1 Dr Chia Shi-Lu asked\tthe Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) in light of increasing incidents of sexually offensive and \"sexualised\" activities during orientation activities at the National University of Singapore over the last decade (a) what are the regulations in place to protect students in our tertiary institutions from physical abuse and harassment; (b) whether these regulations are standardised across our polytechnics and universities; (c) what checks and enforcement are in place to ensure that the regulations are adhered to; (d) how many students or staff have been found guilty and have had to face disciplinary action and how were they punished; and (e) whether any civil or criminal suits had been filed as a result.
2 Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked\tthe Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) (a) whether the Ministry has a code of conduct to prohibit sexually inappropriate or degrading activities in institutions of higher learning and schools; (b) what measures have been taken to ensure adequate oversight by university staff on students organising such activities; (c) how many complaints has the Ministry received in the past five years and what actions have been implemented to prevent recurrence; and (d) why safeguards have not been put in place to prevent the recent incident in the National University of Singapore.
3 Miss Cheng Li Hui asked\tthe Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) in light of the reports of sexual harassment and abuse during orientation activities at the National University of Singapore (a) whether the Ministry has been monitoring this situation in all our tertiary institutions and keeping track of the number and nature of incidents reported; and (b) whether resources have been provided to our institutions to ensure the safety of our students.
4 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked\tthe Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) with regard to the incidents of sexual harassment and physical abuse during orientation activities at the National University of Singapore (a) what are the existing guidelines for orientation activities and whether students/staff have been properly advised and guided; (b) how many complaints on such lewd orientation activities has each of our tertiary institutions received annually in the last 10 years; (c) what measures have been taken by the respective institutions to prevent such abuses by the students or staff who organised the orientation; and (d) how many students or staff have repeatedly been found to be responsible for such orientation activities.
\t
\tThe Deputy Leader (Mr Desmond Lee): Mdm Speaker, I am informed that the Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) is on his way into this House and he seeks Mdm Speaker's indulgence to allow him to respond when he returns to the Chamber.
Mdm Speaker: You are seeking approval for the questions to be responded to later?
\tMr Desmond Lee: Mdm Speaker, he has informed me that he would like to request for him to respond to Question Nos 1 to 4 on the Order Paper, after some of the questions there after have been responded to, as he is on his way to the Chamber. So, seeking your indulgence, Madam.
Mdm Speaker: Deputy Leader, let me draw your attention to Standing Order 22(4), which states, \"If a Minister, Parliamentary Secretary or other Member, who is to answer a question, is absent, the question shall, if he then be present, be taken after all other questions appearing on the Order Paper have been disposed of.\"
This basically means that he can only respond to the questions after Question No 61 has been disposed of. This is not possible within today's Sitting. Is there any other Member present who can answer these questions? [Please refer to the \"Written Answers to Oral Answers Not Answered by 3.00 pm\" section for the answers to Question Nos 1-4]
If not, I will have to move on to Question No 5. [Please refer to the \"Written Answers to Oral Answers Not Answered by 3.00 pm\" section for the answers to Question Nos 1-4.]
\t
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Safeguarding Public Monies Given to Town Councils","subTitle":"Possible recovery of past payments made by Aljunied-Hougang Town Council","sectionType":"OA","content":"5 Mr Charles Chong asked\tthe Minister for National Development what measures the Ministry intends to take to better safeguard public monies and residents' service and conservancy payments to Town Councils and to recover any improper past payments made by Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), especially in light of the July 2016 KPMG report on AHTC's financial controls and systems.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for National Development (Mr Desmond Lee) (for the Minister for National Development): Mdm Speaker, the Ministry of National Development (MND) is deeply concerned with what KPMG had uncovered about the state of financial controls and systems in Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, or AHTC.
In its July 2016 report, KPMG reported a total of 185 control failures in AHTC. This comprises 115 identified by AHTC's statutory auditors and the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) in previous audits, and an additional 70 control failures uncovered by KPMG. KPMG concluded that AHTC's control failures were \"pervasive, cutting across the key areas of governance, financial control, financial reporting, procurement and records management over the course of five years\".
To recap, AHTC had received qualified financial statements from its own independent auditors for four consecutive financial years (FYs) since FY2011. AHTC's auditors were unable to determine the accuracy of the Town Council's various balances, expenses and receivables, including those relating to their service and conservancy charges (S&CC). There were also other audit observations, including late Sinking Fund transfers, incorrect usage of Sinking Funds, as well as inadequate disclosure and segregation of duties over related party transactions.
When AGO undertook a special audit on the Town Council in 2014, it similarly found lapses in the Town Council's management of Sinking Funds, governance of related party transactions, management of S&CC arrears, internal controls and procurement, as well as inadequacies in their record management and accounting system.
When AGO's report was debated in Parliament in February last year, the Town Council's then-Chairman and her fellow Town Councillors assured us that they had \"already taken concrete steps to address and remedy many of the issues\".
More than a year has passed but the Town Council appears to have made little progress. KPMG had noted in its July 2016 report that only a few of the remediation steps that AHTC had said they would do had been completed. While AHTC had indicated that they aimed to complete the remediation works in 15 months, that is, starting from July 2016, KPMG estimates that at the current rate of progress, the remediation process will take at least 18 months.
Instead of completing the remediation plans expeditiously, what we have seen from the Town Council in this past one and a half years is a series of actions that have only slowed down, prolonged and frustrated the whole process.
First, the Town Council attempted to avoid having one of the Big Four firms appointed as its independent accountant.
The Town Council also rejected the joint appointment of accountant with Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC) to review AHTC's past payments in relation to Punggol East (PE), and when PRPTC appointed its own accountant, the Town Council refused to grant access to documents or to attend the coordination meetings called by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) with all parties to try to resolve the impasse. This pattern of behaviour is all the more worrying when set against what KPMG had stated in its July 2016 report, that the remediation of the control failures will require that the Town Councillors engage to \"reset the tone at the top of AHTC, emphasising competence and accountability\".
Apart from AHTC's slow progress in remedying the control failures, MND is also concerned with various systemic control failures that KPMG's latest report has highlighted, including:
First, the extensive use of manual journal entries that bypassed AHTC's accounts payable module, for payments totalling more than $60 million. KPMG has flagged this as \"highly irregular\" and \"makes effective oversight of payments by the Finance Department practically impossible\".
Second, temporary clearing accounts which were not investigated or cleared, containing transactions amounting to over $648,000 in total.
Third, the use of dummy codes which might not update payee records in the Accounting System, for transactions amounting to over $270,000 in total.
These control failures continue to paint a serious state of affairs in AHTC and are a cause for concern. KPMG noted that these control failures could conceal duplicate, fictitious or fraudulent payments, which could have been made without being detected.
As ordered by the Court of Appeal, KPMG is currently reviewing the past payments made by the Town Council to ascertain whether any were improperly made and, therefore, ought to be recovered. The findings are due on 31 August 2016, the end of this month.
MND asked AHTC to cooperate fully with the accountants to carry out a thorough and robust review of the past payments. The matter has dragged on for many years, with multiple Court hearings and not much actual progress made. For four FYs consecutively, AHTC has not had accounts that passed accountants' muster. This is accurately summed up by the Auditor-General in his report that \"there was no assurance that the accounts are accurate or reliable, or that public funds had been properly spent, accounted for or managed\".
Residents of Aljunied, Hougang and also Punggol East need to be assured as to whether or not there were any improper past payments that ought to be recovered. The Singaporean public also needs to know as public monies and grants are at stake.
MND and HDB will be studying the accountants' subsequent findings carefully and will take the necessary and appropriate actions to ensure that residents' interests are safeguarded and that any improper past payments are duly recovered.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Charles Chong.
\tMr Charles Chong (Punggol East): Mdm Speaker, supplementary questions. The Minister for National Development had said that MND will be reviewing the Town Councils Act. Can the Senior Minister of State tell us when this review will be completed and if MND would consider including it in the Act penalties for wilful acts of concealment or non-cooperation with MND, HDB or other agencies which result in MND, HDB or other agencies being unable to detect or assess financial transactions which may be of public interest, or of non-compliance with the Act?
Will the Minister also consider including in the Town Councils Act provisions to enable MND, HDB or other agencies to compel Town Councils and their contractors to provide records in the event of non-cooperation by Town Councils or their agents in connection with investigations into the affairs of Town Councils?
\tMr Desmond Lee: Madam, I thank the Member for his questions. The Town Councils Act review is ongoing and we aim to complete the review by the year. As the then Minister for National Development Mr Khaw Boon Wan had articulated, I believe at the opening of the Parliamentary debate of the Auditor-General's report, he said that the Town Council Act review ought to focus on three areas, principally: first, it would make clear that Town Councils are subordinate to and must comply with public authorities charged with public duties; second, to strengthen the Town Councils' corporate governance and financial accountability framework; and third, to strengthen MND's regulatory oversight and the powers to obtain information and conduct investigations, as well as to look at the overall penalty framework. In that sense, we will look at the Member's suggestions in the course of this review. I think I have addressed the Member's questions.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Zainal Sapari.
\tMr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Given that MND is doing a review of the Town Councils Act, would MND consider setting a reasonable timeframe and deadline for the preparation and submission of audited financial statements or distribution of assets and liabilities after each political boundary change?
\tMr Desmond Lee: Mdm Speaker, this is an area that we will look at in the course of the Town Councils Act review. In particular, we will further look at the handover process. We understand that when boundaries change, especially across political lines, delays in submission of accounts and documents may impact the financial audits of the receiving Town Council. This is certainly something that we need to look at in the course of this review.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Pritam Singh.
\tMr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Can the Senior Minister of State confirm if the joint appointment of accountants was required by the Court of Appeals in CA114 of 2015, or HDB had included it as a prayer to the Court of Appeal at any point in time?
\tMr Desmond Lee: Madam, the Court of Appeal order was against the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC), as the Member would be aware, along with the former Chairman because they were involved in the proceedings. This AHPETC no longer exists in its previous form as a legal entity. Instead, because of the intervening General Elections, Punggol East was carved out and handed over to PRPTC and became part of that entity.
So, based on the Town Council's declaration order, we are advised that this means that all the rights, obligations and liabilities of Punggol East then flow on to its successor organisation. In that sense, the accounts that relate to AHPETC are in relation to what would now be AHTC, which is one successor, and PRPTC, which is the other successor in respect of the Punggol East portion. So, that makes sense. The orders then need to be applied to all the entities for which the issues of AGO and all the Foo Kon Tan reports, and, indeed, the nub of the discussion in Parliament, they all relate to the former AHPETC. In that sense, both were required to comply with the Court order, which was initially at AHPETC.
We are given to understand that PRPTC wanted to discuss the issue of appointment because they wanted to have some coordination and efficiency because, essentially, they are looking not just at PE or AHTC but looking at the whole previous entity and how they inter-relate. I think that makes sense. We are also given to understand that there was an attempt to then appoint a joint accountant but without success.
In order to assist in Members' understanding of the question that the Member asked, allow me to take this House and Members through what we understand had happened. Following the Court of Appeal judgment, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), on behalf of HDB, had written to AHTC and PRPTC on 4 December 2015. AGC had highlighted the importance of appointing accountants that could competently execute the duties envisaged by the Court of Appeal's orders, given the complexity of the work entailed. HDB suggested that the accountant be from the Big Four accounting firms. And to avoid duplication of effort, competing access to documents and incurring of costs, HDB also asked both Town Councils to consider making a joint appointment of accountants. And that is the genesis of the Member's question.
On 4 December 2015, AHTC, however, nominated Business Assurance, while PRPTC sought to jointly appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) with AHTC on 15 December 2015. When asked to reconsider its nomination, AHTC had applied to the Court of Appeal for directions on the issue of appointment. AHTC also did not respond to HDB's subsequent queries on Business Assurance's experience and expertise, for example, their years of experience in the relevant areas of audit and the latest Practice Monitoring Programme (PMP) inspection results.
The Court of Appeal later directed AHTC to file an affidavit to respond to HDB's queries by 11 January 2016. On the day of the deadline, AHTC had filed the response but instead of answering HDB's questions on Business Assurance's experience and competence, AHTC said that Business Assurance had withdrawn due to \"intense media scrutiny\", that since Business Assurance had withdrawn, it was no longer necessary to provide the information on Business Assurance and that the Town Council had nominated a new firm, MRI Moores Rowland, instead.
On the night of 19 January 2016, the night before the next Court of Appeal hearing, AHTC wrote to the Court to state that MRI Moores Rowland had also withdrawn on 17 January 2016. So, this was 19 January; the date they had withdrawn was on 17 January. But no reasons were given. The latest development was also not mentioned in AHTC's two affidavits by the Chairman, I believe, on 18 January 2016. At the Court of Appeal hearing on 20 January 2016, it emerged that Business Assurance withdrew because it did not want to reveal its PMP inspection findings. This led the Court of Appeal to raise concerns about whether the Court had been apprised of all the facts in a candid and forthright manner and whether the Town Council had in place a system to ensure due diligence in selecting candidates to do this work.
The Court of Appeal eventually heard evidence on 22 January 2016 that both of AHTC's nominated firms of accountants each had a member who had failed ACRA's PMP inspection.
Agreeing that AHTC's nomination approach suggested a lack of rigour and basic due diligence, the Court of Appeal then directed AHTC to appoint one of the Big Four firms as the matter was of public interest and involved public funds.
That is where I come from, as background, to the response to the Member's question. On 1 March 2016, AHTC then announced that they have appointed KPMG LLP with HDB's consent ‒ HDB consented because it is one of the Big Four ‒ to perform the task ordered by the Court of Appeal.
After KPMG's appointment was announced by AHTC, PRPTC informed HDB on 3 March 2016 that it wished to appoint KPMG jointly with AHTC, but later updated HDB that AHTC was not agreeable. It was in this context that HDB agreed to PRPTC's appointment of a different set of accountants, namely, PwC to carry out its Court of Appeal orders. To ensure that the reviews were carried out efficiently and effectively, HDB invited both Town Councils and both sets of auditors to a meeting in June to discuss the implementation details, such as scope and timeline, but AHTC twice declined to attend as it did not agree that PRPTC was bound by the Court of Appeal order, precisely what the Member has asked earlier in relation to PE. AHTC also did not give PRPTC access to the documents of PE and requested that HDB seek clarification from the Court of Appeal first.
On 8 July 2016, the Court of Appeal ruled that PRPTC, on behalf of Punggol East, had an interest in the outcome of the work carried out by KPMG and because the issue of joint appointment, as the Member had alluded to, was already moot by then, the Court of Appeal directed that the two accountants communicate directly with each other to provide each other access as may reasonably be required to safeguard each other's interests.
