1 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Prime Minister (a) whether there are signs of significant increase in securities trading fueled by online discussions and social media chat groups; (b) what are the protections against such activities destabilising the smooth running of the securities market; and (c) whether MAS is considering safeguards.
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Ong Ye Kung) (for the Prime Minister): Mr Speaker, Sir, happy new year to everybody. There have been no signs that discussions in online forums or social media chat groups have led to any significant increase in the trading of securities listed in Singapore. Notwithstanding this, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) are on heightened alert to such activities.
Recent events in the US have highlighted the risks of excessive trading driving sharp movements in price. There are important lessons to learn from this experience, and we need to be alert to similar risks potentially occurring in our own markets.
While investigations by the US authorities are on-going, the triggers for the recent event were not unfamiliar to the industry. Certain investors had accumulated large short positions, exerting downward price pressure in the affected stocks. This was followed by online discussions amongst retail investors to buy the stocks, which increased their prices. These prices have since fallen from their peaks, raising a new issue of whether the price increases were sustainable.
We have various safeguards in place to address such risks. There are, by and large, two scenarios we are safeguarding against.
One is the “pump and dump” scenario, where certain parties incite trading to push up prices, including through online forums and social media chat groups. Once prices rise to specific levels, they may sell then the securities which they had accumulated earlier. When prices eventually fall back down, other investors could suffer quite heavy losses.
A second scenario is the “short and distort” scenario, where certain investors take a short position on certain securities and use false or misleading information to encourage more short-selling. They can make profits by covering their positions after prices have fallen.
Our safeguards address such scenarios in three ways. One, providing market transparency; two, curbing any sharp price movements; and three, enforcing against market misconduct. Let me describe each of them briefly.
First, providing market transparency. When there are unusual price movements in a company’s securities, SGX RegCo may issue a query and the company must publicly clarify if it is undertaking any activity that would warrant such a price change. If market rumours are influencing stock prices, the company is required to provide a prompt and full response to any allegations. As an early warning to investors, SGX RegCo may also issue a “Trade with Caution” alert on securities where there is potential for disorderly trading. In addition, aggregated short positions and trading volumes are published for each security. These measures provide transparency to investors, allowing the market to self-correct where there is excessive trading that is not backed by business fundamentals.
Second, to curb the effect of a sharp movement in the price of a security, a circuit breaker may be triggered that temporarily suspends trading. SGX may also impose additional conditions such as restricting specific market participants from trading or requiring investors to place more collateral. In extreme cases, affected securities may be suspended from trading altogether until further notice.
Finally, firm enforcement action will be taken against persons who breach the law. In particular, it is illegal under the Securities and Futures Act to disseminate misleading information or use manipulative and deceptive practices.
MAS and SGX RegCo have recently issued statements advising investors on the risks of trading in securities based on discussions on online forums. Investors should refer to these advisories and be alert to the risks of trading in a volatile market.
\tMr Speaker: Mr Desmond Choo.
\tMr Desmond Choo (Tampines): I would like to thank the Minister for his clarification. I have two points of clarification. The first is, with our safeguards in place, what is the likelihood of short squeezes happening in Singapore and thus, leading to massive market dislocations? The second question that I have is, what is MAS' position on having platforms like Robinhood being set up in Singapore? We know that Robinhood was one of the key platforms that Reddit band had used to try to corner the market, create short squeezes and thus, create massive market dislocations. Would we put in safeguards to prevent them from setting up in Singapore? Or would we create a regulatory environment that will control their behaviour, like what we have seen in the US?
\tMr Ong Ye Kung: On short squeezes, the short positions in Singapore compared to the US, are much less. As to the reasons why, there can be a few hypotheses. One, maybe, it is the culture of investors here. Two, it is also the level of disclosure; so, if you are a listed company, there is a high level or standard that you have to abide to in disclosing your business and if anything that is happening that is material to your business. So, because of the transparency, investors have more information to act on. And thirdly, there are also mechanisms in the US such as having single stock options – you can have many puts, for example; it is equivalent to short selling – that also exposures themselves to more short positions, resulting in short squeezes; which we do not have here. So, for various reasons, plus all the measures I mentioned earlier – enforcement, being alert to such price surges, implementing circuit breaker. All these contributed to it.
We will continue to be on the alert to prevent such events, such short squeezes from happening.
As for platforms, you know how online platforms are. It is hard to control. So, I think, ultimately, it is still about having a good, transparent, efficient regulatory regime and functioning of the market to prevent such things from happening in the first place.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Further Safeguards Following Investigation into Recent Detention of 16-year-old Self-radicalised Singaporean","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"2 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Home Affairs in light of the recent detention of a 16-year-old Singaporean who planned and prepared to conduct terrorist attacks against Muslims in Singapore, what further legal tools should be put in place to bolster and support the Home Team’s operational capability to detect, trace and apprehend self-radicalised terror suspects before any terror incident occurs.
3 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Home Affairs what further measures can be undertaken to denounce terror attacks, whenever they take place around the globe, so as to prevent self-radicalised copy-cats from thinking they can replicate such horrific terror attacks in Singapore.
4 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Home Affairs what legal measures can be undertaken to tighten up the Arms and Explosives Act (Chapter 13), or other relevant legislation, so as to prevent self-radicalised members of the public from getting their hands on firearms or explosives to carry out terror attacks in Singapore.
5 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Home Affairs in view of the recent detention of a teenager who was preparing to conduct terrorist activities in Singapore (a) whether the investigations are conclusive that he was operating as a “lone wolf”; (b) what are the current efforts to promote a better understanding of race and racial issues amongst younger Singaporeans; and (c) what further efforts are needed within the schools and youth groups.
6 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Home Affairs what are the current safeguards on younger residents getting access to offensive weapons or components and materials on online e-commerce platforms.
7 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Home Affairs what are the facts and circumstances that led to the detention of a 16-year-old Singaporean on the grounds that he planned to use a machete to attack Muslims at two local mosques during the 2nd anniversary of the 2019 attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand.
8 Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what actions will be taken to improve harmonious relationships between different religious groups; and (b) whether the different religious organisations can be equipped with knowledge to look out for members who may become self-radicalised.
9 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Home Affairs what steps have been identified by the Government to counter the trend of persons being self-radicalised through the Internet into inciting violence against persons from different religious groups.
\tThe Minister of State for Home Affairs (Mr Desmond Tan) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, please allow me to take together the eight questions on the recent arrest of the 16-year-old self-radicalised Singaporean and measures against extremism and radicalisation from Mr Christopher de Souza, Mr Desmond Choo, Mr Murali Pillai and Mr Lim Biow Chuan.
\tMr Speaker: Please proceed.
\tMr Desmond Tan: Mr Murali asked for the facts and circumstances of the case and Mr Choo asked if investigations were conclusive that he had operated as a “lone wolf”.
The 16-year-old Singaporean was arrested in December 2020. He had made detailed plans and preparations to attack Muslims at two mosques using a machete. He is the first detainee to be inspired by far-right ideology and he is the youngest individual dealt with to-date under the ISA for terrorism-related activities. He was self-radicalised, motivated by a strong antipathy towards Islam and a fascination with violence. He was inspired by Brenton Tarrant, who attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019. The 16-year-old Singaporean watched the video of Tarrant’s attack against the two mosques and read Tarrant’s manifesto. He also watched propaganda videos produced by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and came to the erroneous conclusion that ISIS represented Islam, and that Islam called on its followers to kill non-Muslims.
He had planned to carry out attacks on 15 March 2021, the second anniversary of the Christchurch attacks, at Assyafaah Mosque and Yusof Ishak Mosque, near his home. To prepare for this, he conducted online reconnaissance and research on both mosques; devised a plan to procure a vehicle to use during the attack; bought a tactical vest from an online platform which he intended to adorn with right-wing extremist symbols and strap on his mobile device to livestream the attack; watched videos to learn how to wield a machete to inflict fatal wounds; and intended to purchase one from an online marketplace. He also wrote two documents which he intended to disseminate prior to his attacks. Both documents expressed his misguided hatred towards Islam, as well as support for the Christchurch attacks and far-right ideology.
ISD’s investigations found that he was operating alone. There was no indication that he had tried to involve others in his plans.
This case shows clearly that violent impulses are not restricted to any particular racial or religious group. People who have been exposed to hate speech can become influenced by it. The 16-year-old youth will undergo psychological and religious counselling to correct his radical ideology and address his propensity for violence. We hope that he will respond positively and will be successfully rehabilitated, so that he can carry on with his life.
Mr de Souza, Mr Choo, Mr Lim and Mr Murali asked about our counter-extremism and counter-radicalisation efforts.
Singapore has been strengthening our laws and building resilience against terrorism. For example, the updated Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act came into force in April 2019. Key changes included expanding the prohibition on financing terrorism activities to include terrorism training, and increasing penalties for failing to disclose information relating to terrorism financing to the authorities.
The detection and arrest of the 16-year-old Singaporean underscores the continued importance of the Internal Security Act, to enable the authorities to act pre-emptively before attacks happen, thus preventing injury, loss of life and damage to our communal harmony.
With regard to offensive weapons and firearms, we exercise tight controls under our laws, and these apply regardless of the modality of sales, be it through physical retail stores or online e-commerce platforms. The Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act was passed by Parliament in January this year. It replaced the Arms and Explosives Act and strengthened our regulatory and enforcement regime.
We agree with Mr de Souza that it is important for Singapore to denounce terror attacks whenever they happen, to send a clear message about where we stand as a people on this.
The Government has publicly condemned overseas terrorist attacks. And we are also fortunate to have the support of our religious leaders, who have been proactive in publicly condemning terror attacks and reminding their followers to stay calm and not react to expressions of extreme sentiments and acts of violence in the name of religion.
For example, in the wake of the Christchurch shootings in March 2019, various faith groups issued statements to denounce the shooter’s actions and call for Singaporeans to remain united and reject extremist ideas. Various ground-up interfaith initiatives were also organised, including a youth forum and a remembrance ceremony.
More recently, following the arrest of the 16-year-old youth, our local Christian and Muslim religious leaders met to reaffirm the mutual trust between both communities and condemn the teenager’s plot to attack the two mosques. The leaders of other religious communities echoed the call for Singaporeans to rally together in the fight against terrorism and extremism.
Mr Lim asked how we can improve relations between different religious groups. By showing their solidarity against violence and engaging in regular interactions, joint activities and community projects, our religious groups have maintained and strengthened harmonious relations, even in the wake of incidents that threaten to undermine our social cohesion.
Such efforts are also important in sending a clear signal that our local religious communities stand firmly against radical ideologies and that any copycat attacks will not find traction or support here.
Mr Lim, Mr Choo and Mr Murali asked about our efforts on educating religious groups, youths and the general public on countering radicalisation, and deepening students’ understanding of racial and religious issues.
The SGSecure movement is a call to action to Singaporeans to unite and prepare for the threat of a terrorist attack. We have been reaching out to different groups in the community, including religious organisations, to raise awareness of overseas and local threats of terrorism and radicalisation. We conduct programmes such as interfaith dialogues and activities and visits to the Harmony in Diversity Gallery to sensitise the public to cultural and religious nuances and sensitivities, as well as to deepen mutual respect and understanding among our different races and religions.
We have been sharing with the public how to detect early signs of radicalisation, such as displaying a keen interest in people with extremist views, supporting the use of violence as a solution to achieve one's agenda and expressing low tolerance and resentment towards multi-racial and multi-religious living. We urge the community to stay alert and to inform the authorities of suspected cases of radicalisation, so that we can intervene early and prevent such persons from harming themselves and others.
Mr Choo asked us what more we can do in schools. We have been working closely with MOE to engage younger Singaporeans on SGSecure. All schools have a framework to drive SGSecure initiatives, which is overseen by school leaders. Age-appropriate SGSecure content is incorporated into story books and card games for students, as well as assembly talks and mobile exhibitions by Home Team agencies.
ISD has also been working with schools, Institutes of Higher Learning and community organisations to conduct counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation outreach activities for students, youths and educators since 2007. These include workshops, talks and seminars. With the COVID-19 pandemic, ISD has leveraged online platforms for its outreach efforts. For example, ISD conducted webinars for educators in Institutes of Higher Learning last year.
Workshops for school counsellors have been conducted since 2016 to sensitise them to the terrorism and radicalisation threat. As of 2019, over 260 School Counsellors in Secondary schools, as well as a number of Student Welfare Officers, have attended the workshops. Each workshop includes a visit to the ISD Heritage Centre to sensitise them to security threats, as well as a one-day training session which provides them with a better understanding of the radicalisation process and the factors, especially among youths; the behavioural indicators to look out for; and the intervention measures they can take. Teachers are encouraged to watch out for early signs of possible radicalisation, such as the avid consumption of radical materials, or expressions of support for terrorist entities and causes.
Community partners such as the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) and the Inter-Agency Aftercare Group also conduct counter-ideology outreach activities targeted at students and youths. For example, the RRG has been working with schools to organise assembly talks, workshops, as well as learning journeys to the RRG Resource and Counselling Centre. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the RRG has intensified its digital outreach efforts. It produced over 60 online lectures, \"live\" postings, online engagements and videos for the community, including for youths.
The RRG has also reached out to various inter-faith and religious groups. For example, in February 2020, the RRG, together with the Geylang Serai Inter-Racial Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC) organised a forum entitled \"Harmony Amidst Crisis\" to show the solidarity of Singaporeans. Leaders from the various faiths came together to observe a minute of silence for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and also to start the campaign \"#outbreak_never_break_us\". The forum featured speakers who touched on the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, the threat of radicalisation and how extremists have been leveraging the pandemic in their recruitment efforts.
Within the classroom, topics on multiracialism and the importance of racial harmony are taught in subjects like Character and Citizenship Education (CCE), History and Social Studies. In Secondary schools' Social Studies, students examine the impact of social and racial and religious prejudice and misconceptions on people and society. They explore the roles played by individuals and groups in strengthening interactions between different races and they consider how they can play their part to promote social cohesion. As part of the refreshed CCE curriculum, Secondary school teachers will receive specialised training to facilitate discussions on contemporary issues, such as race and religion, to hone students' perspective-taking skills as well as engender a sense of empathy and respect. All schools will also establish a peer support structure by 2022, where students will learn to support each other and be taught upstanding behaviour, speaking up for their peers where necessary, including in instances of racism and hate speech. These social bonds are the strongest counter possible against the spread of exclusivist and extremist ideologies.
Outside the classroom, there have also been efforts to encourage interracial and interreligious dialogue. For example, the \"Regardless of Race\" dialogue series organised by OnePeople.sg and supported by MCCY, provides a platform for conversations on sentiments, issues and norms pertaining to race. Since 2019, five sessions have been organised, involving a total of more than 500 participants. Another community-driven initiative to provide more safe spaces for open conversations on religious issues is the \"Ask Me Anything\" series facilitated by a non-governmental organisation, the WhiteHatters Ltd.
MCCY organised a Hackathon for Social Cohesion in November and December 2020, where more than 200 youths were invited to pitch innovative ideas on strengthening social cohesion and implement projects that promote social, racial and religious harmony.
Mr Speaker, a cohesive and united society is the best defence against terrorism and radicalisation. We will continue to strengthen our efforts to build a resilient community that is prepared for a terrorist attack in Singapore and plays an active part to safeguard Singapore's unity in the face of this threat.
\tMr Speaker: Mr Christopher de Souza.
\tMr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): Sir, I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. On the one hand, a 16-year-old wielding a machete can cause serious harm, what more in a religious worship place. Therefore, taking this seriously and the detention was the correct thing to do.
On the other hand, he is just 16 years old and he has a 16-year-old mind. So, I would like to ask the Minister of State, as part of his rehabilitation, of his re-intergration and re-inclusion into multiracial, multicultural Singapore, what would ISD do and the stakeholders do to rehabilitate him, especially given the fact that the Minister of State has disclosed that he is the youngest detainee under the ISA to date. So, my question is really about the rehabilitation of this young man.
\tMr Desmond Tan: I thank the Member for the question. The rehabilitation approach adopted by ISD is a holistic, intensive and long-term one, comprising religious, psychological and social rehabilitation – these three factors together. It is also customised to the individual's context and the circumstances. So, let me elaborate on each of these factors.
First, on religious rehabilitation. All detainees, those released back to the community on Restriction Orders (RO), will have to attend religious counselling sessions at least once a month. The religious counselling sessions aim to provide them with the proper religious teachings and interpretation so as to counter the radical ideology they have imbibed from online and other sources.
Secondly, on psychological rehabilitation. Through their detention and even after their release on RO, detainees work closely with psychologists to address the propensity for hatred and violence, and vulnerability to radical influence. The psychologists will also help them to reframe the faulty reasoning that underlie their beliefs. As part of this process, the psychologists regularly assess behavioural and cognitive aspects of the detainees' progress in rehabilitation.
And third, and just as important, on social rehabilitation. Social rehabilitation is the form of social support that is provided to enable the detainees to re-integrate smoothly into society upon release and to stay on track in the long run. Family, in this regard, play a key role and key part in this process. Detainees are granted weekly family visits to preserve their connection to the family unit as much as possible. An aftercare officer is also assigned to each detainee family to provide social and other support where relevant. There is also support provided by the Inter-Agency Aftercare Group. Through the group's network of welfare organisations and regular interactions with ISD, case officers provide detainees with another source of social interaction and support. These regular interactions are also a platform for rehabilitation stakeholders to guide the detainees. Even after they are released, they receive continuous supervision through the RO regime, with ISD case officers providing guidance to them and to help them with a smooth re-integration into society.
Specifically for youth cases, priority continues to be given to address the ideological misconceptions that underpin the radical mindsets. Additional attention is also paid and in this case, to this 16-year-old youth, to address the non-ideological factors that led to their radicalisation, such as the sense of belonging and identity, critical thinking skills to discern radical rhetoric online, mental resilience, correlated stresses; and in particular, efforts are made to enable detainees to continue with their education where it is practicable. This was assessed to be critical in keeping these youths motivated and focused. ISD works with their families, the schools and other rehabilitation stakeholders to create a conducive environment to facilitate their studies.
A mentoring programme tailored to meet the rehabilitation needs of these youths was also introduced in 2016. The mentor-mentee relationship will continue after the release, to ensure that they stay focused on pro-social goals.
The rehabilitation for the 16-year-old youth as mentioned earlier on, will be largely guided by the approach that I have detailed above. We will also apply some of the best practices from the rehabilitation of previous youth cases. For example, in consultation with his parents and former school, ISD has made arrangements to facilitate his continuing education while in detention. This includes arranging for tutors to assist him in preparing for his national exams this year. A mentor has also been identified for him. In addition, ISD is working very closely with the National Council of Churches of Singapore, NCCS, which is keen to be involved in the youth's rehabilitation to identify a suitable Christian counsellor for him.
\tMr Speaker: Mr Murali Pillai.
\tMr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok): Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the hon Minister of State for his detailed answers. We owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women of ISD, who have been vigilant in thwarting this attack, which would otherwise have very serious consequences on Singapore and Singaporeans.
My supplementary question relates to this alarming trend of people outside Singapore trying to radicalise impressionable youths. What can we do in Singapore to sensitise our youths to this trend and what steps can they take to report upwards if their friends are actually engaged in such websites.
\tMr Desmond Tan: I thank the Member for the supplementary question. In my earlier reply, I have mentioned this is one of the key efforts that we are putting upstream to ensure that we educate our people. And that is the best line of defence – to ensure that they understand what are the right teachings and not be swayed by radical and extremist views. So, working with MOE, working with private organisations, MCCY, we want to reach out to our youths in various platforms, through various means, even in the areas that they are very keen and very interested and are very good at, through social media as well as through online platforms.
I think through these efforts we try our very best to inoculate our youths of today, to allow them to discern what are the right messages, what are the right doctrines and not be swayed by radical ideologies such as the case that has been said here.
There is no easy, fool-proof solution when it comes to online access, we all know that. It is a challenge that we all face. We have to constantly look at how we can educate our youths through the school system. But I think also in terms of family, the roles of family, friends and close ones, are very important to make sure that we support our young people and also supervise, to some extent, the access they have online as well.
\tMr Speaker: Mr Lim Biow Chuan.
\tMr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): May I ask the Minister of State, how often does ISD meet up with groups of religious leaders, brief them about what to look out for when reaching out to their members of their religious groups? My concern is really whether the ISD brief the pastors, brief the priests, brief the imams on what to look out for amongst their members who may be radicalised. Because if they do not even know what to look out for, then they can hardly report upwards.
\tMr Desmond Tan: Yes, Sir, ISD regularly engages the religious groups. I do not have the exact frequency. And in the engagements, besides sharing with them what is the current situation, one of the things that we always share with them is to look out for the signs. I have highlighted during my speech earlier on the signs that we have to look out for – one, the propensity for violence, a misguided understanding of certain religious beliefs and, of course, some signs about the individual's attitude towards multiculturalism and multiracialism. These are the tell-tale signs that, in terms of the religious leaders' understanding of their followers, they play a very key role because I think in their interactions with their followers, they will come across different expressions of their understanding of the religion as well as the situation in Singapore.
So, ISD does that very regularly, not just with the religious leaders' groups but also with educational institutions as well as community groups to spread this important message and also to allow them to understand what are the tell-tale signs to look out for.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Requests for Consular Assistance from Singaporeans in Myanmar Following Military Coup","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"10 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) whether there has been an increase in the number of requests for consular assistance from Singaporeans in Myanmar following the recent military coup; (b) whether ASEAN will be issuing a joint statement on the situation in Myanmar; and (c) how will these developments impact ASEAN and its relations with major powers in the region.
\tThe Minister for Foreign Affairs (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): Mr Speaker, apart from Mr Giam, I think Mr Christopher de Souza also asked some Questions for Written Answer. I know the situation in Myanmar is evolving and there may be other Members of Parliament who are following this closely, so, I will give somewhat of a more comprehensive answer.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) achieved a landslide victory in the November 2020 General Elections. In the early hours of 1 February 2021, the military in Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders of the NLD government. The detentions occurred in the country’s capital just before the new Union Parliament was scheduled to convene. Daw Suu is presently under house arrest. The military has imposed a one-year State of Emergency, formed a State Administration Council and apparently appointed new Cabinet members. There have been large scale protests against the military and these protests have taken place across Myanmar. There are media reports that some protestors have been injured and, sadly, one succumbed to her injuries. There were also reports of armed vehicle movements and the deployment of troops in several cities, including clashes between security forces and demonstrators as well as the arrests of civil servants and students. Internet services have been cut several times, making access to information difficult. In fact, I think, right now, Internet access is disrupted. These are alarming developments.
We urge the authorities to exercise utmost restraint to avoid further injuries and loss of lives and we hope they will take urgent steps to de-escalate the situation. There should be no violence against unarmed civilians and we hope that there will be peaceful resolution and national reconciliation in Myanmar. In this respect, I also hope that President Win Myint, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the other detainees will be released so that they can engage in discussions and negotiations in good faith. The stakeholders in Myanmar must find a long-term peaceful political solution, including a return to its path of democratic transition. If the situation continues to escalate, there will be serious consequences for Myanmar and, indeed, for our region.
Amidst these escalating tensions, our Embassy in Yangon has maintained regular contact with Singaporeans in Myanmar, particularly those who are e-registered with our Embassy. We have advised Singaporeans in Myanmar to avoid public gatherings and demonstrations, to abide by all local laws and regulations and to monitor the news closely. There are currently about 500 Singaporeans who have registered with MFA and we urge other Singaporeans who may not yet have registered with us to do so quickly. Given the initial news of airport closures, suspension of flights and the disruption of mobile and Internet services, several Singaporeans have been in contact with our Embassy, including some who were considering returning to Singapore. Yangon International Airport reopened on 4 February and the regular weekly relief flights between Yangon and Singapore have been able to operate as scheduled. So far, only 17 Singaporeans have chosen to return home on the flights on 5 and 12 February. The situation in Myanmar remains volatile. The suspension of telecommunications connectivity at this time is deeply concerning, especially when access to information is critical. Singaporeans in Myanmar who require consular assistance may have some difficulty reaching us. We thus hope that there would be no further disruptions to mobile and Internet connectivity. MFA will continue to maintain close contact with the Singaporean community in Myanmar and we stand ready to render appropriate consular assistance to any Singaporeans in distress.
Mr Speaker, our bilateral relations with Myanmar are longstanding, and Myanmar is a key member of ASEAN. Singapore has always upheld the principle that the future of Myanmar has to be determined by her own people. We have supported Myanmar’s difficult democratic transition thus far. We are gravely concerned about the latest developments in Myanmar. Myanmar was already facing serious socio-economic challenges, made worse by the onset of COVID-19 last year and the continued armed ethnic insurgencies and, of course, Members are familiar with the situation of the refugees from Rakhine state. All these uncertainties, including from the latest developments, not only damage the prospects for Myanmar but also damage the broader stability of our region.
ASEAN has a longstanding policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of our member states. Nevertheless, a Statement was issued quickly by the ASEAN Chair to reflect the seriousness with which ASEAN views the developments in Myanmar. The Statement emphasised and reaffirmed the importance of the principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, including adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. It also called for dialogue, reconciliation and the return to normalcy in accordance with the will of the people of Myanmar.
All ASEAN member states are expected to uphold the principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. But ASEAN also operates by the principles of consensus and non-interference in the internal affairs of ASEAN member states. These are enshrined in the ASEAN Charter. Nevertheless, I believe ASEAN can play a discreet constructive role in facilitating a return to normalcy and stability in Myanmar.
ASEAN’s external partners, particularly the major powers, have an important role to play as well. Their perspectives are clear – you would have read the various statements that have been issued in the last two weeks. Engagement, rather than isolation, will go further in ameliorating this crisis. ASEAN will work closely with all its external partners, including the United Nations, the US, China, India, Japan, and the EU, to foster an inclusive dialogue with all key stakeholders and we encourage Myanmar to return to its path of democratic transition.
Unfortunately, the recent political developments in Myanmar will inevitably further complicate the situation in Rakhine State and of the refugees from that state. Therefore, it will also inevitably delay the efforts to commence the repatriation of displaced persons, considering that we are also dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic which is affecting Myanmar. So, it will take time to reach a long-term political solution in Myanmar as well as in Rakhine State, in particular. But we do hope that all parties would give due consideration to the urgent humanitarian needs of the displaced persons, both in terms of immediate assistance and the need to improve ground conditions in the refugee camps. ASEAN will continue the on-going implementation of the Preliminary Needs Assessment's recommendations to improve the plight of these refugees.
