1 Mrs Lina Chiam asked the Minister for Finance in respect of the Government Investment Corporation's Report on the Management of the Government's Portfolio for the Year 2011/12, what are the reasons for omitting the annualised nominal rates of return in Singapore dollar terms given these figures are reported in US dollar and Singapore dollar terms in previous years.
The Minister of State for Finance (Mrs Josephine Teo) (for the Minister for Finance): Mdm Speaker, I thank Mrs Lina Chiam for the question in which she referred to GIC's \"Report on the Management of the Government's Portfolio for the Year 2011/12\". GIC has been publishing this annual report on its role as a fund manager for Government reserves since 2008. The latest report in fact provides significantly more information on GIC's investment performance than when GIC started these annual reports five years ago, whilst focusing on the indicators that matter most in evaluating its performance. These indicators reflect GIC's investment mandate. The publication of these indicators is aimed at enhancing understanding of GIC's performance against that mandate.
The information published focuses on the primary metric for evaluating the investment performance of the GIC-managed portfolio: this is the long-term real rate of return, that is, returns over and above a measure of global inflation. This measure reflects GIC's mandate, which is to preserve and enhance the international purchasing power of our overseas assets over the long term.
GIC's mandate of achieving returns above global inflation also shapes its investment strategies. It invests to achieve good, real returns on its overall portfolio over the long term, rather than nominal returns. It selects investment assets and decides on the shape of its portfolio with this aim in mind.
As presented in the 2011/12 report, the annualised rolling 20-year real rate of return on the portfolio was 3.9%. This means that over a 20-year period, on top of having protected the value of the portfolio against global inflation, the
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portfolio generated a return averaging 3.9% per year.
The portfolio's real return, that is, nominal returns less global inflation, is the same regardless of the currency used for its calculation. This is because both the nominal returns and global inflation have to be expressed in the same currency for computation. Any change in how one component is expressed in terms of currency will similarly apply to the other. Hence, the currency effect cancels out.
However, to facilitate comparison of investment returns achieved by other global investment funds, the report also includes the nominal return in US dollars, which is the commonly expressed basis internationally. GIC stopped publishing its nominal returns converted to Singapore dollars three years ago, not just last year. The use of US dollars when showing nominal returns avoids confusion when comparisons are made with other fund managers or global market indices. Indeed, in previous years, we have found that some readers had compared GIC's returns in Singapore dollars with the returns of global market indices in US dollars. However, I have to emphasise once again that it is the GIC's real long-term returns, not its nominal returns, that reflect its mandate and are its key performance measure.
I should reiterate, too, that GIC now publishes more information on its performance than when it began this annual report five years ago. Its reports over the last two years include GIC's performance over a five-year and 10-year period, in addition to the 20-year period that remains its primary goal. For each of these periods, GIC also includes comparisons with the performance of market portfolios that are typical of those adopted by large global investors. Hence, it includes comparisons with market portfolios comprising: (a) 60% global equities and 40% global bonds; and (b) 70% global equities and 30% global bonds.
GIC also publishes information on its major investment strategies.
Taken together, GIC is publishing more information and focused on what matters to GIC's mandate.
\tPage: 9
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Coal burning at Tembusu Multi-Utilities Complex on Jurong Island","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"2 Mrs Lina Chiam asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) why is the coal-burning Tembusu Multi-Utilities Complex on Jurong Island allowed to operate considering that coal is one of the most polluting sources of energy; and (b) whether Singapore has met its international obligations to reduce its carbon emissions.
\tThe Second Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr S Iswaran) (for the Minister for Trade and Industry): Mdm Speaker, the Tembusu Multi-Utilities Complex (TMUC) employs a mix of clean coal and biomass to produce steam and electricity for chemical companies on Jurong Island. Clean coal is a significantly cheaper fuel option compared to fuel oil and natural gas, and the use of coal is expected to reduce steam prices by at least 10% for customers of TMUC.
To strike a balance with environmental concerns, only the use of low ash and low sulphur coal has been permitted, and biomass is mixed with coal to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to below that of an equivalent fuel oil plant. The co-generation process employed by TMUC is also more efficient than the separate production of steam and power through boilers and combined cycle gas turbines.
In addition, measures have been put in place by our environmental agencies to ensure that the TMUC meets environmental standards as stipulated under the Environmental Protection and Management Act and its Regulations. TMUC is held to stringent requirements for pollutants, such as particulate matter (PM) and mercury. The company is also required to transport coal via covered transportation systems to prevent fugitive dust emissions, and recycle ash as construction material.
Singapore is on track to meet its unconditional pledge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 7% to 11% below 2020 business-as-usual (BAU) levels. To this end, we have already implemented several energy efficiency measures to reduce the carbon footprint of our industries. These include the Grant for Energy Efficient Technologies (GREET), tax incentives via the Investment Allowance for Energy Efficiency (IA for EE), and the Design for Efficiency (DfE) scheme. This year, we are also piloting third-party financing schemes to encourage private financing of energy efficiency projects.
\tPage: 10
\tMrs Lina Chiam (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, I thank the Minister, for answering my question. I have two supplementary questions. First, could a committee be set up to study and authorise installation of solar panels on HDB blocks and to support the growth of alternative sources of energy? Second, why has the Energy Market Authority had to reintroduce coal, given the push for liquefied natural gas in recent years?
\tMr S Iswaran: Madam, I thank the Member for her supplementary questions. The first, on installation of solar panels on HDB block rooftops and so on, in fact, we have a variety of schemes in place to encourage the exploration of the use of solar energy in the context of different environments, whether in terms of buildings or residential flats. HDB is experimenting with some of these, and working with the appropriate private vendors. And some of our developers are doing so. We have a range of schemes in place already, guided by a variety of Government agencies and initiatives.
The second point the Member raised is an important one. I want to emphasise to the House that, ultimately, it is important and incumbent upon us that we keep our energy options open. The fact of the matter is that whilst we are moving on liquefied natural gas as a way to diversify our energy sources, that gives us some diversification but it does not give us diversification in terms of fuel types because we are still predominantly reliant on natural gas. We should not rule out options.
Clean coal is one possibility. We have not gone about this in a large-scale way. But this is a smaller scale plant dealing with the needs in a particularly localised area. In this context, for steam. We think we should try these ideas out, subject to our environmental requirements and concerns, and making sure that our overall strategy remains one that is balanced.
Mdm Speaker: Order. End of Question Time.
\tPage: 11
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Estimates of Expenditure for the Financial Year 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014","subTitle":"Committee of Supply – Paper Cmd 3 of 2013","sectionType":"OS","content":"[(proc text) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [5th Allotted Day]. (proc text)]
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
[(proc text) Resumption of Debate on Question [12 March 2013], (proc text)]
[(proc text) \"That the total sum to be allocated for Head W of the Estimates be reduced by $100\". – [Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Question again proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Seng Han Thong (Ang Mo Kio): Madam, the Government is now auditing the operations of rail and buses, especially in the reliability and safety aspects. As the total taxi population on the road crosses 28,000 and the estimated daily ridership of 940,000 last year, how would LTA benchmark the safety and reliability of taxi services? Would the Government improve its supervisory framework of the taxi companies such that both their taxis and drivers are fit to serve and able to meet these standards?
Madam, my next cut. May I ask the Minister what is the role and position of taxis in the Master Population Plan 2020 and 2030? The Government has planned for the 2030 public transport infrastructure. What is the Government's plan to make taxi service more accessible to the able-bodied, young, aged and the handicapped?
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For the taxi industry to function well, we need to invest in building up the capability and capacity of the industry. To make these heavy capital investments which require time, taxi operators need to have certainty in the Government's policies in the next eight to 16 years or one or two lifespan of a taxi. Could the Government spell out its long-term policy for the taxi industry? What are the conditions that will determine the optimum size of the taxi population in Singapore in the next, say, five to 10 years? Would the Government require the taxi operators to compete in terms of pricing, efficiency and quality of their service so that public commuters could benefit from them?
Madam, my next cut. Since taxis have been taken out from the bidding of COEs, the price of COEs continues to rise to cross the $90,000 mark. Although we cannot conclude that the rise of COE prices has nothing to do with taxi companies bidding for COEs, we can confirm that taxi companies are not the key driving force behind the dramatic increase in COE prices.
What is the Government's long-term plan on how the taxi population will be controlled by the COE quota system?
Taxis are a public transport service. The public commuters expect its pricing to be competitive, orderly and justified. The recent changes in COE policy on taxis had made it impossible for taxi operators to play its intended role to manage the fluctuating cost of COE as they will only find out the COE cost when the vehicle is registered.
With the total cost of putting a taxi on the road fluctuating significantly, we begin to see taxi companies not able to price their taxi rental and meter fare in a very planned and orderly manner.
Taxis are public service vehicles, just like public buses. There is a case to make taxi service more accessible and taxi fare more affordable so that public commuters would treat taxis as their \"next car\" instead of chasing new cars and further push up the COE prices. So, there is also a case to take taxis out of the COE system, just like the public buses, and replace it with a more stable and reasonable statutory cost structure for taxis without the COE and without making it more expensive to put a taxi on the road than the private car.
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Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng (Pioneer): Madam, the Vehicle Quota System of COE has been implemented since 1990, the purpose of which is to limit the growth of vehicles each year. As Members know, there are currently five COE categories – Category A for cars with engine capacity of 1,600 cc; Category B for cars above 1,600 cc; Category C for goods vehicles and buses; Category D for motorcycles; and the Open Category, Category E, for all vehicles.
The value of each COE is a function of the COE supply and demand for each category. In recent years, various German car makers have introduced more expensive vehicles with lower engine capacity, below 1,600 cc. This increases the demand for Cat A COEs whilst the supply of Cat A COEs remains unchanged. This could have the effect of pushing up Cat A COE prices, to the detriment of buyers of smaller vehicles.
I would like to ask the Minister about how LTA distributes the number of available COEs for each category, A, B and E especially? Also, when was this distribution last reviewed and whether the assumptions then are still valid today? I would also like to suggest that a comprehensive review be carried out so as to determine the most appropriate way to categorise cars and also the allocation of COEs accordingly.
A possible method is to categorise cars by carbon emissions or fuel efficiency instead of engine capacity. With higher COE allocation for more efficient vehicles, this would likely assist buyers of smaller vehicles and also encourage more environmentally friendly vehicles on Singapore roads.
My last question is about the volatility of COE prices. The prices have been very volatile. Sometimes, bidders are subject to the luck of the draw. COE prices can swing quite wildly from time to time. Does the Minister see any merit in stabilising the volatility of COE prices in each of the bids? And if so, what mechanisms can be used to achieve this?
Mr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Madam, the COE system was introduced over 20 years ago, but cannot shake off controversy. Never has so
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much been said by so many over so few pieces of paper.
Most people accept the logic in restricting the number of cars on the road and the need to keep traffic moving smoothly. But no one likes to pay more. As a result, we have heard many suggestions on how to change the system, usually with a view to keeping COE prices low for some. I say \"some\" because there is no one suggestion that really benefits everyone who wants a car. So long as we agree that the car number must be controlled, there would be no solution that pleases everyone.
The real question is what the Government's role is when it comes to determining who gets a car? The problem is that there has been no consistent policy when it comes to cars.
When then Minister Dr Yeo Ning Hong introduced the COE system in 1990, he said that the rationale for having categories based on engine size was to \"benefit the lower and middle-income owners\". In other words, there was an element of social equity in the system. That rationale appeared to be premised on the fact that back in the 1990s, luxury car makers generally produced cars with larger engine capacities. But this has not been the case for some time. European emission standards and the introduction of turbo charging and supercharging has seen luxury car makers move into the small car market. So, today, luxury car makers dominate the small car category as well. So, lower- and middle-income owners no longer benefit. So, why do we still maintain categories based on engine capacities?
But the latest changes to the ARF appear to reaffirm the principle of social equity, making those who purchase large, luxury cars pay more. That is the intention, but what is the likely consequence? It may mean driving more people to the small car market, which will push up COE prices for that segment. And the latest MAS curbs on car loans will make it even more difficult for low- and middle-income persons to own cars in any event.
So, is there a principle which governs car ownership in Singapore? And frankly, I do not see any. I think we get into these difficulties because we try to fit conflicting principles of free market, social equity and financial prudence. It does not work. It raises expectations and ends up frustrating and confusing many.
I, therefore, ask the Minister to review the system and the principles of COE allocation. It is time to pull the handbrake on the current COE system, send it
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back to the workshop for overhaul. First, let us have a simple and clear objective which most, if not all of us, can agree to. Since we cannot please everyone, I suggest that instead of focusing on who gets a COE, we should look at what kind of cars we want to have on our roads. Like Mr Cedric Foo, I think we should put more emphasis on environmentally friendly cars.
Cars can be simply categorised by their emissions, or other environmental factors. The Europeans have done this well. They are car manufacturers. So, over time, they have enforced higher emission and other standards for their cars. The result is that European car manufacturers have had to step up their game, and today, most Europeans buy cars which are well engineered, cleaner and more fuel-efficient than compared to, say, American cars.
We do not manufacture cars, but with the COE system, we can effect similar changes. The engine capacity of cars we buy should not matter. Neither should it matter whether they are diesel, petrol, LPG or hybrid. Such cars occupy the same space and contribute to congestion. But it will make a difference if we promote cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars. Therefore, substantially more COEs should be allocated to those cars which are environmentally friendlier and a smaller number for \"dirtier\" cars. And this will set a clear and defensible policy and send a strong message about what we value. It will also indirectly help those who can only afford to purchase smaller and cheaper cars as these tend to have lower emissions and be more fuel-efficient.
My second point is about the timing of changes to policies. We have a habit of springing them suddenly on people, such as the recent curbs on car loans, property cooling measures and so on. This makes it difficult for individuals and businesses to plan, and where plans are affected, it causes frustration and resentment. Why can we not give reasonable warning so that everyone can plan and make informed choices?
I can predict the response – if we had given six months' notice, for example, before imposing the car loans, everyone will rush in and purchase a car in those six months. Yes, they may, but so what? Those who rush in will know that others will do so as well, and so they must be prepared to pay more. Others who can choose to wait out the market, in their expectation that prices will fall, will wait out the market. For the rest of us, there will still be the same number of cars on the road.
The concern for those who may over-extend their finances, I think, is overstated. First, it will only affect a small number of people because only a
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small group can buy in that short time. There has not been a significant number of car loan defaults and, in any event, I think the Government should take a step back in relation to financial decisions made by people. People should decide what is in their best interests and make their own decisions.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): Madam, COE was introduced in 1990 to manage the growth of vehicles in Singapore. At that time, there were four COE categories just for private cars alone. We had categories for, yes, below 1,000 cc, 1,000 cc to 1,600 cc, 1,600 cc to 2,000 cc and then 2,000 cc and above. I checked the Hansard. One rationale for having four categories is so as \"not to allow big car buyers to squeeze out buyers of small cars\".
Like what Mr Cedric Foo had observed, COE prices for cars below 1,600 cc have been very high for the past months. One probable reason is that luxury car brands like Mercedes, BMW, Audi, they have all introduced cars with engine capacities below 1,600 cc. As a result, the COE prices for Category A cars have increased substantially because buyers of luxury car brands generally have a larger budget.
Whilst owning a car in Singapore is not a necessity, the Government needs to provide a reasonable opportunity for Singaporeans to own a car. It is inequitable if cars are seen to be reserved only for the rich.
I urge the MOT to review the COE system and I propose that COEs be categorised based on OMV of the car. Cars with OMV below $20,000 should be in one category so that Singaporeans who wish to buy lower priced cars can bid for COE in the same band. We should also increase the available number of COEs for this category (Category A) such that the COEs available for this category are the same as that available for Category B and Open Category combined.
We should also promote more off-peak cars so that buyers will find it more affordable to own such off-peak cars. This is especially if they do not drive the car to work daily and need it only for the weekends to ferry their children or parents. If the buyer has to pay $80,000, $90,000 for his car's COE, naturally he will want to drive the car daily, since the daily depreciation cost of the COE alone is between $25 and $30. And we are talking about depreciation for the cars. So, I ask MOT to review the COE for cars.
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Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Madam, further to the suggestions I made earlier for the Government to explore introducing a new COE category – family car category – I would now like to suggest to the Minister whether effort can be made to alleviate the transport components of unit business costs for SMEs as a result of rising COE prices and whether he will consider introducing separate categories for commercial goods vehicles, heavy goods vehicles and very heavy goods vehicles. This will help small business owners and those who use the road as their livelihood.
Next cut. Madam, I would also like to suggest that when we have surpluses from the COE receipts, we can re-channel them to the Singaporeans who use public transport directly. The revenue from the vehicle quota premiums is expected to reach $2.4 billion in financial year 2012, more than the $2 million estimate. We can channel the surpluses to benefit the Singaporeans who use public transport directly, including enhancements and introductions of concessionary and rebate schemes and make public transport more attractive for Singaporeans.
Can the Minister also consider issuing new Singapore Shares in our transport company to all Singaporeans to allow them to have greater ownership and participation and have direct benefit from our public transport system?
Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): In late 2011, I had proposed for the removal of weekend ERP charges in places like the CBD, Orchard Road and some other shopping districts. Since then in May last year, the LTA had reviewed the ERP charges as promised, and delayed the start of the ERP operating hours on Saturday in Orchard from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm and also reduced the ERP rates for the Bugis-Marina area.
Can the Ministry give an update on the outcomes of these changes? Are the results positive? As previously suggested by myself, and also agreed by Minister of State, Mrs Josephine Teo, we could listen to the feedback from the retailers in these areas. So, I had channelled to the Ministry the feedback I received from the Orchard Road Business Association, Marina Bay Business Association and also the Singapore Retailers Association. They are all supportive of the move to remove weekend ERP charges as this would
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encourage more shoppers to the shopping districts on weekends. It would also lower the costs to motorists, too.
Therefore, I hope the Ministry would kindly consider the full removal of weekend ERP charges in the CBD and shopping districts.
The Minister for Transport (Mr Lui Tuck Yew): Mdm Chairperson, I have spoken at length last night about the improvements that we are making to the public transport system, which is my Ministry's top priority. Before I go on to talk about private transport, taxis and ERPs and so on, I thought it might be useful for me to continue the discussion last night because we were talking about feeder buses and trunks. And if I did not hear it wrongly, Ms Lee Li Lian was saying that there were no trunk or feeder bus services serving her constituents in Punggol East. And so I was intrigued by that statement and went to do some checks on this.
I just wanted to clarify that indeed there are five services that run through the heart of her constituency and, in addition, there are about 10 services that run along Punggol Road which is at the western boundary of the constituency and another bus that runs along the eastern boundary of the constituency.
Our estimate, based on all these, is that about 90% of the HDB blocks in Punggol East are within 200 metres of either an LRT station, or a bus stop, or both. So, it is about 90% of the HDB blocks within 200 metres of an LRT station, or a bus stop, or both. And LTA had also planned previously to augment the bus services as new BTO developments come on stream and they will consider doing so.
I am sure that there was no ill intent behind her remark and that she is simply unaware of the buses running into and around her constituency. However, such inaccuracies, if they are taken up, and repeated often enough on social media, will take on a life of their own and, hence, I wanted to share this information with Members of the House, just to make sure that we get the record straight on the services that are available.
So, let me now move on to talk about private transport. Given our land constraints, we must press on with vehicle ownership and road usage measures to manage traffic congestion.
Our intent is to take a calibrated approach in managing the growth and use of private transport, and, where necessary, adjust our policies and pace of
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implementation. For example, we have phased in more gradually the reduction in the annual vehicle growth rate, deferred the adjustment for past over-projections of the Certificates of Entitlement (COEs), removed taxis from the bidding system, and exercised some flexibility for ERP in the evenings and on Saturdays.
Let me first touch on the topic of COEs. We have, and we continue to receive, many well-intentioned suggestions from the public, as well as from Members like Mr Cedric Foo, Mr Hri Kumar, Mr Lim Biow Chuan, Dr Lim Wee Kiak, and they include ideas to re-categorise COEs according to whether it is OMV, value of the carbon emissions of the car, to allow only individuals and not dealers to bid, to tighten financing for cars, and so on. Please be assured that we take all these suggestions seriously. We will study them thoroughly and respond at the appropriate time, sometimes with our sister agencies like the MAS.
That said, I would like to take the opportunity to address some of the key feedback that we frequently receive. First, I do acknowledge that with changes in technology, using engine capacity as the criterion for COE categorisation may no longer be so valid and we will study this further on how to improve this.
Secondly, there are calls to do more to level the playing field to buy a car. As Category A COE premiums rose, I received more requests to give priority in COE bidding to families with elderly members, families with children, allow only one car per household, and so on. I also note that Mr Gan Thiam Poh had a suggestion in Parliament last week for a \"family car\" COE category.
I understand the aspirations of many Singaporeans to own a car. In fact, about 45% of households today already own a car, and this has increased over time. So, with your permission, Mdm Chairperson, I would like to share this slide with Members [A slide was shown to hon Members. Please refer to Annex 1.] Forty percent in 2008, rising to 45% of households in Singapore owning a car in 2012.
I would have to say that this trend is simply not sustainable due to our land constraints, and so we have to limit supply and find some equitable way of allocating it. We believe that our COE system remains the most appropriate way of allocating this limited but non-basic resource.
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By and large, the COE system today already accommodates some social equity considerations. Car quotas are divided into large and small car categories, using engine capacity of 1,600 cc as a simple but generally well accepted basis for the classification. With this, buyers who wish to have smaller cars need not compete for the COE bidding with those who desire larger cars. But outside of this 1,600 cc divide, we try not to impose other social considerations on the COE system to avoid distorting the market further.
Our approach has been to try to address social considerations largely through the vehicle tax structure, in particular, the Additional Registration Fee (ARF). Consistent with this approach, MOF recently announced changes to make the ARF structure more progressive. In the past, it was 100% ARF for all cars based on the OMV and I am sure if you remember from the announcement two weeks ago that we have introduced three categories, and for the ARF rates to be tiered from 100% to 180%. And this means that buyers of luxury cars will now pay higher tax rates than buyers of budget cars.
It is a difficult undertaking to try to allocate cars based on needs, such as to raise a family, to ferry elderly family members or for work purposes. Setting aside the likely problems with implementation and loopholes, I think it would be extremely difficult for the Government to decide fairly who deserves and needs a car and who does not. So, I would say that while our bidding system is by no means perfect, I think it is certainly preferable to some of the other suggestions that we have received, like converting it all to a balloting system.
In Beijing, there is a lottery system for car licence plates. Over one million people enter the lottery for about 20,000 licence plates every month. There have been reports of buyers who have never won the lottery – little wonder why – despite entering it every month since it started more than two years ago. Or buyers who had no intention of purchasing a car in the first place, save for the fact that winning the lottery has become a lot more lucrative. There have also been reports of buyers who get their licence plate on the black market for I think about S$30,000. In contrast, and similar to another Chinese city, Shanghai, our COE bidding system does allow people who want and can afford a car to do their sums, save up and buy one eventually, and not be left to the vagaries of a balloting system. And I think that this is the prudent way to go about buying a car, given that it is a big purchase and a depreciating asset.
Those who want to go for a less expensive option can consider Off-Peak Cars (OPC). Mr Lim Biow Chuan has rightly suggested that we try to do more to promote them. Today, owners who wish to use their OPC during the restricted hours have to pay $20 for an electronic day licence, and this is regardless of
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whether they use it for just half an hour or, say, the full 12 hours. We will review the feasibility of making the scheme more flexible and attractive when the technology is available for us to price it differently.
There have also been requests for us to smoothen the supply of COEs to stabilise COE premiums. COE premiums are influenced by many factors, both on the demand and supply side. I think some smoothening of COE supply is a good idea to temper the peaks and troughs of the supply cycle. The difficulty is, of course, how to do it without causing other problems. I have asked LTA to see if there is a practical way of putting aside some of the supply from the upcoming peak that we expect in the next few years – I think starting from 2014 – to save some of it and put it aside for the future when COE supply becomes tighter. This is a longer-term study, and I assure you that we will not be making major changes to the COE market in the near term.
For businesses, we have reviewed with MOF what we can do to help them with rising business costs. As announced during the Budget Statement, besides a 30% road tax rebate, we will also relax the COE renewal rule for commercial vehicles to help owners with their cash-flow. Currently, at the end of the 10-year COE, if owners want to renew their COE for just five years, they can do so only once. We will remove this restriction for Category C, and allow these owners to renew their COEs for another five years. And this will also apply to those who are already on their first five-year renewal, and LTA will release more details on this later.
We will continue to review what more we can do to help businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We will look into Mr Gan Thiam Poh's suggestion to split the COE category for commercial vehicles to separate light goods from heavy and very heavy goods vehicles. But one implication is that since additional sub-categories means smaller quota numbers, this suggestion may result in even more volatile COE premiums. But I think the intent behind Mr Gan's suggestion is really to ask if the smaller light goods vehicles should pay the same COE premium as heavy and very heavy goods vehicles, and this is something we will study carefully.
As there have recently been major changes that affect vehicle ownership, I think it is best that we let them take some time to settle. We have not even seen the outcome of the first COE bidding exercise after the implementation of the progressive ARF and loan restriction measures, which is going on this afternoon as even we speak. And it will take a number of bidding exercises before the effects of the recent changes become clear. Therefore, we will take some time to carefully consider the many suggestions we have received from Members
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and the public before we make further changes to the COE system.
Let me move on to talk about ERP. With COE premiums reaching new highs, a common refrain is for us to shift our emphasis to restrain usage. So, in the past, it was ERP charges – too high, control the car ownership, and so on – now, I think we are hearing a different side of the equation. So, to those who are now championing aggressive usage measures like Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), I hope to get their fullest support if we see the need for more extensive usage of the ERP in future.
The ERP system has served us well since its introduction in 1998. Despite the vehicle population increasing by over 40%, we have managed to keep our roads relatively free from congestion with traffic speeds remaining largely in the optimal range. Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, last evening and Mr Seah Kian Peng, this morning, have reiterated their calls to abolish ERP in the evenings and on Saturdays. Since the ERP rate reductions were made in October 2011 and in June 2012, we have generally observed heavier traffic flow and thus lower traffic speeds in the time slots where we had cut or removed ERP rates altogether. We have no plans at the moment to remove ERP altogether in the evenings and on Saturdays as it is clear that ERP is still needed to manage traffic congestion. Without the ERP, motorists, as well as bus commuters, will encounter more congested roads in the evenings when they go home, and on Saturdays when they go to town. Nevertheless, let me assure you that wherever it is possible, and we will certainly continue to see where we can fine-tune our ERP policies at the margins.
Let me move on to talk a little about car sharing. I understand that, from time to time, Singaporeans do like to have more convenient door-to-door options to get around, for family outings, shopping, shopping trips, ferrying elderly parents to medical appointments, for example. We can, and will do more to facilitate these transport arrangements and options.
Car sharing is, indeed, one example. With higher COE premiums, more people have taken to this option to gain access to a car without having to own one. Membership of car-sharing organisations now stands at 8,000, which is an increase of about 33% compared to a year ago. LTA is working with HDB to make car sharing more accessible in the heartlands where it is feasible. To facilitate peer-to-peer car sharing, LTA will study if there is further scope to liberalise the Private Car Rental Scheme. This Private Car Rental Scheme currently allows car owners to rent out their cars on weekends and public
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holidays.
Let me move on to talk about taxi services and availability. Mr Seng Han Thong had filed a number of cuts on the role of taxis in our transport system and how to improve it further. Taxis serve specific point-to-point travel needs and can, therefore, we know, provide a higher level of service compared to mass public transport. As Mr Seng had pointed out, taxis also help to meet the transport needs of the infirm and the elderly. And in light of our ageing population, and as we continue to constrain car growth and car usage, taxis will play an increasingly important role. And this is why we had initiated a strategic move to make taxis more available, to utilise the taxi fleet more efficiently, and for taxi operators to meet higher levels of service. I believe the better the quality of taxi services, the more likely some car owners may be prepared to give up their cars and switch to the train or buses for their daily commute, while opting for taxis for the occasional trip.
Today, taxi companies are required to meet the Quality of Service standards set by LTA, which cover areas like call booking and safety. I assure Mr Seng that LTA reviews the service standards regularly, taking into account commuters' experience on the ground. The LTA will also consider overseas best practices and is looking into the possibility of benchmarking our service standards with that in other cities.
LTA has, in fact, tightened the service standards just last October. The revised standards include higher targets for call booking performance and vehicle inspection passing rates, the latter for safety reasons. Generally, most of the taxi companies have been able to comply with the revised standards so far. LTA will continue to monitor this and work closely with the taxi companies to achieve even higher service levels in the future.
I should add that even before the service standards were revised, there had been some improvements in service levels. The average answer rate for call bookings was better in 2012 compared to 2011. The average passenger waiting time at key taxi stands has also improved over the same period. For example, the average waiting time in the city from 5.00 pm to 11.00 pm fell from about six minutes in 2011 to about three minutes in 2012. And I think these improvements may, in part, have been attributed to the December 2011 taxi fare revision.
Dr Lily Neo and Mr Seng Han Thong asked about the impact of the taxi availability framework which was announced last August and introduced at the
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start of this year. I think it is too early to draw definitive conclusions. In any case, the longer term and more stringent standards would be gradually phased in over three years – 70% of the taxi fleet in each company to meet 250 kilometres usage; 250 kilometres driven this year and increasing to 80% and then 85% in subsequent years.
We will continue to monitor the results and improve the framework as necessary. If the standards are so successful that taxis start to affect traffic flow, then that is a happy problem that we will be very happy to look more closely into. I do assure Dr Lily Neo that it is quite unlikely, as our 28,000 taxis comprise less than 3% of our total vehicle population of almost a million.
Mr Seng also asked about the long-term plan for taxi COEs. Today, they pay the Category A Prevailing Quota Premium (PQP) for COEs, although the COE itself is drawn from Category E. We have only recently made these changes and, as he has rightly pointed out, taking them out of the bidding system had the opposite effect on COE premiums to what people have suspected, that the premiums had gone up. And the conclusion, therefore, may be that the taxis bidding in Category A in the past may, indeed, not have had such a big effect on the rise in premiums as others had suspected. These are early changes that we have made and it will take time before we see the full effects and we will review the impact at the appropriate time.
Lastly, Mrs Lina Chiam last evening suggested bringing back the individual taxi ownership system. I think it is actually instructive to look at how our taxi industry has developed over the years. Prior to the 1970s, taxis were indeed owned by private individual owners. Since then, all new taxis have to be registered under taxi companies, and individual ownership of new taxis was disallowed. The aggregation of taxis under taxi companies means that they are better organised and able to leverage on economies of scale and resources, provide enhanced service and better meet the changing demands of commuters, say, for example, in call bookings.
Our problem today is that we have actually too many taxis that are not efficiently used, rather than too few. We have one taxi for about every 200 persons – so five for every 1,000. Hong Kong is about half this rate, likewise for London. In New York, it is about probably 1.5 taxis for every 1,000 people, higher than many other cities, and that is our rate today. It is better for us to see how we can strengthen the performance of our seven existing taxi operators,
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make better utilisation of the fleets that are under their charge, rather than allow ad hoc, individual players back into the market.
Madam, please let me take some time to briefly update Members on some of our major road projects. First, the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) is on track to be opened by the end of the year. The MCE will link the East Coast Parkway (ECP) and the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) with the AYE in the west. This will give motorists a seamless east-west connection without going through the city centre. When the MCE is completed, the part of the ECP that connects to the AYE will become part of the network of arterial roads that will serve that area.
Second, to make better use of our scarce land space for roads, LTA will study the feasibility of a \"reversible flow\" traffic scheme. I think some of you, old enough to remember, will recall that Nicoll Highway had something similar to this in the past. This is actually ideal for stretches where traffic data shows a \"tidal\" pattern, where traffic is heavy in predominantly one direction during the morning peak hours, and in the opposite direction in the evening. We have identified the Kranji Expressway-Pan Island Expressway stretch connecting the residential areas in the north to jobs in the west as a feasible corridor for a \"reversible flow\" scheme. The LTA has awarded a contract for advanced engineering consultancy studies, which are now in progress.
Third, since the alignment of the 21.5-kilometre long North-South Expressway was announced in 2011, LTA has commenced some advance works and awarded three advanced engineering consultancy contracts. These consultancy contracts will guide major construction works, which we plan to start in 2015.
In future, the opportunities to build more roads will become more limited. While we will still expand local road networks to provide access to new developments, we will prioritise road widening in local areas for bus lanes, as our priority is public transport. We must be careful not to widen local roads beyond what is absolutely necessary as they will encroach into the living environment of residential neighbourhoods, and cause more dust and noise pollution. So, we will do this judiciously, and wherever possible, we will make sure that priority is given to public transport.
Let me now move on to the topic of green transport. The land transport sector will do its part to mitigate climate change and promote environmental sustainability. The Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) was
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implemented at the start of this year. Under the CEVS, low-emission car and taxi models are given incentives in the form of rebates off their Additional Registration Fee. Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked during the Budget debate if it has made a difference.
Today, others have also said that we ought to consider having a COE category for vehicles of this nature and put more COE quota into this category. Let me share with Members of the House what the take-up rate had been like over the first few months. Close to 50% of cars registered in the first two months qualified for CEVS rebates, obviously, a much higher rate of over 80% for Category A cars, and a quite respectable 20% for Category B cars. So, 50% of the cars that were registered in the first two months qualified for some form of CEVS rebate, from $5,000 to $20,000. This is more than double the 20% that would have qualified for rebates in 2011. We used the 2011 data because we suspect that in 2012, there might be some pent-up demand that people sort of waited for the introduction of this scheme. So, 50% may have been distorted by the accumulation of pent-up demand and we would have to monitor this in the coming months. But I think we have seen some shift to more environmentally-friendly cars. I, therefore, believe that it has some effect to encourage more buyers to choose low-emission models. In total, for those who are interested, we have given out about $13.5 million in rebates in the past two months.
We will watch the take-up rate closely over the next two years because we promised that we will review this scheme towards the end of 2014 after we have seen how it has transformed market demand. LTA will then review the scheme based on its impact on purchasing decisions, advances in vehicle design and technology, as well as the progress of Singapore's overall carbon mitigation plan.
For commercial vehicles, as was announced by the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, the LTA and the National Environmental Agency will implement an Early Turnover Scheme to incentivise owners of pre-Euro and Euro I diesel vehicles, which are the oldest and most pollutive diesel vehicles on our roads, to upgrade to the cleaner Euro V emissions standards. The details of the scheme will be announced over the next two months and we will see how the take-up will be thereafter.
Let me conclude on this segment. We will continue to innovate and make improvements to the way we optimise road usage. We will introduce advanced technology to manage traffic in the years to come, regularly consider ways to refine our vehicle ownership measures to improve their effectiveness. The opportunities to build roads will become more limited in future, and when we
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are able to do so, we will give priority to buses even as we expand those roads. We will continue to facilitate more travel options, and help people to make more responsible, environmentally friendly choices to meet their travel needs. In so doing, we hope to transform private transport in Singapore, to keep our people and economy moving.
Dr Janil Puthucheary (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mdm Chair, may I ask what are the Ministry's plans to enhance road safety for cyclists and pedestrians? When policy changes are considered for road safety, traffic flow and regulation, what is the priority? Is it the smooth flow of vehicles, or efficiency, or is safety aspect the primary concern? Would the Ministry consider an approach that requires pedestrian safety to be the prime concern of any policy change? A framework, where in assessing any road safety measures, safety of the vulnerable is put above all other considerations? Where there is an intersection of human and vehicular traffic, could measures be put in place such that the safety of the pedestrian is prioritised above everything else?
For example, would the Ministry consider removing the combination of the flashing green man to signal pedestrian crossing and turning vehicles? Traffic flow will be affected as cars will be required to stop at the red light rather than having the option to move on in the absence of pedestrians. But I suggest that this is an acceptable inefficiency in the pursuit of improved safety. Currently, at such junctions, there is a reliance on the good sense of the driver. There is also a presumption that the pedestrian will be visible to the driver of the vehicle. Removing the flashing \"green man\" at intersections will be an example where efficiency and traffic flow is sacrificed so that pedestrian safety is put ahead of all these considerations.
Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines): Madam, the tragic accident in Tampines in January would not be so devastating if the vehicle involved were not a cement mixer. In view of the rising trend of traffic offences by heavy vehicle drivers and disproportionately higher and increasing number of fatal accidents, I have three suggestions for the Ministry to consider.
One, set up a mechanism involving the local community to plan the routes for heavy vehicles accessing construction sites in a built-up estate. LTA currently forbids cement trucks to go on the expressway. Can heavy vehicles be restricted near school zones and heavy pedestrian areas too?
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Two, implement a penalty system for employers and hirers of heavy vehicle drivers so that they would be more responsible in hiring and training their drivers.
And three, require all heavy vehicles to install digital video recorders.
Madam, as we ramp up infrastructural projects, there will be more heavy vehicles on the road, so let us make our best effort so that they can be safer on the road.
Mr Alex Yam (Chua Chu Kang): Mdm Chair, Commander of Traffic Police, AC Cheang Keng Keong said last year, \"While we will die from old age or may succumb to illnesses, we should not be dying on the roads due to traffic accidents. There is a need for road users to act responsibly.\"
Although traffic accidents have seen a decline in 2012, the recent accidents were more emotional because they involve young children. The Traffic Police has emphasised the 3Es of Enforcement, Engagement and Education. Traffic Police are now more visible. I encourage the Ministry to consider the appointment of more Road Safety Ambassadors and I ask for an update on road safety measures in our schools.
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): In life, it is a terrible thing to waste on the road no matter how the statistics read. And while we can continue to teach our young about road safety, we must take caution that no amount of education can prevent children from running across the roads on impulse.
Although there are fewer fatal and injury accidents in 2012, we must always ensure our roads remain safe for all users, especially for vulnerable groups like elderly and young pedestrians. It does not really matter who has the right of way because when flesh and metal collide, the consequences are devastating.
Today, I wish to speak on three areas of concern, namely, school zone, zebra crossing and signalised junction. The LTA has launched a zero-accident movement for its contractors to tighten up safety processes at their worksite in 2012. Likewise, can LTA start a zero-accident movement for our school zones as well?
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The update by the Second Minister for Home Affairs last February showed a decline in the number of accidents within school zones involving injury or fatality. There were 16 accidents in 2012, down from 28 the previous year. Can we reduce the number to zero? I believe we can.
Thus, I propose we should make it mandatory for primary schools to have dedicated school-crossing patrol wardens at critical school hours. Having a warden is the only way to ensure vehicles travelling in both directions will stop and remain stationary at the zebra crossing until the whole crossing is clear, as stipulated in our Road Traffic Act. For signalised pedestrian crossing, the warden can also ensure children will not attempt to cross the road in an unsafe manner.
Second, all zebra crossings should be raised island-wide with speed-regulating stripes leading to and away from such crossings. This will educate drivers in the long run that they will have to slow down whenever they approach a zebra crossing, regardless of whether there are pedestrians at the crossing or not. This is a good driving habit to inculcate.