Mdm Speaker: Yes, Ms Sylvia Lim.
\tMs Sylvia Lim (Aljunied): Madam, if I could make some clarifications on what the Senior Minister of State has just said and also ask him a few supplementary questions.
The first clarification to make is that the Senior Minister of State mentioned in his answer earlier that AHTC had been reluctant to appoint a Big Four firm but, based on his answer, I think he will confirm that the requirement to appoint a Big Four firm was only clarified in January this year when the Court of Appeal subsequently explained further its view on the matter, on which accounting firm it felt was suitable.
Secondly, the issue of whether PRPTC is required to comply with the judgment, I think the Senior Minister of State would be aware that at the recent hearing, the Court of Appeal declined to answer that question and, in fact, we are going to Court again this Thursday for some further clarification. So, that matter is really in one sense, in a way, sub judice as well. And at the last hearing, PRPTC did not attend, so we were not able to move further on that matter.
Next, I would just like to clarify also Mr Charles Chong's question to the Senior Minister of State. I am not sure whether Mr Charles Chong is accusing AHTC of wilful concealment of any documents. If he is, we utterly reject that.
A further supplementary question for the Senior Minister of State: I understand that the Ministry annually requires Town Councils to submit not just their financial statements but also their management letters issued by the auditors to each Town Council. We appreciate all this attention on us and how bad we are. But in order for us to get a proper perspective, is MND saying that the auditors of the other Town Councils have not picked up control failures in the other Town Councils since MND is receiving these annual management letters as the regulatory Ministry? Certainly, would —
Mdm Speaker: Ms Lim, please keep your clarifications short.
\tMs Sylvia Lim: Yes. Two more questions, Madam.
Secondly, would MND be prepared to share the findings regarding the other Town Councils with us or with the public so that we can better benchmark ourselves and perhaps adopt some of the best practices that may be available in the other Town Councils?
Last of all, Madam, it was interesting to me that when KPMG issued their first report in April 2016, and shortly after that in May, the Senior Minister of State himself actually sent a circular to all Town Council Chairmen attaching some slides and saying that Town Councils might want to use these slides to brief their Town Councillors on their roles and responsibilities, especially the key committees involved in finance and governance. This email came out of the blue. I have not seen such an email for the years that I had been —
Mdm Speaker: Your clarification, Ms Lim?
\tMs Sylvia Lim: So, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether this email was actually prompted by the KPMG report and a concern by the Ministry that perhaps other Town Councils also need to get themselves better organised.
\tMr Desmond Lee: I thank the Member for her questions. On the second question, the email which sent some slides, basically, it flows from the concerns that have arisen with regard to the AHTC and AHPETC issues. We wanted to send out information to make sure that all Town Councillors, not just AHTC, were on the same footing and would have this information, especially since we are on a new term, after the General Elections.
As for the Member's first question about whether the other Town Councils have control failures, well, all the Town Councils ‒ and I believe AHTC, too ‒ should be submitting their annual accounts by the end of this month, and once everything is in order, they will be tabled before Parliament and then all Town Councils, I believe, will put it on their websites. So, the auditors' findings would then be made available, and the Town Council Management Report (TCMR) would then, of course, come out in due course to set out the banding as well as the findings on corporate governance and other issues relating to Town Council governance.
The Member says that other Town Councils may also have governance failures. I have no doubt that, from time to time, they will make errors as well. These will be picked up and the MND and HDB secretariats will raise them. They will appear in the TCMRT and we will speak about them. But I think it is also important for this House to keep in mind the context of the issues that AHTC had been facing, in that this is not KPMG citing control findings in relation an audit arising from a year.
Instead, actually, this whole issue started when the new AHTC had taken over from 2011 from a Town Council which hitherto did not seem to have any of these qualified accounts. And for the last four financial years, this is a public statutory body charged with municipal services and collecting millions of dollars in public revenues and receiving millions of dollars in grants from taxpayers every year. In fact, collecting money every month through its principal source of revenue, which is S&CC. And its accounts have not been seen fit by accountants to be passed without disclaimers and without qualification.
So, I think this is accountant-speak, but accountants will say that a qualified set of accounts is a serious matter. And that is for four consecutive FYs. Not by any accountant, but by accountants appointed by AHPETC and then AHTC. FY2011/2012, four consecutive years, until the present date.
AGO is the independent accounting body which audits Government agencies as well, and there were lots of questions that were raised yesterday on Government agencies. Members asked many questions. AGO also made many findings of concern on AHPETC, and, in fact, I have articulated a summary of AGO's findings, which is that there is no assurance that AHTC's accounts are accurate or reliable, or that public funds are properly spent, accounted for and managed. So, that, in sum, is not about one individual process or one individual matter, but it is a finding of the AGO on the whole system of AHPETC and its accounts.
In Parliament, this was also debated and all Members were involved deeply in the discussion. Members from AHPETC had, on the surface, agreed with the Motion and we all know that. But in substance, it did not seem that there were real answers in the debate and some of the questions asked were not answered.
Be that as it may, this matter then went to two levels of the Supreme Court, both at the High Court and the Court of Appeal. And, again, serious findings were found after lawyers from both sides provided affidavits and addressed the Court. The High Court, for instance, in its judgment, stated, and I quote: \"there are grave and serious questions\" about the state of accounts and whether payments to related parties were valid or proper\". It also stated that there were numerous breaches of the Town Councils' Act and regulations.
The High Court found that it was the \"height of financial irresponsibility\" and if the Town Council were an entity under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA0, like a condominium, running a condominium, there would be serious ramifications both in civil and possibly in criminal law. It was a \"travesty\", the Court said, to ignore its duties, and that some parties who were before the Court had not been completely truthful. That was actually in the High Court's orders. Similarly, the Court of Appeal made certain findings. In fact, it repeated what the High Court had found.
I have just spoken about 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2016, we have KPMG which is appointed by AHTC, in compliance with limb one of the Court of Appeal's orders, and in that respect, the latest report in July raised serious concerns and this was what we articulated in the Parliamentary Question reply earlier.
In relation to what the KPMG auditors are doing in relation to limb two – which is checking whether there are improper past payments – we came across an article by the Chairman of the Town Council, Mr Pritam Singh, to Lianhe Wanbao one or two weeks ago where he said, translated, \"We have to rectify the issues raised, the AGO's report and audit all the previous transactions with the former managing agent FM Solutions and Services Pte Ltd (FMSS). If unlawful transactions are confirmed, as Town Council Chairman, I have a responsibility to recover that money with my team.\"
Looking at the KPMG's remit, looking at what the Town Council is setting out to do, and what the Chairman has articulated publicly to the newspaper, could the Chairman perhaps, in the spirit of this discussion, confirm that he cannot now rule out illegality or unlawful transactions?
Mdm Speaker: Mr Pritam Singh. Last question.
\tMr Pritam Singh: Mdm Speaker, I will deal with the point about the Lianhe Wanbao interview.
The word I used was not \"unlawful\", but \"improper\", and that word really follows in concert with the Court of Appeal's judgment which was to look at improper past payments, so it will be how KPMG puts it out in its past payment review report. Indeed, if they find that there are payments which ought to be recovered and there were lost monies, then it is our duty to go and recover them. I make no bones about this.
The second issue I would like to raise is the point that the Senior Minister of State brought up about the joint appointment of accountants which HDB, if I heard him correctly, agreed with PRPTC on 3 March.
Can I ask the Senior Minister of State when was this information that HDB had agreed with PRPTC to appoint accountants made known to AHTC? And if the joint appointment of accountants was indeed so important to HDB, the Court of Appeal's judgment of 27 November 2015 allows HDB, MND and AHTC liberty to apply to the Court. I am a bit surprised that the joint appointment of accountants is so important now because HDB did not raise it to the Court of Appeal.
\tMr Desmond Lee: The issue of joint appointment, like I have said earlier, is water under the bridge. It would have been ideal if both could address one set of accountants because, really, it is one former entity and one set of accounts.
In relation to the entire estate of the different precincts that used to form AHPETC, that is why HDB has suggested, after the Court of Appeal had ruled, that AHPETC had to appoint an accountant, and then suggested that perhaps both sides could consider. And that is in the context that the suggestion was made.
Coming back to the Member's confirmation, and I thank him for confirming that he meant \"improper\" as opposed to \"unlawful\", because that could be a translation issue. Some of us recall, and we may be wrong, that during the General Elections in 2015, various Members from the Workers' Party or the AHPETC had said that there were no overpayments at all. So, why now the Member's position that there could possibly be \"improper\" payments, not just improper but that will warrant it being clawed back from FMSS?
\tMr Pritam Singh: Can the Senior Minister of State confirm which individual made that statement?
\tMr Desmond Lee: Various Members.
Mdm Speaker: I just want to remind Members that we have had a very lengthy extensive debate on this issue not so long ago. We do not want to restart that debate again because the issues concerned are broader issues. So, just a clarification and then we are moving on to the next question.
\tMr Desmond Lee: I understand. So, I stand guided by Madam. This is in the context of the General Election rallies being made. I think these statements can be easily found as a matter of public record.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Follow-up Actions on Lapses at Public Agencies Reported in Auditor-General's Report","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"6 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked\tthe Minister for Finance whether the lapses and inadequate financial controls reported by the Auditor-General in his Report for FY2015/2016 uncover any systemic flaws and how will the public sector entities strengthen their management of public resources to prevent future occurrence.
7 Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked\t the Minister for Finance whether the Report of the Auditor-General for FY2015/2016 has highlighted any repeated breach of financial regulations by any Ministry and, if so, whether any action will be taken against officers who fail to take remedial action to rectify the breaches.
\tThe Senior Minister of State for Finance (Ms Indranee Rajah) (for the Minister for Finance):\tMadam, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 6 and 7 together?
Mdm Speaker: Yes, please.
\tMs Indranee Rajah: I thank Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Mr Lim Biow Chuan for their questions. Let me first highlight that there are two types of audits that the Auditor-General's Office (AGO) conducts on Government agencies. Each is important in a different way.
The first concerns whether the accounts of Government agencies are reliable and prepared in accordance with the law. The second involves checks on individual public agencies' compliance with rules and procedures, for example, the rules that guard against wastage of public funds and excess spending.
The first issue is whether the accounts of public agencies are proper and reliable. AGO has given an unmodified audit opinion for the Government Financial Statements this year, just as in previous years. The same is true for the Statutory Boards, all of which received an unmodified audit opinion from their respective auditors for the financial year (FY) 2015/2016.
In other words, the accounts of the Ministries, Departments, Organs of State and Statutory Boards have all been found by independent auditors to be reliable and prepared in accordance with the law. Public funds are properly accounted for and we know what they are being used for.
The second type of AGO audit, as I mentioned, concerns the rules and procedures in individual public agencies, for example, those that aim at avoiding wastage. Are the rules adequate and were the rules complied with?
As we review AGO's findings in this regard, there are three key questions we ask within the Government and which everyone should be concerned about.
First, what is the scale of the shortcomings and do they reflect a systemic weakness in the Government? Second, is there financial malfeasance, for example, fraud or corruption? Third, how are Government agencies dealing with the lapses that are found so as to avoid the problems being repeated?
AGO's report highlighted several lapses amongst our agencies. However, I can say with confidence from this year's AGO report and past years', that there is no evidence of systemic weakness within Government agencies with regard to compliance.
Most of the lapses were due to non-compliance by individual officers. In some cases, individual agencies had not followed full and thorough procedures in approving contracts or payments, as required in our internal rules. The respective Ministries and agencies have, in all instances, taken steps to rectify the weaknesses identified.
It will be unrealistic to expect that there are no lapses found within the system each time a serious audit is done. With over 140,000 officers in the Public Service handling hundreds of thousands of transactions each year, human laxity or errors of judgement will happen. We take each and every lapse seriously, but if nothing was found by AGO, we would be very concerned about the independence and rigour of AGO's audits.
Secondly, there is no suggestion of financial malfeasance, such as fraud or corruption, in the findings of the AGO. If there are any suspicions of wrongdoing, AGO does not hesitate to report them to the relevant authorities and highlight them in its report.
From time to time, we do come across such instances. We have zero tolerance for fraud or corruption. Everyone knows this: the Government acts promptly and thoroughly to investigate such cases. Indeed, this zero tolerance has itself kept fraud and corruption in check.
This is why we have a situation in Singapore that many countries seek to emulate. Singapore has consistently been ranked by institutions, such as the World Bank and Transparency International, as amongst the least corrupt nations in the world, with the likes of Finland, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark.
The third question is just as important. How do Government agencies respond to AGO's observations? The Auditor-General has himself noted from our public agencies' responses that they take the AGO audit observations seriously, including putting in place measures to prevent future occurrence.
The Permanent Secretaries of each Ministry and the Chief Executives of the Statutory Boards are responsible for ensuring that the lapses are rectified and steps are taken to minimise recurrence.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked about actions taken on officers responsible for lapses. Where there is evidence of individual responsibility for the lapses, the officers responsible have been subjected to the appropriate disciplinary actions. Twenty-eight officers have been counselled or warned arising from this year's audit findings. One officer was put on a performance review process for repeated poor performance and subsequently, left the organisation.
Let me highlight two areas where we have taken actions to avoid problems that tend to occur amongst our agencies. The first is contract management, particularly amongst agencies that do not manage construction projects regularly and, hence, may not have sufficient expertise and experience to robustly assess costs. The new Building and Infrastructure Centre of Excellence that we have set up under JTC this year will advise Government agencies which lack in-house expertise, and help us strengthen the public sector's capabilities in managing infrastructure projects.
The second example is procurement. As Members may recall, this was an area that needed improvement, as highlighted by AGO a few years ago. We took major steps to strengthen public sector procurement.
Since 2014, Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executives of agencies have been required to report to the Ministry of Finance regularly with an assessment of the findings in procurement audits and their follow-up actions. We published the Essentials of Procurement Handbook to ensure top management is apprised of procurement issues. The procurement specialist track was launched in 2014 and we updated the accompanying training programmes to professionalise the procurement function. We also instituted the Procurement Leaders Programme to groom procurement leaders to better guide and supervise their officers.
We will continue to tackle all lapses identified each year with the same resolve.
So, let me summarise. We have a system that is transparent and accountable, and with the Government responding to every weakness that is found. The fact that we have found reports of lapses from AGO each year reflects this transparency and accountability. It is a part of the workings of a robust system – which includes a diligent and impartial AGO, and Government agencies that willingly submit to AGO's audit and have their lapses displayed openly and seek to rectify them promptly. It is not perfect, but it is a system that has given Singapore international recognition for clean and efficient Government.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Liang Eng Hwa.