\tMr Speaker: Mr Christopher de Souza.
\tMr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs for his comprehensive reply. There are many moving parts for Myanmar – the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, the ASEAN Charter, a potential collective position of ASEAN on the recent developments and how the military coup will impact the goal of the repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. I want to ask the Minister what are his and MFA's view on the more strategic aspects of the unfolding developments, especially on the goal of a democratic transition in Myanmar. I appreciate there are many moving parts, but what are the strategic aspects and the Minister's predictions, if one can call it that, in light of the military coup ensuing in Myanmar presently?
\tDr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mr Speaker, I really do not think I can make predictions. But the Member has raised several fundamental strategic questions and, with your permission, Mr Speaker, let me take a step back and go back to first principles.
Our starting point has to be that every country's politics and destiny should be determined by its own people. Just as in Singapore, we will not tolerate foreign interference in our politics. Similarly, we do not seek to interfere in others' domestic affairs. This is a principle we hold fast to and, in fact, this is a foundational principle of ASEAN.
The next point I want to make is because many people do not appreciate the many moving parts that the Member has just described. Let me give you a few facts. Myanmar is the 40th largest country in the world by size, twice the land area of Vietnam. It is resource-rich, mineral-rich. It has a mostly young, intelligent, hard-working, disciplined population of 55 million. Many of us here have colleagues or friends from Myanmar and you will know that these descriptions I have used are accurate. Their median age is 29. Fifty-five percent of their people are below the age of 30. If you look at the map, you will also realise that Myanmar occupies a very unique and critical geo-strategic position at the crossroads of India, China, Indochina and, in fact, has also a portal into Southeast Asia as a whole. Both India and China have had a long history of engagement with Myanmar, over millennia.
\t
And 200 years ago, the British Raj battled with the last Burmese dynasty for control of the region around the Bay of Bengal. In fact, the Rakhine state was one of the first areas to fall to the British and the Burmese were forced to cede that area to the British Raj. This was after the First Anglo-Burmese War.
During World War II, Myanmar was a major theatre of operations because of its strategic location. China today shares a border with Myanmar that is more than 2,000 kilometres in length. Its trade with Myanmar last year was US$10.2 billion, making China, Myanmar's largest trading partner – larger, in fact, than even its trade with the rest of ASEAN.
In short, due to its geography, Myanmar is no stranger to strategic rivalries, nor is it unfamiliar with the contest for influence from its larger neighbours. And it has long sought to pursue a realist paradigm and an independent foreign policy. And for that reason, I believe, Myanmar chose to become part of ASEAN.
It is also worth reminding everyone here that Myanmar is a union, one that, since independence – and mind you, at independence, they were far ahead of Singapore – since their independence, they have struggled to forge a national identity that reflects its ethnic diversity.
Racial and religious divisions run deep in the country with eight major national ethnic races and 135 ethnic groups. It has manifested in multiple long-running armed ethnic conflicts. And the refugee situation in Rakhine State – which remains unresolved to this day – is in fact a complex inter-communal issue with deep historical roots, going back in time. Given the risk of balkanisation, given that milieu, you would understand why Myanmar's national reconciliation and peace process is so essential and yet so fragile; and any prolonged instability in Myanmar will also affect Southeast Asia.
Actually, Myanmar has come a long way in the last decade. And you may be aware that Singaporean companies have looked towards Myanmar for economic opportunities, new market access and to diversify our growth. In fact, Members may be aware that, we, Singapore, is the largest foreign investor in Myanmar and we have cumulative approved investments at US$24 billion, as of December 2020.
But I think what is interesting is that, of that figure I have cited, the major proportion of our investments in Myanmar, have in fact occurred in the last five years under the NLD government.
In fact, this period, the last five years, saw a tenfold increase in Singapore's direct investments in Myanmar compared to the preceding five-year period before that. And I want to stress that companies made these investment decisions on commercial grounds. They did not do so because of political influence or political suggestion on our part. But I believe that the commercial companies saw promising opportunities in a Myanmar that was undergoing democratic transition.
I say all these, in order to head off suggestions that we should now interfere on political grounds with commercial decisions. But in the same way, I am sure companies making commercial decisions and investment decisions will also pay attention to the political context of the venue in which they are seeking to invest in. And therefore, what has just happened is a major setback for its economy and for its ability to attract foreign investments.
The current volatile operating environment, including a report that a foreign national had been arrested, will certainly affect the investment outlook and undermine business confidence. Our own businessmen are aware of these downside risks, and I have no doubt that Singaporean businesses are also re-evaluating their risk profile and their exposure to this market.
I have had conversations with several counterparts – the US, Germany and others. And I have urged against widespread sanctions. Let me explain why. The World Bank estimates that around a quarter of the population in Myanmar lives below the poverty line. And in fact, this has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
And so, in all my discussions and phone calls, I have said that we should not embark on widespread, generalised and indiscriminate sanctions because the people who will suffer most will be the ordinary people in Myanmar. In some, it is in recognition of this complex collage – historical, geo-strategic, economic, demographic factors – that we hope fervently for national reconciliation in Myanmar.
The only way this can happen is if all parties in good faith, sit down, talk, negotiate and achieve reconciliation. And it is in that context that I express my hope that President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi would be released from detention so that they can sit down at the negotiating table and talk.
One final point: I think Members would be aware that on 5 February, the Singapore Police Force felt compelled to warn against holding protests in relation to the recent developments in Myanmar. I am referring to protests within Singapore. I want to remind everyone, including foreigners who are visiting, working or residing in Singapore, that they should not import domestic political issues from other countries into Singapore. This is inimical to our own national interests, and of course, we will deal with this firmly in accordance to the law.
\t
\tMr Speaker: Mr Gerald Giam.
\tMr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): I thank the Minister for his very comprehensive reply. Regional instability precipitated by events, like in Myanmar, can impinge on Singapore's interests. I understand that there is a special meeting of Foreign Ministers of Southeast Asian nations being called to discuss the situation in Myanmar. Will Singapore be represented at this meeting and what are the key objectives that Singapore would like to see achieved at this meeting?
Secondly, given that Singapore is one of the largest, in fact, the largest foreign investor in Myanmar, does the Singapore Government or Singapore companies, including Temasek-linked companies, have any joint ventures with the Myanmar military and its network of companies? If so, given the high possibility that the US and other western nations may slap further sanctions on the Myanmar military and its companies, is the Government providing the necessary advice and assistance to companies, which may get caught up in this, so that they can reduce their exposure?
\tDr Vivian Balakrishnan: Mr Speaker, so far, there has not yet been a formal meeting convened of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers. You would realise that the difficulty there is we need consensus before the meeting can even take place. Having said that, however, I can assure you that there has been an intense flurry of communications, bilateral and group, amongst the Foreign Ministers in ASEAN.
What is the key objective? Our key objective is to achieve peace, reconciliation, and as I said, to help Myanmar get back on the road of democratic transition.
The main thing is not to make things worse, and not to be inflammatory. Second, keep lines of communication open and to keep engagement going.
That is why also in that respect, this question of economic sanctions, I think I have explained in my answer just now that we are not in favour of generalised sanctions, which will hurt the ordinary citizens of Myanmar.
I have also answered earlier on our advice to businesses that you have to take into account political risk, and social and political dynamics before making investment decisions. I am sure all our companies are currently re-evaluating their position.
But again, I want to emphasise that it is crucial for us in both good times and bad times to maintain this separation between politics and business, and let businesses make commercial decisions and investment decisions on their own merits. And I think this is a good time for us to maintain that discipline. So, no, I will not give specific advice to companies, but I will make, to the maximum extent possible, all information available in this House and beyond, so that people can make their own commercial and investment decisions.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Assessment Criteria in Granting Approval to Organise In-person Global Conferences Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"The following question stood in the name of Ms He Ting Ru –
11 To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what principles are adopted in assessing approval for an in-person global conference such as the World Economic Forum’s Special Annual Meeting 2021 amidst the pandemic; (b) what are the anticipated cost and revenues from the WEF Special Annual Meeting; and (c) what other factors are considered when deciding whether to hold these events here.
\tAssoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang): Question No 11, please.
\tThe Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Alvin Tan) (for the Minister for Trade and Industry): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Singapore Tourism Board launched the Safe Business Events framework in last year in July, which allows the resumption of in-person business events. Under the framework, event organisers must comply with strict public health requirements, including pre-departure and on-arrival testing, a rigorous testing regime, the mandatory wearing of masks, as well as all relevant safe management measures at the event. The Safe Business Events framework has been applied to over 29 business events since its launch, including the Singapore International Energy Week in October last year and TravelRevive in November last year.
Sir, the World Economic Forum's Special Annual Meeting in Singapore must also similarly comply with the requirements of the Safe Business Events framework. The Government is also studying what additional measures should be put in place to enhance the safety of the event, including measures to ensure safe interactions between the local community and event attendees.
As we are still working out the details and the logistical arrangements of the event, we are unable to share the costs and revenues at this point.
So, why are we doing this? After careful considerations, and in light of the current COVID-19 situation, the Forum had approached Singapore to discuss the possibility of holding its special annual meeting in Singapore and the Forum ultimately made the decision that Singapore was the best place to host the meeting.
We are confident that this meeting will have: one, a positive impact on Singapore's economy and international standing; two, it will have a direct benefit on the companies supporting the event, including local companies; three, it will send a strong signal of confidence in Singapore's ability to host major international events in a safe and innovative way. Hosting this Special Annual Meeting will also give Singapore an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to its programme and discussions.
We welcome this opportunity and will work with the Forum to strengthen the Meeting's focus on Asia, because of Asia's growing economic weight and strategic importance to the global economy.
I would like to assure the House that we will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation in Singapore and around the world, and put in place the necessary contingency measures to ensure the safe conduct of the event.
\tAssoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I have just one follow-up question. I am wondering what considerations were taken to have the event as an in-person event, rather than a purely digital one, given that many businesses and organisations, including a number of inter-parliamentary assemblies, have actually gone digital as a result of the pandemic.
\tMr Alvin Tan: I thank the Member for his question. I will just give some context also. First of all, the Forum had ultimately made the decision that Singapore is best placed to host the meeting. On 7 December, MTI and WEF concurrently issued press releases respectively to announce Singapore would host the event in May. On 3 February, WEF proposed to postpone it to 17 to 20 August.
\t
There are a few things. The first is that we are slowly opening up our events in hybrid manner. So, if you look at what we have done over the course of the year – about 29 different events including the Singapore International Energy Week, TravelRevive, SFF and SWITCH – we have now started to build muscles to ensure that we can safely and innovatively conduct events that are in hybrid format, and to ensure safe in-person meeting with all the relevant prevailing safe management measures in place.
We will continue to monitor the situation globally and ensure that, over the course of the next couple of months as we continue to have other events, we will look at different measures to further enhance and protect event attendees as well as our local community in the conduct of these events.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Measures to Prevent World Economic Forum’s Special Annual Meeting In Singapore from Becoming Super Spreader Event","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"The following question stood in the name of Ms He Ting Ru –
12 To ask the Minister for Health in order to prevent the World Economic Forum’s Special Annual Meeting in Singapore from becoming a super spreader event (a) whether attendees will be subject to Stay-Home Notices and quarantine rules; (b) what other concrete safety measures will be imposed to minimise COVID-19 spread; and (c) whether all attendees will be required to use TraceTogether technology in order to be allowed into Singapore to attend the event.
\tAssoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang): Question No 12.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Janil Puthucheary) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, MOH is working with various Government agencies and the World Economic Forum to put in place the necessary public health and safe management measures to ensure that the WEF Special Annual Meeting in Singapore can be conducted safely.
To actively detect any cases of COVID-19, we will implement rigorous testing arrangements for local and foreign event attendees, in lieu of them serving Stay-Home Notices. We will also implement safe management measures such as mask-wearing, safe distancing and mandating the use of TraceTogether technology to minimise the risk of transmission and to facilitate the identification of close contacts for isolation.
In addition, a physical segregation of event attendees from the local community will reduce the risk of infections spreading from event attendees to the local community at large, and vice versa.
Over the next few months leading up to the Special Annual Meeting, MOH will continue to assess the COVID-19 situation locally and globally, and adjust the public health measures for the event as necessary. We will work with the Forum to clearly communicate these measures to attendees so that the event can proceed safely.
\tMr Speaker: Assoc Prof Jamus Lim.
\tAssoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: I thank the Senior Minister of State for his response. I am just wondering if I could have two supplementary questions. If, in spite of our best efforts, the event turns out to be a super spreader event, I am wondering if there is a contingency plan. And given this contingency plan, how the public and providers would be prepped to deal with the events as they unfold.
\tDr Janil Puthucheary: I thank the Member for the question. If there is indeed a case of COVID-19 at the WEF Special Annual Meeting, the prevailing measures that we have for a COVID-19 case at any of the events that we are organising, will be in place. All the various measures as well as the regulations around contact tracing, isolation and subsequent follow-up will be followed. The protocols are being put in place and are being operationalised already, because we are already hosting and organising events. This will be at a larger scale and it will involve a wider group of delegates and attendees but the fundamentals of our approach will be the same.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Percentage of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases for Each Country in Relation to Total Arrivals from Those Countries","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"13 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Health (a) since April 2020, what has been the percentage of confirmed COVID-19 cases for each country in relation to total arrivals from those countries; and (b) whether the Ministry will require all foreigners arriving into Singapore to procure travel insurance, including hospitalisation insurance for coverage of COVID-19.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, less than 1% of our total arrivals since 1 April 2020 tested positive for COVID-19. Most of the arrivals during this period were from Malaysia, Mainland China, Indonesia and India. The proportion of imported cases out of the arrivals from each of these countries and regions was 0.04%, 0.01%, 1.6% and 3.7% respectively.
From 1 January 2021 onwards, all Work Permit and S Pass holders are required to have medical insurance to pay for COVID-19 medical treatment and hospitalisation costs in Singapore, should the pass holder develop symptoms or test positive within the first 14 days of arrival into Singapore. As employers of Work Permit and S Pass holders are responsible for their medical treatment in Singapore, this requirement helps protect employers against medical expenses.
From 1 February 2021 onwards, all short-term visitors applying to enter Singapore under the Air Travel Pass and Reciprocal Green Lanes have to purchase travel insurance for their COVID-19-related medical treatment and hospitalisation costs in Singapore. The travel insurance will help them pay for their costs of medical treatment in Singapore. The visitors can purchase the travel insurance from Singapore-based or overseas insurers.
The Government will review whether to extend the insurance requirement to other travellers, taking into consideration the COVID-19 situations in their country of origin, as well as the availability of products in the insurance market.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Borders Kept Open for Travellers from India and Indonesia Despite Large Number of Imported COVID-19 Cases from These Countries","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"14 Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for Health what is the reason for not closing our borders to travellers from India and Indonesia given the disproportionately large number of imported cases coming from these two countries.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for Health): Sir, international connectivity is critical to our economy and survival. Singapore can ill afford to close ourselves off fully from the rest of the world.
We need a continued inflow of migrant workers to support our key economic sectors, including construction workers to build our homes and critical infrastructure and foreign domestic workers (FDWs) to support the care-giving needs of our families. Many of such workers are from India and Indonesia. If we close our borders to them, many Singaporeans will not be getting the keys to their homes, many households will have their FDWs delayed and will need to find alternative care arrangements for their loved ones. Our economy will also slow down and the lives and livelihoods of many will be impacted. Some of the travellers are our citizens, permanent residents or their close relatives here to visit them. Therefore, we need to adopt a risk management approach to the inflow of these travellers, rather than to close the borders to them entirely.
These migrant workers and visitors are subject to a set of stringent precautionary measures to keep the risk of COVID-19 transmission to our community as low as possible. These include pre-departure tests before they leave their country, on-arrival tests when they arrive in Singapore, and a 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at dedicated facilities, with another test before they complete their SHN and are allowed to leave the facility. As an additional precaution, all newly arrived Work Permit and S Pass workers in the Construction, Marine and Process (CMP) sectors are subject to an additional seven-day isolation and testing regime at a designated facility following their 14-day SHN. Together, these measures help reduce the risk of transmission from newly arrived migrant workers into our community.
As an additional line of defence, to detect infections in the dormitories and high-risk workplaces early, workers in these settings such as those in the Aviation, Maritime and CMP sectors, are also required to undergo Rostered Routine Testing or RRT at least every 14 days.
As the global situation evolves, the Multi-Ministry Task Force will continue to review our border control measures to strike a balance between public health considerations and the needs of our society and economy.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Singaporeans and Permanent Residents who have Appealed for Their Foreigner Relatives to Enter Singapore Since Circuit Breaker","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"15 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) since April 2020, how many Singaporeans and Permanent Residents have appealed for their foreigner relatives or dependants to enter Singapore; and (b) how many have appealed for a waiver of the Stay-Home Notice Dedicated Facility accommodation cost for their relatives or dependants.
\tThe Minister of State for Home Affairs (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, to manage the risk of importation of COVID-19 into Singapore, all foreign visitors, including family members of Singapore Citizens (SCs) and Permanent Residents (PRs), are required to seek prior approval before entering Singapore. From 1 April 2020 to 31 January 2021, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) processed about 18,600 applications for entry of foreign family members of SCs and PRs. Ninety-seven percent of these applications were approved. The remaining 3% were rejected, mainly because the applicant was unable to provide proof of SC or PR nexus.
Foreign visitors entering Singapore are required to pay for the costs of their COVID-19 swab test and stay at dedicated Stay-Home Notice (SHN) facilities, if required. All appeals for waiver of costs are assessed on a case-by-case basis. From 1 April 2020 to 31 January 2021, ICA processed 371 appeals for waiver of costs for SHN stays or COVID-19 swab tests for family members of SCs and PRs. About 60% of these appeals were successful, while the remaining were either withdrawn or were unsuccessful.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Singaporeans and PRs who have Applied for Foreign Domestic Workers to Enter Singapore and for Waiver of Their Stay-Home Notice Dedicated Facility Accommodation Cost","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"16 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Manpower (a) since April 2020, how many Singaporeans and permanent residents who have applied for their foreign domestic workers (FDWs) to enter Singapore and are not successful, have appealed for their entry; and (b) how many Singaporeans and permanent residents have appealed for a wavier of the Stay-Home Notice Dedicated Facility accommodation cost for their FDWs.
\tThe Minister of State for Manpower (Ms Gan Siow Huang) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, the population of Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) in Singapore has remained largely stable at 250,000. From April 2020 to January 2021, MOM approved around 25,000 requests for Foreign Domestic Workers to enter Singapore. The Foreign Domestic Workers took on work with new employers or replaced Foreign Domestic Workers who had left employment and returned home. About 600 Singaporeans and Permanent Residents whose initial applications were not successful submitted appeals, and about 500 succeeded eventually to bring their Foreign Domestic Workers to Singapore.
Appeals by Singaporeans and Permanent Residents for waiver of the Stay-Home Notice Dedicated Facility cost for their Foreign Domestic Workers are carefully reviewed. Taking into consideration household income and financial circumstances of the appellants, about 3,200 appeals were acceded to, constituting 13% of all entry approvals.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Reports of Unauthorised Online Banking Transactions and Proportion that Involves Suspected Mobile Device Hacking","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"17 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Prime Minister (a) over the past three years, how many reports have been made annually by consumers regarding unauthorised online bank transactions; (b) in what proportion of cases is there two-factor authentication (2FA) by token and SMS one-time password respectively; and (c) what is the recourse for consumers who suspect that they are victims of cybercrime or mobile device hacking leading to the unauthorised bank transactions.
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Ong Ye Kung) (for the Prime Minister): In 2020, the Police received 1,848 reports of unauthorised online banking and card transactions involving criminals phishing for banking and card details from the victims before performing these unauthorised transactions. The cases are, unfortunately, on an upward trend. In 2018 and 2019, there were 114 and 329 cases respectively. I think this really reflects the advent and the growing number of electronic transactions that we are seeing.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) requires banks to implement controls, such as multi-factor authentication using one-time passwords or OTPs, to keep online transactions secure. Unfortunately, multi-factor authentication cannot eliminate all scams. Many victims have been tricked into revealing their user IDs, passwords, OTPs or credit card details to scammers.
\t
Recently, some account holders have reported successful online card transactions when no SMS OTPs were received, or when no SMS OTPs were revealed to others. The Police and banks are following up on these cases and investigations are on-going. As a precaution, the banks have put in place additional measures, such as rejecting card payments made to some commonly disputed merchants, or placing limits on the transaction amounts that customers can transact with such merchants.
So, if you suspect that you have been a victim of fraud or cybercrime, the first step is to make a police report and contact your bank immediately so that investigations can take place promptly. If an unauthorised transaction was due to the bank’s lapses or non-compliance with MAS’ rules, the customer will not bear any financial loss provided that he has practiced proper cyber hygiene and had not been negligent.
Customers play an important part in preventing scams, because guarding against online threats starts with practising good cyber hygiene. This includes keeping passwords secret and promptly updating the security patches and anti-virus software on computers and mobile devices. It is very important that consumers treat their online banking login information, including OTPs, as they would their ATM PINs.
We cannot emphasise this enough to the public. Never reveal your login information, including OTPs, to others. Employees of financial institutions will not ask for such information. So, if you are asked for it by a third party, do not provide it.
Consumers should also heed the security email advisories, notices and alerts disseminated by their banks, MAS, the Singapore Police Force and the National Crime Prevention Council, and share them with family and friends.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Financial Support Schemes for Working Care-givers of Cancer Patients","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"18 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Health what are the financial support schemes available to working care-givers of cancer patients in terms of higher MediSave withdrawal limits, subsidies or tax reliefs.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for Health): Sir, the Government provides a range of financial support measures to help patients and their care-givers defray the cost of caring for cancer patients.
We have financial support schemes to help keep cancer treatment expenses more affordable for patients and their care-givers. This includes means-tested subsidies of up to 70% at public Specialist Outpatient Clinics and up to 75% for subsidised medications. Eligible Singaporeans can also receive means-tested subsidies of up to 80% for long-term care services such as centre-based rehabilitation for cancer patients.
Cancer patients can also tap on MediShield Life and MediSave to pay for both inpatient and outpatient cancer treatments. For patients who are diagnosed with terminal cancer and receiving end-of-life care, MediSave may be used to pay for home palliative care or day hospice care, and there is no withdrawal limit if the bill is paid using the patient’s own MediSave. In addition, patients with financial needs can apply for MediFund assistance, which helps to provide a safety net for those who are still unable to afford the bills.
To allow families to stretch their combined savings to cover healthcare expenses, care-givers can also use their MediSave to pay for medical expenses incurred by their approved dependants.
The Home Caregiving Grant (HCG) was introduced in October 2019 to provide a $200 monthly cash grant to eligible individuals, including cancer patients, with permanent moderate disability to defray the costs of long-term care-giving. It can be used flexibly for care-giving expenses, for example, to hire a foreign domestic worker, for the use of eldercare services, or for transport to medical appointments. Another grant – the Caregiver Training Grant – allows care-givers, including working care-givers, to attend approved courses to better care for their loved ones.
Beyond healthcare-specific financial measures, care-givers can also qualify for tax reliefs if they meet the conditions under dependant related relief schemes. Families who need further help with care-giving expenses can approach the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) or Medical Social Workers within healthcare institutions for assistance. We will continue to review and develop initiatives to strengthen support for care-givers.
\tMr Speaker: Mr Zhulkarnain Rahim.
\tMr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang): I thank the Senior Minister of State for the response and the comprehensive details on the grants and benefits available. I just wanted to explain the premise of my question. There was a 2016 survey in Singapore about general family care-givers, that showed that half of those care-givers were in the economically-active group; they are below 50 years old. And one in five of those care-givers had to give up their jobs to care for the aged relatives; and one in four reported a worsening of their financial position because of that.
These are the negative eventualities of embarking on this care-giving journey. I understand that there is no limit for withdrawal from the patients' own MediSave, but would the Ministry also look into increasing the withdrawal limits for care-givers or perhaps also removing any limits for those care-givers for CPF withdrawals for the purposes of assisting in paying for the relative's medical expenses?
\tDr Koh Poh Koon: Sir, I thank the Member for his supplementary question. I think his starting point is that families want to be the first line of support and do their part to care more for the financial needs of those in the family who are suffering from cancer. I think that is quite admirable. But in trying to make sure there is a certain withdrawal limit for the use of the care-giver's MediSave funds to support the needs of a family member who is afflicted with cancer, we need to strike the balance between preserving enough MediSave funds for the care-giver as well, for his or her own longer term healthcare needs, while at the same time, trying to make sure that there is enough family support to care for the one who is suffering from cancer.
I think what is important is that if the needs go beyond the current withdrawal limits, the family can approach the Medical Social Worker who will take a look on a case-by-case basis and see how we can mobilise MediFund, which would then remove the need to touch the MediSave of the care-giver, but yet, let the rest of the taxpayers also do their part to support the needs of this person who is suffering from cancer and who may have extra financial requirements.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Suicide Trends amongst Seniors and Enhancing Support for Them","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"19 Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the number of people who have committed suicide or attempted suicide last year; (b) how many are aged 60 and above; (c) how many of such seniors are living alone; (d) how many of such seniors are diagnosed with depression prior to suicide or attempted suicide; and (e) what are the resources and programmes put in place during the pandemic to address the likely causes of such suicides and prevent the suicide rates from increasing.
20 Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman asked the Minister for Health in light of the Ministry's reply of 6 January 2020 on multi-pronged interventions to support seniors (a) how effective have these initiatives been in reducing elderly suicide; and (b) how is the Ministry working towards improving existing initiatives to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our socially isolated elderly.
21 Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman asked the Minister for Health (a) in light of a 2016 report on how 47,000 seniors aged 65 and above live by themselves, whether that figure has changed and, if so, by how much; and (b) in light of survey results showing lower social satisfaction levels for senior citizens during the circuit breaker period, whether the Ministry plans to enhance existing support mechanisms for the isolated elderly in the next two to three years.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Janil Puthucheary) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 19, 20 and 21 together, please?
\tMr Speaker: Please do.