Third, signalised junctions should be programmed with some degree of predictability. I agree with Dr Janil on the flashing \"green man\". Currently, there are different signalling sequences governing such junctions. Some junctions allow motorists to turn right when it is safe to do so. Other junctions do not allow turning unless the green arrow lights up. There is even a junction that allows motorists two chances to turn – one at the beginning and one at the end of the green light cycle. All this while, the pedestrians are also in permutation for the right of way to cross the junction. Many times, we have seen turning motorists moving forward at junctions even though they are not supposed to do so. We have also seen motorists getting caught in the middle of the junction because of the confusion.
The most dangerous part of it all is when turning vehicles who are keeping an eye on oncoming traffic forgot about the pedestrians' right of way at the turn. There are about 170 accidents involving pedestrians at signalised junctions per year in the past five years, from 2007 to 2011. The number of traffic accidents at such junctions that do not involve pedestrians is about seven times higher.
I urge the Ministry to look into making signalised junctions more predictable. I believe when we take out the guesswork of using this junction, motorists and pedestrians will make fewer mistakes. We may end up spending a little more time on the road, but cultivating a little patience in the interest of
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road safety is a good thing. Courtesy on the road is about giving way to fellow road users, and exercising a little patience is all there is to it.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio): Madam, just last year alone, we saw two fatal accidents outside a primary school in Sembawang, where both the victims were less than 10 years old. Similarly, two teenage girls were knocked down outside their secondary school in Woodlands. I have driven along the Sembawang road where the fatal accidents happened. I must say because of the bend of the road, and the fencing on the central divider, visibility of pedestrians to the drivers is greatly reduced.
I would like to propose that fences be constructed on both sides of the road rather than on the central divider. But, may I know what is the Ministry's plan to enhance road safety around schools?
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Madam, once again I would like to declare my interest as I am a staff of SBS Transit. Many traffic rules are meant for safety reasons while others are meant to improve the traffic flow on the road. On the former, I am glad that Second Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Iswaran, has announced measures to step up enforcement to make the roads safer. For the latter, I trust that it is under the jurisdiction of LTA.
Very often we observe that motorists encroach into yellow boxes and bus lanes during the bus lane hours, or park their vehicles indiscriminately at bus stops to pick up or let passengers alight. We need stricter enforcement of traffic rules so that buses can move more smoothly to benefit more than three million bus passengers every day.
Instead of increasing the number of enforcement officers, it might be better for the authorities to install more cameras and other technology to detect motorists who violate traffic rules. However, stricter enforcement actions do not mean that LTA should give a summons to the motorists on their very first violation. LTA could take a leaf from Traffic Police who give motorists two to three warning letters before issuing speeding summons. We hope to develop a system whereby motorists know with certainty that they would be caught
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should they violate traffic rules. At the same time, motorists would be made aware that the authorities are targeting repeat offenders and not those who are first-time violators and that they would be given a chance.
The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Teo Ser Luck): Mdm Chair, cycling in Singapore has certainly picked up momentum. It is getting more popular. You see many bikes and many bike shops appearing today in almost any community and the heartlands.
Cycling has always been a part of my life. In school, I cycled to school from home. Of course, when I started working, it became part of a fitness routine. That goes the same for many Singaporeans, and I can attest to the development of the cycling infrastructure in Singapore.
It used to be just cycling on the roads. Today, we have cycling lanes, even shared paths with the pedestrians within the heartlands, especially in cycling towns like Tampines and Pasir Ris. It is just not recreational any more, it is also part of sports, part of fitness lifestyle for many, many Singaporeans.
Cycling itself has diverse needs that we have to cater to, and also diverse interests. Many a time, because of the increase in the popularity of cycling, you see accidents, and it is one accident too many.
Many measures would have to be taken in terms of safety measures, and I know that the Ministry has taken a multi-prong approach of 3Es – Enforcement, Education and also the Environment, which is really the infrastructure. I am glad that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport, Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, and the staff of MOT and LTA have taken a keen interest in cycling and they have engaged the community really well and implemented several measures. I urge them not to discontinue some of the efforts and also to consider some new measures, especially those that we can see in some successful cycling cities, for example, Amsterdam and Holland.
Let me just give an example that I took from the website – the Bike Fares from the Amsterdam city. They have a population of 16 million, but they own 18 million bikes, and, nationally, the total bicycle accident deaths hover around only 200. In Amsterdam, about six people die in bike-related accidents yearly. The average distance travelled by bike per person per day was 2.5 kilometres in 2006. Some of these data are dated, but you can measure the appropriate
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numbers relatively. A bicycle is used for almost a quarter of all journeys and 35% of journeys are shorter than 7.5 kilometres. I think the cycling habit is somewhat similar to the cyclist behaviour in Singapore.
Let us continue to take a multi-prong approach. Let us focus on the 3Es and continue to build infrastructure that is safe for cyclists, not just on the road but also build up dedicated lanes that are safe for pedestrians while they share the path with cyclists.
I think it is really important that we do not just take care of cyclists but we have to educate them. And also educate or do road shows or clinics in schools, in dormitories, office places, so that more people are aware of the safety not just for the cyclists but for themselves as pedestrians, and even the motorists, to embrace the different road users, especially those two-wheelers on the road. And then we can have a safer culture and environment for cyclists in the future.
Dr Janil Puthucheary: Mdm Chair, on cycling, Minister of State Teo has spoken up on behalf of cycling as a lifestyle choice and a fitness choice. I would like to also advocate for it as a commuting choice. I would like to ask the Ministry to provide an update on the progress of the National Cycling Plan. Are there any significant observations that have been made in monitoring the patterns of intra-town cycling? What measures does the Ministry intend to adopt to encourage more people to cycle?
There are specific obstacles to the adoption of cycling as a primary mode of transport. Foremost is safety. are there measures that are going to be implemented to improve the safety of cyclists on the road? A corollary is the issue of cycling behaviour: are there measures that will be taken to improve the compliance of cyclists to existing road safety regulations?
Ours is, generally, a good physical environment for cycling as a primary means of transport. We do have heavy rain, but we do not have ice, the hail, the snow, the sleet; no typhoons or strong winds. Our roads are generally in excellent condition, and there are relatively few steep hills. Some of those steep hills are, of course, of interest to sports and fitness cyclists; but for commuting, thankfully there are relatively few steep hills. Our density means that most things are within a cycle-friendly distance, emphasised by groups of road cyclists that happily traverse the entire nation on an early morning Sunday ride.
It is a shame then that the greatest risks to the safety of cyclists are not the large forces of nature, nor the problems of basic infrastructure. The risks to
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cyclists are not intractable nor intrinsic, the greatest risks are human behaviours, the behaviours of other road users and the behaviours of cyclists. These are difficult problems to solve through policy and legislation, but no less critical to address. What is MOT doing to address these issues?
Another obstacle to the option of cycling as a primary means of transport is security. To promote cycling, we need an improved provision of secure bike parking facilities, in the HDB estates, at transport nodes, and also at the workplace.
I am sure the Ministry has many plans to look at cycling paths, park connectors and other initiatives. But I would suggest that we need to directly address the safety of cyclists and the security of their bicycles in order to positively influence the use of cycling as a primary mode of transport.
Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Mdm Chairperson, cycling remains a popular and convenient means of transport over short distances for many Singaporeans, and even foreign workers near industrial areas. Its popularity as a sport has also increased markedly over the years. The extension of the National Cycling Plan to seven HDB towns in the very near future is also likely to increase ridership. Unfortunately, the popularity of cycling to run chores for work or leisure has also resulted in a larger number of accidents, brushes and near misses both on our roads and in the housing estates. In fact, a Straits Times report last month observed that the general level of safety awareness has not kept up with cycling initiatives. Would the Ministry consider an inter-agency educational campaign covering cycling etiquette and other personal road safety measures for cyclists on our roads as part of a National Safe Cycling framework?
In working towards a review of the safety-related aspects of cycling for work or leisure, there would also be scope for cooperation with other Ministries like MND to address ridership patterns on the common property of Town Councils as well. Even though existing Town Councils' bye-laws technically prohibit cycling in some common areas, these are difficult to enforce in practice, and some cyclists and teenagers, in particular, innocuously float this rule, putting children and older Singaporeans who are not able to react quickly at harm. A National Safe Cycling framework can support Town Council's effort in educating cyclists to dismount from one's bicycle and to push it along under HDB void decks in particular. To this end, would the Ministry consider a legislative review of the Road Traffic Bicycles Rules? And more importantly, work towards greater exposure and public awareness of these rules for the
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community at large.
I would also like to ask the Minister: as the National Cycling Plan is rolled out over seven HDB towns by next year, are there any plans of rolling out this initiative to other constituencies?
Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Tampines): Madam, I have been a champion for cycling since I became a Member of Parliament in 2001, and the experience has been not unlike a mountain-bike ride; ups and downs over rough terrain. There are challenging obstacles which test your will power and determination. But unlike a mountain-bike ride, the experience cannot be said to be enjoyable. However, the going has gotten better in recent years.
A major breakthrough was when Tampines was named Singapore's first cycling town in 2010, and after a draining battle with bureaucracy. I must say that this breakthrough was possible only with the strong support of my fellow Tampines Members, especially our Minister-in-charge at the time, Mr Mah Bow Tan, and Mr Teo Ser Luck who was then in Transport. I should also thank the Cabinet Members, in particular, the then Minister-Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who recognised cycling as a sustainable form of transport.
Progress since then has been a series of stops and starts. We are grateful for the 1.2-kilometre cycling lane in Tampines that LTA built in 2010. But 1.2 kilometres do not get one very far. LTA has promised to build another 5.7 kilometres by 2011, and after several postponements and also some appeals from me, this stretch will now be completed by this year. I suppose better late than never.
But is this the right approach to investing in cycling?
If we are serious about promoting cycling as a mode of transport, we need long-term, sustained and a consistent investment and a strategy. Only with a steady and dependable stream of cycling funding can we be able to develop the expertise and initiatives needed to move cycling forward.
The authorities should welcome citizen-led initiatives. By showing a greater willingness to try them out, we foster a sense of ownership of the town. So far, however, my experience with this has been mixed at best. I make these
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comments more in sorrow than in anger.
One example: we noticed that busy junctions can be dangerous for both cyclists and pedestrians, as they come into conflict while trying to beat the \"green man\". I asked LTA to please draw a line to separate cyclists from pedestrians at these crossings. This will create a separate bike crossing, and make it safer for both pedestrians and cyclists to cross the road.
I took photos of such bike crossings in other cities, such as Paris and London, and passed them to LTA. This was met with resistance over a long period. I had to bring the matter up to higher levels before one was finally piloted at a busy junction in 2010. It proved successful. Residents found it increased their safety and, since then, two more have been added and we hope there will be more.
Now I am in a battle with LTA to introduce a directional arrow on cycling lanes to guide cyclists to keep left so that they would not come into conflict with each other. I have seen it in many major cycling cities in the world and I have made this request to LTA about two years ago. And we are still discussing.
Madam, it is obviously good news that we have got a Parliamentary Secretary who says he is keen to promote cycling, but we need to make sure his enthusiasm is shared across the Government, and in the bureaucracy of the Transport Ministry. For that, we need a coherent policy framework and a vision for cycling. Without this, we will continue to have a piecemeal and ad hoc approach. The policy framework should include a cycling infrastructure which is integrated seamlessly with the transport system, including cycle-rail integration, cycle lanes and secure bike parking, as well as bold measures to increase road safety for cyclists, as have been mentioned by several Members before me.
Most important is to shape a culture, an attitude, which accepts that cycling is a mode of transport, where cyclists are respected and not treated as a nuisance. And where requests to improve cycling conditions and safety are not treated as trivial.
Madam, we need a transformative policy change in our approach to cycling of the kind we see in major cities, such as Paris, London and New York. We need strong leadership to drive the policies forward.
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The Chairman: Your time is up, Ms Ng. Mr Patrick Tay.
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (Nee Soon): Madam, in the Nee Soon East constituency, we have a few major foreign worker dormitories with more than 10,000 foreign workers situated within a stone's throw away from the HDB flats. Early last year, acting on feedback of overcrowding of feeder bus service 811 exacerbated by foreign workers in the nearby dormitories who use the feeder service as well, our grassroots worked with the dormitory operator and helped appeal for a private bus operator to run a feeder service customised for the foreign workers in the dormitory.
However, earlier this year during my block visits, residents shared with me and I have confirmed that the overcrowding of the same bus service has come back, filled by the spillover from the foreign workers. In fact, even without the foreign workers, the bus is already very crowded and many residents have to wait for the third and fourth bus to board.
I am, therefore, asking MOT to seriously look into the mandatory provision of transport for the tens of thousands of foreign workers from their dormitories directly to their place of work, as they add to the strain on our public transport system, especially feeder services, as, in my case, during the busy time windows daily.
Secondly, many of us have also seen many cyclists cycling in void decks and walkways which is illegal and poses a danger to residents, especially the elderly and the young. Many of our constituencies have rolled out education and enforcement efforts as well as building obstacles to impede and building specialised bicycle paths around the neighbourhood. The challenge is that many still flout the rules because it is convenient and easy to do so. What more can MOT do to curb this besides the creation of more cycling paths?
In the same vein, I have personally seen many abandoned bicycles at MRT stations and void decks as some of these bicycles cost little. Will MOT study the feasibility of the issuance of licence for bicycles as in decades ago, with a serial number attached and linked to an owner, so that people who flout traffic rules or law and abandon their bicycles or when these bicycles are stolen, they can
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be more easily traced and enforcement action taken?
The Chairman: Mr Ang Wei Neng, please take your two cuts together.
Mr Ang Wei Neng: Madam, many residents like to cycle like Minister of State Teo Ser Luck. They cycle to MRT stations and to run errands, especially when the amenities are not within walking distance from the home. A lesson learnt from the recent fatal accident involving two brothers cycling in Tampines reminds us of the importance of safe cycling, and this is the very town that the Member Ms Irene Ng is promoting as a cycling town.
First, I would like to urge LTA and the Traffic Police to work very closely together to promote safe cycling. Perhaps, we should strongly discourage minors from cycling on the road as they may not fully appreciate the road safety requirements and are ignorant of the Highway Code.
Secondly, I hope the LTA and URA can work closely together to jointly build off-road cycling paths exclusively for cyclists. To this end, I hope the Minister could update us on the pilot plan to construct dedicated cycling paths in seven HDB estates.
Thirdly, I would like to urge LTA to provide safe and secure parking facilities at MRT stations where many say that the parking facilities are not adequate, and also at commercial facilities at the HDB town centres as well as HDB void decks so that residents will not have to park their bicycles along the common corridor which will cause obstruction to other residents. We need to promote safe cycling more aggressively as it is a more sustainable mode of transport, as mentioned by many Members.
Madam, during the COS debate last year, I used three photographs to illustrate the need to retrofit lifts at Pedestrian Overhead Bridges (POBs) next to MRT stations. Following my plea, I am glad the Minister for Transport Mr Lui eventually announced that the MOT would install lifts at 40 POBs next to MRT stations. However, the locations of 40 POBs remain a mystery. I hope the Minister for Transport could unveil the mystery soon, and I certainly hope that the POB beside the Lakeside MRT station will be one of them.
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In addition, I hope MOT will consider also building escalators at those heavily utilised POBs next to MRT stations.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan: Madam, last month, MOT announced plans to fit lifts at about 40 pedestrian overhead bridges near train stations or bus interchanges. At the Kampong Arang estate at Mountbatten, there is a large number of elderly residents who face daily challenges in crossing the POB without a lift. These elderly residents are restricted in their ability to travel to other parts of Singapore as they struggle on their weak knees to climb up the almost three-storey-high bridge.
MOH had recognised that there is a large proportion of elderly residents in my estate at Tanjong Rhu. Hence, MOH had set up an eldercare facility with physiotherapy machines in the estate to better provide for these elderly seniors. However, strangely, LTA did not see the urgency to cater to this same group of elderly residents.
Years ago, HDB had embarked on the LUP programme for HDB estates because HDB knew that lifts on every floor would benefit the elderly, families with young children and the disabled. I submit to the Minister for Transport that these same reasons are equally compelling for the provision of lifts at pedestrian overhead bridges.
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim): I thank Members for their many questions, comments and suggestions. Madam, Minister Lui has announced our goal to increase the peak period public transport mode share to 75% by 2030, a significant increase from 62% today. With as many as three out of four people taking public transport, we must significantly improve our public transport system and its supporting infrastructure, such as roads and walking facilities.
With your permission, Madam, I will display some slides on the LED screens. When I joined MOT last August, I tried to meet as many stakeholders as possible. I met public transport commuters, drivers, cyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians, students and retirees, as part of the focus group discussions for the review of the Land Transport Master Plan, and informal discussions which I held regularly.
I also visited the two public transport operators. These sessions helped me better understand our transport needs and the viewpoints of various
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stakeholders. I thank all of them.
Many good ideas have also been expressed in Parliament over the past few months, as well as in the various speeches that Members have just made. I would like to take this opportunity to share with Members some of the plans and initiatives that we will pursue in three areas – road safety, cycling and in creating an elderly-friendly land transport system.
Let me start by talking about road safety. Safety is a key consideration when we design our transport system. Unfortunately, in 2012, we experienced the tragedy of 169 road-related deaths. Like all Singaporeans, I am saddened each time I hear of a new road accident. It has prompted me to reflect on how safe our roads are, and ask what more we can do in this area.
Compared to other countries, Singapore has a fairly good track record in road safety. In 2012, our road fatality rate was 3.2 per 100,000 persons, an improvement from 3.8 in 2011, and lower than many other countries, as we can see on the slide [A slide was shown to hon Members. Please see Annex 2.]
But numbers give little comfort to those who have suffered the loss of their loved ones. This is why, with every serious accident, we investigate and review thoroughly to determine if additional measures are needed to enhance safety at the accident location. For instance, under the \"Black Spot Programme\" for locations with a high occurrence of accidents, LTA will implement additional road engineering measures to reduce the number and severity of accidents. Some examples include traffic calming markings painted on the roads, and advance warning lights to alert motorists to stop. LTA also has a comprehensive preventive programme in place, such as regularly auditing the safety performance of roads, both during the day and night, to identify potential road hazards before accidents happen.
I agree with Members, such as Dr Janil Puthucheary and Mr Pritam Singh, that we can do more for vulnerable road users, particularly children and the elderly. Last week, the Second Minister for Home Affairs described a comprehensive \"Safer Roads Singapore\" strategy to keep our roads safe. In conjunction with this strategy, I am chairing an inter-agency committee to specifically review safety measures on the road for pedestrians and cyclists. The Committee on Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety will develop an Action Plan for the next five years, and will actively engage local communities and the people, public and private sectors.
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On pedestrian safety, the Committee will pay special attention to the needs of the elderly and school children. Members, such as Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar, Mr Alex Yam and Mr Png Eng Huat, have raised the issue of road safety for schools, in the past like Dr Lim Wee Kiak, will be pleased to know that one of the very first areas that the Committee will review is safety within school zones. LTA and the Traffic Police regularly review and improve traffic safety measures in collaboration with schools. We have already implemented several measures to enhance road safety near schools, such as the recognisable red-textured road surface, additional railings and traffic calming markings. The schools also play their part in educating the students, as well as their parents, on road safety.
The Committee, which includes members from LTA, the Traffic Police and MOE, as well as the Singapore Road Safety Council, will build on these efforts. It will examine the possibility of reducing speed limits around schools, as some people have suggested, and providing additional infrastructure, such as speed humps, flashing LED lights and more signages. We will also consider Dr Intan's suggestion for railings at both sides of the road in school zones, instead of only at the centre divider. All these will complement the stricter enforcement stance that the Traffic Police takes at school zones. We may start off with piloting some of these measures at selective locations to better understand their effectiveness. Our message is clear – for school zones, our priority is to ensure the safety of our children.
But we need to go beyond putting in more traffic schemes and measures at our school zones. We need to put in equal effort to inculcate in our young a safety consciousness when they use our roads. So, I agree with Mr Alex Yam and Mr Teo Ser Luck on the need to review road safety education in schools. The Second Minister for Home Affairs has shared the Traffic Police's efforts to educate school children on road safety. We can certainly do more, for instance, doing road shows, as what Mr Teo has suggested. My personal view is that we need to find creative ways to get the message across, especially to our young ones in schools, and I welcome any suggestions the public may have. In fact, the Committee will explore customising the safety message for different groups of road users, to achieve greater resonance. Over time, we hope to shape behaviour so that there is a sustained culture of safe and courteous road use.
The elderly is another group we need to educate on crossing roads safely. We have expanded the Green Man Plus scheme to more locations, to give the elderly more time to cross the road. I will talk more about ensuring that the transport system caters to the needs of the elderly in a little while.
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More broadly, the Committee will look into how pedestrian safety on our roads can be improved. Dr Janil has suggested instituting a \"pedestrian safety first\" framework. I think, by and large, this is the ideal approach, especially for places where there is high pedestrian traffic. However, in a dense road network like ours, where all road users share a common space, we need to adopt a balanced approach, where we place the highest priority on the safety of pedestrians and motorists, while still keeping the road network reasonably efficient.
A good illustration of this point is the simultaneous right-turning traffic and pedestrian crossing arrangement, where motorists can make use of the gaps in oncoming traffic and pedestrians crossing to make a right turn at junctions. This is a common international practice, for example, in countries such as the UK, the US, Japan and Australia. Dr Janil has asked us to remove it for safety reasons, and LTA has indeed done so, on a case-by-case basis, after careful observation of the traffic flows, and in situations where LTA found that motorists' view of the pedestrian crossing could be blocked. The right-turn movements at these junctions would then be guided by red-amber-green arrow signals.
However, I would hesitate to remove the traffic scheme for all locations, as it could result in an unmanageable build-up of traffic, and may result in some impatient motorists resorting to reckless behaviour to beat the traffic lights, and ultimately put pedestrians at greater risk. As Dr Janil himself highlighted, it is unfortunate that oftentimes, it is human behaviour that poses the greatest safety risk, not infrastructure. We, therefore, need to consider the characteristics of each road junction individually before we consider removing this simultaneous turning traffic arrangement, instead of introducing a blanket rule. In cases where removing the arrangement is not advisable, there are alternatives to alert motorists, for instance, intelligent road studs that flash in tandem with the \"green man\" signal to remind motorists to give way to pedestrians. The Committee will study these alternatives. But I would also urge pedestrians to practise basic safety habits, such as looking out for cars before crossing, even if the traffic lights are in their favour. The best rules and the most sophisticated traffic control system can never deal with the occasional careless or reckless driver.
Let me now respond to specific queries two Members have raised. First, Mr Baey Yam Keng asked about ensuring safety around construction sites in residential areas. LTA works with agencies and contractors to try to ensure that
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heavy vehicles accessing construction sites avoid areas with high pedestrian activity and schools. However, this may not always be possible, depending on the location of the construction site. In all cases, clear warning signs are put up around construction sites to alert road users of the movement of heavy vehicles. LTA is working with Mr Baey to review the routes taken by heavy vehicles in Tampines. The Committee will review Mr Baey's other suggestions for a penalty system for employers and hirers of drivers of heavy vehicles, and installing video recorders in all heavy vehicles.
Secondly, Mr Ang Wei Neng suggested leveraging on technology to be more productive in enforcing traffic rules to ensure safety and improve traffic flow. Since November 2011, LTA has conducted a CCTV trial at Beach Road and Marine Parade Central to detect and enforce against illegal parking, which is a safety hazard. The trial has shown that CCTVs are effective in detecting and deterring illegal parking, and has helped to improve traffic conditions in those areas over time. LTA will thus be expanding the use of CCTVs to more locations island-wide. More details will be released later, and LTA will continue to explore other areas where technology can be deployed to aid enforcement. The Traffic Police will also upgrade their network of red light and speed cameras island-wide, to complement the employment of more manpower to patrol our roads. Collectively, these measures will help both agencies better detect and deter traffic offenders. Lastly, LTA will review Mr Ang's suggestion on issuing warning letters before summonses, possibly for offences with minimal or no safety implications.
Madam, next, I would like to focus on cycling safety. This is a common concern among the feedback I have received and from cycling enthusiasts as well as concerned parents. I asked them for their ideas, and I was pleasantly surprised that many of them have stepped forward to volunteer their time and effort, to partner us in spreading the safe cycling message. Let me share two examples.
A few months ago, Mr Steven Lim, President of the Safe Cycling Task Force, and I went to meet Mdm Roslinah Rajab, who had written on my Facebook wall about how her son nearly got into an accident with a vehicle while cycling to school. She brought along a few of her friends to meet us, and, as a group, they felt that they, too, had to do their part to promote safe cycling. One of the things they wanted to do was to produce a short video to spread the safe cycling message. So, we helped to facilitate the filming of the video, which they have titled \"Rolling Smart\" and uploaded on YouTube.
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Mr Lim and the Safe Cycling Task Force also suggested that the existing signs alerting motorists to the presence of sports cyclists along popular training routes should be made more visible. I have asked LTA to work with the Task Force on this, and they will put up these signs by the middle of the year on these routes, as well as several other routes that are starting to become quite popular with cyclists, for instance, in Tanjong Rhu and in Yishun.
While we can do more to alert motorists to the presence of cyclists, I have also received feedback from pedestrians, casual cyclists and motorists on the risky behaviour of some cyclists. Dr Janil also raised this just now. One particular issue that keeps surfacing is cyclists who ride through zebra crossings without stopping to look out for oncoming vehicles, let alone dismounting. We need to remind cyclists that they, too, need to play their part to ensure safety, and we will consider Mr Teo Ser Luck's suggestion of a dedicated public education budget to do so. LTA will also launch a guidebook on safe cycling tips in a few months' time, and continue to try new ways to remind cyclists to dismount at zebra crossings. One initiative that we are trying out is painting new markings at zebra crossings well-used by cyclists. LTA will trial this at three locations around Tampines, starting today. In conjunction with the trial, LTA is working with the Traffic Police and local community volunteers to engage cyclists to encourage them to dismount at crossings.
Where space permits, we will try out building separate mid-block bicycle crossings for cyclists. This has been done at Park Connectors, as well as two locations at neighbourhood centres, in Tampines and Simei. You can see them on the slide. Several more will be completed at Tampines and Sembawang Towns this quarter. Mr Teo Ser Luck would be pleased to know that we will identify more suitable locations for such crossings in tandem with the cycling paths that we are building.
A few people that I have met have suggested an on-road cycling lane pilot. In other countries, they are implemented as painted lines on roads with no physical protection for cyclists. We may not want to follow their example, given our heavy traffic situation, and for the sake of the safety of our cyclists. I seek Members' and Singaporeans' understanding that on-road cycling lanes would also affect the movement of buses, require the removal of street-side parking and expose cyclists to turning traffic if the lanes are not properly designed. That said, LTA is identifying roads where these issues could be overcome, and studying the feasibility of trying out on-road cycling lanes along these roads.
On the other hand, Mr Ang Wei Neng suggested that we need to discourage young children from cycling on roads, as they are particularly vulnerable. This
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is a tempting suggestion, but the more important point is that on-road cycling is risky, and no one, young or old, who is not confident of cycling on the road, should do so.
I would like to thank Mr Teo Ser Luck for sharing with us about the Amsterdam experience. Indeed, our staff, together with myself, we have been trying to study the experiences of other cities. What I find is that there are many lessons that we can learn from them. Nevertheless, I realise each city or even localities have their own path, have their own journey in their cycling, building up their cycling framework, building up their culture as well as the norms of road safety. It is important for us to note that there are countries whereby people, by their development of the country, where many would have cycled before they drive. So, currently, when they drive, they would understand how it feels like to be a cyclist. For some countries where its development is so fast, many would not have the experience. So, each country would have their own paths and providing for signs, signages or even markings on the road, we have also looked at various countries. What we want to urge Members and Singaporeans to understand is that it is a journey that we need to go on together. It is a journey where we will have trials, where we should try. If it does not work, we will improve. But I hope Members and Singaporeans would be open to try some of these ideas that LTA staff have been working very hard over the years to see how they can have a balanced approach in providing the diverse needs of transport mode for our people.
And looking at the journey that we have, I realise that it is a long journey. For many cities, they have taken 50 years or more to arrive at where they are today. My predecessors, like Mr Teo Ser Luck and fellow Singaporeans, have started the journey of safe cycling, providing the infrastructure for safe cycling and so forth. So, we have started the journey and I think we are going in the right direction and I look forward to Members' support.
Indeed, based on my engagements, the cycling community agrees with me that off-road cycling is much safer than cycling on the road. Off-road cycling paths provide a safe cycling environment for a larger group of cyclists of different ages and competency levels. Hence, given the safety considerations, the Government will prioritise resources to build more off-road cycling paths. To this end, we have made good progress in building cycling paths in seven cycling towns under the National Cycling Plan which is integrated with the rest of our transport plans.
Dr Janil, Mr Ang and Ms Irene Ng would be pleased to know that LTA will finish building off-road cycling paths in Tampines and Sembawang this year.
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The cycling path networks in the remaining five towns – Bedok, Changi-Simei, Pasir Ris, Taman Jurong and Yishun – as well as areas, such as East Coast, Jurong Lake District, Marina Bay and the Punggol Eco-Town, will be progressively completed by 2015.
We will expand this programme by adding 90 more kilometres of cycling paths to several more HDB towns, bringing the total network to some 210 kilometres of dedicated off-road cycling paths to about 16 towns, or more than half of all HDB towns, by 2020. Our eventual aim is for every HDB town to have a comprehensive cycling network for residents to cycle to the MRT station or to buy their groceries at the neighbourhood centres. Coupled with the extensive Park Connector Network that the National Parks Board is building, we will truly have an islandwide safe cycling network for Singaporeans to enjoy. LTA is also studying the feasibility of building cycling paths at major industrial estates so that workers in the estates have the option of cycling within the estate and to and from the nearest MRT station. It will take some time for all the cycling infrastructure projects to be completed, so I ask for some patience, and would like to assure cyclists that we are working hard to accomplish this.
In the meantime, I have asked LTA to see if we can prioritise resources to quickly plug short gaps in the cycling path network. Avid cyclists have alerted me that there are opportunities to connect existing Park Connectors to MRT stations nearby, for example, the ones at Sengkang and Yio Chu Kang. These are low-hanging fruits that can be picked before comprehensive cycling plans are finalised and rolled out. LTA will work with the local communities to close these gaps in the cycling network so that cyclists need not go onto the road or footpath to complete the final leg of their journey to reach the MRT station. In the long term, the cycling paths that LTA is building will be well-integrated with the Park Connectors.
Next, there have been requests to allow foldable bicycles on the public transport system beyond the current hours, specifically, during the morning pre-peak window. This will enable cycling to effectively close the last mile connectivity gap for trips to work. I support this idea. The challenge is for us to find the right cut-off timing in the morning such that the foldable bicycles do not add to our morning peak-hour crowds. We will study this carefully.
To facilitate the ease of cycling as a first-and-last mile mode of transport, we will build more bicycle racks at our MRT stations. Last year, we announced that we will be building 2,400 racks at 20 MRT stations. These have been favourably received and we will build another 600 racks at 12 more MRT
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stations by the third quarter of next year.
Dr Janil and Mr Ang Wei Neng proposed for more secured bicycle parking around HDB estates, especially at void decks. Mr Ang also suggested using closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras to monitor these bicycle racks. Most of these racks are provided by the Town Councils, but community groups are also stepping forward. I was happy to hear the Senior Minister of State for National Development, Mr Lee Yi Shyan, speak earlier in Parliament that Yuhua residents are coming together to discuss the provision of secured bicycle parking facilities within their estate to support the 24 kilometres of cycling paths in Jurong Town. We should also be able to gain some useful ideas to design secured bicycle parking from those submitted by the public for the ongoing Bicycle Bay Design Competition jointly organised by the Singapore Police Force and the National Crime Prevention Council.
For those who do not own bicycles or would prefer the convenience of using bicycles for one-way trips, LTA is planning a pilot bicycle-sharing scheme, like those in other cities. Currently, the plan is to conduct the pilot at the Jurong Lake District, which will have a comprehensive network of cycling paths by end 2015, and a mix of different land uses that will provide strong demand for the shared bicycles throughout the day. We will request proposals from the industry in the coming months. We will also consider piloting bicycle sharing in one of the cycling towns if there is interest from the community and Members here. With all the above initiatives, I expect cycling to become even more popular as a mode of transport in the future. I welcome Members who have been advocates of cycling, like Ms Irene Ng, Mr Teo Ser Luck and Dr Janil, to continue this journey with us.
Before I wrap up on cycling, let me briefly address Mr Patrick Tay's suggestion to license bicycles to curb offences, and Mr Teo Ser Luck's suggestion on some of the areas. Mr Teo has also spoken to me about the mandatory Highway Code training sessions, which he feels would effectively require the licensing of bicycles. We used to license bicycles but stopped in 1982 because it was too onerous for bicycle owners, especially those who cycle only for recreational purposes and not as a mode of transport. Furthermore, licensing would need to be coupled with adequate enforcement to be effective. As licensing is neither practical nor cost-effective, it is something we do not think is needed for now. Other countries, such as the US and the UK, have
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adopted a similar position.
I also note Mr Tay's point on sharp spikes in crowding on our public transport system due to foreign workers from dormitories. A survey conducted by MOM and the Migrant Workers' Centre in 2011 showed that most employers provide dedicated transport for their foreign workers, and that less than 15% of foreign workers living in dormitories take public transport. Nevertheless, we understand that there are certain localised bus routes and areas where public transport overcrowding is more acute. An interagency panel, including MOM and MND, is working closely with stakeholders, including dormitory operators and employers, to consider practical solutions.
Lastly, I would like to take a look at the future of our transport system. As our population ages, the needs of our elderly will become more acute. We will need to ensure that they will be able to move around easily, not just around transport nodes, such as MRT stations and bus interchanges, but also around our roads and public places, as Mr Heng Chee How had emphasised. The transport sector must play our part to make it easier for seniors to pursue active ageing.
We are making good progress in improving the barrier-free accessibility of our transport system. All our MRT and LRT stations are barrier-free and, soon, all our bus interchanges will be, too. Half of our public buses are already wheelchair-accessible and, by 2020, all of them will be so.
To enable the elderly to navigate our roads more easily, we have started to install lifts at selected pedestrian overhead bridges. Mr Lim Biow Chuan and Mr Ang would be pleased to know that lifts at six bridges will be completed by the end of the year, and we will build lifts at about 40 more bridges. LTA plans to build the lifts in batches of about six each. Tenders will be called this quarter for the first batch of overhead bridges near Admiralty, Boon Lay, Lakeside, Marsiling, Outram Park and Serangoon MRT stations. These bridges were chosen because they are near major transport nodes and key amenities and are used by many people daily, and because in these areas there is no barrier-free alternative nearby. Tenders for the second batch of lifts will be called next quarter.
Beyond these plans, we need to take a more comprehensive look at how our transport system can cater to the needs of the elderly. I agree with Mr Heng that we should work with other agencies to study their needs, especially in estates where they are significantly higher in numbers, and expand existing
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programmes, such as lifts at overhead bridges, as Mr Lim Biow Chuan had asked for, or pilot innovative solutions where we can.
We are also mindful that the little things matter for the individual's travel experience. LTA has been working closely with MOH, HDB and the community to make land transport infrastructure more elderly friendly in the City For All Ages pilot projects in Marine Parade, Bedok, Whampoa and Taman Jurong. For example, LTA will smoothen out uneven parts of pavements where the elderly may run a risk of tripping. In Marine Parade, LTA has also piloted elderly friendly bus stop seats with hand grips for the elderly to support themselves when getting up from their seat, as well as bus panels with larger fonts so that the elderly can read them easily. These elderly friendly improvements came about because residents, young and old, had proactively offered suggestions to us based on their daily travel experience, and I thank all of them.
Madam, I have outlined several ways by which we intend to make our transport system safer, more accessible and more inclusive. Through the feedback sessions and channels, I have come to realise that there are many diverse needs of Singaporeans that the public transport system has to fulfil. In the past, when Singapore was developing, we had to make difficult choices as we could only afford the most cost-efficient public transport system. We had to prioritise our scarce resources and make sure that the needs of the masses were taken care of first. Today, we can afford to do a bit more, for example, in making our buses and trains barrier-free, and building more cycling paths, and we will certainly do so.
Moving forward, we will continue to meet as many stakeholders as possible, engage them in a dialogue to understand their concerns and, from there, work with them to develop and prioritise solutions that can best meet their needs. I hope that Singaporeans will work together with us to improve our transport system.
Mr Charles Chong (Joo Chiat): Madam, Changi Airport is a source of pride for Singaporeans. More than just a public convenience, it symbolises in many ways the progress which Singapore has made and, like the rest of Singapore, it has grown, adapted and improved over the years.
Changi Airport is also a centrepiece of Singapore's aviation industry and is an iconic symbol of this sector in Singapore. However, over the years, Changi
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has come under pressure both regionally and internationally. A number of new and very impressive Asian airports have started operations in the last few years and travellers are more willing to endure stopovers in the Middle Eastern airports in exchange for paying slightly lower fares.
Being part of the industry myself, I am concerned that Singapore's position as an air hub is being eroded by our regional and international competitors. Would the Minister please provide an update on how Singapore has fared as an air hub over the last year or so, as well as to elaborate on the prospects and challenges for Singapore's aviation industry. Are there plans to further encourage the growth of the industry and, if so, what do we see as factors which continue to give Singapore an edge over our competitors?
Now, turning to Changi Airport specifically, could the Minister provide an update on the development of the new Terminal 4 and also provide some insights on how it may further grow the low-cost carrier (LCC) segment in Singapore? Has the temporary move from the Budget Terminal to Terminal 2 resulted in an increase in overall fares for LCC passengers since they are now being serviced out of a full-service facility?
Also, has a decision been reached as to the use of Changi Airport's third runway for civilian flights?
Finally, would the Minister please also provide us with an update on the work of Changi 2036 Steering Committee which was announced in last year's COS? Has the Committee been able to provide any preliminary recommendations to enable Changi Airport's market-leading position to be retained?
Madam, it has also been some years now since it was announced that Seletar Airport could be transformed into a world-class aerospace park. Since the announcement of this initiative in 2007, much progress has been made on the project, including the improvement of roads, drainage and utilities to making available of additional land for commercial leases and the commissioning of a new control tower and an extended runway. The infrastructure development is moving at a good rate and the Seletar aerospace park development is now into its third and final phase. I would like to ask the Minister to provide some details, however, on what other support has been
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provided to attract business to the Seletar aerospace park.
We are looking to make the Seletar aerospace hub a market-leading business and general aviation facility, and a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre, but solely to provide infrastructural support does not seem quite to be enough. Part of Seletar's disadvantage, when compared with Changi Airport, is the distance from and the lack of good public transportation links to central Singapore. It is certainly not difficult to get to Seletar but just that little bit more inconvenient than it is to get to Changi. But it is factors such as these which can make or break a project. Would the Minister, therefore, let us know if there are any plans to make Seletar Airport more accessible to business and general aviation clusters? And while there are already a number of companies providing MRO operations at Seletar, could the Minister let us know if there is capacity to grow this industry at Seletar and, if so, what incentives are being made available to companies intending to set up MRO operations there?
Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Like Mr Charles Chong, I am interested to know about the recommendations and findings of the Changi 2036 Steering Committee on airports.
As the Minister knows, the Kangaroo route is very important to many airlines in Singapore, and this is the route between Europe, Singapore and Australia. With the introduction of long-range aircraft, some carriers, especially from the Middle East, are now implementing Europe, Middle East to Australia flights and thereby bypassing Singapore altogether. Would the Minister share with us strategies to see how we can remain relevant for such routes?
Also, Seletar Airport, as Mr Charles Chong explained, could potentially be an airport for private jets. I see two benefits in that. One, there could be a higher level of CIP services for such private jet owners than available at Changi Airport; and second, it frees up the runway at Changi.
Mr Teo Siong Seng (Nominated Member): Madam, before I start, I would like to declare that I am the Managing Director of Pacific International
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Lines and the past President of the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA).
In my COS speech today, I will touch on two subjects. Firstly, extending the tenure of the Maritime Sector Incentive-Approved international Shipping Enterprise Award (MSAI-AIS) scheme by 10 years. I am happy to note that the maximum tenure of the MSI-AIS has been increased from 30 years to 40 years. This is good news, especially for those companies which are into the third incentive period. They are grateful for the clarity, and their shipping profits have been granted a further 10 years of tax exemption, even though many shipping companies are suffering from heavy losses.
Secondly, we need to safeguard and grow Singapore's status as an international maritime centre, better known as IMC. For close to two decades, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has carefully nurtured an ecosystem of businesses built around the port, shipowners, operators, ship managers, brokers, financiers and marine insurers, to establish Singapore as an IMC. Today, we have some 5,000 maritime companies employing 170,000 local and foreign personnel, contributing to about 7% of our GDP.
Last year, Singapore maintained its position as the world's busiest port and the world's largest bunkering port. Our ship registry reached 65 million gross tonnes and is ranked amongst the top 10 ship registries in the world.
Shipping is a global business which carries 90% of world trade. Its highly mobile business structure employs multinational seafarers and shore-based staff which often require job rotation opportunities to serve clients across its global network. This requires people with technical skills and international experience/perspectives.
Thus, when Work Permits and Employment Passes become increasingly difficult to obtain, it will not only affect foreign expertise coming into Singapore but also limit the transfer of skills and knowledge to our locals. How will these companies continue to operate without skilled manpower? And if these companies should decide to relocate, would not there be a reduction in job opportunities for Singaporeans too? Our status as an International Maritime Centre (IMC) would also be eroded!
Many shipping companies have also shared with me their concerns about the high business costs which was also partly contributed by the strong Singapore dollars. Over the past four years, the Singapore dollar has appreciated by 25% against the US dollar. In fact, in the shipping industry, most
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of us earn our revenue in US dollars.
Ever since the downturn in 2008/2009, the shipping industry has already implemented drastic cost-cutting measures to mitigate against the weak global market in order to survive. This has not been helped by the high fuel costs.
The shipping community has heard our Government's call for increased productivity and would review its work processes to do more with less. I look forward to our companies working with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) to roll out its initiatives in the near future.
Last but not least, I urge more Free Trade Agreements to be signed, especially with countries in Latin America, Africa and other emerging markets. Shipping is not only a facilitator but also a catalyst for economic development and we should tap on the growth potential and opportunities available to us.
In conclusion, the MPA has done a fantastic job in presenting Singapore as an IMC, but more can be done for the shipping industry especially during this very difficult period. This will allow us to emerge stronger and be better prepared for the upturn and recovery. Together, we can further strengthen Singapore's status as an IMC which will benefit our country for years to come.
Ms Mary Liew (Nominated Member): My tripartite partner has just spoken so it is the union's turn. Madam, the Budget 2013 initiative of tightening foreign worker policies has been most consistent with what Singaporeans have hoped for – \"A home with a strong Singaporean identity and sense of belonging\".
As we continue to grow Singapore as an international maritime hub, we must now shift our focus back to the number of Singaporeans within the industry. The maritime industry is a key industry that contributes more than 7% of GDP. MOT and MPA have contributed greatly in growing our fleet to more than 4,200 Singapore-flagged ships. The growth of our maritime industry not only benefits our economy; it also translates to 170,000 jobs in the maritime sector.
In the last COS, I urged the Government to look into plans for maritime manpower development and I am thankful that the MOT and MPA have, in the
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last year, started the Special Limits Marine Engineer programme and continued to train Singaporeans as Nautical Officers under the Special Limits Officers Programme.
The WDA, e2i and SSA have also shown their support to the Singapore Maritime Officers' Union (SMOU) where I am the Executive Secretary, in our Tripartite Nautical Training Awards (TNTA) programme which was introduced to train those who are not academically inclined, thus giving these Singaporeans a chance they would have never otherwise been given to join this industry.
It is heartening to see more Singaporeans coming forward to apply for these programmes to fulfil their aspirations to sail as Seafaring Officers. Furthermore, these programmes also provide an opportunity for our low-income Singaporeans to improve their social mobility with decent work and good wages.
In the mid-1980s during the recession, many viewed seafaring as a sunset career as wages were low for Singaporeans who were competing with low-cost foreign seafarers.
However, today the scenario has changed. An entry-level third officer for foreign-going vessels can earn an average of S$3,800 per month. A sea captain can earn from S$10,000 to S$25,000 a month depending on the type of vessel. The S$10,000 monthly wages of a captain is more than three times our national median wages in 2012.
After some years at sea, should these seafarers decide to come ashore, there are executive and management career opportunities in the maritime industry. Many are also earning no less than what they used to earn at sea.
Today, out of some 20,000 officers in more than 4,200 Singapore-flagged ships, only about a staggering 1,605 are Singaporeans. This is tragic, because these are well-paying jobs with good career prospects and good wages. I strongly believe we must change this situation and work towards 20% of Singaporeans employed on Singapore-flagged ships by 2030.
It is my aspiration to see more of these 20,000 well-paid jobs going to my fellow Singaporeans and we need to step up our efforts to show Singaporeans how attractive these careers can be so that they can choose the right education
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path.
If we can train 500 cadets or more per year, if our shipping employers make available training berths on their ocean-going commercial vessels and more Singaporeans can have the opportunity for an exciting and promising sea career, we will be able to grow this Singaporean core to more than 8,000 Officers out of the 20,000 seagoing officers. I would like to ask the Minister to look into ways to incentivise our employers to provide training berths to train our Singaporean cadets.
Furthermore, the commitment of a dedicated training ship will be seen as our Government partaking in a stake to build a Singapore Core that will compete in a global environment as well as build our resilience for manpower needs in essential services locally to serve shipyards, harbour crafts, shipping companies and other related companies to serve Singapore as a Maritime Hub. I urge the Minister to assign just one ship for training purposes.
Madam, I would now like to shift my focus from foreign going to the local and home-trade officers categories. While we continue to train our officers, another group of our Singapore Core continues to face a more urgent and basic bread-and-butter issue. Local and home-trade Singaporean seafarers who, at one time worked in our harbour, today face unemployment.
Madam, in our recent dialogue with members, many feedback that over the years, their jobs were taken over by foreigners who today manned most of our vessels in harbour. Personally, I am also concerned about security issues. As such, Singaporeans seafarers were disheartened, and gave up their hope to revalidate their certificates to be employed.
One of the many examples is Singaporean, Mr Omar, presently aged 59, started sailing in 1978 and by 1998, at age 45, his monthly wage was $3,000. Seafarers like Mr Omar were hired on contract. By 2006, employers of Singapore-flagged ships were hiring lower wage foreigners instead of Singaporeans, and Mr Omar, then aged 53, lost his job. He managed to find employment onboard sand barges within the port. He now works 12 hours a day with only two Sundays off, earns a basic wage of $1,500 with overtime pay – his average monthly salary is less than $3,000. If Mr Omar had not lost his job to the foreigners, he would be earning over $4,000 a month with two days off for every six days he works.
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Furthermore, because of the current dependency ratio, foreigners are employed on Singapore-flagged ships in much better conditions. Whereas Singaporeans can only find employment, on foreign-flagged ships which are in poorer conditions.
I would like to urge the Minister to work with MOM to review the current dependency ratio of disadvantaged Singaporeans in the harbour craft sector. We must further plug the loophole. Companies are currently taking advantage by fulfilling this ratio with local administrative staff, instead of seafarers. This situation has disheartened many of the seafaring officers from revalidating their certificates. Most of them are unable to afford the course fees.
I hope that the Minister will look into providing financial assistance in the form of subsidies and training allowances to this group of less well-off seafaring officers, who are out of job and need to revalidate their expired certificates, so that they can return to working onboard vessels in the harbour and earn decent wages.
Madam, why should well-paid jobs on better and newer vessel, benefit only the foreigners and not our Singaporeans? To achieve our 2030 vision of having 20% Singaporeans seagoing officers on board Singapore-flagged ships, there must be constructive Tripartism.
Lastly, if we are truly committed to building a Singapore Core, I believe the target of 20% by 2030 can be achieved.
The Minister of State for Transport (Mrs Josephine Teo): Mdm Chair, Mr Charles Chong has highlighted the importance of our air hub, Changi Airport. The air connectivity provided by Changi greatly enhances Singapore's proposition as a global business centre. It provides critical support to our manufacturing, logistics, financial and tourism sectors.
Our air transport and airport sectors are important contributors to the economy in their own right, contributing some 7% of GDP and 165,000 jobs. But their impact on the whole economy is much more than that.
Let me respond to Members' questions about the performance of Changi Airport and its prospects.
The year 2012 was a historic year for Changi as it handled 51.2 million passengers, surpassing the 50-million mark for the first time. This was a 10%
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increase over 2011, exceeding the 5.2% growth of passenger traffic achieved by Asia-Pacific carriers collectively.
However, airfreight volumes declined 3.2% year-on-year, in line with the global slowdown in the air cargo business. But this was less severe than the 5.5% decline in air cargo traffic experienced by airlines in the Asia-Pacific.
A new Singapore-based low-cost medium-to-long haul carrier, Scoot, commenced services in June. This new addition to the SIA family reflects changes in the aviation landscape where increasingly, low-cost carriers are driving air traffic growth in regions like Europe and Asia. Low-cost carriers (LCCs) are also increasing the connectivity of air hubs by establishing links with secondary cities that might not be commercially viable for full-service carriers to operate to. Indeed, LCCs accounted for about 28% of total passengers handled at Changi in 2012. Of the 155 direct city links at Changi, 10 are operated solely by LCCs.
In addition, Singapore concluded eight new Air Services Agreements (ASAs) and expanded five existing ones in 2012, bringing our total number of ASAs to over 120. Of note is the expanded ASA with Japan which will enable Singapore carriers to mount more services to Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which business travellers favour for its proximity to the city, and they can do so from 2014.
We will continue to pursue air services liberalisation ahead of demand to give our carriers the flexibility to grow or launch new connections once opportunities arise. This will help Changi to build on its superior connectivity. Also, in September, the Budget Terminal closed to make way for the new Terminal 4. Construction of the new terminal will commence later this year and will be completed in 2017.
As Mr Charles Chong has noted, airlines previously based at the Budget Terminal had to move to Terminal 2 during the construction of Terminal 4. The move has benefitted both airlines and passengers. Although passengers now have to pay $10 more in passenger charges, they have access to better facilities such as covered aerobridges as well as a wider range of retail shops and F&B options. Terminal 2 is also better suited to support airlines' transfer operations. For example, the relocation has enabled Tiger Airways to launch new transfer
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products and services.
Both Dr Lily Neo and Mr Charles Chong asked for more details of the design features of the new Terminal 4. I am pleased to share with Members that Terminal 4 will offer a user experience similar to those at the other terminals, with aerobridges, airside passenger and baggage transfer to other terminals, and attractive commercial offerings. Its design will also facilitate quick flight turnaround, in line with the operating models of LCCs. I will say a little bit more of the experiments that we are going to do at Terminal 4.
One important measure of performance at Changi Airport is on-time departure. On-time departure performance deteriorated at the end of 2011 due to a higher incidence of bad weather and a surge in air traffic. However, with coordinated action taken by CAAS, the Changi Airport Group, airlines and other airport stakeholders, departure delays have been sharply reduced and are now back to pre-2011 levels. This was despite aircraft movements increasing by nearly 8% in 2012.
All in all, Singapore's aviation sector did well in 2012. For 2013, we project passenger traffic growth to moderate to 5%, in line with the subdued global economic conditions. In the longer term, we expect traffic to grow steadily, driven by the strong growth of the Asia-Pacific which will spur increased travel to, from and within the region, through existing and new city links at Changi.
During MOT's Committee of Supply Debate last year, I announced that I would chair a multi-agency Changi 2036 Steering Committee to develop a holistic long-term plan for the expansion of Changi Airport. This would include the civilian use of Changi's third runway, additional passenger terminal capacity and related infrastructure and transport links to support Changi's future growth.
The Committee has held extensive discussions with various stakeholders and arrived at several key conclusions regarding: runway capacity; terminal capacity; and raising productivity further.
Let me share our conclusions with Members.
First, a study by NATS, the air navigation service provider for London's Heathrow Airport, has concluded that by implementing various measures, Changi Airport's existing two runways can accommodate about 430,000 aircraft movements per year, which is one-third more than the record number of 324,000 movements last year. By implementing runway optimisation and other
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measures, such as Mr Cedric Foo's suggestion of moving some aircraft to Seletar Airport, we expect the increased capacity of our two runways to be sufficient to cater to Changi Airport's growth until around the end of this decade. Thereafter, a third runway will be needed for Changi to continue to grow.
Exactly how soon we will need a third runway at Changi for civilian use depends on various factors, including air traffic growth and the aircraft mix operating at the airport. For example, airlines may up-gauge narrow-body aircraft to wide-body aircraft to carry more passengers, rather than applying for new departure and landing slots. This will allow Changi to support more passenger traffic with the same runway capacity.
Nonetheless, the Committee has decided that Changi's Runway 3, currently used by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), should be readied for civilian co-use as early as possible and we estimate this to be before the end of this decade.
Even as MOT and CAAS develop the detailed plans for this, preparatory works have already started. The works are complex and will take time. We will announce the detailed timelines for the works and the implementation of a three-runway system at Changi Airport in the second half of the year.
As for passenger terminals, I updated this House at last year's Committee of Supply debate that Changi Airport's total passenger capacity will increase from 73 million passengers per annum (mppa) to 85 mppa by 2018 with the addition of the new Terminal 4 and an expanded Terminal 1.
As Members know, passenger traffic at Changi rebounded strongly after the 2009 global financial crisis and has remained high. However, we should be reminded that in the last decade, even starting with a lower base, passenger traffic at Changi saw a compounded annual growth rate of just 3.9%.
We are now at a much higher base than at the beginning of the last decade. Looking ahead, we expect the compounded annual growth of passenger traffic at Changi to be around 5% till the end of this decade and moderate to 3% to 4% in the next decade.
This is neither a conservative nor aggressive estimate as growth in Singapore is moderating even as emerging regional economies pick up pace. At these growth rates, we expect to need additional terminal capacity by the
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mid-2020s.
To position Changi for the longer term, we should plan for expansion of its passenger terminal capacity. Other airports are thinking along similar lines. As I shared last year, and Mr Charles Chong also pointed out, many air hubs elsewhere are planning substantial capacity increases.
For example, Dubai Airport is rapidly adding additional capacity and recently opened the world's first Airbus A380-only concourse with 20 contact stands that can handle 15 million passengers per year; so one concourse handling nothing but A380s. By providing ample capacity, Dubai will allow its home carrier Emirates and other airlines to expand their networks. This extensive connectivity is a key reason behind the Australian carrier Qantas' decision to tie up with Emirates and re-route its Europe-bound flights via Dubai instead of Singapore from March this year.
While Dubai has taken full advantage of its geographical position to grow its air links and is now connected to many more cities than Changi, we continue to have an edge in connectivity within the region, including to countries like China, India and Indonesia. Changi Airport must take the competition seriously and work hard to retain superior air connectivity.
We should therefore make plans to expand Changi Airport's capacity to build on an advantage that has taken years to acquire. We need room to grow our connectivity with many more emerging cities. This will also support airlines' growth plans and anchor them here.
Over the past year, the Changi 2036 Steering Committee has been working on a Concept Plan for the 1080 ha site at Changi East, which lies between the current Runway 2 and Runway 3. Based on studies done, there is sufficient land to develop a mega-passenger terminal as well as an airfreight centre, an air logistics centre and MRO hub on the site; MRO referring to Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul.
With these new facilities, new roads and public transport links will also be needed to serve the airport. Existing roads may also have to be diverted. MOT, CAAS and LTA will study these issues further and engage the aviation community on the Concept Plan in the months ahead. We aim to finalise the Concept Plan by the end of this year.
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In addition to Changi Airport, we are also developing Seletar Airport and Seletar Aerospace Park (SAP) as a hub for business and general aviation and aerospace activities. Since its launch in 2006, SAP has attracted numerous aerospace companies, including global names such as Rolls Royce, Pratt & Whitney and Eurocopter.
Mr Charles Chong asked if there is still capacity to grow the aerospace industry at Seletar. As he has highlighted, the development of the 30 ha Phase 3A of SAP commenced last year and is slated for completion in 2014. In addition, Phase 3B, with an additional 30 ha of space, will be developed in due course to cater to the industry's growth.
However, as Mr Charles Chong also highlighted, the success of Seletar Airport and SAP requires more than just infrastructural expansion. Accessibility is indeed an important factor. Today, the area is served by bus service 103 which connects commuters to Serangoon Bus Interchange and Serangoon MRT station. Commuters travelling to SAP from towns such as Tampines, Bedok, Yishun, Woodlands and Sengkang can also make same-stop transfers to service 103 at the entrance to SAP. In addition, JTC has also been operating shuttle bus services between SAP and the nearby MRT stations, as well as a lunch-time bus service within the SAP itself.
We will continue to monitor the pace of development in the area and will add capacity should demand warrant it. With our strong fundamentals of economic and political stability, a quality workforce, respect for intellectual property and good business connectivity, I am confident that SAP is in a good position to ride the growth of the aerospace industry in the region and continue to attract new investments.
Madam, the plan to expand the airports at Changi and Seletar also needs to take into account the changing manpower landscape in Singapore. Even though value-added per worker in the sector is already much higher than the services sector in general, we should aim to operate our airports in more efficient ways. The new Terminal 4 offers us an opportunity to innovate and explore ways to do more with less.
For example, CAG is exploring having self-service kiosks and automated check-in and immigration clearance facilities in the new Terminal 4:
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(a) Passengers will be able to obtain their boarding passes easily without having to wait in line for service staff to process their check-in.
(b) Those with check-in luggage can deposit their bags at automated baggage-drop facilities.
(c) At departure immigration, passengers can scan their boarding passes, passports and thumbprints for automated verification.
(d) At the boarding gates, passengers will proceed to their aircraft via automated counters.
Such practices are also being adopted in other airports such as in Munich and Sydney. They allow for faster and more efficient check-in and immigration clearance, while reducing the manpower required.
Terminal 4 will also feature productivity innovations that will make it easier for airport staff to do their work. For example, mechanical baggage lifters will be installed to assist baggage workers in lifting check-in bags, so that they no longer need to move the bags manually. This will greatly reduce the physical strain on baggage workers and open such jobs to more seniors.
Such innovations are timely as they allow for smaller-scale experimentation before being adopted on a larger scale at the new terminals at Changi East. In addition, CAAS is also working with its partners to identify other ways to increase the productivity of the airport and upgrade jobs.
An Airport Productivity Steering Committee, led by CAAS and comprising stakeholders such as CAG, airlines, airport service providers and other Government agencies, has been established to drive this effort in a more holistic manner. This will be an important effort to ensure that our airport expansion plans raise productivity for the sector to even higher levels.
In summary, let me assure Members of this House that the Government is committed to ensuring the continued competitiveness of Singapore as an air hub, in terms of both the \"hardware\" and \"software\" that have made our airport \"a source of pride for all Singaporeans\", to borrow the words of Mr Charles Chong. With our ongoing efforts and plans, I am confident that Singapore and
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Changi Airport will be well-equipped to capitalise on the strong growth of air travel in the Asia Pacific and maintain our leading hub position.
Mdm Chair, let me know turn to the maritime sector. I thank Mr Teo Siong Seng and Ms Mary Liew for their comments and suggestions for this key pillar of our economy. Before I address their specific points, let me first update Members on the performance of the Singapore maritime sector in 2012.
Two thousand and twelve was not smooth sailing for the global maritime industry. Shipping companies were affected by weak demand, overcapacity of ships, high fuel prices and increasing environmental concerns, which Mr Teo highlighted earlier.
As a transshipment hub at the crossroads of major trade routes, our port also felt the impact of these problems, but nonetheless, we registered good growth in 2012. Container throughput grew over 5% to reach 31.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) – the first time that our port crossed the 30-million TEU mark. We maintained our global lead in vessel arrival tonnage, which increased by 6% to reach a record high of 2.25 billion gross tons. We also remained the world's top bunkering port, even though bunker sales fell slightly by 1% to 42.7 million tons.
Last year, we attracted several new shipping companies and maritime service providers, while existing maritime players continued to grow their presence here. Today, there are about 130 international shipping groups and more than 5,000 companies in Singapore offering a full spectrum of maritime-related services.
Our efforts to develop in Singapore a leading IMC are bearing fruit. For example, in the area of maritime arbitration, BIMCO – one of the world's largest shipping associations – recently included Singapore as an arbitration venue in its shipping contract forms, alongside London and New York. It is a great honour to have Singapore named as an arbitration venue. It is something that we have worked hard to achieve.
These positive developments in the face of global challenges reflect the strong fundamentals of our maritime cluster. So, while we expect 2013 to be another difficult year for the global shipping industry, we are also cautiously optimistic that our maritime cluster here will continue to grow.
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To maintain Singapore's competitiveness as a global hub port and IMC, we will continue with three key strategies – first, to invest in infrastructure ahead of demand; second, to sharpen our maritime policies and schemes to meet changing business needs; and third, to grow a core of local maritime talent.
Let me start with infrastructure. Despite the difficult short-term outlook, we take a long-term view of our port and will continue to grow port capacity ahead of demand. To this end, the expansion of Pasir Panjang Terminal is on track and the first set of new berths will be ready in 2014. When this expansion is completed, our port capacity will increase by 50% to 50 million TEUs per annum.
We are not stopping there. In the long term, we will consolidate our container port activities at Tuas with a handling capacity of up to 65 million TEUs per annum. Consolidation will increase efficiency through greater economies of scale, and reduce costs through the elimination of inter-terminal haulage. A new port at Tuas will also allow us to introduce new technology and processes to meet future challenges, in particular, to improve manpower productivity. We expect the first berths at Tuas Port to be operational in about 10 years. With the consolidation, existing port land will be freed up for exciting redevelopment opportunities.
Our second strategy is to continually sharpen our maritime policies and schemes to ensure that they remain relevant to maritime companies, a matter that Mr Teo also raised. As announced in Budget 2013, we will provide ship owners and operators with greater tax certainty by extending the maximum tenure of the Approved International Shipping Enterprise (AIS) award under our Maritime Sector Incentive (MSI) scheme from 30 to 40 years.
For our maritime sector to remain competitive, we must strive for productivity-driven growth. A key enabler of this is to promote maritime R&D to support businesses as they innovate and develop new capabilities. For instance, MPA uses its Maritime Innovation and Technology (MINT) Fund to co-fund R&D efforts by our port operators in areas such as automated port systems and port optimisation techniques. The Singapore Maritime Institute has also launched the Next Generation Container Port Challenge to spark new ideas that can achieve a quantum leap in port performance.
I am glad that Mr Teo and others in the shipping community support this important drive towards higher productivity. We will continue to work with the industry to sharpen the competitiveness of our maritime sector, including exploring Mr Teo's suggestion for more free trade agreements with emerging
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markets.
Our third and most important strategy is to grow and maintain a core of local maritime talent, a subject which Ms Mary Liew brought up. We are making steady progress in grooming a core group of Singaporeans to take up seafaring and shore-based careers in the maritime industry. Today, of the more than 170,000 people employed in the maritime sector, about 76,000 are locals, compared to about 56,000 locals some 10 years ago. Over this period, we have seen a larger core of Singaporeans in maritime activities, such as port operations, ship management and ship chartering. Many more locals are now working in the maritime industry, very often in PMET jobs.
This has been achieved through the close partnership that MPA has forged with industry, unions and educational institutions. I agree with Ms Mary Liew that we must continue to make maritime careers attractive to Singaporeans. Indeed, MPA works closely with partners to raise awareness of the wide range of maritime careers through outreach activities such as the MaritimeONE platform. To date, over 100 MaritimeONE scholarships have been awarded to aspiring seafarers and other maritime professionals. Most recently, in September 2012, MPA launched the Singapore Maritime Gallery to showcase our maritime heritage and career opportunities that Maritime Singapore has to offer. I am told that even though it is quite new, quite a lot of school groups have already made their way to the Maritime Gallery. It bodes well that our youths have started to learn about our maritime history and the career opportunities in this sector from an early age.
We are also working actively to broaden the range of maritime training opportunities. There are now specialised courses at NITEC, diploma and degree levels to prepare our students for exciting and fulfilling careers in the maritime sector.
For aspiring seafarers, the Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA) offers programmes that prepare students for their diplomas and their first professional sea-going qualifications. Ms Mary Liew raised the need for our seafaring cadets to have sufficient training opportunities. I would like to assure her that our cadets are indeed able to get access to opportunities for operational experience, which they need for their qualification. MPA will continue to work with SMA and the shipping groups to ensure that this remains the case.
As Ms Liew mentioned, we are also growing our core of local seafarers for our harbour craft sector. To this end, MPA and its partner agencies have
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introduced \"Place-and-Train\" programmes for Deck Officers and Marine Engineer Officers who work on ships plying in and around Singapore. Apart from co-funding their course fees, MPA has since October 2012, topped up the monthly training allowances for these cadets, leading to at least a doubling of their allowances depending on their training phase. I am very pleased that MPA took in feedback from Members after last year's COS debate and worked expeditiously to introduce these enhancements to our seafarer training programmes.
Response to these programmes has been encouraging, and I look forward to the graduation of the first batch of Deck Officers later this year. In addition, I would like to assure Ms Liew that we welcome former Singaporean seafarers like Mr Omar to rejoin the maritime sector and we will look into how we can help them revalidate their skills. I think Ms Liew talked about supporting them financially. So, we will take a close look at that.
We are also doing more to help our maritime professionals upgrade their knowledge and skills to meet the evolving needs of the industry. Mr Teo had talked about how important international exposure is. We agree, and we will make available all the support that we can to enable more of our local professionals to upgrade themselves.
Over the past year, MPA's S$50 million Maritime Cluster Fund (MCF) for Manpower Development has provided funding support to over 4,000 maritime professionals for their training and development. This is almost twice as many as the 2,200 beneficiaries in 2011. To further encourage manpower development, MPA has since October 2012, increased the co-funding support under the MCF from 50% to 70%. MPA and its industry partners have also introduced more Continuing Education and Training (CET) opportunities such as the Professional Development Course in Maritime Logistics offered by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
As Members can see, there is no lack of effort to grow a core of local maritime talent. And I support Ms Liew's call for more Singaporeans to take up opportunities in this sector. I can assure her that if she can help us find 500 cadets, we will do everything on our part to take everyone in. But at the same time, I would llike to reassure Mr Teo that we will continue to keep Singapore open and employer-friendly as long as the skills and expertise of the foreign professionals here complement those of our local workforce.
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As to the current dependency ratio which Ms Liew talked about, I heard the very opposite from Mr Teo who had earlier voiced concerns over the tightening of our foreign worker policies. This illustrates how fine a balance we have to strike between the concerns of our maritime companies and keeping opportunities open for our locals. I am confident that by working together, we will be able to strike the right balance, and if need be, we will review and take a closer look at the dependency ratio.
Madam, the maritime sector not only provides critical connectivity for our economy, but also contributes directly to our growth. Building on our strong maritime foundation, the Singapore Government will continue to work with our tripartite partners in developing new infrastructure, capabilities and talent so as to ensure the continuing success of Maritime Singapore.
The Chairman: Mr Cedric Foo.
Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Madam, do we have time for clarifications?
The Chairman: We do.
Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Thank you, Madam. My first question is on contestability in the public transport sector. I spoke about this yesterday. In the long run, we would like to see parcels of bus and rail services being bidded upon by various prospective transport operators in a way that introduces competition and, therefore, a self-regulatory mechanism, instead of the Public Transport Council (PTC) and committees looking over what they will do. Can I have the Minister's comments on whether or not this is a long-term goal?
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: Mdm Chair, let me first thank Mr Cedric Foo for the very thoughtful question because this looks into the industry's structure over the longer term, and if I may share briefly on where we intend to go in this regard.
For trains, I think the direction is quite clear. We introduced contestability for the Downtown Line in 2011. This was a contest between the two incumbent operators. After much consideration, we decided to eventually award this to SBST. Going forward, all new lines – the next set of lines will be the Thomson-Eastern Regional Line – will come under the contestability framework. We do not rule out the possibility that over time, even foreign players will be invited to participate in these contests.
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Over the longer term, we intend to transit the existing rail lines that are run either by SMRT or SBST into this new framework. We will have to work out how to do so, the timeframe and the details but we certainly hope to see some progress within the next two to three years.
On buses, we have talked about contestability in 2008 and certainly, again, emphasised in 2013 Long Term Land Transport Master Plan, and that is indeed the direction that we want to go. The challenge is in putting together packages of routes, together with the supporting infrastructure like depots and interchanges that will support this contestability framework.
We intend over time to move towards something like what they would have in London where there are seven operators, in their case, contesting to run and operate different packages of routes. We will need to be very careful to make sure that the packages are configured appropriately. This is something that will take time.
The existing licences for the two bus operators running the current 200-plus routes will run out in 2016. This is something that we are looking at very carefully to see how we can move ahead with contestability for bus packages, perhaps not to the full extent but to some extent, even prior to that taking place.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Nee Soon): Mdm Chair, I have two clarifications both on road safety. Let me thank hon Member Dr Intan for raising the issues on Sembawang Drive which is in front of Sembawang Primary School with regards to the local factors that may have some safety concerns. I would like MOT to look into the local factor and see how some of the road safety enhancement measures that were mentioned by the Parliamentary Secretary can be implemented there.
The second clarification is the United Nations General Assembly has declared that 2011 to 2020 is a Decade of Action for Road Safety, and specifically one of the initiatives is the UN Global Road Safety Awareness Week which is coming up on 6 to 12 May this year. I am just wondering whether if MOT or the Government has any plans, in terms of promoting road safety during this UN Global Road Safety Awareness Week. My constituency together with the Singapore Motor Sports Association and all the schools in my division are coming together to promote road safety. I hope MOT can support our initiatives.
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Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Madam, I would like to thank Dr Lim who is a very strong advocate for road safety over the many years that I have known him. About the Sembawang case, local factors are important. We have been looking at them and, in fact, we have been working with Dr Lim and his grassroots. Beyond that, like what I have said earlier, we are also looking at the students. We can provide the infrastructure and so forth, but I think it is important for us to continue to educate our students so that they can develop the values of road safety wherever they are.
The other clarification was about the UN campaign. Certainly, there will be an inter-agency effort to support this where LTA, Traffic Police and the Singapore Road Safety Council would come in and give support. We also have other campaigns like the Road Safety Month and a few others by the Traffic Police, and so forth.
I would like to urge Members to become the advocates for road safety. It can start from all of us. We can start by sharing this with our family and friends; whereby we help Singaporeans to develop values with regards to safety, care and sharing of the road. Over time, whether they are cyclists, pedestrians or even motorists and drivers, the values will be there and we would apply them accordingly.
With regards to how we would support such initiatives, we will continue to do so and we will take a multi-pronged approach to enhance the level of awareness of safety as well as the infrastructure, even at the local level.
Mr Seah Kian Peng: Madam, I have two clarifications. First, is concerning weekend ERP. I have taken note of Minister Lui's sharing that it has led to slower traffic flow at those areas arising from the deduction in ERP charges and the change in timings. The data I asked for cover quite a few areas: Marina Bay, Orchard Road and the CBD areas. I would like, if possible, for Minister Lui to be specific in those three areas. I do believe that for Marina Bay – from my own experience and that of my residents and friends who tell me – traffic flow is really quite light. If it is not possible for full removal of the weekend rates for all the areas that I have cited, can we go into these specific areas? If one area is possible, let us try.
My second clarification is for Parliamentary Secretary Faishal Ibrahim. First, I am very happy to hear the news that there will be lifts coming to the pedestrian overhead bridge at Serangoon, except that at Serangoon, I have two pedestrian overhead bridges, one which is immediately next to Nex Shopping Mall. I
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assume this first batch of lifts that is coming up applies to that area. Not very far away, less than 300 metres, there is another pedestrian overhead bridge. I am very concerned for that one because it is along Upper Serangoon, very near to Lorong Lew Lian area. Lorong Lew Lian is a very old estate. In fact, it contains the first blocks in the whole Singapore to get the lift upgrading programme many years ago. It reflects how old it is. There have been many times that the residents have raised the issue about the overhead bridge there. I assume that the lift in the first batch is coming to one near Nex at the MRT station. If it is, can I suggest that the Ministry consider having both these pedestrian overhead bridges to be included in this first batch? While the need is critical for both areas, I think it is even more pressing for the one at Lorong Lew Lian because that is where I have a number of elderly residents.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: Do give me a chance to reply and share with him some data. I will touch on the ERP clarification, and perhaps Parliamentary Secretary Faishal Ibrahim may want to respond to the point on pedestrian overhead bridges (POB). Just to share some data on which we based the decision not to move further on ERP rates in the Orchard cordon as well as the Bugis/Marina Centre. I would share with Members the 2012 speeds before the removal or the reduction of the ERP charges as well as the speeds as we have it for the first quarter.
For Orchard cordon, what we did was we removed charges from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm. Speeds for all three bands, 11.00 am to 11.30 am; 11.30 am to 12.00 pm and so on, all fell. In particular, in the 12.00 pm to 12.30 pm band, traffic fell from 22.3 to 19.9. For the Bugis/Marina Centre cordon, we reduced the charges from 12.30 pm to 2.00 pm to $1, instead of $2. For two of the three periods, the speeds fell between 1 kilometre and 2 kilometres per hour and, for the other one, it was marginally the same. We do not see, at this point in time, more scope to reduce the charges further and we will just continue to watch the situation.
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: I thank Mr Seah for the clarification. The one that we are going to build will be near to Nex. As he knows, we will give priority to those which are near to transport nodes. Nevertheless, we will take that into account. I will speak with the Member offline.
The Chairman: I do urge Members to make your clarifications short, and not to make speeches instead. Ms Irene Ng.
Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: Madam, I thank the Parliamentary Secretary for his efforts to push cycling policy forward. I am quite happy to hear the news
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that LTA is now experimenting with a dismount bike sign at zebra crossings. This is actually a long standing request from our cycling wardens who go around to identify problem areas in the neighbourhood. We have also given feedback to LTA when they showed us their recommendation of how they want to implement it, that it will not be effective because the way they drew it is on the zebra crossing, without any words to signal to cyclists that they should dismount before they go on to the zebra crossing. The signs are on the zebra crossings; by the time the cyclist sees the sign on the road, they are half way cycling across the zebra crossing.
I have already given the feedback to LTA to please consider having the sign sign-posted before cyclists reach the zebra crossing, with the sign \"Bike Dismount\" and the same signage used on that signpost so that cyclists would have been alerted to that before they reach the zebra crossing and they would dismount, and not only see the sign when they are cycling across the zebra crossing.
The Chairman: Ms Ng, what is your clarification?
Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: I am asking the Parliamentary Secretary to please review the signage that he has just told us about in Parliament. The second clarification is on the wider point about cycling policies. Other than piloting some initiatives in some towns and giving some cycling lanes here and there, can I ask the Parliamentary Secretary whether there is a vision for cycling that we can look forward to?
Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Madam, I again thank Ms Irene Ng for her question. In fact, we have looked at the suggestion that she has raised. Interestingly, while there are diverse needs, there are also diverse views. We hear her suggestion but when we asked other people, they had different views and they seem to accept it. What I suggest is that perhaps this is a trial period. We will continue with it and we see how the cyclists respond to it. If there is a need for us to change it after the trial period, then we will do so.
Secondly, the clarification was about vision. There is a clear vision of what we are doing for cyclists. It is not only from now where I started, even when I was a backbencher, I saw how Minister of State Teo Ser Luck was pushing it, the way he tried to promote the National Cycling Plan, I think I was very touched by it. Today, we are just continuing this journey. As I have shared earlier, many countries take 40 or 50 years to be where they are today. I think we are moving
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in the right direction and we certainly have a vision.
Ms Lee Li Lian (Punggol East): Two points. Minister Lui has misunderstood my point. I probably spoke too fast yesterday. Yesterday, I mentioned Rivervale Crescent in Punggol East, not Punggol East in general. There are services along Rivervale Drive as well as Sengkang East Way, but not Rivervale Crescent. Blocks most affected are Blocks 183A-D, 184A-C, 185A-D, especially the elderly where they need to walk all the way out to take the LRT, then they go to Rivervale Plaza for their daily maketing needs. The second point, I sent an email to LTA together with a map of the place on 9 March. Apart from the standard reply that my feedback is receiving attention, I have not received any other updates. I hope that the residents of Rivervale Crescent do not have to wait too long.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: I suppose this was 9 March of this year. Yes. I will ask LTA to make sure that they give the Member a proper reply. I thank the Member for the clarification and, indeed, I must have misunderstood her last evening. Certainly, if I recall correctly for Rivervale Crescent that there are new BTO developments that are coming up and LTA was already being put on notice last year on this and requests were made for them to consider the possibility of introducing services. The larger point that I would want to make is that – and this is to all Members of the House – it is sometimes not possible and not desirable for buses to ply every Crescent, every Drive, every Avenue, every Road, every Street. If we do so, it makes the route more circuitous and the journey would take much longer – more time and distance for commuters to get to their destination.
What commuters want most of all is to try and get to the key nodes and key amenities as quickly as possible. So, while we look to the Member's request for Rivervale Crescent, the larger point I want to make is that sometimes, there is, indeed, a need to walk to the nearest bus-stop or to the LRT station. Also, I tried to clarify a little bit earlier that overall, for Punggol East, about 90% of the blocks would be within 200 metres of an LRT station or one of the bus stops that is serving the constituency. Specifically, on the new blocks and the point that the Member has made, and the request that she has raised to LTA on 9 March, I will make sure that they give her a reply.