\tMr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Madam, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State what is the distinction between the AGO's report and that of the KPMG audit report on Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), given that they also uncovered a series of lapses, as people may be confused and draw comparisons and similarities between the two reports. Would the Senior Minister of State give us proper perspectives on this, to borrow the words of Ms Sylvia Lim?
\tMs Indranee Rajah: Madam, I thank Mr Liang Eng Hwa for his question. There is a world of difference between the lapses found in Government agencies and those of Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC) or now known as AHTC. They are different in scale, in nature and in the way Government agencies and the Town Council have each responded to problems when they are found.
First, AHPETC's accounts have been unreliable. Its own auditors repeatedly gave the Town Council a \"Disclaimer of Opinion\", which is the least desirable audit opinion. AGO concluded in 2015 that there was \"no assurance that AHPETC's accounts are accurate and reliable or that public funds are properly spent, accounted for and managed.\" There is no similar problem in the Government.
The accounts of Ministries, Departments, Organs of States and Statutory Boards have all been found by AGO and independent auditors to be reliable and prepared in accordance with the law. Public funds are properly accounted for and we know what they are being used for.
Second, the problems at AHTC, formerly AHPETC, are of a systemic nature, not just a matter of individual lapses. The independent accountant, KPMG found a further 70 control failures in AHTC in addition to the 115 found previously by AGO and statutory auditors. To quote KPMG in their July 2016 report, \"Control failures are pervasive, cutting across key areas of governance, financial control, financial reporting, procurement and records management over the course of five years …. there is an issue larger than the sum of individual lapses at AHTC\". As I explained earlier, there has been no such systemic problem in the Government. From this year's and past years' AGO reports, there is no evidence of widespread compliance problems. There is certainly no culture of non-compliance.
Third, in the case of AHPETC, there are serious issues to do with personal gains from related third-party transactions. The general manager, deputy general manager and secretary of the Town Council were also the owners and directors of FM Solutions and Services Private Limited (FMSS) which provided managing agent services to AHPETC and received payments. In addition, the secretary of AHPETC was a sole owner of FM Solutions and Integrated Services (FMSI) which provided maintenance and lift rescue services to AHPETC and, likewise, received payments.
In a review carried out by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), it was found that the profit margins of FMSS were abnormally high. The total payments by AHPETC to FMSS owners and directors amounted to 22% of FMSS' revenue in FY2012/2013 and grew further to 36% in FY2013/2014. The conflicts of interest highlighted by AGO in the AHPETC case are fundamentally different from the case of Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) and its subsidiary, NYP International (NYPi), that was highlighted in the AGO report.
As explained by Acting Minister for Education, Mr Ong Ye Kung yesterday, in the case of NYP and NYPi, there were no questions of personal gain. There was no personal interest involved on the part of the directors of NYP and NYPi and no leakage of money to any third parties. NYPi is wholly owned by NYP and any profits made by NYPi will only benefit NYP.
Fourth, our Government agencies and AHPETC have been completely different in the way they responded to problems when they are found. Notwithstanding the shortcomings and failures identified by their own auditors and, subsequently AGO, AHPETC did not take prompt measures to rectify these problems despite repeated requests by the Ministry of National Development (MND) to do so. This resulted in MND having to bring an application to Court and it was only after the Court order was made that KPMG was appointed as an independent accountant by AHPETC.
KPMG has been issuing monthly reports since April 2016. In its latest monthly report published in July 2016 – four years since AHPETC's auditors first voiced their reservations about the accounts – KPMG has stated that \"progress remedying the control failures has been slow.\" We understand that AHPETC is working on its remedial plans. In the June 2016 KPMG report, AHTC has updated and implemented its revised conflict of interest policy which now extends to AHPETC's Town Councillors, management and employees, and supporting procedures to manage conflict of interest. However, the other remediation plans on the governance of related party transactions were still unresolved.
By contrast, every Government agency takes AGO findings seriously. Where there are lapses, they are openly acknowledged and steps taken to address them as soon as possible. The Auditor-General has himself noted their commitment to rectify the lapses and put in place measures to prevent future occurrences.
So, to conclude, let me emphasise once again that the lapses found in the Government are wholly different from AHTC's problems. Our accounts are reliable, unlike AHTC's. There is no systemic weakness in Government agencies, unlike what the auditors have found at the Town Council. Unlike AHPETC, too, there was no question of personal gains in any of the lapses highlighted in this year's AGO report. And finally, the Ministries and the agencies have, in all instances, taken steps to rectify the weaknesses identified. Our system is transparent, accountable and responsive and we look forward to the same in AHTC as it hopefully rectifies its problems.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Release of Information and Follow-on Actions after Defects were Found on 26 MRT Trains","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"8 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked\tthe Minister for Transport what are the reasons for LTA or SMRT not releasing public information on the discovery of hairline cracks on the MRT trains in July 2013 and on their subsequent decision to call on the warranty by shipping the affected trains back to the manufacturer's factory for defect rectification works.
9 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked\tthe Minister for Transport whether Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CSR Sifang are liable to compensate LTA and/or SMRT for any loss of use and/or profits (or any other damages suffered) for the downtime of the MRT trains sent back to the manufacturer's factory for rectification in addition to the shipping and defect rectification costs.
10 Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked\tthe Minister for Transport (a) whether the hairline cracks found on the car-body bolster of the affected MRT trains were inherent defects from the time LTA and/or SMRT accepted delivery of the trains in 2011 or defects that were manifested through use and subsequently discovered in July 2013; (b) if the hairline cracks were inherent defects, why were the defects not discovered through earlier routine checks; and (c) if these were defects manifested through use, whether LTA engineers expect the hairline cracks to worsen through continued use.
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan):\tMadam, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 8, 9, 10 from Mr Sitoh Yih Pin as well as Question No 12 from Assoc Prof Daniel Goh, please?
Mdm Speaker: Question Nos 8, 9, 10 are possible, Minister. Question No 12 is not possible because you are skipping Question No 11.
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: Then, I shall come to it when the turn comes up.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) did not detect any cracks when it took possession of the trains and when it was testing them in 2011. The hairline cracks appeared only about two years after they were put into operation. It is not uncommon for new trains to develop minor defects after some time, because they are subject to different levels of stress during testing and when they are deployed for actual operations.
LTA did not publicise the hairline cracks for three reasons. First, they did not pose any safety risk to commuters. In fact, I wanted to reply to Question No 12 so that I can elaborate on this point, but we shall come to it later.
Second, the manufacturer took immediate and full responsibility for the defects, committed to fully replace the bolsters with a new set made in Japan, weld them to the new car bodies and re-assemble the trains in China. All these remedial actions would be fully paid for by the manufacturer.
Third, the manufacturer accepted LTA's replacement work schedule which is deliberately formulated to ensure that train services and capacity levels are not affected by this incident.
Had any of these factors not been satisfactorily dealt with, LTA would have publicised the defects. Meanwhile, we continue to monitor the affected trains closely, including those which had been rectified by the manufacturer. Whether there is a case to pursue compensation, I leave it to the LTA Board to assess.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Sitoh Yih Pin.
\tMr Sitoh Yih Pin (Potong Pasir): Madam, I thank the Minister for his response. I would like to ask two questions. Firstly, does this series of events, in any way, affect our plans to increase our capacity on the North-South East-West lines? Secondly, it was reported in The Straits Times that there was a freon gas leak yesterday in one of our trains. Can the Minister provide more information to the House, please?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: We handled the defective bolsters in such a way that we make sure that the planned capacity expansion of the North-South East-West line will not be affected. As Members know, 26 trains were found to have defective bolsters. Had the manufacturer wanted LTA to return all the 26 trains in one go, then our plan to expand the capacity of the North-South East-West lines would have been affected.
That is why, in 2013, LTA worked out a schedule to which the manufacturer accepted that they will only take one train at a time. In that way, the capacity will not be affected too much because all operators of train service would allow for at least a 10% buffer. For example, for North-South East-West lines, although we have 140-plus trains, only 124 are fully launched at peak hours. We do not need more than 124. Our plan was to expand 124 deployed trains to about more than 150 by the year 2019; which requires the North-South East-West line to expand its fleet from 140- to 170-plus. All the new trains will continue to come. But because we would only release one train at a time for the manufacturer to fix the bolsters, it does not affect our buffer and, therefore, it does not affect our planned capacity expansion of the North-South East-West lines.
To reiterate the point, this is also the reason why the whole process of rectifying, seemingly, takes such a long time. Actually, to fix the bolsters only requires about three to four months. It involves the following activities. We send the trains back. The manufacturer has to dismantle the trains, remove the bolsters. The bolsters are actually welded to the car body. Meanwhile, a new set of bolsters are being manufactured, this time not in China but in Japan. So, they have to be sent over to China and then to be welded to brand new car bodies and the manufacturer has to re-assemble all the engines and so on, to the train. The whole process would take about four months, including testing. Having completed this whole re-assembly, you have to test the trains to make sure they are safe and functioning as required.
But because each time we can only release one train, so we have to queue up the trains and we have a work schedule that stretches all the way to beyond 2020. Recently, we sat down with the manufacturer and asked to speed this up a bit. The possibility is that we can release two trains at a time in the later part of next year, when more new trains come in. We are working on that basis. With that, we could speed up the whole process to complete by 2019.
The query on freon gas. This has nothing to do with the new Kawasaki trains, but yes, it happened yesterday. It is an old train. This is the first-generation Kawasaki train; not this current generation, which is having the bolsters problem. The train and air-con compressors are all 20-odd years old by now. That is the trouble with old parts. Sometimes, little problems happen. Preliminary investigation suggests that there was a leakage of the oil from the compressor which resulted in overheating of the compressor. Subsequently, that caused the evaporation of the freon, which was then released.
We are still checking. This morning, the engineers are going to pull apart the whole compressor to see what caused the leakage from the compressor shaft seal. There is a seal which keeps the oil in place. We need to know why it failed. There is a three-weekly check on the compressor as part and parcel of routine maintenance and the last time we checked on this particular compressor was only about 10 days ago, in the early part of August. So, we need to know what is the reason for this incident.
There is a lesson here, even though it was about train. Old assets are not the same as new assets and, therefore, you have to pay particular attention to maintenance. But the earlier part of the life history of the components is also important. Like a human body. If you look after your body well from Day 1, when you are 40-50 years old, you can probably still maintain pretty good form, but still a 40-year-old is not the same as a 14-year-old, and, likewise, it is the same with trains.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Pritam Singh.
\tMr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Mdm Speaker, just two follow-up questions for the Minister. Firstly, were there any other inherent manufacturing defects that have to be looked into, either in Singapore or China, and, in this case, in China, where the train carriages are to be repaired and re-assembled there? I ask this because there was one reported case, I believe, of the explosion of a battery, affecting this batch, the C151A batch. And then there were also a number of cases which affected, I think, five trains of shattering glass screens. Have there been any other inherent manufacturing defects that have been discovered?
Secondly, can the Minister confirm whether there will be more regular safety inspections for this batch of trains even when they come back? And what is the role of Kawasaki Heavy Industries in this?
Lastly, when the trains return, will there be a warranty period for them?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: Thank you. Those are good supplementary questions. Let me reply to the Member's questions in the order as I recall.
First, Kawasaki. When they tendered for this, it was Kawasaki with the Chinese company Sifang. I think they are from Qingdao in the Shandong area. They jointly made a bid. But the main contractor, as far as we are concerned, is Kawasaki. In fact, the bulk of the design, how it is laid out, the engines and so on, were all from Kawasaki.
The Chinese partner, essentially, has three roles. First, they produce the bolsters which are made in China; secondly, they produce the car bodies; and thirdly, they assemble. So, all the engines or whatever parts that go into a train – if they are not produced in China, and most of them are not – they will be sent to Qingdao and then Sifang Company will do the assembly, do the testing, and then they will export it to whoever is the customer, in this case, Singapore.
As far as we are concerned, the party that we interact with is Kawasaki. In fact, Kawasaki set up an office here in Singapore for many years now because they were also the manufacturer, designer and producer of our first set of Kawasaki trains; in fact, of our first set of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) trains. The first lines, North-South East-West lines, were all based on Kawasaki trains. It is a very established, good company that has been around for many, many years.
Their arrangement to do the various assembly work in China is not unique to Kawasaki. In fact, in recent tenders, when we look at the bids, whether it is from Siemens, Bombardier, almost all of them now partner China to do the various things, very similar to what Kawasaki is doing with Sifang, I suppose, partly because of cost competitiveness, in order to bring down the cost of their total bids.
The way Kawasaki dealt with this whole incident – I have not met them but based on reports and discussions I have had with LTA as well as SMRT – I have been very impressed with the way they dealt with this problem. There will always be problems, but at the end of the day, when confronted with a problem, how do you handle it? There are people who will deny, blame others, but in this case, Kawasaki took immediate attention, sent their engineers down, checked, identified the primary cause and, at the same time, worked out how to move from there. It is a very professional response to this problem which I find very impressive.
They took responsibility and fulfilled the warranty period commitments. Although the cracks are not of major safety concern, they decided that a defect is a defect and they will replace it. Although the contract was for the bolster to be made in China, they said, from now on, all the bolsters will be made in Japan. They require the Chinese partner to also produce the new aluminium car bodies, weld it, assemble it and retest it. When they are sent back to Singapore, the defects liability and warranty clock will be restarted. In fact, we have now a very prolonged warranty period for the product. I find that gesture on the part of Kawasaki highly commendable and, if I may say, generous.
The point about other defects of this train, such as battery. This was during the testing period. As we know, when train cars are manufactured or assembled, a lot of testing will be done. During one of those tests, they found that one of the batteries was defective where gases were somehow accumulated in the housing that holds the battery covers. Because of the accumulation of gas, it exploded. Again, Kawasaki took note of that testing result and immediately decided with their Chinese partner to get a new supplier of the batteries. They also redesign the housing, so that this problem will not repeat. Indeed, it was the only incident of this kind which happened.
There were a few cases of glass shattering, not the main glass for the car but on those side windows. Again, they checked. This was also during testing in China. They checked and they found that there was installation error. In other words, the workers could have done it better. Subsequently, when they reminded the workers to do the installation properly, we never heard of such incidents again.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Yee Chia Hsing.
