Councils to participate, and they have all agreed to come onboard. Each Town Council has its unique processes and systems, and we will need time to work with each of them to ease the transition. We will progressively bring the Town Councils onboard from now to the fourth quarter of this year. This means that by the end of the year, residents across the island will be able to benefit from the closer coordination between Town Councils and Government agencies.
Similar to our approach with the agencies, we have also moved beyond feedback management to collaborate on operations. Several municipal issues require the Government and Town Councils to work closely together. One example is water leakage from pipe fittings in HDB blocks. When residents call PUB to report on a pipe leakage, often without a clear description of the location of the leak, PUB has to visit the site. If the leakage occurs within the segment of the pipe under the Town Council's care, PUB will temporarily stop the leak and refer the case to the Town Council for proper repair. Two sets of technicians are often involved before the repair is done. It leads to a delay in repair and wastage of labour.
To facilitate faster resolution, PUB and the pilot Town Councils tried a first responder protocol last year. Under the protocol, they are assigned first responder roles for specified types of water supply issues. So, when a case on pipe leakage in Jurong East was reported to PUB in October last year, Jurong-Clementi Town Council attended to the feedback as the first responder for leaks in HDB estates and resolved it straightaway.
Similarly, MSO will look into improving the coordination between agencies and Town Councils for other issues like high-rise littering and pigeon feeding. However, our collaboration with Town Councils, as with other MSO initiatives, is not meant to and will not replace the functions of the Town Councils nor weaken their autonomy in service delivery.
MSO and its partners are also leveraging technology and learning from each other to improve processes and productivity, which was what Mr Gan Thiam Poh, Mr Chong Kee Hiong and Mr Ong Teng Koon have asked about.
A good example is HDB, which used technology to manage their car park enforcement. Instead of conducting time-consuming and manpower-intensive physical checks on the location of their wardens, HDB has enhanced the Electronic Handheld Terminals used by the wardens to capture their locations. HDB officers can now focus on car park management, such as addressing public feedback on illegal parking and obstruction of vehicles in car parks.
SLA has been harnessing technology to improve the efficiency of their land surveys. They have now started using a software application called Oblivision, which allows officers to inspect and even measure structures on a particular plot of land, without physically going to the site. MSO has also commenced work with SLA to see how we can extend Oblivision to other agencies to reduce labour-intensive site visits.
MSO is on a constant lookout for technologies that can help our agencies deliver better and more efficient services.
In conclusion, as MSO moves into improving operations and productivity, many of our initiatives will be \"invisible to the eye\". There will not be major infrastructure built or goodies given out. But through what we do, we constantly improve the essential services which define the quality of our living environment.
To do this, we will need to expand our network of partners, including private companies providing public services, like what Mr Baey asked for. While the Government does not regulate the operations and feedback management processes of private businesses, we are prepared to work closely with them and all relevant partners, to improve our common spaces.
But most of all, we want to engage residents as our key stakeholders. In line with the call for Partnering for the Future, MSO will enable greater community partnership in municipal services. Residents have an important role to play by alerting us to issues in your neighbourhood, by being an active and engaged resident and by participating in community building. Together, we can create a better living environment for one another and for the ones we love.
The Chairman: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: Mdm Chair, improving our infrastructure has been one of our top priorities. To achieve this, we must establish higher productivity within the construction industry. Last year, the second Construction Productivity Roadmap was rolled out. Can the Minister give an update on its progress?
What is the take-up rate of the Construction Productivity and Capability Fund (CPCF)? How useful has it been in encouraging greater innovation and productivity? What is the progress of adoption of new construction technologies, including Design for Manufacturing and Assembly through Prefabricated Pre-finished Volumetric Construction (PPVC)? Do they bring about savings in manpower and shorten the construction period, as expected? Will the Government consider absorbing the difference in the cost of PPVC during this initial period which, I am told, can cost up to 40% more?
At the same time, I was told that in Australia, PPVC is not so common. They use a lot of steel works. With proper planning, steel works can be faster than PPVC. So, I hope the Government does not over push PPVC and forget about other construction methods.
CPCF mainly encourages firms to adopt more productive construction methods. But we might need to look deeper. A few Singaporean developers who ventured to Australia told me that, in Australia, they can build faster because they spend more effort and time in the design and planning stage.
[Deputy Speaker (Mr Lim Biow Chuan) in the Chair]
In Singapore, as the land cost is high, the developer would normally rush to have design and planning approval obtained so that they can launch quickly. As a result, a lot of details are not ironed out properly during the design and planning stage. Tackling the downstream construction methods may not yield the results that we desire. We need to have fundamental changes in our workflow.
How to have fundamental changes? Besides giving more time for the upstream design and planning, we need to have experienced Singaporean Core engineers, architects and construction managers, that is, we need to retain and build on the construction expertise in Singapore to get better results.
The Government can also help in procurement matters. Do not automatically award the contracts to the lowest tenderer. Instead, scrutinise the companies' local expertise too, and ask that they have a certain level of local expertise before they can get the contract.
Dr Teo Ho Pin (Bukit Panjang): Chairman, Sir, the construction industry is a very complex industry, comprising many stakeholders, such as the authorities, developers, consultants, suppliers, and contractors.
With rising expectations from clients and users, construction projects are becoming more complex. Thus, we need to find new ways to improve construction productivity and quality.
Sir, I wish to ask the Ministry to provide an update on the progress of the construction industry. First, what are the key initiatives implemented by the Ministry to improve the innovation, productivity, quality, safety and professionalism in the industry? Two, what is the future roadmap for the construction industry?
Sir, the construction industry needs a major transformation to grow and succeed in the future. I would like to propose four recommendations for the Ministry to consider.
One, review the terms and conditions of all land sales and qualifying certificate for developers. The land sales' terms and conditions such as project completion period, extension premium scheme, use of Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) method and the need to sell all dwelling units in a housing development within two years from the temporary occupation permit (TOP), have increased development risks and construction costs correspondingly.
These cost increases are ultimately passed on to property buyers and users. I propose that we review or remove these land sales requirements to allow more flexibility for developers to adopt more innovative and productive methods in their developments and encourage developers to be more creative in finding more cost-effective solutions for their developments.
Two, develop a fair remuneration framework for building consultants. Today, building consultants, such as architects, engineers and quantity surveyors, are usually paid a percentage fee based on the value of the project. Such a fee structure may result in a conflict of interest as some consultants may not be incentivised to produce simple, functional and lower-cost designs.
I urge the Ministry to consider developing a fair remuneration framework that will encourage building consultants to adopt professional practices and for a fair fee. This could be in the form of lump-sum fees based on the size and complexity of the project.
Three, build a core team of Singapore builders. Sir, over the last 30 years, the construction industry has suffered a serious brain drain of building professionals. Many architecture, engineering and building professionals have left the industry. This is attributed to a lack of recognition of the professions, tough work environment and the poor image of the industry.
At local universities, architecture, engineering and building courses are not top choices among university applicants. In fact, the building course in the National University of Singapore (NUS) had to be repackaged in order to attract applications as the building degree is not recognised by the authorities in Singapore.
Sir, if this outflow of talent continues, we will soon face a shortage of local building professionals to build and rejuvenate our city. I urge the Ministry to take immediate action to build a core team of building professionals in Singapore.
Four, Construction Future Steering Committee. Sir, the construction industry needs a steering committee to map out its development for the next 50 years. I propose that the Ministry set up a Construction Future Steering Committee to make Singapore a Global City.
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Sir, the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) is coming to a close. Many residents in Hougang welcome the new lifts although, for some elderly residents, it came too late. For others, the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) introduces a new set of problems and issues they never had to contend with before.
For example, many would have thought that the installation of privacy louvres for the new LUP lift lobbies is a standard feature and a simple process as these are non-structural installations. However, some privacy louvres serve no purpose whatsoever because the gaps between the fins are too wide. Some are not even angled correctly to achieve any effect. In the same block of flats, some lift lobbies have louvres, and some do not.
The flow of water along the common corridors is also affected by LUP. Water ponding and flooding became an issue for some residents as the original path of the water flow along the common corridor has been altered or rerouted.
One major bugbear of LUP can be found at Block 314, Hougang Avenue 5. Residents living at lift lobby C found out to their disappointment that a new 1.2-metre lift landing bridge was built right beside one of the two benefiting units on each floor without factoring in the proximity of the affected unit and the dry riser.
While the new bridge may comply with the statutory requirements, the cement base of the dry riser effectively reduces the clear width of the entrance to less than 950 millimetres at the base level. With the landing valve of the dry riser sticking out substantially, the clear width of the entrance of the lift landing was further reduced at about the shoulder height level. Taken as a whole, the lift landing bridge at Block 314 does not comply with the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) requirements as the entrance does not have the 1.2-metre clear width.
I thank the HDB team for trimming the cement base and reorientating the landing valve of the dry riser to widen the width of the lift landing entrance at Block 314, but the fact remains that such measures were needed goes to show that some LUP designs need to go beyond just meeting statutory requirements.
In the case of Block 314, the new lift landing bridge meets the requirements, but it is located right next to a dry riser and a resident's flat. Affected residents can no longer leave their gates open or leave their shoes outside their doorway as that will also cause obstruction at the entrance of the lift landing. These residents do not even have any space left to put a simple shoe rack anymore.
The Town Council has no issue to enforce its bylaw to ensure that these passageways are not being obstructed indiscriminately but we are looking at a situation where the design of the landing bridge is being forced upon the residents to such a point where anything left outside their units will cause obstruction, no matter what.
LUP is a comprehensive $5.5 billion programme. Is there any room for HDB to make good the bad designs as residents have to live with the consequences, day in and day out? And it does not help that LUP designs for similar flats in an estate can vary depending on the contractor who is doing the job. I must stress that I am not talking about defects but design anomalies.
The Chairman: Mr Low Thia Khiang, you have two cuts. You can take them together.
Mr Low Thia Khiang (Aljunied): Thank you, Sir. The Aljunied-Hougang Town Council currently manages 1,760 lifts in HDB estates, out of which 470 are new lifts installed under the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) being turned on from 2012 onwards. Based on the figures gathered for lift breakdown in financial year (FY) 2015/2016, there were 3,683 breakdowns in total, or 7.84 breakdowns per lift on average.
This is a relatively high breakdown rate, considering these new lifts are barely three years old. I am not sure whether this happens only in Aljunied-Hougang Town or across the board. I would like to urge MND to take a look at the quality of the LUP lifts.
Next, with the growth in the number of lifts contributed by LUP, the expenditure on lift maintenance for each year is also rising. In the case of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, the latest revision in maintenance contracts by the original lift manufacturers will result in a cost increase of between 4.08% and 8.52%. The projected upward revision in maintenance rates beyond 2017 is even higher, estimated to be between 8.66% and 10.72%.
I believe that moving forward, lift maintenance will be a heavy financial burden on all the Town Councils. Hence, I request MND to consider providing a special grant for lift maintenance.
Finally, new lifts are designed by different lift manufacturers with their unique features and parts, especially the motherboard. This gives rise to maintenance issues, as the original manufacturers control the parts and pricing.
I suggest HDB consider a standardised lift design for HDB estates to require manufacturers to produce lifts based on a standard design and make the standardised lift parts, so that both electronic and mechanical parts will be readily available. This will ensure competitive pricing in the manufacture and maintenance of lifts.