\tDr Janil Puthucheary: Sir, there were 400 reported cases of suicide in 2019, of which 122 cases involved persons 60 years and above. The number of attempted suicide cases was about 1,000 in 2019. We do not have the breakdown of number of suicides or attempted suicides by those who live alone or have depression. We also do not have the breakdown of attempted suicides by age.
The number of Singapore residents aged 65 years and above who live alone has increased from 47,000 in 2016 to 67,600 in 2019, representing 9.7% and 11.6% of our resident population aged 65 years and above respectively.
The causes of suicide are complex and multi-faceted, often involving family, social and mental health issues. Therefore, the Government works closely with MSF and community partners on multi-pronged approaches, comprising promoting mental health and well-being, raising awareness on suicide prevention, and providing professional support and crisis interventions to at-risk groups, including targeted support for older adults.
First, in upstream intervention, we seek to build public awareness on the importance of good mental well-being. For example, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) conducts training sessions on mental well-being and change management for the general population, to help them recognise the signs and symptoms of poor mental health. Under the Seniors’ Health Curriculum programme, HPB also conducts a series of healthy ageing workshops, which include psychosocial education modules, to equip seniors with knowledge and skills to self-care and manage mental well-being, including when and where to seek help if necessary.
Second, we have services and programmes to provide support to older adults with social and emotional needs. For example, staff and volunteers from the Silver Generation Office (SGO), local grassroots organisations, social service agencies and senior activity centres proactively and regularly reach out to seniors living alone or who are at risk of social isolation, to provide companionship and encourage them to participate in social activities. From May 2021, we will be rolling out a new eldercare centre service model. Under this new model, eldercare centres will serve as key touchpoints to all seniors, regardless of their housing type, income or frailty levels, and will reach out to seniors to proactively engage them. Seniors can also sign up with CareLine, which is a 24/7 social support hotline that provides tele-befriending services as well as emergency response to seniors in distress.
Third, we also have targeted support for seniors who may be at higher risk of suicide and their family. Under the Community Resource, Engagement and Support Teams (CREST) programme, Community Outreach Teams reach out to at-risk elderly and their care-givers to provide basic social-emotional support and education on coping with mental health needs, and link them and their care-givers to community resources for further support. Family Service Centres also provide case management and counselling support to low-income and vulnerable individuals and families, including seniors, to help them with issues such as family, financial and emotional difficulties.
Fourthly and lastly, there are services in place to support crisis intervention. For instance, the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) operates a 24-hour hotline to counsel persons in distress. Similarly, the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) operates a 24-hour Mental Health Helpline to assess and triage cases, and activate home visit teams if necessary. For cases of attempted suicide, the Police may engage the next-of-kin to link them up with support services or refer the individual to IMH for assessment and treatment.
Sir, these services continued to operate throughout the pandemic, including during the circuit breaker period, to ensure that seniors at risk of social isolation remain supported. Befriending engagements were conducted remotely where feasible in place of physical home visits. SGO also engaged about 21,000 seniors who have little or no social support during the circuit breaker period through weekly or fortnightly calls to monitor their well-being. Community mental health services also remained accessible with safe management measures in place for persons, including seniors, with mental health needs. The Government also set up the National CARE Hotline to offer an additional avenue of emotional and psychological support to public who are facing distress due to the pandemic.
I wish to just record my thanks to the officers and volunteers of all of these services, whether formal agency-driven services or those from voluntary organisations, who reached out to all these persons in need during the difficult times through the circuit breaker and the subsequent pandemic.
We will continue to improve our inter-agency and multi-pronged efforts to support seniors in the community, especially those at-risk of suicide.
Mr Speaker: Order. I propose to take a break now. We will have slightly more generous 30-minute break. But it is no bearing on how generous the Budget will be at 3.00 pm. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair at 3.00 pm. Order, order.
[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), Written Answers to Question Nos 22-23, 28-31, 34-35, 39-42 and 47-59 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix. Question Nos 24-27, 32-33, 36-38 and 43-46 have been postponed to the next available sitting.]
Sitting accordingly suspended
at 2.28 pm until 3.00 pm.
Sitting resumed at 3.00 pm.
[Mr Speaker in the Chair]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Annual Budget Statement","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (Mr Heng Swee Keat): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, \"That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the financial year 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.\"
Last year, I addressed Parliament nine times. I had four Budgets, two Ministerial Statements and the Budget Round-ups. This year, my new year wish is to have one Budget. Members will bear with me that this Budget speech will be very long and I hope that you stay alert over the next two to three hours.
We have spent a year fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, in addition to our usual spending, the Government committed nearly $100 billion through five Budgets to support Singaporeans, help tide businesses over this difficult period, and most importantly, keep everyone safe.
We faced the worst recession since independence. The pandemic-triggered recession has hit both demand and supply side simultaneously. Singapore’s GDP contracted by 5.4% in 2020. The overall Budget deficit for Financial Year 2020 is also the largest since Singapore’s independence, at $64.9 billion, or 13.9% of GDP.
We averted the worst, and prevented deep economic scarring and permanent impairment of our economic strengths.
Last week, the Ministry of Finance released an interim assessment of the COVID-19 Budget measures. Our early findings show that the combination of fiscal, monetary, and transitional measures, mounted as a whole-of-Government response, has helped to avoid a worse recession, avert job losses, and mitigate inequality.
Without the fiscal and monetary policy measures, Singapore’s GDP would have shrunk by at least 12.4%, more than double the contraction we experienced.
These measures are also estimated to save or create 155,000 jobs on average over 2020 and 2021, preventing the resident unemployment rate from rising a further two percentage points in 2020.
Lower-income households received higher levels of support from some of the COVID-19 measures, such as the Workfare Special Payment and Grocery Vouchers.
While fiscal measures did most of the heavy lifting, the measures taken by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, to maintain an accommodative monetary policy stance, ease cash flow constraints and ensure sufficient liquidity in the banking system, complemented the fiscal measures well.
The Ministry of Law’s COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 also offered temporary relief to individuals and businesses for rental and various other contractual obligations.
On the public health front, community cases have remained low and we have been on a path of gradual re-opening since June last year.
We were able to mount a whole-of-Government response to COVID-19 decisively, without incurring a huge debt for future generations, because successive generations have built up strong reserves ahead of this crisis. I thank the President for her support for the use of Past Reserves to fund our response to COVID-19 so far.
As we re-opened our economy, we shifted our measures from containment to restructuring, while continuing our support for Singaporeans, workers and businesses.
We transitioned our broad-based support to more targeted ones for firms, especially those in the hardest-hit sectors.
We introduced measures to preserve core capabilities.
We shifted our focus from job retention to job creation, and helped workers secure jobs in growth sectors.
We set up the Emerging Stronger Taskforce amid the crisis to respond to the new realities.
The global battle against COVID-19 is far from over. Many places are still experiencing high levels of infection.
The recovery in global economic activity is expected to be long-drawn, highly uncertain, and uneven across sectors and geographies.
The arrival of vaccines gives us hope that economies and borders can re-open more quickly. But it is no silver bullet.
Vaccinating a large proportion of the population will take some time.
The emergence of more infectious variants may raise the threshold for herd immunity and disrupt the resumption of economic activities. If a new strain that is resistant to existing vaccines emerges, a new round of vaccination will be needed, further delaying economic recovery.
This uncertainty is accentuated by several structural trends and challenges, including some brought to the fore by the pandemic. I will mention two.
First, the rising protectionism over supply chains, resources, data and technology. This has been accelerated by a heightened sense of vulnerability and distrust during the crisis.
Second, the unprecedented levels of public debt globally to finance the extraordinary fiscal responses during the pandemic. These add to concerns over long-term sustainability of debt and risks of inflation over time.
The trajectory of the pandemic will determine the immediate trajectory of the global economic recovery. As a small, open economy, Singapore’s economic recovery is contingent on how the global situation plays out.
Not everything is within our control. We need to adapt nimbly to the wide range of possible outcomes.
Since our independence, Singapore has weathered crisis after crisis, and emerged stronger. I am confident that we, as Singaporeans, can once again summon our resolve to tackle the challenges, and emerge stronger from this unprecedented crisis.
Let us seek to build a stronger Singapore:
That is economically vibrant, so we can create good jobs for our people and opportunities for our businesses;
That is socially cohesive, with a strong social compact and community spirit;
That is a welcoming home, green and sustainable for generations to come;
That has the fiscal and social reserves to enable continued stability and progress.
Budget 2021 deploys our fiscal resources and the energies of our people, to realise our collective aspirations and build our future together. I will now elaborate on our plans, with the details in the Annexes.
Let me first focus on our immediate tasks. The global economy is projected to recover to pre-COVID-19 levels this year, but the recovery is uneven across countries and sectors. The Singapore economy is projected to grow between 4% and 6%, with some sectors growing well, and others remaining under stress.
I will set aside $11 billion for a COVID-19 Resilience Package. This Package will have three prongs: first, to address our immediate needs to safeguard public health and re-open safely; second, to support workers and businesses where needed; third, to target support for sectors that are still under stress. [Please refer to Annex B-1.]
The first prong is to safeguard the health of Singaporeans.
Vaccinating our people is key. We started our vaccination programme late last year. As of 14 February this year, close to 250,000 people have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, of which about 55,000 have also received their second dose.
I strongly encourage Singaporeans and residents who are medically eligible to take the vaccine when your turn comes.
At the same time, we must continue to contain the spread of the virus, by keeping up our precautionary measures and our multi-layered defence system of contact tracing, testing and safe distancing.
Altogether, I will be dedicating $4.8 billion of the COVID-19 Resilience Package towards public health and safe re-opening measures.
The second prong of our Package is to continue support for workers and businesses where needed.
COVID-19 continues to affect many of our workers and businesses.
When COVID-19 first hit, I introduced the Jobs Support Scheme, or JSS, with a clear goal to protect jobs and help firms retain local workers.
As the situation deteriorated in the ensuing months, I enhanced the wage support level and its duration, and brought forward the disbursement timeline.
As the situation improved, I tapered support for sectors that were recovering well, and extended support to harder-hit sectors.
So far, we have committed over $25 billion to the JSS, and supported over 150,000 employers for up to 17 months. The current tranche will continue to cover wages up to March 2021 for most sectors.
I am heartened that many employers have managed to retain and reskill their workers.
Even as our economy recovers gradually and some sectors grow well, some other sectors remain stressed. I will tailor support to maintain resilience and support growing areas.
First, I will continue to provide JSS, targeted towards sectors that continue to be hard-hit.
For firms in Tier 1 sectors – aviation, aerospace and tourism, I will extend JSS by six months. Firms in these sectors will receive 30% support for wages paid from April to June 2021, and 10% support for wages paid from July to September 2021.
For firms in Tier 2 sectors, such as retail, arts and culture, food services and built environment, I will extend JSS at 10% for three months, covering wages paid up to June 2021. This excludes segments like supermarkets which are classified as Tier 3B.
For firms in Tier 3A sectors, JSS will continue covering wages up to March 2021, as previously announced. These sectors are generally recovering.
Nightlife establishments such as pubs, and karaoke outlets, are not yet permitted to re-open. They can apply for grants from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Singapore to pivot to other permissible activities or wind down.
Overall, the JSS extension will cost $700 million. [Please refer to Annex B-2.]
Second, to facilitate workers moving to jobs in growth areas, I will be extending specific schemes within the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, including the Jobs Growth Incentive and specific traineeship, attachment and training opportunities. I will elaborate on these later.
Last year, I extended the Temporary Bridging Loan Programme and the enhanced Enterprise Financing Scheme – Trade Loan till 30 September 2021, to ensure businesses have continued credit access. I also enhanced the Enterprise Financing Scheme to better support loans for local construction projects.
These programmes have helped many companies in the past year, with more than 20,000 taking up over $17 billion of working capital and trade loans.
I hope businesses will make full use of these schemes.
The COVID-19 Resilience Package also funds the COVID-19 Recovery Grant, which supports workers who lost their jobs or experienced significant income loss.
The Grant has been open for applications since 18 January 2021, and more than 5,000 applications have been approved as of 15 February 2021.
The third prong of the COVID-19 Resilience Package is to provide more targeted support for the worst-hit sectors, which continue to be adversely affected in 2021. They will need help to maintain capabilities and eventually recover.
First, for our aviation sector, the recovery in global air travel will take some time.
International borders remain largely closed today. As of end-January this year, total passenger movements in Changi were only about 2% of pre-COVID-19 levels.
To preserve core capabilities and Singapore’s strong position built up over the years, I will provide targeted support and extend cost relief for the aviation sector.
This will cost the Government $870 million this year.
I expect the aviation sector to use this lull to sustain and upgrade its capabilities, and to prepare for the recovery. I will elaborate on this later.
In our land transport sector, taxi and private hire car drivers have been hard hit by the pandemic, and will continue to need support in 2021.
They will be supported by the COVID-19 Driver Relief Fund, which we announced previously.
I have set aside $133 million for this Fund.
The arts and culture, and sports sectors, connect our communities and weave the fabric of our society. These sectors have been deeply affected by the pandemic.
I will extend the Arts and Culture Resilience Package and Sports Resilience Package in FY2021 to support businesses and self-employed persons in these sectors.
I will also enhance these packages to support capability development and sector transformation, to encourage the community to deepen skills, go digital and transform business models. We look forward to activities resuming, with greater vibrancy.
I will set aside $45 million for the extension and enhancements to these packages.
The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth will announce more details on both packages.
I have covered the COVID-19 Resilience Package, which addresses our immediate needs – to safeguard public health, provide support for workers and businesses, and give more help to worst-hit sectors.
The past year’s Budgets and the COVID-19 Resilience Package are about preservation and adaptation – to safeguard lives, jobs, supply chains, and core economic capabilities.
From 2021, our focus will be on Emerging Stronger, Together.
Why is this important? The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered global shifts on the economic, social and political fronts, on a scale arguably greater than the 1929 Great Depression. It has set off new domains for competition and cooperation. It has also accelerated technological advances. To secure our future, we must build new capabilities in our people and businesses, and find new ways to work together effectively. Within and across industries, and beyond our shores.
While the post-COVID-19 global economic landscape is being reshaped and remains uncertain, we can discern the broad contours.
What are some of the key changes that can affect Singapore?
First, the speed of technological advances and re-configuration of global supply chains will reshape competitive advantages.
During the 2003 SARS outbreak, by the time vaccines were ready for clinical trials, the virus was already largely contained through public health measures. But the COVID-19 pandemic has been different. Governments, scientists and industry mobilised to work together at unprecedented speed. COVID-19 vaccines were developed in less than a year, and tests were implemented within weeks to months, in the US, China, Europe and Russia. This collaboration across industries and nations, has been a positive side of the pandemic.
But COVID-19 has also accentuated a US-China-centric technology race, into a global race for technological superiority and heightened concerns over supply chain resilience. For Singapore, as global supply chains are reconfigured, we must plug ourselves into critical parts of global networks. Businesses will need to transform and digitalise, to plug into the flow of goods and capital.
Second, COVID-19 has hit countries and communities unevenly and widened inequalities. The virus respects no borders. The global economy will remain stunted for as long as there are countries that have yet to suppress COVID-19. This is why Singapore is working with like-minded countries through the COVAX facility, to promote global access to the vaccine and help accelerate the resumption of safe travels.
Third, this tiny virus has reminded us of the intricate interdependencies of our ecosystem, and the importance of sustainability and biodiversity. Our human activities have accelerated changes in our environment. We must work together to safeguard this fragile eco-system for our future generations, and take climate change seriously.
In short, these three changes – the changing competitive landscape, rising inequalities, and importance of sustainability – are all mega-shifts, that will continue to reshape the world. To stay on top of these changes, we must bring all stakeholders together swiftly to respond to and seize the diverse opportunities.
So, while last year’s Budgets were tilted towards emergency support in a broad-based way, this year’s Budget will focus on accelerating structural adaptations. In the face of major changes, we must move from just counter-cyclical fiscal and monetary stabilisation policies, to structural economic policies to equip our businesses and workers with deep and future-ready capabilities.
Like many countries, we have devoted significant resources to preserve lives and livelihoods in the face of this pandemic. But what will continue to distinguish Singapore are our investments for the future. We will invest in our people – so they can bounce back and be ready for opportunities that arise; and we will invest in our businesses – so they can innovate, build deep capabilities and seize growth opportunities. Singapore must never stop thinking of the future, even as we respond swiftly to meet current needs. This is how we stay exceptional, and staying exceptional is how we survive.
Over the next three years, I will allocate $24 billion to enable our firms and workers to emerge stronger. The efforts will span several years, but it is crucial that we start today. This builds on the momentum of the transformation push started five years ago, when we launched our Industry Transformation Maps.
In this financial year, I will focus on how we can move decisively to build three enablers for this next phase of transformation, to emerge stronger.
First, to grow a vibrant business community, with a strong spirit of innovation and enterprise, deeply connected with Asia and the world.
Second, to catalyse a wide range of capital to enable businesses to transform and scale.
Third, to create opportunities and redesign jobs, for our people to develop their skills, creativity and talents. Ultimately, the purpose, the raison d'être of our economic transformation is to grow opportunities for our people to realise their full potential and aspirations.
Let me now elaborate on how we will invest in these three key enablers.
As a small, open city-state, Singapore has maintained the vibrancy of our society by enabling the global flow of goods, ideas, capital and people through our shores.
COVID-19 disrupted our physical connectivity but accelerated the rise of the virtual and knowledge economy.
To emerge stronger, we must deepen Singapore’s position as a Global-Asia node.
We will restore our physical connectivity and transform our aviation sector for recovery.
We will also expand our digital connectivity and deepen our capacity to collaborate and innovate with partners around the world.
Travel and connectivity have taken a severe hit due to COVID-19, and recovery may be prolonged.
In particular, COVID-19 has reshuffled the global web of connectivity, and changed the aviation landscape.
Airports will be differentiated by their capabilities in securing public health and enabling safe travel. They will need digitalised systems and the ability to effectively re-route people and goods.
To secure our position as a key aviation hub and maintain Changi’s position as a safe, trusted and well-connected airport for travellers and employees alike, we will restore Changi’s connectivity and invest in on-arrival testing and biosafety systems.
This includes the Notarise and Verify system being developed by GovTech through private-public partnerships. For instance, GovTech is working with local start-up Affinidi, on a software that can quickly verify the authenticity of digital COVID-19 test result certificates and vaccination records. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
Beyond physical connectivity, the post-COVID-19 economy will see two key shifts:
First, a shift from physical to digital modes of transactions across geographical borders.
Second, a shift from tangible to intangible assets in value creation. Such intangible assets include the knowledge, networks and data that businesses can use to create new technologies and innovations.
To remain competitive, businesses will need to innovate and collaborate on a global scale.
To support our businesses, I will invest in three key platforms.
The first platform is the Corporate Venture Launchpad, which will be piloted this year to drive new innovative ventures. The Launchpad will provide co-funding for corporates to build new ventures through pre-qualified venture studios. This is especially useful for larger businesses which want to rekindle a start-up mindset within their organisations.
One such venture studio which I visited recently is BCG Digital Ventures. They collaborated with Olam, a Singapore food and agricultural multinational to build Jiva, a farmer services platform. This platform will help farmers in developing countries to increase crop yield, access credit and connect directly to buyers. This venture helps meet the rising global food demand, while uplifting the income of farmers. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
The second platform is the Open Innovation Platform, or OIP.
The OIP facilitates the matching of problems faced by companies and public agencies with solution providers, and co-funds prototyping and deployment.
For example, through the platform, the Building and Construction Authority, was matched with three solution providers, TraceSafe, TagBox and Nervotec, to develop solutions for safe re-opening of worksites. The firms developed real-time systems that helped construction site owners conduct contact tracing and health monitoring of their workers.
I will enhance the OIP with new features such as a cloud-based Digital Bench for accelerated virtual prototyping and testing. [Please refer to Annex C-1.]
The third platform I will enhance is the Global Innovation Alliance, or GIA.
The GIA serves to catalyse cross-border collaboration between Singapore and major innovation hubs globally.
Since its inception in 2017, over 650 students and about 780 Singapore businesses have taken part in innovation launchpads overseas. 40% of these were in Southeast Asia.
Last year, despite the pandemic, there were over 100 potential business matches between Indonesian and Singapore-based corporates.
WaveScan, a Singapore start-up specialising in sensor technology, tapped on GIA and formed a partnership with A.L.I. Technologies, a company in Japan specialising in unmanned miniature aircraft. WaveScan also attracted investments from Leave a Nest, a GIA operating partner in Tokyo. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
The GIA network currently has 15 city links, including four Southeast Asian cities – Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and Manila. I will expand it to more than 25 cities around the globe over the next five years.
The GIA will also be enhanced through the inclusion of the Co-Innovation Programme. The Programme will support up to 70% of qualifying costs for cross-border innovation and partnership projects.
In 2019, 31 Singapore companies were supported for projects with enterprises from 11 partner countries.
One of them, Xnergy, is a local deep-tech start-up with expertise in contactless charging. Through the Co-Innovation Programme, Xnergy partnered with Balyo, a French multinational, to co-develop contactless charging systems for forklifts. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
As businesses innovate, they will create intellectual property and intangible assets, or IP and IA. They will need to identify and protect, value and manage, and commercialise these. To support businesses in commercialising the fruits of their innovation, we are developing the Singapore Intellectual Property Strategy 2030. This will include equipping businesses with tools to value their IP and IA, and training skilled professionals in these fields. The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore will announce the details on World IP Day in April.
Strong connectivity enables our businesses to plug into global and regional supply chains and industry clusters, and deepen our innovation partnerships.
We are stepping this up with ASEAN nations.
The ASEAN nations had a GDP of US$3.2 trillion collectively in 2019, making it the world’s fifth largest economy. The ASEAN region also became China’s largest trading partner in 2020. There is significant growth potential in this region, with favourable demographics for the next two decades.
Last December, ESG, IMDA and EDB launched the inaugural Southeast Asia Open Innovation Challenge which saw participation from Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, and Vietnamese corporates.
To add on to these efforts, the Singapore Business Federation will be officially opening two new overseas offices soon – one in Jakarta and one in Ho Chi Minh City.
We have also launched cross-border projects through ASEAN platforms. One such project is the YCH Vinh Phuc Inland Container Depot Logistics Centre that was launched last November. This is a joint landmark SuperPort project between Singapore-based YCH Group and T&T Group, a Vietnamese conglomerate.
To promote the integration of ASEAN markets, we are pursuing common frameworks in emerging areas. For instance, ASEAN nations have developed the ASEAN Payment Policy Framework to encourage retail payment linkages between ASEAN countries.
We will continue to work closely with our ASEAN members, to enhance digital connectivity and cybersecurity, and to get ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, building on initiatives such as the ASEAN Smart Cities Network.
We will also continue to enhance our infrastructure investments in the region.
The Kendal Industrial Park was a joint investment between Singapore’s Sembcorp and Indonesia’s PT Jababeka to build up activities in food processing, building materials, and medical equipment manufacturing, amongst other sectors.
In my Statement in October last year, I also announced our intent to enhance cooperation with our most immediate neighbours, through Iskandar Malaysia in Johor, and the islands of Batam, Bintan, and Karimun in the Riau Islands.
One of the goals is to build up a cluster of industries around the electronics, medtech, food manufacturing and processing sectors, as these see rising demand in ASEAN nations.
The recently launched Southeast Asia Manufacturing Alliance will support these efforts. It serves to promote a network of industrial parks to manufacturers interested to invest in both Singapore and the region, and connect local firms with these manufacturers.
On the digital front, we are working with our Indonesian partners to build the Nongsa Digital Park to facilitate collaboration between Singaporean companies and tech talent in Indonesia.
As Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia grow together, benefits will also be reaped by the wider Southeast Asian region.
To summarise, the first enabler is to grow a vibrant business community, with a strong spirit of innovation and enterprise, deeply connected with the ASEAN region, Asia and the world.
The second enabler is to catalyse a wide range of capital to co-fund and enable businesses, from start-ups to small, medium, and large enterprises, to innovate, transform and scale.
Businesses have had to preserve cash flows during these uncertain times. Yet, it is precisely during these extraordinary times, that those that are ready to seize new opportunities will emerge stronger.
To catalyse the flow of capital and bridge market gaps, the Government will step up risk-sharing arrangements with providers of capital, and provide grants to support businesses at various stages of growth.
First, for high-growth enterprises, including start-ups.
I will ensure that they continue to have access to financial capital, by extending and enhancing the Enterprise Financing Scheme - Venture Debt programme.
From 2016 to 2019, we have seen an annualised growth rate of 44% in the amount of early-stage funds raised for promising enterprises.
Our eco-system of budding entrepreneurs and venture funds is growing.
As part of the Venture Debt programme, the Government shares up to 70% of the risk on eligible loans with Participating Financial Institutions.
I will continue to support this programme, and increase the cap on loan quantum supported, from $5 million to $8 million.
With this, we expect about $45 million of venture debt to be catalysed over the next year.
Second, more mature enterprises, from micro and small, to medium and large enterprises, should also invest in new and emerging technologies to sharpen their competitiveness.
To encourage them to do so, the Government will co-fund their adoption of digital solutions and new technologies.
The new Emerging Technology Programme will co-fund the costs of trials and adoption of frontier technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence and trust technologies. This will support commercialisation of innovations and diffusion of technology downstream.
To help firms to identify and adopt digital solutions, a Chief Technology Officer, or CTO-as-a-Service initiative will provide access to professional IT consultancies.
A new Digital Leaders Programme will also support promising firms in hiring a core digital team and in developing and implementing digital transformation roadmap.
Beyond these new initiatives, I will also extend the enhanced support levels of up to 80% for existing enterprise schemes such as the Scale-up SG programme, Productivity Solutions Grant, Market Readiness Assistance, and Enterprise Development Grant, to end-March 2022.
Including these enhancements, I am setting aside $1 billion for these schemes. [Please refer to Annex C-1.]
In the coming years, a critical part of business transformation will be in job redesign. With technological advances, many tasks that are physically demanding or repetitive can be better done by machines. With an ageing workforce, we must leverage technology to develop senior-friendly workplaces.
An example is a household name, Tim Ho Wan. Working with NTUC’s e2i, it modernised what was previously tedious manual ordering, tabulation and reporting, saving 20-30% in man-hours. To ensure productivity gains are shared with employees, e2i also negotiated with the company to increase the salary of the impacted older staff. [Please refer to See Annex C-4.]