\tMr Yee Chia Hsing (Chua Chu Kang): Mdm Speaker, I would like to just clarify on the warranty period. What is the actual period? Also, when we get the replacement car body and bolster, when we reset the clock, is it just resetting the clock on the car body and bolster? The whole machinery and engine are also disassembled and assembled on the new car body. Does the reset of the warranty also apply to the mechanical parts?
The other question I have is: are there any lessons, with the benefit of hindsight, on whether LTA should have given timely information as and when the issue cropped up?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: There is a defects liability of one year, then an extended warranty of four years. So, one plus four. In this instance, they decided that they will replace the entire bolsters, including the car body, and then restart the clock. It is fair that the extended warranty only applies to the new bolster and the car bodies. It will be asking too much to require the extended warranty to also cover the engines and other parts, which may not be produced by them. To answer the query, the extended warranty and the defects liability period only apply to the bolsters and the car bodies.
Are there lessons from this incident? Yes, there are. I derived two lessons. First, sometimes, in public communications, providing more information is better than less information. My colleagues who have worked with me now for almost 40 years, know that I always prescribe the principle of over-provide rather than under-provide. This is something that I learnt, especially during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) period, in crisis communications. Because at that time, there was a lot of misinformation, a lot of lack of information, a lot of lies going on. And always coming out to share with the people what you know, including what you do not know and admit that \"Yes, I do not know at this point in time. I will find out\". And when I find out, I will let people know. That is always a better strategy than to try to keep information to your chest.
The second lesson will be, I was struck by how the Kawasaki Manufacturer reacted to this problem: face the problem, get to the bottom of it, own it, not in denial and then go all out to do what is right, even if it means at great cost to the company. That way, you preserve integrity, reputation and also, that is the way one should treat one's customers.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Png Eng Huat.
\tMr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Mdm Speaker, I just got a few questions for the Minister.
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: There is still a series of Parliamentary Questions (PQs) to be answered later.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Png Eng Huat.
\tMr Png Eng Huat: It is related to the trains.
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: Sure, please. The other questions are also related to trains.
\tMr Png Eng Huat: Just one quick question then. The other one I will reserve for the next set of questions. For those trains that are awaiting to be sent back to China and they are in service now, are there any cracks found on the body because the cracks originated from the car body bolster? Are there any cracks found on the body now or developing?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: No, the cracks are only on the bolsters. Each car train has two bolsters. This is North-South East-West lines, so each train has six cars. This only happens in some bolsters of some train cars. Were there other cracks elsewhere? No.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.
\tMr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Minister for the answers so far. I just have a quick clarification. Have we ever experienced similar hairline cracks on other trains or models and, if so, what are the models?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: The only other times where cracks appeared were in the Bukit Panjang Light Rail Transit (LRT). These are Bombardier LRT trains, different from MRT trains. They found some cracks on the underframe of the cars. This was about last year or the year before. This was before my time. But I recall reading about it. These are old Bombardier trains. They should be coming to 20 years, 18 years or so.
The nature of the cracks is quite different because here, with the Sifang trains, the trains are brand new. I sent to you and then after operation, we found some cracks. Whereas Bombardier trains, they were all right until last year or so, and then there were some cracks on the underframe.
Bombardier also took it quite seriously even though this is now an 18-year-old or 17-year-old product. They sent their chief structural engineer down to take a look, inspect. First, they needed to establish if it was safe to operate, and they confirmed that it was safe to operate. Then, they also decided on what the next step should be. The next step requires regular inspection to see whether it is growing but, more importantly, how to fix the problem.
In that instance, the recommendation of the Bombardier chief structural engineer is to weld it. Therefore, there is no need to send it anywhere. So, they can weld it, in situ, locally in Singapore. They worked out a work schedule on how to do it. I think most of the trains have already been fixed. The other train cars should all be completed by October this year, if I am not mistaken. Meanwhile, the trains are safe to be used.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Board Members' Awareness of Defects on 26 MRT Trains","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"11 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked\tthe Minister for Transport whether members of the Public Transport Council, board members of SMRT and LTA, and the management of Temasek Holdings were aware of the faults discovered on MRT trains supplied by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CSR Sifang in 2013 and the subsequent train recall exercise.
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan):\tMadam, both issues were discussed among the Ministry of Transport, Land Transport Authority and SMRT. The Public Transport Council (PTC) was not involved. I am told that SMRT Board was aware. As for Temasek, what was communicated between SMRT and its shareholders is not something I am privy to.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Assessment of Safety Risks of Defects Found on 26 MRT Trains","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"12 Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked\tthe Minister for Transport with regard to the 26 defective MRT trains (a) whether the defects being not \"safety-critical\" meant that they pose zero safety risks for commuters; (b) why is it most effective for the car-bodies to be entirely replaced when cracks have been found only on the bolsters; (c) what are the risks for cracks to happen on other components of the car-body; and (d) whether the monthly safety assessment is focused only on the found defects or conducted for the entire train.
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan): The hairline cracks do not compromise the safety of commuters. The trains are safe. The trains are designed with a large safety margin of three. What it means is that the bolsters are able to take more than three times the maximum stress that they may experience during operations. The cracks have not reduced this safety margin. In other words, all these can be tested in the laboratory and you can check it out that, despite having the cracks, the safety margin of at least three is still being preserved. The cracks have not reduced the safety margin.
But to be absolutely sure, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) had appointed an independent assessor, TUV Rheinland and the assessors confirmed that the trains are entirely safe to operate. In any case, as I said just now, LTA, SMRT and Kawasaki-Sifang continue to monitor closely the affected trains, including those that have been repaired and returned to service.
Kawasaki-Sifang decided that the most effective repair method was to replace the entire car-body. This is because the bolster, where the hairline cracks are found, is welded to the car-body. As Kawasaki-Sifang does not have the necessary facilities in Singapore to refit the trains with new car-bodies, the trains have to be shipped back to Kawasaki-Sifang's manufacturing base in China.
The cause of the cracks was traced to a specific batch of aluminium material used for the manufacturing of the train bolsters only. Other parts of the trains are not affected.
\tMdm Speaker: Assoc Prof Daniel Goh.
\tAssoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Minister. What is the difference between the bolsters being made in Japan versus those being made in China? Why is the decision now for the bolsters to be made in Japan rather than in China? Is there a confidence issue with manufacturing of train parts in China and, if it is so, is Ministry going to take this into account for future contracts?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: What is the difference? One is made in Japan and one is made in China. Is there a qualitative difference? I do not know. But the decision − using new bolsters from Japan − is made by the manufacturers themselves. They said, \"Well, since it is defective, I will replace your bolsters\". And they offered to now use a Japanese bolster and, of course, we said \"You are welcome to use Japanese bolsters\". In fact, the first generation of Kawasaki trains all used Japanese bolsters. I do not think we need to read anything more into this. I do not want to create a diplomatic problem.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Independent Report on Hairline Cracks Found on 26 MRT Trains","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"13 Mr Png Eng Huat asked\tthe Minister for Transport (a) what did TUV Rheinland's report on the hairline cracks found on defective MRT trains reveal; and (b) whether the Ministry will make the entire report public in the interest of transparency.
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan):\tTUV Rheinland's technical report assessed that the trains are safe to operate. It also assessed that the primary root cause of the hairline cracks is the inherent defect in certain batches of the bolsters. We have no objection to make public the consultant's report. However, as the contract contains a confidentiality clause whereby written permission from the consultant has to be granted, we will put the request to them. If they have no objection, we will have it published on the Land Transport Authority website.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Png Eng Huat.
\tMr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Madam, just one supplementary question. Did the report also make similar recommendation that you all should replace the body as well? Did the report also recommend that? Or is it just Kawasaki's decision to replace it on goodwill?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: Relying on memory, I do not think the report talked about car-body. The report was purely to check firstly, what is the reason for the bolster defect and it established that there was impurity during the manufacturing process. Secondly, is it safe to use the train with the crack still on the bolster?
The consultants focused on these two issues. The decision to rectify this problem by getting new bolsters and to get the new car-body was made by the manufacturers. I can understand, as an engineer, why they decided to take this course of action. It is a little bit like when you extensively renovate your house. Sometimes, the contractor will tell you, I think, in all honesty, it is better you tear it down and rebuild. If it is massive renovation, they find that it is more troublesome and, perhaps, it may even take longer and, sometimes, they do recommend to simply tear it down and rebuild.
Let us understand a little bit of the process here. The bolster is welded, as I said, to the car-body and then the car-body carries all the engines, the seats, glass windows, and so on. The bolster is the one that has some problem. To replace the bolster is straightforward. You must replace the bolster because it has impurities in it. If you were to reuse the car-body, then what it means is that, first, you got to cut out the bolster from the car-body. And then when you receive the new bolster, you got to find a way to weld it to the car-body. Of course, they do not speak Singlish, but they probably said, \"Aiyah, so 'leceh'. Let's just produce a new car-body and get a new piece of bolster and weld it on.\"
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Problems with MRT Trains Delivered in 2013","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"14 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked\tthe Minister for Transport (a) whether the Ministry/LTA was aware of the problems with the MRT trains delivered in 2013 from Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CSR Sifang under a previous contract before placing new orders with the same consortium for more trains in 2014 and 2015; (b) if so, why were further contracts for additional trains extended to the same consortium; (c) whether the Ministry/LTA had evaluated alternative suppliers before placing the new orders in 2014 and 2015; (d) whether there were any changes made to the new contracts with the consortium in 2014 and/or 2015 or any extraordinary quality control measures put in place to ensure that the same problems would not recur; and (e) whether the Ministry/LTA has required the supplier to provide mitigating solutions or compensation for the operational setback.
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan): Mdm Speaker, the consortium, Kawasaki-Sifang, had fully complied with the terms of their warranty and was cooperative. In fact, as I elaborated just now, I think they were exemplary in their conduct. After the defects were discovered, they immediately committed to making the rectifications to the Land Transport Authority's full satisfaction. All costs, including shipping, are borne by them. The concern about the defects had thus been resolved when we called the tender for more trains in 2014 and 2015.
Our train tenders have always been conducted in an open and transparent manner, and are based objectively on quality and price assessments. Kawasaki-Sifang won the subsequent tenders fairly. The list of tenderers and their prices are publicly available online.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Minister for the reply. In subsection (d) of my question, could the Minister clarify whether or not in light of what has been discovered in respect of the hairline cracks, whether any additional measures were in place or any additional clauses were worked into the contract to prevent or to handle this aspect of the hairline crack problem?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: Sorry for missing out on that little subsection. The subsequent contracts will have the bolsters from Japan.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Sending 26 MRT Trains Back to Manufacturer on Service Reliability","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"15 Mr Pritam Singh asked \tthe Minister for Transport (a) what is the total number of MRT trains deployed for operations currently; (b) among these, what percentage of trains are not embarking passengers as they need to be sent back to the manufacturer CSR Sifang for depot-level train repairs due for completion in 2019; and (c) in what way has this episode affected the Ministry's plans to improve the reliability of the MRT system.
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan): Madam, as I said earlier, currently, we are deploying up to 124 trains during peak hours, out of the 140 trains we have for the North-South East-West Lines. So, we have 140 trains altogether, but actual deployment, at the maximum, that means, during peak hours, 124. It is standard practice in all subway systems to have a buffer, about a 10% of trains for repairs, upgrading and standby.
By \"standby\", we are talking about both cold standby and hot standby. Hot standby means the trains are ready to be launched if you want to. This is because sometimes, for example, yesterday, when you have this train with the air-con problems, you can immediately deploy a new train into the system. This is called \"hot standby\". At any one time, there is only one train sent back to China for the manufacturer to replace the bolsters and, therefore, we are well within the 10% buffer.
The Kawasaki-Sifang train incident has not affected the reliability of the system. None of the delays on the trains was due to the bolsters' hairline cracks.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Pritam Singh.
\tMr Pritam Singh (Aljunied): Madam, just following up on part (c) of my question and I am really referring to the future batches of trains ordered from CSR Sifang and Kawasaki. What pre-emptive action, if any, is the Ministry taking to ensure that the C151C batch of trains and CT251 batches of trains that were ordered, even as the manufacturing defects were discovered which affected the C151A batch, what is the Ministry doing to ensure that this would not be repeated in future?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: As I said, the problem was with certain batches of aluminium which are manufactured and used for the bolsters. So, when the manufacturer offered to say from now on, all bolsters will be manufactured in Japan, that settles the issue.
\tMdm Speaker: Mr Leon Perera.
\tMr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): Just one supplementary question to the Minister. I think when these defects occurred, would the Minister acknowledge that the main contractor, which is Kawasaki-Sifang, bears some responsibility for the quality control of the metallurgical process of the supplier because there was some impurity in the alloy, there were metallurgical issues from the supplier of the bolster. So, would not some responsibility have to be borne by the main contractor, that is, Kawasaki-Sifang, and, if so, what then is the Land Transport Authority (LTA) doing to make sure that they had done the necessary corrections to their quality control process for all suppliers?
\tMr Khaw Boon Wan: If the Member has listened carefully to what I have said over the last half an hour, he would note that Kawasaki, at great cost to themselves, has taken full ownership of the problem − not in denial, \"not my problem\", \"somebody else's problem\". They went all out to protect their reputation, make certain decisions, not at our request, but on their own, volunteered to have the bolsters replaced, to completely replace the car-bodies, extended warranty, restarted the warranty commencement. That is part of the reason why LTA originally decided to release one train at a time even though the whole process would then drag on to 2023. What it means is that we have free use of the trains for several years and a prolonged warranty period.
I think that is much more than one can hope for from any manufacturer. Indeed, all organisations should try to emulate, including all of us in positions of responsibility, let us say, for running Town Councils. That should be the attitude we take when we confront a problem. Take ownership, rectify it to the satisfaction of your customer.
Mdm Speaker: Order. End of Question Time.
[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Singapore Workforce Development Agency (Amendment) Bill ","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Minister for Manpower (Mr Lim Swee Say): Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time\".
We live in a world of greater uncertainty and faster change today. Last month, I attended the Group of 20 (G20) Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting, and the mood was one of concern.
Seven years after the Global Financial Crisis, G20 economic growth is still lower than before the crisis, at 3.2% per annum versus 4.1% per annum before the crisis. Unemployment at 5.8% has barely fallen from the peak of the crisis of 6%. Labour force participation is also lower than before the crisis. Across the G20 countries, there is said to be a shortfall of 50 million jobs.
Back home, our economy and workforce are in transition, too. Our workforce is ageing at one of the fastest rates in the world. Workforce growth is falling from 4% per year in the earlier part of the decade, to around 1% per year by 2020. Importantly, each generation of Singaporeans is aspiring to do better, with better education, better jobs and better incomes.