Sir, since 1997, we have heard about the idea of pneumatic conveyance systems for waste disposal in our HDB estates, brought up in this House by the then Minister for the Environment, Mr Yeo Cheow Tong. In 2013, I filed a cut noting that a pilot project under the Greenprint Initiative was slated to be carried out in Jurong East in 2013 and 2014.
I would like to seek an update on this, as pneumatic waste conveyance systems would be a huge productivity improvement over having to manually empty individual bulk bin inside each bin chute every day. Such a system can afford all Town Councils not only better productivity but also savings in manpower costs. It is environmentally sustainable and gets rid of the problem of foul smells during refuse collection.
In June 2015, HDB said it would test-bed this pneumatic system in Yuhua. What has been the Ministry's assessment of applying the system to an existing HDB estate? Can the Ministry comment on how feasible it will be to roll out the system to other HDB estates, especially the older ones?
It appears that upcoming HDB projects at Tampines North, Bidadari and Punggol Northshore will also have the same system. However, the modernisation of waste collection is a benefit that should be experienced by as many HDB estates as possible, including the older HDB estates.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: Sir, HDB provides assistance through the Goodwill Repair Assistance (GRA) Scheme where HDB arranges for the repair works and co-pays 50% of the cost. The balance 50% is shared equally by the upper and lower floor flat owners who share the joint responsibility for the repair of ceiling leaks due to wear and tear.
Many residents I have spoken to welcome this form of assistance rendered by HDB and it lessens their financial burden. However, concerns persist, and I would like to reflect my residents' sentiments in this House. For instance, if the ceiling at the lower floor unit faces a leak or has signs of leakage, such as distinct watermark or a blotted patch, no repair works would be done to the damaged ceiling. Only the source of the leak located at the upper floor would be rectified, but upon the completion of the repair works, both flat owners, the upper floor as well as the lower floor, will each be billed 25% of the total repair cost. This is not fair to the lower floor home owners.
As a Member who represents a mature estate, I have regularly received feedback on the wear and tear to the ceiling in the unit. In fact, a resident who is staying in the lower floor unit said to me that in order to make repairs to her unit, she had to fork out additional costs. She is of the view that the repair of this damaged ceiling and its consequent repair costs should be included in the GRA scheme as the damage of their unit's ceiling should be the joint responsibility of both owners in accordance with the spirit of this particular policy.
I am in agreement with her on this. The present policy has good intention, but we must be careful not to allow one set of family feeling shortchanged and left out.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Mr Chairman, not many people know that there is a natural hot spring in Singapore, and it is located in Sembawang, off Gambas Avenue. This Sembawang hot spring is our one and only natural hot spring on our island here.
The exact source of the hot spring remains unknown. Hot springs are formed when under groundwater enters the earth's crust as deep as three kilometres underground and get heated up to high temperatures by the hot rock masses. The high pressure causes the hot boiling water to seep upwards through cracks, thereby forcing itself out of the ground into a spring. At this point, the temperature of the water drops to about 70 degrees.
There is an interesting history to our hot spring. In 1909, Seah Eng Keong, the son of Pioneer Seah Liang Seah, had discovered hot springs in his pineapple estate and channelled the springs all together so they could be concentrated in one area. A well was built along the spring and became popular with the villagers. The village was then known as Kampong Ayer Panas, which means \"Village of Hot Water\".
In 1922, soft drinks firm Fraser & Neave (F&N) acquired the site and set up a plant nearby to tap the hot mineral water, which it bottled and called \"Seletaris\". During World War II, the Japanese forces, upon learning the existence of the hot spring, built a number of thermal baths, or onsen, in the area, to relax as well.
But it is more than just that. It is a national treasure that is sadly unknown to many Singaporeans. I appeal to the Government to redevelop the area now into our national Sembawang Hot Spring Park to be managed by NParks. There is immense educational value for our students as well. If the hot spring park is properly developed and promoted, I am confident that it will become a popular attraction for all of us to enjoy.
Ms Low Yen Ling (Chua Chu Kang): Chairman, the development of the Rail Corridor as an oasis and unique community space is an exciting one for many Singaporeans, especially to residents staying around that area.
The award of tender for proposals features eight distinctively themed stretches along the 24-kilometre-long Rail Corridor and 10 community nodes offering differentiated experiences. Green areas, foot paths and bicycle paths, as well as surrounding developments along the Rail Corridor, are woven together seamlessly.
The old Bukit Timah Fire Station will be developed as an attraction and gateway node to the Rail Corridor. The winning design has plans for the former Bukit Timah Fire Station to be a gateway to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Here, a forest walk and observation tower will let visitors get close to nature.
Residents staying at Hume, who live near the Bukit Timah Fire Station, are very keen to know about the developments of the Rail Corridor. Increased human traffic to the area will be a key factor of consideration for the building of a Hume MRT station. The opening of Downtown Line 2 has brought much convenience and easy commute to many Singaporeans. However, Hume residents presently continue to look longingly from the outside, as the line passes through their area without a stop.
May I know when is the expected visitorship of the Rail Corridor area expected to peak, and if MND would consider releasing new sites around Hume and the old Bukit Timah Fire Station for Government Land Sales? Under the Railway Corridor development, a 16-hectare site in Choa Chu Kang that falls along the stretch of the former 30-metre Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) railway line will be the test bed for a future housing concept hosting 3,000 units. New land sites for housing can enhance the liveability factor along the Railway Corridor and enhance its unique proposition of a residential and community oasis.
As implementation on various stretches of the corridor is being studied carefully and paced accordingly, we hope MND will give this serious consideration as plans for the Railway Corridor continue to be shaped and refined in response to public feedback.
Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling: Chairman, several existing businesses would like to continue their trade in the same area rather than moving to a new location. However, in mature neighbourhood centres, many of their remaining leases are 10 years or less. Business operators and residents share strong sentiment of the place and businesses were their \"go-to\" shops in the neighbourhood. The operators are hesitant to participate in the enhanced Revitalisation of Shops (ROS) scheme as the amount they have to invest, albeit co-funded, does not justify the remaining lease period. Co-funding for the scheme and rent-free period during renovation do not resolve their concerns over the lease period.
The Government should, therefore, consider giving these owner-operators an option to extend their leases so that the cost-benefit of the enhanced ROS scheme is more attractive to them.
For shops that were previously sold, many would have been sublet to tenants. This usually results in frequent change of tenants. The shop owners also have no keen interest to be part of the ROS scheme as maximising rental is their primary aim. We often end up with a poor mix of business types, having multiple tenants within same vicinity conducting similar businesses. This creates competition but yet a lack of diversity in offerings.
In this regard, since the Government is encouraging startups, it should consider and assist those with innovative business models or those revitalising traditional trades by offering shop spaces in the neighbourhood over a shorter lease period. This helps to reduce their startup cost, serves as an incubation bed for potentials and inject new elements to the mature estates, at least a different variety from the retail chain stores that are common in our malls today.
I believe that rejuvenation of our heartlands is just as important, if not more than infrastructural changes or beautifying and modernising the landscape. We also need to ensure that we have a right mix of businesses and encourage startups or social businesses to form an ecosystem in our neighbourhood and town centres.
Mr Saktiandi Supaat: Mr Chairman, enhancing the Revitalisation of Shops (ROS) scheme and the just announced Favourite Place initiative, serve up an excellent opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the neighbourhood to strive towards their full potential. This is great news all around.
Heartland businesses play a major role in job creation. They also make the estates a livelier place to live in. Moreover, they provide residents with services and products with the added benefit of convenience of access, and I believe usually at greater affordability than the shops in the shopping malls.
Can the Minister or MND kindly give an update on the progress of the ROS scheme for shops in the heartland? How many estates have undergone revitalisation and which estates are next in the pipeline? Has the range of services and products offered at these revitalised shops expanded as a result of the upgrading programmes?
May I also suggest that to rejuvenate out-of-reach heartland food and retail shops, whether MND and other agencies are able to consider the possibility of allowing free parking or lowering charges at selected HDB parking during lunch time, between 12.00 pm and 2.00 pm, for example? But of course, this has to be weighed against the higher traffic during that period. So, the selection of the heartland shops or the shop location is important to boost the activity.
Mr Ang Wei Neng: The Revitalisation of Shop (ROS) scheme needs to be revitalised as it has suffered from a low take-up rate. Chairman, in Mandarin, please.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] We have high hopes for the Enhanced ROS scheme announced by the Finance Minister.
During the Budget debate last year, I highlighted two shortcomings of the current ROS scheme to the Ministry of National Development (MND). These are the main reasons why only a few neighbourhood shop precincts have been successfully upgraded.
Firstly, the current ROS scheme requires 100% support from the neighbourhood shops for the upgrading to proceed, not a single less. Although we have merchant associations to bring the heartland shops together, not all act in unison. Very often, there will be one or two shops that are less cooperative, especially for shop owners who lease the shops to other tenants. They are basically investors who are more concerned about rental income than neighbourhood upgrading. As a result, the upgrading programme cannot proceed because of them. Thus, I hope the Minister can take into consideration the interest of the majority of the shop owners and patrons and adopt the model for Home Improvement Programme (HIP) on the use of polling. Perhaps we can consider amending the law, so that merchant associations only need to obtain support from 75% of shop owners for the upgrading to proceed.
Secondly, wages and construction costs have gone up in recent years, and the cost of upgrading has increased in tandem. However, Government grants for upgrading have remained the same. As a result, the ROS scheme has become increasingly unattractive. Since the Government is committed to helping revitalise neighbourhood shops, I hope the Minister can help merchants associations by doubling the grant to S$20,000 per shop.
In response to my plea last year in Parliament, MND agreed to set up a new Revitalise Heartland Shops Committee, chaired by then Senior Minister of State Mr Lee Yi Shyan, to review and refine the ROS scheme. I was invited to join the committee and had several meetings with shop owners, grassroots organisations and HDB. We have received a lot of valuable feedback but there was no conclusive decision. So, I hope the Minister can give our shop owners a reply in Parliament today.
Mr Chong Kee Hiong: Chairman, many of our private estates are at least 30 years old with many elderly residents. The Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP) is necessary to prevent many of the shared public areas from degenerating into safety and health hazards. I would like to request for upgrading works to be sped up.
Fences or railings to separate pavements from open drains will be helpful to prevent falls into the drains. Old footpaths and open drains may be pitted and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes after the rain. New widened footpaths with ramps will be welcomed by wheelchair or stroller users. Public playgrounds and exercise areas may need renovation so that they remain safe for users.
In the event that EUP could not be sped up, the waiting time for upgrade for these old estates could take several years. Can areas that need urgent repairs for safety reasons such as covering up of open drains to create wider footpaths be sped up under a special fund or programme?
The Chairman: Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee.
The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Mr Desmond Lee): Sir, in the course of my presentation, may I have your permission to show some slides?
The Chairman: Yes, please. [Slides were shown to hon Members.]
Mr Desmond Lee: Thank you, Sir. I will focus on three areas. First, working with the community to rejuvenate and transform our heartlands; second, enhancing greenery in our City in a Garden; and third, partnering the construction industry to transform the way we build our city.
Let me start with the first. Minister Lawrence Wong earlier described how newer HDB towns, such as Bidadari, Tampines North and Tengah, will be better designed. At the same time, we have been Remaking Our Heartland under a programme started in 2007 with that name, to rejuvenate and transform our older estates.