To support businesses in redesigning jobs, I will enhance the Productivity Solutions Grant – Job Redesign, by raising the Government’s co-funding ratio from 70% to 80%, till end-March 2022.
To support the growth of local companies, the Government has partnered equity firms to provide growth capital for companies to transform and scale.
Thus far, we have largely focused our efforts on small and medium enterprises, or SMEs, with annual revenues of up to $100 million. Companies of this scale traditionally lack attention from private equity players, while larger enterprises tend to have the means to raise capital.
However, changes in the global economic landscape and financial markets have made it harder for our large local enterprises, or LLEs to attract private equity. This may mean missed opportunities for companies with strong fundamentals to plug into new areas, as supply chains are reconfigured.
Our LLEs have good fundamentals. Over the years, many have expanded overseas, projecting the Singapore brand as a trusted and reliable partner.
To ensure growth capital is available for LLEs that are ready to transform or expand overseas on a larger scale, I will complement existing grants and loans, and support them through equity investments, tapping on market players to ensure commercial discipline.
I will set aside $500 million to be co-invested with Temasek in a Local Enterprises Funding Platform, to be managed commercially.
Temasek will match the Government’s funds on a one-for-one basis, so the platform will have $1 billion available for its investments.
The platform will invest in non-control equity and mezzanine debt of selected LLEs, which are willing to work with the fund manager to pursue their next phases of growth.
Temasek will bring its strong commercial discipline to this partnership.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry will provide more details on the Fund later.
I have touched on our support for companies – from high growth to more mature enterprises, from SMEs to LLEs.
The company is the basic economic unit. Each company’s transformation is necessary. But we can reap the full benefits of transformation, when we transform the entire value chain.
So, for the next phase of our industry transformation, I will focus on the transformation of entire value chains – where each player in the chain works together to integrate and digitalise processes, and upskill their workers. We will build on the Alliances for Action and begin with a few alliances first. We will start with the Built Environment sector, where I will launch the Growth and Transformation Scheme or GTS.
Since the launch of the Construction Industry Transformation Map in 2017, the Government has made a big push to drive transformation in the Built Environment sector. Firms have adopted new ways of doing things, such as Design for Manufacturing and Assembly, or DfMA, and Building Information Modelling. Adoption for DfMA technologies has doubled from 19% in 2017 to 39% in 2020. But it can be much better.
This sector has just experienced an existential threat last year and is recovering. Developers, consultants and contractors now realise the urgency to radically improve productivity and reduce the reliance on labour-intensive methods.
The GTS for the Built Environment sector will require developers to work closely with their consultants, contractors and suppliers to level up as an eco-system or value chain. Working together to transform and innovate, the alliance members can achieve more than what each alone can do.
So, while we continue support the sector’s recovery, we will tilt our support to enable it to transform decisively. Our resolve in achieving transformation of the industry – and, in fact, of all industries – is clear and unwavering.
The Minister for National Development will elaborate on this at the COS.
I have touched on the first two enablers in our next phase of transformation – to grow a vibrant and connected business sector with a strong spirit of enterprise, and to catalyse a suite of capital tools. Let me now focus on the third enabler – to develop the skills, talents and creativity of our people.
Enabling our people to have access to good jobs and job opportunities is the purpose for developing a strong economy. A vibrant economy creates the jobs and opportunities for our people to be at their best.
The employment landscape is undergoing fundamental changes, and COVID-19 will accelerate these changes.
A digital, innovation-driven economy means that businesses will need highly-skilled workers and deep talent. Our people will need to have both broader and deeper skills and creativity.
The workplace is changing. COVID-19 has forced us to work from home and adopt new ways of collaborating with others.
A Mercer survey last year showed that over 90% of employers globally saw similar or higher productivity despite employees working remotely. Over 80% of firms intend to implement more flexible working policies. These are global trends that our people will have to adapt to.
‘Working from Home’ is just a short step to ‘Working from Anywhere’. Yes, anywhere in the world – as long as you have a computer and Internet connection. Singaporeans may find more opportunities as the best firms source globally, but will also face stiffer competition from talents who may not even step foot in Singapore.
But Singaporeans should not be fearful. There are many strengths in Singapore that will enable us to create good jobs here. But to access these, we have to learn and adapt.
I met Mr Edmund Tang last September, when he was at the e2i Trade and Connectivity Career Fair looking for a job. He had been working on autonomous vehicles but decided to explore if his skills could be better deployed. An e2i career coach matched him with a job opening. Today, he is a Senior Business Development Manager in the Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre, an A*STAR Research Institute. In his new role, he is able to build on his experience to develop new skills in a new area and role. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
The SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package is a key pillar in our industry transformation, to enable Singaporeans to learn and thrive, as our jobs and workplace change, and as businesses transform.
It was first launched last year, to tackle the anticipated labour market fall-out from COVID-19.
As of end last year, we have placed nearly 76,000 individuals into jobs, traineeships, attachments and skills training. Under the Jobs Growth Incentive, or JGI, an estimated 110,000 local jobseekers were collectively hired within two months from the implementation of the scheme.
Looking ahead, as companies and industries transform, and new growth areas emerge, our people will need to have the skills and agility to move. To emerge stronger, our people will need new knowledge and skills.
To enable our people to take on these new jobs, I will allocate an additional $5.4 billion to a second tranche of the Jobs and Skills Package, on top of the $3 billion allocated last year.
Of this, $5.2 billion will be allocated to JGI, to extend the hiring window by seven months, up to end-September 2021.
Companies hiring eligible locals will be given up to 12 months of wage support from the month of hire.
However, those hiring mature workers, persons with disabilities and ex-offenders will be given up to 18 months of enhanced wage support. [Please refer to Annex C-2.]
For workers who require additional support before landing a job, we will also extend the support for the SGUnited Skills, SGUnited Traineeships and the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programmes. [Please refer to Annex C-2.]
Through the next phase of the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package, we have set aside the budget to support the hiring of 200,000 locals this year through the JGI, and provide up to 35,000 traineeship and training opportunities to continue to support jobseekers in upskilling and accessing employment opportunities.
As we head into a more technologically-intensive and innovation-driven economy, we must also groom leaders in innovation and enterprise, especially in deep technology areas.
The NRF will be supporting about 500 Fellowships under the new Innovation and Enterprise Fellowship Programme, or IFP, over the next five years, to meet needs in areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and health tech. It will work with a range of partners, including accelerators, venture capital firms and deep tech start-ups.
The first partner, SGInnovate, recently launched Power X (Robotics), the first programme under IFP, to develop local talent for the fast-growing robotics and automation sector. Trainees undergo a nine-month programme to learn and apply robotics-related skills on real-world projects, and are thereafter placed with their respective host companies to help drive innovation.
The inaugural programme has 10 trainees in six host companies. One of the trainees, Mr Cheng Yi Chiao, previously worked in various MNCs and start-ups overseas. He returned to Singapore and was emplaced in an agri-tech start-up, Polybee. Working together with Polybee's team, Mr Cheng has learnt in a very short time how automation of pollination with micro drones works. These efforts are in line with the enhancement of food security in Singapore with deep tech. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
The host companies have welcomed this initiative to build up tech talent in Singapore.
Next, I will touch on the healthcare sector.
Our healthcare workers have, over the years, been working hard to provide us with the highest quality of care. Since COVID-19 hit, their exemplary commitment has shone through. Once again, let me express our deepest appreciation to all healthcare workers for your dedication in fighting the pandemic.
Beyond the pandemic, the healthcare sector is set to grow as our people age. This sector provides many good skilled jobs that are noble, meaningful and make a difference to Singaporeans.
We will enhance the salaries of our nurses and other healthcare workers such as support care staff. This will apply to workers across public healthcare institutions, and publicly-funded community hospitals and long-term care service providers. [Applause.]
The Minister for Health will announce the details at the COS.
I will now turn to manpower issues.
Some Singaporeans are concerned about our reliance on, and competition from, foreign manpower. At the same time, many businesses and trade associations have said that it is difficult to hire locals, and asked for us not to tighten foreign worker quotas further, to remain globally competitive.
The way forward is neither to have few or no foreign workers, nor to have a big inflow. We have to accept what this little island can accommodate. To strike a balance, we must focus on enhancing the complementarity of local and foreign manpower, and step up on industry transformation. In line with this, I will support the employment of Singaporeans while we deepen their capabilities and promote capability transfer, while moderating our reliance on foreign labour where we must.
I will provide further help to support wage increments for companies to retain or draw in locals by extending the Wage Credit Scheme for a year, at a co-funding level of 15%. I urge employers to make use of this and other schemes to redesign jobs and upskill their local staff.
For sectors, especially those in new growth areas, where we may be short of skills, we welcome expatriates with the right expertise to complement Singaporeans and help us build capabilities. This will allow us to add vibrancy to the local market, better serve international and regional markets, and enhance Singapore’s attractiveness to global investors.
The Capability Transfer Programme, or CTP, is one of many programmes that supports such foreign-to-local skills transfer. As of end-2020, more than 140 companies, and over 970 locals have benefitted or are expected to benefit from 40 projects.
I will extend the CTP up to end-September 2024.
One Singaporean who has benefited from the CTP is Mr Mohamad Zaini Bin Selamat. He is a Technical Officer at SP Services who learnt skills from foreign experts in network support for the roll-out of advanced electricity meters. He is now performing higher-value work such as fault isolation and data analysis and supervising junior colleagues. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
To complement our local workforce, we also have the S Pass for companies to hire workers with the technical expertise. I had indicated at the Unity Budget in February 2020, that the Manufacturing S Pass Sub-Dependency Ratio Ceiling, or sub-DRC, would be cut when conditions allow.
Manufacturing is a significant pillar of our economy. To achieve our vision of being a global advanced manufacturing hub, firms must make it a priority to develop a strong, highly-skilled local core in their workforce.
We cannot do without foreign workers, especially those with deep skills. But we should moderate further our reliance on them, so as to focus on creating good jobs for locals.
Therefore, we will reduce the sub-DRC for Manufacturing in two steps, to 18% from 1 January 2022, and to 15% from 1 January 2023. [Please refer to Annex C-3.]
This is in line with the tightening already underway in other sectors such as the Services, Construction, and Marine Shipyard and Process sectors.
The move has been carefully calibrated, so that firms have one year to adjust, before changes are implemented.
We will continue to review our S Pass framework, including the qualifying salary and levies, to ensure we maintain complementarity between the local and foreign workforces.
I have touched on how we plan to emerge stronger as a workforce and as an economy.
Beyond economic opportunities, what is fundamental is our sense of purpose and our sense of togetherness. Since our independence, we have been seeking to build a fair, just and caring society. We have been building strong bonds as a people and deepening our social compact.
In this pandemic, we have seen how Singaporeans united in adversity and supported one another.
Social cohesion does not happen naturally. Even before COVID-19, many societies were facing sharp divisions due to widening inequalities, increasing diversity of interests and voices, and growing distrust. The pandemic has deepened the cracks in many societies.
Singapore is not immune to these challenges. We must continue to strengthen our social fabric and reject forces of division and discord.
Over the years, the Government has been investing significantly in three key areas:
We subsidise healthcare heavily to ensure that every Singaporean has access to affordable and quality healthcare.
We invest in education to ensure that every Singaporean has access to opportunities to maximise their potential, regardless of their starting point in life.
We promote home ownership, with significant subsidies for public housing. Home ownership enables Singaporeans to share in the nation’s growth, while ensuring a roof over their heads even in times of uncertainty like this.
Strengthening our social compact will always be a work-in-progress. As we recover from this crisis of a generation, let us strive to emerge stronger as a society.
In June last year, we launched the Emerging Stronger Conversations in the midst of the pandemic. I thank the 17,000 individuals who participated and shared their views.
I am glad that many expressed their wish for a fair, equal and caring society, with more support for vulnerable groups, such as lower-wage workers and persons with disabilities.
Last June, I also announced that we would form Singapore Together Alliances for Action, or AfAs. These will become a key approach to forging partnerships and cross-sector collaborations to pursue new growth areas, and to tackle complex issues, including those that have come up through the Emerging Stronger Conversations.
Within eight months, 15 AfAs have been formed or announced, alongside other existing partnerships and collaborations.
Going forward, the National Council of Social Service and SG Enable will also form an AfA on support for care-givers of persons with disabilities. This AfA will build on the good work of our community partners and individuals, and harness their resources and creativity to co-create solutions to improve support for care-givers.
The Minister for Social and Family Development will announce details at the COS.
We expect more AfAs to be announced in the months ahead.
In the five Budgets last year, we brought immediate relief and support for families and workers, looking out especially for those who were more badly affected.
For families, we provided the Care and Support Package and the Solidarity Payment, which benefited all Singaporeans regardless of income or housing type, with more for the less well-off.
For workers, we implemented the COVID-19 Support Grant, the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme and the Temporary Relief Fund.
For the vulnerable groups, we disbursed the Workfare Special Payment to lower-income workers. Grocery Vouchers and additional GST Voucher – U-Save provided further support for lower-income families.
As the economic situation remains uncertain, I will introduce a Household Support Package, to provide additional support to families.
First, for lower- and middle-income households. All Singaporeans who are eligible for GST Voucher – Cash will receive an additional one-off GST Voucher – Cash Special Payment of $200. This is on top of the regular GST Voucher – Cash payment.
I will also provide a GST Voucher – U-Save Special Payment to eligible HDB households, amounting to an additional 50% U-Save rebate over one year. Each household will receive additional utilities rebates of between $120 and $200 this year.
Second, I will also extend the Service and Conservancy Charges Rebate for all eligible HDB households for another year.
Third, for families with Singaporean children below the age of 21, I will provide an additional top-up of $200 per child through the Child Development Account, Edusave Account, or Post-Secondary Education Account, to further support parents as they invest in their children’s future. This will be on top of the annual Edusave top-ups for children in Primary and Secondary schools.
Singaporeans’ sense of unity and discipline in observing the precautionary measures such as safe distancing and mask wearing has enabled our progress so far in combating the pandemic. The discipline and understanding of our local merchants and hawkers have also been important. However, they have been quite affected by the safety measures, especially during the circuit breaker.
To thank all Singaporeans for their sense of solidarity, and to continue to support our heartland businesses and hawkers, I will partner the Community Development Councils, or CDCs, to give all Singaporean households $100 worth of CDC Vouchers per household, to be used at participating heartland shops and hawker centres.
I hope that this new tranche of vouchers can bring more business to our hawkers and heartland shops. To resource this, I will provide an additional grant to the CDCs amounting to $150 million. More details will be announced by the CDCs later.
Altogether, the Household Support Package will cost about $900 million.
This Household Support Package provides some support to all families, with lower- to middle-income families receiving more. [Please refer to Annex D-1.]
Our President, at the Opening of Parliament, spoke about the strengthening of our social safety nets. To strengthen our social compact, we must work together to address the challenges faced by the more vulnerable members of our society. The Government will continue to allocate resources in our annual Budgets for this.
Beyond short-term relief, some Singaporeans have been more badly affected by the pandemic. I will highlight three groups that need more support.
The first group are workers who are earning low wages or facing more challenges with employment. The second group are lower-income families. The third group are our children with special needs.
Let me first touch on the first group – workers who need more support, starting with our lower-wage workers.
Today, we adopt a multi-pronged approach in supporting them.
This includes the enhanced Workfare Income Supplement scheme, Workfare Skills Support scheme, the Progressive Wage Model and Workcare.
In October last year, the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers was formed to explore ways to uplift the wages and prospects of our lower-wage workers.
The Government’s aspiration is for every sector of the economy to have some form of Progressive Wages. The Tripartite Workgroup is making good progress. The Ministry of Manpower will provide details on the approach for expansion later.
Next, our older workers may also need more support. The Government has been exploring ways to enable workers to continue working if they want to.
The Prime Minister announced at the National Day Rally in 2019 that we will raise the Retirement Age and Re-employment Age to 63 and 68 respectively in 2022, with the Government and the Labour Movement effecting this a year earlier in 2021.
To help businesses adjust, I introduced the Senior Worker Support Package in the Unity Budget last February.
I am happy that the take-up rate for the Senior Worker Early Adopter Grant and Part-Time Re-employment Grant, two key components of the Senior Worker Support Package, have exceeded expectations.
I thank our businesses for supporting your employees who wish to work longer.
To support more companies to move earlier to raise their retirement and re-employment ages, I will increase the budget allocation for the Senior Worker Early Adopter Grant and the Part-Time Re-employment Grant by over $200 million. The Ministry of Manpower will provide more details.
Another segment of workers who may face greater challenges in securing or retaining jobs, are persons with disabilities, or PwDs.
To encourage employment and training of PwDs, MSF announced two weeks ago, the creation of 1,200 new job and training opportunities for PwDs.
This builds on the various initiatives to boost employment for PwDs, such as the Open Door Programme and the Enabling Employment Credit.
I have touched on the segments of the workers who need more support. The second group of Singaporeans who have been badly affected by the pandemic are our lower-income families.
MSF has been working to strengthen social service delivery and provide holistic support for our lower-income families.
Community Link, or ComLink, is one such initiative. Introduced in 2019, ComLink has become one of MSF’s key initiatives to help families with children who are staying in rental housing.
ComLink seeks to provide holistic support to low-income families. By mobilising community assets and galvanising local volunteering efforts, ComLink provides families with the tools and support to do better.
MSF also ensures that ComLink is coordinated with other initiatives such as UPLIFT and KidSTART, to provide families with seamless, holistic support.
MSF has made good progress. Since implementation, MSF is supporting about 1,000 families.
Mdm Soo Bee Keow and her children are one of those who have benefitted from ComLink. Through this initiative, Mdm Soo’s family is able to benefit from a range of additional support, from grocery vouchers to back-to-school items which help to offset living expenses, to enrichment programmes for her children such as the kidsREAD programme. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
To provide holistic support to more families, I will provide resources for MSF to expand ComLink significantly – to a nationwide programme to eventually cover 14,000 families with children, over the next two years.
The Minister for Social and Family Development will provide details at the COS.
Besides vulnerable workers and low-income families, the third group we need to pay special attention to is our children with special needs.
Over the years, we have enhanced our support for students with special needs, within MOE schools and in Government-funded special education schools.
Children under seven with developmental needs can benefit from a differentiated approach to help them learn better.
Building on these, we will look into piloting an Inclusive Support Programme. This pilot integrates the provision of early intervention and early childhood services for children who require up to medium levels of early intervention support. Many of these children are already attending pre-schools, and this programme will allow them to be more meaningfully engaged alongside other children. We believe this will benefit all children and help them develop social skills and social inclusion.
Ensuring equal opportunities for all, and supporting the needy and vulnerable segments of our society are integral to strengthening our social compact.
We will continue to identify and target groups who may need further support, including emerging groups of workers in more vulnerable areas.
For self-employed persons, we will continue to study ways to enhance their job security and strengthen their retirement adequacy. The Government is working with our unions and various agencies on these efforts, including outreach to more self-employed persons.
The COVID-19 crisis has increased a sense of vulnerability among our workers. The Government will continue to explore how we can better support our workers to meet the challenges arising from accelerated changes in the economic landscape.
Next, let me talk about how we will emerge stronger as a community. [Please refer to Annex D-2.]
COVID-19 has affected our people in different ways, both tangible and intangible.
While safe distancing measures, especially during our circuit breaker, have enabled us to keep the virus from spreading, they have also caused feelings of loneliness and isolation in some groups.
Our community partners, charities and Social Service Agencies have stepped up their support well, and the Government will continue to work closely with them.
However, this sector is facing new challenges. Donations to certain platforms, such as Giving.sg, and for specific causes like COVID-19, have risen. But donations to many charities in general, and income streams for their recurrent programmes, have fallen. Some charities even had to dip into their reserves to keep operations going.
This affects the help that goes to those who need it. I encourage individuals and corporates to do more for our charity sector if you can.
The Government has been playing its part. We have a multi-pronged approach to encourage charitable giving. This includes tax incentives for donations made to Institutions of a Public Character or IPCs, and Government grants that match donations raised.
As it stands, the current level of 250% tax deduction on donations to IPCs in Singapore is high, compared to other jurisdictions. However, this is set to lapse at the end of 2021.
To encourage Singaporeans to give back to the community and to provide strong support for the charity sector in this time of crisis, I will extend the 250% tax deduction for donations to IPCs for another two years, until the end of 2023.
I will also extend the additional Government support for Tote Board’s Enhanced Fund-Raising Programme by one year. Charities can apply to receive dollar-for-dollar matching on eligible donations, which are raised from projects in FY2021, up to a cap of $250,000 per applicant. This includes donations raised through approved digital platforms.
I hope the additional support will help tide our charities over the crisis, to enable them to do their good work to support the vulnerable in our community.
In particular, Community Chest, or ComChest, plays a critical role in raising funds for many Social Service Agencies, including for programmes that uplift lower-income families, such as KidSTART. To encourage more giving during these challenging times, I will support ComChest in two areas:
First, I will extend ComChest’s SHARE as One matching period to FY2023. The SHARE as One scheme provides dollar-for-dollar matching for new and additional donations through the SHARE programme, which enables corporates, employees and individuals to commit to regular giving.
Second, I will set aside $20 million for a new Change for Charity Grant. There is potential for businesses to do more to facilitate spontaneous acts of daily giving, for example, by encouraging their customers to make donations at the point of transaction. The Grant will match ComChest donations raised through this new initiative. The grant also co-funds one-off development costs needed to integrate or enhance donation functions onto businesses’ payment platforms.
The Minister for Social and Family Development will share details at the COS.
Besides philanthropy, we also seek to encourage volunteerism.
Businesses can play an important role in kickstarting their employees’ volunteering journey.
Singtel is an example of a strong corporate advocate for employee volunteerism. From supporting children and youth with special needs, to enabling digital inclusion for the older generation, Singtel volunteers have been actively engaging the community they serve. This year, Singtel employees have been volunteering at Senior Activity Centres to teach seniors how to use smart phones and equip them with basic digital skills to stay in touch with loved ones online and make cashless payments. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
To encourage more corporate volunteerism, I will extend the Business and IPC Partnership Scheme for another two years, until the end of 2023.
I encourage our corporates to partner our IPCs. Together, we can make a bigger impact to meet the diverse needs of our community.
Despite the stresses that Singaporeans face in this period, we continue to hear many heart-warming stories of our people stepping up to make a difference.
I recently met a group of Singaporeans who came together in the early days of the pandemic to set up N-Lab, a surgical mask manufacturing facility in Singapore. The core group served NS together. They put in close to $1 million of their own capital to design and manufacture masks, and donated many masks to the community. This is a good example of SG Together – where we come together to make a difference. It is also a testament to the enduring value of NS! [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
I hope these acts of kindness will inspire more people to come forward.
Apart from national level efforts, efforts by the community – voluntary organisations, corporate partners and individuals – enable us to meet the diverse needs of different groups who need support, especially at the ‘last-mile’.
To provide greater support for bottom-up, innovative initiatives which address the needs of the community, the Government will provide three dollars for every dollar raised, for the CDCs’ Care and Innovation Fund. I will set aside $50m for this matching grant.
The CDCs will share more details later. The tax measures are coming at the end, so I will see whether I can stretch it beyond 5.00 pm!
I will now turn to how we embrace sustainability and build a sustainable home for generations to come.
The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that a pandemic can be an existential threat for humanity. Another existential threat is climate change.
Unlike COVID-19, which was a sudden and sharp shock, climate change is a gradual and intensifying risk, year after year.
It can result in extreme weather patterns, which threaten the world’s food and water supply, disrupt global supply chains, diminish biodiversity and upset ecological systems.
Tackling climate change needs a global solution. Countries, no matter how big or small, must play their part and cooperate with one another.
We will continue to support international and regional efforts towards climate action and play an active role at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations.
Our emissions may be just a small fraction of the world’s, but we must do our part.
Sustainable development is a major priority for Singapore. This is not new to us. Our earlier generations of leaders laid the foundations of long-term planning and sustainable development.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew emphasised the building of a Garden City in our early years and transformed Singapore from a polluted backwater with mucky rivers in 1965, to one of the cleanest and greenest cities in the world today.
And we have continued to devote resources towards our environment. Over recent Budgets, the Government has put together plans to tackle climate change and translated them into action.
To improve air quality, we restructured diesel tax in 2017 and 2019.
We introduced a carbon tax, and passed the milestone Resource Sustainability Act in 2019, to encourage enterprises to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and work towards becoming a zero-waste nation.
And in 2020, we enhanced our Nationally Determined Contribution, a commitment to further limit our emissions as part of the Paris Agreement. We also announced our Long-Term Low-Emissions Development Strategy, which sets out our plans for mitigating and adapting to climate change till 2050 and beyond.
We will build on our strong foundations and run a national movement to build a sustainable Singapore for all generations.
As the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment said in our recent debate on the Motion to Accelerate and Deepen Efforts against Climate Change, sustainability is a journey, not a destination. Our work to achieve sustainable development is never done.
Last week, we launched the Singapore Green Plan 2030.
This is an ambitious long-term plan that builds on ongoing efforts, to secure a green, liveable and sustainable home for generations of Singaporeans to come.
Various Government agencies are working in concert. For example:
MND is bringing even more greenery to our island home and transforming Singapore into a beautiful City in Nature, while building up carbon sinks by extending nature throughout our island.
MOT is pressing on with our efforts to become a car-lite society by improving public transport, encouraging active mobility, while discouraging pollutive vehicles.
MOE is strengthening our education on sustainability practices among our young.
MSE and MTI are leading the push to become more energy- and resource-efficient, develop the green economy and jobs, and invest in urban solutions.
This is a whole-of-society effort to meet a global challenge. But it is not without constraints and trade-offs.
Costs and benefits of projects will change, as climate cost is factored in and as technology advances. We must continue to stay open and adaptive, and carefully balance our development objectives with sustainability considerations.
Technology is one such game changer and will open new possibilities. We harnessed technology to overcome our water and land constraints, and will do the same for climate change.
For example, under the Cities of Tomorrow R&D programme, researchers from A*STAR and HDB led the development of the Integrated Environmental Modeller. This is a tool incorporating wind, solar irradiance, shading and environmental noise, to forecast how these factors can affect thermal comfort for residents. It has been used by our urban planners in the planning of Tengah Housing Estate, to maximise thermal comfort for residents. Urban Solutions and Sustainability will be a focus area under RIE2025, with investments going towards research to help us build a more sustainable and liveable environment.