To avoid ending up with the challenges that many countries are now facing of high youth unemployment, sticky unemployment and declining labour force participation, we must get three things right.
First, we need to quicken the transformation of industry, to make every job a better job. The Ministry of Trade and Industry and sector agencies are leading this effort to create the new industries, new businesses, and new jobs of the future.
Second, we will need to quicken the transformation of the workforce, to make every worker a better worker. The Ministry of Education (MOE) is leading the effort to inculcate lifelong learning, from pre-employment education to professional and continuing education. SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) is the new agency tasked with this.
Mdm Speaker, as we transform the industry and the workforce, it is crucial that we keep the two in sync. If workforce transformation lags behind industry transformation, workers will miss the opportunities for better jobs while businesses will not have the manpower they need. We would end up with higher structural unemployment and an over-reliance on foreign manpower.
On the other hand, if industry transformation lags behind workforce transformation, there will be a shortage of quality jobs for our people, leading to higher under-employment. Therefore, the third thing we must do right is to match every better worker to every better job, and make every career a better career for all Singaporeans.
Mdm Speaker, Workforce Singapore, or WSG in short, under the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), will sharpen its focus and strive to minimise mismatches and maximise matching between jobs and skills, workers and businesses. It will be both pro-worker and pro-business.
Clauses 9 and 10 of the Bill provide for the functions and powers of WSG. I will now outline three key areas WSG will strive to do more and do better for our workers and businesses.
First, for our workers, WSG will not only help individuals find jobs but also help them build careers at all life stages. Lifelong career conversion will become more widespread in the future economy. Holding a single job or career through life will become less common. The new reality is that workers may need not only to switch between jobs and employers, but also between types of industries and modes of employment, be it traditional or emerging. Today, the Wokforce Development Agency (WDA), Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and partners are actively helping jobseekers to find jobs. This will continue under WSG. At the same time, WSG will do more to help them manage their career transitions throughout their lives.
Second, at the workforce level, WSG will strengthen the inclusiveness of our local workforce in the face of disruptive change. Today, WDA serves many in the workforce, be it young or old workers, professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) or non-PMETs. It has also built up partnerships to support special worker segments, such as with SG Enable to support the hiring of persons with disabilities, and with the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE) and the Industrial and Services Co-operative Society (ISCOS) to help ex-offenders return to work. Again, this will continue.
But we recognise that disruptive technology and innovation will bring not just new opportunities, but new threats, too, to all groups of workers, including PMETs. If we are not proactive, there is a danger that some will be displaced and made redundant by technology, and our workforce may become less inclusive. WSG will, therefore, reach out to help every segment of workers, to adapt and upgrade with technology, so that we can all benefit and be part of the transformation of our economy and workforce.
Third, at the industry and company levels, WSG will help businesses create better quality jobs to attract and build a stronger Singaporean Core. This is a key priority for firms as workforce growth will slow and competition for manpower will only become keener. WSG will support companies to adopt new business models, be more manpower-lean and create progressive workplaces to fully utilise the skills and talent of our workers.
Mdm Speaker, moving forward, our workers can expect WSG to be worker-centric, covering all their career stages. So, whether you are in your 20s looking for your first job, or in your 30s looking for your next job, or in your 40s or 50s looking for your next career, or in your 60s or beyond looking to make your next contribution, WSG can support you.
Industry and businesses can, likewise, expect WSG to be employer-centric, helping them to develop their manpower pipeline, sector by sector. Working in partnership, WSG and the sector agencies and tripartite partners are developing industry manpower plans under the respective Industry Transformation Maps. These plans will articulate the jobs and careers we strive to create in the future, for us to help match workers – both new job entrants and mid-careerists – to these jobs and career opportunities.
WSG will also pay attention to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It will continue to help companies and clusters of firms to become more manpower-lean and innovative, such as through the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme. In addition, it will work with businesses to redesign jobs and improve human resource (HR) practices so that they can turn their human resources into human capital.
Last, but not least, WSG will leverage new technology and platforms to widen the reach and impact of its services. Beyond physical touch points, WSG will develop new service models, such as e-services and online career fairs, and also provide timely and customised information and career guidance to individuals at different stages of their career. It will also move towards leveraging data analytics and smart technology to find new ways to optimise matching between jobseekers and employers.
Mdm Speaker, our economy is at a critical juncture where we face both global economic uncertainty and domestic workforce changes. Our journey of transformation is underway. Unions, employers and the Government are partnering one another through a constructive spirit of trust and mutual alignment to support our workers and businesses.
Partnership will be a key feature in all of WSG's work. Within the Government, it will partner economic agencies on industry transformation, and with MOE and SSG on lifelong learning. Across each industry, WSG will work with employers, business chambers and trade associations, and unions to deepen ties and achieve win-win outcomes. In employment facilitation, it will partner best-in-class employment agencies to help workers secure better jobs, and technology providers to expand its effectiveness and reach.
But the most important partner will be the workers of Singapore. We need every individual to play his or her part to adapt and grow in this new environment.
With a dedicated agency in WSG and the collective endeavours of all our partners, I am confident that we can do more than before to match the aspirations of our people and the needs of our businesses. Together, we can make sure that the innovative growth of the economy is also inclusive growth for our people. Mdm Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mdm Speaker: Mr Patrick Tay.
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (West Coast): Mdm Speaker, I would like to declare my interest as a board member of the WDA.
I rise in support of the Workforce Development Agency (Amendment) Bill which reorganises WDA as WSG for short and refocuses its functions and duties in relation to SSG. I am glad to note that WSG's central mission is to enable Singaporeans to have quality jobs and careers and that it will ensure that industry, skills and jobs are transformed in sync. I particularly laud the fact that WSG will work towards ensuring locals remain in employment through the provision of employment facilitation and career services.
The work of the new WSG is extremely crucial as Singapore enters into this period of economic uncertainty. Retrenchments were at 15,580 for 2015 and in the last four quarters alone have exceeded the 20,000 mark, with more than 10,000 contributed in the first half of this year. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that we have cyclical forces, structural forces as well as economic restructuring and transformation all in one go.
The silver lining is that we have a tight labour market situation, foreign manpower is being contained and unemployment is relatively low compared to many other developed countries. Likewise, job creation continues as we see more than 60,000 jobs posted on the National Jobs Bank alone. Despite the large number of job postings, especially of professionals, managers and executives (PME) positions, one key trend, however, is the rise in the number of PMEs being affected by both cyclical and structural unemployment. Last year, among the 9,090 residents laid off, 71% were PMETs.
At our National Trade Union Congress' (NTUC's) U PME Centre as well as e2i, we have also seen a surge in the past year in the number of PMEs coming to us to seek help, especially in the area of finding job placements.
This year, I foresee that figure to stay high if not higher than last year, as the industries, sectors and positions affected by layoffs are mostly PMET ones. With the rapidly ageing workforce, I am particularly worried for those who are above 40 years of age as they take a much longer time to find employment and are more vulnerable to layoffs. I, therefore, submit that WSG should do more and do even better to help PMEs, particularly those above age 40, to connect them to good jobs.
I submit that WSG needs to find ways to address and overcome three mismatches. They are the mismatch of skills, the mismatch of jobs and the mismatch of expectations.
Despite many jobs posted on the National Jobs Bank, most jobs posted require some form of experience, skillset or expertise and, therefore, many Singaporeans may not fit the bill. Local PMEs may lack the requisite skills and experience and, possibly, the regional and international experience. This contributes to the structural challenge that we face as a country and I foresee we will face in the years to come.
Second, mismatch of expectations. My colleagues at our U PME Centre and e2i have highlighted that there are some PMEs who go to them with unrealistic expectations in terms of the type of jobs and conditions. Then, I also hear of employers who lament and do not hire mature PMEs because they claim many of them cannot change, they cannot adapt to the new requirements expected of them, and a host of other ageist remarks. There are also companies which do not take proactive steps to redesign, recreate or resize the jobs or manage the change. Our society, too, must recognise and expect that we have a growing ageing workforce and that there will be an ever increasing number of PMEs, especially mature ones, in our midst.
Third, the mismatch of jobs. There are cases where PMEs are not well-matched with their current jobs. They do jobs which they have neither passion nor interest for. Sometimes, the job size is too small or the quality of the job is not good. They become less motivated and less productive. There are those whose characters or personalities do not quite fit or match the kind of requirements the job entails. Then again, there are those who are over-skilled or over-qualified for the jobs, resulting in an underemployment situation.
With WSG, I have three suggestions for it to do more and do better. First, I am particularly glad that many Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) have been rolled out under Adapt and Grow but I feel the Adapt and Grow programme also needs to adapt and grow. PCPs will have to be even more responsive, relevant and flexible across more sectors and more PME jobs because new jobs are created in new areas daily and we have what we call the \"3G\" jobs; jobs which are going, going, gone on a daily basis.
We can and should mount greater efforts, dedicate more resources and do even better in facilitating, connecting and placing PMEs into good jobs. From my NTUC's U PME Centre team, I also know that some of the advertised PCPs in certain sectors, such as social services and healthcare are already completely filled and not taking in more Singaporeans. I urge more employers to step forward to partner our sectoral committees to offer even more PCPs in this tight labour market situation.
Second, the Career Support Programme (CSP) is a good scheme to incentivise employers to hire PMEs especially those above 40 years of age. However, I feel there is a general lack of awareness by employers and PMEs alike on CSP despite it being implemented since October last year and further enhanced after the Committee of Supply debate this year. I suggest we strengthen our outreach of CSP. Besides wage support, emotional support of unemployed PMEs is also vital. The National Trade Unions Congress (NTUC) piloted a Career Activation Programme last year where we provide emotional and confidence building through a peer support network of volunteers who themselves have been through layoffs and are now in good jobs, whom we call career activists. We have expanded and extended this programme so as to confront the structural unemployment challenge. We look forward to WSG as well as potential employers partnering us in our journey.
Third, a new clause is inserted by virtue of the amendment Bill. It is \"to promote or undertake research in Singapore into matters relating to the Singapore workforce.\" I have articulated in this House before on more than one occasion and am urging again for WSG to undertake a research study into non-time-based underemployment in Singapore so that we are able to ascertain whether there is, indeed, this situation in Singapore with more Singaporeans being higher skilled and higher educated. The desired outcome is one where the potential of every worker is fully realised and maximised. Mdm Speaker, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] With economic uncertainty and a weak global demand, retrenchment among Singapore's PMEs will rise. The situation is aggravated by unemployment caused by cyclical and structural forces as well as economic transformation.
I hope the new WSG can pay attention to three areas.
First, WSG should put in more resources to help PMEs to find a job that can maximise their potential. Second, the Adapt and Grow Programme and the PCP should be more responsive, relevant, flexible and comprehensive. We should also strengthen the outreach of the CSP so that more employers and employees can benefit. Third, I urge MOM to pay attention to the underemployment situation for highly educated people.
In conclusion, our objective is for our workers to respect and enjoy their job, maximise their potential and cultivate a ready, relevant and resilient mindset.
(In English): In conclusion, with the new WSG, we can and should use this opportunity to do more and do better to develop what I call the \"Gen R\" worker, one who is ready, relevant and resilient: Ready with new Skills, Relevant for new Jobs and Resilient to new changes. With that, I strongly support this Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Desmond Choo.
Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Mdm Speaker, since WDA was established in 2003, it has been instrumental in training, re-skilling and up-skilling our workers. The establishment of WSG is timely, as the Minister has correctly put it, as the Government tries to steer our economy through choppy waters today, and into unchartered territory tomorrow.
We have put in place many schemes to help our workers to get jobs. Yet, there is friction in matching our unemployed to the job vacancies. Like Mr Patrick Tay has mentioned, the number of PMETs getting retrenched has increased. It is also getting harder to place them into the next jobs. Schemes like CSP are helpful. However, we need to expand options for our workers. Indeed, we need to up our game in employment facilitation.
Therefore, I support the Minister's plan to work with best-in-class private placement companies to enhance our national employment facilitation capabilities. In Australia, for example, the JobActive Programme has achieved more than 200,000 job placements since it was started in July 2015. They link jobseekers with job network providers that are based in 1,700 locations across the country. These providers are given cash incentives for successful matching. I need to find out how the Ministry will work with the private placement companies to better facilitate employment facilitation in Singapore.
The larger and more enduring challenge, as highlighted by the Manpower Minister before, is in building a strong Singapore Core which can contribute to the overall Singapore workforce. Enforcement and guidance for Triple Weak companies are, indeed, necessary. And we need to also provide updates to the public on the outcomes of these enforcement actions so that not only is work done but also seen to be done.
More important in building a Singapore Core is to ensure the paths to good jobs in thriving sectors remain open to our young Singaporeans. It is important to note that \"strong\" need not always refer to numbers. Emerging or foreign businesses may require a larger foreign talent pool at the beginning due to local manpower constraints. However, as the business matures, companies must increasingly localise its workforce. Its job profile should also reflect a Singapore Core. This is especially important in sectors that are growing and can provide job opportunities that are aligned with the aspirations of young Singaporeans, for example, in the information technology (IT) and finance sectors.
One way in which we can build a stronger Singapore Core is to ensure that our graduates and mid-level professionals have a level playing field. I am not advocating overly protectionist and protective measures. Being protectionist harms our long-term viability as a business hub. Yet, without further measures, our young Singaporeans and workers may find it challenging to enter Employment Pass-dominated sectors like the infocomm technology (ICT) or move up the ranks in that industry.
Foreign applicants usually have more job experience than our fresh graduates. Landing the job itself is an important first step for our locals. Thereafter, committed company training and career pathways can help them anchor the core of a company. Furthermore, certain high growth and critical sectors such as ICT, needs to be managed strategically. I would like to think that Singapore can only benefit from having more IT bosses like my fellow Parliamentarian, Ms Jessica Tan.
Currently, we know that there is no foreign worker quota for the Employment Pass (EP) category. To help WSG in its mission, rather than a blunt broad sectoral approach, would the Minister also consider a more nuanced and targeted approach – implementing a quota for EP holders, especially in high growth and strategic sectors like IT? This can highlight to companies that they need to not only grow their businesses but also commit to growing Singaporean talent. Importantly, it allows our young Singaporeans to have a more level playing field to succeed. With this, I support the Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Thomas Chua.
Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng (Nominated Member): Mdm Speaker, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Madam, WDA has contributed a great deal to the upgrading of Singapore's workforce. Now, in keeping with the changes in its role, it has been renamed to WSG. I support this decision.