Dr Lily Neo (Tanjong Pagar): May I ask the Minister whether MOT is able to take back the existing rights from the present PTOs if MOT so wishes in the
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immediate term, so that MOT can revamp and have an improved new model for our public transport.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: Madam, I thank the Member for that clarification. I was not sure if the Member was referring to buses or to trains, so I guess I have to try and deal with both.
For buses, as I have mentioned earlier, the licence expires in 2016. I am quite sure that the PTOs will be more than happy to return all the routes to us. The financials are an indication of how they see things. The challenge indeed is how to have good and proper continuity rather than the returning of the routes.
On trains, as I have mentioned earlier, going forward, for Downtown Line, Thomson Line and the other lines, there will be a competitive tendering process. What will happen is that the bidders will bid for the right to run those lines. They will pay an annual licence charge that is fixed and then we will have two other component charges based on revenue and profitability. The money that is collected from these charges and licences will be set aside as a sinking fund to renew the infrastructure as well as to buy more capacity, more trains and so on.
For the existing lines, there are licence agreements. It would be very difficult and we certainly will be open to legal challenge if we tell them that we want to take back the lines at whatever point in time before the expiry of the licences, unless there is proper negotiation and an agreeable exchange by both parties.
Mr Teo Siong Seng: Minister, in fact, I remember in last year's COS, there were a lot of questions about the 800 buses and 1,000 more bus-drivers. After that, I raised a PQ in Parliament to ask whether it is possible for some of the bus operators to work with LTA during the peak hours – for example, the school buses, after they drop off the children at school and before they pick up the children from school thereafter. I was very pleased that, after the PQ and during the recess, yourself, together with Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, we talked about it. After that with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, we conducted a series of meetings. LTA has been very cooperative. I believe now a tender has gone out for bus operators to work with the LTA during peak hours. So, with that, is there any chance to reduce the 800 buses that you need?
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: Madam, I thank the Member for that clarification. Certainly, I want to acknowledge the very good work by Mr Teo and the Chamber in supporting us to try and bring the private operators onboard. I
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mentioned in Parliament yesterday that in fact, we are tendering out more routes for private operators, particularly during the morning peak hours whether it is City Direct from the towns using expressways bypassing all the MRT and feeder connections directly to the city area, we are going to have a total of nine routes that we want to tender out to the private operators. The first of which has already gone out earlier. We hope to also draw on the capacity that the private transport operators may have to run short services in towns that will bring people more directly to the MRT stations.
Specifically, on the Member's point about the 800 buses, in fact, what we are doing is we are trying to accelerate the programme. Initially, when we first looked at it last year, we said that we would try to do the bulk – about 70% within the first three years but the whole programme will run till 2016.
We have since seen good progress. We think that by the end of this year, about 50% of the buses that the Government has promised, 550 can be rolled out and the bulk of it by the end of next year. We think that there may be more areas of need. I hear from many Members of Parliament that they would like to have even more augmentation to the feeders, more new routes, more trunk routes, but particularly more feeders. What I am trying to do is to make sure that we accelerate the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP) while taking onboard some of the additional requests and views that have been put forward so that we can look at what more we need to do.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh: Madam, I would like to ask the Minister for Transport – he mentioned about the nine routes that would be tendered out to the private operators. May I know whether Punggol, Sengkang and Buangkok are covered under these nine routes that he mentioned?
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: I ought to get back to the Member on the specifics of that area.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, I have three clarifications for the Minister. Firstly, are the new feeder and city direct bus services that are being contracted out to these private bus operators part of the $1.1 billion BSEP or are they extra? If they are extra, how much more will it cost the Government?
The second clarification is will these private operators be subject to the same quality of service standards and penalties as the current PTOs?
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And thirdly, is this contracting model, where the operators are paid a fixed contract price and the fares go to the Government, a new model that MOT is thinking of extending to all the PTOs for the bus services after 2016 when their contracts expire?
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: Madam, I thank Mr Giam for his clarifications and some very good questions there. On the new feeders, no, they are not part of the $1.1 billion BSEP. At some point in time, we would have to go back to MOF and discuss this again, not just because we are introducing nine new routes for a few hours a day but because when we accelerate the BSEP programme, we are bringing forward the implementation of new routes, augmentation of feeders, bringing forward the recruitment of new drivers, using more fuel, doing more maintenance. Once we decide we want to accelerate the programme, then obviously, the cost will have to change and we have to look at this more closely together with MOF.
It is not just the new feeders that we are introducing that will affect the $1.1 billion programme but the fact that we intend to accelerate and bring forward the completion of the BSEP programme. That is something that we all believe we want to do and certainly, from the feedback of Members that they want to do this as quickly and as much of it as possible.
Will the private operators be subject to the same penalties? The tender process is on-going. I do not want to frighten some of them away. I do not yet know what response I will get from them. And certainly, when I see the tender responses from the private operators, then we will be in a much better position to sit down with them and to see how much of the standards that we would like to impose are acceptable.
At the end of the day, it is still, in that sense, a pilot and experiment, bringing in private transport operators to run some of these routes. It will be a period of time before we make the full adjustments as to the kind of standards that we would like to impose on them completely.
Gross cost model – gross cost is the term where basically, the Government takes the revenue risk while we pay them a certain fee to run the buses regardless of the passenger load. It is too early to say as to whether we will apply this to the two PTOs going forward. There is certainly a possibility. It is done in many other cities. In London, they use the gross cost model. But let us settle on what we can do with the private operators first before we decide
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further.
Ms Mary Liew: I would like to thank the Minister of State for her very comprehensive answer as well as assurance. I just have one clarification and that is – as far as the union is concerned, we will do our best to build up the Singapore Core. However, it takes the concerted effort of the tripartite partners as well. And I just want to ask if the Minister would look into any incentives to incentivise our employers so that they can provide the berth places to these cadets. Because the feedback from the SMA as well is that they have to worry about looking for a berth place for these cadets before they can bring them in to train them. So, I hope that the Minister of State can look into it.
The other aspect is the dependency ratio. I would like to just share that, I have already written this letter last year in early December to MOM to look into it but I was informed that MPA is still working on it. I hope that I can hear some response soon.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Madam, I thank the Member for her two clarification questions. If there is, indeed, a shortage of training berth places, we will certainly do something to address this. However, the feedback that we have received is quite different – that it is difficult to find the warm bodies who want to take up these opportunities. Nonetheless, this is something that we will take a closer look at.
On the dependency ratio that the Member talked about earlier, in general, we would want all sectors to be able to uplift their productivity. These include the harbour craft and maritime sector as a whole.
As to what we should be doing to increase our efforts on this front, that is an area under review right now.
The Chairman: Last clarification. Mr Cedric Foo.
Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Madam, when I suggested to allocate more COEs to smaller cars, the Minister explained that by fixing the ARF tax for bigger cars, that is a consideration to make sure that the larger car owners pay more. There are three components in a total value of a car – the COE, the ARF and the OMV of the car. Would it not be shifting from one bucket to another? Does the Minister see the COE falling therefore, the progressivity of that larger car tax
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not happening?
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: Madam, let me thank Mr Cedric Foo for that clarification. I think the intent of his question is: is there a possibility and in what way can we put more COEs to Category A?
I would say that there have been a number of quite major changes recently for the financing restrictions as well as the ARF. My belief is that it would take a number of bidding cycles, certainly two or three, before we see some clarity as to what is happening, what COE premiums are going to be like and whether there will be a shift of consumer behaviour from the larger to the smaller cars because of the ARF, the higher downpayment and because of the need to repay within five years and the ability to borrow less. We do not know but we think the possibility is that it may put more pressure on Category A COEs. I think that was his point.
What we want to see is what is the outcome of the measures that have been introduced, before we take the next set of moves. There has been no shortage of suggestions on a related line – basically, do a redistribution of the COEs. Should we then confine it to Categories A, B and E, or should we include also Category C and Category D because I know there were advocates for Category C for it to have more COEs – and more COEs for Category C, more COEs for Category A. They have to come from somewhere because I think we are quite clear that we do want to maintain the growth rate at 0.5%.
The second suggestion is, instead of using 1,600 cc, to use some other category. And indeed, we may consider that or a combination of different criteria so that we can draw a somewhat different line between Category A and Category B cars.
These are all preliminary thoughts. As I have mentioned earlier, there is no intent in the very, very near term to make further changes, until we have greater clarity on the changes and the impact of the changes, then we will consider what else needs to be done.
The Chairman: Mr Cedric Foo, do you wish to withdraw your amendment?
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Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng: Madam, although Members have not had all their wishes granted, I think we have made good progress. The Minister's posture has evolved in the course of the COS. He started by saying, \"I am sympathetic\", then \"I am considering\", and, more recently, we are hearing \"I will do more\". So, we all wait with bated breath; it is a good trend. I thank the Minister, Minister of State and Parliamentary Secretary for engaging us so patiently, and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $562,232,500 for Head W ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $6,354,672,000 for Head W ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Committee of Supply – Head K (Ministry of Education)","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): Madam, I beg to move, \"That the total sum to be allocated for Head K of the Estimates be reduced by $100\".
During the Edusave Awards ceremony held at my constituency this year, many parents spoke to me and expressed their support for MOE's focus on character development. They were appreciative of the fact that their children were being recognised for their good character and had the opportunity to receive the Edusave Character award.
I welcome MOE's continued focus on character development. We should maintain the focus on imparting values to the students and ensure that all students learn about other important values like humility, integrity, loyalty and gratefulness, so that they can become useful and contributing citizens. In this regard, I urge MOE to work closely with parents to ensure that parents and schools partner each other to reinforce the importance of values to their children. The saying is that \"it takes a village to raise a child\". Thus, imparting of values cannot be the sole responsibility of the schools or the parents. There must be joint efforts by schools, parents and the community.
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MOE has consistently emphasised that our education system is student-centric and aims to help every student develop to his or her best potential.
As a parent of two school-going children, I appreciate that many teachers in schools are very dedicated and go the extra mile to help students understand their work better. Teachers play a key role in our children's future. We must continually look for such teachers who are passionate; teachers who can motivate well and care for their students. Whilst I appreciate that many of our teachers are currently well qualified, I urge MOE to also consider staff who have good attributes of being a good teacher even if they may not have good academic qualifications. So, look very hard for good teachers, because it will make a huge difference to our students, our children.
I also welcome MOE's learning support programme where weaker students are provided with stronger support – a student weak in Mathematics can be placed in a smaller class of maybe four to 10 students, where more individual attention can be given. Could I ask MOE what else can be done to strengthen the support for weaker students?
For students who may be slow developers, I appreciate the many pathways available for today's students. If a student does not do well in the PSLE examinations, he or she has the option of going to ITE or polytechnic first. And these institutions do offer very high quality training programmes to provide our students with the right foundation as well as equip them for the workforce. If the student continues to do well, he can eventually make it to university at a later stage. Could the Minister share more about the plans to increase the number of university places for our students? Are we on track to increase the available university places for our students?
Next, let me talk about stress. One constant feedback which I received from many parents is about the huge amount of stress for students. Parents are concerned about excessive homework for their children. They are also concerned that the subjects taught in school are getting more and more difficult. The situation is worst if your child is in Primary 5 or 6 due to the impending PSLE. I know. I have a child in Primary 6 this year. All these will discourage our young couples from having more children if they feel that education for their children is so stressful.
In view of this stress, I call on MOE to consider the following:
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First, review the curriculum of the students at all levels. Compare what Singapore schools are teaching vis-a-vis schools around the world. On 5 March, a journalist from TODAY newspaper, Ms Ng Jing Yng, wrote an article about the Finnish education system. She wrote about how the children were given time to rest and play after school and homework. And when asked about tuition, the parent says: \"What tuition?\" Tuition is unheard of in Finland and, yet, Finnish pupils perform well in international tests. Is there anything we can learn from the Finnish education system that will fix Singapore education system?
Next, I urge MOE to reduce the amount of homework and stress in schools. If schools continue having endless assessments and making tests more and more difficult, students will not see school days as a time to discover new things nor will they experience the joy of learning. MOE should ensure that every school does not try to test its students beyond what is expected of the students. In an article in The New Paper on 13 January 2013, Primary 5 pupils were given a spelling list which I myself struggle with. The words that were given − anemometer, buccaneer, podgy, suffuse – I do not even know whether I pronounce them correctly. It is one thing to try to stretch the ability of students. But if pushed to the extreme, stress will simply pile up and students will resent school work.
Reinforce to all schools that they must be reasonable in giving homework. Last month, over the radio, DJ Joe Augustin was complaining about the homework which was given to students to do over the Lunar New Year holidays. Parents had also complained to me about their children having to study for a test immediately after the Lunar New Year holidays. What is the message which the school is sending to the students? That it is not important to observe family gatherings during Lunar New Year? What is the message to parents? Forget about reunion dinners because there is homework or tests? I urge MOE to signal to schools that public holidays should remain holidays. Schools must manage their time and complete their syllabus strictly within the school term.
I feel that children must be given time and space to relax and to appreciate other aspects of life. We must move from the focus on academic grades in schools. MOE can do more to get parents to buy in the concept that education is a life long journey and that grades are and should not be the only measure of a child's achievement.
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Dr Lily Neo (Tanjong Pagar): Madam, preschool education for our children has been less than ideal all these years. Preschools themselves vary vastly in quality from one to another. Preschool fees also differ greatly among them, ranging from $100 to $1,000. The children from the well-off families are the ones that usually get to attend the higher quality preschools.
Preschools should not just equip our children with reading and numeracy skills in preparing for primary schools. Good preschool education emphasises the importance of early brain development in children. Some of these examples are social awareness, living environment awareness, group interaction skills, motor skills and overall confidence.
I hope MOE will be able to embrace these attributes in its effort on improving the overall standard of preschool education and on providing more equivocal standards for all. I also hope MOE will place great importance on giving all our disadvantaged children the preschool education they badly need. This will enable them an early start and a better chance for social mobility. We need a system in place to identify these children for good preschool education. Perhaps the identification of these children should be made at time of birth where detailed social history is more easily obtainable.
Student care centres are very beneficial for children from disadvantaged families as these children usually lack supervision in their less than conducive home environments. In view of our limited student care centres, especially the school-based ones, could MOE reserve these places for such children in these schools? More often than not, the parents of these children will not come forward to request for such places. The parents that can provide adequately are the ones that usually apply for their children to be even better supervised. Could MOE systematically identify and help children from disadvantaged families to get such care? Could these children also be paired with social workers, who can then assess if they have parents that also need assistance in improving their home environment? In situations where student care is not available in the schools, could MOE collaborate with MSF to have these children placed at community student care centres near their homes?
Ms Low Yen Ling (Chua Chu Kang): Madam, I applaud the move to set up a single Government agency to drive early childhood development. I look
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forward to the improvements that the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) can bring. For instance, it will have the mandate to level the playing field for all our young children. Efforts to raise the quality of preschool education in the highly disparate preschool sector can now be more coordinated and concerted across childcare centres as well as kindergartens.
In terms of policy and long-term plans, I hope we will also benefit from a strong and cohesive direction for early childhood development. This is certainly necessary in order to \"future proof\" our children in today's fast changing and globalised economy. Parents now have clearer indication as to what is expected at preschool and before entering Primary 1. So, I believe we can look forward to better information flow and uniformity of direction with the formation of ECDA.
However, there are a few questions and issues that I hope the MOE as well as MSF can look into as the agency undertakes its important responsibilities. For instance, how will ECDA integrate the overlapping roles of MOE and MSF in the areas of teacher training, professional development as well as pay structure? Will there be synergy in training and curriculum for teachers in childcare centres as well as kindergartens? Currently, the different training routes, qualifications, working conditions as well as pay scales between childcare and kindergarten make career progression and development in this sector an onerous one.
One other key area that I hope ECDA can address is the merit of a central or national training school for early childhood educators. Today, we have a variety of training providers with various levels of competency and knowledge. To prevent fragmentation and uneven quality of training, I urge the MOE as well as MSF to examine the possibility of establishing a national academy of early childhood teachers, just like how the National Institute of Education (NIE) trains the teaching profession now. Should this function come under the NIE, there could be flow-through advantages in training, teaching quality and research that span from preschool to learning in lower primary school.
Research has shown that children from poorer circumstances tend to have greater learning needs and difficulties. They not only lag behind their peers in academic milestones, their struggle with behavioural and also family problems often put them in disadvantaged positions. I hope that a substantial portion of the $3 billion injection of funds over five years will go to assisting these children to close the gap. To this end, the Development Support Programme, announced last year, is a key initiative that will help preschoolers with learning difficulties. Can we look forward to having this nationalised eventually? Early intervention
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and support is certainly crucial before these children enter Primary 1.
With regard to preschools for best practices that MOE aims to set up, I hope that MOE can ensure a certain percentage of places set aside for children from low-income families. We want to provide opportunities for all, especially those from disadvantaged positions.
Next, on improving the teacher-student ratio. Our teaching force has grown by more than 10,000 or about 43% since 15 years ago. I understand that the size of student cohort has also steadily decreased. For instance, in 2001, the size of Primary 1 cohort was over 49,000. Ten years later, in 2011, the size was over 39,000. In view of this, is the current teacher-student ratio in our schools reflective of this growth in the teacher numbers as well as the decreasing number of student cohort?
While classes in lower primary levels have been reduced to about 30 students a class, the overall class size for older cohorts in most primary and secondary schools hover around 40 per class. I hope the MOE will take steps to see how class size can be further reduced, especially for Primary 3 to Primary 6, where younger children can benefit from closer contact and guidance from teachers.
I am confident that we can take our children to the future as we seek to help them develop their potential wherever they are.
Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Tampines): Madam, my constituency runs a reading programme for children aged four to eight from lower income families and I read to them sometimes. It troubles me that they lack the literacy skills and the socio-emotional abilities expected of their age.
Studies have shown that ability gaps between the advantaged and disadvantaged open up early in the lives of children. Given the trend of a widening income gap, there is an increasing opportunity gap which needs urgent attention.
To ensure that no one is left behind, it is crucial to strengthen our outreach to disadvantaged families and to strengthen their support system. We should
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direct our greatest effort at their formative years. In this regard, I welcome the initiatives to build more student care centres and for MOE to pilot several Government-run kindergartens in schools. I urge the Minister to site these student care centres and kindergartens in neighbourhood schools with a higher proportion of disadvantaged children.
There should also be a more systematic effort to rotate the best teachers in the system to neighbourhood schools in poorer estates so that students of all backgrounds would have access to them.
Looking at how the education system has evolved in Singapore, I sometimes cannot help but wonder if we should hit the reset button.
The tuition syndrome, for one, needs to be fixed. Many parents blame this syndrome on schools – their children complain that they cannot understand what is being taught in school. Should we not be concerned with this?
Are our teachers conducting their classes with the assumption that children should and would go to tuition to learn what they were taught in school and, if so, is this healthy?
We should go back to basics. Just like the Finns, who reformed their education system to ensure access and opportunity for every student. In Finland, its students do the least number of class hours per week in the developed world, yet get the best results in the long term. They sit no mandatory exams until the age of 17 to19. They do not go for tuition after school. This egalitarian approach that they take means that all classes contain a mixture of ability level pupils, with most classes containing two or more teachers who focus on those needing additional support.
I would like to ask the Minister for his assessment whether such a system could work in Singapore.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, most schools in Singapore have class sizes of around 40, while Primary 1 and Primary 2 classes have 30 students. This is large compared to the OECD's average of 21 per class.
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There are drawbacks of a large class. Each has to deal with more disciplinary and administrative issues. While weaker students risked being marginalised because teachers' time is divided amongst many students, MOE has previously said that \"Empirical evidence on the benefits of a smaller class size remains inconclusive\".
The Brookings Institution notes that large class-size reductions can have significant long-term effects on students' achievement. These effects seem to be largest when introduced earlier, and for students from less advantaged backgrounds.
The Tennessee STAR and the follow-up Wisconsin SAGE projects demonstrated the positive effects of smaller class sizes on students' cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. These effects persisted throughout the school life of the students. Other studies also show smaller classes have benefited disadvantaged students.
Class size reduction is not the magic bullet to better students' development. It has to be implemented together with other holistic policies.
MOE saw it beneficial to have class size of 25 for gifted students. I hope such benefits can apply to all primary levels. I urge MOE to extend class size of 30 to Primary 3 and Primary 4 and, eventually, across all primary levels.
Ms Mary Liew (Nominated Member): Madam, what Singaporeans hope for is \"A home with a strong Singaporean identity and sense of belonging\". However, many Singaporeans do not feel this way where our education system is concerned. One such example is Mr T K Lim.
Mr Lim and his wife Jo are working class parents with four children. Their eldest daughter passed her \"A\" Level last year and was accepted by the University of Western Australia to pursue BioMedical Science (Double Major) degree but she was rejected by NTU and NUS.
With three other younger siblings, she did not want to impose on her parents financially and decided to retake her \"A\" Level in the hope of getting into our local university this year.
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What is upsetting for this family and many Singaporeans is that they do not understand why there are so many foreign students with low command of English who are able to apply and enter our local universities, as such, depriving Singaporean children a chance to pursue their dreams.
Madam, many young Singaporeans who want to fulfill their dreams of holding a degree but have no places in our local universities and do not want to burden their families, end up in private institutions, taking on hefty loans to pay for their degree and start their lives in debt. The system requires review so as not to deprive our children of a place in our local universities.
Next, while well-off children can have better access to preschool education as well as tuition and enrichment classes, others do not have equal opportunities for a head-start in life. Can our Government provide opportunities for all children to start on an equal footing by:
(a) institutionalising preschools to ensure standardised quality, and to make it affordable for all Singaporeans, similar to our primary and secondary schools system; and
(b) institutionalising tuition and enrichment programmes in schools by incorporating these into a full-day curriculum. This so-called \"Student-Care\" can be Edusave-funded.
Mr Low Thia Khiang (Aljunied): Madam, at the Budget debate last year, the Minister for Education seemed to suggest that tuition is quite normal as it happens everywhere all over the world and that this is a sign of parents having high aspirations for their children's success in education. While this may be true, is the Minister not concerned when private tuition appears to have gradually become a parallel system to our publicly-funded education system? The Household Expenditure Survey 2007 suggested that families spent more on private education than on university tuition fees. Private tuition fees have become a financial burden to many families, especially those from the middle income group.
A stressful education system and the cost of educating children today contribute to the challenges in encouraging Singaporeans to start families. I have come across parents who send their children to private tuition not because they want their children to top the class or to get into branded schools but
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because their children's test or examination results were not good and they are worried that their children may fail the subject or be unable to cope with the school curriculum.
If our schools could provide the additional support for weaker students to boost their academic results to assure parents that their children are able to cope with school work, it would ease the anxiety of parents from sending their children for tuition and thus, incurring additional household expenditure. Schools should also be mindful not to feed the anxiety of parents and put unnecessary pressure on students by purposely setting difficult questions in routine assessment tests to fail students in order to spur them to work harder, a point also brought up by Mr Lim Biow Chuan.
Madam, MOE must reclaim the confidence of parents that the school can and will be able to educate their children and bring out their best and full potential without the need for parents to seek private tuition outside school education.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio): Madam, I declare my interest as an academic in NIE. Among the recent Budget announcements is the move for more help to be extended to students from less privileged backgrounds in terms of more learning support, after school care, and online resources. Along these lines, I would like to once again ask the Ministry to have teachers who teach slow progress, or currently Normal (Technical) students in secondary schools, to be specially trained in motivational and counselling skills.
Having taught Normal (Technical) students in a secondary school for a couple of years, I must say that when I first stepped into the classroom, I felt somewhat inadequate in teaching them. Although my pre-service teacher training focused on the relevant pedagogy, educational psychology and classroom management skills, I was still unsure how I could motivate them and help them to learn. In the end, I put the subject syllabus aside and just spent a good couple of months getting to know them first. To this day, I believe that if I had been specially trained to teach Normal (Technical) students, I could have been more effective as a teacher to them then.
So, once again, just as the Gifted Education Program (GEP) teachers are specially trained to teach fast progress students, I would like to urge the Ministry to make the provision for teachers who teach Normal (Technical) and
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other slow progress students to be specially trained as well, on top of the usual pre-service teacher training. This could be in the form of in-service teacher training before teachers are deployed to teach Normal (Technical) classes.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Moulmein-Kallang): Madam, I fully support MOE's vision of making every school a good school. I wish to seek Minister's positive consideration of two proposals to further this vision.
One, on online learning platform, I urge MOE to form a Task Force to focus on and develop 21st century online learning resources that will avail the best of content, pedagogy and assessments across all local schools. Online learning has moved from the sidebar of education to becoming central to many progressive institutions of learning. It comes in the form of self-paced, competency-based programmes that can be taken anytime, anywhere. It can also come as a component of what is known as blended or hybrid learning which offers teaching and learning through a mix of online and face-to-face teaching.
If done well, online learning not only avails excellent education resources across all schools, it boosts productivity of teachers and may also open up opportunities for Singapore to be a serious 21st century education provider on the global stage.
Two, on through-train preschool, primary to secondary schools, I would ask the Minister to pilot full schools that offer through-train preschool, primary to secondary schools without the need for PSLE. This model can be used as an experiment of what good Singapore schools might look like, had we started on a cleaner slate without the sacred cows that have grown so big and intimidating that many hesitate to slay. The sacred cows that I am referring to are the current preschool governance model and the PSLE.
Madam, on preschools, I find merit in hon Member Christopher de Souza's call for the nationalisation of preschool education. However, if that is too fast a bullet to bite, I propose that MOE consider incorporating some of the preschools it intends to pilot, into a bigger pilot – that of a full school which offers through-train preschool, primary and secondary school education.
One of the biggest bugbears in preschool education is the missing link between what preschools teach and entry requirements of mainstream
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primary schools. A seamless transition between kindergarten and Primary 1 will help address this gap.
The PSLE has now become one of the top stress triggers in education. The PSLE T-score syndrome actually drives parents, educators and even students to spend a disproportionate amount of time and energy for a place at the desired end of the normal distribution.
Because PSLE is such a high-stakes examination, parents, rich or poor, invest as much as they can to ensure a good PSLE score. Tuition agencies and tutors, with track records in turning out PSLE high-performers, thrive and profit from the insatiable demand for their expertise. Some mainstream schools use the majority of their Primary 5 and 6 years to focus on this high-stake examination. Focus on such high-stake examinations dilutes the efforts to give more attention to the values-based and character education that the Minister is known to advocate. Many of us also know – in the course of our lives – persons who do not perform well academically when they were young because they were late developers.
Foregoing the PSLE does not mean the scrapping of all forms of assessments. In fact, assessments can now be used to identify gaps in learning for developmental purposes, and not for the purposes of getting high scores. Students can have flexibility now to take a mix of subjects according to their ability and interest. Learning can become a joy and habit that can be applied for life.
Madam, there are countries in the world with highly regarded education systems, such as Finland, that do not feature high-stress and high-stake examinations such as the PSLE. When the stress of high PSLE scores is taken off, there is a bigger space for schools to experiment with 21st century learning methods, such as hybrid learning, flipped classrooms and character education applications. If the proposed pilot through-train school is explained well and led by strong school leaders and boards, I am sure there will be parents who are willing to give this a shot.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Madam, I agree with the Ministry's decision not to list top scoring pupils. The purpose is to drive home the message to parents that their children's successes are not determined by that one test at Primary 6. In line with the recent moves and the fact that every
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school in Singapore is a good school, I would like to ask whether the Minister will also look at stopping the publishing of the raising of the school's minimum entry score. I also understand that the system of banding secondary schools based on their academic results has been abolished. The system had led to keen and sometimes unhealthy competition among schools. I hope the Ministry can reduce the schools' KPIs to ensure a less stressful, unhealthy learning environment for students and staff.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, many see PSLE as a high-pressure sorting examination that determines the future of their children. Some will settle for nothing less than the very top secondary schools whilst others fear their children being placed into undesirable academic streams.
The PSLE T-score is used for admission into secondary schools and academic streams notwithstanding the DSA (Direct School Admission) exceptions. I call this a sorting method using a single score to sort students into schools.
MOE is currently reviewing the PSLE. There are two ways to view this. The first is to explore how to modify the examinations and results reporting and how secondary schools will use this for admission. Currently, PSLE is held over a few days. There is no consideration for how the child had performed throughout primary school. One can argue, for continuous assessment and add school scores to the T-score. But some will feel that schools would not be objective or results can be reported as grades only, so secondary schools will admit based on PSLE grades, school leaving testimonials, CCA achievements and other results. Instead of being a sorting test, PSLE then becomes a signalling tool. It signals the ability of the child in each subject and the secondary school has the discretion for other consideration.
The second way is to do away with the need for PSLE. Last year, I propose for pilot schools with a 10-year integrated programme from Primary 1. This is to cater for parents like myself who do not think it is critical to send my children to top schools and that students of different abilities can mix together. I am happy to note that Mr Laurence Lien and Ms Denise Phua had made similar calls. I appreciate that this is an emotive issue. Over the years, we have sorted students finally at various junctures of schooling and branded and banded
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schools to an extreme.
I am for a system like Finland where students of all abilities progress through the same schools and all schools are about the same. However, this may take a while for our parents to accept. We can start with eight such schools, two for each zone. Meanwhile, we can destress PSLE by changing it into a signalling tool and spread students of different abilities across schools.
Lastly, I hope MOE can review the DSA system, especially DSA of GEP students into top independent schools.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar: Madam, I applaud the recent changes by the Ministry such as abolishing the ranking bands of schools and revising the Master Plan of Awards, among other initiatives. These are clear signals that our education system places less emphasis on awards and more on the process of learning in schools, in the spirit of celebrating the diversity of talents of our students and in ensuring multiple pathways of excellence.
While these measures are very much welcomed, I would like to advocate that streaming at the secondary school level be abolished altogether. I have raised this before and I would like to urge the Ministry to institute a similar system as what we have at the primary school level – where students take subjects either at the Standard or Foundation level. Hence, for secondary schools, let all students take subjects either at the academic level, for example, which leads to the GCE \"O\" Level, or at the vocational level, which leads to the GCE \"N\" Level.
Without being confined to only the subjects offered within a specific academic stream. A student may then have a secondary school leaving certificate of both \"O\" Level and \"N\" Level subjects taken. This allows greater flexibility for secondary school students to take subjects at the level they are comfortable at and can flourish in. Our students can continue to be taught in different bands for different subjects, based on their ability but we will be able to institute a more effective form of differentiated learning in our classrooms. This may alleviate some of the stress that students and parents face at the PSLE because of the misplaced fear of not wanting to be in certain academic streams at the secondary school level.
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While streaming has been useful in the past in helping teachers carry out differentiated teaching with a more targeted and efficient use of resources, we must also recognise as students develop at different rates – and if we continue to pigeon-hole them in specific academic streams – we risk fulfilling the Pygmalion effect negatively, in particular, for slower progress students. I would urge the Ministry to consider this, as I see it as a first step to greater inclusivity in our schools.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, while MOE wants every school to be a good school, there is great disparity in results between schools. The highest and lowest medium PSLE T-scores amongst schools last year are 247 and 160 respectively, a difference of 87.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew had observed that admission to primary schools is based on the social class of parents. Six out of 10 pupils in six of the top primary schools live in private houses. But it is useful to review the Primary 1 admission system. It is a stressful process for some; shifting house and doing volunteer work to get their children into top schools. I agree that priority should be given to those with siblings already in the school for the sake of convenience. Beyond that, we can consider a system with higher balloting chances for alumni, school volunteers and those living near the school. But it need not guarantee their position over others like in the phase system today.
I feel community leaders need not be given priority. Being a community leader for the purpose of getting into top primary schools does not gel with the spirit of community service. With the change, we can have a better mix of students of different social backgrounds in our schools, allowing better integration among pupils.
I hope MOE can better spread resources across schools, reduce class size and review the need to centralise gifted students into top schools, then it may not be as much stress over which primary schools to enter.
Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol) (In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Some Members of Parliament and I have spoken about the issue of Edusave. I have suggested that personal Edusave be given to all Singaporean students in private schools, at least for students that come under the Compulsory Education Act. This suggestion was rejected by MOE on the
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basis that these students are considered to be private school students and are not eligible for personal Edusave grants.
However, this reasoning is contrary to the Government's move to provide subsidies to private school students at the tertiary level. The Government provided the subsidy on the basis that they are Singapore citizens who will serve the nation. Can we not use the same reasoning to provide Edusave to all Singaporean students, regardless of whether they are in public or private schools?
Madam, I think that it is difficult for Singaporeans in general to understand why Singaporean students in private schools cannot receive Edusave, while public funds are also being used to provide scholarships to non-Singaporean students from ASEAN countries to study here.
In fact, my appeal for the Government to help students in private schools is reasonable, because assistance is also given to private firms through the Wage Credit Scheme, Inclusive Growth Scheme, Best Sourcing and other schemes.
I am of the view that Singaporeans who are studying in private schools should be helped so that they have a good opportunity for education. As someone who is experienced in the education field, I have seen for myself how Edusave can help a student to broaden his mind and his educational opportunity.
Madam, the amount that the Government has set aside to provide Edusave to private school students is not much. For example, the madrasahs can only take in 400 students each year. In fact, the madrasahs have already made changes and adjustments to their curriculum in order to fulfil their requirements of compulsory education and ensure that it contains elements that are relevant in terms of national education.
Madam, this Budget aims to make Singapore an inclusive society. Education is a gift and trust that can guide our young children in school as they prepare for adulthood. Therefore, I hope that the Government can provide Edusave to all Singaporean students, especially those students that come under the Compulsory Education Act, so that they can pursue a brighter future for Singapore.
The Chairman: Mr Inderjit Singh is not here. Ms Irene Ng.
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Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: I welcome the bold changes made by the Minister to provide a holistic values-driven education. Indeed, the importance of teaching values to students emerged as the top issues in my dialogues with residents on Our Singapore Conversation platforms.
One resident related this anecdote. A top student was asked what she wanted to be after she grew up. She answered, \"I want to be a doctor.\" She was then asked, \"Why a doctor?\" She replied, \"To make a lot of money.\" My resident lamented that if this top student had the right values, she would have replied, \"To heal the sick, to help the poor.\"
I am not sure if we can teach our students such selfless values of service in school, given the materialistic and consumerist culture which surrounds them, but we must try. In fact, we should redouble our efforts to inculcate the right values from a young age to counter the culture of entitlement and class consciousness. Indeed, a key mission of our education system must be to educate individuals to take responsibility for shaping a better community, a better country, even a better world.
While academic results are important, we must also place emphasis upon service and resolving community problems and thinking about global problems. If taught in an impactful way, such attitudes will last a lifetime. To be effective, we need educators who teach out of conviction. Their skills and knowledge matters, but the most important is conviction. We need parents to support this, to reinforce these values at home. Better still, to set the example.
Closely related to service is respect. It entails a sense of fair treatment, decency, and beyond the realm of individual civility, also a respect for the history, language, and culture of the people represented in the classroom. It is important to teach our children to respect and value diversity, as well as the contributions of all workers, be it doctors, social workers or cleaners, regardless of how much they may be paid.
The values of service, inclusion and respect build a foundation for children to grow into caring, open and responsible citizens. These values are increasingly important as our society becomes more complex and globalised.
Can the Minister give an update of MOE's plans and programmes for values-learning and character-building, and how it will better equip our
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teachers, and engage parents for active support?
The Minister for Education (Mr Heng Swee Keat): Mdm Chairperson, I would like to thank Members for sharing their views and constructive suggestions on education and speaking with such passion, starting with Mr Lim Biow Chuan. I share your passion for doing better. In fact, I am very happy to see many of our students here in the gallery watching this debate intensely. You are our future.
Over the past seven months, we have engaged many Singaporeans, including students and over 5,000 educators, to discuss our nation's future and how education can help us get there. Your voices echo the passion that many have heard in Our Singapore Conversation.
I have heard many rich and varied discussions firsthand. Through the Conversation, many Singaporeans have re-affirmed the strengths of our education system, and advocated that we build on them. But many participants also noted that there are areas where we must continue to recalibrate, and even to take a fresh approach.
Allow me to touch on three areas today: first, reaffirming our commitment to provide the best opportunities for every child. These efforts include preschool education, levelling-up all our students, expanding post-secondary options, and supporting students with special needs. Second, recalibrating towards a holistic education centred on values. And third, refreshing our approaches to achieve our basic goals of education.
Let me first reaffirm the Government's commitment to provide opportunities for all our children to excel. This is important to building a more inclusive society; and it is important to enabling our students and our young people to seize opportunities and access high quality jobs, as we restructure our economy.
The Minister for Finance outlined a number of key MOE initiatives in the Budget Speech, including expanding school-based student care centres, developing online resources, and expanding the Opportunity Fund. MOE will provide details on these at a later date.
I fully agree with my parliamentary colleagues that our education system must provide opportunities and Mr Lim Biow Chuan spoke on this right at the onset. Indeed, over the decade, the Government has almost doubled the
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investment in education – from $6.5 billion in 2003, to $11.6 billion this year. These investments have supported three broad changes in our education system.
First, we have invested more in developing well-rounded students who can think creatively and independently. Recent results in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) showed our students doing well but, more importantly, doing better in reasoning and analysis. And as Members can see from the chart, Singapore is at the top in Primary 4 reading, Primary 4 Mathematics, Primary 4 Science, Secondary 2 Mathematics and Secondary 2 Science – right there among the best performing systems in the world.
Second, students now have more choices at all levels through the many more pathways to develop their abilities and interests. At the secondary level, we have a diversity of schools with niches and programmes, catering to a wide range of talents and interests. At the post-secondary level, we have more options at the polytechnics and ITE, with better facilities and programmes. And at the university level, we are also expanding options.
Third, we have raised the number and quality of our teaching professionals. We now employ 30% more teachers than a decade ago and are investing more in their professional development. Experienced principals and skilful teachers are distributed across our schools, so that all our schools will be good schools.
I thank Mr Lim Biow Chuan for speaking on the importance of good teachers and, earlier, Ms Low Yen Ling and Mr Yee Jenn Jong also spoke about class size and teachers. Indeed, the additional teachers that we have and the additional resources that we have, have translated into better pupil-teacher ratio. In 2012, our primary schools have a pupil-teacher ratio of 14:2 compared to 25:9 in 2000, just 12 years ago. In secondary school, our pupil-teacher ratio is 17:6 compared to 19:2 in 2000. Our pupil-teacher ratio is comparable across, or comparable with OECD average, and better than the UK and Korea.
Now, I will touch on how schools are using these additional teaching resources to help students level up. Now, this higher quality of education throughout our system from primary to secondary to post-secondary, allows us to provide better opportunities for all our students today.
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Less than 1% of each cohort do not complete secondary education compared to 5% just 10 years ago. More than 94% of each cohort progress to post-secondary education compared to 86% a decade ago. This is a significant achievement but is this enough for the future? Today, around 30% of our economically active adults over the age of 50 do not have anything more than a primary school education. Many find it very hard to upgrade or retrain for better jobs. As Members of Parliament, we see many of our residents in this group seeking help.
In the next 20, 30, 40, 50 years, we do not know how the world will turn out but the best guess is that the pace of change is going to be even faster. So, we must take a long-term view of education.