One promising story of innovation by our entrepreneur is the Aquaculture Centre of Excellence, which has innovated and patented “Eco-Ark” with funding support from the Agriculture Productivity Fund. With advanced aquaculture technologies, Eco-Ark is able to produce 20 times more output than the average in coastal fish farms. This improves our food resilience, as part of the 30-by-30 goal. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
To continue supporting technology adoption in the agri-food sector, I will set aside $60 million for a new Agri-Food Cluster Transformation Fund. This will replace the Agriculture Productivity Fund. The Minister for Sustainability and the Environment will elaborate at the COS.
Technology is also changing the future of transport. While we are going car-lite, we can further reduce emissions by switching to cleaner-energy vehicles.
Electric Vehicles, or EVs, is the most promising clean-energy vehicle technology today.
Last year, I announced the expansion of Singapore’s public charging infrastructure for EVs.
We will accelerate the development of our charging infrastructure to better support the growth of EVs in the next decade. We aim to deploy 60,000 charging points at public carparks and private premises by 2030 – more ambitious than our previous target of 28,000.
To catalyse partnership between the public and private sectors, I will set aside $30 million over the next five years for EV-related initiatives, such as measures to improve charging provision at private premises.
To further encourage the early adoption of electric cars, we will narrow the cost differential between electric cars and internal combustion engine cars, or ICE cars.
I will lower the Additional Registration Fee floor to zero for electric cars, from January 2022 to December 2023. This enables mass-market electric car buyers to maximise the rebates from the EV Early Adoption Incentive.
I will also revise the road tax treatment for electric cars, by adjusting the road tax bands so that a mass-market electric car will have road tax comparable to an ICE equivalent.
The Minister for Transport will provide details at the COS.
In tandem, we will further discourage the use of internal combustion engine vehicles.
Singapore has taken steps to reduce vehicular emissions and we have seen positive outcomes.
In 2017 and 2019, we restructured diesel taxes to shift away from an annual lump-sum tax towards a usage-based tax system.
Taxi companies, in particular, have made strides in shifting towards petrol hybrid and electric taxis, with the proportion of diesel taxis in their fleets halving from 86% in 2015, to 42% in 2020.
Usage-based tax has helped shape consumer behaviour towards a more efficient use of fuel, or environmentally-friendly alternatives.
To build on the momentum, I will raise petrol duty rates: for premium petrol, the duty will be raised by 15 cents per litre; for intermediate petrol, the duty will be raised by 10 cents per litre.
These changes will take effect today. To ease the transition for Singaporeans, especially for those who rely on their vehicles for their livelihood, I will provide these support.
For motorcycles using petrol, I will provide a 60% road tax rebate to all motorcycles for one year. In addition, individual owners of smaller motorcycles up to 400cc will receive $50 or $80 in cash, depending on engine capacity.
For active taxi and Private Hire Car drivers using petrol and petrol-hybrid vehicles, I will provide a Petrol Duty Rebate of $360, given out over four months. This is in addition to a one-year road tax rebate of 15% to all taxis and passenger cars using petrol.
For goods vehicles and buses using petrol, I will provide a one-year road tax rebate of 100%.
For cars using petrol, I will provide a one-year road tax rebate of 15%.
All road tax rebates will take effect from 1 August 2021.
The additional Petrol Duty Rebates for motorcycles, taxis, and Private Hire Cars will be introduced by the middle of 2021. More details will be released by LTA in April.
Taken together, these measures will offset about one year of petrol duty increases for taxis and motorcycles, and about two-thirds for commercial vehicles and cars.
Most of the expected revenue increase from the petrol duty changes in the coming year will be given out through the offsets, estimated to cost $113 million.
Climate change is real and urgent. We must act now. Behavioural changes take time.
COVID-19 has also given us an opportunity to change work and travel habits as remote and flexible working arrangements become more common. We must lock in these behavioural shifts.
A car-lite society will continue to be our main goal. Public transport is after all the cleanest and most energy-efficient mode of transport. The Government has been investing heavily in public transportation and enhancing public transport connectivity. Within this decade, we will be spending more than $60 billion to expand and renew our rail network.
Overall, these measures will work towards reshaping our transport footprint, towards cleaner transport.
Sustainability efforts require capital. Green finance will be an important enabler.
The Government will take the lead by issuing green bonds on select public infrastructure projects.
The issuance will serve as a reference for the Singapore Dollar corporate green bond market, including the standards and framework applied, and yields achieved.
As an international financial centre, Singapore can catalyse the flow of capital towards sustainable development, not just in Singapore, but in Asia. MAS has been driving Singapore’s Green Finance Action Plan to develop green finance solutions and markets for a sustainable economy.
The issuance of green bonds by the Government will build on these efforts by deepening market liquidity for green bonds, attracting green issuers, capital and investors, and anchoring Singapore as a green finance hub.
We have identified up to $19 billion of public sector green projects as a start. One such green project to be financed with green bonds is Tuas Nexus. Tuas Nexus integrates waste and water treatment facilities, and maximises energy and resource recovery in the solid waste and used water treatment processes.
I have talked about two key enablers of our Singapore Green Plan – technology and capital. A third key enabler is the actions of our people – what you and I do, in our daily lives.
The Government will lead by example. In fact, we have been doing so under the Public Sector Taking the Lead in Environmental Sustainability initiative.
Ministries have charted out plans to meet resource targets, such as reducing their electricity and water consumption, and achieving Green Mark standards for our buildings.
Some agencies, including the Ministry of National Development, Home Team Academy and Temasek Polytechnic are switching to low-global warming potential refrigerant chillers, ahead of the mandatory adoption in end-2022. This will reduce 24 kilo-tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the annual emissions of about 7,400 cars.
The public sector will do more. As part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, the Government will be committing to more ambitious goals under the “GreenGov.SG” initiative for the public sector. This gives renewed focus to the public sector’s contribution towards national sustainability goals, and reminds all public officers that sustainability must be at the core of our work.
The Minister for Sustainability and the Environment will provide further details on the GreenGov.SG initiatives at the COS.
I also urge businesses and households to play their part in protecting our environment.
In Budget 2018, we announced a carbon tax level of $5 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions from 2019 to 2023, to be increased to between $10 and $15 per tonne by 2030.
Since then, the effects of climate change have intensified and global momentum to address climate change has accelerated significantly.
Countries’ climate ambitions have increased, with the number of countries with net-zero targets increasing from four at end-2017 to 57 at end-2020, including Singapore.
On Singapore’s part, we enhanced our 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution and submitted our 2050 Long-Term Low-Emissions Development Strategy under the Paris Agreement in March 2020. We are working towards achieving our long-term net-zero aspirations as soon as viable.
This House has also acknowledged that climate change is a global emergency and has called on the Government to take stronger climate actions.
So, we are in a new situation today. As a responsible member of the international community, Singapore will be expected to do more, along with other countries, as climate change issues take on greater gravity.
We will therefore review the trajectory and level of the carbon tax, post-2023, in consultation with industry and expert groups. Up until 2023, the carbon tax level will be maintained at $5 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions as previously announced. This will provide businesses with certainty in the current challenging economic climate.
An appropriate carbon tax level is one of the key levers to spur the reduction of our carbon footprint, promote industry innovation and green growth, while maintaining Singapore's overall economic competitiveness.
We will announce the outcome of the review at Budget 2022, to give time for businesses to adjust to any revision in the carbon tax trajectory.
As demand for green products and technologies increase globally, businesses can seize new opportunities for growth.
One example is Durapower, a battery technology and energy storage solutions company that I visited two weeks ago. Durapower is working with NTU as one of their global research partners to develop high-energy density lithium-ion battery cells that are lightweight, and have higher power density for fast charging capabilities in EVs. The batteries by Durapower are used in more than 45 cities in over 20 countries across the world. It is now diversifying into marine and stationary energy storage segments, and further expanding overseas. [Please refer to Annex C-4.]
The Government will support our businesses to seize new opportunities in the green economy. We will be launching the Enterprise Sustainability Programme. This will help enterprises, especially SMEs, use resources more efficiently and develop new green products and solutions. MTI will announce more details later.
Last but not least, I encourage all Singaporeans to play our part. I am glad that our youth have been especially passionate about this cause and want to be part of this effort.
In the spirit of SG Together, the Government will partner Singaporeans and support ground-up projects which aim to build a more sustainable future.
We have received more than 200 proposals from individuals, grassroots and businesses for the first SG Eco Fund grant call. These proposals seek to address a wide range of environmental sustainability challenges.
I welcome all Singaporeans with ideas for sustainable development to step forward and make the difference.
Ultimately, building a green Singapore will require a whole-of-society effort, and I hope that we can harness the ideas and energies of the public, private and people sectors. Together, we can build a sustainable home for all.
I have laid out the Government’s priorities in the coming years:
First, to continue providing relief in the immediate term.
Second, to invest strategically for growth and press on with our economic transformation in the medium term.
Lastly, to lay the groundwork to position Singapore for the long term, and build a caring and sustainable home for all.
Our fiscal approach must strike a careful balance between addressing our immediate needs and meeting our longer-term structural needs in a responsible manner.
In the immediate term, running a fiscal deficit to support targeted relief is warranted, considering the unprecedented impact of COVID-19.
In the longer term, COVID-19 has not changed the fundamental drivers of our fiscal trends. With our ageing population and maturing society, our recurrent needs in areas like healthcare and other social spending will continue to rise. We must meet these structural needs in a disciplined and sustainable way.
Hence, beyond this crisis, we must return to running balanced Budgets.
It was fiscal prudence and discipline that allowed us to accumulate our national reserves, which has enabled us to respond decisively to this crisis.
Let me now explain our strategies to balance between our immediate and long-term needs.
In the last Financial Year, FY2020, we were expecting to draw up to $52 billion from Past Reserves. With the effective response of our people and businesses in adapting to the changing situation, we have been able to bring the pandemic largely under control. Hence, our requirements for some areas such as public health turned out to be lower than what was provided for. Of the $52 billion, we expect to utilise $42.7 billion of Past Reserves. This means that $9.3 billion is not expected to be used in FY2020.
For FY2021, we are committing $11 billion for the COVID-19 Resilience Package, to tackle the immediate and extraordinary challenges that COVID-19 continues to pose. This package is needed to safeguard public health, and support our people and businesses.
Given the extraordinary and temporary nature of these measures, the Government proposes to fund the COVID-19 Resilience Package through a draw on our Past Reserves.
Putting together the proposed draw of up to $11 billion in FY2021, and the $42.7 billion of Past Reserves that we now expect to draw in FY2020, the total expected draw on Past Reserves over FY2020 and FY2021 will be up to $53.7 billion. This is a net increase of $1.7 billion from what we expected to draw from Past Reserves to respond to the crisis.
The President has given her in-principle support for the proposed draw of up to $11 billion on Past Reserves in FY2021, to continue the provision of public healthcare and relief measures in the coming Financial Year. Once again, I thank the President for her support.
This is the second consecutive Financial Year where we will be drawing on our Past Reserves. This is necessary, given the exceptional circumstances we are in. We are extremely fortunate to be able to tap on our strategic assets and deploy the resources required to deal decisively with COVID-19 and the considerable uncertainties that lie ahead. We should never take our reserves for granted.
In the coming years, our fiscal situation is expected to be tighter.
Prior to COVID-19, we were already expecting a structural increase in our recurrent spending needs, especially in areas such as healthcare.
We have tripled our government spending on healthcare within a decade, from $3.7 billion in FY2010 to $11.3 billion in FY2019.
Fellow Singaporeans have often expressed the desire to better care for our seniors, with quality yet affordable health and aged care services. This is possible only if we can muster the resources to do so.
As our needs grow, we must plan for the resources to fund these, and target the spending in a fair and effective way.
COVID-19 has also raised economic uncertainties for citizens and workers, which calls for stronger social safety nets to protect those who are disadvantaged or more vulnerable. This will mean higher recurrent spending going forward.
We have maintained the principle that recurrent expenditure should be funded by recurrent revenue. This ensures that we spend in a responsible way – one that is fair for current and future generations.
To finance our recurrent spending needs, I first announced in Budget 2018 that we would need to raise the GST rate sometime from 2021 to 2025. As announced in the Unity Budget in February 2020, in view of economic conditions then, the GST rate increase would not take effect in 2021. This remains our plan.
However, we will not be able to put off the increase for too long. We will have to make the move sometime during 2022 to 2025, and sooner rather than later, subject to the economic outlook.
Without the GST rate increase, we will not be able to meet our rising recurrent needs, in particular healthcare spending. While we are fortunate to be able to tap on our reserves to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, it is not tenable for the Government to run persistent Budget deficits outside periods of crisis.
No Finance Minister likes to talk about tax increases, certainly not when the pandemic is still raging around the world. But we do this because we plan for the long term and do not shy away from explaining to fellow citizens why we need to make tough but necessary decisions to ensure that we have enough to provide for our nation’s future.
Let me reiterate my commitment to all – that the Government will ensure that our overall taxes and transfers system remains fair and progressive.
GST on publicly-subsidised education and healthcare will continue to be fully absorbed.
And to help cushion the impact when the GST rate is raised, we have set aside $6 billion for an Assurance Package.
This will effectively delay the effect of the GST rate increase for the majority of Singaporean households by at least five years.
For lower-income Singaporeans, the offset will be even higher, with those living in one- to three-room HDB flats receiving about 10 years’ worth of additional GST expenses incurred.
Over and above the transitional support, we already have the permanent GST Voucher scheme to defray GST expenses for lower- and middle-income households.
This is a permanent feature of our system and will be enhanced when the GST rate increase takes place.
Through this scheme, we are able to provide targeted support to those who need help most.
Based on past collections, foreigners residing in Singapore, tourists and the top 20% of resident households are estimated to account for over 60% of the net GST borne by households and individuals. This is after taking into account the GST Voucher scheme and GST refunded under the Tourist Refund Scheme for goods bought locally for consumption abroad.
If you consider our entire system of taxes and benefits, it is a progressive one. In 2020, the top 20% of Singaporean households paid 56% of the taxes and received 11% of the benefits; whereas the bottom 20% paid 9% of the taxes and received 27% of the benefits.
At the same time, our tax system must remain resilient to withstand shocks. We are mindful of international tax developments and the downside risks to our revenues.
There are on-going discussions to revise international tax rules under the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, or BEPS 2.0 project. These proposals will adversely impact our corporate income tax revenues. As I have mentioned in this House previously, we are actively involved in these talks.
If and when international tax rules are changed, we will consider if adjustments are required to our corporate tax system accordingly, in consultation with the industry.
One aspect of a fair and resilient tax system is ensuring a level playing field for our local businesses vis-à-vis their overseas counterparts. This is especially relevant as e-commerce for sales of goods and services, is growing.
In Budget 2018, I announced the extension of GST to imported services from 1 January 2020.
I also shared that we would be reviewing international developments on how GST can apply on imported goods.
Today, low-value goods imported via air or post are not subject to GST, to facilitate clearance at the border. In contrast, GST is paid on such goods purchased in Singapore.
Several jurisdictions, including Australia, New Zealand and the European Union, have implemented or announced plans to implement the equivalent of GST on such goods.
I will hence extend GST to imported low-value goods with effect from 1 January 2023. [Please refer to Annex F-1.]
This change, together with the change announced in Budget 2018, will ensure a level playing field for our local businesses to compete effectively. Overseas suppliers of goods and services will be subject to the same GST treatment as local suppliers. IRAS will continue to work with the industry to ensure smooth implementation for the change.
I will also make some tax adjustments to support businesses, and to maintain the competitiveness and resilience of our tax system. The details of these tax changes are in the Annex. [Please refer to Annex F-1.]
In addition to meeting our recurrent spending needs, we have also been making significant investments to build Singapore and transform our economy, even before COVID-19.
I had shared in previous Budgets that the Government is exploring the use of borrowing to finance major, long-term infrastructure that benefit current and future generations. This approach will allow us to spread out the lumpy costs of such infrastructure investments more equitably across generations.
Having studied this extensively, the Government intends to issue new bonds under a proposed Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Act, or SINGA for short. The Government will table a Bill in Parliament later this year.
These new bonds allow for a fair and efficient way of distributing the fiscal responsibility.
Fair, because these payments are borne by the generations who will directly benefit from the improved infrastructure.
Efficient, because they allow us to benefit from the current low interest rate environment.
Prior to this, the Government has been issuing bonds to develop the domestic debt market and meet the investment needs of the CPF for Singaporeans’ retirement.
With the proposed SINGA legislation, the Government will now issue bonds for an additional purpose of financing major, long-term infrastructure.
The Government will use SINGA borrowing proceeds in a prudent and transparent manner.
These proceeds will be used to finance assets that are crucial to Singapore’s long-term development and sustainability. These include new MRT lines and infrastructure to protect ourselves against rising sea levels.
As a safeguard, we will set a limit of $90 billion for borrowing under SINGA. This is based on the expected pipeline of major, long-term infrastructure projects over the next 15 years.
We will also include other safeguards in legislation, which will be open to Parliamentary and public scrutiny.
We have briefed the President and obtained her in-principle support for the use of Government borrowing to finance major, long-term infrastructure.
More details will be provided when the Bill is presented in Parliament later this year.
I have spoken about our approach for the immediate COVID-19 Resilience Package, and our differentiated approach to address recurrent needs through recurrent revenues and borrowing to finance major, long-term infrastructure.
How we recover from COVID-19 in the next few years is critical. It will determine our nation’s long-term success. Beyond dealing with its immediate impact, we are making significant investments to position Singapore for our next bound of growth in the post-COVID-19 world.
COVID-19 has disrupted business models and global supply chains, and accelerated trends such as digitalisation. To secure our future, it is crucial for us to seize opportunities in new growth engines, respond to structural trends and transform our economy.
We will invest strategically in these areas over the next few years, so as to emerge stronger. I have announced some of these measures in this Budget, while others are being developed by the Emerging Stronger Taskforce, the various Alliances for Action and our agencies.
Based on the current outlook, we expect that as the economy recovers, we will be able to balance our Budgets, and our revenues will be able to support projected expenditure for these measures.
This assessment assumes that the global COVID-19 situation comes under control by next year, enabling economic recovery.
However, if the global public health and economic outlook worsen, we may not be able to do so.
We have carefully thought through the different scenarios. While we expect economic recovery in Singapore and globally, there is a wide cone of uncertainty. Even if the economic and fiscal situation turns out to be worse than expected, we must still press on to invest in new areas, so as to ride on the structural changes, transform and emerge stronger as an economy, and as a people.
Should the public health and economic situation deteriorate and the need arise, the Government will seek the President’s consideration for the use of Past Reserves to support these economic investments to ensure Singapore emerges stronger from this crisis.
We have briefed the President on the Government’s strategy and contingency plan, in the event of a prolonged impact of the pandemic on the economy.
The President has expressed her understanding towards the Government’s approach, and will consider the Government’s specific proposals, should there be a need to draw on Past Reserves.
Let me now summarise our overall Budget position.
For FY2020, we expect an overall Budget deficit of $64.9 billion, or 13.9% of GDP. This is the largest Budget deficit since our nation’s independence. The deficit is driven by lower revenues due to dampened economic activity and the significant expenditures needed to mount a decisive response to COVID-19.
For FY2021, our Budget position remains expansionary as we continue to tide Singaporeans and our businesses over this crisis with the COVID-19 Resilience Package. I have also explained our plans to emerge stronger by pressing on with economic and workforce transformation, strengthening our social compact and building a sustainable future for all. These measures will impart a considerable fiscal boost to the economy, and we expect an overall deficit of $11.0 billion, or 2.2% of GDP. [Please refer to Annex F-2.]
Mr Speaker, Sir, let me say a few words in Mandarin before I conclude in English.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Last year, the Government committed nearly $100 billion for relief measures to deal with the pandemic. This has helped mitigate the impact caused by the economic recession and played a critical role in protecting our health, our businesses and our livelihood.
Although the vaccine has been developed, various parts of the world are still facing the impact of the pandemic. The road to recovery is bumpy and full of uncertainties. The Government will set aside $11 billion in this year’s Budget for the COVID-19 Resilience Package to continue helping our people and the sectors which are still under stress.
First, it will be used to protect the health of our people, and support the vaccination programme. I urge everybody to take the vaccine to protect yourself and the people around you.
To assist businesses which are still under stress, the Government will once again extend the Job Support Scheme (JSS). For sectors which are most adversely affected, that is, aviation, aerospace and tourism, the JSS will be extended for another six months. Other sectors, such as retail, arts and culture, F&B and built environment, the extension will be for another three months.
The sectors which are hit badly, such as aviation, land transport, arts and culture, and sports will receive additional assistance to help them maintain their core capabilities.
The COVID-19 has also accelerated ongoing structural changes and introduced new areas of cooperation and competition. I will set aside $24 billion to encourage businesses to innovate, transform and seize opportunities in the regional and global markets, to create good employment opportunities for our people.
The Government will strengthen the connectivity between Singapore and Asia, as well as the whole world, to promote the flow of goods, talents, data and so on. To do so, the Government will provide various platforms to encourage more businesses to seek co-operation with other companies, and venture into the regional markets.
The Government will also launch and extend our suite of capital tools and grant schemes to assist businesses in financing and help them transform and expand their operation.
In order to encourage our people to upgrade their skills, and help businesses to re-design their jobs, the Government will extend programmes, such as the SGUnited Jobs and Skills package and the Capability Transfer Programme.
On the other hand, we will also raise the salaries of our nurses and some other healthcare workers, and attract more to join this meaningful field. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt and profound appreciation and gratitude to our healthcare workers for their brave fight against this pandemic over the past one year.
The Government will continue to strive towards forging a loving and inclusive society to cater for the needs of various groups of people.
I will introduce a $900 million Household Support Package to provide our people with additional short-term relief. This includes a one-off GST Voucher - Cash Special Payment and the CDC Vouchers.
For the next two years, the Government will also expand ComLink nationwide. This will benefit more families living in rental flats.
In addition, I hope that everybody will uphold the SG Together spirit, and I encourage more people to give back to society and support the charity sector.
We want to ensure the sustainable development of Singapore and build a green home for generations of Singaporeans. The Government will work together with the people to advance the Singapore Green Plan to deal with climate change.
We will also accelerate the development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure to better support the growth of electric vehicles and to reduce carbon emission. To encourage people to use less of vehicles that use petrol, the petrol duty rates will be raised today, but the Government will give various rebates to alleviate the burden of the people.
All in all, our fiscal space will be further tightened. We must balance between our short-term and our long-term needs.
I mentioned last year that I will not raise the GST rate in 2021. However, in order to meet our recurrent expenditures, the GST rate increase cannot be put off too long. It has to be increased during the period from 2022 to 2025 and it should be implemented sooner rather than later. As for the specific timing, we will decide based on our economic outlook.
The Government will also introduce a Significant Infrastructure Government Loan Bill in Parliament this year, in order to facilitate financing for our major, long-term infrastructure projects. This approach will allow us to spread out the lumpy costs of such infrastructure investments more equitably across generations, avoid substantial increase in taxes, as well as embody the values of collective responsibility.
In this Budget year, we will once again draw on our Past Reserves, to fund the Covid-19 Resilience Package. This is a very difficult decision. Our past reserves are the “blood-and-sweat” money accumulated by generations of people. Therefore, we must cherish it and put it to good use, carefully.
I would like to thank President Halimah for the in-principle support for the proposed draw of up to $11 billion on Past Reserves in FY2021.
Over the past one year, our people cared for one another and fought against the pandemic together. Our forefathers managed the nation’s finances prudently, and saved up for rainy days in the future. Our reserves are critically important. These values (of prudence and care for our future) keep us united and resilient in face of adversity. To sustain this spirit, we need to keep up the mutual trust between our people and the Government.
For Singapore to continue to be successful, we also need to forge trust with people around the world and collectively look for solutions to our future challenges.
Let us put our hearts together and emerge stronger to build an even better future for our children. At the same time, we will make Singapore into a shining, red dot that commands the trust of all the countries in the world on the global stage.
(In English): Speaker, Sir, I will now conclude in English. The first thing I must say is a heartfelt thank you. Thank you to the practitioners in our social, business, tax and academic communities for your very useful insights during our consultations. And also, to our Labour Movement and tripartite partners.
I also thank the many Singaporeans who participated in our various consultation sessions, and officers in our Ministries and agencies who have contributed in the design of our schemes, and in ensuring that our programmes reach out to our people, workers and businesses.
A special note of thanks to my very dedicated team of officers in the Ministry of Finance, and my personal assistants, who have been working non-stop since COVID-19 hit the world last year. They continued to work over Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day – so you see, this is a labour of love. I also thank the Nanyang Polytechnic students who did the illustrations in the slides accompanying my speech.
Indeed, I extend the same admiration and thanks to all our frontline, healthcare and essential workers, who have been heroic in keeping our country running and keeping us safe through this crisis.
Most of all, Mr Speaker, I wish to thank our people. For showing understanding, strength and care, and standing together as one. I speak on behalf of all of us who have worked hard on this and previous Budgets when I say: Your well-being has been our purpose, and your spirit has been our inspiration.
In this Budget, I have outlined our plans to continue to tackle our immediate challenges and to emerge stronger in the new normal.
The COVID-19 Resilience Package to re-open safely and sustain the momentum of our recovery.
The Household Support Package for our families, with greater support for families who need more help.
Our investments in economic and workforce transformation to emerge stronger.
The Singapore Green Plan 2030 to enhance sustainability and do our part to deal with climate change.
Mr Speaker, Sir, COVID-19 has put all societies through a severe stress test – on how we organise ourselves as a society and our values as a people.
There are no textbook or model answers to deal with such a sudden, unprecedented shock. Instead, as the situation turns swiftly, we have to assess, adapt and innovate, to tackle the crisis on all three fronts – safeguard lives, jobs and businesses, and our future.
Our people rallied together, to support one another. Everyone has been doing his or her part, to observe precautions, however inconvenient, to keep each other safe. Businesses have been doing their best to adapt and retain workers. Our healthcare and frontline officers have displayed great courage and dedication. Many charities and volunteers have stepped up their support for those with needs, despite many difficulties.
The past year showed that our values as a people matter – the values of unity, resilience, solidarity and fortitude. The values of care and partnership, of adaptability and action, of working together. Our whole-of-society response is greater than the sum of its parts.