At Dawson Estate in Queenstown, one of our oldest HDB towns, new public housing is set within a park environment, but heritage elements of old Dawson are being preserved. For example, the former wet market at Block 38 Commonwealth Avenue has been conserved and will be refurbished to house retail shops. Over in Yishun, residents can look forward to a new integrated development comprising shops, an air-conditioned bus interchange, a community club and town plaza, all of which will add greater buzz to the town centre. In Bedok, with the Outdoor Play Corridor, residents and park users will be able to cycle seamlessly from East Coast Park, through the Bedok Town Centre, all the way to Bedok Reservoir by next year. If you have been to Jurong East recently, you would have seen the transformation of the Jurong Gateway area, with the opening of commercial malls next to the MRT station, and two hospitals, Ng Teng Fong Hospital and Jurong Community Hospital. The Jurong Lake Gardens West, part of our third National Gardens, will also be completed in two years' time.
Miss Cheryl Chan suggested that agencies involve local communities more during town design, especially for mature towns. We fully recognise this. Last year, we shared our plans to rejuvenate Woodlands, Pasir Ris and Toa Payoh under the Remaking Our Heartland 3 programme. Over the course of one year, HDB connected with some 400 residents and local stakeholders in these towns to consult them on preliminary concepts.
It was a very fruitful exercise. Some residents from Woodlands hoped that their town remains green and asked for a larger community space within Woodlands Central. Pasir Ris residents requested for a rejuvenated town centre and for the existing parks and commercial spaces to be upgraded. Toa Payoh residents desired a balance between older and newer developments, and for a greener and even more senior-friendly environment.
HDB has been refining the proposals based on these ideas and suggestions. The preliminary proposals are exciting, and cover three broad themes, namely, Identity, Public Spaces and Connectivity. Let me briefly elaborate.
For Woodlands Town, residents can look forward to a transformed Woodlands Waterfront with interesting landscaping. In addition, within Woodlands Central, there will be a town plaza, which will offer a sizeable space for various large-scale activities, including those for the community. For Pasir Ris, we plan to introduce a mixed-use development integrated with a new bus interchange in the town centre and upgrade the parks in the town. In Toa Payoh, we are looking to revamp the pedestrian mall in Toa Payoh Town Centre with more greenery, rest areas and covered shopping streets at selected stretches for residents to enjoy, even when it rains. We will also introduce dedicated cycling paths throughout the town to improve connectivity.
Let me now move on to our HDB shops and the Revitalisation of Shops (ROS) scheme, which a number of Members have asked about. Since 2007, the scheme has benefited about half of all HDB shops in town and neighbourhood centres, with upgraded shop fronts and funding support for business promotional activities.
Last year, we announced that we would revise or review the ROS scheme. HDB shops play an important role in building our heartland communities and we want to support them better. As Mr Saktiandi Supaat said, they make our estates a much livelier place to live in. They are where we buy our daily necessities and groceries, get our nasi lemak, chicken rice or kopi-o. The shopkeepers in our heartlands are often familiar faces that we grow up with.
In carrying out the review, we consulted the heartland retail community. We set up the Revitalisation of Heartland Shops Committee comprising representatives from various merchants associations, retailers and grassroots organisations, to tap on their experience.
We also conducted focus group discussions with merchants associations across the island, to hear their views. I thank the committee, previously under the leadership of Mr Lee Yi Shyan, for their many suggestions. We have evaluated the suggestions carefully, and this is what we plan to do.
First, for upgrading works under ROS, we will adjust the co-funding ratio among the Government, the HDB shopkeepers and the Town Councils. What this means is that our shopkeepers pay less, while the Government and Town Councils pay more.
Second, we will provide some startup funding to support the formation of new merchants associations.
HDB will announce the details before launching the next batch of ROS soon. Our review is still continuing and there may be more in the pipeline. So, for instance, we are collaborating with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and SPRING to explore other areas of support for our local HDB heartland shops.
We are also studying very carefully whether to introduce a requirement for polling for ROS upgrading. Let me explain. Mr Ang Wei Neng makes a valid point that one of the challenges preventing a higher take-up of ROS upgrading is the need for unanimous or near unanimous support from shopkeepers or shop owners before upgrading works can commence.
One possible solution is to set a threshold so that a certain percentage of shop owners polled want ROS upgrading, then this binds all the shops in the neighbourhood centre.
On the other hand, some retailers have also shared that upgrading works are less useful to them. Therefore, while they understand that it could benefit other retailers and residents, they were less inclined to support the programme. So, we are looking carefully at whether we should make legislative amendments to make polling a requirement.
Miss Cheryl Chan said we should ensure a right mix of businesses in the heartlands and asked whether SMEs and startups can be encouraged to set up shops there. In fact, we are already seeing a trend of an increasing number of young entrepreneurs setting up shops in the heartlands, such as ice cream parlours, artisan bakeries and hipster cafes. HDB is also partnering MTI and SPRING Singapore to tap current schemes to better support these young entrepreneurs.
Let me now move on to the second of my three points. Sir, as we rejuvenate our heartlands and develop our urban spaces, we must also remember that we are special because we are a City in a Garden. Not only do we have an extensive network of parks and park connectors, we have also incorporated greenery wherever we can, from walls to rooftops, to make it pervasive. But we can do even better. Let me outline, briefly, some ways.
First, we will make our parks more community centric. In the next few years, we will continue to roll out inclusive playgrounds in our parks. They enable all kids to have fun together, whether they are physically able or have disabilities. The first was launched last year at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, with the support of the National Council of Social Services. NParks will launch eight more in the next few years.
We will also use greenery as therapy, especially for seniors. A study conducted by NParks and the National University Health System (NUHS) showed improved mental health in participants who participated in \"horticultural therapy\". Seniors and their caregivers can look forward to an upcoming network of therapeutic gardens, with contemplative spaces and activity zones, to support dementia and post-stroke patients.
Second, with rapid urbanisation, we recognise that Singaporeans are also concerned about green spaces rich in our cultural and natural heritage. One such space is the Rail Corridor. Ms Low Yen Ling had asked about URA's plans for the development of the old Bukit Timah Fire Station as a key attraction and gateway to the Rail Corridor.
Indeed, the winning proposal for URA's Request for Proposals last year shows how we can sensitively adapt the former Bukit Timah Fire Station as a hub for nature activities, providing seamless access to the nearby nature parks and the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
As we implement these plans, we want to involve people who live, work and play along the Corridor, and create opportunities for them to lead community-based initiatives along the Rail Corridor. This is why URA recently embarked on an unprecedented effort to consult residents along the Rail Corridor, from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station in the south to Kranji in the north, through a series of local exhibitions and dedicated workshops.
Residents told us about the types of trails and landscapes they wanted to see and how to retain its rustic character while making improvements so that it can be enjoyed by all Singaporeans. Many workshop participants also tried their hand at master planning, drawing out their own ideas for each area. So, different residents with different interests had to debate, discuss with one another and then decide what to put where, what to have and what not to have. With such localised feedback, URA and the designers will review and refine our current plans to make the Rail Corridor an inclusive green space, with the community as active stewards.
Another is the Sembawang Hot Springs. Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked if it can be developed into a park. As he rightly pointed out, the springs have an interesting history and are currently on the Ministry of Defence's (MINDEF) land. We are studying if we can sensitively enhance the area, in line with existing natural features, heritage and land use. Where possible, we want to retain and enhance such places, with the community, for everyone to enjoy.
Beyond creating new green spaces with the community, we also want to support ground-up greening efforts. Today, we have about 1,000 Community in Bloom (CIB) gardens and 20,000 community gardeners.
Some of these gardeners have gone the extra mile, contributing their harvests to disadvantaged families in the neighbourhood. Others use the gardens as an outdoor classroom to teach the younger generation about nature and how life used to be in the past, passing down knowledge and values along the way. The CIB programme is no longer just about spreading the love of gardening, but also the spirit of neighbourliness. They are about how communities come together to generate a greater social good.
We have seen organic communities form at other parks, too, such as brisk-walkers, joggers, exercise groups, cyclists, nature lovers, heritage buffs, educators and so on. That is why NParks launched the Friends of the Park scheme two weeks ago. Through this, volunteers can be even more involved in our parks, for example, by organising their own activities and partnering NParks in park management.
We are happy to have some of our long-time volunteers step up to lead these communities. For example, Mr Sivasothi will chair the community for the Friends of Chestnut Nature Park, which we just opened. Well-known in the nature fraternity, he has been volunteering for over 20 years, conducting coastal clean-ups and nature walks, and is also an avid cyclist. We are grateful to have him onboard. Over time, I believe we will see more people like him coming forward to jointly create and sustain a green and liveable environment for all Singaporeans.
Coming to the third plank of my speech, Sir, this spirit of partnership, which I spoke about earlier, to rejuvenate our heartlands and enhance our green spaces also extends to our ongoing efforts to transform our built environment sector and how we will build our city of the future.
Over the years, we have progressively raised the professionalism, safety and quality in the sector through initiatives, such as licensing builders, regulating buildability and raising workmanship quality through CONQUAS and Quality Mark. From 2010, we have also put in significant effort and resources to raise construction productivity.
The transformation that we are seeking is slowly taking shape. The level of prefabrication for building structural systems and wall systems has increased significantly. Safety and quality will also be enhanced with more prefabrication. Site productivity, or the amount of floor area completed per man-day, has steadily increased by an average of 1.3% per year since 2009. In fact, for the last two years, we saw a 2% annual improvement. While this is positive, we should make a big push for even higher productivity gains over the next five years.
Our vision of the future built environment sector is one that is efficient and collaborative, where industry stakeholders jointly go through the design and construction of a project in virtual reality first to finalise details and minimise abortive works. The building components are then manufactured and prefinished offsite in factories and then transported onsite for clean and quiet assembly. Meanwhile, autonomous drones are used to complete other tasks concurrently.
Our built environment sector of the future will be one that is highly advanced, highly skilled and highly integrated. Buildings will be constructed faster with higher quality and lower impact on the surrounding neighbourhood.
As both Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and Dr Teo Ho Pin have rightly pointed out, the Government has to very closely partner the industry and the entire ecosystem, if we are to effectively change the way we build, because there are different industry players involved in every project – developers, consultants, architects, contractors, sub-contractors – and there are many moving pieces. Jobs will have to be redesigned, and processes will have to evolve or change, as part of the transformation. Critically, there needs to be more collaboration among key stakeholders upstream, as Er Dr Lee Bee Wah quite rightly pointed out. Everyone has to play our part and be prepared to break out of our comfort zones.
To date, we have seen a handful of projects in the public and private sectors adopting the Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) approach and embracing game-changing technology.
The Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) North Hill Hostel and OUE's Crowne Plaza Extension were the first projects to adopt Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) in Singapore. Such projects can be built quite quickly, with less disamenity to people living and working in the surroundings because the modules, the entire rooms, so to speak, are prefabricated, sometimes with all finishes and fittings complete, before being brought onto the site for installation.
But besides PPVC, there are many other productive technologies on the DFMA spectrum that the industry can adopt, as Er Dr Lee Bee Wah mentioned. These include advanced precast, structural steel and cross-laminated timber (CLT), which can bring about productivity gains and a reduction in manpower, as compared to traditional methods.
At the same time, we recognise that there are challenges. Workforce upgrading, regulatory hurdles and logistics issues are some of the teething problems that the early adopters have faced. We value the industry's feedback and will do what we can to help the industry quickly overcome this learning curve. So, let me share some of the work in progress.
First, we have set up the Construction Productivity and Capability Fund (CPCF), and set aside a total of $885 million, over two tranches, to help firms raise their capability in the immediate term.