To enable Singaporeans to continually learn, unlearn and relearn, every child needs a strong foundation for lifelong learning. MOE will aim for every student in our schools to complete secondary education and we want our students to then go on to pursue a post-secondary qualification. The only way to reach every one of our students in this effort is to ensure that every school is a good school, delivering good programmes for the majority of our students. On top of this, we must also enhance our efforts to level up all our students who may need additional help because we want every Singaporean to succeed.
Now, thankfully, we are doing this from a position of strength. In the most recent TIMSS and PIRLS study – and international benchmarking study – only about 1% to 4% of students in Singapore fell below the \"low\" benchmark of competence across all grades – Primary 4 and Secondary 2 subjects. This is significantly better than what we achieved a decade ago and far better than the international average of 12% to 27%. This is no mean achievement. But 1% to 4% is still too many for us. We must aim to do better.
To do this, we must start young. The Prime Minister said at the National Day Rally in August last year that we will invest substantial resources in preschool education. The Deputy Prime Minister Tharman also spoke about this in this year's Budget speech.
Dr Lily Neo made a strong pitch for good preschool education earlier. Indeed, a good preschool education helps a child to develop self-confidence and social skills; to nurture value such as sharing, taking turn and being responsible; to build a good foundation for the learning of languages; and, to develop the disposition for learning, such as curiosity and the courage to try
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new things.
Let me emphasise that the value of a good kindergarten education is not in learning academic content. Our children should have a holistic development through a quality kindergarten education. This is especially important for those from the lower income groups who may need more support.
To provide opportunities and to enhance social mobility, we must help all our children start well in life, and the Government will invest significantly more in preschool. I recognise many parents have urged the Government to nationalise the preschool sector; many Members, too. Mr Zainudin Nordin had said this as early as a decade ago. And in the earlier Budget debate, we heard Mr Christopher de Souza making the same point, and earlier, Ms Denise Phua as well.
Today, we have a diversified kindergarten and childcare sector – commercial operators, anchor operators and VWOs. Each brings a certain value. I know of several educators who have set up kindergartens to pursue their deep conviction in the value of early childhood education, and have built up innovative programmes. I respect their dedication and the diversity and choices they offer to parents. The diversified landscape serves parents well today. Our most important priority now is to work together to raise the quality.
Arising from the work of the Implementation Committee for Enhancing Preschool Education (ICEPE) which Mr Chan Chun Sing and I co-chair, there are five areas of focus for uplifting the quality of preschool education. Of these five areas, MOE will take the lead in three. First, we will continue to develop the kindergarten curriculum and educators' guides, and share teaching and learning resources with operators. This complements the revised curriculum framework for kindergartens. Second, we will leverage on the existing programmes in our institutes of higher learning to provide high quality training and professional development for kindergarten-level teachers. Third, MOE will run some kindergartens.
For a start, MOE will set up 15 pilot kindergartens in the next three years. Five of these will enrol K1 children in January 2014. Some of these will be located in primary schools, some in community sites. All will be within HDB heartlands. These kindergartens will, first and foremost, provide a quality education that will be affordable to Singaporeans. Our specialists will develop teaching and learning resources and best practices to enhance the children's learning. We will also work with other preschool centres that offer good
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programmes to study different approaches. Best practices that are scalable, sustainable and suitable for the Singapore context will be distilled and shared with other preschool operators to catalyse improvements across the sector.
I must emphasise at the outset that this is a pilot programme. MOE believes that we can leverage on our resources to provide quality kindergartens and act as a catalyst for the entire sector. Given the growing demand for quality kindergartens, MOE is prepared to go beyond our 15 pilot centres. But how far and how fast MOE proceeds will depend on our experience and assessment of it, and the feedback from parents. As it is, MOE has heavy responsibilities and an expansion into providing affordable, quality kindergartens in the heartlands is a significant undertaking. MOE will not undertake this lightly unless there is strong public support for it, and unless our assessment is that we are creating significant value for parents and children. There are also important logistical and staffing issues that we will need to look into.
We will, therefore, gather the views of the public and the various stakeholders as we formulate plans for the medium term. Meanwhile, MOE and MSF will continue to work together with other operators through the newly formed Early Childhood Development Agency to expand capacity and raise standards, while keeping fees affordable for the majority of Singaporeans. We will announce details of the first five locations and admission procedures in about two weeks, and Senior Minister of State Indranee will provide further details on some of our other efforts while MSF will elaborate on the other two areas of focus. So, I thank Ms Low Yen Ling for pointing out the many tasks ahead for the early childhood development agency.
Building a good foundation at the kindergarten level is an important initiative in developing engaged learners. Let me now speak about how at the next stage our schools will equip our students to succeed. I want to thank Dr Lily Neo for her suggestions on how we can level up
Students enter primary school with different dispositions and readiness for learning. Sometimes, this is due to learning difficulties. But often, it is a lack of home and parental support for learning. Some parents are keen to help but do not know how; others are preoccupied with making ends meet or with family problems. Some students come to school with low expectations of what they can achieve and are not putting in enough effort.
To address this, MOE will embark on a comprehensive programme to level-up our students. This will help every Singaporean child regardless of family
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background, start from a quality kindergarten and then build a strong foundation in the 10 years of primary and secondary education. This is especially important for students from disadvantaged backgrounds or who need more dedicated support.
These levelling-up efforts will be integrated with our overall approach in our schools to develop engaged learners. In other words, it is not a stand-alone programme. Students who need additional help in specific areas will be given more attention and resources. When they have achieved the baseline mastery, they will be taught using other learning approaches. This is a student-centric approach, in the spirit of what educators call \"differentiated teaching\", or in Chinese, 因材施教.
Our levelling-up efforts will nurture engaged learners through four prongs, let me speak on each of these in turn. The first prong is building confidence and the motivation to achieve. This is the core of learning. A child must feel that \"Yes, I want to do it\"; and \"Yes, I CAN do it\". A teacher must set suitable challenges, and help each child experience success. We must create a virtuous cycle of effort-success-confidence-effort. Effort leading to success; success leading to confidence; and, confidence leading to more effort. This is especially important for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. So, we need effort from all parties.
First, building confidence at preschool levels, and extending this in our schools. And we will infuse this in our school curriculum, CCAs and Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) curriculum
Second, working with school-based Student Care Centres (SCCs) to reinforce the efforts of our schools for students who need extra support, not just ensuring that they do homework but nurturing a resilience to succeed.
Third, we will intensify partnerships with parents, self-help groups and community organisations. Parents play a critical role. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi will elaborate on this later.
The second prong is building literacy and numeracy foundations. In our preschools, MOE already provides literacy assistance to 250 preschool centres. This helps children from lower income backgrounds who are from a non-English speaking environment. This is done through one-on-one sessions or in small groups. Over the next two years, we will provide this assistance to another 100 preschool centres. The Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism will
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catalyse preschool bilingualism efforts. Such efforts will help our children build a strong foundation in English and their Mother Tongue languages from young.
In our schools, we are helping all our students learn through better research-based methods – STELLAR for English language and literacy and the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract for numeracy. For the Mother Tongue languages, students learn through appropriate modules and methods that take into account their linguistic abilities and their home language environment. For students who start primary school with weaker foundations in literacy and numeracy, we have the Learning Support Programmes for English and Mathematics.
We will now take a further major step – to provide specialised help to more students so that they can achieve a higher level of baseline competency in literacy and numeracy, from primary school all the way to secondary school. As these students learn in different ways and at a different pace, we will implement several learning programmes and novel teaching approaches to engage them. This will level up our students at zero cost to them. Students from lower income families, which many of you have spoken about, will get the extra support they need from our schools.
Schools can choose from a menu of approaches and programmes. For example, different teaching methods. Learning algebra can be too abstract for many students. Understanding the meaning and manipulating expressions with numbers, x's and y's, can be challenging. So, some teachers are using learning aids like the AlgeDisc in Bedok View Secondary School. With your permission, Madam, may I display a video on the LED screen on this?
A second approach is to use different teaching arrangements. For children who lack confidence and need more structure, schools may provide small group teaching, and break the learning task into smaller parts. This is used, for example, to support English literacy at Da Qiao Primary School. It is always so much more interesting to watch what our kids do than to hear me speak. So, I hope that that gives you a good break. But if you notice, in the first class, using the AlgeDisc, there were two teachers and, in the second video, there were eight students to one teacher. This is how we are using resources to make impact.
A third area is online resources, and Ms Denise Phua spoke passionately about this earlier on and I agree with her. In fact, online interactive resources
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can be used to help strengthen language skills which can be integrated into lessons and accessed by our students at their own time and pace that are suited to their learning needs. And we will explore how we can use online resources more extensively.
Having piloted these approaches in several schools, we will progressively implement these and other similar initiatives in schools in the next two years.
The third prong is skilful teachers. We will resource our schools with skilful teachers to do this well. Schools with a greater need will have more teachers deployed to them. Our teachers will also work with our specialists to constantly improve these programmes and approaches through action research, and determine the relative effectiveness of each of these for different students.
MOE will launch a comprehensive training programme for the primary and secondary school teachers who will lead this effort. This will enable them to better identify the learning gaps of their students, and to customise how they teach.
So, I fully agree with Dr Intan's call for MOE to provide specialised training for teachers of Normal (Technical) students. She gave a very passionate account of her teaching experience and, like her, we recognise that students often improve because they are motivated by their teachers who also provide them with socio-emotional support.
Teachers who are deployed to teach Normal (Technical) students will be provided with a range of pre-service and in-service training, both at The Academy of Singapore Teachers and through peer learning via Professional Learning Communities in and across schools. And we will continue to study how we can further improve this and I welcome Dr Intan's suggestions.
The fourth prong is a whole-school approach. This comprehensive levelling-up effort will build on initiatives announced at last year's COS, such as the expansion of Student Care Centres in schools and significant moves to increase support to students from less advantaged backgrounds in our schools. These include the enhancements to the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme and school-based financial assistance scheme, the Edusave Merit Bursary, and the School Breakfast Programme. I am happy to report that I have met many of these students who have benefited from these schemes, as well as their parents, and these are well-used and well-appreciated.
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But as our comprehensive programme to level up our students is being rolled out, there are students who are about to complete secondary schools, and they will not have the opportunity to benefit from this effort. Instead, we will pilot a programme in ITE – the Extended Nitec Foundation Programme (e-NFP) to help these students build up their literacy and numeracy skills during their Nitec years and to enable them to complete their Nitec course. The aim is not to extend their stay in ITE – rather, it is to give them an opportunity to go further.
Let me summarise what this levelling-up programme is about. When fully rolled out, this comprehensive programme for levelling up students will ensure that any student who needs additional help to achieve a strong foundation in numeracy and literacy will get it. We will have added a range of differentiated learning programmes and teaching approaches that are better than simply reducing their class size. We will provide training to all teachers who need it. On top of this, we will deploy 600 more teachers. MOE's priority is to allocate our teaching resources to where they can make a major difference.
I want to thank many members of the public, as well as educators, who, in Our Singapore Conversation, wanted a Singapore that provides opportunities for all, and a society that takes care of those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Their inputs provided important inspiration.
The purpose of this levelling-up effort is simple. It is about providing the best opportunities for every child to succeed, regardless of their background and pace of development. Every child has the potential and power to succeed in school and in life if he or she puts in the effort. The new initiatives are to ensure that every child fulfils his or her potential. Special attention is given to those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is about hope. It is about inclusion.
Having equipped our students with a strong foundation, we will continue to do more to ensure a range of attractive options at the post-secondary level. We have established world-class polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). With the opening of ITE College Central in Ang Mo Kio this year, we have completed the transformation of ITE to \"One ITE System, Three Colleges\".
We are further diversifying options for university. The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) will become an autonomous university, and SIM University (UniSIM) will start to offer Government-funded full-time degree programmes. They will have many new programmes to suit different interests, passions and
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learning styles. Ms Mary Liew spoke about access to university places earlier, and Senior Minister of State Indranee will elaborate on our efforts in the Higher Education sector later.
MOE will also continue to support children with special needs. We have progressively increased Government funding to special education (SPED) schools. Indeed, MOE funding per student to the special school is much more than in the mainstream school. MOE also provides professional support to SPED schools to refine, customise and implement their curriculum. Guidance support for parents has also been enhanced.
We will continue to support children with mild special needs in our mainstream schools. All primary schools are staffed with at least one allied educator in learning and behavioural support, and all schools have a core group of teachers trained in supporting students with special needs.
In primary schools, we are piloting remediation support for students with dyslexia because it is a condition that has good prognosis and affects many students. Results of the pilot are encouraging, and we will expand this programme to twice as many schools this year.
As we work on different approaches to teaching and learning in our schools, we will share these with SPED schools, and see how these can be usefully adapted. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Sim Ann will elaborate on our efforts for students with special needs.
Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Government to extend Edusave to students who are studying in full-time madrasahs. Having Singaporean children enrolled in national schools allows them to share a common educational experience and forge a national identity. However, the Government also recognises that madrasahs play an important role in training religious teachers for the Muslim community. MOE currently provides support on teaching resources and training for madrasahs through MUIS, but we note the concerns raised by Mr Zainal and will study this issue further.
Let me now move on to talk about how we need to recalibrate towards holistic education centred on values. Ms Irene Ng spoke passionately on the importance of values education and that the right attitudes last a lifetime. I fully agree with her.
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At Our Singapore Conversation, many Singaporeans have also surfaced the desire for broader definitions of success in our society, and that our students must acquire the skills and competencies to benefit from the quality economic growth that we are pursuing. Many participants also want to see a society with diverse definitions of success.
We will continue to emphasise holistic development of our students. Let me share briefly how this is happening in our schools.
I recently visited Gan Eng Seng Primary School, and saw how changes introduced in recent years have significantly changed the way our students learn. Guided by the belief that the environment is the third teacher, the school has created a rich learner-centred environment. The Arts Jam stage allows pupils to come forward to perform and, in the process, they develop their confidence and talents. During my visit, students sang with gusto. A big group of pupils was dancing to the Gangnam Style tune in the school canteen during recess. They invited me to join them but, thankfully, they spared me. Outdoor education learning areas, such as the bouldering wall and the Outdoor Education Space, are also designed as learning spaces. Pupils in Gan Eng Seng Primary School come from the neighbourhood, and they exude confidence. It was joyful for me and the teachers to see them enjoying their school experience.
This is not just happening in Gan Eng Seng Primary School, but in many other schools, too – many of which parents may not know about. And MOE will do more to publicise what are being done in our various schools. In addition, our schools will continue to emphasise character and values education. I am very heartened that this is something that resonates strongly with Singaporeans, as well as with our educators.
During Our Singapore Conversation, many have talked about a more caring and cohesive Singapore with a strong \"kampung spirit\" − a Singaporean society anchored on values, where we have a greater sense of togetherness and community, and also share a stronger national identity.
Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) in schools is progressing well, and will remain a key emphasis going forward. This does not just take place in specific \"CCE periods\" but across a range of subjects and activities, through a whole-school approach. For instance, through \"Values in Action\", students learn values through sustained community involvement. I have many examples of
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how this \"Values in Action\" is being done in schools, but I shall not get into the details here. What I say is that we will enhance our support to schools for CCE.
First, we will develop a core group of CCE teacher mentors in each school who are equipped with the knowledge and skills to lead in the whole-school CCE efforts. Second – and I think many Members will welcome this – we will bring back a refreshed \"好公民\" series of textbooks, now called \"好品德, 好公民\". We will have similar versions in the Malay and Tamil languages, as you can see on the screen. It has been updated with Singapore stories and lessons that will resonate with students' experiences in life, and suggested activities for parents to get involved.
Indeed, parents play the key and decisive role in developing values and character in our children. We will strengthen partnership with parents and the community. Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi will provide an update.
A continued focus on CCE will stand Singapore in good stead as we face new challenges together. It can help nurture the Singaporean that participants at the OSC have said they wish to see in the future. In the words of one participant: \"A Singaporean, confident yet humble and generous in heart. Always seeking to learn and improve. Dignified and respectful but also assertive in voicing his or her concerns in a sensible way.\"
Let me now speak on the theme of refreshing our approaches to achieve our basic goals of education, and how we need to get back to basics and look at the fundamentals.
Over the years, we have evolved our education system to enable Singaporeans to have a better future. Our mission has not changed; however, how MOE goes about achieving it has. Since 2011, we have shifted towards a student-centric, values-driven education and are striving to make every school a good school.
Character and Citizenship Education is receiving greater attention. And as many of you have noted, this shift has received good feedback from Singaporeans, and good support from many educators and parents.
In this COS, I have provided an outline of some very important measures that we have launched to level up our students. Our education system must always provide hope – and what is more − provide hope for ALL.
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Looking ahead, there is much more that we need to do. But, first, we must recognise and consider a few key trends.
(a) The fast-changing global situation – there are many more millions joining the global marketplace, each wanting a better life; and technology is driving changes faster than ever. In education, we need to equip our next generation to be highly skilled but also flexible and adaptable. Excellence remains a relevant goal but we need to be broader in how we define and measure merit. And excellence and merit in any individual student need to be twinned with an ethical dimension of integrity and social responsibility.
(b) Our society is now more developed than before, and high social mobility will become harder to achieve. Naturally, successful parents will strive to give their children a leg up. Our education system must continue to provide opportunities for all, regardless of their parents' position. We must remain inclusive and provide opportunities for our children from different backgrounds to grow up together.
(c) Our expectations and aspirations are much higher today than ever. We are a very competitive people. Indeed, in many of the meetings and discussions I go to, we are not just content to be just happy – we want to be the happiest people on earth. In some ways, this trait is very endearing. Yet it also means that we sometimes set very difficult and contradictory goals for ourselves. We need to be easier on ourselves and focus on what really matters and strive for balance.
(d) Our ageing population, and tightening labour market as a result of that, will make it harder to attract and retain the right people – people with a heart for teaching and who will go the extra mile for our children. So, much as we have a long-term goal of investing in our teaching force, to make each teacher highly skilled, our young people have many career options – and, indeed, we educate them so that they can have these options.
These trends are very relevant to the next phase of Our Singapore Conversation on education. We face the complex challenges that many Members have spoken about passionately, from stress, tuition and examinations to streaming.
Let me deal with some of these challenges. These challenges are complex because there are no easy answers. There are significant trade-offs among the multiple objectives. Some changes may benefit one group while another may
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feel they would lose out. What may seem good in the short term may bring adverse consequences later. And given how the different parts of our system are linked to each other, we cannot simply change one part without affecting another.
We also have to remember that education is always a complex issue because it is tied deeply to our values as a people. We can, indeed, learn from other systems. We should be humble enough to learn and to pick the best practices; and, in effect, we have done so, including from Finland that many of you spoke about. But we cannot borrow wholesale as our context is different. We have to challenge our mindsets, and decide on what matters most to each of us.
We have to go back to the basics, and ask what we want to see in our children as they grow up, beyond just academic grades. For a start, much as our system is not perfect, it is studied by many nations all over the world – not only for what we do for our high achievers but also for how we uplift all our students.
Indeed, MOE's mission has been and continues to be to deliver a quality education, not just in a handful of good schools and universities, but to more than half a million students in schools and over 100,000 students in our institutes of higher learning.
Our success so far in equipping Singaporeans to meet the challenges of the future is a deep strength; and the strength which many nations would love to have. The challenges we are grappling with, therefore, need to be always viewed in perspective, so that we do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. But we shall not cease exploring how we can build even better schools, institutions and universities.
I am very encouraged by the many voices we have heard in Our Singapore Conversation, including from over 5,000 educators in the first phase. From what we have heard so far, including views which have been articulated in this House, I discern two key areas where we need more in-depth conversations. First, many parents and students feel that our education system is too focused on examinations and grades. This excessive focus has several consequences. Some of you have highlighted these. Let me add to the list for completeness.
First, it may come at the expense of the development of well-rounded individuals, including the character and values of the student, which ultimately
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matters most. It may come at the expense of learning, as students \"study to the test\" and teachers respond by \"teaching to the test\", rather than to stimulate curiosity and a love for learning. Students may choose subjects and, indeed, schools may offer subjects, based on how easy it is to score good grades, rather than on their intrinsic value. And the recent debate over literature which Ms Janice Koh brought up is a case in point.
Other forms of talent – in the arts, sports, music, leadership ability, applied skills using both hands and head, and so on – are not sufficiently recognised. We should not just have an examination-based meritocracy. Rather, we should have a talent-centric meritocracy that recognises talent in a wide range of areas.
A major consequence of a single-minded focus on examinations is stress, in particular, stress related to competition and high-stake examinations, such as the PSLE, which Ms Denise Phua and several others have spoken about. Mr Lim Biow Chuan, indeed, started this debate by speaking vividly of stress. Now you know why the Minister for Education is also very stressed just listening to you.
Indeed, some mothers, I believe including some in this House, take leave for an entire year or more to help their children prepare for the PSLE. Many see entry into top schools as critical to their children's future, and prepare their children very early – some as early as kindergartens, and even sending them to two kindergartens. Many compete to get a place in popular primary schools, or spend significantly on tuition, as Mr Low had also mentioned. Others worry about their children being streamed into Normal streams, and suffer from the labelling and stigma associated with it. Some teachers, who are committed to helping their students succeed, may give a lot of homework or set tests that are difficult, to stretch their students, but all with good intent. I appreciate the stress that parents, students and educators feel. This is an important issue.
Some are also concerned about the effects of competition. Successful students may develop a narrow, competitive mindset. They may come to believe that: \"I have succeeded because I have worked hard, so I deserve nothing but the best for myself.\" While there are concerns about high-stake examinations, I have also heard other views, and there are others who see merit in the current system. Many feel that the current system sets clear standards. Many students have told me that examiantions challenge them to learn better. Teachers use examinations to determine students' mastery of the different subjects, and tailor their teaching strategies accordingly. In a public education system, examinations provide us with a standardised measure of progression and achievement, and ensure accountability across the system to uphold
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rigorous standards. In fact, this is one of the reasons why public examinations started. It also provides an objective way of determining entry into the next level of education. And in Singapore, examinations have helped assure a very high average among our students. That is why our students, even those who have got average, perform so well when they go overseas.
Some countries, such as the UK, Japan and Korea, and some states in the US that abolished examinations or made these easier, are now reversing course. Their experience has been that while removing examinations was popular and brought short-term relief, over time, insidiously, standards fall. They are now concerned that their youths are not equipped to compete in the global market place. And I should note that the people who suffer the most when educational standards drop in these countries are not the best students but the average students. That is why in some places, they say that while they may have high peaks, they also have deep valleys.
As for the stress that comes with high-stake examinations, many have also observed that some amount of stress is almost unavoidable. While excessive and prolonged stress is bad, a right amount of stress can bring out the best in each of us. But what is the optimal depends on each individual.
Some parents have also said that some amount of competition is necessary – it is a reality of working life, and equipping our students to learn this early in life strengthens them for the future.
Indeed, this issue of stress and competition is not unique to Singapore. Some Members may have read that in New York, parents queue up to admit their children into high-end kindergartens, while in a recent report in the UK, rich parents pay up to £80,000 a year or S$150,000 to hire \"well-qualified private tutors\".
The common position is that we all want our children to get ahead in life, whether in Singapore or anywhere else in the world. The higher the aspiration, the greater the drive. The question we have to ask is: what exactly will ensure that our children can get ahead and be successful in the face of global competition, and not just relative to other Singaporeans?
The second area that some Members mentioned, but not as much, is that of opportunities, social mobility and inclusion. Some parents are concerned
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that without tuition, their children cannot cope, or cannot do well enough to excel.
Others like Ms Mary Liew spoke about this earlier – those whose children are doing well want them to do even better and procure all sorts of tuition and enrichment classes to help them advance. Some are concerned that in some schools, students tend to come from similar socio-economic backgrounds and have similar academic abilities. Without the opportunity to interact with students from different backgrounds and academic abilities, our students may not develop empathy, and our society may lose its cohesiveness.
Some have also cautioned that if we mix up our students too much, it will be harder to cater to the learning needs of different groups. We will lose our peaks of excellence and also fail to support those who may fall behind without different approaches.
I have given a long list of issues and viewpoints. Let me summarise that there are real tensions and differences in views among parents and educators. Some want rigorous examinations so as to maintain standards and accountability, while others want a well-rounded, holistic education that calibrates stress so as to bring out the best in each student, and create multiple opportunities for individuals to excel within a more inclusive system.
I have been thinking long and hard about these issues and we have had many sessions with our educators on these. Before we change our major policies, we must get back to fundamentals.
First, re-affirm the basic goals of education; and, second, in the light of the changing circumstances I outlined earlier and the differences in views, the fundamental strategy of how we will achieve these goals.
In the spirit of the Singapore Conversation, let me highlight some ideas for discussion. On the basic goals of education, allow me to highlight a few for discussion. We must, first and foremost, provide opportunities for every child to actualise his or her full potential, to be the best that he or she can be. And to achieve this, we must:
(a) develop a love for learning, stimulate a lively curiosity about the world around us and the urge to explore and discover;
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(b) develop well-rounded individuals of integrity and sound character with strong social emotional maturity;
(c) build a strong foundation, especially in self confidence, literacy and numeracy, analytical and inventive thinking, communication skills and other 21st century competencies, so as to prepare Singaporeans to be life-long learners and succeed in a more globally competitive environment; and
(d) develop the abilities and interests in each child, so that he or she may go on in life to pursue these interests with passion, realise his or her aspirations, and have a fulfilling career.
Second, to nurture in each child a sense of responsibility to his fellow human beings, and a sense of commitment and loyalty to Singapore and fellow Singaporeans, so that he or she can contribute to taking Singapore forward.
To realise these goals, we have to re-think the fundamental approaches in tandem with changes in policy. First, we have to see education as a life-long journey, not a destination. It is an exciting journey of continual learning, discovery and mastery, not a competitive sprint.
This means learning the right things at the right time. For instance, the early years are about building the disposition for learning and discovery. We have to do what is developmentally appropriate at different stages of a child's education. Seeking to hothouse our children when they are in kindergarten and preparing them in advance for primary school generates stress, and then, boredom when they enter primary school.
Second, each child is different – in interests, aptitude and rate of development. Ideally, our system must allow each to learn at his or her own pace, customised to his or her different learning styles. But everyone must be encouraged to put in effort.
Third, we must develop students with a Singapore Heartbeat, with empathy for others, a regard for the common good, and a shared sense of responsibility for Singapore's well-being and future.
In the next phase of Our Singapore Conversation, we can discuss the various policy options. For example, the PSLE serves as an objective benchmark for secondary school posting today. Important questions that we need to
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discuss include:
(a) How do we maintain our rigorous standards and accountability and whether we can allocate all secondary school places without an objective benchmark like the PSLE?
(b) Are there alternative posting systems that are still objective, but can minimise the current over-emphasis on academic results, and enhance social inclusion?
(c) To what extent should choice or proximity to school be a consideration in secondary school posting, as some have suggested?
Mr Gan Thiam Poh suggested that we stop publishing PSLE cut-off points of schools, and, indeed, that can be something that we can look into. Ms Denise Phua spoke about the model of a through train from preschool all the way to secondary school. Mr Yee spoke of some other method.
Let me say that, as another example, streaming at the secondary level allows us to tailor instruction to the abilities and learning styles of our students. But some have questioned if we should re-think whether streaming is absolutely necessary, as Dr Intan had said earlier.
Important questions to discuss in the next phase of Our Singapore Conversation include:
(a) Can we ensure that every child can learn at his or her own pace, if there is no streaming?
(b) Will our schools be even less diverse if we did not have students from the various academic streams?
(ci) Can we replicate what we have done at the primary level, such as subject-based banding, at the secondary level? And that was the specific suggestion of Dr Intan.
All these can be discussed and debated thoroughly. I want to say that whatever we do, we must be deliberate and thoughtful about what we need to change, how fast we can change, and how far we can sustain these changes.
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We must have the resources to sustain any change.
I have been watching the debate on resources in various countries. Countries that have started with a big bang have now had to make very painful changes in order to cut back. Education is a long-term endeavour and always a work-in-progress. The results of our action today, good or bad, are evident only many years down the road. Even as we address current issues, we must be as thoughtful as we possibly can.
It is also critical for us not to see our education system in isolation. Education alone cannot enable Singaporeans to realise our aspirations. If our society fails, the able will emigrate, and the rest of us will be stuck here in failure. But if we stay and move together, we can succeed together.
Education alone cannot give us a good life, and we need to be clear what a good life is. If a good life is simply about getting ahead of others, and achieving the 5Cs – cash, condominium, car, credit card and country club – the competitive pressure in the workplace will define how we as parents and teachers view education.
Then no amount of changes in the education system can alter the reality of each of us chasing after material and positional goods. We cannot have broader definitions of success in education without our society accepting broader definitions of success in life. In many respects, the education system reflects societal norms and expectations.
So, I thank all Members, as well as Singaporeans and educators who have participated in the Our Singapore Conversation sessions, for raising these complex issues. MOE will continue these discussions by organising focused sessions and I look forward to hearing further views.
Madam, allow me to sum up. I have spoken today about providing the best opportunities for every child, starting from quality kindergarten to the levelling-up efforts that we will roll out in our primary and secondary schools, and reiterated the importance of a holistic education centred on values. We have built up a strong education system to develop all our students – and not just a select few – because every child, every Singaporean, is precious.
We constantly seek to improve, to better nurture our next generation, so that they can grow up to become the Singaporeans who will bring about the
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Singapore we aspire towards. And our children are the change we hope for.
Madam, I look forward to many more constructive conversations with my fellow Singaporeans.
The Chairman: I propose to take the break now and resume the Chair of the House.
[(proc text) Thereupon Mdm Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]
Mdm Speaker: Order. 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\t in the Chair]
[(proc text) Debate in Committee of Supply resumed. (proc text)]
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Madam, I believe that in many aspects, Singapore can be held up as a great example of how education can support social mobility. Thanks to the efforts of the Government, and the strong work ethic of Singaporeans, many have worked hard, attained a good education, and thus better jobs. This helps them rise through the social ladder, and achieve a better life for themselves and their families.
But, Madam, the most basic rung of this educational ladder is preschool education. More and more studies have concluded that the quality of preschool
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education is a strong factor in determining how a child performs in later school life. It is, therefore, imperative that our preschool system is both robust and armed with resources to give our children a good start in their school life.
I am not talking about hot-housing our kids so that they can obtain good grades. This is not the answer. What I am talking about is to allow our children time for quality interactions with peers, and with highly motivated teachers who have the skills and passion to make learning fun and develop a child holistically.
Madam, more than 10 years ago, during my maiden speech as a Member in this House, I had questioned the wisdom of Singapore leaving the preschool sector in the hands of the community and the private sector. I had called on MOE to \"take charge\" of the preschool sector. My belief then and even until today is simple and, that is: \"The Ministry of Education can ensure the quality and standards of early childhood education and kindergartens. This is to ensure that a strong foundation is in place when they continue to primary education. The Ministry of Education has an impeccable record, locally and internationally, and I see no reason why we cannot do the same for early childhood education.\" Today, I am, therefore, elated that our Government has taken steps to provide clear guidance and is willing to take the lead towards an improved preschool sector.
But, Madam, they say that the devil is in the details. So, I would like to know what are MOE's concrete plans to improve the quality of preschool education. How would MOE work with the preschool operators to improve and upgrade their operations? What will be done to improve, upgrade and upskill our preschool professionals? We know that it has always been difficult to find motivated and skilled preschool teachers – this is a situation that has persisted for more than 10 years. When there is competition for talent, monetary rewards alone are not sufficient to attract the best talent. We need a holistic package, which includes opportunities for upgrading, advancement and, most importantly, to implement innovative and cutting-edge teaching practices. What does MOE intend to do to attract and retain talent in this field? What more can be done to improve the working conditions and remuneration package of the preschool teachers?
Ms Faizah Jamal (Nominated Member): Madam, I declare my interest as an environment educator and have, on a few occasions, been invited as guest facilitator in early childhood training. I am interested to know what emphasis MOE will place on enhancing outdoor and environment education in the present
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module of environment awareness or \"Discover Your World\" in the preschool education. From my observations as guest facilitator, I feel there is much more that can be done.
Madam, our young people are more connected to the cyber world than the natural world, even as young as age four. We are already at risk of what Richard Louv, in his groundbreaking book called \"Last Child in the Woods\", termed \"nature-deficit disorder\". It is not a medical term. He defines it as \"the human costs of alienation from nature\", among which are diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties and the higher rates of physical and emotional illness. Reports in our local press bear this out, as we read about in the rise in obesity cases and of our kids being stressed out and needing psychiatric help at a very early age.
Louv advocates for outdoor play. He is clear, however, that he does not mean sports or other structured programmes but, rather, unstructured play in natural spaces with proper adult guidance. This nurtures children's innate ability for curiosity, creativity and wonder. Kids learn the inter-connectedness of life and how they have an impact on something bigger than themselves, both positively and negatively. When kids learn to name, touch, taste, smell and feel things in nature, they are more likely to protect them. They learn empathy and compassion, values that will take them to adulthood.
Madam, from my work with young adults, I have seen the power of nature as a values-based educator where even at age 19 or 20, students are able to shape their attitudes towards a more life-enhancing form. If this can happen at this age, then it can be even more powerful at an even younger age.
For this to happen, we need self-aware sensitive adults, who themselves would have first experienced the natural world and who are trained in good facilitation in outdoor and environment education. So, I am advocating that such exposure and skills should include, to name just two, not only properly guided trips but also properly facilitated – and I emphasise \"properly facilitated\" trips – to different habitats like the Bukit Timah forest and Sungei Buloh mangroves for an intimate understanding of the inter-connectedness of systems and how this, in turn, connects to us, human beings, as well as trips to waste management plants to highlight the impact of our consumer lifestyle that we have on our island. In such ways will these preschool teachers be better equipped to create exciting environment programmes for their young charges.
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Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, I declare that I am an Advisory Board member of a Junior College (JC). Observations in this cut are not from that JC. I am concerned with a trend I noted in JC Year 1 promotion examinations, or the promo. There is no universal standard. Some JCs fail more than 50% of students at the promo. There will be a re-test, of which I found that, in some JCs, the number of students retained or left JC after Year 1 is very high. The highest I found is around 200 students in a cohort of 800 Year 1's.
Ironically, it is not the JCs that take in the weakest students that have the highest failing rate. Some are mid-tier JCs taking around the 10-pointers. The high failure rate seems not to be about the students' abilities but the standard imposed by each JC. MOE has left schools to decide their promos. Are standards too high in some? Is high examination failure rate consistent with MOE's vision of holistic development? Is there a need for MOE to moderate?
I also find that there are many who favour the JC route because it seems more prestigious. I commend MOE for making the polytechnics into a viable and respectable path for the skills-inclined students to be able to enter university. Perhaps, this can be communicated more strongly to clear some biasness that polytechnic graduates will find it hard to enter university, and for secondary schools to engage in guidance and counselling to better explain the JC and polytechnic options to students.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh: Madam, MOE's investment in education helps ensure that every child, regardless of family circumstances and background, has access to opportunities. I would like the Minister to consider either setting up a lifelong learning savings account or topping up each child's Edusave account by $2,000 per year up to the age of 20 strictly for the use of his or her university education in future, regardless of whether the university is in Singapore or overseas. This will help alleviate their parents' concern about the child's education cost.
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Madam, the Edusave scheme was started in 1993 to provide equal educational opportunities for school children, including access to enrichment programmes run by the schools. Over the years, its scope
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has been expanded to benefit more students through Edusave awards and scholarships. Correspondingly, enrichment programmes under the Edusave Pupils Fund have also been expanded to include more activities. Some enrichment programmes engage external professional instructors and may come with accredited certification at the end of the course. With this development, many activities do not come cheap anymore. Even taking non-competitive CCA can deplete the Edusave Pupils Fund account rather rapidly. If we factor in the paraphernalia parents sometimes have to buy for their children to support the selected activities, the out-of-pocket expenses for these activities can be a financial burden for low- and middle income families.
I would like to ask MOE what the guidelines are for schools to ensure Edusave money is well utilised, that is, low- and middle income families will not need to fork out additional cash payment for their children to enjoy some of these enrichment programmes. Is there any additional help for children whose Edusave account may not have enough to sign up for such programmes?
Asst Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene (Nominated Member): Madam, I declare my interest as an academic at the Singapore Management University. The tertiary education sector is one where there will always be a need for non-Singaporean faculty members. Not all available positions can be filled by Singaporeans. Demand for academics is greater than the supply of qualified Singaporeans here.
There is also the imperative to hire faculty members to enable our universities to add both breadth and depth to their teaching and research. We must remain open to international talent in the recruitment of students, faculty and staff. However, can the Education Ministry state its position on, and also explain the rationale for, our taxpayer-funded autonomous universities paying foreign faculty members more than equally qualified Singaporeans for doing the same job?
Foreign academics are given housing allowances and education allowances for their children below 18 years of age. The total cost for such a package would vary among our universities. However, a ballpark figure in one such institution could be a difference of about $100,000 annually for a foreign academic with three school-going children between the ages of five and 18.
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I appreciate that this was perhaps necessary two or three decades ago when our universities were seeking to build their international reputations, the Singapore dollar was not as strong as it is today, and Singapore was probably a hardship assignment. But things are vastly different today. Our universities have good and growing international reputations. The Government's unstinting support, especially through capitation grants and research funding, means that the future of tertiary education here is bright. We are in an enviable position when compared with North America, Europe and Australasia where deep funding cuts to the university sector have made higher education there challenging. And our universities pay competitively as well. We now have several academics in our Universities who are paid in excess of $1 million annually.
Why do we perpetuate the differential treatment between Singapore and foreign academics? What signals are we sending to Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans alike with this blatant discrimination on the basis of one's citizenship? This is not a call – I must emphasise – for preferential treatment for Singaporeans. Instead, this is an appeal to the Government and our universities for a level playing field and equal treatment.
A Singapore core is not nurtured through Singaporeans being discriminated against. This is also an appeal to remain staunchly faithful to our ethos of being a meritocracy.
If the allowances for housing and children's education are deemed necessary for foreign faculty members, then Singaporean academics should not be disadvantaged. My greatest concern with this differential and discriminatory treatment is the signal it sends to the tertiary education sector and the Singaporean public. It results in a \"foreigner-is-better\" mentality. Worse, it harks back to a neo-colonial mindset, but one that we impose on ourselves, that Singaporeans are not good enough and that the local talent pool is impoverished. More worryingly, it undermines the Government's declared commitment to develop home-grown expertise that is needed for the long-term development of our tertiary education institutions.
As I said in the debate on the Population White Paper, is it any surprise that a foreign Caucasian dean once declared, \"It makes us a world-class school\", when explaining why a Caucasian was used in an admission prospectus cover photo of a publicly-funded autonomous university. What does it mean to be Singaporean in this case?
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Ms Janice Koh (Nominated Member): Mdm Chair, in a speech addressing the Humanities Educators Conference last year, the Minister for Education spoke about the importance of the Humanities in developing \"21st Century Competencies\" in our students. He listed many good reasons why the Humanities should be part of every student's educational diet, but I was surprised that Literature was left out entirely in his speech.