In particular, the values of our founding generation – of prudence to save and prepare for the long-term – enabled us to build up our reserves, which provided us the strong support we needed.
This sense of togetherness in turn rests on trust – trust in each other, in institutions and in our leaders.
This trust is not just among Singaporeans, but with people around the world. The world is more deeply interconnected and interdependent than ever. But this pandemic has exposed and enlarged crack lines and fragmentation in many parts.
A very successful overseas entrepreneur saw me recently. He saw Singapore as a key base to operate and grow, especially in a sustained global pandemic. He saw how we had worked together in Singapore, and with people around the world. We are a safe, trustworthy node and we look ahead.
Let us continue to focus on what lies ahead and chart a clear direction forward. Let us continue to think long-term, tackle long-term challenges such as climate change and future pandemics, and forge partnerships with people around us, in Singapore, as part of Singapore Together, and with people around the world.
Let us strive to emerge stronger together, as a united and shining red dot, trusted by all!
Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move. [Applause.]
Mr Speaker: The Question is, \"That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the financial year 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.\"
In accordance with paragraph (1) of Standing Order No 89, the debate now stands adjourned. Debate to be resumed on what day?
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Wednesday, 24 February 2021, Sir.
Mr Speaker: So be it.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Adjournment","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"[(proc text) Resolved, \"That Parliament do now adjourn to 12 noon, Wednesday, 24 February 2021.\" – [Ms Indranee Rajah]. (proc text)]
Adjourned accordingly at 5.14 pm.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Firms Identified as Anchor or Queen Bee Companies and Benefits Brought to SMEs and Individuals","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"22 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the current number of companies on-boarded as Anchor companies/SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies; (b) what support does the Government provide to these companies; and (c) how have SMEs and individuals benefited from this programme.
Mr Lawrence Wong: To-date, SSG has partnered 221 SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies. These companies are selected based on their industry standing and ability to influence companies operating in their business networks. Examples of SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies include Bosch Rexroth, IBM, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital and Prudential, for the manufacturing, information and communications technology, community care and financial services sectors.
SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies receive different forms of support, depending on the skills interventions that they deliver to the sector. For example, companies like Bosch and IBM are funded to deliver training of emerging and in-demand skills in their respective sectors. SSG also provides funding support to companies like Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital and Prudential to hire \"Skills Managers\" to identify skills gaps and formulate skills solutions for other companies in their value chains such as the EagleWings Group to help their workforce pick up new skills and bridge skills gaps under the Prudential SME Skills Accelerator Programme.
Our partnerships with the SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies have expanded opportunities for companies, especially SMEs, to upskill their workforce with emerging skills to support enterprise transformation efforts. Since July 2019, more than 400 companies have benefitted from the skills development programmes delivered by the SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies, of which 93% are SMEs.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["1 : Aligned to the most recent number communicated to the public. The actual number of active Queen Bee companies has fallen to 20. Due to the COVID-19 situation and other developments, SATS and Certis have decided to defer coming onboard the SkillsFuture Queen Bee programme."],"footNoteQuestions":["22"],"questionNo":"22"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Numbers of Borrowers who Applied for Relief from Loan Obligations due to COVID-19 Disruptions and Borrowers with Problems Transitioning Back to Full Loan Repayment","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"23 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Prime Minister (a) what is the number of borrowers who applied for relief packages offered by financial institutions to overcome financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and (b) what is the number of borrowers expected to have problems transitioning back to full loan repayment.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): Between April and December 2020, banks and finance companies deferred loan repayment on more than 36,000 property loans and 2,800 renovation and student loans, converted more than 10,300 revolving unsecured credit facilities to lower-interest term loans, and approved more than 6,500 principal payment deferments for SME secured loans.
Upon the expiry of these relief measures at the end of last year, extended reliefs have been made available to individuals and SMEs facing continued cashflow challenges. Borrowers can apply for partial repayment or lower monthly instalments, which give them more time to transition to full loan repayments eventually. Longer-term loan restructuring options are also available for borrowers in greater financial difficulties.
So far, only a small proportion who took up reliefs in 2020 have sought the extended reliefs. As at end 2020, banks and finance companies have approved about 2,800 reduced instalment plans for property loans, 150 loan tenure extensions for renovation and student loans, and 1,000 deferments of principal payments by SMEs on secured and government-supported loans.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the financial industry will continue to monitor the situation closely. Fortunately, all indications are that other than a few hard-hit sectors such as aviation, the economy is generally recovering, and we should see fewer cases of financial hardship.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Employers' Obligation to Provide Sufficient Masks to Their Migrant Worker Employees","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"28 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether employers have a legal obligation to provide sufficient masks to their migrant worker employees at no cost to these employees; (b) whether the Ministry actively monitors worksites to ensure that migrant worker employees are provided with sufficient masks; and (c) whether whistleblower employees who report their employers for not providing sufficient masks will be protected from being dismissed or repatriated.
Mrs Josephine Teo: MOM, BCA and EDB actively monitor workplaces to ensure that businesses comply with Safe Management Measures. This includes checking that all employees wear masks while at work.
At worksites, occupiers have a responsibility to ensure that all employees are masked at work. Agencies’ inspections have shown that this is complied with. In 98% of workplaces inspected, employers maintained ample stock of masks for their employees’ use at work. For the remainder, we have advised these employers of the good practice to have sufficient supply of masks to fulfil the requirement that all employees be masked.
The Government and other organisations have also distributed masks to all Singapore residents, including migrant workers. The Migrant Workers’ Centre, together with the Temasek Foundation and other partners and donors, has distributed masks and other essential items to more than 650,000 migrant workers.
Migrant workers who face a shortage of masks can approach the Migrant Workers’ Centre or MOM for assistance. MOM has ways of following up on whistleblowing reports without revealing the identity of the informant.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Guidelines for Anti-social Behaviour among Neighbours Given Increase in Cases Filed at Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"29 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth in view of the increased number of claims filed with the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal (CDRT) (a) whether there is a need for clearer and more comprehensive guidelines on unacceptable and anti-social behaviour among neighbours; and (b) whether there is a greater scope for the use of technology in gathering evidence that can be brought before the CDRT.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: The Community Dispute Resolution Tribunal, or CDRT, saw an increase in the number of claims filed in 2020, compared to 2018 and 2019, with a slight uptick during the circuit breaker period. The top three causes of disputes were excessive noise, littering and surveillance.
Mr Liang asked whether we need clearer and more comprehensive guidelines on unacceptable and anti-social behaviour among neighbours.
The Community Disputes Resolution Act provides a non-exhaustive list of behaviours that may cause unreasonable interference with a neighbour’s enjoyment of a place of residence. Such acts include causing excessive noise, smell, smoke, and light, littering, creating obstructions, surveillance and trespassing.
In determining whether certain behaviours are unreasonable, the Tribunal will take reference from the list, and consider social norms and the facts of each case.
We will continue public education efforts to raise awareness of acceptable social norms, and encourage residents to be gracious to one another. One such effort is HDB’s collaboration with the Singapore Kindness Movement on a public messaging series, called the ‘Then How’ series, to encourage neighbourliness in the new normal. Agencies also use a variety of means such as public messaging, community initiatives, and exhibitions to help residents be aware of actions that may cause nuisance to others (e.g. noise, dripping laundry, obstruction of common corridor).
Mr Liang also asked whether there is greater scope for the use of technology in gathering evidence that can be brought before the CDRT.
Members may recall that CDRT proceedings are Judge-led, and that the CDRT is not bound by the formal rules of evidence. This means that CDRT Judges have the flexibility and discretion to consider relevant evidence from a broad range of sources. Claimants may support their claims with evidence that has been collected using technology which is readily available. This includes photographs, audio or video recordings that are taken with a smart phone.
I should remind Members that the CDRT should be a last resort. We should continue to encourage the amicable mediation and resolution of such disputes upstream, as early as possible. Neighbours who have disagreements can turn to community intervention by grassroots leaders and community mediation services to help resolve the disagreements if they cannot do so themselves.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Number and Profile of Intra-corporate Transferees and Family Members Working in Singapore","subTitle":"Proportion from Countries with Free Trade Agreements with Singapore","sectionType":"WANA","content":"30 Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the current respective numbers of intra-corporate transferees and their family members holding dependant passes who are working in Singapore; (b) whether these individuals are included under the Ministry's employment statistics; and (c) how many of these individuals come from countries that have a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Singapore currently has 26 FTAs in force and is party to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which has 164 economies as members. Practically all individuals that have entered Singapore as overseas Intra-Corporate Transferees (ICTs) would be covered by our trade agreements, including the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
The number of ICTs has consistently been below 5 percent of all Employment Pass (EP) holders in Singapore. These ICTs would have met the same criteria as other EP holders to work in Singapore. Less than half of existing ICTs have brought in dependants, and less than 1 in 10 of these dependants have been allowed to work during their stay in Singapore. Overseas ICTs, as well as their dependants who work, are included in the Ministry of Manpower’s foreign workforce numbers and employment statistics.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Reviewing HDB's Home Sales Programme to Shorten Waiting Time and Better Match Home Buyers’ Needs and Preferences","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"31 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for National Development (a) in each of the last three years, what is the number of applicants for HDB's Sale of Balance Flats and Re-Offer of Balance Flats respectively; and (b) whether there is a need to review HDB's home sales programme to shorten waiting time and better match home buyers’ needs and preferences.
Mr Desmond Lee: HDB received about 35,000, 31,000 and 23,000 applications for the Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercises in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively.
HDB received about 10,000 and 8,000 applications for the Re-Offer of Balance Flats (ROF) exercise in 2018 and 2019 respectively. In 2020, HDB did away with the Re-Offer of Balance Flats (ROF) exercise, so that most of the unselected flats from the SBF exercises can be offered directly for open booking, instead of first being offered through the ROF exercises. The open booking of flats was launched in June 2019, and allows home seekers to apply for a flat online. Applicants get their flat selection appointment on a first-come-first-served basis, which can be as early as the next working day. This has helped buyers who have more urgent housing needs and are less particular about flat locations to book a flat more quickly.
In addition, HDB has launched about 6,500 BTO flats with shorter waiting times of about 2 to 3 years, since November 2018. These flats come with floor finishes, internal doors, and sanitary fittings, enabling home buyers to move into their new flats sooner.
HDB will continue to refine its sales processes, review its sales programme, and where possible, continue to launch flats with shorter waiting times, to better meet the needs of home seekers.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Complaints about and Methods to Curb Crow Populations","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"34 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many complaints about crow problems, including attacks on people, has NParks received in 2020; (b) what are the methods used to manage the crow population; and (c) whether NParks has evaluated the effectiveness of its current methods of trapping crows.
Mr Desmond Lee: \tIn 2020, NParks received about 2,750 cases of crow-related feedback, relating to issues such as noise, crow sightings, feeding, and crow attacks.
NParks adopts a holistic and science-based approach to managing the crow population, including measures such as habitat modification, population reduction, and food source reduction. Habitat modification involves the directional pruning of trees to deter crows from perching and to break up large roosts. Where appropriate, NParks also surveys and removes crow nests to reduce the territorial behaviour of crows and minimise attacks. In tandem, NParks works with Town Councils to reduce the crow population through the use of crow traps.
Food made available by humans is a key driver of crow population growth. NParks works closely with SFA, NEA, and the Town Councils to encourage proper food waste management at food establishments and to enforce against littering and illegal bird-feeding. NParks also partners agencies and Town Councils to educate the community on proper refuse management.
NParks will continue to refine its current methods to manage the crow population. Beyond working with the pest control industry to develop innovative trap designs to ensure that crows are trapped in a humane and effective manner, NParks conducts studies to better monitor and survey the crow population, and to provide insight to the behavioural and movement patterns of crows. This helps to enhance the effectiveness of NParks’ measures to manage the crow population, including its crow trapping operations.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Complaints of and Measures to Curb Bird Nuisance at Hawker Centres","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"35 Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) in the last three years, how many complaints of bird nuisance at hawker centres have been received; and (b) what new measures are in place to tackle this issue other than bird point deterrents and netting.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: From 2018 to 2020, the National Environment Agency (NEA) received about 3,100 cases of public feedback relating to bird nuisance at hawker centres. This is an average of about 90 feedback cases per month.
At hawker centres with bird nuisance issues, features such as bird spikes and anti-bird netting are installed where suitable to reduce the areas where birds can perch or deter them from entering the centre. Our new hawker centres are also designed to minimise areas for birds to perch, such as by concealing overhead pipes and ducts.
These deterrent infrastructural measures will not be sufficient to eliminate bird nuisance at hawker centres unless patrons and stakeholders also play their part. It is the easy availability of food scraps which attract birds to public eating premises in the first place.
To address this, NEA has been working together with Town Councils, Hawkers’ Associations, stallholders and cleaning contractors to manage waste properly and discourage littering. This serves to keep premises clean and reduce food sources for birds. NEA also carries out public education to remind hawker centre patrons and stallholders to clean up after their meals and minimise food sources for birds, such as through NEA’s Tray Return Programme as well as the National Parks Board’s (NParks’s) \"Say No to Feeding Wildlife\" campaign.
Earlier this month, NEA launched the \"Clean Tables Campaign\". Its key objective is to remind patrons to keep the tables clean for the next diner, by clearing their used tissues and wet wipes, and returning all used crockery and trays after dining. To foster greater community ownership, NEA is partnering the grassroots, volunteers and educational institutions to engage patrons and the wider community.
Hawker centres are an integral part of our hawker culture and are community dining rooms meant for all to enjoy. I encourage everyone to play our part in maintaining the cleanliness of our hawker centres.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Economic Agencies' Targets for Promotion of Green Businesses in Singapore","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"39 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether the economic agencies such as Enterprise SG and the Economic Development Board have any formal targets or incentives to bring in and promote green businesses; (b) whether these agencies have Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) frameworks that they consider while evaluating businesses; and (c) whether these targets and frameworks can be made public.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: The Government has a suite of economic incentives and tools to support the establishment of green businesses and adoption of green practices in Singapore. These include the Economic Development Board’s (EDB) Resource Efficiency Grant for Energy and the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) Energy Efficiency Fund to encourage industrial facilities to improve their energy efficiency, as well as the NEA’s 3R fund to encourage organisations to implement waste minimisation and recycling projects. Last year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) also unveiled the Green Finance Action Plan, which will catalyse green investments in Singapore.
As the demand for sustainable products and services increases, companies who invest in sustainability can develop a competitive advantage and capture new opportunities in the green economy. Our economic agencies, such as the EDB and Enterprise Singapore also support companies to make bold moves in the sustainability field. For example, Neste Singapore produces the world’s cleanest renewable diesel, that has 90% lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional diesel over its life cycle. Greenpac, one of our progressive local SMEs, specialises in innovative, environmentally friendly packaging products and solutions, and it counts some of the largest global companies as its customers.
Sustainability is not only an emerging area of opportunity for our businesses, but is also an opportunity for us to protect our environment and secure our future. The Government will continue to work with industry and other stakeholders to support these efforts.
40 Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for Health whether the COVID-19 vaccination programme may be expedited in view of the fact that other countries are vaccinating their residents at a faster rate.
41 Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Health (a) to date, what is the percentage of healthcare workers in the public and private sectors who have been vaccinated; (b) what surveillance testing programme is in place to ensure healthcare workers who are not vaccinated are not infected with COVID-19; and (c) how many people have received or are currently receiving support under the Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Programme for COVID-19 and what side effects and conditions have they been suffering from.
42 Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Health to date, what has been the COVID-19 vaccination take-up rate for frontline workers and those who have been offered the vaccination.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: We continue to make good progress in our COVID-19 vaccination programme. Around 73% of healthcare workers working in our public and private sector, primary care, acute hospitals and long term care have been vaccinated with at least the first dose. In addition, about 72% of COVID frontline workers and essential workers in the aviation and maritime sectors, have been vaccinated.
Healthcare workers play a critical role in our fight against COVID-19. The key measure to prevent healthcare workers from being infected with COVID-19 is adherence to strict infection prevention and control protocols, which includes donning and doffing of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), observing safe distancing, maintaining good personal hygiene, and adhering to safe workplace management measures at all times. These measures will remain in place even after the healthcare workers have received their vaccinations, to protect themselves, their colleagues and their patients.
In addition, all healthcare workers with acute respiratory illness of any degree of severity, are required to be tested for COVID-19 on first presentation. This ensures infections can be detected early to prevent further spread in healthcare settings.
The vaccine injury financial assistance programme (VIFAP) provides financial assistance to those who experience serious side effects linked to their COVID-19 vaccination administered in Singapore. They can submit a VIFAP application when the application process is opened.
The progress of our vaccination is currently constrained by the availability of vaccine supplies. If vaccine supplies arrive on schedule, we will have enough vaccines for all Singaporeans and long-term residents by the third quarter of this year and will be able to complete the vaccination programme by the end of this year. If we are able to secure more supplies earlier, we can accelerate the progress. However, we expect global supply chains are likely to be disrupted from time to time for various reasons. We have seen delays to our shipments due to disruptions at the manufacturer’s production facility. We continue to monitor closely the situation for any potential vaccine supply disruptions globally. We encourage all Singaporeans and long-term residents to be vaccinated when your turn comes, and to turn up at the vaccination appointments that you have made so that you do not deny another person of the opportunity.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Over-the-counter COVID-19 Diagnostic Test Kits","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"47 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Health whether the Government intends to allow over-the-counter COVID-19 diagnostic test kits like the Ellume COVID-19 Home Test now authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration to enable self-testing by individuals, commercial entities or non-governmental organisations and reduce pressure on state resources.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has to date not received any applications for over-the-counter (OTC) self-administered COVID-19 diagnostic test kits to be registered and brought into Singapore. Any supplier who wishes to provide such test kits may apply to HSA. Nonetheless, HSA has given provisional approval to Antigen Rapid Test kits which use the same technology but are meant to be administered by trained personnel.
At present, we have sufficient overall testing capacity to meet our public health needs. Anyone who wishes to be tested can also do so, at the Ministry of Health (MOH)’s list of approved GP clinics that offer such testing. There are no restrictions and no waiting lists.
MOH will continue to monitor and evaluate new testing and sampling methods, and will approve new technologies that are safe, effective and which fulfil our testing needs.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Cancellation or Renewal of Construction Sector Work Permits Close to Expiry Dates in Second Half of 2020","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"48 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how many construction sector work permits had expiry dates falling between July and December 2020 (both months inclusive); and (b) of these, how many (i) expired without being renewed (ii) were renewed by employers later than the 40th day prior to their expiry date and (iii) were cancelled by employers later than the 56th day prior to expiry.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Eligible employers can renew the work permits of foreign construction workers from around the last 56 days or eight weeks of a work permit’s validity. Upon receipt of a renewal notice by MOM, the employer can renew the work permit at any time before its expiry. If the work permit is not renewed, the employer is responsible to repatriate the worker when the permit is cancelled or expires.
Foreign construction workers can transfer to a new employer any time during employment provided the current employer agrees. Between the 40th day and 21st day from expiry or the last 3 to 5 and a half weeks of the work permit, if the current employer has not already renewed, the worker can transfer to a new employer without the current employer’s agreement. This allows the worker to find new employment without having to leave Singapore. From the 20th day before expiry or the final three weeks of the work permit, as the current employer would already be making preparations to repatriate the worker and would have incurred additional costs, it would not be fair to allow for last-minute transfers without the current employer’s consent.
Of the 168,900 work permits from the construction sector expiring between July and December 2020, 105,900 (63%) were renewed by the employers, with 96,200 renewed in the last 40 days of the work permit. This is mainly due to workers being unable to leave their dormitories during the lockdown last year to complete the renewal process. Another 34,500 (20%) were issued with a new work permit under another employer.
Of the remaining, 28,500 (17%) were neither renewed nor re-issued with work permits, 7,900 (less than 5%) were cancelled in the last eight weeks of the work permit, while 5,100 (3%) expired. The others were mostly cancelled before the last eight weeks of the work permit.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Unhealthy Ageing on Medical Inflation","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"49 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the contribution of unhealthy ageing to medical inflation; (b) what has the Ministry learnt from implementing numerous programmes over the years to address unhealthy ageing, including the National Steps Challenge; and (c) how is the Government further evolving its approach to preventive and early intervention measures for chronic illnesses after consolidating data from the Public Consultation on MediShield Life 2020 Review.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: On average over the last five years, close to 30% of the increase in healthcare expenditure on medical services is due to population ageing and growth. We do not have data on the extent to which this increase can be attributed to poor health in a senior’s golden years due to unhealthy lifestyle habits.
As we seek to mitigate medical cost pressures that come with ageing, we recognise that healthy ageing should be viewed as a part of a broader population health strategy. This is because the health of seniors is heavily influenced by the cumulative effect of socio-economic, biological, and environmental influences when they were young. We have therefore adopted a comprehensive life-course approach that places great emphasis on preventive health, health promotion and disease management for all Singaporeans across all life stages and settings to cater to the evolving needs of the individual.
We have comprehensive preventive health programmes from young to old. This starts with Childhood Developmental Screening from birth, to regular screening for school-going children. For example, Singapore’s School Health Services has extensive educational programmes to promote healthy lifestyle activities. The School Health Service also conducts regular check-ups and immunisation for students. For adults, we encourage Singaporeans aged 40 and above to go for regular recommended health screenings and follow up. We have provided heavy subsidies for ‘Screen for Life’, our national screening programme. Under this programme, both the health screening and the first follow-up consultation if required are effectively free or cost no more than $5 per visit. This encourages early detection and timely intervention for chronic conditions. We have seen a rise in screening rate for common chronic conditions from 45% in 2010 to 66% in 2019. For seniors, we launched Project Silver Screen, a Public-Private Partnership with business and community, which provides community-based functional screening for Singaporeans aged 60 and above to pick up common age-related decline in vision, hearing, and oral health as well as to provide them with appropriate follow-up interventions, such as treatments and assistive devices. Apart from screening, we have a comprehensive vaccination programme for adults and children. Last November, we enhanced subsidies for vaccinations recommended under the National Childhood Immunisation Schedule (NCIS) and National Adult Immunisation Schedule (NAIS), with these subsidies now available at polyclinics and CHAS GP clinics nationwide. This will support Singaporeans in protecting themselves and loved ones from vaccine-preventable diseases.
We regularly refine our health promotion efforts based on ground feedback and focus group discussions. Seniors have shared that health is one of their top three priorities and they want to remain healthy so as to continue living independently. However, some seniors have also shared that they were not aware of the opportunities or knowledge to remain healthy. To this end, we have adopted a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, working with various organisations including the Health Promotion Board (HPB), Sport Singapore (SportSG), People’s Association (PA), healthcare clusters and community partners to offer a range of active ageing programmes. For example, HPB’s active ageing programmes comprise of group exercises and interactive health workshops, which are readily accessible in the community. These programmes are tailored specifically to seniors’ health needs such as exercises focusing on improving their strength, balance and flexibility. In the workplace setting, HPB also has customised health programmes for sectors with a greater proportion of older workers, including the healthcare, retail, food and beverage, education, cleaning, security, transport and logistics sectors. Programmes such as 'Health in Heartlands' in the malls and 'Health Chats @ Hawker Centres', are designed with the workers’ schedules in mind, so that they can attend health coaching sessions during the lull periods of their work hours. Since 2014, 94,000 mature workers across the seven priority sectors have benefitted from these programmes.
Seniors have also shared that social interaction and relationships form an important part of their preferred group activities. To address this need, all our Active Ageing Programmes are designed to promote social interaction. For instance, HPB introduced the Silver Challenge as part of the 5th season of the National Steps Challenge™, which is our first nation-wide physical activity movement where participants can earn rewards with increased physical activity levels. The first season of the Silver Challenge attracted 174,000 participants, which is more than a ten-fold increase of seniors reached through National Steps Challenge™ compared to Season 1. In aggregate, the National Steps Challenge™ has seen a total of 1.7 million participants across all five seasons and the movement has habituated participants to take more steps during pre-challenge periods, from 4,512 steps in Season 1 to 7,596 steps in Season 5. In addition, given that social and health needs are closely intertwined, having strong community support is key to ensuring that seniors can enjoy good health in their old age. Hence from May this year, we will be rolling out a new eldercare service model. Eldercare centres will serve as key touchpoints for all seniors in their community, providing services such as Active Ageing Programmes, and befriending/ buddying services for seniors at risk of social isolation.
For those who develop chronic conditions, we have put in place measures to support them in managing their conditions and delay disease progression. This will further help to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare consumption. Under the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) and Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP), we provide subsidies and MediSave coverage for approved chronic conditions to defray the cost of care and encourage Singaporeans to seek regular follow-up with their primary care provider. A critical factor is patients’ ability to take charge of their health. We worked with patients and families to develop the Patient Empowerment for Self-care Framework under the War on Diabetes, including the National Diabetes Reference Materials, to empower patients to co-own their care journey, with the support of their care team and family and friends. We will continually innovate to better support patients.
The Government remains committed to keeping Singapore and Singaporeans in good health. All of us have to play our part to lead healthy lifestyles, go for regular health screening as well as receive nationally recommended vaccinations, and exercise responsibility.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Steps to Bring Down Number of New Drug Abusers Arrested","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"50 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what steps have been identified by the Central Narcotics Bureau to bring down the number of new drug abusers arrested which stood at 38% of all arrests of drug abusers in 2020; and (b) how it proposes to address the presence of a high number of young persons aged 30 years and below (amounting to 62%) amongst the new drug abusers arrested in 2020.
Mr K Shanmugam: Preventive drug education, or PDE, is the first line of defence in CNB’s drug control approach, to get people not to take up drugs in the first place. Through its PDE initiatives, CNB aims to generate greater public awareness of the harms of drugs, encourage adoption of a drug-free lifestyle, and promote anti-drug advocacy among like-minded individuals and organisations.
To inoculate youths against drug abuse, CNB works closely with MOE to incorporate PDE contents within the school syllabus. CNB also engages students through talks, sharing sessions, exhibitions, skits and the After-School Engagement, or ASE, programme. The interactive PDE skit is an effective and popular PDE programme. It focuses on the harmful consequences of drug abuse and teaches students how to lead a drug-free lifestyle. The skit also provides refusal tips through humourous, relatable themes and storylines. In 2019, 82% of primary and secondary schools had participated in at least one PDE programme.