Today, over 8,000 firms have already tapped on this fund to either invest in more productive technologies, mechanise their processes or up-skill their workforce. BCA has also formulated a Sectoral Manpower Plan to ensure that future manpower demand can be met. With the support of our firms, we will continue to attract, retain and upgrade our workforce.
For example, companies can partner BCA in its suite of scholarship and sponsorship programmes which aims to bring in new Singaporean entrants to the built environment sector. More than 2,000 students and jobseekers have been brought in through these programmes since 2010.
Further, through our Earn and Learn Programmes under SkillsFuture, our diploma and ITE graduates can continue learning while working, through on-the-job training, mentorship and upgrading courses. BCA also works closely with the industry associations, such as the Singapore Contractors Association Limited (SCAL), to conduct regular Productivity Clinics since 2011. About 350 companies have benefited from these one-on-one sessions with BCA as they embarked on their productivity journey.
To encourage the wider adoption of DfMA and Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) and smoothen their implementation, we have taken the lessons learnt from the early adopters and set up a taskforce to look at building up an ecosystem. Dr Teo Ho Pin spoke earlier about having a whole-of-ecosystem steering committee. Here, we have set up a task force to drive the entire ecosystem. The industry will be consulted on its recommendations as part of the process.
We have also reviewed regulatory requirements where necessary. For example, SCDF has relaxed height requirements for the majority of CLT building-use types from 12 metres to 24 metres. To facilitate optimal design for prefabrication and modularisation, LTA is reviewing requirements for the escort of oversized loads being transported, without compromising road safety.
We are also considering setting aside land for PPVC production in Singapore. To fast track the regulatory approval process for innovative technologies new to Singapore, we have set up the multi-agency Building Innovation Panel since 2011.
For the long term, we are scanning the horizon for potential technologies and new ideas. A Construction Productivity R&D Roadmap is currently being developed together with industry players and will be launched in the second half of this year. Promising areas include 3-D printing, robotics, infocomm technology (ICT) and data analytics in the built environment sector. The roadmap will help guide our R&D efforts for the sector and can provide valuable insights to the Committee on the Future Economy.
Just like how prefabrication and precast have now become prevalent, we can expect DfMA and VDC to become the norm in future. With the public sector leading the way and closely partnering the industry, I am confident that our vision of a highly integrated, advanced and skilled built environment sector is achievable.
Let me now briefly address the remaining cuts. On the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP), Mr Png Eng Huat had mentioned some concerns at Block 314. I presume it is in his area. Please raise it to HDB or to MND so that we can have a better look at it.
Mr Low Thia Khiang spoke about lift maintenance, lift parts and lift breakdowns. On the point on lift breakdowns, there is a tele-monitoring system in every lift in HDB, which provides data remotely to the Town Council, so you can establish what the cause of the fault is. So, I would urge the hon Member to take a look at the Town Council data and have a sense as to what the causes of these frequent breakdowns are. Some of it could be the nature of the use of the lift, some of it could be the frequency of the Town Council's maintenance regime or the capability and competence of the engineers they engage, among other reasons. So, I think it is good to drill down and analyse what your problems are.
As for the cost of maintenance which Mr Low Thia Khiang said is high because some original parts are owned by the lift manufacturer, this is something that will depend on the complexity of the part. There are over 20 lift brands used in HDB estates. So, there are a variety of parts, from smaller parts, simpler parts that can be manufactured by others to those that are more specialised and specific to the lift.
Mr Low Thia Khiang also talked about the high cost of lift maintenance and replacement. MND is reviewing ways to help Town Councils better manage the lifts and to plan ahead for the lift replacement needs. Given that lift replacement is a major sinking fund expenditure, Town Councils should monitor their long-term financial sufficiency. MND is also considering ring-fencing part of the Town Councils' sinking fund to cater for such expenditure.
Even so, my Ministry has provided Town Councils with additional assistance schemes. For instance, in September 2014, HDB rolled out the Selective Lift Replacement Programme to help Town Councils replace older lifts that lack key features, such as energy-efficient motors, infra-red door safety sensors and vision panels, found in more modern lifts.
Mr Low Thia Khiang has also asked about the outcomes of the Greenprint programme. HDB launched the first two HDB Greenprint projects at Yuhua in 2012 and Teck Ghee in 2015 respectively to introduce sustainable living concepts into existing HDB estates. The Yuhua project was just completed last November and we are still assessing the effectiveness of the project, the various components of the project, including the Pneumatic Waste System that Mr Low talked about. Based on HDB's preliminary survey, Yuhua residents welcome the green features, including the secured bicycle parking and hobby farming zones.
Mr Low Thia Khiang asked specifically if the Pneumatic Waste Conveyance System will be extended to all suitable HDB estates. We plan to do so in new BTO developments where viable, including in Tampines North and Punggol Northshore. It may be more challenging to do so in existing older estates, due to site constraints and higher costs, but we will assess the performance of the system at Yuhua first before deciding on the next step.
Finally, Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap asked about certain cases involving Goodwill Repair Assistance in his constituency. I listened to what the Member said and I think it will be better if he raises the specific cases to us, for us to be better able to assess what the problem is.
Sir, engagement takes time and effort. Working with diverse stakeholders, especially those with conflicting viewpoints, may not be the fastest way of getting things done, but it is necessary if we are to ensure that we, as Singaporeans, take ownership of the kind of Singapore we want for ourselves and our children, that we hear and understand the differences in views from the diversity of interests making up our plural society and respect the choices then made to create not only a liveable environment but also a sustainable one.
I believe the process of engagement, collaboration and joint stewardship can bring us closer together as a national community, as a plural but cohesive nation. This must be the foundation upon which a better, brighter future will be built in the decades to come.
The Chairman: Mr Alex Yam.
Mr Alex Yam: Chairman, Sir, as Singapore rapidly urbanised, new blocks and offices mushroomed, while farms were almost completely weeded out. With agricultural land relatively scarce today, the farm-trepreneur needs to be prudent to ensure that their investment pays off.
The $63 million Agriculture Productivity Fund (APF) was set up at the end of 2014 and helps farmers to boost yields and raise their general productivity. Yet, to the best of my knowledge, only slightly above 1% of the funds have been utilised till date. That is a rather low yield. The previous 2009 to 2014 Food Fund also saw only 60% of the $30 million set aside utilised.
While APF is committed to driving up productivity, perhaps the key factor driving down adoption is the short tenancies, coupled with the longer time it takes for farm owners or farm operators to recover investments, and double coupled by the uncertainty of land acquisition.
They currently have a basic 10-year lease with another uncertain 10, only if there are no other developmental uses for the land. How do we do business like that? As such, I urge the Ministry to consider providing for the flexibility of 15-year leases, which is half that of industrial leases.
At the current moment, we import nearly 90% of our food produce and food security dictates that we continue to increase local productivity, innovate through mechanisation, and maximise land usage for better yields. We need to transform our local farming industry to make it a strong productive pillar of our economic defence.
The Chairman: Mr Louis Ng, you have two cuts. Can you take them together?
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: Sir, I first declare my interest as the Chief Executive of an animal welfare group. The current estimated populations of stray dogs, stray cats and wild monkeys are about 7,000, 60,000 and 1,900 respectively. Last year, AVA euthanised 942 dogs, 888 cats and 623 monkeys in an effort to manage the populations of these animals or in response to public feedback.
AVA currently devotes significant resources into hiring for-profit companies to manage stray dogs, cats and wild monkeys. AVA is working with animal welfare groups (AWGs) to rehome the dogs and cats that were impounded but this does not address the root of the problem. AVA currently does not partner any AWGs to manage the monkey issues.
Will AVA consider working more closely with and divert funding from the for-profit companies to the non-profit AWGs who are struggling to find funding and were already on the ground and helping to manage these issues?
This is a win-win solution that will address both public safety and animal welfare concerns and result in a more humane and long-term approach. It might also result in cost savings for AVA.
Sir, in the past five years, the number of alleged animal cruelty cases investigated by AVA rose from 410 cases to 606 cases. With increased awareness on animal welfare, we can expect more reports from members of the public who are now more vigilant and concerned about this issue. This will result in an increased workload for AVA. Can the Ministry clarify whether it has sufficient resources and manpower to respond in a timely manner and rapidly to such cases?
In addition, wildlife trafficking has been added into the list of transnational organised crimes in ASEAN. Wildlife trafficking pushes species towards extinction and also destroys the habitat these animals live in. There are now also reports of how wildlife trafficking funds the activities of some terrorist groups.
In the past decade, there have already been several high-profile cases of wildlife trafficking in Singapore. Can the Ministry elaborate on its plans to tackle wildlife trafficking and similarly, clarify whether it has sufficient resources and manpower to respond in a timely manner and rapidly to such cases?
The Chairman: Minister of State Koh Poh Koon.
The Minister of State for National Development (Dr Koh Poh Koon): Mr Chairman, thank you for allowing me to speak. In his speech, Minister Lawrence Wong quoted from our iconic national song \"Home\", which says: \"There is comfort in the knowledge, that home's about its people too\". I would like to expand on this with the preceding lines, \"When there are troubles to go through, we'll find a way to start anew\". For households who have fallen onto hard times, the Government helps them in various ways. One of these is enabling them to stay in heavily subsidised public rental flats.
A few Members asked about our supply of rental flats. We have ramped up the rental supply from 42,000 in 2007 to 53,500 now, and it will go up to 60,000 in 2017. As a result, the waiting time for a rental flat has been reduced significantly from 21 months in 2008 to four months today. For those in urgent need of rental housing or any housing, HDB may give them priority allocation for a rental flat or provide them with Interim Rental Housing while they await their rental flat.
The increase in rental flats is not only about the increase in quantity. We build rental flats in more locations with a better geographical spread and we integrate them within estates by locating them together with home ownership flats.
These efforts help to promote interaction among residents, as Mr Chong Kee Hiong has called for, and ensure that tenants have the same access to amenities that people staying in home ownership flats enjoy. With rental flats in more locations, it is also more likely that tenants can get a flat nearer the preferred location of their choice.
However, we should not increase our rental supply indefinitely. Staying in public rental flats should only be temporary for families to rebuild their lives. Mr Lee Kuan Yew said, \"My primary preoccupation was to give every citizen a stake in the country and its future. I wanted a home-owning society\". We want to see families in rental flats progress into homeownership. Thus, we provide substantial help, such as generous housing grants of up to $80,000 for first-timer families.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked about the supply of 2-room flats to help our rental families to buy a flat. We currently set aside 10% of 2- and 3-room flats in our sales exercises under the Tenants' Priority Scheme (TPS). The scheme has been open to first-timer rental families. So, in 2015, we set aside 411 2-room flats under TPS. This is 8.5 times more than the 48 applications we received that year.
I am happy to announce that we will extend TPS to second-timer rental families, including the Fresh Start beneficiaries that Minister Wong announced earlier. These second-timer families in rental flats have the same housing need as first-timer rental families. But as second timers, they have a lower allocation quota when it comes to balloting for new HDB flats. Therefore, extending TPS to these second timer families will increase their chances of selecting a flat and moving on to home ownership. So, from HDB's next sales exercise, second-timer rental families can also benefit from the 10% quota of flats set aside under TPS. Like their first-timer counterparts, they will be eligible if they have stayed for at least two years in a rental flat and are applying for a 2- or 3-room home ownership flat.