Literature, of all the subjects we teach in schools, is most directly concerned with good critical thinking, written and verbal communication, cultural understanding, human empathy and imaginative possibilities. The study of Literature requires students to make sense of ambiguous data, multiple or conflicting sources of information and different points of view.
Of all the disciplines on the curriculum, Literature gives us a means to think about not only what is or what was in the world around us, but what could be. Stories, be they in the form of novels, poems or plays, allow us to step outside ourselves and connect with the world much bigger than our own. It, therefore, opens up many avenues to teach ethics and values and helps us understand aspects of sociology, philosophy and history. In a simpler past, you could argue that these cognitive skills might have been less valued. In today's more complex and volatile world, these capabilities have become much more essential. It is no longer enough for us to count on a basic functional understanding of language. Madam, we need Literature.
So, why has Literature enrolment rates at \"O\" and \"N(A)\" Levels been declining in our schools over the years? Madam, with your permission, may I ask the Clerk to distribute some handouts?
The Chairman: Yes, please. [Handouts were distributed to hon Members.]
Ms Janice Koh: Madam, Literature at \"O\" Level saw a significant drop of 81% in enrolment rates between 1992 and 2012. At Normal (Academic) Level, the drop was even more severe – by about 91% over the same period. How did this striking decline come about? When these figures were published, I received a torrent of emails and messages from teachers, students, lecturers and writers offering many explanations.
The most cited reason was the introduction of school rankings in the 1990s, which motivated many schools to concentrate on offering subjects which were
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a better \"guarantee\" of high scores at the critical \"O\" Level examinations. As a result, Literature, which is said to be harder to score in, was shed by many schools and students. This perceived difficulty seems to be a misperception, since pass rates for \"O\" Level Literature are on par with Geography and History, and as many as 40% of those taking Literature earn distinctions.
Literature took a further beating when Combined Humanities was introduced as a compulsory subject in 2001. Social studies had to be paired with either Literature, Geography or History as an Elective. As you can see, the 2012 \"O\" Level enrolment rates show a disproportionate number of students taking Geography and History rather than Literature as an Elective. Some have argued that the nature of the social studies syllabus is better paired with Geography and History, and that these subjects are perceived to be more factual and, therefore, easier to score.
Madam, I have no intention of starting \"subject wars\" between the Humanities. In fact, I am equally disturbed by the tremendous drop in enrolment rates for Full Geography and Full History between 2001 and 2012. My concern is this: has this emphasis on academic performance perpetuated an unhealthy pre-occupation within our educational system to favour subjects with \"model answers\" and 10-year series solutions? If so, what does this say about our priorities in education and is it something the Ministry intends to redress?
I think what we have here is a distortion in the market. Despite the benefits that subjects like Literature bring to the educational diet, schools and students will still shy away from it, if a subject is regarded as optional or secondary to other objectives, such as achieving top grades or top rankings. A vicious cycle then develops. As fewer schools offer Literature and fewer teachers are deployed to teach it, fewer students are able to take the subject, and so on.
Among Literature teachers that I have spoken to, morale has been understandably low. The marginalisation of Literature is felt keenly on the ground. Many who are passionate about it have been deployed to teach other subjects because their schools do not offer Literature at upper secondary, or there are not enough students to fill a class. There are also stories of students who want to take \"O\" Level Literature, but are not able to do so at their school, including Normal (Academic) students, whom I hear are sometimes told that they are not bright enough to do such a \"difficult\" subject.
In response, let me share a story from a Literature teacher who told me about her stint in a neighbourhood school. She says, and I quote, \"Lit lessons
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required three teachers in my school: one to stop students from throwing chairs, one to keep students awake and the last one to deliver the lesson. In such a school, where students come either with no book or a book without a cover, and can barely read two pages because they can't sit still, Lit has given them the opportunity to discuss the issues they face in their own lives, which no other lesson in school gives legitimate time to discuss. That's why school seems irrelevant to them. But when we talk about the educational opportunities and family backgrounds in Mingfong Ho's \"Sing to the Dawn\", these kids suddenly pipe up to champion against sexism, and they respond to issues like the different chances rich and poor people get. How else, apart from Literature, do we engage the students who aren't motivated to learn?\"
Madam, we need Literature. It is high time we give Literature a boost in our schools and I hope MOE will consider some of these suggestions on how we may do so.
First, we need to enhance the teaching of the English Language itself to include literary texts, techniques and skills. Our language use needs to grow up. In most well-developed educational systems around the world, language is not taught without Literature. For example, the New York Regents English examination and the International Baccalaureate are two recognised approaches that incorporate Literature into their language curriculum.
Singapore's new 2010 English Language syllabus encourages the use of rich text. This could serve as a springboard to provide our classrooms with a broad range of literary works. These should be age-appropriate and resonate with our youth. Some schools are already trying to do this by introducing Singapore writing in their classrooms, and they report that students often relate better to home-grown texts.
Second, our teachers need to be further prepared in order for standards of English to advance. Right now, trainee teachers are sometimes asked to teach English even though Language or Literature may not have been their subject of expertise at university. More can be done to prepare our English Language teachers to infuse Literature and \"literary thinking\" into their lessons.
Third, we should consider infusing Literature into Social Studies. There are many literary texts that speak eloquently to the issues at the core of the Singapore story: poems, short stories and plays can capture the Singapore experience and what it means to be Singaporean in ways that a dry textbook cannot. The 2002 Total Defence Campaign for schools, for instance, featured a
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series of Singapore short stories, each encapsulating one aspect of Total Defence, and, I am told, it went down well with the students.
In fact, why not consider folding in all the Humanities into the Combined Humanities subject, so that students benefit from synergies gained from studying Geography with History and with Literature? Indeed, this is how the Classical Humanities themselves were conceived and taught – as a pan-disciplinary study of human relations, endeavour, and expression.
And, finally, we should make sure that all our schools offer Literature as a subject at every level. We may need to create an external teaching academy for Literature, as was done for Third Language studies, to pool together students from different schools that may not individually have enough candidates to run classes.
Madam, please allow me to end with a little story by a Singapore writer Tan Mei Ching titled \"In The Quiet\", which is part of an anthology called \"Telltale\", taught as part of the \"O\" Level Literature syllabus. It is about a young girl who suddenly loses her best friend Audrey in a traffic accident. The school is in shock, but Standard Operating Procedures kick in. The narrator goes through the motions of the funeral, but she finds herself numb. She wants to grieve but her eyes are dry. And as she walks past her form teacher, Mrs C, she thinks – and I quote from the story: \"…it's not that I don't feel sad. Because Mrs C, you only taught us equations and solutions, and I was supposed to know the solution to every problem. I was supposed to learn the ways to solve them, these theoretical numbers and signs and symbols put together.\" You see, her education was incomplete: she lacked the language to come to terms with the enormity of her best friend's death.
The author says this story is based on her true personal experiences. So, she did after all find the words, later in life. Literature is not about just quoting fine words from old books. It is about exploring ways to think the unthinkable, and to express ideas about what is difficult or intractable in life, that cannot always be quantified or solved like an equation. Madam, the world is not about to get any simpler. We need Literature.
Mr Chen Show Mao (Aljunied): Madam, as a Southeast Asian nation, Singapore shares much of our history and heritage with our neighbours. There is much to be gained by closer exchanges between the students of our countries
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and we should offer more opportunities for Singaporean students to do so.
At present, MOE offers an ASEAN scholarship programme to citizens of some ASEAN countries to undertake studies in our local schools at the pre-tertiary and undergraduate levels.
The Minister said that ASEAN scholarships are offered to promising ASEAN students, to \"promote mutual understanding and goodwill in the region\" and that \"ASEAN students add diversity and vibrancy to our educational institutions. Singaporean students, interacting with international students, enjoy the opportunity to learn from other cultures and experiences and become more prepared for the global marketplace.\"
Madam, Singaporean students, too, will benefit from the diversity of educational institutions in our neighbouring countries, and the Minister's aims of closer understanding and goodwill can also be achieved by offering similar opportunities to Singaporean students to study in our neighbouring countries – much like under the ASEAN scholarships – and also by having more Singaporean students study the region around us – much like under the current Regional Studies Programme Scholarship at the pre-university level, which is restricted to three schools and offered to a select group of students for two years.
Could this programme be expanded to allow more students − both at the secondary and university levels − the opportunity to learn more about our surrounding region, and to also offer more chances for our students to go on visits and to take part in exchange programmes with our neighbouring countries?
By encouraging more of such exchanges to take place at the individual level through scholarship studies, we will also be facilitating Singapore's foreign relations through our students' engagement with their peers in other countries in meaningful dialogue.
Mr Zainudin Nordin: Madam, let me declare that I am currently working in one of the local polytechnics. Mdm Chair, our polytechnics offer education and training that are industry-relevant in a large variety of areas. Students can
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develop their passion and interests, and become skilled contributors in many industries.
Madam, as we plan for the future of Singapore, it is relevant to ask how the various institutes of higher learning form the overall landscape of training and development for our school-leaving students.
Is there a better way to make the education that our students receive more relevant for the industries in the future? Are there any longer term plans by which our polytechnic students can upgrade themselves? In other words, where does polytechnic education fit in our overall manpower development? What are the pathways by which polytechnic students can continuously upgrade, and what support can be given to them in their life-long learning journey towards a better future?
The Senior Minister of State for Education (Ms Indranee Rajah): Mdm Chairperson, I thank the Members for their questions and comments. The comments can be grouped into roughly four categories: first, on preschool; secondly, education and the balance between Sciences and the Humanities; thirdly, many pathways to success; and the rest were miscellaneous questions. I will take these in turn.
Mr Zainudin Nordin asked about the improvements to the quality of preschool education, working conditions, welfare, remuneration and strategies to attract and retain preschool professionals.
The keys to quality preschool education are a good curriculum and good preschool teachers. In February this year, I launched the refreshed Kindergarten Curriculum Framework called the KCF, as part of MOE's Comprehensive Kindergarten Curriculum. The KCF lays out holistic learning goals that we want children to achieve at the end of K2. These goals include not just literacy and numeracy skills, but also how children relate to themselves and their peers, and how they express themselves confidently. MOE firmly believes that preschool education is about teaching children how to learn and helping them discover the joy of learning. The aim of preschool is to teach children good foundational concepts, and not to have them learn the entire Primary 1 syllabus before they start Primary 1.
I would like, if I may, to show some examples of how these concepts work. Mdm Chairperson, with your permission, may I display some slides on the LED
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screens?
The Chairman: Yes, please. [Some slides were shown to hon Members.]
Ms Indranee Rajah: In this first slide, you see the first week of kindergarten at PLAY@Temasek Polytechnic. Here, the children realised that not everyone could see the board from where they were seated. It led to discussions on how to overcome the problem. They then planned the seating arrangement such that taller children sat behind. This led to the need to decide who was taller and who was shorter. The children then used different methods to compare their heights, such as standing in front of a mirror together, measuring themselves while lying on the ground, and using strips of paper to compare their body lengths. They then arranged themselves from tallest to shortest and proposed a new seating plan.
Now, this was structured as play, but it allowed the children to learn. They were learning numeracy concepts and skills, such as comparing and ordering, which are the bases of measurement. They were learning problem-solving; and they were learning social skills, such as working with their friends, and making decisions while considering the viewpoints of others.
In the next slide, also at PLAY@Temasek, the children had to learn how to relate to one another in a group setting. They were always eager to share their ideas and found it difficult to wait for their turn to speak. In this picture, the children watched a video of themselves in class and identified the inappropriate behaviours.
They had a discussion in class on how turn-taking could be better managed and they came up with rules for turn-taking. By constructing class rules, they took ownership of the rules and learned negotiation, problem-solving, and how to interact in a group. Members may not be able to see it from here, but I will just tell you some of the rules they came up with. These include: we should listen, we should not play, we should not talk, we should not speak when someone is speaking; we should not interrupt; and we should listen to the person who is speaking.
Mdm Chairperson, if you think about it, that is very much like the Standing Orders of Parliament. So, we are actually preparing them with foundational concepts for a good future ahead.
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We turn now to the next slide which is a picture of Ascension Kindergarten. Here you see music and movement activity where children move around the room with small quick steps or large slow actions depending on the visual cues in the form of cards with different shapes on them. The children take turns to lead and to control the activity by holding up these cards.
Again, although they are playing and having fun, they are indirectly learning the concepts of: (a) leading and influencing the behaviour of their friends; (b) how to follow instructions; (c) how to control their movements when they take big and small steps; and (d) exploring the elements of music, such as tempo.
Some parents worry that the learning goals articulated in the Kindergarten Framework may be too basic and may not adequately prepare children for Primary 1. They are also concerned that primary schools may have higher expectations than the goals set in the KCF.
To these concerns, I would like to say that MOE developed the learning goals in the KCF with feedback from both the preschool and primary school educators. The KCF reflects alignment of learning goals at the end of K2, and what we expect the children to be able to do and know upon entry to Primary 1. It establishes a common understanding among educators on how to better support a child's learning in the preschool years and at Primary 1.
MOE has engaged primary school leaders on how to ensure a smooth transition from K2 to formal schooling, including the appropriate teaching approaches and pitching of lessons at Primary 1. MOE will continue to engage teachers and key personnel in primary schools to ensure that Primary 1 learning is appropriately paced, and Primary 1 teachers continue to revisit and reinforce what has been taught and learnt in the preschool years.
Primary schools would also provide additional support to those children who need more time to attain the K2 learning goals. And we ask for parents' support in this endeavour.
The next item, Teachers. MOE will continue to invest in raising the quality of teaching in preschool centres. Committed and high-quality teachers are the heart of a good preschool experience. We have raised the minimum qualifications for kindergarten-level teachers over the years. The minimum professional qualification is the Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education – Teaching. This is a diploma-level qualification offered by polytechnics and
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private training agencies. The percentage of kindergarten-level teachers who have undergone or are undergoing training for this diploma has increased from 58% in 2007 to 85.5% in 2012.
Going ahead, our polytechnics will increase the number of places for both full-time and part-time kindergarten-level teacher training programmes, starting from 2014. We also need to attract and retain individuals with the right dispositions to nurture and inspire children. This involves recognising preschool teachers as professionals, and providing them with respectable salaries and good career opportunities.
To achieve this, MOE has been improving access to professional development opportunities for preschool teachers. Between 2011 and 2012, about 550 preschool educators benefited from Government provision of scholarships, teaching awards and bursaries for training and professional development.
MOE also provides training opportunities in leadership, curriculum and pedagogy. We also recognise outstanding kindergarten teachers by working closely with professional bodies, such as the Association for Early Childhood Educators, Singapore, to identify and present awards to outstanding kindergarten teachers. Funding is provided for these teachers to attend mentoring courses, overseas conferences and study trips.
Ms Faizah Jamal spoke about environment in the preschool curriculum, and I agree with her that education about the environment should be an important part of preschool education.
The refreshed Kindergarten Curriculum Framework includes \"Discovery of the World\" as one of its key learning areas. This encourages preschool centres to harness the children's natural curiosity towards the world around them and help them learn how to care for the environment.
We support teachers in bringing environmental education to the preschool classroom. The Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education-Teaching includes curriculum planning and pedagogies for nurturing children's awareness of their environment. And the Kindergarten Curriculum Framework includes suggestions on how teachers can provide opportunities for children to develop interest in the world around them by bringing them outdoors on field trips and neighbourhood walks.
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The environment – including our housing estates – is a natural classroom for our children. But much depends on the imagination of the teachers on how to use these \"natural classrooms\" creatively. Many kindergartens have, in fact, designed programmes, with MOE support, to teach children about care and respect for the environment.
MOE's Innovation Grant has supported 35 kindergarten-initiated nature- and environment-related innovation projects since 2008. In 2013, MOE was collaborating with NTU on a project designed to help children in 23 kindergartens to learn about nature, coastal and recycling awareness.
This next slide shows the PCF Buona Vista making a trip to the beach – not for a picnic, but for a coastal clean-up. Through this outdoor activity, the children learnt the consequences of beach litter on the seashore and marine ecosystems.
Moving on now to Literature. Ms Janice Koh spoke passionately about this, and MOE agrees with Ms Koh that Literature is an important subject in an increasingly global and complex world.
The 21st Century competencies we need to develop in our students would include things like communication and cross-cultural awareness, and Literature has a role to play in this. Through Literature, one learns about life, people and values. Literature also hones writing and debating skills, as well as critical analysis, as noted by Ms Koh. But more than that, the most important reason why anyone should take Literature is just for the sheer joy of it – the beauty of the language, the evocativeness of imagery; the power of words; the characters who come to life, and the emotions that leap off the page.
As I mentioned in answer to a previous PQ, Literature is compulsory for lower secondary students. So, the area for the Member's concern is really the upper secondary years. And Ms Koh had mentioned the drop in Literature since ranking was introduced and, later on, the combined Humanities.
If I may just put things in perspective, in terms of each \"O\" Level cohort, there were about 3,000 students offering Full Literature as an examinable subject in 2012. So, that is for Full Literature. But in addition to this, where Literature is an elective to the combined Humanities, there were an additional 3,000. So, in total, this made up about 6,000 students offering Literature in 2012. Since the introduction of the Humanities electives in 2002, the overall number of students offering Literature – Full plus Elective – has remained largely stable,
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in the range of 6,000 to 7,000.
The fact remains, of course, that the number of students offering Literature has fallen, compared to 20 years ago. This is, in large part, attributable to the perception that it is difficult to score in Literature. However, the proportion of Distinctions in Literature among \"O\" level graduates is about 41%, which shows that it is very much within the realm of possibility to do well in Literature. Ranking, as you know, has been done away with. So, I think the stage is set really for schools and students to be able to take up Literature with a great deal more enthusiasm than before.
The key to having a strong Literature programme is – and this was noted in the newspapers a few days back – students with a strong interest in the subject; passionate teachers; supportive principals; and a good foundation in English.
MOE is fully in support of the schools offering Full Literature at the upper secondary level. Ms Koh had made various suggestions, two of which are already in play – enhancing the teaching of English as a language, and Literature; and also supporting teachers to be better prepared.
Currently, there are resource-sharing sessions and workshops in designing the Literature curriculum for teachers, as well as Biennial Literature Symposium, which features seminars on pedagogy and assessment. Ms Koh had made some other suggestions which we would be happy to study.
But this issue is not about Literature alone. The broader issue is about encouraging more students to take up Humanities subjects. We have been traditionally strong in Mathematics and Sciences, less so in the Humanities. This is not desirable in the long run. So, it is important that we have students who have interest to do well in both the Sciences and the Humanities. Singapore needs both in the 21st century, and MOE will encourage the schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to promote and support Humanities subjects along with the Sciences.
Mr Chen Show Mao spoke about ASEAN and a need to promote understanding and goodwill. That is correct, but this need not necessarily be done through scholarships alone. There are a variety of ways in which MOE facilitates the interaction, understanding and promotion of goodwill amongst students from ASEAN countries. Students in our schools learn about ASEAN
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and the region through the Humanities syllabi. They also have opportunities to participate in overseas learning journeys or student exchange programmes. So, MOE coordinates student exchange programmes, such as the ASEAN Student Exchange Programme (ASEP) and the Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Partnership Camp (STEP). These involve cultural exchanges and activities to enhance students' learning and to foster friendship and ties.
At the tertiary level, NUS, NTU and SMU are part of the ASEAN University Network (AUN), which provides both faculty and students with access to regional exchange programmes. Our university students can also access a wide variety of financial support options for overseas exchanges to ASEAN countries.
I move on now to our post-secondary education landscape. Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked about the promotional examinations for Junior College 1 (JC1). Our JCs set their own examinations based on their respective student profiles and develop their own criteria for progression to the second year of their JC course. Hence, there is no standardised measurement of pass/fail across the JCs in the first year promotional examinations.
MOE's data show that approximately 6% of first year JC students in each cohort were retained. The two JCs with the highest retention rates at JC1 averaged about 15% over the past three years.
MOE recognises that school leaders have a good understanding of their students' needs and can best judge how to help them succeed. JCs thus develop their own examinations and criteria for progression to the second year of their JC course, so that it is tailored to suit the students in their JC. At the same time, students are counselled if the \"A\" level course is not the most suitable pathway for them. Some may proceed to further their education in post-secondary institutes, for example, the polytechnics.
MOE closely monitors progression rates of students as they progress from one stage of the education system to the next. And we continuously seek to improve the educational career guidance we provide secondary students to help them make appropriate educational choices.
I move on now to the ITEs and the polytechnics. The ITEs and polytechnics are key institutions in our post-secondary education landscape. They have had a long and successful history of providing hands-on and industry-oriented training to two-thirds of each Primary 1 cohort. And we are very proud of our
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Polytechnic and ITE students.
If we look at this next slide, Members may be forgiven for thinking that it is a scene from an Emergency Room. It is actually part of the training facilities at the Health Sciences Department of Nanyang Polytechnic. And, here, the students are undergoing training for an emergency situation in a real-life setting. I have met some of them; they are very enthusiastic and passionate about what they do.
Similarly, ITE has many people imbued with passion for their work and study. Here, you see on the left hand side, a student, Muhammad Salehan B Jaafar. He aspires to become a pastry chef after graduation. And although his GCE \"N\" level results allowed him to progress to the GCE \"O\" level, he chose instead to enrol in ITE College West to pursue his interest in baking. On the right is Joan Lee. When I asked why she enrolled in the course, she said it is because her passion had always been in baking, and she first learnt her baking from recipes on the Internet. Here are some shots of what they have done – that is a Strawberry Fantasy, Classic Roast Lamb Rack, Mango Cheese Tranche and Coffee Art – very well done but these are people, students who pursue it with passion and you can see that they have the right passion. When they go out in life, they will be able to do well.
To bring about a better student experience at ITE, we established the \"One ITE, Three Colleges\" model, distinguished by the opening of ITE College Central in Ang Mo Kio earlier this year. The three regional campuses in Simei, Choa Chu Kang and Ang Mo Kio will enable ITE to deliver greater inter-disciplinary training and provide modern facilities that enhance campus life and support a high quality of education.
In 2014, we will be piloting a two-year Extended NITEC Foundation Programme aimed at levelling up the literacy and numeracy skills of academically-weaker Normal (Technical) students ahead of their core NITEC year at ITE. Currently, about 22% of each Primary 1 cohort progresses to ITE. However, the rising expectations of the economy and the shifting emphasis towards more highly-skilled manpower have resulted in a more demanding technical curriculum at ITE. As a result, some ITE students find it difficult to complete their NITEC programmes within two years.
The Extended NFP is intended to better prepare these students for successful completion of their NITEC courses. Students in the Extended NFP will spend three years at ITE for their NITEC programmes, instead of the usual
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two – they will undergo two years of foundation training before progressing to their career core curriculum in the third year.
The Extended NFP will be available to Normal (Technical)-level school leavers with less than two Normal (Technical)-level passes. The programme will cover, firstly, technical training, which is designed to prepare students for the NITEC career core modules that they will take in their third year; secondly, an integrated academic foundation programme to build up literacy and numeracy skills; and, thirdly, socio-emotional support elements to improve self-confidence and motivation.
Upon completion of the second year of the Extended NFP, students will obtain the NITEC Foundation Certification (NFC). If they are unable to complete the career core modules in the third year and obtain a NITEC certificate, the NFC will allow them to continue their learning journeys in the future after gaining some work experience.
For the 2014 pilot, ITE will admit 180 Normal (Technical) students with zero or one N-Level subject passes into the Extended NFP. The Extended NFP will also be open to eligible candidates from NorthLight School and Assumption Pathway School, who are currently unable to enrol into the existing two-year NITEC programme as they may not have acquired the necessary literacy and/or numeracy foundations required for the NITEC programme.
Members will see from this that we are striving hard to give each student the right kind of support at every step of the way, to bring out the best in them depending on his or her aptitude, ability and speed of learning. What is important is that at the end of the day, they come out knowing that they have the opportunity to go further if they wish to, and with confidence and belief in themselves, knowing that we believe in them, too.
Mr Zainudin Nordin asked about the longer-term role of the polytechnics. Together, the five polytechnics form a core pillar of our education system, and will remain so. They offer over 200 Pre-Employment Training (PET) and 110 Continuing Education and Training (CET) courses across various disciplines.
Polytechnic graduates are distinguished by their work-readiness – nine out of every 10 polytechnic graduates go on to secure employment within six months of graduation. Many opt to enter the workforce immediately and apply their vocational training in their respective industries, before pursuing higher qualifications. MOE understands that going back to school as a working adult
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requires some flexibility, so we have rolled out a plethora of part-time upgrading pathways. Polytechnic diploma holders can re-skill or upgrade by taking up part-time diploma and post-diploma programmes. They are modular, giving them flexibility to pursue the degree, together with work or other commitments.
Last year, the Government extended a 70% subsidy to all Singaporeans pursuing their first part-time diploma programme at the polytechnics, even if they held a diploma or degree previously or had previously consumed a partial subsidy in the course of full-time study. Polytechnic graduates may also pursue degrees at our universities.
Let me touch briefly on the university landscape. Currently, we have universities which offer full-time degrees but we also have those which offer part-time degrees, and the Singapore Institute of Technology was established in 2009 to provide more degree opportunities for polytechnic graduates. The Government has also started to fund degree programmes at our tertiary arts institutions like the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), and LASALLE College of the Arts.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan and Ms Mary Liew were concerned about access to university education for Singaporean students. MOE recognises the growing aspirations of Singaporeans for a degree education.
We are currently on track to achieving a 30% university Cohort Participation Rate (CPR) by 2015. In August last year, the Prime Minister announced that we will further expand access to publicly-funded full-time degree places for Singaporeans. We will add 3,000 publicly-funded full-time degree places by 2020, growing university cohort participation to 40%. This translates to about 16,000 publicly-funded full-time degree places each year from 2020.
SIT and UniSIM will play key roles in bringing this vision to fruition; SIT will become an autonomous university, and UniSIM will start to offer Government-funded full-time degree programmes. They will roll out many more programmes to suit different interests and passions. SIT and UniSIM will also pioneer a new applied degree pathway, which adopts a practice-oriented pedagogical approach. This applied degree pathway provides an alternative to the more theoretical content and pedagogy of our existing AUs.
One unique aspect of their degree programmes is the work-study component, which provides a strong nexus between what is learned in school
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and what is learned in the workplace. SIT and UniSIM are working closely with the industry on the curriculum and structure of their new degree programmes.
Asst Prof Eugene Tan asked about remuneration paid to Singaporean and non-Singaporean academics in the AUs. To be internationally competitive, we need to give remuneration that would attract both local and international talent. The AUs are autonomous universities, which means that they have autonomy in governance, including flexibility in the areas of appointment, promotion and remuneration of faculty members. This enables them to tailor competitive remuneration packages to better attract and retain top Singaporean and international faculty.
The base salary and criteria for performance-based bonuses at our AUs are the same for Singaporean and non-Singaporean academics. Housing allowances take into account whether academics have to relocate and whether they have their own housing in Singapore. Academics recruited from overseas may, therefore, receive housing allowances but, similarly, Singaporean faculty recruited from overseas may be eligible for a housing allowance if they do not own a property in Singapore and have to rent in the open market. The exact terms of these allowances differ across the universities.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh shared concerns about the affordability of tertiary education. The Government is committed to ensuring that no student is discouraged from taking his or her education as far as possible.
We provide generous subsidies for post-secondary education, as well as Government-funded loans and financial assistance in the form of bursaries. The Post Secondary Education Account (PSEA) is another tool which the Government uses to help Singaporeans with the cost of post-secondary education. When students complete their general education, the balance in their Edusave Account is transferred to their PSEA and their Edusave Accounts are closed. The Government tops up the students' PSEAs from time to time and the students can use the PSEA to pay for post-secondary education in our AUs, polytechnics and ITEs.
Mr Png Eng Huat raised the issue of Edusave and the concern about the fact that parents may not be able to afford some of the activities. There are, in fact, a range of different funds for different uses which parents would be able to have access to. These include the Opportunity Fund to further help students from lower-income households; there is also the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) which helps those who require assistance in relation to the basic
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cost of schooling, such as fees, textbooks and uniforms, as well as school-based financial assistance which is available to meet these needs for those who require more help or who just miss out on qualifying for the FAS.
In conclusion, Madam, I wish to say that MOE's policies and efforts aim to support each Singaporean on his or her lifelong education journey. We start early – building a strong foundation through preschool education. We create diverse opportunities and pathways in the education system, to help every Singaporean fulfil their potential. We try to keep education affordable to help each student go as far as he or she can. And our goal is that each and every Singaporean will have a fulfilling educational journey and can develop to the best of his or her full potential.
Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines): Madam, Dunman Secondary School is in Tampines and Dunman High School is in Tanjong Rhu. Both were previously at Dunman Road sharing a common field.
North Vista Secondary School was set up in Sengkang in 2000. Before that, it was known as Thomson Secondary School. Its Chinese name, 德新中学, was maintained to preserve its historical links. I guess the English name was changed because the school is no longer at Thomson Road.
Why did Dunman Secondary keep its name but not Thomson Secondary School? Is it because Thomson Road is a longer and more prominent road than Dunman Road? We have to remember that both roads were after all named after people who lived in the 19th century, John Turnbull Thomson who was the Government Surveyor, and Thomas Dunman, the first full-time Commissioner of Police.
Nowadays, due to changing demographics, schools merge, close down or relocate. Teachers and principals no longer stay many years in the same school. So, when the alumni cannot find attachment to the school building or people in the alma mater, the school name is the only link left. Like National Service, our education system is a rite of passage that brings Singaporeans together for a common experience, a collective memory that helps build our Singapore identity.
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I met a senior alumnus of San Shan Primary School two years ago. He lamented that his school is no longer around and said that if the name \"San Shan\" could be revived in any new school, he and other alumni would be more than happy to come forth and contribute to the school. I am sure there are many more such people who have been \"orphaned\" but still have fond memories and feelings for the alma mater. We should tap on the network and spirit.
Madam, every school is a good school, not because they have good students, good teachers, good results or good infrastructure. The goodness in a school goes beyond what it is or what it possesses today. We need to preserve, respect and promote its heritage and tap on its alumni to build on what is good today so as to be better tomorrow.
The Chairman: Mr Alvin Yeo is not here. Mr Yee Jenn Jong.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Madam, student care services are now in 80 out of some 190 primary schools. It is commendable that MOE has stepped up efforts to have more student care facilities within schools. Student care had been a low priority in the past, and a poor cousin to childcare, which has more attention and funding support.
With more dual-income working parents, the demand for student care will follow the rise we saw in childcare. Student care has the potential to be a social leveller by providing homework coaching and lessons, as well as much needed nutrition for children from disadvantaged families.
Unlike childcare, there is no general fee subsidy for student care other than for the low income. Also, it is not mandatory for student care teachers to go for training. There is a Certificate in Student Care course but it is not widely promoted or mandatory for centres to have trained staff.
Some schools are constrained by space. Student care facilities should be considered as essential school infrastructure and factored into the design of all schools. Schools waiting for such facilities can work with nearby student care centres. MOE and MSF can work together to help secure new facilities if there are no nearby operators. I hope MOE and MSF can work together, just as they are doing now for preschool, to provide better accessibility, affordability and quality in student care.
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The Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Teo Ser Luck): I met a friend at an event for small and medium enterprises, so those who came were business people. I almost could not recognise him because he had put on quite a bit of weight. But we were childhood friends for a while and, after primary school, I did not really see him. We were in the same school. He was actually suspended from school at first because he had behavioural problems and disciplinary issues. He got into trouble with students, friends and also teachers; and, finally, he was expelled. I did not see him for a long time and when I finally met him at this event, he is already a businessman who owns several businesses, which created hundreds of jobs. I asked him about his studies. He said he took two years off and managed to get back to school, continued his studies and finally got a diploma. And he made good.
I think those cases in the past seemed to be common amongst my friends. Several of my friends who dropped out of school never really got back. I think he is one of the rare cases. But, today, it is the reverse. We do have schools that are more embracing and they are giving some of these students a second chance. A few years ago, in my first term as a Member of Parliament, I actually managed to help someone who had a problem getting back to school after being suspended or expelled from school for about half a year, and I think he took another half a year. But after one year, he decided to get back to school. So, I helped him to make a few phone calls to the schools and, finally, he got back into one of the schools.
My question was: why should you need the intervention of a Member of Parliament? Should schools be a bit more inclusive and embracing and give people a second chance, especially students with some of these problems? Because if you do not give them a second chance, they may go off-track and lead a stray's life, and what will happen is that they will create more social problems for the society. So, let us give these students a second chance.
Mrs Lina Chiam (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, the number of school children seeking mental healthcare is on the rise. According to the Asia Pacific Committee Mental Health Department project's report in 2012, failure in schools is amongst the most common referral to the child mental health service. I believe more students require psychological care and support due to various emotional and behavioural problems but fear the stigma of being labelled a so-
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called \"mental\" case.
Clinic attendance is only a proxy indicator and we lack robust data. Last year, the Minister abolished the banding of secondary schools. I applaud this move towards removing such unhealthy stressful measures in school that detract from a wholesome educational experience. Going a step further, the Ministry should also look into building up an environment in every school that provides readily psychological care for school children and teenagers from qualified counsellors when needed.
Perhaps, the Education Ministry should commission a more detailed study to look into the issue more closely. The Ministry should review its policies and bold moves are needed to give our children a better, healthier and holistic education.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan: Madam, for the past few years, I have received feedback from VWOs managing the special needs schools that they need more resources from MOE to help them run the SPED schools.
As a member of COMPASS, MOE's sub-committee, I had visited several SPED schools with Senior Parliamentary Secretary Sim Ann. I am touched and humbled by the tremendous efforts put in by the VWOs, the teachers and staff of these SPED schools. I also saw the determination of parents with special needs children to do more for their children.
I could only imagine the many daily struggles which all of them faced. Hence, I join in their appeal to MOE to do more to integrate children with special needs into mainstream education schools. I understand that not all of them would be able to join mainstream MOE schools. But I urge MOE to give SPED schools more resources so that children with special needs get as many opportunities as possible to integrate into society. Wherever possible, education should be made compulsory for them as well. Can MOE share more about how much resources would be given to SPED schools and VWOs so that they can be better equipped to make improvements to the lives of special needs children?
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Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Moulmein-Kallang): Madam, MOE has, in the 10 years, granted much needed support to the special-needs students in Singapore. Higher funding and attention in curriculum, quality assurance and governance are some of the deeply appreciated support granted over the years.
MOE is working now on plans to continue raising the quality bar for the students in the SPED and mainstream primary and secondary schools. I ask that similarly structured education support be extended to the post-secondary institutions of higher learning.
Many students with, for example, hearing impairment, dyslexia, ADHD, Asperger's syndrome, high-functioning autism and so on, have overcomed many challenges to be qualified enough to proceed to institutions, such as the ITE, polytechnics and universities.
Support for these students, however, is dependent on the vision and resolve of these various institutions. The quality and range of support is found to be inconsistent. Sometimes, the needed support, for example, in sign language interpretation, is provided by student volunteers who themselves need to attend classes. These volunteers cannot be expected to volunteer when priorities, such as their own examinations and examination preparations, come in the way.
By comparison, one can easily conduct a desktop research to find that in many progressive education systems, Disability Support Offices are standard features and render services, such as a complete student guidebook for disability, teacher resources, assistance in registration and orientation of persons with disabilities, application and counselling in classroom accommodations, such as note-taking, sign interpreters, seat arrangements and liaison with the relevant faculty lecturers and tutors
The same type of education support can be found in countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States and many other progressive systems. Singapore cannot expect to be a major global education player or a 21st century education provider if no support is provided in a systemic and structured manner for those with special needs or disabilities.
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Madam, I am confident that Singapore can develop its own brand of disability support offices through collaborating with the network of disability VWOs in its social service sector and the SPED sector.
We will be in a tight labour market for a long while. Every developed potential will not only contribute to their own financial independence, thereby reducing the Government's need to provide them welfare; they would also contribute to the economy by becoming part of our country's manpower asset.
Hence, the Disability Support Offices in the ITEs, polytechnics and universities should even have a larger vision to not only provide academic support but also consider working with the VWOs to provide employability assessments and training so that these persons could be gainfully employed once they graduate.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Madam, the SPED schools are envious of the many good policies that MOE has implemented for the mainstream schools, many of which are not extended to the SPED schools. For example, the ICT Master Plan which provides mainstream schools with generous funding for purchase of computers and support services provided by e-learning platforms, suppliers and ICT executive, the SPED schools only receive a minimum ICT start-up fund and lesser funding the year after. Another example is the building of an indoor sports hall. MOE has decided since 2007 that every primary and secondary school will have an indoor sports hall to cater for physical education lessons on days with wet weather. However, SPED schools are not entitled to indoor sports hall. Certainly, students from the SPED schools share the same needs as the MOE schools. Hence, I urge MOE to consider extending some of the good MOE policies to SPED schools as well.
On another note, there are cases of SPED school graduates who met the minimum requirement to gain admission into ITE or polytechnic but could not enrol for the course of their choice due to stiff competition from applicants from the mainstream schools.
Senior Minister of State, Ms Indranee, has earlier stated that some students from the mainstream schools choose ITE's pastry and bakery course although they could qualify for the polytechnics. So, that might cut off some of the students with special needs like Miss Clara Tan, whom I am going to cite as an
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example.
Miss Clara Tan, who graduated from Grace Orchard School and progressed to Assumption Pathway School (APS), obtained a GPA score of 3.5 in her final year, making it to the top 25% cohort of APS. Clara did well in the baking classes in APS. Owing to her deep passion in baking, she applied for the pastry and baking course at ITE. Unfortunately, she could not pass the interview and she was offered a less popular course in facility technology. Clara has to reject the offer because she has never done any technical module in her school. Clara is skilful in baking pastries but is slightly handicapped in her verbal skills.
In general, SPED students may not do well in interviews as they need a longer processing time in hearing and responding to questions. It will be fairer if the interview panelists could recognise this shortcoming in the SPED students and see the potential of the students beyond their verbal inadequacy.
If tested on an actual baking skill, there is a high chance that Clara will be able to clear the test. Nonetheless, Clara has not given up. She is now working part-time at a bakery and intends to reapply during the ITE April intake exercise.
I would like to appeal to MOE to consider giving special considerations to students of special needs as long as they meet the minimum admission criteria for ITE and polytechnic. Perhaps, a Disability Office could be set up, as suggested by Ms Denise Phua earlier, to handle the application and admission of students with special needs.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio) (In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The recent announcement during the 2013 Budget to set up the Early Childhood Development Agency is a welcome move. This is a signal that the Government will be giving more attention to early childhood education.
I support the focus on the sector and, at the same time, I call on MOE to study how a framework or guidelines on Malay Language education at preschool can be drafted and implemented. This is important to ensure that the learning and appreciation of Malay Language and culture are done at a young age in the classroom and also through interaction and play.