After restructuring, WSG will be responsible for building the Singaporean Core in the workforce for all trades and industries, assist enterprises to maintain their competitiveness, and not have an over-reliance on manpower. This is a role of great responsibility.
Under the double whammy of economic restructuring and manpower shortage, local enterprises need to change their business mindsets and management models. Some businessmen react fast and act swiftly and have already made their adjustments. But some others are still blinded to this reality, adhering to the notion of \"there will be a way out once we reach the bottom of the mountain\", and moving one step at a time, asking for help only when problems arise. I hope that WSG could find a way to communicate with these businessmen effectively, convincing them that a mindset change is necessary to counter the challenges of an ageing population, and to create more attractive employment opportunities for Singaporeans.
These are areas where high value-added industries and emerging industries have a distinct advantage. Multinational corporations (MNCs) and large enterprises have always had the greatest appeal to job-seekers. Those which need WSG's help most are the traditional industries and SMEs. Moreover, these industries cannot be assessed in terms of economic gain but their social contribution. Methods used by some large corporations may not apply to traditional industries or SMEs. For example, the Government encourages enterprises to mechanise and automate; SMEs can buy the machines but have no use for them. It gets even more problematic when the equipment become faulty and become intermittent pains of the overall restructuring process.
During the restructuring process, SMEs realise that change is necessary, but may not have the means to implement the changes. With the setting up of WSG, there will be a specific Government agency to steer enterprises towards creating good job opportunities for Singaporeans, and I hope that with everyone pitching in to work hard, the situation could be changed for the better.
However, a crucial factor is how everyone could play a complementary role. In the battlefield, businessmen need weapons and ammunition. WDA needs to assist businessmen to upgrade their artillery and equipment, while the SSG should be responsible for manufacturing the bullets. This shows that MOM and MOE have to work very closely together in order to reap real benefits for the business community.
Mdm Speaker: Ms Jessica Tan.
Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo (East Coast): Mdm Speaker, thank you for allowing me to speak on this Bill.
With what has been termed the \"Fourth Industrial Revolution\", Singapore, together with many countries globally, is experiencing disruptive changes to business models which are having a profound impact on jobs and employment opportunities.
It is therefore timely that the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (Amendment) Bill seeks to reorganise the WDA as WSG and refocus its functions and duties to enable Singaporeans to have quality jobs and careers and to ensure that organisations can become more manpower-lean and remain competitive.
This change in alignment with the formation of SSG, a new Statutory Board under MOE taking over WDA's functions of adult continuing education and training and the promotion of lifelong learning and the administration of Skills Development Fund, will still require the new WSG to work in close collaboration with SSG. I am glad that clause 9 calls out explicitly the expectation for WSG to, quote, \"cooperate and collaborate with the proposed SSG\", as it \"discharges its function under the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency Bill 2016 when enacted\".
We are already experiencing evolving skills demand, given the rapid changes in both current and emerging jobs. As the Minister had mentioned, in order for WSG to be effective in its function of strengthening the Singaporean Core and promoting the development, competitiveness and employability of the Singapore workforce, WSG will have to work in close alignment with the proposed SSG in matching manpower supply with industry demand for both new entrants as well as the existing workforce.
As we discuss the functions for WSG, I would like to touch on three key phenomena that are impacting employment as well as organisational effectiveness and risks. One, the impact of societal, geographical and technological changes. Two, the \"uberisation\" of the workforce as described by John Bremen from Willis Towers Watson. And third, the impact on women in the workforce.
As highlighted in the World Economic Report 2016 on \"The Future of Jobs, Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution\", demographics and societal trends, for example longevity and ageing societies, a growing middle class, flexible work arrangements, rapid urbanisation, women economic power and aspirations, concurrent with the technological revolution are already and will be expected to have a significant impact on jobs, ranging from a significant job creation to job displacement, and from heightened labour productivity to widening skills gaps.
The rapid pace of change and business model disruptions are simultaneously impacting skills required for both current and emerging new roles across different industries.
It is positive that one of the key functions of WSG as indicated in clause 9 is promoting and facilitating the adoption of human resources (HR) best practices, that is, focusing on recruitment, training, development and managing talent. Because against the landscape of disruption to both employment and business models, businesses, too, will need to play an active role in developing talent regardless of the employment trends or they would be left with a talent gap and an inability to capitalise on the new opportunities emerging.
Even as WSG drives efforts to help Singaporeans assume quality jobs and careers, while addressing industry manpower needs, the employment landscape itself is changing. Models and platforms for how work is organised is changing. We are already seeing an increasing use of contract workers and contingent staff by many companies, both large and small, for lower level and even PME roles, and the emergence of new platforms connecting skills to consumers who need their service. A well-known example is Uber. This changes the relationship of companies with employees and also the face of the workforce. Employee attraction, retention and engagement will change. This, in turn, if not managed effectively, will impact companies in the quality of their products and services, safety, customer experience and increased business cost.
While WSG works with businesses to structure and design jobs to fully tap the value of skills of each worker in order to enhance the quality of jobs and develop talent and improve sustainability, productivity and innovation, there is also a need to understand the needs and challenges faced by workers in a landscape of new and alternative work arrangements.
With the emerging employment trends, there will be a need to enable individuals to build and manage their careers as employees, as contract workers or even freelance or independent workers. There is a need for policies to provide benefits and protection for the diverse work arrangements and how people work.
We have to start thinking of and separating worker benefits and protection from employment with a company. This has larger implications not just for jobs but the job security and financial stability of the individual worker as well as economic and social stability with the growing income gap between those with relevant skills and those without.
The final point that I would like to touch on is that of the disproportionate negative impact on women. The World Economic Forum's Industry Gender Gap Study, the first study of its kind representing more than 13 million employees in nine industry sectors and 15 economies has reported that labour disruptions that we have been discussing will have a disproportionate negative impact on women.
This may be explained in part by the fact that the roles most at risk from automation and disintermediation are held in larger proportion by women or that women are relatively under-represented in jobs that are expected to have the most potential for growth, for example, in computing and engineering; and that women will still make up a smaller share of the workforce. It is therefore imperative that WSG works with companies to tackle barriers to tapping the talent pool of women, given that we, in Singapore especially, have a highly educated and skilled female population in Singapore.
Madam, this amendment Bill is necessary and is more than just focusing on the formation of a dedicated agency to provide an enabling environment to support companies to be successful and ensuring an inclusive workforce.
It will also require individuals to be proactive in learning and owning their careers, and companies to actively invest in tapping all segments of their workforce in training and re-skilling in order to be able to take advantage of new opportunities and to stay competitive. As the Minister so aptly put it, the key is partnership. Partnership to achieve win-win outcomes for all. Madam, I support the Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Dr Intan Mokhtar.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio): Mdm Speaker, the functions and powers of the WSG are significant and impactful, specifically in helping our people remain employable and employed. I support the renaming as well as the revised and enhanced functions and powers of the WSG which complement those of the proposed SSG.
There are, however, a few suggestions that I have which I hope MOM will consider in finalising the functions and powers of WSG.
For clause 9, I am particularly heartened that among the objectives of WSG is to help Singapore Citizens and residents be employable through services and facilities to help them find and keep jobs, and also by working closely with employers and other relevant commerce or public sector agencies to identify and promote the enhancement of industry-specific skills.
While I strongly support this, I would also urge the Ministry to focus not just on employment, reemployment and employability matters, but to consider including doing meaningful work post-retirement as part of WSG's initiatives.
For instance, retired seniors can be trained and assisted to take up positions as healthcare case managers for other seniors who have chronic illnesses or other health conditions. These senior case managers are the ones to regularly and consistently visit the other seniors with chronic illnesses or health conditions to monitor their overall health, vital statistics, check on their diets and medications and whether they are following up with their doctors or healthcare providers.
These senior case managers may not necessarily get a fixed monthly salary but may instead get allowances for transport, meals and time spent, very similar to our existing Pioneer Generation Ambassadors. This, certainly, helps in active ageing.
In addition, retired seniors and stay-at-home mothers or fathers can also be trained to become community caregivers for the elderly or for young children. They can be the ones to provide some caregiving relief to full-time caregivers and support them in their work. Similarly, they may not necessarily get a fixed monthly salary but instead allowances for transport, expenses and time spent.
As our society ages and as our total fertility rate continue to remain low, we need a lot more social and community support from one another and we need to look at how such support can complement employment and employability for our people.
For clause 10, I am encouraged that more will be done to help our job seekers. This is especially so in the current challenging employment market. I hope that such employment assistance will not be confined to just blue-collar workers or para-professionals and that PMEs will also be provided help, including PMEs who are in their 40s or 50s.
For the past six months or so, through house visits and Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS), I have met increasingly more PMEs, especially those in their 40s and 50s who have lost their jobs, been retrenched and could not find employment thereafter, even though they have taken up upgrading courses. They need help, largely because they still need to support young school-going children and elderly parents. I hope WSG can help this group learn new skills and embrace the use of new and smart technologies that can help them in their jobs and careers.
Mdm Speaker, notwithstanding this few suggestions that I have, I fully support the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (Amendment) Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, I welcome the restructuring efforts for Government bodies to specialise in their respective roles, enabling Singapore to have a more targeted push to develop a stronger workforce.
I commend the move to transfer WDA's previously held role in education and training to a new agency. I believe that having separate agencies with a more targeted focus will allow for more robust decision-making. I welcome the amendments, which enables the new agency to play a more extensive role in helping job-seekers find and keep jobs.
In clauses 9 and 10, increasing workforce productivity is clearly stated as a key objective for the agency. In this current climate of slower employment growth and economic uncertainties, it is important for the Government to focus our efforts on boosting productivity and to set up more safeguards than ever to protect our local workforce.
Reiterating what Minister Lim Swee Say said in the Budget debates this year, we need a new breakthrough in productivity growth, or low economic growth will become the new norm, as our international competitiveness will be at risk.
While there have been strong efforts by the Government to increase automation to increase productivity, we must recognise that there are businesses for which there is no or little substitute for human workers. In particular, SMEs and companies in retail, hospitality, food and beverage and construction.
Interestingly, it was mentioned earlier this year that it is precisely these same domestic sectors, such as retail and construction, which were the laggards in productivity growth. In this regard, I commend efforts to look beyond automation to increase productivity to areas, such as job re-design, as stated in clauses 9(c) and 10(c), to render work more fulfilling and meaningful.
Beyond job redesign, however, I would like to ask the Minister what else the Ministry will be doing to help businesses for which there is no or little substitute for human workers, to increase their productivity.
We should also focus our efforts on fostering innovation. Innovative economies tend to have higher productivity growth, measured by indices, such as the intensity of research and development (R&D), patent activity and entrepreneurship. Singapore tends to do very well in both R&D and patent activity, but perhaps less well in entrepreneurship.
Young Singaporeans, relative to their peers in countries, such as the United States, still lack the tenacity and boldness to leap into the riskier field of entrepreneurship, where many unknowns lurk. Without the necessary support, many potential Singaporean Mark Zuckerbergs would give up and too many brilliant ideas would go undiscovered.
WSG will be in close contact with our workforce and companies, and while fostering a spirit of entrepreneurship is not the core focus of WSG, I hope that the two new agencies proposed to strengthen our workforce can also work with SPRING Singapore to look into how we can foster amongst our young a spirit of entrepreneurship, a generation daring enough to step out of their comfort zone and able to intuitively think out of the box.
Lastly, I would like to raise a point regarding the link between workplace satisfaction and productivity. Surveys by Randstad consistently place Singaporeans as one of the least satisfied workforces in the Asia-Pacific. In a 2016 survey, two of the top attributes employees look for were a \"good work-life balance\" and a \"pleasant atmosphere\" – both of which Singapore employers scored relatively poorly on. This was not unexpected, as almost half of our workforce reported that they were working more than the MOM's recommended limit of 44 working hours per week.
In a survey conducted last year, three in 10 Singapore employees were thinking of resigning, citing reasons, such as poor leadership and disinterest in their job. Meanwhile, this problem also seems to plague newer entrants into the job market – the millennials – of whom a high seven in 10 said they were willing to move overseas for the right job.
In a country lauded for its great wealth and top-class quality of life, Singapore's disenchanted workforce is perhaps the white elephant in the room. This is something any new agency with a mandate to help our employees must take a serious look at. To remain competitive, we need to ensure that our workforce is not one which is simply productive, but also fulfilled and serve their roles with enthusiasm with collective achievement.
There are many high-profile cases where a happy workforce can transform a company, and this can be applied to Singapore's economy. In this regard, I would like to ask the Minister if the new agency will look into how we can turn the tide of these negative survey results on workplace satisfaction.
Madam, I have complete trust that the proposed WSG will thrive under MOM and will bring Singapore forward to a new era of strong productivity and economic growth.
Mdm Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): As SkillsFuture gets its own agency, WDA will be renamed WSG and focuses on employment and workplace practices.
I would like to take this opportunity to bring up an issue that has always been discussed by my residents, especially those with young children, that is, flexi-work.
Research has shown that flexi-work can increase productivity. In one study, call-centre workers increased their productivity by 13% when they were allowed to work from home and that is just short-term productivity. Long-term productivity probably increases as well, as workers feel happier, can balance their personal lives and are less likely to quit.
Flexi-work can benefit our society in other ways, too. Workers can find more time to pursue lifelong learning or have kids. Many people have told me that they cannot make it to their children's childcare centre on time.
Just last night during my MPS, a resident came and spoke to me. She said that she has to reach the childcare centre by 6.00 pm in Yishun and she works in town and, for every minute that she is late, she will have to pay $5. So, she said it is very difficult. And if they can work from home, then they can work the same amount of time and still make it to their children's childcare centre. Even peak hour traffic might decrease.
It is not just about working from home. Flexi-hours in office will help as well. I have a friend who lives in the United Kingdom (UK) and he recently came to Singapore. He and his wife have a three-year-old daughter and they take turns to pick their daughter up from the childcare centre. He said that on the days that he has to pick up his daughter, he will go into office two hours earlier and he will leave two hours earlier. So, in fact, the childcare centre, according to him, closes at 4.00 pm, but they have no problems in bringing their daughter home.
So, if we can have similar flexi-hours, I am sure many of our residents will be happier to have more babies. How many percent of our companies can allow this? A survey in 2014 showed that 47% of companies in Singapore offer at least one form of flexible work arrangements.
But if we look deeper into the survey, most of the flexible arrangements offered were part-time work. Part-time work is not suited for everyone. It often means less pay, lower bonuses and no promotions.