Taken together, the Fresh Start Housing Scheme and the extension of TPS to second-timer rental families are significant measures to help our rental families achieve homeownership again and to build a more inclusive society.
I would like to assure Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap and Mr Alex Yam that we review and exercise flexibility on our policies to help vulnerable families and those having problems keeping up with their mortgage.
For those in mortgage arrears, our primary objective is to help them retain their flats. HDB proactively engages households on how to resolve their HDB mortgage issues, especially those with loan arrears. For example, HDB may temporarily reduce or defer their mortgage instalments to help their cash flow situation. For those who need more long-term solutions, HDB may help them right-size to a more affordable flat with another HDB concessionary loan if necessary.
We also take a needs-based approach in assessing applications for a rental flat. If an applicant is assessed to have low income, no other affordable housing options and no family support; in other words, those who are at extremely high risk of having no roof over their heads, HDB will help them.
Even if the applicant does not fulfil some of the eligibility criteria, HDB will exercise flexibility based on their individual circumstances. Together with other agencies and social workers, HDB will hold joint case conferences to find the best way to help them.
As Mr Faisal Manap said earlier, many of these families have multifaceted and multifactorial, complex issues. Therefore, we require a multi-pronged and a multi-agency approach to help them get to the root of the problem. Housing is perhaps one of them; it could be just the surface and the symptom. We want to help them get on with their lives again by solving the problem at its root. As for the 30-month debarment that Mr Faisal Manap said earlier, HDB takes a very flexible approach, and will look at this on a case by case basis to make sure that none of our residents is disadvantaged and has no roof over their heads.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about how we help single parents with housing. We can do so in a few ways.
Firstly, we help them secure a flat through a priority scheme dedicated to second-timer divorced and widowed persons with young children, if they are applying for a new 2- or 3-room flat in non-mature estates. Some Members will know this as the Assistance Scheme for Second-Timers (ASSIST). Secondly, if they face difficulties paying for the flat, HDB will assess their financial situation and provide them assistance wherever possible, for example, by allowing them to spread out their resale levy in their loan instalments. Thirdly, we can offer them temporary housing at below market rates while they await completion of their flat, under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS) or in Interim Rental Housing. Lastly, if they have no housing options and no family support, we will enable them to rent a rental flat.
Let me move on to our efforts to help the elderly.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap asked whether we can help elderly flat owners who want to rent out a room to find a tenant. We interviewed about 1,200 elderly flat owners on subletting a few years ago. Among those who did not rent out their flats or rooms, only 5% of those interviewed had genuine concerns about finding a tenant. And in actual fact, tenant-matching is already offered by estate agents and various websites. On HDB's part, we have made the procedure to rent out a room very straightforward. Owners just need to register with HDB within seven days of finding a tenant for the room that they are letting out.
Mr Chen Show Mao and Mr Alex Yam asked about the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS). We enhanced LBS in April last year in a few ways: (a) we extended it to 4-room flats, which is the most common HDB flat type today; (b) we increased the income ceiling from $3,000 to $12,000; (c) we relaxed the CPF top-up required for households with multiple owners; and (d) we gave households a wider choice of how much lease they wish to retain.
Five hundred households have taken up LBS since it was enhanced about a year ago. This is a significant increase from the average of 160 per year prior to the enhancements.
We will monitor the response to LBS further before considering any extension to larger flat types. But let me emphasise that LBS is not the only option to monetise a flat. Elderly households staying in larger flats, for example, 5-room flats, actually have a few options to monetise their flat. Firstly, they can choose to rent out a room, especially if their children have moved out and they have a spare room. Secondly, they can also move to a smaller flat, if they are a couple with no children staying with them. By doing so and staying in a short-lease 2-room flexi flat, they can also benefit from the Silver Housing Bonus which is a cash bonus. Thirdly, for those who have moved in with their children to enjoy mutual support, they can also consider renting out the whole flat. These are all good ways to monetise a flat.
In answer to Mr Chen Show Mao's question earlier about LBS, I think there are many options other than LBS in which the flat owner can monetise the flat, especially if the flat owner or the elderly couple has the desire to pass the flat on to their children. Monetising their flats in ways other than LBS will be an option for them to consider.
The take-up of these monetising schemes is not a numbers game. There is no key performance indicator to meet, to see how many people should monetise their flats. They are options for the elderly to consider to suit their needs. In fact, many elderly today have personal savings and support from their children. They may not feel a need to monetise their flat.
Nonetheless, HDB continues to publicise monetisation options through various means, through its website, local media, public talks, exhibitions and at enquiry booths at community events. Interested flat owners can approach HDB and be given one-to-one advice on how they can monetise their flats based on their individual needs.
Beyond housing, MND also oversees the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), which has a wide scope, ranging from managing animals to ensuring Singapore's food security.
AVA manages stray dogs, cats and wild monkeys to address feedback on public concerns caused by the animals. AVA's contractors are required to have the necessary expertise and comply with animal welfare guidelines in handling these animals.
I also want to reassure Members that we take all animal cruelty cases seriously. AVA will investigate feedback on animal cruelty and welfare issues and take the wrongdoers to task.
Mr Louis Ng has asked about collaboration between AVA and animal welfare groups (AWGs) on animal-related issues. AVA already does so. For instance, the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) is one of AVA's contractors for responding to wild animal issues.
AVA also works with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Cat Welfare Society (CWS) on the Stray Cat Sterilisation Programme (SCSP). Under the programme, AVA co-funds the cost of sterilising and micro-chipping stray cats in HDB estates. The AWGs also help to mediate cat-related feedback and manage community cat feeders to prevent nuisance to the community. AWGs play a very important intermediary role in the community. Going forward, AVA will expand the programme to cover stray cats in industrial and commercial areas, and private estates. With this expansion, we hope to sterilise 20,000 more stray cats.
AVA also works closely with AWGs on public outreach regarding animal-related issues. Through the Responsible Pet Ownership Programme, AVA has held roadshows and joint adoption drives with AWGs, emphasising that a pet is for life and should not be abandoned. AVA plans to collaborate with AWGs to further such outreach efforts.
Besides AWGs, AVA also works with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Singapore Customs (SC) to clamp down on illegal wildlife trade. AVA also works closely with international partners, such as wildlife authorities in ASEAN countries and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), to deter such illegal animal trade. Through these efforts, the number of wildlife trafficking cases has decreased from 23 in 2011 to 12 in 2015.
With the support of these partners, I would like to assure Mr Louis Ng that AVA will remain vigilant and continue to optimise resources to tackle animal issues and animal crimes.
Mr Alex Yam spoke about the need to transform our local agriculture sector. Indeed, this sector holds great potential. Climate change, whether it is global warming or irregular weather patterns, is causing greater uncertainties in overseas food supply. At the same time, the world population is growing, projected to increase from 7.3 billion today to 9.7 billion by 2050. Developing countries are also seeing their young people migrate to the cities, leaving less manpower for farming. So, there is no certainty that the global food supply will keep up with the growing global demand. We need to raise our local food production to buffer against such uncertainties in the future.
Singapore can carve a niche in urban solutions by becoming a living lab for food production technologies, just like what we have done for water recycling and desalination, turning a disadvantage into something we can be proud of.
To facilitate that and hearing our farmers' feedback, we are reviewing our agriculture policies, including the lease tenure, to give farmers impetus to invest in transformative technologies. Through our Agriculture Productivity Fund, we will continue to provide financial support to promising farmers in adopting these technologies. We will create the right environment where our farmers can grow more with less, through the use of technology and innovation.
Mr Chairman, may I have your permission to show some visuals on the LED screens, please?
The Chairman: Yes, proceed. [Slides were shown to hon Members.]
Dr Koh Poh Koon: Thank you, Sir. We envision that farms of the future will make use of integrated vertical and indoor systems, automation and robotics. They will be highly intensive and productive and operate on minimal manpower.
We are already beginning to see this new breed of farms in Singapore. Just last month, I visited Apollo Aquarium and Sky Greens, which represent state-of-the-art urban and vertical farming technologies.
Take Apollo, for example. Apollo Aquarium houses its fish in indoor, vertical multi-tiered tanks. They use less land, yet produce more fish. In a controlled environment, the farm can be monitored and operated remotely, without the risks of uncontrollable environmental factors that can threaten the yield of the fish stock.
Sky Greens is the world's first commercial vertical farm. Its three-storey-high vertical racks can produce about 2,500 stalks of vegetables. This system requires less water, less electricity and less labour, yet produces five times more leafy vegetables than traditional farms.
Across the board, local production levels for our key food items, such as food fish, leafy vegetables and hen's eggs, have steadily risen over the years. In 2015, our farms produced about 5,300 tonnes of fish for food, 11,400 tonnes of leafy vegetables and 421 million eggs. Compared to five years ago, production volumes have gone up by 52% for fish, 21% for vegetables and 10% for eggs respectively.
We can do much more. The Netherlands and Denmark employ technologies that are five to six times more productive than our most productive fish farms, and two times more productive than our best vegetable farms. Imagine what we can achieve if all our local farmers employ these technologies! We may become much more self-sufficient in some of our essential food items.
To realise their full potential, besides adopting transformative technologies, there is scope for the agricultural sector to consolidate and intensify their operations. This will move the needle in production and in their manpower optimisation strategy.
We have a mission to achieve that is as crucial as water and that is to strengthen our food security in an era of global food uncertainty. My Ministry and AVA will make the development of our local agricultural sector a priority for the coming years.
The Chairman: Thank you, Minister of State. I do have a little bit of time for clarifications. I want to remind Members that clarifications are for clarifications and not to make speeches, and to ask clarifications relating to the Minister's answers only. Mr Alex Yam.
Mr Alex Yam: Thank you, Chairman. I have a clarification for the Minister with regard to the Fresh Start Housing Scheme. Could the Minister explain the rationale behind deciding the MOP as 20 years? The reason behind it is that if you set it at 20 years, it means that the average age of families who are entering this scheme would mean that most of them would not be able to move to a bigger flat by the time they hit the 20 years.
The second clarification is about the 1,000 families that the Minister mentioned earlier. This seems to be a small proportion of the total number families. Would this scheme be incremental after the first pilot?
Lastly, for large families, the 2-room flexi flats are a little bit small. Would the Ministry consider any flexibility in this area?
Mr Lawrence Wong: Mr Chairman, I understand the Member's concern with regard to the size of the flat, the MOP requirement and also the number of potential beneficiaries of Fresh Start.
I would just highlight that when we thought about the scheme and we looked at the potential beneficiaries, the profile I was talking about, second-timers in rental flats with young children, school-going children. If you look at the savings and the balances they have today, there is an affordability issue even if we, say, buy a 3-room flat now, even with the grant. It is not going to be so easy for them to do so.
So, we have to be realistic about what they can afford. Even after the Fresh Start grant, given the balances that they have in savings and the situation they are in, I think it is more realistic to aim for a 2-room flexi flat for a start. And the longer MOP is there to make sure that there is a stable environment for the children.
Should any of these families who apply, eventually down the road, say that they have been able to be successful, with better incomes and now are better able to afford a 3-room flat, I think we can facilitate that. Even if it is within the MOP, we will find ways to facilitate that. Because that is a success story which we should celebrate; meaning this is a household which came under Fresh Start, got a 2-room flat, and then said, now we have succeeded, incomes are stabilised, are better, we are able to afford a 3-room flat. We will find ways to facilitate that. But we wanted the long MOP to make sure that there is stability for the home environment and also to avoid situations where families cash out their flats early.