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There is much to be gained through the learning of the Malay Language, not just speech and writing abilities, but also the values and traditions of the Malay community. For instance, learning Malay proverbs teaching why we should be humble even as we succeed, speaking the truth no matter how tough it is, and undergoing hardship in order to enjoy success later. This will help children learn about values, humility, honesty and working hard. In addition, reading Malay folktales, such as Malin Kundang and Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup, can also teach children about the importance of respecting and loving our parents and, at the same time, remind parents about their parental responsibilities.
Schools need capable teachers to perform this job. What are the Ministry's efforts to train Malay teachers who can teach their students to use the Malay Language well and teach them about Malay values and culture? I hope the Ministry can consider my questions and suggestions.
Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa Payoh) (In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Chair, one of the pillars of Singapore's education system is the bilingual policy. It provides access to our culture and enables Singapore youths to connect with the cultural features that make Singaporeans unique. This bilingual policy also brings good economic benefits for our country. However, this can only happen if we have bilingual education that is high in quality, relevant and identifies the latest developments in pedagogy and culture.
We also need language teachers who are talented and of high calibre. So, I would like to ask MOE what are its plans to improve the capabilities, skills and abilities of Malay Language teachers so that they can continue to provide quality language education for our students in order to enhance the learning of the Malay Language in Singapore.
The Chairman: Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi Daipi.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Mr Hawazi Daipi): Mdm Chairperson, the Minister has spoken about the importance that we place on every Singaporean child. This is why all schools must be good schools that place strong emphasis on developing each child holistically. We must instil the right values in our students, build up their character, and reinforce their Singaporean identity.
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We have heard these topics echoed many times by Singaporeans in Our Singapore Conversation (OSC) – many of them educators and parents themselves.
Now, MOE is committed to developing close partnerships with our stakeholders, including our parents and the community-at-large. This will better enable students to learn more holistically, and for us to emphasise a student-centric and values-driven education. I will elaborate on how we are working together with parents and other stakeholders to help students realise their full potential.
First, as part of the Programmes to Level Up Students, MOE will set up more Student Care Centres (SCCs) in more primary schools. Educators can work in partnership with these SCCs. The aim is to provide care and supervision to students who may not be well-supported by their parents despite their best efforts.
Ms Mary Liew suggested extending the school curriculum to incorporate student care and tuition. I thank her for her proposal. Since year 2000, all our secondary schools have already been operating on single-session. CCAs in these schools are usually held in the afternoon after school. And after school, many teachers can also conduct remedial classes and small group coaching. For our primary schools, 64% of them are on a single-session model.
Nevertheless, a school's chief responsibility is in education. As such, after-school care services can be better addressed through the setting up of more student care centres, or school-based SCCs. MOE will continue to improve the accessibility of SCCs, a point raised by Mr Yee Jenn Jong. Eighty of our primary schools now have school-based SCCs to provide after-school care. Fourteen have been set up in January this year alone. Let me assure Mr Yee that we will continue to set up more school-based SCCs at a good pace. Schools without a school-based SCC can continue to leverage on community-based SCCs in their neighbourhood, until it is opportune for them to set up one.
Let me share with Members the example of Yue Ling, a Primary 2 girl at Corporation Primary School. Her sole guardian is her paternal grandmother, who takes on several jobs to support her. Yue Ling has no other family support. Since last year, she has been placed in the school's SCC and receives close guidance in her studies. Yue Ling has learnt to work well and has become independent. She has also shown perseverance and resilience in coping with her problems. As such, she was nominated and selected as a recipient for the
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Edusave Character Award last year.
Madam, we are also committed to improving the impact of SCCs on students from less advantaged backgrounds. We do this by strengthening the coordination between school-based SCCs with their schools. This will enable the children to have a sense of connection with what they have learned in school.
In Macpherson Primary School, for example, as part of the enhanced SCC model, the SCC has aligned its Character Education programmes with the school's focus on school values. During their daily story-telling session, the SCC emphasises the particular value which the school has chosen for the term.
Now, let me talk about how MOE will also partner other Government agencies to better support students. This includes pastoral and psychiatric care for primary and secondary schools.
Since 2008, every primary and secondary school, and JC and Millenia Institute is resourced with at least one school counsellor. Schools will also refer students with more complex issues to the Response, Early Intervention and Assessment in Community Mental Health (REACH) which forms teams for professional consultation and assessment. REACH is a collaborative project between MOE and the Institute of Mental Health. The charges for REACH services are currently waived.
MOE also works closely with MSF to look after students who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out of schools. Schools refer these students to the Enhanced STEP-UP Programme set up by MSF. Under this programme, VWOs will engage the students and work with their families to bring about positive changes in their lives.
Mr Teo Ser Luck wanted to know the options a student has after he is expelled for disciplinary issues. I would like to emphasise that a student is only expelled after he commits a very serious offence. Allowing him to remain in school would threaten the safety of other students or undermine school discipline. Nonetheless, a student who is remorseful and committed to learning will be allowed and given a second chance to return to school. Each year, there are expelled students who have been readmitted back to schools, either to their former schools or other schools, with MOE's facilitation.
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Mdm Chairperson, allow me now to talk about how we will deepen our engagement with parents, our key partners in education.
A central focus of our schools today is to provide a student-centric, values-driven educational experience. But values are not just taught, but \"caught\", not just in school but also outside of school. I agree fully with Mr Lim Biow Chuan on the importance of partnership between or among parents, schools and the community. I share his views and I know very well that Mr Lim, as Chairman of the GPC for Education, is very passionate about developing or enhancing further the collaboration among the various stakeholders in the education of our children, so I thank him for the support. We realise the primary and critical role that parents play in a child's development. In fact, for values education to be truly effective, parents must agree with our educators' efforts. They must also play their part so that we can achieve common objectives.
I find it heartening to notice that parents wish to be more involved in their child's education today. Being more educated, parents place greater attention on each child's growth and development. They are also more eager to be involved in this process. In many cases, they can be an extremely valuable stakeholder to the school.
For instance, there are many parents who volunteer to cook dinner for students who stay behind in school to prepare for their upcoming examinations. There are many schools where members of the Parents Support Group (PSG) and volunteers do this. In the case of Gan Eng Seng Secondary School, I was told that these parents did not repeat the menu throughout. So, the students have a lot of opportunities to sample different types of food
Another example I would like to cite is Mdm Juliana Juhari. Having been a PSG member for five years, Mdm Juliana shares why she volunteers her time with Tampines Primary School's reading programme, on top of her full-time work. She says at the school's Annual Prize Giving Ceremony, \"To see a few of the kids formerly in our reading programme now awarded the Best Progress Award gives me a strong sense of satisfaction and pride.\" Madam, this is a good example of how our PSG partnership with the teachers or school has benefited our children.
Clearly, when parents, schools and the community collaborate to complement the efforts of one another, our children are the true beneficiaries. Therefore, MOE will further support schools to deepen and strengthen such
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partnerships:
Firstly, last year, we introduced the Parent Support Group (PSG) Fund. Schools could use it to organise activities to promote parent-child bonding, fund parent outreach programmes, or strengthen the capabilities of their PSGs.
Fifteen Primary schools have also received the Parents in Education (PIE) Fund to enhance their parent partnership efforts. Some schools have used the funds to organise workshops to equip parents with the skills to support their children's learning.
Secondly, in Naval Base Primary School, for example, the fund was used to organise an evening activity called \"Reading under the Stars\". Over 300 Primary 1 pupils and their parents attended this event in their best pyjamas. The programme encouraged parents to be role-models and create a reading culture at home. Parents also learned how to choose age-appropriate storybooks for their child, and how to motivate them. Apart from promoting family bonding, this activity reinforced the importance of reading.
Thirdly, we have also provided schools with a Partnership Resource Pack, including a copy of \"Building on Trust, Partnering as One\", which aims to strengthen further partnership among the various stakeholders and parents. This pack contains practical tips and examples of good initiatives on parent engagement. These resources will help school leaders to reach out to, and garner the support of parents and the community.
Other than schools, MOE will also greatly enhance our outreach to parents. MOE launched the new Parents in Education (PiE) website last year. We hope it will eventually become the go-to website for parents looking for educational news, learning resources and parenting tips. Parents have provided positive feedback on this website. We have launched a Mobile App of the website for use on smartphones to link parents quickly to the resources and updates.
There will also be a series of upcoming parent engagement seminars and parenting talks held by MOE in every zone across Singapore.
Madam, as the Chairperson of COMPASS or COMmunity and PArents in Support of Schools, which comprises representatives from schools, the business community and self help groups, I am pleased to announce that COMPASS is launching the COMPASS Speakers' Series. Talks, seminars and sharing sessions by parenting experts will be organised. Parents will also be
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interested to know that we are launching forum theatre, a drama-based interactive experience where various parent-child scenarios are played out. Forum theatre is a public forum where parents in the audience can either offer suggestions to the problems presented, or take over the enactment of solutions from the actors. Participants can actively explore complex parent-child scenarios to co-create new ways of resolving them. In the process, they tap on the collective wisdom of all parents in the audience.
Madam, we truly hope that our schools will continue to grow and leverage on these helpful, harmonious partnerships with parents and other stakeholders. It is clear that partnerships which draw on the combined efforts of schools, the home and the community will help us to better develop all Singaporeans to their fullest potential. It will also draw us closer together as a community – as Singaporeans.
Now, Madam, for the last part of my response, allow me to speak in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Chairperson, I would like to thank Dr Intan and Mr Zainudin Nordin for their suggestions to formulate a framework for Malay Language curriculum at the preschool level, and also on the training for Malay teachers. MOE is in the process of developing a Teaching and Learning Framework for the Mother Tongue Languages, which will be distributed to preschools by the middle of this year. The Framework will provide a common understanding about the teaching and learning of Mother Tongue Languages across the preschool sector.
I strongly agree with Dr Intan that we can impart values through the Malay culture and language. I would like to add that we cannot separate the learning of language from values and culture. Within the teaching and learning resources currently being developed by MOE for the preschool sector, there are already plans to include folk tales and children's songs in the Malay Language. Furthermore, since 2005, MOE has also distributed preschool Teaching Guides for Chinese, Malay and Tamil to all preschool centres. These guides emphasise the need for children to know their culture and heritage through their respective Mother Tongue Languages. MOE is currently refining these Guides for distribution by the end of the year. We will then provide training for teachers to use these resources in their daily classroom teaching.
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These efforts by MOE will be further complemented with the teaching and learning resources developed by the community and funded by the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism. We hope to nurture a love for learning of two languages in our children from young − in our preschool centres, at home and in the community.
I would like to assure Mr Zainudin that we will also continue to support the professional development and upgrading of our Malay Language teachers. Our teachers can tap into our in-service professional development opportunities – for instance, courses on content knowledge, pedagogy, and assessment based on Malay language, literature and culture, and also ICT courses. They can also participate in the Malay Language seminar organised annually for sharing of best practices about the teaching of Malay Language among teachers, and also attend the Arif Budiman Lecture Series that enable our teachers to follow and understand the latest developments in the Malay Language from international experts.
We also provide awards and scholarships in the Mother Tongue Languages to support teachers' upgrading. Non-graduate teachers can enrol in the part-time Bachelor of Arts programmes in Malay Language and Literature at UniSIM or full-time at the National Institute of Education (NIE). Graduate Malay Language teachers can continue their studies by pursuing a Masters of Education at the NIE.
Since 2009, over 200 beginning Malay Language teachers have benefited from the courses offered by the Malay Language Centre of Singapore (MLCS), which is a unit in MOE, shortly after they were deployed to schools. I am also pleased to announce that the MLCS building is going to be ready soon and it will have good facilities to give more resources to more teachers to attend courses that can improve their ability to teach the Malay Language.
Of course, parents still play a key role in creating a conducive environment at home for their children to learn the Malay Language. Early exposure to spoken Malay and its use at home will surely provide children with a stronger foundation for them to learn the language formally in school. I hope that parents can leverage on the various programmes that have been organised by the Malay Language and Learning Promotion Committee (MLLPC) in collaboration with community organisations, Institutes of Higher Learning and schools. Over the past six years, MLLPC has provided funding support for over 200 activities that have benefited students, teachers and their parents. Such activities help our Malay students deepen their appreciation of Malay language and culture. MLLPC is also collaborating with NIE and schools as well as language and
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cultural organisations, including the Malay Language Council, to organise workshops and camps to promote Malay values to our students. Specifically, MLLPC will encourage those organisations to organise a Malay Etiquette Camp to provide more opportunities for our students to learn and appreciate Malay manners and culture.
We are certain that all these combined efforts will help to better support the learning of the Malay Language among our students. These efforts will also internalise Malay values and culture, within the context of a multilingual and multicultural Singapore, into the soul of our younger generation.
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Ms Sim Ann): Madam, in the Our Singapore Conversation (OSC), many Singaporeans have expressed a wish for a more fulfilling pace of life. Madam, I wish we could have a more fulfilling pace of debate, but the fact remains that our Members have raised many weighty issues. I do have quite a lot to get through in the remaining time. So, I hope Members will bear with me while I raise the tempo of the speech.
Also from Our Singapore Conversation (OSC), we hear Singaporeans' aspirations for a society with strong values and a \"kampung spirit\". I agree with Mr Baey Yam Keng that our national schools are key institutions that help to build national identity and strengthen social cohesion. Many of us are proud of the schools that we come from, and rightly so.
Owing to demographic changes, from time to time we merge or relocate some schools so that school places are geographically distributed, and can better meet the community's needs. We do not make these decisions lightly.
In merging or relocating schools, we are mindful of the importance of preserving their heritage. Where possible, for example, where it is not geographically confusing, the name of the relocated school will be preserved to maintain the link with its past heritage. Schools are also encouraged to preserve various aspects of their heritage.
We hope that Singaporeans will similarly see these merged or relocated schools as their alma mater, and to continue to support them.
Madam, Minister Heng talked about how every Singaporean child is precious, and I will be speaking about students with special educational needs today. Education is a powerful tool for us to equip these students with the skills
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and values to thrive as integral members of society.
To achieve this, we take a differentiated approach, customised to best meet the needs of the child. Currently, students with mild special needs are educated in mainstream schools, with appropriate learning support.
For students with moderate to severe needs, they are served in the 20 SPED schools, which are established by VWOs but operated with extensive support from the Government. Each of these schools caters to the disability profile of the student and is organised to help students with specific special learning needs learn effectively.
I will elaborate further on how we have been customising our policies to meet their needs, and also the other kinds of support that we provide.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked whether more financial support can be given to SPED schools. Mr Ang Wei Neng also asked for us to extend good mainstream school policies to the SPED schools. Madam, in recognition of the needs of SPED students, as a baseline, MOE provides generous funding to the SPED schools so that they can run customised programmes. The funding provided for SPED students is substantially more than the funding provided for a student in a mainstream school. The funds are used to run the SPED schools, pay for staff salaries, support professional development and provide administrative and curricular support.
In-principle, any additional support given to mainstream students will be customised and adapted for SPED students. Some recent examples of additional financial support extended to SPED students are:
(a) the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) for Singapore Citizens from lower-income families;
(b) the School Breakfast Programme (SBP) for all SPED FAS students aged 7 to 12, similar to the programme in Primary schools; and
(c) enhancements to the Opportunity Fund for schools in FY2013, where more funding will be provided to SPED schools with more needy students.
MOE will also continue giving financial support to expand the physical capacity of the SPED sector. To meet the learning needs of SPED students, we
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customise the infrastructural provisions, for instance, special facilities like sensory integration rooms. We also review these needs regularly.
Over the past decade, we have committed $150 million towards the upgrading and building of the 20 SPED schools. From 2013, Metta School will be able to take in another 150 students with the completion of its new extension block. We want to assure Members today that no child with special needs will be deprived of a quality education because he or she cannot afford it.
There are two key pillars in a good education – quality curriculum and quality teachers. The SPED Curriculum Framework was developed together with our stakeholders. It sets a unifying direction for excellence in teaching and learning. We are working towards high standards and strong outcomes, to prepare the students for a fulfilling future.
For schools to effectively implement the curriculum framework, we need customised curricula to meet the needs of children in different disability groups. MOE specialists support schools in the customisation efforts through workshops and school visits. This is time-consuming work, but well worth the effort.
At the SPED Conference last year, I announced the addition of two domains to the SPED Curriculum Framework – \"Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) as a Foundation for Values-based Special Education\" and \"Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as an Enabler for Teaching and Learning\".
Mr Ang Wei Neng has talked about more ICT support for SPED schools. Technology is an enabler that unlocks the potential of each child, especially those who have difficulties communicating or learning, using conventional methods. Hence, together with the Tote Board, MOE has introduced an ICT Funding model for SPED, totalling $4.5 million over the next three years.
Teachers, too, are essential for a quality education. This is why, from last year, more funds have been made available to raise salaries for staff in SPED schools.
Today, a large majority of students with mild intellectual disabilities have the potential to attain nationally-recognised vocational certification, and be placed in open employment with the right kind of support. MOE piloted a certified course on vocational education in 2012 to build staff capability in this area, and will be working with SPED schools to put in place vocational
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education to benefit more students.
To improve accessibility to SPED schools, we have increased SPED school capacity and facilitated placement. The Multi-Agency Advisory Panel (MAAP), comprising specialists from MOE, MOH and also SPED schools, was set up last year. It has developed a new SPED School Application Form to streamline application processes, and the Panel has been useful in bringing together the stakeholders, as an initial effort to better understand the complex issues revolving around placement for students with special needs.
We are also aiding parents of children with special needs to better understand the needs of their child, and that is why we have published an online guide \"A Parent's Guide to Choosing the Right School for Children with Special Educational Needs\". We will publish versions in the Mother Tongue languages by the end of this year.
Beyond providing information, we recognise it can be emotionally hard to cope with news of the diagnosis, and to decide what to do next. Hence, last year, we prototyped the Post Diagnosis Education Guidance (PDEG) initiative, and the prototype was introduced to North Zone schools last year. It will be rolled out to all zones by the end of 2013. These initiatives are part of a whole ecosystem of support for parents. We have, therefore, also extended the Parent Support Group (PSG) Fund to SPED schools.
Madam, we are also enhancing how we support students with mild special needs who are currently educated in mainstream schools. Students with dyslexia have persistent difficulties in reading, and this creates many downstream challenges for learning. They form the largest group of students with special educational needs. They have a very good chance of overcoming their literacy difficulties if appropriate intervention occurs early.
I am pleased to be able to provide an update on our school-based dyslexia remediation (SDR) programme, piloted in 20 Primary schools last year. Normally, students with dyslexia are referred for remediation by the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS). These classes are conducted outside school, at DAS learning centres.
The SDR programme will augment the support for literacy available in our schools. Students with literacy difficulties can receive continuing support within the school starting from Primary 1. In Primary 1 and Primary 2, they are identified for literacy support in the Learning Support Programme (LSP).
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Students whose literacy difficulties persist and who are diagnosed with dyslexia, then receive dyslexia remediation conducted by the Allied Educators (Learning and Behavioural Support) (AED (LBS)) and teachers in Primary 3 and Primary 4. The goal is for them to overcome their reading difficulties by the end of Primary 4. Beyond Primary 4, their learning will be monitored and continuing support will be provided by their teachers and the Allied Educators for those who need it.
The SDR programme has helped those who are weak in spelling and reading. The key benefits are:
First, better engagement of pupils, as the curriculum is customised for their learning needs and takes into consideration what is covered in the mainstream English curriculum.
Second, a more supportive home environment because the reading materials and games provided for use at home, together with weekly progress reports, have helped parents to play an active role in the intervention process.
I have examples to share of students who have benefited from this programme. First, Anshaqil from Xinmin Primary. When he was in Primary 2, he was only able to name six out of 26 letters of the English alphabet. After a year in the programme, Anshaqil not only picked up reading and spelling skills but started to love reading and is now reading books to his mother as her bedtime stories! His Allied Educator, Miss Lim Siew Lian, observes that Anshaqil has become more confident and vocal.
Another student, Guan Ming from Bukit Panjang Primary, has shared that while he could not read in the past, he is now able to do so after undergoing the programme. He greatly enjoys the interesting activities in the dyslexia remediation classes conducted by his Allied Educator, Ms Fadilah. Guan Ming's teachers note that he has become more confident, and shows keener interest in his studies.
We are glad to see that students have benefited from the SDR programme and I am happy to be able to update today that MOE has extended it to another 22 Primary schools this year.
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Madam, a number of our students with special needs, both those from mainstream and from SPED schools, will progress to our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs). Mr Ang Wei Neng and Ms Denise Phua have asked about support for students with special educational needs in the IHLs.
We are heartened by the achievements of these students, and we want to provide them with the appropriate support so that they can continue to succeed. There are two key areas that we are focusing on, as a start.
First, we will provide more systematic transition support. Instead of relying on self-declaration, we have piloted the transfer of relevant diagnosis and support information of students with special educational needs from 64 secondary schools, to ITE. The transfer was performed with consent from students and parents, and was very well-received. This year, we have expanded the pilot scheme to include the polytechnics. This allows the IHLs to be able to provide necessary support for students as early as possible, that is, from the point of admission.
Second, we are working with the IHLs to build staff capability. There will be a comprehensive training programme to equip administrative and faculty staff with the skills to establish a support system and render practical help to students and we will kick-start the training programme this year.
Madam, as I have described, we are making significant steps towards strengthening support for students with special educational needs in our Institutions of Higher Learning. The suggestion of setting up a Disability Support Office, given by Ms Denise Phua as well as Mr Ang Wei Neng, has a lot of merit and we will consider this in partnership with our stakeholders in the SPED community.
Finally, Mr Ang Wei Neng has also talked about the admission into IHLs for students with special education needs. Admission into our IHLs is merit-based. We consider both the results and other attributes of the applicant holistically. This is not to discriminate against these students, but to determine how best to cater to their learning needs. However, Mr Ang's point about SPED students meeting or facing certain challenges in interviews or, perhaps, other aspects of the admission process is well-taken. Again, this suggestion has merit and we will consider how best to support students with special education needs throughout the application as well as admission process.
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Madam, through Our Singapore Conversation process, we are hearing many voices to better support children with special needs. We have also earlier heard many of our stakeholders through the Enabling Masterplan 2012-2016. MOE will continue to work with our partners to embrace and empower people with special needs, as full and integral members of the Singapore society. And I am very happy to end with 10 seconds to spare; I think this is a reasonably fulfilling pace.
The Chairman: We have a bit of time for clarification. Mr Lim Biow Chuan.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan: Thank you, Madam. I have two clarifications. But, first, allow me to apologise to the Minister for the stress caused to him. I just want to assure the Minister that every Singaporean is important; every Minister is important. My GPC Members and I will try to recalibrate for next year's COS.
Perhaps, the Minister can share with this House how the schools can strike a proper balance between sufficient stress and unreasonable pressure on our students. Can the Minister share his views on this difficult spelling list for P5 students that I have shared during my speech? I do not know whether he has seen the list but it is quite difficult; you cannot even pronounce the word, much less spell it! Also, about homework given during key public holidays – does the Minister think that it is reasonable for schools to give homework during the Lunar New Year holidays? It does cause a break for students who are trying to celebrate the Lunar New Year, and I think it adds to the stress.
The other clarification is to ask the Minister whether he can share his thoughts about whether there are any take-away or lessons that we can emulate from the Finnish education system, because it seems to make education so much more enjoyable, whereas as a comparison, in Singapore, we tend to see it a lot more stressful. I wonder whether the Minister can share his thoughts on these two points.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: I thank Mr Lim Biow Chuan for his two supplementary questions. Madam, if I may clarify a statement I made earlier on. I mentioned about a pupil-teacher ratio of primary and secondary schools. I actually confused the two numbers. So, let me put on record the correct numbers. The pupil-teacher ratio for primary school is 17.6 in 2012, down from 25.9 in the year 2000. For secondary schools, it should be 14.2 in 2012, down from 19.2 in the year 2000.
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Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked about two issues: first, what can we do about stress; and what our schools can do about it? First, let me say that the issue of stress, as I mentioned in my speech, is very complex, and how each of us takes to the challenges is quite different. But what MOE will do is that whatever that is within our ability to reduce the stress, and particularly if they are not necessary, we will do something about it. Let me outline a few things that we have done.
First, on workload. I think some Members would recall that I had spoken at the Workplan Seminar a few months back about homework policy and how teachers and the school should better co-ordinate the homework so that they do not all come together, that is, where the deadlines all come together on the same day. The other one is on testing. Sometimes, some students feel stressed when the tests are all bunched, again, around the same date; similarly, timelines for handing up projects, so on and so forth. The other area is testing. I think some Members have spoken about teachers setting tests which are too difficult, in order to stretch the students. This is something that we will continue to improve. I think it is important to improve the quality of assessments that are being done in schools. Good assessments are important to help students learn but not excessive assessments or not overly difficult assessments.
There are also other areas. The Member mentioned about the spelling list, and that is something which we will have to view it in perspective. I was given another spelling list, just as complicated, if not more, by somebody. And as it turned out, this was in some enrichment programme that was buried in certain pages. In this day and age, someone can just zap a copy of the list and post it on the Internet, and suddenly it gives the whole impression that all schools are using this when the whole intent of the spelling list was just to encourage certain students to take a more active interest. It is not very different from what Ms Janice Koh was speaking about on how to stimulate pupils' interest. Those enrichment activities need to be better explained. I think all schools should do a better job of explaining all these.
Having said that, I mentioned that MOE will do what it can. But let me say also that I have spoken to many students to try and understand what cause the stress that they feel they are having. I think one very common feedback that I get is \"comparisons\" − comparisons among siblings, comparisons with neighbours, cousins and so on. It is a very major source of stress for many students. The other aspect is societal expectations. So, I would urge Members that when they go to a party or dinner and as good uncles and aunties, do not ask, \"What school are you in?\" and \"What do you get for your PSLE?\" and so on, because it causes a lot of stress for the kids. So, I think we can all do our part. I
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also outline a number of things that we need to do relating to high-stake examinations, and I think we should study that very carefully. As the Member said, it takes a village to raise a child and I think it takes a whole village and a whole Singapore to try and reduce the stress level.
On Finland, we have studied this quite carefully as well. We have thought about what it is that we can learn − in fact, we learn from all over the world – and how we can improve our system. But one very important aspect as we make all these comparisons is to understand that societies evolve in very different ways, with very different history, culture, norms and values, economic system, and also geography. If you take Finland, for instance, there are about over 4,000 schools that are managed by about 450 municipalities. We have about slightly over 360 schools in a very compact city.
Sometime back I read this interesting article by Susan Sclafani in a well respected magazine called \"Educational Leadership\", in the October 2008 issue. The article was about \"Two roads to High Performance\". She said that what Finland and Singapore had in common is that we are both high achievers. And she was trying to distil the factors which are common to both which might be of greater application elsewhere. An interesting point is that, first, the common factor that we have is a strong national commitment to education; that the entire society believes in education. Second, we have teachers who are highly respected and who are highly capable, engaged and cooperative. Teachers cooperate among themselves to share best practices and to help level up the entire system and, in fact, many Members would know that this is one of our key focus. In fact, we are going to have a major Excel Festival coming up where teachers will come together to share innovations that they have started in schools, with a view of scaling up these ideas across the system.
The other area is to engage students and the active learners who are engaged in their learning through a variety of learning and teaching approaches. Of course, one other thing that we learn is the support – very early support − that is given very early in a child's educational journey. And, today, I have outlined some of the things we are doing in preschool and in levelling up at the Primary school.
So, we will continue to study what are the useful lessons that we can learn from all over the world and try and adapt and incorporate into our system. But I have to say that there is no substitute for thinking very hard ourselves about what are the fundamental pieces that we need to move, and that we can
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integrate and learn.
Mr Zainudin Nordin: Madam, two points of clarification. The Minister spoke about the Learning Support Programme (LSP) and its enhancements, and he also mentioned about working with the community groups and self-help groups. Can the Minister elaborate on how this partnership can bring positive outcomes to the LSP?
I wanted to say that what the Senior Minister of State Indranee Rajah has mentioned is quite good for the professionals in the preschool. But we also know currently that there is an acute shortage of preschool professionals to a point where the kindergartens and childcare centres are having difficulty to recruit. So, what can be done to improve the recruitment and retention of the preschool professionals to ensure that we continue to be able to grow this sector to help the young parents?
Ms Indranee Rajah: I think that MOE is certainly aware of the need for more preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers, in particular. This is something that we are actively studying at the current time. It is important not just to have quantity. We want to make sure we have quality. And it is not just quality, it has to be people who have a passion to teach children and the right disposition to be able to bring out the best in them. This is something that we are currently looking at the moment.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Madam, two points for the Minister's clarification. One is about Finland and Singapore. I do agree that we need to put some more thought to it because I do not think we can just borrow wholesale from Finland because some parts of it are quite different from us. But what I observed about studying the Finnish system is, for example, the status of teachers. The citizens there seem to aspire to become teachers and the salary package, for example, of the teachers there is average or not especially high. And so that is something that is quite interesting to observe.
The second point is, within the Finnish system, there is a lack of ranking and high-stakes examinations. Yet, students are still assessed fairly effectively and they still learn and achieve quite commendable results worldwide.
The third point is the fact that the schools there are inclusive, the classrooms are inclusive, the differentiated instruction is quite normally applied,
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and teachers are competent to do that. I think these are useful features about the Finnish system that we might want to study as we carry out the Singapore Conversation on this topic.
Another second suggestion is, I thought the Minister —
The Chairman: Ms Phua, you may want to put forward your clarification, not make a speech, please.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng: Yes, Madam. I would like the Minister's comments on the first suggestion. The second one is, I applaud the Minister's efforts to level up students, especially in the form of parent materials, literacy, numeracy, dyslexia and so forth. I find that these are resources that are very good and applicable to the special schools system. Now, since including mainstream initiatives like that for special students is not quite yet in the DNA of MOE, I wish to ask if MOE can consider an opt-out system. Whenever these initiatives are rolled out, special needs students in SPED schools, especially, are naturally included, and if it is not useful to them, then they opt out. So that might make things better for them. I would like the Minister's comments on that as well.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: I thank Ms Denise Phua for the questions. On her last suggestion about SPED schools and the opt-out option, in my speech earlier on, I mentioned about how practices and resources which MOE is pioneering in the schools will be shared with the SPED schools, and certainly we will study her suggestions.
Now, on her comments about Finland and the status of teachers, I am glad to say that today, in Singapore, our teachers enjoy a fairly good status and there is respect for our teachers. I would like Members and I would like the public to continue to support our teachers in their work. It is not easy to be at the frontlines, day in, day out, having to deal with children from a variety of backgrounds. That is why I think it is very important for us to stand behind our teachers, particularly if parents are not reasonable.
Earlier on there were issues about – I think that Mr Teo Ser Luck raised the issue about discipline – it is very important for us to continue to support our teachers to maintain discipline in the schools and to make sure that their job is not made more difficult for other reasons.
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Now, in terms of the attraction of teaching as a profession, I agree that beyond salary, the fulfilment that comes from it is very, very important. That is where I think MOE has been exploring a number of different initiatives. One major area is professional development. Teachers want to feel that what they do make a difference and that they are continually improving their mastery of this craft. It is a craft that takes many, many years to develop and to hone the skills.
I launched a Teachers' Growth Model last year. We have launched professional learning committees in almost all schools. The Academy of Singapore Teachers has also been bringing teachers together. We have set up three very specialised academies: Singapore Teachers' Academy for the Arts (STAR), Physical Education and Sports Teacher Academy (PESTA) and English Language Institute of Singapore (ELIS) for the teaching of English, arts and PE and sports. All those are measures that we will continue to look at, as well as any other issues that may affect the motivation of teachers.
On ranking, I agree the points raised. That is why I did away with the ranking. But I have to say that there are many Singaporeans who fully supported it. There are others who have also expressed reservations about doing away with ranking. MOE will move at a pace that the public is prepared to accept. These are important changes that we have to make.
And on the Member's point about inclusive classrooms, indeed, this is the direction that we should be moving towards but we have to do it in a systematic pace. You will notice from my discussions earlier and from the videos that I have shown that the additional support programmes that we are giving to our students in the coming years, involve action in the schools. These are all integrated into classroom practices. Students are not put into a separate school to do that but they are all part and parcel of that learning. As we evolve, as our teachers become better at this, we will be better able to cater to different groups of students with different needs.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong: Thank you, Madam. I have two clarifications for the Minister. I was watching very intently the lively video of Da Qiao Primary. It shows around eight students to one teacher. This is highly ideal for learning, but I would like to know how MOE is going to implement this in the operating environment of 30 to 40 students in the class. How does this gel with our operating environment today?
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The second question is that MOE is going to re-introduce 好公民 and other civics learning. How does MOE ensure 好公民 and other moral education and social studies lessons will be conducted by the schools, especially during high-stake examination years? My own experience with my own children shows that they actually did not use the book at all during the PSLE years.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: I thank Mr Yee Jenn Jong for his question. On the example that he cited with Da Qiao Primary, let me say that the video that Members have seen is not the first time that MOE is having smaller groups of students. That is why I tried to explain what the pupil-teacher ratio is about. Maybe I should also make a further clarification because some Members have asked me what is the pupil-teacher ratio. It is essentially the number of pupils that we have divided by the number of teachers. That is a very important measurement besides the class size. Smaller class sizes catering to students who need special support have always been there. In fact, I have seen in our Normal (Technical) streams and in our pull-out programmes where class sizes are very small. I have seen many such support programmes where students are placed in very small groups with different learning approaches in the secondary schools. We are continuing with that and our educators are quite experienced in doing this. I am confident that as we roll these programmes out, we will see better results.
Now, on the Member's question on how would the \"Good Citizen\" or 好公民 series be used and whether indeed will teachers continue to use them, I do not know when your child was in Primary 6. I think as we place a greater emphasis on this, I am very optimistic that our educators are fully onboard on this initiative. Like many Singaporeans, they see the importance of values and the importance of good citizenship in our children, and therefore the commitment to do something about this is growing. Even if it may be uneven across schools, but I think it is growing and I have spoken to many of our school leaders. They are fully onboard and we will see changes in the coming years.
Dr Lily Neo: Thank you, Mdm Chair. May I ask the Minister how does MOE ensure that our disadvantaged children get the good preschool education they badly need? How does MOE identify these children, and then how does MOE guarantee preschool education places for this group? Lastly, will MOE also ensure that the school-based student care places are available for this group and are targeted at them?
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Mr Heng Swee Keat: I thank Dr Lily Neo for the questions. I think those are very important questions.
First, on whether our students get good preschool education, today, over 99.9% of our students attend kindergarten and then K1, K2. That has been due to efforts which have been put in by various parties over the last few years, in particular, to try and get every child to attend kindergarten even though it is not compulsory. Now, in terms of how do we ensure then that these are good preschools, this is where the efforts that we are going to put in and the committee, which Mr Chan Chun Sing and myself are chairing, will work on. I showed the five areas of work that we are embarking on. In fact, some of those work areas have already been done and some of the work has taken place earlier, but we will continue with those efforts to raise the overall level of preschool education in Singapore, and Minister Chan will probably speak more on this tomorrow.
Now, for the MOE-run kindergartens, all of the centres will be in HDB heartlands. We think that that is an important catchment area and we want to ensure that students living in the heartlands have access to preschool. On school-based student care centres, today we have 80 and we are expanding further. Priority will be given to students from the lower-, middle-income groups. This is something which the schools are aware of and, in fact, they have been implementing policies to that effect.
Finally, let me say that where students require financial assistance, they will be given financial assistance. We have, in the last few years, enhanced financial assistance significantly so no child would be denied a good preschool education because of family circumstances.
Ms Janice Koh: Thank you, Madam. I am really happy to note from the Senior Minister of State's response that MOE and I are on the same page with regard to the value and importance of Literature. I have got a two-pronged supplementary question, one is on passion and one is on perception.
On passion, I totally agree that students should be free to choose their subjects based on what they are passionate about, but in the case of literature, how do we support those students who happen to be in secondary schools where the schools do not offer it as an \"O\" level subject, and we know that only 50% of these schools offer it as an \"O\" level subject.
And on perception, you know, just yesterday on The Straits Times Forum online page, a Secondary 2 girl wrote in to the Forum Page to say that she did
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a poll of her friends to find out how many of them wanted to do literature. All of them said they did, except they were afraid of disappointing their parents if their grades were low. How can MOE reverse this impression of Literature and change the perception of parents?
Ms Indranee Rajah: Mdm Chairperson, I thank Ms Koh for her supplementary question, which is a very valid one. She raised two points – passion and perception. In terms of the perception, the main perception which deters people is the perception that it is hard to score at Literature. On this, the proportion of distinctions in Literature amongst \"O\" level graduates is about 41%. This actually shows that it is very much within the realm of possibility to do well for Literature. That is the first point. You can do well.
Then, of course, the next question is in the schools will they be encouraged to take up Literature? As the Member may know, a large degree of autonomy is given to school principals and the idea is that you do not have a one-size-fits-all approach. The principal and the school leaders should do what is best that fits the circumstances for each school. I think that is why we hear different stories about Literature is approached in different schools because some schools have a very strong Literature programme and some schools, well, less so. It boils down to the four points that I raised earlier in my speech which is that the distinctive characteristics of the schools which do well in Literature are where we have the students who are already interested; you have passionate teachers; you have supportive principals and there is good foundation in English.
Now, the funny thing, though, the key is when you have passionate teachers and a supportive principal, they will put in programmes to make students more interested. You could have some who were not interested to begin with, but if they see that the school has a good programme and they start to think about it, they may be encouraged to take it up. The key here, really, is getting principals and school leaders to see Literature as an important subject and to introduce programmes within their school that encourage a stronger take-up rate from the students. That, to me, is the key. From MOE's perspective, we will work with those principals and with the schools to encourage the taking up of Literature; and not just Literature as I have mentioned in my answer – Humanities as a whole – because I think that we need that balance.
Mr Baey Yam Keng: I am heartened by the Senior Parliamentary Secretary's reply that MOE values school heritage. If I understand correctly, the preservation of school heritage is practically left to the principal and principals do come and go. I would like to ask MOE if they could establish a proper framework and also provide resources so that the important aspects of a
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school's heritage is not just discarded or ignored based on the whim and fancy of a principal. These efforts should also be extended to existing schools, not just when schools are closing down or merging because heritage is a living thing. It is not history; it should be an ongoing effort and process.
The second clarification is will MOE, when planning for new schools, be looking into its database of defunct school names, to revise some of these names? For MOE's information, my alma mater, Westlake Primary School's name is available. It was located then along Braddell Road, so it does not need to be located in the West.
Ms Sim Ann: Mr Baey, Westlake Primary School is duly noted. Generally, I want to say that there is increasing commitment on the part of our educators – principals and teachers alike – to highlight to our students the importance of heritage. We have seen a number of very good practices in various schools that have undergone the process of relocation for merging, to set up, for instance, heritage rooms where paraphernalia from the previous incarnations of the school are being duly preserved and good stories are being written down or maybe even published in the form of books to encourage students to understand the school's past. Mr Baey's suggestion is a very good one and we will be working together with our schools to perpetuate and share some of these best practices.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar: Madam, I have three clarifications. First, Minister has sketched the major directions and possible challenges for our educational system in the coming years. But we know that this cannot be addressed by the Ministry, schools and school leaders alone. Parents and teachers are equally important stakeholders.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi Daipi has addressed the point about parents, but may I ask the Minister what more can be done to ensure that our teachers remain positive and committed to the rethink that Minister has sketched out earlier?