For people who want to work full-time, only 12% of companies offer flexible work hours. Less than 10% offer staggered hours and permanent working from home arrangements. If we want to harness the benefits of flexi-work, then these numbers need to go up by quite a lot.
Furthermore, companies offering certain options do not mean employees will take them up. Another survey in 2014 showed that, of the companies that offer flexible working arrangements, only about 15% of workers make use of long-term flexible arrangements.
This could be due to the culture of \"face time\" in local companies. Many employees feel that they have to be in the office until the bosses leave the office. We work, on average, 44.3 hours a week, and that is 50% more than the Germans. But our gross domestic product is not 50% more than theirs! This shows that we are not as productive during office hours.
I urge employers to make their culture friendlier to flexi-work, and employees to boldly ask for flexi-work arrangements they need. Some countries have laws that say employees cannot be penalised for asking for flexi-work. Perhaps, we can look into this. I note that the Government has provided more grants to employers who introduce flexi-work and I look forward to the positive results. Allow me to summarise in Chinese.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] A survey revealed that companies that allow workers to have flexi working hours and to work long-term from home account for less than 15%. If this ratio can be increased, I believe that it will increase our productivity and also enable our people to enjoy better work-life balance and thereby encourage more people to join the workforce.
The Government has already increased the grants to companies which have flexi-work arrangements. I hope this can work. Moreover, we should also encourage employees to actively approach the employers to discuss flexi-work arrangements so that they do not have to resign.
As I have said earlier, I have a friend who lives in the UK and came to Singapore recently. He and his wife have an adorable three-year-old daughter. He said he and his wife have to pick up their daughter from the childcare centre on time. When it is my friend's turn to pick up his daughter, he would go to office two hours earlier so that he can leave the office two hours earlier to pick up his daughter. He said that this is a very common practice in the UK.
We hope that such practices can also become common in Singapore and hopefully, it can encourage Singaporeans to have more children.
(In English): Madam, I support this Bill and hope WSG will further promote all types of flexible working arrangements.
Mdm Speaker: Minister Lim.
Mr Lim Swee Say: Mdm Speaker, I thank the Members for their support of this Bill.
Firstly, on the issue of extending more support to PMETs, I agree with Members Mr Patrick Tay, Dr Intan Mokhtar and Mr Desmond Choo on their call for WSG to do more and to do better for PMETs.
As I have mentioned earlier, we are cognisant of the issues faced by PMETs, especially those mid-career, in their 40s and 50s. At the same time, we also recognise that with the faster pace of restructuring, many of them in their mid-career will be affected even more. This is the reason why we will speed up the process of extending PCP to even more sectors, as the Member Mr Patrick Tay mentioned, in terms of how we can be more responsive and flexible.
This is our intention. We are going to customise PCP sector by sector because the issues involved in professional conversion vary across sectors. So, we intend to customise for that.
In the case of CSP, I agree with Mr Patrick Tay that we ought to find ways to create greater awareness. I assure the Member that we are working on some breakthrough ideas so that CSP will become more widespread, not just among the employees, but also the employers as well.
At the same time, I also want to emphasise one point again as we extend additional support to PMETs. WSG will do its very best, but no matter how much it does, on its own, will not be enough. We intend to strengthen our partnerships. For example, in the case of NTUC, the U PME Centre is doing a great job under the leadership of Mr Patrick Tay. I hope that WSG can, likewise, extend our partnerships with U PME Centre and all the other partners as well.
Mr Desmond Choo suggested that we should strengthen public-private partnerships in job placements for PMETs. I fully agree. We studied the experience of Australia and the UK. We concluded that with the right design and incentive structure, it is possible to encourage employment agencies to be more jobseeker-centric, rather than client-centric. We are now working very actively with the industry and we intend to partner some of these \"best in class\" employment agencies. Soon, you will hear some of our new initiatives in this area.
Ms Jessica Tan spoke about the impact of disruptive change at the workplace on workers, all sorts of workers, especially for women. Again, I fully agree. In fact, we share the same concerns about job creation as well as job disruption. This is the reason why we are going to pay greater attention to not just a traditional work arrangement, but emerging work arrangements as well mentioned by Ms Jessica Tan – freelancing, contract workers, and independent workers.
Ms Jessica Tan may be happy to hear that WDA, or the soon-to-be WSG, has formed partnerships with associations and the NTUC to reach out to the freelancing sector. We even customise our PCP for the freelancers working in the creative industries. More, obviously, will be done. I also want to assure Ms Jessica Tan that we will be working very closely with SSG to match skills with job and employment. Employment and employability – the two will have to go hand in hand.
In terms of support for the industry and, in particular, for SMEs, as highlighted by Mr Thomas Chua and Mr Louis Ng, again, we share their views completely.
In the case of SMEs, we have stepped up our support for SMEs with the Lean Enterprise Development (LED) scheme. Mr Thomas Chua highlighted a very important point. As SMEs go through a process of restructuring, the kind of support they need is quite holistic – manpower, technology, funding support and, most importantly, ideas on how to transform their businesses.
Under the LED scheme, all the Government agencies have come together. We started the LED scheme in October last year and, since then, all the agencies, including SPRING, Infocomm Development Agency (IDA), WDA and NTUC e2i, are all working together. We are now providing a one-stop service to all SMEs.
I am also very happy to say that SMEs are also beginning to come together. For example, just last week or two weeks ago, we worked with about 10 Indian restaurants. Many of them have restaurants in Little India. During one meeting with them, they told me that many of the Indian restaurants in Little India may have to close down, and I said, \"If that happens, that will be a national disaster\". I asked them what is the problem and they told me that the problem was manpower. They are not able to attract enough locals to join the sector, for example, to become a local chef trained in Indian cuisine. At the same time, due to the manpower quota limitations, they are not able to hire enough foreign workers to meet their requirements.
After working together for about one year now, finally, we have achieved a breakthrough. Just two weeks ago, we opened up a new central kitchen for this group of Indian restaurants. What they did was – as mentioned by Mr Thomas Chua – individually, they are not able to invest in the technology, mechanisation and automation. Each piece of equipment costs from $20,000 to as high as $200,000, and there is no way each of these restaurants could make that kind of investment.
Under the LED scheme, we brought them together. These 10 restaurants jointly invest in this central kitchen and, as a result, they are now able to improve their productivity, and at the same time, minimise their manpower requirement. What is even more exciting is that at this central kitchen, we will also be training local chefs so that in time to come, the Singaporean Core in these Indian restaurants and sector will be strengthened as well.
We believe that if we are able to get more and more SMEs to come together, not individually, but collectively, we can speed up the process of not just mechanisation, but innovation breakthrough, as mentioned by Mr Thomas Chua as well as Mr Louis Ng.
Ms Jessica Tan and Er Dr Lee Bee Wah highlighted the impact of the future workplace on women. We fully agree. If you look at the labour force participation rate and the employment rate, these are high in Singapore by global standards. But compared to the rate for males, there is still room for further strengthening. In other words, there is still a lot of scope for us to work together to tap more on our women workforce, as highlighted by both hon Members.
The tripartite partners have been working very closely together to make our workplace family-friendly. In Singapore today, under flexi-work arrangements, we focus on three thrusts: first, flexi-place, including working from home; second, flexi-time, including starting work two hours earlier, ending work two hours earlier; and third, flexi-load so that a person can decide whether I want to have a 100% load, 50% or 75% and so on.
We are making very promising and very steady progress but obviously, there is a lot more that can be done. We will take up the suggestions by Ms Jessica Tan and Er Dr Lee Bee Wah to see how we can push this forward.
Mr Louis Ng asked what kind of additional support we can give to sectors and businesses where the human interaction cannot be mechanised. In other words, some sectors focus more on high-touch. With high-touch, does it mean that there is no scope for us to introduce technology? The answer is no. We believe that high-touch and high-tech both can go hand in hand. We have helped some businesses to be more high-tech and, as a result, we free up the manpower to focus on high-touch services.
One example is in the retail sector. Many of the workers spend a lot of their time doing stock-taking. Under the LED scheme, we help them to install radio-frequency identification (RFID) in all their sales items. As a result, they are now able to do their stock-taking within minutes, at the most, hours. You just use the RFID reader, do a scan in the shop, within minutes, the stocktaking is done. As a result, the workers are now being retrained to spend more time not on stocktaking, but serving customers, doing upselling and so on. So, I think the two can go hand in hand. We will do more of that.
On the foreign worker issue, Mr Desmond Choo asked whether we can implement a quota for EP holders, particularly in the high growth sectors like IT. Mdm Speaker, I want to emphasise time and time again that, in Singapore, we are tapping on foreign manpower, including EP holders to bridge the three gaps in Singapore.
Firstly, the number gap. In many sectors, we just do not have the number, whether it is engineers in the wafer fab or sales staff in the retail sector. We just do not have the numbers. So, we need the foreign manpower to complement the shortage and bridge the number gap. A second gap is the skills gap. In Singapore, our workforce is a good one but we cannot claim to have all the expertise that we need, especially in new growth sectors. And thirdly, is the timing gap. For example, with SkillsFuture, we can speed up the training and upgrading of manpower to meet our future needs. But it takes time. Therefore, we need foreign manpower to meet our numbers gap, the skills gap and the timing gap.
The extent of the gaps varies across sectors. Some sectors face greater challenges in skilsl gap, whereas some sectors may face more of a numbers gap issue. Every sector has different challenges. Also, as each individual sector goes through the process of development, at various stages of development, again, they have different challenges.
A new growth sector, for example, bioscience. In bioscience today, our manpower expertise gap is a lot greater compared to sectors which are more mature. And as a result, if we try to impose a quota on EPs across all the sectors, even for selective sectors, I think it will be very difficult for us to strike the right balance. If we impose it too tightly, it will stifle the growth of our economy. If we make it too loose, then, it will offer no protection for our local workers.
Therefore, what we have been doing, and I think it is the right thing to do, is to be smarter in the way we make use of the foreign manpower by maximising the complementarity between the foreign manpower and the local manpower. As I mentioned in Parliament in the Committee of Supply debate this year, we have already redefined our EP framework not just to look at the qualification of individual EP applicants, but also to look at the industry, to look at the company and, along the way, we provide closer scrutiny to what we call the \"triple weak\" companies. At the same time, we encourage more of them to become \"triple strong\" so that we will see not just a stronger Singaporean Core, but also the transfer of know-how to strengthen the complementarity between the foreign workforce and the local workforce. I want to assure Mr Desmond Choo that our determination to strengthen the Singaporean Core is a real one. We have already taken action and we will continue to push for that.
Mr Patrick Tay suggested that WSG conduct research into underemployment. I agree. I believe this is one area brought up by Ms Sylvia Lim during the COS as well. MOM is equally concerned about whether there is underlying growth in under-employment, not just time-based but also in terms of actual utilisation of the full potential of manpower. I will take the Member's suggestion into account when we formulate the WSG's research agenda.
Dr Intan Mokhtar suggested that we should provide retirees and stay-at-home parents with meaningful work such as caregiving in the community. Again, I agree. I support her idea, and I believe that the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) are already working on this, and WSG will certainly support the various Ministries.
Madam, I would like to conclude by touching on a point brought up by Mr Louis Ng which I think is a very important one – how can we ensure that more businesses will do a better job in managing their human resources. This is one of the key challenges we face moving forward. I have said it time and time again that our local workforce is ageing and growth is slowing down very rapidly – from growing at 4% a year in the first half of the decade this year to about 1% by 2020, which is just about four or five years from now.
As we go through this transition, human resource has to be viewed as our human capital. Human resource is not just a number, a person for you to use, but it is for us to invest in. The more we invest in human resource, the more valuable this human capital will be in our future economy. In that regard, I would say that this will be more than just a priority of WSG, but one of the top priorities of MOM, together with the tripartite partners as well. We have formulated the sectoral plan for human resource. We are now in the process of formalising it, launching it and getting it implemented.
In conclusion, Madam, we have to go through a fast pace of change. We are not the only one. I started by talking about G20. Let me end with G20. At the G20 Labour and Employment meeting, having expressed the concern with this slower economic growth, slower job growth, the conclusion amongst our G20 Labour Ministers is that we have to ensure that this innovation growth will be as fast as possible, as smart as possible. They use terms like rapid innovation, smart innovation, pervasive innovation. So, we are not the only country or economy that is trying to run fast. They, too, are trying to run fast with innovation, with technology. And yet, at the same time, they all recognise that this innovation-driven growth must also be an inclusive one. Otherwise, they will not be able to solve their problem with high youth unemployment and sticky unemployment.
We, in Singapore, I think this is an area we have done better than them for many years. And this is the reason why in Singapore our economic growth has been healthy. But more importantly, we have been able to create enough good and meaningful jobs for our people.
Moving forward, the same challenge remains. Yes, we must move fast to make every job a better job, move fast to make every worker a better worker but, most importantly, let us make sure that we progress in sync between these two to ensure that every better job will be able to find a better worker and every better worker will be able to find a better job. So, with that, we, hopefully, will be able to arrive at a state whereby every career in Singapore can be a better career for all Singaporeans. Madam, with that, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Lim Swee Say]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
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The Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) (Mr Ong Ye Kung): Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
The purpose of this Bill is to provide for the establishment of a new Statutory Board to drive the implementation of SkillsFuture. It will be known as SkillsFuture Singapore, or SSG in short, a new abbreviation to remember.
Madam, the establishment of SSG represents yet another milestone in Singapore's journey to build a nation of learners who have the drive to continually pursue their interests and passions, upgrade their skills, apply themselves productively, and master their craft. This is a journey which started decades ago, which I would broadly categorise into three phases.
From the first phase, broadly from the 1950s to the 1970s, we were learning to survive. The key imperatives were to impart basic employability skills, raise levels of literacy and numeracy, and stem high unemployment rates. The Adult Education Board, or better known as Lembaga to many Singaporeans, was formed in 1960 to train our adult workforce. Singapore Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic were also established during this period.
In the 1980s, we were moving up the value chain, contending for choice investments and learning to compete. Many key elements of the supporting infrastructure for lifelong learning were born during this period. For example, the Skills Development Fund (SDF) was established in 1979 to support workforce skills upgrading. The Vocational and Industrial Training Board (VITB), which evolved into the present-day Institute of Technical Education (ITE), was also founded then in 1979. The German, French and Japan-Singapore Institutes, set up with the help of multinational corporations (MNCs), were combined to form Nanyang Polytechnic.