CNB works with the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force to engage full-time national servicemen (NSFs). For instance, PDE toolkits and message cards with bite-sized information are provided to NS commanders so that they can engage NSFs under their charge on drug issues. Learning journeys are also organised for Home Team NSFs. Such engagement sessions typically include an anti-drug talk by a CNB officer, a sharing session by an ex-abuser, and a tour of CNB’s heritage gallery.
Social media is another key engagement channel. CNB regularly publishes content about drugs targeting the young on its social media platforms. Recently, in August 2020, the #ILiveFor campaign was launched as part of CNB’s efforts to bring the annual Anti-Drug Abuse Campaign online, in order to reach out to more people in light of the COVID-19 situation. Through a series of interactive social media posts including polls, profile features of everyday people, as well as a sticker pack and an Instagram filter game featuring light-hearted messages, the campaign takes a positive, pro-healthy lifestyle spin to encourage the audience to think about what they live for.
CNB also works with partners to drive the PDE effort. One of CNB’s key partners is the National Council Against Drug Abuse, or NCADA. NCADA launched a media campaign in March 2020, built around Singapore’s first interactive film titled \"HIGH\", directed by local filmmaker Royston Tan. The film had garnered 165,000 unique views on its microsite by the end of the campaign in July 2020. Prior to launch, the film was screened at various Institutes of Higher Learning, reaching over 5,000 students. Each film preview was followed by a Safe Zone Discussion, an interactive platform for students to share their thoughts on the film, on drug abuse and anti-drug advocacy.
CNB works with community partners to reinforce and spread the anti-drug message to youths. For instance, CNB supported the Youth Network in Nee Soon Central with its initiatives to get more youths in the constituency to lead or take part in community activities to advocate the drug-free cause, and to build a pool of youth mentors to effect positive influence on their peers.
CNB and NCADA engage community partners and volunteers also through the United Against Drugs Coalition and Anti-Drug Abuse Advocacy Network, or A3 Network. The UADC is an anti-drug alliance that rallies support from local organisations to raise awareness of drug abuse in our society, while the A3 Network brings together passionate individuals from different walks of life to educate and empower them to advocate for a drug-free Singapore. As of December 2020, CNB has 788 A3 advocates, out of which 207 are youths, and 71 partner organisations under the UADC.
In addition to PDE efforts, MHA made amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act, or MDA, in 2019 to criminalise acts of contamination which facilitate or promote drug abuse. It is now an offence to introduce a drug trafficker to another person. It is also an offence to teach, instruct, or provide information to another person on how to cultivate, manufacture, consume, traffic, import or export drugs.
MHA has also strengthened the MDA to better protect children and young persons from the harms of drugs. It is an offence for an adult who possesses illicit drugs, knowing that a child, below 16 years of age, is likely to be present in a place, to knowingly or recklessly leave drugs or drug utensils within easy access of the child. It is also an offence for an adult to permit or not take reasonable steps to prevent a young person (below 21 years old) from consuming illicit drugs in the adult’s possession.
CNB will continue to strengthen our PDE efforts and enhance our laws to discourage people from taking up drugs.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Number and Percentage of Active and Inactive CPF Members who have Met Different Retirement Sums Upon Turning 55","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"51 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Manpower in the last three years, what is the number and percentage of active and inactive CPF members who have met the Basic Retirement Sum (BRS), the Full Retirement Sum (FRS) and Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS) for those who turned 55 years of age.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Every cohort’s Basic Retirement Sum (BRS) is determined taking into consideration inflation and rising standards of living. Each successive cohort has seen a higher proportion able to set aside their BRS. The proportion of active CPF members turning age 55 who have set aside their BRS continued to improve from 62% in 2018, or about 24,900 members, to 66% in 2020, or about 26,500 members. This reflects higher labour force participation rates and rising incomes of successive cohorts of members.
Of the active members who are able to set aside the BRS, about seven in 10 can choose to set aside the Full Retirement Sum (FRS) and half, the Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS).
It is not meaningful to draw conclusions from the CPF balances of inactive members. They are likely to have other means of provision which CPF Board has no sight of. Instead, our focus is to help all members with lower balances and lesser means boost their retirement income. Through the Silver Support scheme, we provide tax-funded payments to seniors who had low incomes during their working years and have less family support in their retirement. Last year, I announced enhancements to Silver Support, which expanded coverage from 150,000 to 250,000 seniors aged 65 and above. Seniors who continue to work and are eligible for Workfare Income Supplement get higher payouts compared to younger recipient. We also incentivise CPF cash top-ups, including through the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme that was launched in 2021.
The Government will continue to review its policies to improve the retirement adequacy of Singaporeans.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Take-up Rate of National Adult Immunisation Schedule in 2020","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"52 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the take-up rate of the National Adult Immunisation Schedule in 2020; and (b) what are the plans for improving the take-up rate to reach 50% by 2025.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: To enhance the affordability and accessibility of recommended vaccinations in the National Adult Immunisation Schedule (NAIS), subsidies have been made available for eligible target groups at all Community Health Assist Scheme General Practitioner (CHAS GP) clinics and polyclinics since 1 November 2020.
As it has only been three months since the introduction of the subsidies for NAIS, the take-up rates at this point may not fully reflect the impact of the subsidies. Nonetheless, we are encouraged by the initial response. As of end-December 2020, based on information from subsidy claims, more than 80,000 NAIS vaccinations have been administered across more than 800 CHAS GP clinics and 20 polyclinics. As subsidies were only recently introduced, we are not able to compare this take-up rate with historical trends. Going forward, MOH will monitor the trends in the take-up of the NAIS vaccinations.
To further improve the take-up rate of nationally recommended vaccinations further, HPB recently launched a public education campaign to increase the awareness of the importance and safety of vaccination, and to encourage eligible individuals to get vaccinated. MOH will continue to monitor the progress and explore the opportunities for public education and outreach programmes.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Average Life Expectancy and Prevalence of Chronic Illnesses Amongst Different Groups of Singaporeans","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"53 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Health in each year from 2011 to 2020, comparing by household income quintile, education attainment or housing type if income data is unavailable (a) what is the average life expectancy in Singapore; (b) what is the prevalence of (i) one chronic illness and (ii) two or more chronic illnesses; and (c) if this data is not available, whether the Ministry will consider collecting such data.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Life expectancy and prevalence of chronic illnesses are statistics calculated at the population level. Therefore, comparisons of these statistics across population sub-groups on the basis of household income quintile, education attainment or housing type, need to be interpreted carefully given the fact that older cohorts of Singaporeans had, on average, lower levels of education attainment compared to younger cohorts; household income often decreases when a household member retires, and some older persons may move from a larger HDB flat to a smaller one when their children grow up and leave home. The older cohorts, regardless of socio-economic status (SES), grew up without the benefits of today’s healthcare system and health promotion initiatives in their younger days. Outcomes associated with education attainments, income quintiles or housing types would thus partly be a reflection of differences between older and younger cohorts, rather than SES per se. In addition, life expectancy is calculated with the assumption that the mortality rates we observe today remain unchanged. The better health and access to better healthcare of younger cohorts may mean that they experience improvements in mortality rates compared with what is observed today as they age, and hence better life expectancy than calculated.
Keeping the above in mind, Singapore residents aged 25 years old in 2019 with a highest education attainment of below secondary education level are expected to live up to 81 years of age while those with post-secondary and above can expect to live up to 86.8 years old. This difference is comparable to that observed among OECD countries. Life expectancy has been increasing for both groups over the years. The life expectancy of our lower educated population is higher than the lower educated population in most OECD countries. However, there is room for further improvement, and we will continue to work on ensuring that life expectancy of our lower SES groups continue to improve.
On chronic diseases, as income level can be volatile and housing types change throughout life and is confounded by age, a more accurate measure would be to control for multiple confounders such as age, gender, ethnic groups and educational levels at the same time using regression analysis. Based on regression analysis, for chronic conditions, men with below secondary education level were 1.7 times more likely to have diabetes, 1.2 times more likely to have hypertension and 1.2 times more likely to have high cholesterol, as compared to those with post-secondary education. For women with below secondary education level, the chances were 1.5 times for diabetes, 1.7 times for hypertension, and 1.4 times for high cholesterol compared to those with post-secondary education.
We have put in place measures to help all Singaporeans, including those from the lower SES groups, have good access to care with good health outcomes. Among Singaporeans with primary education and below who have chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and high blood cholesterol, more than 90% visited their doctor in the previous year for their condition. Hence in spite of their increased risks, they had good access to healthcare and comparable outcomes with better educated Singaporeans in managing their blood sugar, cholesterol levels and blood pressure control.
Our health promotion programmes are inclusive and affordable so that healthy living is within the reach of all Singaporeans regardless of income. In addition, HPB has also rolled out customised programmes for lower-income Singaporeans. This include the 'Healthy Living Passport Programme' to provide lower-income families with health education and healthy living activities supported by an incentives/reward scheme. In addition, a dedicated group of Health Ambassadors (HAs) and volunteers called the 'HealthySG Buddies' will be trained by HPB to better support these lower-income families to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Our public healthcare financing system comprises several components that work together to keep healthcare affordable for Singaporeans. Firstly, MOH provides means-tested government subsidies across all healthcare settings to help significantly reduce the cost to patients, extending greater support to lower-income households. Lower-income households also receive higher subsidies for primary care under the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), which provides means-tested subsidies for medical and dental services at participating CHAS general practitioner and dental clinics. Secondly, MediShield Life was launched in 2015 to provide all Singaporeans with lifelong protection against large hospital bills and selected costly outpatient treatments. To keep premiums affordable, premium subsidies are extended to lower and middle income households, and additional premium support is available to those in need. Thirdly, MediSave can be used to defray Singaporeans’ out-of-pocket cash payments for inpatient and selected outpatient treatments. MediFund also assists Singaporean patients who are unable to afford their medical bills, after government subsidies, MediShield Life and MediSave.
MOH will continue to ensure good access to health promotion programmes, that all Singaporeans have access to affordable, timely, and quality healthcare.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Support for Youths Working in Unskilled Gig Economy","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"54 Dr Shahira Abdullah asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether there any initiatives to support youths who are engaged in the unskilled gig economy and who want to move away from it; and i(b) if so, what are the current efforts being made to ensure that the youths are aware of these opportunities.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: Youths are concerned about their job prospects during this climate of economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19. Some youths may take on gig roles as these provide flexibility and potentially higher take-home wages in the short-term, compared to other permanent roles currently available.
While gig roles may help fulfil short-term needs, we encourage and support our youths to take a longer-term perspective in developing their careers. The Government is expanding opportunities for youths to acquire new skills and gain meaningful work experiences, to prepare themselves for their future careers:
(a) The National Jobs Council provides a range of jobs and skills training opportunities for jobseekers under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package. Specifically, the SGUnited Traineeships Programme and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme offer company-hosted traineeship or attachment opportunities to equip them with industry-relevant experience. They can also acquire new skills through the SGUnited Skills Programme, which offers certifiable courses designed in partnership with industries.
(b) Recent graduates from the Polytechnics and Institute of Technical Education can consider the various SkillsFuture Work-Study Programmes. These programmes allow youths to deepen their skills as they transition into the workforce, through a combination of classroom learning and structured on-the-job-training.
(c) The class of 2020 graduates from the Institutes of Higher Learning can upskill by taking up free Continuing Education and Training modules offered by their alma mater. These modules span areas such as hospitality operations, artificial intelligence, business analytics and financial accounting.
(d) The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and NYC launched the YouthTech Programme to equip 1,000 youths with digital skills, and deploy them into the community and social sectors to support digitalisation efforts.
More generally, for workers in the gig economy, or Self-Employed Persons (SEPs), MOM partnered NTUC to introduce the NTUC Training Fund (SEPs) since April 2020. The Fund has helped to supplement SEPs’ income while they upgrade their skills during the economic downturn brought on by COVID-19. The Government is also working with NTUC-affiliated associations to help SEPs transit out of the gig economy.
Youths can visit Career Offices in their alma mater, Workforce Singapore’s (WSG’s) Careers Connect Centres or NTUC’s e2i’s career centres to get career and employment-related assistance. WSG’s Career Starter Programme supports graduating and fresh graduates from ITE and polytechnics in boosting their job search skills and employability. Youths may also tap on online career resources through the MySkillsFuture portal and MyCareersFuture digital service.
The Government will continue to support youths to stay work-ready and acquire new skills. We encourage youths to be proactive in taking up these opportunities.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Product Labelling on Packaged Food with Meat from Animals that have Consumed Ractopamine in Their Feed","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"55 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the Ministry will consider requiring sellers of packaged food products to state on their product labelling as to whether their products contain meat from animals that have consumed ractopamine in their feed.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Ractopamine is an additive that is used in animal feed to promote growth in approved food animal species, namely pig and cattle, which are raised for their meat for human consumption. Feed additives are commonly used in livestock farming to improve production efficiency and can include other additives such as vitamins and minerals.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has adopted the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) standards for the maximum residue limits for ractopamine found in meat and other organs that are imported or sold in Singapore. The Codex is the international food standards body established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), which aims to protect consumers’ health and ensures fair practices in food trade. The maximum level of ractopamine allowed in muscle, kidney and liver for both pig and cattle are 10 µg/kg (microgram per kilogram), 90 µg/kg and 40 µg/kg respectively. Based on the safety assessments done by Codex’s scientific expert panel, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and SFA, the intake of ractopamine through residues in meat and other organs within the regulated limits poses no risk to health, even if the meat and other organs are consumed over a long period of time. Many other countries including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Canada have adopted similar limits for ractopamine as Singapore.
Food manufacturers and traders in Singapore must comply with SFA’s food safety standards and requirements, which takes reference from international standards such as those set by the Codex. These standards include labelling requirements for pre-packed food products which facilitate traceability, and enable consumers to make informed and safe food choices, especially for consumers with specific dietary restrictions such as allergies that could trigger life-threatening reactions. While SFA requires pre-packed food products to be labelled with a statement of ingredients, where \"ingredients\" refer to any substance used in the manufacture or preparation of a food and present in the final product, SFA does not require the declaration of agricultural inputs such as feed and fertilizers as ingredients. This approach is in line with international practices.
Nevertheless, food manufacturers and traders of meat and meat products are required to ensure that their food comply with the regulatory standards, including the maximum residual limits of any agricultural inputs that may be carried over to the final food products. Thus, from a food safety perspective, there is no need to impose an additional requirement for sellers to state on their packaged food whether the meat was from animals that had consumed ractopamine in their feed. SFA will continue to review its regulations where necessary to safeguard food safety and public health.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Forensic Tests on Faulty Trip Coils that led to MRT Disruption of 14 October 2020","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"56 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether the forensic test conducted on the faulty trip coils that led to the MRT disruption of 14 October 2020 has been completed; and (b) whether LTA can share the findings of the test results and the lessons that can be drawn from the test results in respect of the integrity of our power systems for our MRT.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is currently in the process of investigating the root causes of the trip coil failures which led to the MRT disruption of 14 October 2020. This involves detailed forensic tests and can take about six months to complete. We will release the findings, including any remedial actions, once they are ready.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Performance Grades Received by Teachers in Different Age Groups and Impact on Promotion Prospects","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"57 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Education for each year in the past five years, what is the median age of teachers and the median number of years of service of teachers who obtained a C-grade, D-grade and E-grade respectively.
58 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Education whether a 360-degree feedback mechanism is used in the performance management system of stack ranking and will directly affect the grade of a teacher and key personnel.
59 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Education whether a teacher who receives a C-performance grade will not be considered for promotion for three years and will also not qualify him for professional development leave.
Mr Lawrence Wong: MOE, like the rest of the Civil Service, adopts a system of relative ranking. Depending on how well the teachers have performed in relation to their peers in the same substantive grade, they can be given C-, D, E grade at any stage in their career and across all age bands. We are unable to provide more details as these are employer-sensitive information.
The Ministry closely monitors teachers who are weaker performers. Their supervisors will follow up with these teachers to guide them on their areas for improvements and help them with their professional growth and development.
Teachers who have shown consistently good performance and are assessed to be ready to take on a higher level job may be considered for promotion. Hence, weaker performers with C- grades would typically not be considered for promotion until they demonstrate consistently good performance, in line with the Civil Service’s practice. This is to ensure that they are able to contribute at the promoted substantive grade. However, if there are exceptional cases, special consideration will be given on a case-by-case basis.
Teachers can apply for Professional Development Leave to facilitate their continuous learning and deepen their knowledge and skills relevant to teaching. Professional Development Leave is typically taken by teachers to pursue undergraduate or postgraduate studies, or short-term professional development activities. Although teachers with C- grade are not eligible for Professional Development Leave, they continue to have access to relevant in-service training programmes, such as those courses to improve on their content mastery and pedagogy, which they would need to carry out their professional duties.
MOE currently uses the 360-degree feedback tool more as a developmental tool for leaders to gather feedback from people in their working circles on their leadership qualities and working styles rather than an appraisal tool. The feedback helps them to understand their strengths and developmental areas and motivates them to improve.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Availability of Government-initiated Studies Conducted on Socio-economic Impact of Climate Change in Singapore for Next Five Years and Beyond","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"1 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Prime Minister (a) beyond studies on urban heat vulnerability, whether there are Government-initiated studies conducted on the socio-economic impact of climate change in Singapore for the next five years and beyond; and (b) if so, whether these studies and findings can be made publicly available.
Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): The impact of climate change is far reaching. The change in global weather patterns can cause second and third order effects. The Government has regularly highlighted these effects in its annual updates to Parliament during Budget, in answers to questions from Members of this House, and most notably in 2019 when the wide-ranging and long-term impact of climate change was addressed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally. Detailed reports in conformity with our international obligations are also available, such as Singapore’s Long-Term Low-Emissions Development Strategy and Singapore’s latest Biennial Update Report submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in March and December 2020 respectively.
These publicly available reports and updates provide information on the strategies and steps that the Government is taking to address the social and economic impacts of climate change on our people. Apart from urban heat, these studies and strategies cover areas such as rainfall, coastal inundation and protection, and food and energy security. These steps take into account the needs of all segments of our population, including the low-income and the vulnerable.
For example, measures to mitigate our emissions exact a cost on households and the economy. To minimise this cost burden for the low income, the Government has introduced incentives to support lower-income households in purchasing more energy efficient appliances. To help households adjust to the impact of the carbon tax on their electricity and gas expenses, eligible HDB households are given an additional $20 GST Voucher – U-Save on top of the regular U-Save rebate each year from 2019 to 2021. Eligible households living in smaller HDB flats benefit more as they receive a larger quantum of U-Save rebates, and typically have smaller annual utilities bills.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"ASEAN Member States' Position on Military Coup in Myanmar in February 2021","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"2 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs in light of the recent military coup in Myanmar in February 2021 (a) whether Myanmar can be compelled to abide by the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration as well the ASEAN Charter; and (b) whether ASEAN member states will work towards a collective position regarding the ongoing events currently unfolding in Myanmar.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: All ASEAN Member States are expected to uphold the purposes and principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. However, we cannot compel any ASEAN Member State to abide by them. ASEAN operates by the principles of consensus and non-interference in ASEAN Member States’ internal affairs, which are also enshrined in the ASEAN Charter.
During Malaysian PM Muhyiddin Yassin’s recent visit to Jakarta earlier this month, President Joko Widodo announced that they had tasked their Foreign Ministers to propose a Special ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to discuss developments in Myanmar. We have always been in favour of keeping communication channels open whether bilaterally, among ASEAN Member States or with our Dialogue Partners. A meeting among ASEAN Foreign Ministers would be an opportunity for all ASEAN Member States to share their concerns and perspectives given the importance and urgency of addressing recent developments.
ASEAN’s external partners, particularly the major powers, have an important role to play as well. Engagement and communication are imperative for ameliorating the crisis and facilitating a return to normalcy. Some of our Dialogue Partners have expressed an interest in engaging ASEAN during this period. We welcome such proposals for ASEAN and our Dialogue Partners to exchange views and perspectives on the situation in Myanmar and other issues of common interest. This would reinforce ASEAN Centrality and ASEAN’s relevance. ASEAN will work closely with its external partners to foster an inclusive dialogue with all key stakeholders and encourage Myanmar to return to its path of democratic transition.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Coup in Myanmar on Repatriation of Rohingya Refugees and Future Peace and Security in Rakhine State","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"3 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether ASEAN member states have considered how the recent coup in Myanmar in February 2021 will impact (i) the goal to repatriate the Rohingya refugees to Myanmar (ii) the plight of the people in the Rakhine State and (iii) the future peace and security in the Rakhine State.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The recent political developments in Myanmar will inevitably further complicate the situation in Rakhine State and the efforts to commence repatriation of displaced persons. This is in addition to the existing challenges on the ground caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and armed ethnic insurgencies. It nevertheless remains important that the repatriation of displaced persons is voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable.
While it will take time to reach a long-term political solution in Myanmar as well as in Rakhine State in particular, we hope that all parties would give due consideration to the urgent humanitarian needs of the displaced persons both in terms of assistance and the need to improve ground conditions. ASEAN will continue the ongoing implementation of the Preliminary Needs Assessment’s recommendations to improve the plight of these refugees.
Ultimately the future peace and security in the Rakhine State requires a viable and durable political solution that addresses the root causes of the problems in the Rakhine State. ASEAN and our external partners will continue to support efforts to bring peace, stability, the rule of law, promote harmony and reconciliation among the various communities, as well as to ensure sustainable and equitable development in the Rakhine State.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Plans to Extend Scamalert.sg Service to WhatsApp and Telegram for Better Outreach to Seniors","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"4 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether there are plans to extend the scamalert.sg service to the WhatsApp and Telegram messaging platforms via a subscription service for better outreach to seniors.
Mr K Shanmugam: Scamalert.sg is a website operated by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) that provides information on the latest scams and a platform for the public to share their scam experiences.
Apart from the scamalert.sg website, NCPC has also been using messaging platforms to spread messages on scams.
(a) For WhatsApp users, they can subscribe to the NCPC scam and crime prevention service by sending their name and email address to +65 90449916 via WhatsApp.
(b) Telegram users can join the NCPC Telegram channel by searching for \"NCPC ScamAlert\".
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Breakdown of Scam Cases Reported in 2020, Losses Successfully Recovered and Age Profile of Victims","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"5 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many scam cases have been reported in 2020 and what is the total financial loss; (b) how many cases have a successful recovery of losses incurred, whether partially or in full, and what is the total amount recovered; and (c) what is the age profile of the victims of such cases.
Mr K Shanmugam: In 2020, 15,756 cases of scams were reported to the Police. The total amount lost was $268.4 million. More than 11,190 reports involving total losses of more than $164.6 million were referred to the SPF’s Anti-Scam Centre (ASC), with the ASC successfully recovering more than $57.6 million in about 35% of these cases.
The victims are of a wide range of ages; everyone is susceptible. Some age groups, however, are over-represented in particular scam types.
For e-commerce scams, social media impersonation scams, loan scams, investment scams, banking-related phishing scams, credit-for-sex scams, and China official impersonation scams, young adults between the age of 20 and 39 years old were more likely to fall prey. For non-banking related phishing scams and internet love scams, adults between the age of 30 and 49 years old were more susceptible. For tech support scams, victims between the age of 40 and 69 years old formed the majority.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Update on Investigation of Chairman and Management of Swiber Holdings and Its Related Companies","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"6 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) has completed its investigation of the chairman and management of Swiber Holdings and its related companies; (b) if so, whether CAD will proceed with prosecution for any offences; and (c) if not, when is the investigation expected to complete.
Mr K Shanmugam: CAD is in consultation with AGC to review the case findings. It is inappropriate for me to comment further at this point.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Educating Public to Identify Self-radicalised Individuals to Prevent Terror Attacks","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"7 Miss Rachel Ong asked the Minister for Home Affairs how can the public be equipped to pick up indicators that an individual may be getting self-radicalised, as part of a community network to prevent terror attacks.
Mr K Shanmugam: It is important to report suspected radicalised individuals early, so that interventions can be taken before any harm is done. Family members, colleagues or friends play an important role. They are in a good position to pick up tell-tale signs. Some of these signs include avid consumption of radical material, posting of terrorism-related material on social media, becoming withdrawn, or espousing intolerant \"us versus them\" viewpoints.
We have been leveraging the SGSecure movement to reach out to different groups in the community, including in neighbourhoods, schools, religious organisations and workplaces, to raise awareness on the threat of terrorism, and educate them on detecting early signs of radicalisation.
ISD has also been working with schools, institutes of higher learning, and community organisations to conduct counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation outreach activities. These include workshops, talks and seminars, which aim to sensitise them to the threat of radicalisation and the need to report suspected radicalised individuals early.
ISD has also worked with the Ministry of Manpower and MUIS to reach out to migrant workers. For example, advisories have been disseminated to migrant workers to urge them to watch out for signs of radicalisation. A terrorism module has been incorporated in the Settling-In Programme for foreign domestic workers, which teaches them what they should and should not do, how they can look out for tell-tale signs of radicalised individuals, and the Police hotline to call.
We will continue to find ways to educate the public on radicalisation. Members of the public can report suspicious behavior by contacting the ISD Counter-Terrorism Centre hotline (1800 – 2626473), calling 999, SMS to 7199, or use the \"Report\" function in the SGSecure app. The identity of the informer will be protected.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Monthly Number of Visitor Arrivals into Singapore via Reciprocal Green Lane Scheme and Family Ties Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"8 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, how many monthly visitor arrivals have there been into Singapore; and (b) of these, how many entered Singapore via (i) the Reciprocal Green Lane scheme and (ii) Family Ties scheme, each as broken down by month.
Mr K Shanmugam: Between January 2020 and January 2021, 4.9 million Short-Term Visit Pass (STVP) holders entered Singapore, of which 4.1 million entered before April 2020. The breakdown of STVP holder arrivals by month since January 2020 is provided in Table 1. The arrival volume declined significantly following the imposition of border restrictions on 23 March 2020 on all short-term visitors entering or transiting through Singapore. Since the second half of 2020, Singapore has reopened its borders in a gradual and calibrated manner with the implementation of Safe Travel Lanes such as the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL).