The Chairman: Mr Low Thia Khiang.
Mr Low Thia Khiang: I want to clarify that the Town Council does have a regular maintenance regime for the lifts. What we found out is that the breakdown or failure of the parts are unusually fast, compared to some other lifts. The question then is what is the quality of the LUP lifts? What are the safeguards or specifications that HDB has got, in terms of the tender?
On the issue of lift market, maintenance market, I understand that the new lift being installed with the manufacturing company will come with its own motherboard, which other companies will not be able to maintain. Which means that, going forward, the Town Council's lift maintenance will be held ransom by this manufacturing company.
The fundamental question is what is the situation of the lift manufacture and maintenance market in Singapore? Is the market competitive or are we in a situation where you have not much of choice, but are dependent on these companies? Will they decide how much they will increase the price in maintenance every year? Of course, probably Opposition Town Councils will be at a disadvantage, because we are not given the leeway of discounts, as they give to PAP Town Councils, from what I know.
The Chairman: Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee.
Mr Desmond Lee: Sir, the Member now raises a couple of issues which were mentioned earlier. On the issue of lift breakdowns, the Member talks about the quality of LUP. In deciding what lifts are put into a housing estate, including in LUP, we process projects by way of a price-quality procurement process where you look not just at price, but also the quality of the lift. So, there are certain specifications that have to be met. As I said earlier, I think we need to really have a proper drill down by the Town Council. If you think there is an issue, raise it to MND and HDB, so that you can assess whether it is an issue of the lift brand, lift model, or is it a specific issue with regard to a particular shaft. Is it a maintenance problem? Is it a usage issue? So, I think beyond speculation, it is better to look at specifics.
The hon Member also speaks about motherboards of lifts and that, therefore, he is concerned about whether there is market competitiveness with regard to maintenance of lifts in HDB estates, which responsibilities then fall on Town Councils across the island. As I said earlier, there are many players in the lift supply market and the lift maintenance market. In HDB estates across Singapore, there are easily at least 20 brands of lifts being used. Equally, many players in the lift maintenance market, including the original lift manufacturers and third-party contractors.
So, Mr Low Thia Khiang talked about the manufacturer then having proprietary ownership in the technology of the motherboards, but there are also other parts of the lifts. Each of these lift maintenance companies, whether they are manufacturer or third-party contractor, comes in variant profiles and capabilities. There may be more complex maintenance issues which may require certain parties with specific competencies, such as the original lift manufacturer, to resolve.
HDB upholds a competitive market and will not allow any particular party to abuse its market power, whether it is a part, or whether it is a maintenance regime. If there are any concerns that the Member raises, please let us know specifically, whether the motherboard, the type he is concerned about, let us know.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Mr Chairman, I just wanted to add in response to Mr Low Thia Khiang's query, as I understand his suggestion is to look at how we can standardise more components within the lifts. We have two objectives. One, to bring down costs, and secondly, so that we will not be held hostage or the Town Councils will not be held hostage by any particular Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
I agree fully with those suggestions. The objectives that we have are, indeed, aligned, because we have, over the years, been doing more standardisation. That is why, in the early days, all the lift maintenance contracts were done by OEMs entirely. We were in a very difficult situation where we had to pay whatever prices that the OEMs charged.
Now, we have a more competitive market. There are third-party contractors, but Mr Low Thia Khiang is right, that not everything can be done by the third-party contractor. Sometimes, for very complex things, for certain parts, you still need to go to the OEM.
We should try and aim for an even more competitive market, so I agree with the Member. With just one caveat, that we have to study this very carefully, because this is quite complex. If we were to overly prescribe certain standards, and say only these things can be done, we may end up with a situation where we limit our choices that we have to purchase. Fewer OEMs will bid for lift contracts in Singapore, the cost may be higher. So, it is complex and we have to look at this in detail.
I would say that the direction of what the Member has suggested is something we agree with. HDB has already done this and we will continue to do more of it.
The Chairman: Mr Muhamad Faisal Manap.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: Sir, I would like to clarify my point that I have made in my cut on the Goodwill Repair Assistance scheme, which was replied to by Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee.
The main point of the cut is that under the current scheme, the repair is only being done to the upper floor. Basically, there is an issue of leakage, so repair work will be done on the floor of the upper floor unit, the source of the leak. But due to the leak, it damages the lower floor's ceiling. So, the repair of this damaged ceiling is not covered under the Goodwill Repair Assistance scheme. The feedback that I have got from those living on the lower floor units is that they wonder why they should pay a share of the repair done on the upper floor. Sorry for being a bit confusing.
Mr Desmond Lee: Mr Chairman, the Goodwill Repair Assistance scheme involves HDB coming in to help facilitate the resolution of maintenance issues faced by both upper and lower floors.
In this particular instance, it will be the residents of the lower floor who are suffering from the leakage and, therefore, the scheme encourages both parties to do what is necessary to solve the problem. So, the Government, HDB will pay half the cost of fixing the leakage. Most of the work, as the Member rightly points out, involves waterproofing membrane works for the upper floor unit. For the lower floor unit, you may need to fix some spalling of concrete, because of the leakage problem. So, the Goodwill Repair Assistance scheme also addresses that. For the Member's particular case, let us have a closer look and we will see what aspect of the ceiling has been damaged and whether it is related to the leakage.
The Chairman: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: Thank you, Chairman. I have three clarifications. First, on the singles scheme. I would like to know, based on HDB's records, how many singles are still applying for a flat and have not gotten it successfully? The Minister mentioned that it will be cleared soon. I would like to know how soon?
The second question is on the Fresh Start Grant. The Minister mentioned that they should have school-going age children. May I ask does it include children who are in tertiary education? Does it include private tertiary education?
The third question is on the construction industry. I would like to know whether there is any plan to encourage, retain and build up Singaporean Core professionals like engineers, architects and construction managers?
Mr Lawrence Wong: Madam, on the first point about singles. We would not be able to exactly pinpoint what is the demand from singles, because there may be more coming forward to apply. We do not have the exact number in terms of forecasting demand from singles, but I would say that it is still quite strong. We still see quite a lot of applications even in the last BTO exercise. If you look at the application rate, as I mentioned, it is more than seven, which indicates that there is still very strong demand.
Based on that level, I think we will take two to three years to clear that level of demand. Will even more come forward once the queue gets shorter? Maybe. That is why I said even after we have cleared this current surge of demand, there may be more coming forward, but that is the kind of numbers and timeframe we are looking at.
The second question is on the Fresh Start Grant and the condition for the school-going children. We are looking at a parent with at least one child in school, particularly because we want to make sure that the child has a stable environment to grow up in. At least one child, so that means school-going age, which is anything that is less than 16 years old. But if they have more than one child, they can be in university, they can be in tertiary institutions, private institutions, and that is fine.
Mr Desmond Lee: Chairman, may I deal with the Member's last question, which is on whether BCA is doing anything to encourage the growth of the Singapore Core with regard to the built environment sector. I presume the Member is talking about architects, consultants, designers and contractors.
Yes, certainly that is key. I spoke earlier in my speech about how BCA is going upstream and having a whole suite of scholarships to encourage Singapore students in our institutions, whether it is in ITE, polytechnics and universities, to come onboard the built environment sector. There is also an Earn-and-Learn scheme, where after they join the particular programme at an institution, they learn and earn along the way and get brought into the sector.
Certainly, building that core is critical. In fact, whilst the push to productivity is one of the key drivers behind adopting higher technology or game-changing technology in construction, such as VDC and DfMA, ultimately, if you look at it, by using technology, using ICT, building in a smart and creative way, this also creates niches and opportunities for Singaporeans to come into the built environment sector as well.
The Chairman: Dr Teo Ho Pin.
Dr Teo Ho Pin: Chairman, I would like to seek a clarification from the Senior Minister of State whether the Ministry will consider reviewing or removing the terms and conditions of the land sales, such as specifying the method of construction, which has an effect on increasing development cost?
Mr Desmond Lee: Sir, there are certain requirements that we put into our Government Land Sales (GLS) in order to drive the industry towards higher productivity methods of construction. I think we all agree as to the direction. The Member is concerned about whether these actually achieve the objectives. The objective is the same but, on the methods, we might have a slight difference of opinion.
Some of our GLS sales come with a condition that they meet certain buildability scores. That has been the norm. Now, we have some GLSs which specify that the construction must be by PPVC, and it is not 100%. I think it is about 60% by PPVC; the rest can be by casting in situ; so, we provide some flexibility. It is transparent and it is a level-playing field. Parties who bid for these land sale sites know that there is a certain technological requirement. These help create lead demand for us to adopt the higher productivity methods.
As for one of the points, the Member raised in his speech earlier about whether we can relax the requirement for contractors or developers to finish the project within x number of years, I think we do not want the land to be hoarded. There are certain requirements that drive us to have GLS, especially for residential and commercial uses. They are meant to meet the demand that we have projected and we do not want and, certainly, no Singaporean would want land to be hoarded indefinitely. We want to see that the project is developed. The timeline that URA provides is a reasonable one.
The Chairman: Mr Alex Yam.
Mr Alex Yam: Thank you, Chairman, two clarifications for Minister of State Dr Koh Poh Koon. One, I am happy to hear of the exciting vision to ensure food security. Dr Koh mentioned a review on the land lease for agricultural land. Would the Minister of State be able to share when this information will be made available and whether any criteria will be put in place for any longer leases?
Secondly, for financial assistance, I mentioned in my speech, whether previous economic downturns have provided us with any lessons. I wonder if the schemes that the Minister of State had mentioned earlier are sufficient to prepare us for any future major downturns.
Dr Koh Poh Koon: Mr Chairman, I thank the Member for his clarification questions. First of all, on the issue of land and farming, we obviously want to encourage our farmers to be more productive. It is something that we want to encourage them to do, and the Agricultural Productivity Fund is one of those measures. We will continue to engage our farmers actively to encourage them to do so.
In terms of the question earlier about how we can increase the tenure to encourage them to be more productive, we are still in the midst of consulting our farmers. The indication is that they would prefer to have a longer tenure in order to allow them to invest sufficiently. We will take their feedback into consideration in deciding how we want to award our tenures and scope the policy accordingly.
As for the question about whether the current schemes and measures are sufficient to help families in the economic downturn, there are quite a number of schemes and policies that can help families, whether they are first-timers, second-timers or divorced. At the end of the day, HDB does take a flexible approach to help families who are in need, even if they do fall within these schemes, the whole idea being that we want to make sure that they do have a roof over their heads.
We will monitor the situation closely and if there are cases that we are beginning to see more, especially at our Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS), that there are more families that seem to fall through the cracks. We will see how these schemes can be enhanced or if there is any new scheme that we can introduce to plug the gap.
The Chairman: Mr Png Eng Huat.
Mr Png Eng Huat: Chairman, Sir, I just want to clarify the issue I brought up about the LUP design in Hougang, that I have met HDB. Some of the issues have been resolved and some have not because some of them, like the lift-landing breach, HDB said it meets statutory requirements.
Like I said in my cut, because of the proximity to the resident's house and the dry riser, nothing else can be done. I would like to ask the Minister what else we can do to rectify all these design anomalies.
Mr Desmond Lee: I do not have the precise details. I have heard from the Member. I think what is important is to just let us have the details and then we will look into that. I cannot address it here in this Chamber.
The Chairman: Mr Leon Perera, did you want to raise a clarification?
Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): Thank you, Mr Chairman, just a few points of clarifications to the hon Minister of State. Firstly, on the statistics he cited that flat owners who are seeking to rent out rooms, a survey was conducted a few years ago, where only 5% of them had difficulties finding tenants. The anecdotal feedback I have from residents —
The Chairman: Mr Perera, please state the clarification and not make a speech.
Mr Leon Perera: Yes. So, my question is: would the Minister of State consider doing this survey on a regular basis? Because my understanding is that the market has softened and the markets do go through cycles. So, would such a survey about whether flat owners have difficulties finding tenants, be something that the Ministry would do on a regular basis?
The second point of clarification is regarding LBS. The hon Minister of State mentioned rental and downgrading as other options but, of course, rental depends on the market; downgrading has other downsides, like commissions and costs. There is evidence to suggest that the bequeath motives hold back some people from exercising LBS. Would the Ministry look into ways to address the bequeath motive issue that is holding back some people from making use of LBS, such as the suggestion made by Mr Chen Show Mao?
Lastly, on APF, I would like to ask the Ministry why the disbursement of the fund has been quite low so far. Clearly, there are deserving projects, in terms of indoor and vertical farming. Is it because of a lack of deserving projects? Or is it because of some lack of connectivity between the companies, the farmers, and the agency in charge of disbursing the fund?
Dr Koh Poh Koon: Mr Chairman, Sir, for the first question that the Member raised about the rental survey, we all do our Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS), we have residents coming to see us and telling us their issues. One of the ways we can sense whether this is going to become an important issue is through our MPS. We can sense whether this is a common enough problem.
If it is picked up that this is a much more prevalent problem and is increasingly so, we can reconduct another survey. But with or without a survey, estate agents are available, websites that allow matching of rental tenants and people with rooms to rent are also available. So, we do not quite need a survey for any of these services to be available. So, those who need this can avail themselves of these presently available services right now.
For the second question on LBS and whether bequeathing is one of those things that holds people back from taking part in LBS, I think, at the end of the day, it is an option and a choice that the elderly couple has to decide, how they want to monetise their flat. If they do want to bequeath their flat, then I think it makes more sense for them to retain the whole flat, rent it out in the meantime – either whole flat or a room – while keeping the full intact value of the flat to bequeath it to their children.
If you have an LBS where you already sold part of the lease back to HDB and you only have such a short lease left, I am not sure how much value there is for the couple to bequeath to their children. If the intent is to bequeath the flat to their children, they should keep the flat. But if what they want is to monetise their flat, there are many options. We are not trying to push people to go onto LBS, so there is no real need to try to make it so attractive for people to go onto LBS. At this moment, by expanding LBS to allow 4-room flat owners to join, we have already catered to almost 75% of the elderly who own flats. That is adequate for the moment.
Regarding APF and why the take-up rate may not be as high as we would want it to be, part of the reason could be that farmers make their choices about how they want to transform. We have to do it from two ways. One, encourage them to continue to look forward, to be more forward-looking and to adopt technology. So, the persuasion part has to be there. Secondly, perhaps some farmers may find that the existing farms may be nearing the end of their lease, so they might be hesitant to take the lead and so do. Certainly, as they renew their lease, we can encourage them to look at how they can use APF to further change the way they do farming, so that as they take on a new lease with a longer life span, they can then utilise the APF effectively to up their farming technologies.
The Chairman: We have come to the end of clarification time. Mr Alex Yam, would you like to withdraw your amendment?
Mr Alex Yam: Mr Chairman, let me first thank the 20 Members who filed a total of 43 cuts across diverse topics, such as housing municipal issues, construction, agriculture, animal welfare, and even hot springs.
With this all-rounded responsibility, MND and its eight statutory boards have their work cut out. There is perhaps no other Ministry that has such an intimate day-to-day relationship with Singaporeans as MND. I therefore, wish to record my thanks to Minister Lawrence Wong, Minister Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee, Minister of State Dr Koh Poh Koon, and Permanent Secretary Benny Lim for their replies, and also to all the staff of MND for the hard work that they put in. With that, Chairman, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $2,549,842,400 for Head T ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $10,992,651,200 for Head T ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply – Head W (Ministry of Transport)","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"Mr Sitoh Yih Pin (Potong Pasir): Mr Chairman, I beg to move,
That the total sum to be allocated for Head W of the Estimates be reduced by $100.
Sir, before I begin my speech as the mover of the amendment for the Committee of Supply (COS) for the Ministry of Transport (MOT), I wish to extend, on behalf of myself and all hon Members of this House, our most heartfelt and deepest condolences to the families of Mr Nasrulhudin Najumudin and Mr Muhammad Asyraf Ahmad Buhari. Our hearts, sympathies and thoughts go out to their respective families in their grief during this difficult period.
Sir, the tragic loss of lives in the SMRT accident provides us with a stark reminder that the safety and well-being of both the employees and consumers of our public transport system are paramount. This is especially so, as MOT embarks on a comprehensive and ambitious plan to achieve the vision of providing Singaporeans with a modern, state-of-the-art, efficient and effective public transport system.
As we set out to achieve this, we should be mindful that necessary safety precautions and protocols are considered and implemented in tandem. We must ensure that all safety protocols are followed and strictly adhered to. If there is a lapse in any way or form, immediate corrective measures must be taken with utmost priority. Only then, can we have a 21st century public transport system we can truly be proud of. As the accident remains the subject of investigations, I shall not comment on it any further.
Sir, I move on. As I alluded to earlier, MOT has a comprehensive and ambitious plan to transform Singapore's transportation sector. Minister Heng Swee Keat had said in his Budget Statement that our estimated expenditure for MOT in 2016, at $10.1 billion, is approximately five times more than what it was 10 years ago.
A quick look at key upcoming projects reveals the reason why. Changi Airport Terminal 4 and Jewel Changi Airport are on track to commence operations soon. Terminal 5 and our third runway are off the mark. Pasir Panjang Terminal Phases 3 and 4 will grow our seaport capacity by more than 40%, come end-2017. There will be an MRT extension or new line open almost every year for the next five years, adding 30 more stations to our MRT network.
The Bus Service Enhancement Programme will continue. The Walk Cycle Ride SG initiative and the proposed North-South Corridor for commuters, cyclists and pedestrians will change the transportation lifestyle mindset of Singaporeans.
Amid this backdrop, however, is also the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) and Intelligent Transportation Society Singapore's (ITSS) Smart Mobility 2030, which maps out Singapore's Intelligent Transport System Strategic Plan. The plan is to leverage technological advances to improve connectivity and efficiency in our transport system. Sir, there is no doubt that these are must-haves and the changes are necessary.
Locally, Singapore is restricted by its physical size. The demographic and size of our population are changing. The transportation industry is changing. There is a new emphasis on green technology which includes vehicles with less carbon emissions, hybrid and electric cars, even driverless cars.
I spoke earlier of the dichotomy of being efficient and effective. I explain. Being efficient is about doing things right. Being effective, however, is about doing the right things. Singapore is renowned for being efficient. We plan, execute and implement projects and plans exceedingly well. But let us pause and consider if we do it in an effective way.
I raise three points for discussion. First, are Singaporeans adequately prepared to accept this changing transportation model? The ownership of cars is a norm in many countries. In Singapore, this is clearly unsustainable. Our population has grown significantly over the years and we expect it to grow more. Similarly, the number of vehicles has also grown. But the land we live on cannot. We have tried with land reclamation but we are clearly limited by what we can do.
The transport infrastructure model that is before us is clearly an efficient solution to this problem. It makes the best use of what we have, the best use of what modern technology can give us and plan it in the best way we know how. But to make this transport infrastructure model also the most effective solution, the population that lives in this model must also participate actively and make the best use of it.
Second, we are an ageing population. This is an issue close to my heart. In Potong Pasir, a significant proportion of my residents are elderly. The elderly are physically more constrained than the young. As such, we must be sensitive and aware of their travel needs.
I explain with an example. There is a new housing development now being built in Potong Pasir. The land it is on is directly next to Potong Pasir MRT station. During construction, the developer blocked off the most direct walking route that my residents take to the MRT station. The developer was required to build sheltered walkways along the perimeter of the land to facilitate our residents' needs. I remained deeply concerned. Yes, sheltered walkways are good but it is now a more circuitous route. A five-minute walk has become 15 minutes. For a young adult or even a not-so-young adult like me, we can manage. But for an elderly person, this extra 10 minutes of walking can be a torturous and excruciating exercise. I raise the example to show that a truly efficient and effective transportation model must be convenient and accessible to all Singaporeans and not just the able-bodied majority.
I therefore read with great pleasure LTA's recent plans to introduce priority queues for the elderly, disabled and others at MRT stations and bus interchanges. This is exactly the type of programme we need to make our transportation model a successful one.
Third and lastly, reliability. Reliability of our public transport system, especially of our MRT system, has been an issue raised on many occasions. Improvements have clearly been done. But with the rapid expansion of the MRT lines or of a new line or extension every year for the next five years, is this a case of biting off more than we can chew? Are we equipped to ensure reliability across the entire MRT system while expanding its capacity at the same time?
Sir, a majority of Singaporeans take one form of public transport or another in their daily lives. We hope that more will do so. MOT has an impressive plan and is building a transportation model to facilitate and allow more Singaporeans to do so. However, as we efficiently go about planning and implementing this model, we should keep in mind other factors that could affect the ultimate effectiveness of the model.
I invite Minister to share with us any of the Ministry's current and/or future plans to address these issues.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Chairman, the expansion of the MRT network in recent years has brought about many spanking and beautifully designed stations. These stations are spacious and brightly lit with futuristic designs and decorated with artwork. Some of the larger stations house a generous array of shops and eateries. By contrast, older MRT stations like Khatib are comparatively shabby and look worn out after years of heavy usage by an increasing number of commuters. I am pleased to note that there are plans to upgrade 17 stations by 2018 and to find Khatib among the list.
I would like to ask the Minister what my residents can look forward to after the upgrading. Will the overcrowding at the platform be resolved? Will it shield my residents from the hot morning sun? Will it cover my residents' bicycles from rain and shine? Will it be more elderly-friendly with the provision of more seats, brighter and bigger signages? Will there be beautiful artwork displays perhaps to cool them down when they cannot squeeze into the overcrowded train and have to wait for the next train? Will it be more friendly for handicapped residents, especially the visually handicapped? Perhaps numbering of bays with protruded numbers or letters will help tremendously. I am sure my favourite compassionate and Mr-Fix-It Minister will help us.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): Two years ago at the COS debates, my colleague, Mr Png Eng Huat, spoke about the reliability of our train services. Two years on, the regularity of train disruptions, the reliability of our MRT system remains a disconcerting issue. In the past 13 months, we have seen at least 50 incidents of MRT disruptions reported and almost half of such delays exceeded 30 minutes. There were 14 major MRT disruptions last year, up from 10. The most recent major one was a four-hour disruption on the East-West Line on 19 March. Just last Friday, there was another train fault on the Circle Line.
In December 2015, LTA started a new method of measuring service delay. Last week, LTA reported that the average distance clocked between overall breakdowns had increased. This was cited as a statistic for rail reliability.
The Straits Times article of 7 April stated that \"it is hard for anyone to reconcile an improvement in reliability when major breakdowns have spiked\". Indeed, whatever statistics that LTA may use, commuters who use the MRT everyday can attest for themselves the frequency of disruptions.