And the next two clarifications to Senior Parliamentary Secretary Hawazi Daipi, with regard to the new school-based after-school care centres, who will be the personnel to attend to our students, after school hours? Some teachers are quite concerned that their job scope might just be expanded. And the third
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clarification, in Malay please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] What are the status and updates of the Malay Etiquette Camp that was introduced in 2011? Has it been implemented widely?
Mr Heng Swee Keat: I thank Dr Intan for her question. She has made a very important point that having teachers who are fully committed and engaged in the process is very important. I am very pleased that our teachers are very engaged in this process. Earlier on, I mentioned that we have based one of Our Singapore Conversation within schools – over 5,000 educators have taken part in it. Many students have also been involved. I find it very important for us to hear the voices of our students as well.
Many of the issues that I surfaced in this House earlier on were surfaced by participants and we have collated them very carefully. There is strong support for the process and there is some clear direction in terms of the strengths that we want to reaffirm but also the changes that we ought to make, either in a more radical way or in a more calibrated way.
Some of the options that I mentioned today came from our educators. I am very happy that at our headquarters, our professionals are also very, very engaged in this process. The Director-General of Education herself is very focused on these issues. I am confident that as we evolve and as we discuss in the next step that we will be looking at the options and debating the options in much greater depth.
Mr Hawazi Daipi: Madam, there were two questions raised by Dr Intan. On the Student Care Centres (SCCs), these are run by operators engaged by the schools. When the students are there to take part in their activities, the responsibility rests with the SCC. What we have done is to improve the coordination between schools and the SCCs in two aspects. One is the programme, so that there is a greater coordination between programmes run by schools and programmes run by the SCCs. Secondly, the pastoral side. Where students need greater supervision, greater attention beyond the academics, there is a greater handshake between the school coordinator in-charge of working with the SCC co-ordinator as well as the SCC management.
On the part of the Malay mannerism camp that I spoke about, let me just respond in Malay.
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(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] In general, the camps have not been implemented yet at the Ministry. It has been tested, piloted by the Singapore Malay Language Council more than a year ago and we have found the programme suitable for implementation in schools so that it can be enjoyed by students.
In general, the activities are not just in the form of listening or watching lessons taught by the teachers, but the students will also be directly involved in learning Malay manners and courtesy. This can be conducted in schools. The teaching staff or mentors can either be teachers or local Malay language and cultural personalities.
We will be briefing schools to explain about this programme. We also hope that Malay language and cultural bodies can be involved by organising these activities outside of schools so that parents and their children can also take part.
I think this is a very good programme because it will be enhancing our children's understanding about Malay culture and manners as well as their culture.
The Chairman: Asst Prof Eugene Tan.
Asst Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene: Thank you, Madam, for your indulgence. I have a clarification to seek from the Senior Minister of State. I am all for university autonomy but I am concerned about autonomy being used to justify discrimination. The idea that we want to recognise the different abilities of the academics is fine; I think we recognise that in the base pay. But why should foreign academics be given allowances? We could have a situation in which we have two academics – one local, one foreign – both having the same qualifications, same abilities, but then they would be remunerated differently. I think this is blatant discrimination. I think it undermines the long-term development of our universities because it discriminates against our own Singaporeans.
Ms Indranee Rajah: I thank the Member for his supplementary question. I think the Member's concern is, if there is discrimination without a rationale or justifiable basis. Let us come back to the basic issue or the basic situation. We have autonomous universities. They have to look to see how they can recruit. The Member also acknowledges that for the base pay or the base salary and for the bonuses that is dealt with, more or less on par. The real crux of the matter appears to be the allowances, out of which the largest one is really the housing
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allowances.
My understanding of it is that when you are recruiting from overseas, what the universities do is they take into account whether or not the person has housing, and they look to see whether that is something which is necessary to be addressed, in terms of getting people over here. At the same time though, they also do look into that from the perspective of returning Singaporeans. So, one of the universities, for example, has for Singaporeans, a housing allowance of up to one year of housing benefit if that Singaporean had been residing abroad for more than three years. There is another university where they are allowed to apply for on-campus housing if they or their immediate family members do not own a residential property. Then there is another one where they have the same allowance if they do not own a residential property in Singapore.
The universities do not have the same practice across the board. They have practices which they feel are suited to their own university. To the extent that the Member is concerned about just pure discrimination on the basis that one is a foreigner, one is a Singaporean then obviously that is not correct. Not correct meaning that that should not be done. If the concern is whether or not the faculty staff is able to have housing in terms of how do you recruit; is one of the things that you need to add into your package to be able to attract people here, that, I think is what the universities are doing.
I think the Member has flagged this as a cause for concern. That is something that we certainly convey back to the universities so that they can review to make sure that their practices are fair and have a rational basis in terms of what they offer their faculty and their staff.
The Chairman: End of clarification time. Mr Lim Biow Chuan, you may wish to withdraw your amendment.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan: On behalf of the Education GPC and other Members of this House who are passionate about education policies, let me thank the Minister, Senior Minister of State, Senior Parliamentary Secretaries, Mr Hawazi, Ms Sim Ann, for their replies and clarifications. I would also wish to take the opportunity to thank the Permanent Secretary and MOE staff for their diligence and support during this COS Debate. Madam, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.
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[(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $10,660,000,000 for Head K ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The sum of $975,000,000 for Head K 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 I (Ministry of Social and Family Development)","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Madam, I beg to move, \"That the total sum to be allocated for Head I of the Estimates be reduced by $100\".
There is a sense of disquiet in Singapore as we age. Increasingly, the notion of \"security\" is not just a matter of finance, but a basic matter of a roof over our heads, food and mobility. Looming over this is the idea of healthcare costs.
Today I ask the Minister to do even more and make our social services more secure and more comprehensive than ever; to take on the lens of a user point of view and include all aspects, be it health, infrastructure, social services as part of a larger social safety net.
In the past, we have relied on the notion of \"many helping hands\" and this squares with our national values, but it is also a matter of financial tightness on the part of Government. Given our current financial status, can we afford for the Government to be an even larger helping hand?
This hand should first be extended to vulnerable families – families with breadwinners in jail, single parents and also single income families. Can we have targeted assistance for each of such family groups? Can we review and enhance existing schemes to see if more can be provided for these groups? In particular, I would like to ask also for the extension of maternity leave for single mothers. I have in the past championed the cause of not just fathers but also single mothers. So, over the course of my two terms here in Parliament, I have made the case that they should be thought of as mothers first, and singles second, if at all. I ask the Minister to consider these family units as legitimate calls on our national resources and, indeed, to make more provisions for them
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than usual families because of their extra needs.
Madam, I would like to move on to the issue of the ageing population. While the Ministry has various schemes in place for the needy, there are some families who may have additional specialised needs such as healthcare or hygiene consumables, and these are not covered by the general level of social assistance provided.
Most schemes have medical bill assistance as part of the package, but schemes that specifically address healthcare needs, there are only a few. Even amongst these schemes, there are a few which I know of like the General Assistance Fund administered by Northeast CDC, and also the EyeWear @ South West administered by South West CDC. These seem to provide some kind of help for healthcare and medical consumables. These healthcare needs are most acute for the elderly – and I think in our usual efficient manner, we have classified these needs under primary healthcare.
Madam, I wish to ask how MSF intends to cater to the needs of such vulnerable groups more effectively. Also beyond cash schemes, can these help include some discretionary one-off aid, one-off consumables? There is significant overlap between the social and primary healthcare needs, especially among the elderly.
I know the good work that the AIC is doing – integrating healthcare amongst the acute, to preventive spectrum, and working with VWOs. Although the care for the elderly does take up a large part of this work, I believe that in the future, the work of AIC will become even more important as the need for good primary health care increases. This work cannot be easy.
Still, I will add another challenge – integration is already difficult enough within the MOH, but to ask for integration with another ministry, that is a tall order. But here is a taller one – what about integration with the MND as well? I will elaborate on the need for integrated care delivery in another cut.
For now, I would like to say this: last year, the Ministry announced the plans to ramp up services to enable the elderly to age-in-place through community and home-based care. In addition, the Ministry is also working on the recommendations of the Enabling Masterplan for persons with disabilities. For
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now, I wish to ask on the progress of the Enabling Masterplan to date.
Even with the rollout of the plans, some parents with adult children with disabilities have expressed their anxieties over a lack of adult care services for their children. I wish to ask for the Ministry's plans in this area. As I know, although families of persons with disabilities can benefit from the Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) Concession Scheme to employ FDWs to take care of them full time, for those families who are still unable to employ FDWs or maids, there is no help for them. There are still no assisted living facilities for persons with disabilities, or the option of home-based care for these families.
Currently, there are seven adult disability homes, three adult disability hostels and 19 day activity centres. Yet, even so, there is still a lack of capacity at all these existing centres.
For this group, can we extend better support for adults with disabilities through the provision of more places in adult disability homes and day activity centres? With the ageing population and longer life expectancies of persons with disabilities, demand for adult care services will increase greatly in time to come.
[Deputy Speaker (Mr Charles Chong) in the Chair]
In terms of transport, I wish to compliment the efforts of the MOT in improving the accessibility of all public buses, MRTs, as well as public buildings and facilities. I know also that the Caring Fleet and Handicap Welfare Association have been providing specialised and dedicated accessible transportation for wheelchair-users and persons with limited mobility. Can we do more to further improve the transport infrastructure and also to have more wheelchair-accessible taxi fleet that are geographically based to cater and better serve such people?
All in, there is still much scope for us to further improve our social safety net in terms of both coverage and scope but also making it more flexible. I hope some of the ideas and the suggestions I have outlined here can be taken up by the Ministry.
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Dr Lily Neo (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Chairman, there is a pressing shortage of childcare and infant-care centres now. In order to get more housewives to join our tight labour market, this shortage needs urgent fixing. For young couples, the availability of good childcare and infant-care centres is an important factor in their considerations about starting to have children. Many families need to have the dual incomes and many young career women do not want to give up their career advancement opportunities. Availability of good childcare facilities is, therefore, crucial toward better TFRs. While I understand there is a tremendous shortage for childcare staff, I hope MSF can help alleviate the situation as a matter of urgency. May I ask the Minister how short are we over the demand for childcare centres? How confident is the Minister on ensuring a sufficient supply of them and over what sort of timeline will the supply be met?
Many parents have complained that private childcare centres are very expensive. Some have lamented that fees charged by privately-run centres got even higher in spite of the increment of Government childcare subsidy. May I ask the Minister if he will consider regulating prices charged by privately-run childcare centres in lieu of Government subsidies?
Many of the lowest income families are in chronic need of financial assistance because only one parent is earning. Very often that parent can only earn low wages and still need to support two or more children. There is a need to assist such families holistically on a more permanent basis. Will the Minister provide a special scheme targeted at assisting these families? Could assistance be given to pair the mothers in these families for jobs with childcare placement? Could such families be offered job-upgrading opportunities to meet the needs of their children?
I beseech MSF to assist children from these lowest income families. Help in this area is still deficient and we need special intervention and more resources to improve their predicament. Let us give them a better start in life and a better chance for social mobility. These children and their families need assistance through personal guidance and in a hands-on approach. Daily supervision of these children with their school-work, basic necessities, activities and hobbies can be provided for them after school. It will be ideal to have centres in the community near their homes and have them cared for by committed staff. Social workers can assist such families with the intention of helping them achieve more conducive home environment. May I ask the Minister on the availability of social workers and will a shortage of them be
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relieved anytime soon?
As the number of elderly in our population is increasing, may I ask the Minister to consider providing facilities or centres that enable healthy community living? Such facilities will enable the elderly to live independently and healthily in the community for as long as possible. Such facilities would also allow the elderly themselves to bond and care for each other. This is useful especially when one of their buddies should become frail. The idea of self-help is an untapped extra resource in the community. There should, of course, be support from voluntary group organisations and grassroots organisations for such facilities as well. Will the Ministry set up more Senior Activity Centres? Are there plans to build respite centres enabling day-care for those with mobility difficulties and community rehabilitative centres for those who are discharged from the community homes needing some rehabilitation supervision.
I applaud MSF for the new enhancements in the PA scheme this month. The monthly increment of $50 will address the higher cost of living. The second tier and third tier assistance are most welcomed. The discretionary assistance is timely and far-sighted in view of our ageing population. We can expect more elderly living longer and therefore more of them having medical conditions. This discretionary assistance will enable many more to stay in their own homes, with assisted living equipment, for as long as possible despite their medical conditions.
The policy for the PA scheme enhancements was well thought out to reach the recipients who have many variable needs. It is a not the usual one-size-fits-all kind of policy as rightly it should be. I hope many more of our new policies can be similarly designed to better target the end users. My concern is how is the Minister ensuring that the PA recipients get to receive the new secondary and discretionary assistance? Many of them will not be well informed or know how to go about them. Since many of the criteria are related to healthcare daily consumables and medical equipment, could MSF cooperate and synergise better with MOH about the recipients to channel the types of daily medical needs and the medical equipment to fix in their homes readily and seamlessly. This will help reduce the dependence on institutional care and is good for both MOH and MSF.
May I ask the Minister whether he will also review other assistance schemes under MSF, the Hope scheme for instance, to have new enhancements as well?
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Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Chairman, I am heartened by the move to increase the financial aid to Public Assistance beneficiaries. At the same time this leads me to ponder on how much one would really need to lead a decent life in Singapore. During the Budget Debate, my parliamentary colleague, Ms Irene Ng, proposed the idea of a living wage. I would like to support the call.
What would the Ministry consider as a living wage in Singapore? In UK, based on information from the official website of UK's Living Wage Foundation, living wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually. It is calculated according to the basic cost of living in UK. In some countries, a living wage would be a reasonable salary a person could earn in a 44-hour work week to meet the basic necessities of living.
In UK as well, employers are encouraged to pay the living wage on a voluntary basis. Studies have shown that paying the living wage is good for business, good for the individual and good for society. According to an independent study to look at the business benefits of implementing a Living Wage policy, it showed that more than 80% of employers acknowledged that the Living Wage had improved the quality of work of their staff. From the individual point of view, the Living Wage affords people the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. Studies also showed that 75% of employees reported increases in work quality as a result of receiving the Living Wage.
Knowing what a living wage is in Singapore would be useful as a benchmark to evaluate our public assistance programme. With WCS, this is also a good opportunity for employers to pay a living wage given the benefits and possibly, an improvement in work productivity.
Hence, I would like to propose for MSF to commission a study to look at determining a living wage in Singapore.
Mr Laurence Lien (Nominated Member): Mr Chair, poverty is growing in Singapore. There is a widening income gap. And there are many who are in fact getting poorer, and struggling to get by.
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According to my analysis of MOM's statistics, real median wages of the cleaners and labourers declined by 35% from 2000 to 2011; while those of service and sales workers declined by 15%. When some people are so poor that they and their children cannot have three decent meals a day, it is a scandal because, at the same time, Singapore has one of the highest density of millionaires in the world –188,000 millionaire households by one estimate.
If one listens to stories of the poor, one would find that in an overwhelming number of cases, the poor do not deserve their plight. Life's circumstances seem to conspire to make their lives so hard that it is near impossible to get by. Many poor families face multiple challenges, including father in jail, children with disabilities and numerous health issues, often quite serious.
What then is our response? Do we not have plenty of Government schemes and charities to help these people? Yes, we do. In fact, we can qualify as a welfare state by the number of schemes we have. But in outcomes and impact, that is where we are falling very short. Our schemes are a bit like Panadol – a painkiller that just helps to numb the pain a little, but does not help solve the root issues.
Let me list four issues. First, we do not know the size of the problem. We lack in-depth studies on the ground realities of the poor. We tend to only have information on incomes, aggregated and cross-sectional, which masks differences in circumstances, changes across time and clarity on needs. We need much better data on the state of poverty, including how poor households cope or do not cope with limited resources, and how aid is perceived and used.
We need to establish poverty thresholds for households with different circumstances in order to be more targeted in our interventions. These thresholds should be based on what constitutes a full basket of essentials, plus additional expenditure that will help families get out of poverty. We need proper evaluation on what schemes work and do not work. If we care enough, we would want to know more.
Secondly, we tend to take away the dignity of the person in helping families in need. We treat the poor's problems like medical ones, to be treated by professionals. Inadvertently, we reinforce the inadequacies of the poor. The aid application process makes getting aid difficult – with many documents to complete and families often having to deplete their savings first. Too often, help is \"too little, too late\". Dignity also prevents genuine cases from coming forward, while those stepping forward feel they have to beg for small amounts. The latter
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lose their dignity, which once lost, simply makes them resigned to gaming the system. We must do more to preserve the self-esteem, dignity and confidence of the poor.
Thirdly, we are not holistic in our approach. The poor often require continued emotional support and healing in the midst of their many stressors. They need help on multiple fronts at home and at work. They need a comprehensive plan that conceptualises how they could be more self-reliant and how they can break their cycle of poverty. Our aid schemes look at income levels as a cut-off; but we also have to look at needs. Above all, we must deal with the root causes of poverty, and not just the symptoms.
Fourthly, we under-estimate the strengths of the poor and the community around them. The way we view the poor is often patronising and demeaning. The poor are no different from the rest of us. They want the best for themselves and their families. And most want to count on themselves and their hard work.
We must redesign our interventions systems to take a strengths-based perspective that uses personal strengths to aid in the recovery and empowerment of each poor person. The poor do not want to be stigmatised as helpless victims. Those of us working with them are partners, journeying with them. We aim to put the power back to each individual and family, and make them experts in their lives. We should consult them as to what they want for themselves, and give them a voice so that they can speak for themselves.
Partnering the poor would also require mobilising the assets in the community to support the work. We need greater community ownership for poverty and build up the social capital of the poor, because studies have shown that their networks are typically weaker than most.
In short, we need new paradigms to tackle poverty and to improve inter-generational social mobility. These new paradigms will help the poor get out of poverty, and not just to get by.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Moulmein-Kallang): Sir, I will use the term \"disability\" interchangeably with the term \"special needs\", since \"disability\" is a
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historical label that many people are still using. I thank the Minister for commissioning and launching the second five-year Enabling Masterplan for the Disabled. The disability scene has certainly been more vibrant and responsive compared to 10 years ago when there were no masterplans of such scope and depth.
I wish to raise four points for Minister's consideration and response.
First, progress of the Enabling Master Plan. Many recommendations were made in the 2012-2016 Enabling Master Plan. But according to recent media report, many persons with disabilities and their families do not appear to know much about the Enabling Master Plan and how they can be helped. I would like to ask Minister if there had been any change in the mode and pace of communicating and updating this community since the last Plan expired. And one year has passed since the latest Master Plan was launched, I also wish to seek Minister's update on the progress of this latest Plan.
Second, Special Implementation Team for Adults with Disabilities. Much focus has been placed on younger persons with special needs in the last six years, especially in early intervention and education, and that is good. As these children grow older, the demand for services to meet their changing needs had surfaced and become more urgent. Adults who are more severely disabled will need more support in the form of Day Activity Centres, respite care and residential living options. Those who are milder and are able to proceed to further studies require more education support in the higher institutions of learning.
Still, adults with disabilities who can be employed will need help in employability training, job placement, job support and continuous education and training (CET) so that they can be gainfully employed and be more financially independent. I have recently met a number of adults with various conditions, such as hearing impairment, visual impairment, down syndrome, who are either staying at home or taking on jobs that are much below their potential. There appears to be a need for greater focus, tighter support structure and resources to help them.
I urge Minister to form a Special Enabling Master Plan Implementation Team to specifically focus on addressing the needs of these adults with disabilities. Amongst other things, this team should look urgently into:
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(a) identifying locations, funding and construction of much-needed Day Activity Centres for adults with more severe needs; and
(b) resource and expand the scope and reach of the three Job Centres – BizLink, MINDS and ARC's E2C – so that more adults can receive not only screening and job placement, but also employability training and CET.
Third, clarification of Service Delivery System. With the recent changes in the service delivery mechanism in the social service and special-needs sector, I seek Minister's clarification on how all the different organisations, such as the Centre for Enabled Living, NCSS, MSF, CDC, VWOs and the new Social Services Offices, fit into the entire service delivery map for the special-needs sector.
Fourth, UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. With Singapore's signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in November last year, there has been rising expectation that the rights expressed in this Convention will materialise sooner than later. I seek the Minister's sharing of what the signing means and how things might be different for the sector now that the Convention is signed.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): Sir, as the population is ageing, it is important that our senior citizens can age graciously. Thus, I would like MSF to provide an update of the active ageing programme and initiative implemented thus far. How does MSF measure the effectiveness of this programme and initiative? Moving forward, what else would the Government do to promote active ageing? Would MSF increase the funding for the active ageing programme, given that the health screening costs have increased by 36% over the past one year?
Mr Ong Teng Koon (Sembawang): Sir, the Wellness Programme has been launched for some years now and is to be rolled out nationally. I would like to ask the Ministry what the Wellness Programme has achieved so far, and what other plans does the Ministry have to promote active ageing in the community.
Mr Chen Show Mao (Aljunied): Sir, much has been said in this House about active ageing. The World Health Organization defines active ageing as
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not merely being physically active or to be actively employed in the workforce, but also to \"continue participation in social, economic, cultural, spiritual and civic affairs\".
Could we explore, using a \"whole of government\" approach, concessions and benefits that help promote active ageing, for example, in areas such as transport, visits to attractions and community activities?
For transport, we should consider granting free travel on public transport to all Singaporean residents aged 70 and above to encourage them to move around more and lead healthier lifestyles. It will also, and I think more importantly, serve as a mark of our respect and a gesture of our thanks to our senior citizens. For all that they have done for us, our community and our nation. This would also be in line with the pledge made by the Government to do more to build a better, more inclusive society which includes the elderly.
As we know, seniors in several other civilised societies in different continents currently enjoy similar concessions. Would the Government consider working together with the public transport operators to assess how such a scheme could be brought about?
Likewise, we should also take a leaf out of the books of the National Heritage Board museums, which currently offer year-round free entry to elderly citizens and permanent residents. Could the Government encourage and support other museums and also attractions like the Gardens by the Bay and the Zoological Gardens to offer more generous concessions on entry for older visitors?
Similarly, could the Government, perhaps through the Active Ageing Council, look into the possibility of more generous concessions, in one form or another, for our senior citizens to attend classes and activities offered by Community Centres, in order to encourage more of them to take part?
Taken together, these will make it easier and more attractive for older Singaporeans to pursue more activities and hobbies, to allow them to age actively and independently. And, more importantly, for us to express our gratitude and our values of respect for our elders. Sir, may I continue in Chinese?
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I urge the Government and transport operators to consider granting free travel on public transport to
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those aged 70 and above to really implement the \"active ageing\" policy.
I believe that allowing seniors to enjoy concessions in transport, cultural and leisure activities will not only improve their quality of life, but also serves as a mark of our respect to our senior citizens. This will increase our awareness of the respect for the elderly, uphold the shared tradition of respecting the elderly among all the ethnic groups, and further cultivate a good social norm of respecting the elderly.
Ms Ellen Lee (Sembawang): Sir, I declare my interest as a practising lawyer in this area. No one is spared from sudden incapacity. Media have carried news of apparently young and healthy people who suddenly collapsed and never regained consciousness, or met with an accident and became incapacitated overnight. However, such misfortune is age and wealth blind and it can happen to anyone, anywhere.
The catastrophe is when this person is the sole breadwinner in the family and the suddenness of this misfortune throws the whole family into chaos, especially when all financial matters are controlled by this person alone. There are so many bills to be paid, including medical bills for his surgery and treatment, loans for housing, credit cards, overdraft facilities, insurance, cars, education and renovation, water and utilities bills, Town Council charges and so on. All these are recurring monthly payments and any default would attract demand letters, court actions and cutting off of water and electricity supplies. In order to access the patient's bank accounts, his next of kin must first apply to court for an order to do so as well as to act for the patient in all aspects of his life. This is not only time consuming but also expensive.
With advance planning, there is a quicker and cheaper way of protecting one's family from such disaster if it should happen. The Lasting Power of Attorney is the answer to this ordeal. It allows a person above 21 years old and mentally sound to register this legal document with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) so that the person named can legally make decisions on this person's behalf should he become mentally incapacitated, without having to get a court order.
According to the OPG's Annual Report 2011, there were about 28,000 dementia patients then and an estimated 80,000 by 2030. The Mental Capacity Act came into effect on 1st March 2010. However, the number of people who
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registered their LPA was above 1,600 as of 31 March 2012. The take up rate is too slow and too low. Despite publicity efforts by the OPG, why are the numbers not heading north?
As this is a form-filling exercise involving a registration fee, I would like to suggest that OPG helps the person to complete the form and waive the registration fee if it is done for the first time. For repeat registrations, it will be fair to impose an appropriate fee to cover the administrative costs. I believe that in so doing, more people will come forward to get their LPA done.
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Sir, Budget 2013's promise of a better Singapore with an inclusive society is a vision that probably means a lot to Singaporeans with disabilities or special needs children. Today, I just want to highlight one particular group of special needs citizens who could live that vision to the fullest if given more opportunity and support – Singaporeans with Down Syndrome.
When a 13-year old with Down syndrome passed her PSLE in 2009, a newspaper reporter wanted to find out the number of such children who took PSLE before but the effort drew a blank with MOE and Down syndrome Association (DSA).
Some parents of children with Down syndrome do feel that their children are like forgotten citizens. There are currently no official statistics on the number of Singaporeans born with Down syndrome each year and nobody seems to know for certain how many Singaporeans with Down syndrome are there in our current population.
Some adults with Down syndrome can be economically active but doing so can be a costly affair for them. Currently, they do not enjoy concessions for public transport. When they go to work, unless there is arranged transport, the care-giver will have to accompany them to take public transport to work thereby incurring double expense as a result.
The Fare Review Mechanism Committee (FRMC) will decide on the concessions for the various communities soon. I urge the Ministry to help lobby for adults with Down syndrome to be considered for concession as well.
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Last, caregivers of children and adults with Down syndrome do need assistance too. A mother of a grown up child with Down syndrome, her only child, shared this with me. She said it is a tough job to bring up a kid with disabilities. She quit her job many years ago and has exhausted her lifesavings to look after her special needs child. There are no subsidies for her adult child. Her only son pays the full adult fare for public transport.
I have said in my main Budget speech that how we take care of the weak, the disabled, the needy, and the least will determine how much we have progressed as a developed nation. I urge the Ministry to do more to help Singaporeans with Down syndrome see and feel that we are, indeed, a developed nation, that we are, indeed, an inclusive society.
Mr Alex Yam (Chua Chu Kang): Mr Chairman, the cost of juvenile delinquency can be substantial. There is the cost of juvenile justice, reduced life-time economic production and foregone life income. The impact may extend to the next generation, where children, raised in a disadvantaged family, may face more risk factors. However, juvenile delinquency and youth crime is not a big problem in Singapore, as yet. The school drop-out and unemployment rates for youths are low. The number of youth arrests has also been declining over the years.
But youth-at-risk has diverse needs. Currently, there is a landscape of services targeted at different issues. There are programmes for financial assistance, learning support. For youths who break the law, there is also the Guidance Programme, Probation Services, Juvenile Homes and Streetwise Programme to provide different avenues.
While these programmes have largely been successful, they may still be limited in their reach. It would be important to sustain these youths until they become self-motivated and independent individuals. I, therefore, urge that these youths be better supported by the Ministry after the completion of their programmes over the long term.
The Chairman: Mr Seah Kian Peng, you can take both your cuts together.
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Mr Seah Kian Peng: Mr Chairman, manpower is scarce everywhere, but particularly so in the social service sector. Yet, demands for such services will only increase. I would like to ask MSF what its plans are to build up the manpower supply and capabilities for the sector. What productivity improvements can we expect in an area that is so labour-intensive and which cannot, on the face of it, be mechanised?
Social services are complex and labour-intensive in nature. Given the manpower crunch, it will be a challenge to ensure that the sector's capabilities are sufficiently built up to meet growing social needs. In March last year, MSF rolled out a number of manpower initiatives to strengthen the social service sector, one of which was to help VWOs provide competitive remuneration for social service professionals.
I would like to ask to what extent have the VWOs benefited from this increase in funding, that is, have they been able to attract and retain critical staff? Part of this must be to reduce the dependence on non-Singaporeans for social service needs. We need to increase the supply of these social service professionals. Could MSF also provide an update on the implementation process? In particular, has additional training pipelines and scholarships been opened, and have they attracted more promising and passionate Singaporeans to join the sector so far? Could MSF also provide an update on the plan to enhance career advancement and professional development opportunities as well?
Finally, I wish to ask what plans MSF has in place to achieve greater productivity for the more labour-intensive social services. At end of 2011, we had around 9,300 social service professionals in the sector, and the manpower in this sector has grown by an average of 1% to 3% annually. This is a really small increase.
At the same time, however, the number of people who require services is increasing far more quickly. So, how are we going to ensure that besides the supply of professionals, the productivity of our social services also increase, especially the labour-intensive ones?
By 2030, the elderly will constitute 19% of the total population, amongst a host of other issues that will probably surface at that same time. In many other areas of policymaking, the problems are complex and multifaceted. This one –
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of a lack of manpower in social services however – appears to be quite a straightforward one of increasing supply. Given that in the short-term, we cannot do so, can the Minister explore other solutions, perhaps giving the religious organisations and VWOs a greater role in social services provision?
Next cut, Sir. There is no doubt that Singapore society is getting more complex. To cope with this, we need a more coordinated and integrated social service with more delivery points for social assistance to be rendered to beneficiaries in a timely manner.
While MSF has revised the eligibility criteria and quantum of some of its schemes, there are more needy families with complex needs who require assistance and services to be coordinated across different agencies. The Government's service delivery has to be improved.
What strategies is the Ministry pursuing to better address complex ground needs? Families and individuals may require different combinations of help and services, and social assistance and service delivery can be better coordinated at the ground.
I know that IDA, MSF and NCSS – they are all working together on a five-year Social Service ICT Master Plan, with the aim of enabling the delivery of coordinated and integrated social services through VWOs and Help Agencies. May I ask for an update of the implementation of these initiatives?
For integrated service delivery, I think MOH's Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) provides a very good model for social services. But it needs to see itself not merely as integrating healthcare but also the general physical well-being of Singaporeans – which does include some element of social care. For example, does \"befriending\" an elderly who lives alone include checking on his medication? Can primary healthcare education – including the need for screening, preventive medication – could this be a form of social care? To this end, the merger of AIC with the Centre for Enabled Living (CEL) under AIC is a good move. But more must be done. Perhaps a counterpart, an agency for integrated social services, needs to be set up in MSF itself.
We need to be super integrated as part of the new social infrastructure throughout the island. We can consider the use of CDCs, HDB branch offices, Community Clubs, FSCs and so on. The bottom-line is this – that we need to
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have more delivery points for social assistance so that there is easier, more timely and better accessibility for people in need. Accordingly, we also need to provide adequate resources to ensure that the personnel manning these centres are trained properly.
Mr Desmond Lee (Jurong): Sir, there are many helping hands in Singapore but not all these hands are tightly interlocked or sufficiently coordinated to prevent people from falling through the cracks. Social services agencies and VWOs provide very important support to Singaporeans in difficulty, but they tend to operate most effectively within their own terms of reference and areas of expertise; and understandably so.
Individuals or families in difficulty, however, tend to face a whole host of complex and inter-related problems, ranging from financial, medical, legal, marital, and so on. Referrals from one agency or VWO to another are common, especially after thorough casework but these tend to be ad-hoc, and highly dependent on the individual social worker's awareness of where other forms of help can be sought. And even then, some clients may be asked to provide similar types of documents or be repeatedly asked similar questions at interviews by these various agencies.
The private sector as a whole also engages in significant community service efforts under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes. But these resources though abundant are ad-hoc, not coordinated or targeted. Companies usually approach agencies and VWOs that they may know of, to carry out their CSR.
Outcomes are, therefore, not optimised, with potential delays in rendering assistance. Coordinated and integrated social service delivery is, therefore, key.
I, therefore, look forward to hearing about the Social Service Office (SSO) model that was briefly mentioned during the Budget Statement. I hope the SSO will be able to achieve the following objectives.
First, the SSO should be able to coordinate effectively and efficiently across the full spectrum of agencies and social services both in the immediate community as well as nationally.
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Second, it should be the main casework platform, so that the client only needs to go through one set of comprehensive interviews. Other agencies and VWOs should be able to rely on the accuracy and completeness of the SSO's fact finding, and only need to ask additional questions that are specific to their area of competence.
Third, the SSOs should have comprehensive databases to have a holistic and thorough overview of their clients' cases and what actions have been taken by other agencies. This will allow quicker and more effective assessment of needs and calibration of further assistance.
Fourth, the SSOs should not be the only gateway to our social safety net. That would be counterproductive. Singaporeans should be able to approach all agencies or VWOs, but the cases ought to be logged centrally, to allow the SSO to assess the cases holistically.
The SSOs should also be tasked to help to galvanise, coordinate and organise Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts that companies approach them with so that they can be more effectively and efficiently nation-wide.
Finally, I hope the SSOs can help to coordinate the community and neighbourhood volunteer databases so that various VWOs will be able to get a fair share of volunteers.
Mr Alex Yam: Mr Chairman, Singaporeans in need often opined that they have to jump through hoops to get the assistance they require. In addition, they often complain of a financial cliff that they face should their income increase.
Let me quote the example of Mdm L. Mdm L, a resident, is a divorcee without any children, she sold her matrimonial flat a number of years ago and after a struggle, managed to secure a rented unit under the joint-singles scheme. Without any education and having been unemployed for a period of time, she had received some support after a thorough search from various agencies, including job matching. She subsequently found a job as a cleaner and earned about $790 a month. Her monthly rental was about $90.
Subsequently, when I met Mdm L, I suggested that she go for training to upgrade her skills. She did so and her new employer increased her pay to the
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recommended $1,000 pay for cleaners. She came to see me and shared that she was overjoyed with her increment. However, her joy was short-lived.
Soon after, her rental lease was due for renewal and she found out her rent was to be readjusted to $205, an increase of $115. As such, if we use simple arithmetic, her $210 increase income became just $95. In addition, her new workplace was now located further away. Her monthly transport costs have, therefore, gone up by $12. Again, simple mathematics, her increased income has now come up to only $83. All this while, her work hours have also increased slightly. In all, without taking into consideration other costs, her pay taken as an hourly wage increase saw only an improvement of three cents in real terms for her. After writing to HDB, we managed to lower her rent.
However, although her case may be isolated, there are many low-income Singaporeans who face complex issues. At the current moment, there are no integrated agencies to be able to deal with all the issues at a go. Neither do we have enough officers on the ground, whether it is housing, education, employment, health, family issues, childcare – there are many more.
I, therefore, welcome the introduction of the MSF's Social Service Office (SSO) scheme to provide holistic care. I, however, advocate for a whole-of-Government approach for our public assistance and social assistance schemes so that Singaporeans in need have a one-stop resource to deal with their difficulties.
Sir, in closing, I hope that the MSF will be able to take on this role as the frontline Ministry. I, therefore, also advocate for more resources and funds to be allocated to this important Ministry to ensure that these holistic whole-of-Government efforts are not taken lightly.
The Chairman: Mr Hawazi Daipi is not here. Ms Low Yen Ling.
Ms Low Yen Ling (Chua Chu Kang): Mr Chairman, the Budgets of 2013 and 2012 have made it clear that the Government is committed to shaping an inclusive society and providing a stronger social safety net for all Singaporeans. There are three key aspects I would like to touch on briefly today.
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One, greater flexibility in the social safety net. Two, the need for integrated and seamless service delivery. And finally, promoting a \"pro-family\" culture.
More money has been set aside and new programmes have been put in place to meet the growing demands brought by an ageing population. It is, indeed, heartening to know that Singaporeans will now also receive financial help with the cost of healthcare consumables. Many of my residents will be beneficiaries. This would certainly help many low-income elderly Singaporeans cope with the cost of ageing. And this increased flexibility in Government funding is certainly welcomed.
I would like to urge the MSF to continue to review its present funding schemes for the elderly and disabled, and in particular, adult children with disabilities whose out-of-pocket healthcare expense is a considerable drain on their parents especially those from low-income families. To this end, are there any plans to extend more help to this particular group? Two, can the Minister provide an update on the progress on the Enabling Masterplan, with regard to Singaporeans with disabilities as well as elderly Singaporeans?
Next, in my constituency work, I have been meeting many elderly couples whose children are posted overseas or staying overseas. Oftentimes, the couple or in some cases, the parent lives alone in Singapore, with occasional visits from their children and grandchildren. To this end, I would like to ask if the Ministry could look into the needs of this growing group of elderly Singaporeans. Such elderly Singaporeans, especially those who stay alone, could potentially benefit from the formation of a special interest or support group to help them cope with the demands of ageing.
Next, on the importance of integrated delivery of services, that has been advocated by many of my fellow parliamentarians earlier, there is certainly an urgent need for integrated and seamless service delivery of services to our recipients of care and assistance. To this end, the needy individuals and their families have complex needs and they often need help from different agencies and Ministries. And it certainly can be very frustrating as highlighted by my various colleagues, to have to navigate various and different Ministries and agencies for help on a single matter. So, to this end, the establishment of AIC (Agency for Integrated Care) has certainly improved the situation tremendously in the past few years. Yet, more can be done in this area, especially where care and services need to be coordinated across hospitals, polyclinics, private clinics, VWOs, Family Service Centres, CDCs, Government agencies and also Ministries. So, other than the SSO, can technology play a greater role in the integration of care and service delivery for social needs? I hope the Minister can elaborate on
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the MSF's plan to streamline its delivery of care and services to those in need.
Last but not least, I wish to highlight the need to promote a \"pro-family\" mindset – as the Co-Chairman of National Family Committee. You may have read a recent The Straits Times' article on 5 March with this headline, and I quote, \"Undergrads don't love the idea of dating\". The report found that seven in 10 undergraduates have no plans to actively pursue relationships while studying. I do not know about you, but I was certainly appalled by the prospect of our campuses being devoid of romances.
To this end, may I ask the Minister for MSF to share more about the plans to promote pro-family and \"family first\" attitudes and values? How will the different age groups be targeted? Are there any innovative ways in which we can get to workplaces – not in a hard sell manner – get to workplaces, schools and social organisations to partner MSF to reinforce a positive mindset towards \"family first\" and family as a key foundation of life?
The Chairman: Order. It is now 7.30 pm. The time extended for the day's sitting has expired.
[(proc text) Thereupon Mr Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House. (proc text)]
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Mr Deputy Speaker: So be it.
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Adjourned accordingly at 7.30 pm.
\tPage: 190
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