The RGLs facilitate short-term essential business and official travel between Singapore and RGL counterpart countries/regions, where individuals who play important and essential roles in the Singapore economy are allowed to enter Singapore under the established health protocols. The RGLs provide businesses a means to travel to other countries for their business activities and operations. They also provide a critical avenue for key overseas personnel to continue to provide essential services to local companies, reducing the impact caused by the potential disruption in manpower supply. Without the RGLs, many businesses may be in jeopardy should Singapore lose its competitiveness as an international hub for investment, trade and talent. The first RGL was launched on 8 June 2020. In addition to STVP holders, Long-Term Pass (LTP) holders can apply for entry into Singapore via RGLs. As of 31 January 2021, 3,092 STVP and LTP holders have arrived via the RGLs. The Government closely monitors the evolving public health situation worldwide and will balance economic needs with public health considerations. For example, RGLs with Germany, Malaysia and the Republic of Korea have been suspended for three months starting 1 February 2021.
The Familial Ties Lane (FTL) facilitates the entry of individuals with familial ties to a Singapore Citizen (SC) or Permanent Resident (PR) into Singapore. This includes reuniting SCs and PRs with their foreign family members or spouses-to-be who may otherwise be stranded overseas. Non-residents may also seek entry to Singapore for compassionate reasons such as family bereavements. The FTL was implemented since 30 March 2020. Similar to the RGLs, both STVP and LTP holders can apply for entry into Singapore via the FTL. As of 31 January 2021, 16,395 STVP and LTP holders have arrived via the FTL.
The breakdown by month for arriving STVP and LTP holders via RGLs and the FTL is provided in Table 2.
9 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for Law (a) whether he will provide an update on Singapore’s involvement in the Singapore Convention on Mediation; and (b) whether there are any future plans to promote Singapore as an international dispute resolution hub in areas such as mediation and arbitration.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Singapore Convention on Mediation (“Singapore Convention”), also known as the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, entered into force on 12 September 2020. As of 9 February 2021, the Singapore Convention has 53 signatories, including the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China, and other large Asian economies such as India and South Korea. Six countries have ratified or approved the Singapore Convention, namely Singapore, Fiji, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Belarus and Ecuador.
The Singapore Convention on Mediation Act and its Rules, which implement the domestic legal framework for the Singapore Convention, came into operation on the same day the Singapore Convention entered into force.
The Ministry of Law will continue to encourage widespread adoption of the Singapore Convention by working with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), countries, businesses and practitioners to promote the benefits of mediation and of the Singapore Convention. We will provide technical assistance, where needed, to assist countries to work towards signing and ratifying the Singapore Convention
We successfully collaborated with UNCITRAL on the Singapore Convention Signing Ceremony and Conference in August 2019 and the virtual event to commemorate the entry into force of the Singapore Convention on Mediation in September 2020. We look forward to jointly organising the inaugural UNCITRAL Academy, a dispute resolution-focussed conference and workshop.
Over the years, the Government has made significant efforts to develop Singapore as a premier international legal services and dispute resolution hub. We will continue to do so, and to position Singapore as a thought leader in the field of international dispute resolution.
Our efforts are three-pronged. First, Singapore offers a comprehensive suite of commercial dispute resolution services, through our flagship international dispute resolution institutions, namely the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the Singapore International Mediation Centre, and the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC).
The Ministry will continue to work with these flagship institutions and support their outreach abroad. Beyond marketing and promotion activities overseas to attract parties to use their services, they also enter into collaborations with their counterparts in other countries to promote dispute resolution. They are also expanding their footprint overseas by setting up representative offices in key markets. For example, SIAC opened its first representative office outside of Asia in New York in 2020.
We have also attracted reputable international organisations and institutions to set up offices in Singapore, so as to complement our offerings as a dispute resolution hub. They include the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the World Intellectual Property Organisation Arbitration and Mediation Centre (WIPO AMC), and the American Arbitration Association International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR). Singapore is also the first country to be able to host proceedings before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) or one of its chambers outside ITLOS’ headquarters, which is an endorsement of Singapore as a neutral venue for the effective settlement of international disputes.
Second, we regularly review our legislative framework supporting international commercial dispute resolution to ensure it remains updated, relevant and responsive to the needs of international businesses. Beyond the Singapore Convention on Mediation, we are parties to a wide network of international conventions relating to dispute resolution, including the New York Convention for the enforcement of arbitral awards, and the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements for the enforcement of judgments rendered pursuant to exclusive choice of court agreements.
Third, we have developed world-class infrastructure in Singapore to support dispute resolution. Maxwell Chambers was launched in 2010 as the world’s first integrated dispute resolution complex housing both international dispute resolution institution and practices, and state-of-the-art hearing facilities. In 2019, Maxwell Chambers expanded to the adjacent Maxwell Chambers Suites, tripling its previous size. Today, Maxwell Chambers is home to the highest concentration of case management offices within a facility in the world, which include the SIAC, the SIMC, the ICC, the PCA, the WIPO AMC, and the AAA-ICDR.
The Ministry remains committed to strengthen and grow Singapore as an international dispute resolution hub, both regionally and internationally.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Cycles of In-vitro Fertilisation Required for Successful Pregnancy","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"10 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Health what is the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile of cycles required for successful pregnancy for those who undergo in-vitro fertilisation.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Based on available data from 2008 to 2020, the 25th percentile of cycles undergone by a woman before achieving a successful live birth delivery1 from in-vitro fertilisation is one cycle. The 50th and 75th percentile of cycles is two cycles.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["1 : Data is provided for successful live birth delivery instead of successful pregnancy as the former better reflects the end-outcome of successful IVF. Nonetheless, the data for the two are similar."],"footNoteQuestions":["10"],"questionNo":"10"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Conducting Emergency and Critical Medical Evaluation and Diagnostic Tests during Weekends and Public Holidays and Instituting Baseline Level of Diagnostic Capacity","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"11 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Health (a) what are the conditions required for hospitals to conduct emergency and critical medical evaluation and diagnostic tests, such as radiology tests, during the weekends and public holidays; and (b) whether a baseline level of diagnostic capacity as percentage of weekday capacity can be instituted such that patients are not made to bear the risk of further deterioration in their medical condition and further costs of admission while awaiting medical evaluation.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: All public acute hospitals are required to provide emergency services, including relevant diagnostic tests such as laboratory and radiological tests round the clock, including weekends and public holidays. These tests are operated by healthcare professionals on duty. All public hospitals also have designated X-ray machines and CT scans at the Emergency Department (ED). Ultrasound machines are also available and can be used by the ED doctor when necessary. The appropriate diagnostic tests will form part of the care assessment by the attending hospital doctor when the patient presents with their medical condition.
MOH will continue to work with public hospitals to ensure that patients have timely access to diagnostic services.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Access to Computers or Smart Devices for Jobseekers without such Devices to Update and Edit Personal Curriculum Vitae and Resumes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"12 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Communications and Information what avenues exist for jobseekers of limited means to access or own personal computing devices and resources so that jobseekers without computers or smart devices can update and edit personal curriculum vitae and resumes.
Mr S Iswaran: The Government is committed to providing a baseline of affordable digital access to households of limited means, including households with jobseekers.
Singapore is a highly connected society — 98% of resident households have access to broadband and own internet-enabled devices such as computers or smartphones. Programmes like IMDA’s Home Access support digital access for low income households through subsidised broadband, which may be bundled with a tablet. More than 21,000 households have benefited since the start of the programme in 2014, including close to 6,900 in the past year alone.
In addition, access to computers and the Internet is available at public libraries island-wide for a nominal charge. Singaporeans and PRs aged 50 and above can enjoy one hour of free Internet access by logging in with their myLibrary ID.
Jobseekers may also visit physical Career Matching Services touchpoints such as WSG’s and NTUC-e2i’s five physical career centres. Jobseekers can use computer terminals at these centres to update their personal curriculum vitae or submit job applications.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Provision of Smoking Cabins or Rooms at HDB Void Decks for Smokers and Measures Taken to Reduce Incidences of Second-hand Smoke in HDB Flats","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"13 Miss Rachel Ong asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether smoking cabins or rooms at HDB void decks or next to the flats can be provided as an alternative for smokers in light of the increased work-from-home arrangements; and (b) what new measures are being taken to reduce incidences of second-hand smoke in HDB flats given the continuing rise in incidences despite earlier measures taken.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Under the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Regulations, smoking is prohibited at HDB void decks and common areas such as corridors and staircases. Smoking facilities such as smoking cabins or rooms are also not permitted at these locations.
We are mindful that smoking facilities at these locations may result in void decks and common areas becoming congregation points for smokers and affecting residents adversely. Moreover, the proliferation of smoking facilities at void decks and common areas may inadvertently normalise smoking and give our young the impression that smoking is an acceptable habit.
We are aware of community-driven efforts to set up designated smoking points at residential areas. As of now, these are not pervasive and their effectiveness is still to be determined. Based on the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) recent observations of the trial at Nee Soon South constituency, the presence of designated smoking points has not reduced public feedback on smoking. Nevertheless, we will continue to monitor and support such community-driven effort, and share best practices with other Advisors.
To reduce the incidence of secondhand tobacco smoke in HDB flats, NEA works with government agencies, Town Councils and community leaders to display visual reminders to remind smokers to be considerate and not smoke in prohibited areas, such as the common areas of HDB blocks. Where feedback on unlawful smoking persists, NEA will step up surveillance and enforcement operations at the affected block.
The issue of smoking in homes affecting neighbouring units has been discussed in this House previously. The Government is working with the community to adopt a three-pronged approach: (a) engender greater social responsibility, (b) facilitate productive conversations between neighbours and (c) enhance the dispute resolution process to better address disputes arising from smoking in homes. For example, NEA has collaborated with the Housing Development Board (HDB), Health Promotion Board (HPB), Municipal Services Office (MSO), and Town Councils to develop and issue joint advisories to units where feedback on secondhand tobacco smoke is received. The advisory urges smokers to be considerate to their family members and neighbours, as well as advises them on the smoking cessation helplines available. We will also continue to encourage and support ground-up efforts by community organisations and the grassroots to manage feedback on smoking in homes. In addition, NEA, as part of an inter-agency committee, is working with other agencies to study how community disputes including secondhand tobacco smoke in homes can be better addressed under the Community Dispute Management Framework through upstream measures to encourage mediation and conflict resolution between neighbours.
There are also cessation programmes available across healthcare institutions, workplaces and in the community, to support smokers in quitting the habit. For example, HPB’s 'I Quit 28-day Countdown Programme' encourages participants to take daily actions to remain tobacco-free and rewards participants who quit successfully. Smokers can call QuitLine (1800 438 2000) to receive customised smoking cessation counselling from Certified Quit Smoking Consultants or visit HealthHub for articles, tips and support. HPB is also leveraging digital platforms during COVID-19 to pilot online delivery of programmes such as smoking cessation talks at workplaces, and will continue to ensure easy access to smoking cessation programmes.
While we will continue to monitor and refine our strategies, mitigating secondhand tobacco smoke in HDB flats ultimately requires everyone to play their part. We urge smokers to abide by the smoking prohibition, and strive to quit the smoking habit for the benefit of their own health, their loved ones, and the community.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Update on Efficacy of Commingled Collection System of Recyclable Waste from Blue Recycling Bins Provided at HDB Estates","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"14 Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether she can provide an update on the efficacy of the commingled collection system of recyclable waste from blue recycling bins provided at HDB estates; (b) what is the waste arising from people wrongly depositing rubbish that is not recyclable into these blue recycling bins that are then collected by public waste collectors; and (c) whether any steps will be taken to improve the commingled collection system.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Under the National Recycling Programme, Singapore adopts a commingled system for recyclables. A commingled system makes recycling easier for residents as it relieves residents of the effort and time needed to segregate different types of recyclables. It is also more cost-effective and has a lower carbon footprint, as it reduces the number of trips that the Public Waste Collectors (PWCs) need to make to collect recyclables. All recyclables are sent to Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) where they are further sorted, baled and sent for recycling. These recyclables contributed to an overall 17% domestic recycling rate in 2019.
We can do more to improve the recycling rate by reducing contamination of recyclables in the blue bins. Currently, the contamination rate is about 40%, arising from waste or reusables wrongly disposed of as recyclables. These contaminants include soiled food packaging or tissue paper that should be disposed of as general waste, as well as soft toys, bags and shoes which are reusables that should instead be donated. As such, just by moving from a commingled system for recyclables to a system which separates recyclables at source, may not solve the problem of contamination.
Tackling the high contamination rate of the blue recycling bins requires everyone to play their part. My Ministry and the National Environment Agency (NEA) launched the #RecycleRight movement in 2019 to encourage households to recycle more and to recycle right. Under the #RecycleRight movement, we have worked with the community to redesign the recycling label for our blue recycling bins to help residents identify recyclables more easily. We also organised a #RecycleRight Citizens’ Workgroup to co-create solutions to improve the way households recycle. We are working with partners and members of the Workgroup to pilot projects arising from their recommendations, including new recycling bin designs.
My Ministry and the NEA will continue to work with stakeholders to raise awareness on recycling right. We also encourage all Singaporeans to do their part by recycling more and cleaning the recyclables before placing them in the blue bins.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Expected Structural Changes to Hospitality Sector over Near to Medium Term and Expected Impact on Skills and Workforce","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"15 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what are the expected structural changes to the hospitality sector over the near to medium term; and (b) what is the expected impact on skills and the workforce.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: 2020 was a challenging year for our tourism sector, which was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The hotel industry, which had been on a healthy growth trajectory over the past decade (from 2009 to 2019), was not spared. Even with the development of several vaccines, it will take time for mass leisure travel and traveller confidence to return. We expect tourism arrivals to remain weak in 2021. The outlook for growth and employment in the hotel industry is hence expected to remain weak in the near term.
Despite these near-term challenges, we remain confident in the long-term prospects of Singapore’s tourism sector. The fundamentals which make Singapore an attractive place for leisure, MICE experiences, and a key business hub remain unchanged. The hotel industry is well-positioned to emerge stronger from this crisis as it transforms itself, learning from the COVID-19 pandemic. First, given the heightened awareness of health and safety, hotels are restructuring their guest journey and experience – including the adoption of contactless and frictionless solutions and other digital technologies. This will create new roles to drive digital transformation in hotels. Second, COVID-19 has also spurred hotels to innovate, with the growth of hybrid experiences and increased focus on wellness and sustainability.
With these innovations, it will be important for hotels to enhance their core capabilities and build emerging skillsets, such as sustainability management and experience design. For example, the Ascott Limited created a new multi-faceted role of ‘lyf guards’ at one of its newest concepts, lyf. Unlike conventional hotel job roles, lyf guards are multi-skilled employees who are community managers, as well as city and food guides. The multi-skilling of lyf guards not only allows Ascott to achieve a lean manning structure, but also attract a new generation of workers with changing career aspirations. This is made possible through well-defined career progression which includes a path to future leadership role within the organisation, as well as ample training and development opportunities.
Since the start of the outbreak, government agencies have worked with the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) and the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) to step up support for hotels in upskilling their workforce and redesigning jobs. For example, compared to 2019, the number of trainees funded under STB’s Training Industry Professionals in Tourism (TIP-iT) scheme more than doubled in 2020. STB also granted over 130 SkillsFuture Study Awards to employees in the tourism sector in 2020, which is a two-fold increase compared to 2019.
16 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider building another primary and secondary school in Fernvale constituency in the near future.
Mr Lawrence Wong: MOE regularly reviews the number of primary and secondary schools nationally and by residential areas to ensure that there are sufficient school places for our students.
There are five primary schools within one kilometre and another 11 primary schools within one to two kilometres of Fernvale.
Posting of secondary school students is based on merit, and MOE plans for secondary schools at a broader, regional level. There are currently more than 20 secondary schools in the north-eastern part of Singapore where Fernvale is.
In our planning for building of new schools, whether for primary or secondary schools, we will need to do a careful study of the medium to longer-term demand for places and our plans for existing schools in the area. When we have made a firm decision to build a new school, we will provide sufficient advance notice to the public on the likely timeline for the opening of the new school.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Increasing Number of Classes and Teaching Staff of Existing Primary Schools for 2022 Primary 1 Registration Exercise","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"17 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry intends to increase the number of classes and teaching staff of existing primary schools in preparation for the 2022 Primary 1 registration exercise to be held this year.
Mr Lawrence Wong: MOE is committed to ensuring that there are sufficient school places for all Singapore Citizen (SC) and Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) school-going children.
We review the allocation of Primary One (P1) places annually to ensure that the number of places in each residential area is sufficient for the current and projected population. The 2015 birth cohort which will be registering in the upcoming 2021 P1 Registration Exercise is projected to be similar to the recent years’ cohort sizes. We would like to assure the Member that there would be sufficient places for all local school-going children, and where we need to make local adjustments to provide localised additional P1 places in certain primary schools, we will do so.
Similarly, we review the number of teachers for each school annually to ensure that all schools have sufficient teachers for their projected student enrolment.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Building Another Primary School in Brickland Constituency","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"18 Mr Don Wee asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider building another primary school in the Brickland constituency as there are many young families moving into the constituency and the transport connectivity to the primary schools situated in nearby constituencies is wanting.
Mr Lawrence Wong: We note that the Member had asked a similar Parliamentary Question in October 2020. Our assessment remains unchanged in that the existing primary schools in the vicinity of Brickland constituency have sufficient places to serve residents, and therefore we have no plans to build a new primary school there.
Nevertheless, we would like to assure the Member that MOE regularly reviews the number of primary schools nationally and by residential areas to ensure that there are sufficient school places for our students. If and when we have made a firm decision to build a new school, we will provide sufficient advance notice to the public on the likely timeline for the opening of the new school.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Financial Assistance for Students Preparing for National Examinations as Private Candidates","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"19 Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Education whether any financial assistance is available to students not attending Government, Government-aided or Government-funded schools but who are preparing for national examinations like the PSLE, GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ Levels as private candidates.
Mr Lawrence Wong: MOE’s financial assistance schemes are available to eligible Singaporean students studying in government and government-aided schools, specialised schools, independent schools and special education schools. In addition, fees for the four national examinations (i.e. PSLE, GCE N-Level, O-Level, and A-Level) are waived for all Singaporean students studying in these schools.
Students not enrolled in these schools and who require financial support can approach their nearest Social Service Office or other community organisations for assistance.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"National Study on Root Causes and Extent of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Children for Design of Corrective Policies and Programmes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"20 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Government intends to conduct a national study on sexual exploitation and abuse of children to determine its root causes and assess its magnitude so as to design policies and programmes to address the same; and (b) to what extent corporal punishment is permitted in childcare and alternative care settings.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: \tThe Government takes a zero tolerance stance against the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. This is reflected in our laws. On 1 January 2020, Penal Code amendments to enhance protection of minors from sexual exploitation came into force. These include new offences such as sexual communication with a minor under 16, and the production, distribution, advertising or possession of child abuse material.
\tThe number of such offences under the Penal Code has remained low and stable, and the Government has and will continue to ensure that our policies and laws deter abuse of and enhance protection for victims of such offences. While there are no plans for a national study at the moment, the Government regularly monitors trends and data, as well as consults stakeholder groups, including those who work with children who have suffered abuse.
The safety and well-being of children is of utmost importance. In the preschool setting, the Early Childhood Development Centres Regulations prohibit staff or education service providers of licensed preschools from administering corporal punishment.
In alternative care settings, corporal punishment is generally not administered in licensed Children and Young Persons Homes, but may take place for male residents in Juvenile Rehabilitation Centres with legislative safeguards in place. For example, corporal punishment is permitted only after an inquiry, where the person-in-charge of the Home must be satisfied that the male resident is guilty of serious misconduct (e.g. assault, instigation of mass disturbances, and promotion of gang activities), and that the resident’s actions warrant corporal punishment. Corporal punishment is legislatively prohibited for female residents, and residents with physical or mental disability.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Frequency of Random Sampling or Unannounced Periodic Inspections and Monitoring of Compliance with MUIS' Halal Certification","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"21 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Social and Family Development and Minister-in-charge for Muslim Affairs how often does MUIS conduct random sampling or unannounced periodic inspections after the award of MUIS' halal certificate, in particular for businesses under the Product / Whole Plant Scheme.
22 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Social and Family Development and Minister-in-charge for Muslim Affairs whether MUIS will consider other methods or technology like DNA testing for processed food as part of its monitoring of compliance with MUIS’ halal certification.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: MUIS takes a holistic and proactive approach to monitoring compliance with the requirements under MUIS’ halal certification framework.
MUIS audits all halal-certified businesses at least once during their halal certificate validity period to ensure they comply to the standards1. In addition to the audits, MUIS conducts unannounced inspections on halal-certified businesses that process meats and meat-related products, to ensure that there are no intentional or accidental breaches of the halal certification terms and conditions. Businesses with poor compliance records are inspected more frequently.
As part of MUIS’ routine checks, businesses producing meat and meat-related products are subject to random sampling once a year to ensure that there are no non-halal substances in halal-certified products and on equipment. MUIS may request that businesses provide an accredited laboratory analysis of the raw materials and processing aids used to confirm that the products do not contain non-halal ingredients, or MUIS may send samples for laboratory testing directly, themselves. MUIS will also scrutinise the relevant documentation such as halal certificates of products, any supporting documents and invoices, as well as confirm that there is no change to facilities layout and business operations. Moreover, MUIS will check for any misuse of the MUIS Halal Certification Mark.
MUIS also requires businesses applying for halal certification to send their staff for training by MUIS and accredited halal certification trainers, so that they understand what it means for food to be halal, and how to implement the halal certification conditions properly.
As part of the practicality of Muslim law especially in helping Muslims navigate the complexities of daily life, there are established principles that allow for the unavoidable presence of very small amounts of non-halal ingredients. MUIS will continue to be guided by these principles. In the event of an investigation, such as the mislabelling of meat products, MUIS will work with the Singapore Food Agency's (SFA) National Centre for Food Science (NCFS) which has lab testing capabilities, including DNA testing.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["1 : Halal certificates issued by MUIS are valid for either 1 or 2 years"],"footNoteQuestions":["21","22"],"questionNo":"21-22"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Number of Resident and Singaporean Workers Classified as Managers and Executives with Not More Than $2,600, $2,800 and $3,000 Basic Monthly Salary","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"23 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Manpower as at 31 December 2020, what is the total number of workers, resident workers and Singaporean workers who are classified as managers and executives and earning a basic monthly salary (excluding employer CPF) of not more than (i) $2,600 (ii) $2,800 and (iii) $3,000 respectively.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Based on the June 2020 Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, there are an estimated 20,500 resident employees who are Managers and Executives (M&Es) earning a basic monthly salary of up to $2,600, constituting 2.8% of the resident M&E workforce. About 11,000 (1.5%) earned between $2,600 and $2,800, and 5,000 (0.7%) earned between $2,800 and $3,000.
M&Es form an important and growing part of our workforce. MOM, together with our tripartite partners, regularly review our employment laws to ensure that they are adequately protected. The Employment Act (EA) was amended in 2009 to allow M&Es earning a basic monthly salary of up to $2,500 access to the Labour Court for salary claims. In 2014, we extended coverage of the core provisions in the EA (such as holiday and sick leave entitlements) to M&Es earning a basic monthly salary of up to $4,500, and this salary threshold was subsequently removed in 2019. Today, all M&Es are covered by the EA for the core provisions.
We will continue to review our employment laws to ensure that they remain relevant and responsive to the changing labour market conditions and the needs of the workforce.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Definition of Green Space and Current Public Green Space in Square Metres per 1,000 People, Excluding Golf Courses","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"24 Miss Rachel Ong asked the Minister for National Development (a) how was the target of 0.8 hectare of green space per 1,000 people chosen; (b) what makes up the definition of \"green space\" in this target; and (c) what is the current public green space in square metres per 1,000 people, not including golf courses.
Mr Desmond Lee: The target of 0.8 hectares of green space per 1,000 people guides our planning of parks in Singapore. It is benchmarked against the park provision standards in other cities. The “green space” in the target refers to publicly accessible green spaces, including our gardens, nature parks, parks and park connectors. It does not include golf courses. Today, we have achieved 0.78 hectares or 7,800 square metres of public green space per 1,000 people, based on our current population.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Breakdown on Number of Households by HDB Flat Type Participating in Lease Buyback Scheme in 2019 and 2020","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"25 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for National Development (a) in 2019 and 2020, what is number of households that participated in the HDB Lease Buyback Scheme respectively; and (b) what is the breakdown of that number by HDB flat types.
Mr Desmond Lee: In 2019 and 2020, 3,164 households participated in the Lease Buyback Scheme. A further breakdown by year and flat type is appended in Table 1.
26 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the trends of property prices in 2020 for HDB flats and the various types of private housing; (b) what are the reasons for the trends; and (c) whether there are plans to address these trends.
Mr Desmond Lee: \tBoth public and private housing prices have increased for three consecutive quarters since 2Q2020.
Public housing prices rose by 5.0% in 2020, following the 0.1% increase in 2019. This could be due to the stronger demand for resale HDB flats, as seen by the 4% increase in the resale transaction volume in 2020, as compared with 2019.
Private housing prices rose by 2.2% in 2020, following the 2.7% increase in 2019. The price increase for private housing in 2020 was observed for both landed and non-landed properties. This similarly reflected healthy demand for private housing amongst Singaporeans.
Overall, the demand for housing was likely to have been supported by the current low interest rate environment. However, prospective homebuyers should carefully consider their ability to service their mortgage obligations over many years, and not be attracted by low interest rates in the short term. Given the negative impact on global economies and continuing labour market uncertainties as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, prospective buyers should remain prudent in their property purchase and financing decisions. The Government will continue to monitor economic and property market conditions very closely, and will adjust its policies as necessary to maintain a stable and sustainable property market.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Redevelopment Plans for Cemetery Areas around Bukit Brown in Next 10 to 15 Years","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"27 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for National Development what are the plans to redevelop the cemetery areas around Bukit Brown, including the section close to the Old Police Academy, in the next 10 to 15 years.
Mr Desmond Lee: The Bukit Brown area has been earmarked for residential development since Concept Plan 1991. The planning intention is to keep the cemetery areas for as long as feasible, and only develop them for housing in the longer term if the need arises.
The Mount Pleasant Thomson-East Line (TEL) station is currently being constructed within the vacated Old Police Academy site. LTA, URA and the relevant agencies are currently reviewing the future development plans for the area surrounding the Mount Pleasant TEL station, and will share more information with the public when ready.
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