Singaporeans should not have to get used to this regularity of disruptions. We expect our system to have far fewer disruptions. We should also be greatly concerned with the loss of productivity to all our workers and our economy arising from the man-hours lost to all delays over the last few years.
I would like to ask the Minister to let Singaporeans know what steps are being taken to affirmatively abate this unacceptable regularity of disruptions.
The Chairman: Ms Low Yen Ling; not here. Mr Yee Chia Hsing.
Mr Yee Chia Hsing (Chua Chu Kang): Chairman, on 22 March this year, two MRT maintenance staff were hit by a train near Pasir Ris MRT station and suffered fatal injuries. Several Members in this House, including Minister Khaw Boon Wan, Minister Yaacob Ibrahim and Minister Masagos Zulkifli have visited the families to extend their condolences.
Many questions popped up in my mind when I heard about the incident. I thought, \"How can this happen? How can a train hit the two staff who were walking in the second and third position in a single file on a designated walkway? Are there sufficient safety procedures? If not, why not? If yes, why were they not followed? Do we need 15 people on the tracks? Is it right to put trainees on the track during train operating hours? Is safety compromised because SMRT is pushing for shorter downtime?\"
Over the next few days after the tragic accident, further details emerged and more questions came to mind, \"Why was the initial account of the incident different? How can we expect our maintenance crew to do a good job if they think their lives might be in danger?\"
Chairman, for a system that runs on tracks, it is not acceptable to have any serious injury, especially fatal ones. Such incidents not only undermine public confidence in our train operators, but I am sure it would have deeply affected staff morale at SMRT and also affect its attractiveness as an employer for people looking for jobs.
I understand that SMRT has completed its internal investigations into this incident and the report is being reviewed by an independent panel. Hopefully, this will answer the many questions which I have mentioned.
MOT should take a comprehensive review of how our train operators carry out their maintenance work to ensure that such unfortunate incidents should never again happen. I also hope MOT will look into whether financial or other penalties should be imposed on SMRT and its management.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: Mr Chairman, on 22 March this year, two SMRT staff were killed when an MRT train collided into them while they were on the tracks assisting with repair work. Our MRT system is not new. I am surprised that such a simple accident can be allowed to happen here. Not all reputable MRT operators in the world allow workers to effect repairs on maintenance on tracks while trains are in operation.
On the morning of 30 March, I filed my present COS cut on Safety Protocols for MRT Operations. Later that day, LTA and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) issued a press release requiring SMRT to carry out the following measures if maintenance work are carried out during train service hours. This is to take effect from 31 March: (a) train running on sections of the track where personnel are working on must operate on manual, not automatic mode; (b) trains to cease operating on the relevant section of the track before repair personnel is allowed on it; (c) robust authentication between personnel on track and the operations control centre to verify track isolation; (d) measures for isolation to be in place until staff have left the work area and track site; and finally, (e) watchman to be deployed to alert personnel of incoming trains.
I am surprised by this press release. I had expected these measures to be in place and to be the so-called standard operating procedures (SOPs). If they were, the press release would not have been necessary.
I would like to ask the Minister: (a) before the accident, what the obligations were for LTA to check on the MRT operators' observance of safety protocols for maintenance and operations; and (b) after the accident, will there be any new measures for LTA to check and ensure that MRT operators follow the requisite safety procedures?
Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang): Chairman, the developments in transport and its associate technology have been rapid in the last few years. Just last week, NuTonomy, a driverless car startup out of the US sets its sights on operating a fully autonomous taxi service out of Singapore.
The future of transport is arriving on our shores and sooner than we realise. I would like to ask MOT how it is preparing Singapore and keeping our regulations up to date, given the evolving transport technology trends, such as driverless vehicles, digital applications, such as Uber, as well as emerging models of vehicles using a myriad of technologies.
The difference in views between LTA and car manufacturer Tesla on test methodology for its cars earlier this year gained widespread international attention. The incident exemplifies this need for us to be ready to master new developments quickly and continuously engage new technology manufacturers to ensure that our laws, regulations and methods are up to date.
In terms of public transportation, what other developments can Singaporeans expect and how will these trends encourage greater use, provide greater confidence as well as real-time information and enhance the reliability of our own public transport system. The recent announcement of Electronic Road Pricing 2.0 (ERP2) is certainly a game changer and I am keen to know the Ministry's plans to balance the pace of transition in adopting this new technology.
Given the rapid pace of adoption, it is especially important for the Ministry to guide Singaporeans through these investments and developments. I hope the Ministry consults the public widely on the policy changes and inform them in advance of impending changes.
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Sir, the potential for autonomous vehicles to play a key role in our public transport service is exciting. In a press release by LTA last October, autonomous vehicles are touted to radically transform our land transportation, especially in two key areas of constraint − land and manpower.
The Committee on Autonomous Road Transport (CARTS) in Singapore was reported to be looking into some key roles for autonomous vehicles to complement our transport system in the hope of reducing road congestion during peak hours and manpower requirements.
While I am not sure how autonomous vehicles can help Singapore ease its constraint on land use, the technology can certainly ease the manpower crunch in the public transport arena. I do see the potential for autonomous vehicle to complement our public transport system, especially in the area of feeder bus service where the route is short and fixed and standard fare applies. I do see the potential for autonomous feeder bus service to take over from one-man-operated (OMO) bus service at night when the traffic is light and to stay operational longer as well.
Sir, I wish to ask the Ministry to share more on the roadmap for the autonomous bus service to play a key role in our public transport system. In the same vein, transport by CARTS, there was no mention of allowing private autonomous vehicles on our road. May I ask the Minister if private autonomous vehicles are also in the same roadmap to introduce self-driving vehicles on our road?
Mr Ong Teng Koon (Marsiling-Yew Tee): Sir, electric bus technology has been constantly improving. Electric bus batteries can now power buses to travel longer with claimed ranges of 250 kilometres on a single four- to five-hour charge, which should be sufficient in most cases to operate for a full day without the need to recharge. Innovative technologies, such as induction charging, can further boost capacity.
The batteries themselves have also longer lifespans and are estimated to last about seven-and-a-half years with more than 4,000 recharging cycles in a lifespan. These batteries are also made in increasingly environmentally friendly ways with chemical materials in the batteries capable of being recycled. Zero tail pipe emissions also mean that electric buses provide public transportation which is cleaner and quieter. While the upfront costs are currently higher, there is growing evidence that the lifecycle costs are becoming increasingly more competitive.
Therefore, I would like to ask the Minister if he would consider using electric buses for our public transport system.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Tanjong Pagar): Chairman, I would like to declare my interest as the Executive Secretary of the National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU).
Our public bus captains carry a heavy responsibility every day when they report for work, because thousands of commuters depend on public buses to safely and promptly reach their destinations all over Singapore.
With the introduction of the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) and the Bus Service Reliability Framework (BSRF), as well as the implementation of the Government Contracting Model (GCM), more bus captains are required in the industry. In fact, this year alone, the public bus operators seek to hire more than 3,000 bus captains.
Although the starting wages of the bus captains have increased by over 30% since 2012, more needs to be done to enhance the bus captain profession to attract more Singaporeans to join the trade as well as to retain the current crop of bus captains.
I would like to ask MOT to consider the following suggestions.
First, to make the Omnibus Driver Vocational Licence (ODVL) transferable. Bus captains currently possess this vocational licence, valid only while the holder is a bus driver with Singapore Bus Service (SBS) Transit Limited or SMRT Bus Limited. When the holder leaves the employment of an operator to work for another, the licence is no longer valid and the new employer would have to submit a fresh application.
Today, we have new and more bus operators coming into the industry by virtue of the Government contracting model. To alleviate the manpower situation in the industry, can the Ministry consider making ODVL transferable? This would facilitate our bus captains to start work at the new company without waiting for the reapplication of the licence, which can sometimes take up to an average of two months from the first point of application.
Second, we need to enhance the career progression pathway for bus captains. To do so, we need to provide a centralised structured training framework which can help deepen one's professional skills and, consequently, lead to progressive wages. Continuous training programmes should also be made accessible to bus captains at all stages of their career, for them to learn and acquire new skills.
For instance, in the past, bus captains had to do manual engine checks by lifting the heavy bonnet. Today, the checks can be conducted by simply using the dashboard at the driver's seat. Currently, the training of bus captains is decentralised to the respective public bus operators. A centralised training centre would be useful so as to standardise the basic training programmes for bus captains as well as to provide continuous training in a structured manner for them to keep up with environmental changes. Can the Ministry elaborate on any plans to enhance the training programmes for our bus captains?
Third, due to the demanding working conditions of bus captains and the gradual ageing profile, the union is naturally concerned about their health and well-being. It is, therefore, timely that we holistically review the overall working conditions of our bus captains to ensure that they are physically and mentally fit to do their job well. Some of the areas we can look at include reviewing their work schedule, ergonomics intervention and fatigue management.
Early detection and intervention can certainly help our bus captains identify and address potential health threats before they fall seriously ill. Through a recent health screening project piloted by the union involving close to 900 bus captains, we found that eight out of 10 had unhealthy BMI, blood pressure or cholesterol. I would like to urge the Ministry and the public transport operators to look into providing free annual health screenings for all bus captains and to include it as a condition inside the bus contracting model.
Next, we need to stop the abuse of bus captains. During my ground visits, I hear bus captains having bad encounters with commuters. They are often at the receiving end of verbal abuse by some commuters. Sometimes, the abuse could also be physical. Our bus captains are striving to serve the commuters well every day. They deserve some respect for their hard work and not abuse. I would like to ask for the support of the Ministry and the public transport Tripartite Partners to do more to stop the abuse of our bus captains.
Sir, there are more than 8,000 bus captains in Singapore and they serve an important duty to our society. Our bus captains deserve greater recognition than what they receive today. I hope that the Ministry can consider designating a \"Bus Captains' Day\" every year to recognise their dedicated contributions and service to our community.
The Chairman: Minister Khaw Boon Wan, would you wish to report on progress?
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply Reporting Progress","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"The Minister for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan): Sir, may I seek your consent to move that progress be reported now and leave be asked to sit again tomorrow?
The Chairman: I give my consent.
[(proc text) Resolved, \"That progress be reported now and leave be asked to sit again tomorrow.\" − [Mr Khaw Boon Wan]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Thereupon Mr Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2016/2017, and ask leave to sit again tomorrow.
Mr Deputy Speaker: So be it.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Adjournment","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"Resolved, \"That Parliament do now adjourn.\" – [Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien.]
Adjourned accordingly at \t7.41 pm.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Rental Rebates for Hawkers Affected by Closure of Hawker Centres for Improvement Works","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"1 Mr Ang Hin Kee asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) whether the Ministry will consider offering rental rebates to hawkers who are affected by the closure of hawker centres for improvement works to help offset some loss of income; and (b) whether the Ministry will be able to work with the Workforce Development Agency to send hawkers for training that is tailored for them during the shutdown period.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: As part of the maintenance of hawker centres, cyclical repairs and redecorations works, including the repainting of the centre and replacement of fixtures, are carried out by the National Environment Agency or the respective Town Councils every five to seven years. Over a longer term, major works, such as the replacement of plumbing, sanitary systems, electrical rewiring, exhaust motors, lifts and escalators, as well as re-roofing, may also be carried out.
Stallholders who are directly affected by these works and who are unable to operate their stalls due to the closure of the centres may be given rental remission for the duration of the works.
My Ministry will take into consideration the suggestion to facilitate the hawkers attending relevant training during the closure period.
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