By the turn of the century, Singapore's economy had already achieved significant breadth as well as depth. So, we entered the third phase, which is learning for life. The public education and training landscape evolved into one of many pathways that an individual may choose to pursue. We established more institutions, such as the Republic Polytechnic and the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). Existing institutions started to roll out various programmes, part-time, full-time, pre- and post-employment training, across many industry sectors and career stages.
At the same time, the Government established the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) in 2003 and helped to accelerate a shift from an employer-centric skills adult training system, to one that placed greater focus on the individual.
WDA worked with private training providers to set up Continuing Education and Training Centres, or CET Centres, which offered subsidised training directly to workers. Such supply-side interventions meant that training subsidies were made directly available to individuals, with or without their employers' sponsorship. The learning for life phase is therefore most notable for empowering individuals, and encouraging each one of us to pursue our interests and what we are best at.
Madam, I recount this historical process because they laid the foundations for SkillsFuture today, in three ways. First, we have developed a high-quality education and training landscape, anchored by strong institutions, both in the public and private domain. Second, we have started to draw tighter linkages between work and training, by encouraging the participation of employers in skills development and ensuring the relevance of skills training programmes. Third, we have also started the shift towards greater individual ownership and empowerment.
So, the launch of SkillsFuture in 2014 is a continuation of this evolution process. But SkillsFuture is more than just schemes and programmes to drive higher productivity and mastery, and it is certainly not just the $500 Credit; it is also about societal mindsets, and the way we value and recognise people of different talents, beyond traditional definitions of success.
As its very name suggests, SSG's mission is to take SkillsFuture forward in the long term, by: first, developing an integrated, high-quality and responsive education and training system; second, strengthening a culture of lifelong learning and pursuit of skills mastery; and third, fostering employer recognition and ownership of skills.
We are restructuring WDA into SSG and WSG, with SSG being part of the Ministry of Education (MOE) family. This is not for administrative or bureaucratic neatness but is to draw better synergies between the work of MOE and SSG. To do so, in the immediate term, SSG will focus on five key priorities:
First, we will better leverage post-secondary education institutions, in other words, autonomous universities, polytechnics and ITEs to deliver training and development for adult workers.
Under SkillsFuture, these institutions will expand their range of programmes to support skills deepening for adult learners, by offering more bite-sized and industry-relevant courses. These can be delivered through centres or units within those institutions dedicated to adult training and lifelong learning.
As a Statutory Board under MOE, SSG will coordinate and increase the range and quality of these skills-based training programmes offered by both the Post-Secondary Education Institutions (PSEIs) and private training providers.
The second priority is to integrate work and study for a responsive skills training ecosystem. This is something that is already in progress. For instance, WDA currently champions the SkillsFuture Earn-and-Learn Programme, in which fresh polytechnic and ITE graduates undergo on-the-job and classroom training to deepen their skills.
Looking ahead, SSG will work in tandem with PSEIs to increase the scale and scope of implementation of the Earn-and-Learn Programme and facilitate more extensive workplace training and pilot the cooperative model of education at the university level.
Today, MOE is expanding and enhancing its education and career counselling services in schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs). WDA has, over the years, built up capacity to advise workers on career options, training pathways and assist them in their job search. This is an area that requires more work as there is a greater interest amongst adult workers now to go for training because of SkillsFuture Credit. Under this new structure, all these resources from WDA today will be grouped under SSG.
So, the third priority is that as work and study grow to form more of a seamless continuum, there can be greater coordination between SSG and the education and career counsellors in education institutions to help all learners, students as well as workers, to discover their strengths and interests, chart their learning pathways and their careers.
The fourth priority is to expand skills-based progression pathways by facilitating the interoperability of qualifications. As far as possible, what you learn under one qualification system can be recognised by other qualification systems. This will better ensure that every training achievement is a step forward, in a system where there are no dead ends.
For example, graduates from Singapore Polytechnic's Earn-and-Learn Programme leading to an Advanced Diploma in Applied Food Science will now be able to progress to SIT's Bachelor of Food Technology with Honours, with exemption from the 28-week work portion of the Integrated Work Study Programme. In the coming months and years, SSG will drive the advancement of such arrangements and bring about interoperability of qualifications across the education and training landscape, at a systemic level.
The fifth priority of SSG will be to harmonise the accreditation and quality assurance systems of WDA and the Council for Private Education (CPE) today. Today, WDA and CPE are separate Statutory Boards that run different quality assurance and regulatory frameworks for adult training and private education sectors respectively. With the establishment of SSG, the regulation of the private education sector will now come under SSG. The considerations for regulating adult training and private education are somewhat different, but we can rationalise and streamline wherever we can to reduce duplication and for better efficiency.
As a first step, SSG will cross-recognise registration and accreditation requirements for selected training providers that are currently subject to both WDA's and CPE's requirements. These changes can take effect by the time SSG is formed.
Mdm Speaker, I will now turn to the Bill and outline the key Parts and the clauses.
Part Two establishes the SSG Agency and details the powers and functions of SSG. Clause 5 under Part Two outlines the functions of SSG. In the performance of its functions, SSG will address the current, emerging and future workforce skills requirements, ensure a responsive system of education and training, and look into increasing workforce productivity and Singapore's international competitiveness. I will now describe in detail some of the key functions of SSG.
First, SSG will facilitate skills acquisition and lifelong learning through planning and developing policies, programmes and services that provide or support the provision of adult and further education; promoting a national approach to such education and general enthusiasm for lifelong learning; undertaking research relating to such education; and identifying the key skills and competencies needed by the Singapore workforce.
Second, SSG will facilitate the improvement of quality of courses in adult education or further education provided in Singapore. This can include accrediting or facilitating accreditation of providers of adult or further education.
Third, SSG will foster and ensure the collaboration between SSG and WSG where there are areas of synergies. This SSG function will be enabled by a specific clause in the Bill on cooperation and collaboration with WSG. The same clause is also mirrored in the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (Amendment) Bill that has been passed.
Clause 6 describes the powers accorded to SSG to allow it to carry out the stated functions which I have just described. Other general powers of Statutory Boards, such as the power to enter into agreements and enact financial decisions and so on, are also included.
I will now deal with Part Three to Six of the Bill, which set out the corporate structure and governance of SSG, and the personnel and financial provisions.
Part Three provides for the appointment of the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and other members of the governance board of SSG, their tenure, remuneration, conditions for qualification, as well as conflict of interest disclosure requirements.
Part Four sets out the procedures for meetings of the governing board. Clauses 34 to 36 under this Part provide for the appointment of committees for purposes which are better regulated and managed by committees. SSG can delegate the performance or exercise of any of its functions or powers to such committees, amongst others.
Part Five covers personnel matters, including the appointment of the Chief Executive, the treatment of employees as public servants for the purposes of the Penal Code, the need for preservation of secrecy, and the protection from personal liability for performing, in good faith and with reasonable care, functions under this Bill.
Part Six of the Bill provides for financial provisions of SSG and contains the standard provisions found in the Acts of other Statutory Boards. SSG will have to prepare annual estimates of income and expenditure for each financial year, with separate estimates for the SDF, which will come under the charge of SSG.
Part Seven deals with the administration and enforcement powers of SSG. The powers are largely similar to those provided for the performance of functions under WDA today.
Part Eight of the Bill concerns the transfer of undertakings from CPE and relevant parts of WDA to SSG. Specifically, clause 66 defines and provides for the transfer of relevant assets and liabilities of CPE and relevant parts of WDA to SSG.
Finally, Part Nine deals with consequential and related amendments to other Acts. This includes the setting up of a Committee for Private Education under SSG to undertake its powers and functions under the Private Education Act.
As the administration of the SDF will now come under SSG, consequential amendments are being made to the Skills Development Levy Act. This is done through clause 74. With the establishment of SSG, there could be overlaps between the stated functions of SSG and ITE today, as well as between SSG and the Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (SPRING). Clause 76 makes consequential amendments to the ITE Act to simplify and remove this duplication. Clause 77 does likewise for SPRING.
Mdm Speaker, in conclusion, this Bill provides for a new organisational structure within the Government to further the efforts of SkillsFuture. This will ensure a responsive and industry-relevant system of education and training, in which every person is a lifelong learner in the pursuit of skills mastery. Mdm Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mdm Speaker: Ms Denise Phua.
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng (Jalan Besar): Madam, this Bill seeks to set up a Statutory Board, SSG, to focus and coordinate the operations pertaining to the national SkillsFuture movement.
As I studied this Bill, which I understand is meant to be operational in nature, I cannot help but feel that there is nothing very exciting mentioned on either skills or the future. It belies the significance of SkillsFuture as a national movement to provide Singaporeans with the opportunities to develop their fullest potential throughout life, regardless of their starting point. The SkillsFuture website promises that a variety of resources will be deployed to help Singaporeans own a better future with skills mastery and lifelong learning. I, therefore, hope that when the Bill is passed, the tone of the Act is merely an understatement of the exciting mission and breakthroughs that SSG is expected to deliver.
Kudos to the many supporters of the SkillsFuture team and the many agencies behind it. So much has indeed happened since the SkillsFuture movement was launched two years ago. Let me name a few. Of course everybody knows the $500 SkillsFuture Credit; Education and Career Guidance (ECG) at schools; Earn and Learn Programmes (ELPs) for ITE and polytechnic students; Enhanced Internships; Individual Learning Portfolio which is coming out in 2017; Study Awards; Mentoring Scheme and Sectoral Manpower Plans.
While all the pieces make sense each time they are presented, I fear the day when we cannot see the forest for the trees. As a member of the former SkillsFuture Council and now the combined Council for Skills, Innovation and Productivity (CSIP), I have sat through enough meetings led by the Chairman Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shamugaratnam, to \"double confirm\" that the intent of the SkillsFuture movement is to future-proof the skills of Singaporeans and Singapore businesses.
The Minister himself, no less, said that people often mistake SkillsFuture for a funding scheme, training programme or an organisation. He said it is not any of those. Rather, it is \"everything we do to create a future that is different and better than today, in the way we look at work and careers, and the way we develop ourselves and our next generation\".
SkillsFuture is not simply about tapping on the $500 Credit to attend the big menu of courses at our Community Centres. As they say, \"Don't use, so wasted!\" or in Mandarin,\"不用白不用\". It is not simply an active ageing programme. It is not just a scheme to persuade one to either not sign up for university or to sign up later.
It is not about reviving the Training, Consulting or Mentoring industries. It is not just about doing up Sectoral Human Resource Manpower Plans to see how we can attract more talents for each selected industry sector. It is not just about doing the same thing that we have to do anyway and then branding it as SkillsFuture – what I would term \"old wine in new wine skin\".
SkillsFuture has to be more than all that I have mentioned. And the new SSG Agency established with the passing of this Bill, must live up to its name – focus on Skills and Future! All members of the agency must envision the future of the industry, of our nation and future-proof the skills of our Singaporeans.
As it scrutinises the current and potential initiatives, SSG must administer the acid test of whether all these ideas will help Singaporeans future-proof themselves and maximise their potential.
We must strive towards the day when fewer and fewer of our people and businesses are surprised when they find that their jobs or those of their loved ones become irrelevant or, worse, suddenly disappear, disrupted by business models or technologies or the sharing economy revolution that we did not see coming; or did not do anything about even if we knew they were coming.
The new SSG agency is, therefore, our bastion of hope to secure our future; to ensure that the major remains the major and not lose focus that we are trying to build a future for our people.
For the Bill to live up to its name, there are three areas I would urge the Minister to consider: (a) to build strong expertise in the three critical pillars of Content, Pedagogy and Assessment; (b) to become the Uber for current service gaps in some post-education spaces, for example, I will talk about a Special Education Academy in special education space; and (c) to be bold enough to Create and Chase Our Own Rainbow.
First, on building strong expertise in the three critical pillars of Content, Pedagogy and Assessment. Content or What to Learn.
Madam, futurists have predicted that more than 50% of jobs will disappear by 2030, replaced by new jobs requiring new skills and new competencies. For content, we must build a 21st Century Curriculum that provides access by individuals and businesses to new literacy subjects ‒ more than just English and Mathematics and so forth ‒ to add on, such as basic coding for some of us, or basic e-commerce for some of our businesses.
It is not business as usual. We need to consult. We need to abandon the traditional mindset of discarding or hijacking ideas that are \"not invented here\". There is no way that career educators, who are used to working within the confines of school buildings, systems or classrooms, can hold the monopoly of ideas. SSG must try to research, invest and build bandwidth in \"sunrise\" new industries. Not an easy task but very necessary.
Next, on SSG's expertise on Pedagogy or How to Deliver Learning. Over the years, I have spoken at length on how e-learning platforms and blended learning platforms are the future of the day. I spoke on how our students, many of whom are digital natives, cannot be left to learn only as far as their adult teachers can or will learn. I spoke on how best education resources and best practices must be made available online and otherwise so that more learners can access them, to level the playing field. I spoke about the potential of an open architecture to which content developers can contribute, where content can be curated and transformed into modules that can be distributed to more learners.
I am not the only one thinking about this. At the school level, MOE has promised an e-learning space. At the tertiary level, I have observed different IHLs trying out different Learning Management Systems, some of them re-inventing the wheels of locating, negotiating the best platforms. I believe it is the role of the Government and, in this case, the SSG agency, to consolidate and share these learnings in pedagogy as I fear that by the time we think we are ready, the game is over and our investments hitherto would have been wasted.
Building SSG's expertise on Assessment or How to Test if One Has Learnt or Mastered a Skill. Madam, there is a strong need to add to the repertoire of assessment modes, the currently popular ones being standard written tests and project work. Madam, we Singaporeans are known for our ingenuity in finding ways to ace examinations, especially written tests. But because PSEIs are a close link to the industry, how we assess and report on results will become the proxy by which employers evaluate the candidates they seek to employ. The SSG agency should work closely with industry to enlarge the assessment and selection toolkit so that there is more focus on skills, aptitude and not just standard academic results.
Next, for the Minister's consideration, to become the Uber for certain service gaps in the post-Secondary education space, such as in special education. At this point, Madam, I want to remind the Ministry about the scope of this Bill, on whom this Bill is meant for. It is not a Bill just to future-proof those who can study in the existing PSEIs. It is for all Singaporeans. Singapore is a nation. It is not a business entity. It is not Singapore Inc. We do not leave behind those who are at risk. We do not throw the crumbs while the rest of us feast and continue to learn what others do not. Every one of us deserves to maximise our potential, whatever level that potential is deemed to be.
Our Singapore brand of lifelong learning must be inclusive. It must include those of us who learn and contribute differently. I am thus a little bit disappointed to see no mention of persons with special needs or their educational needs in the Bill. The cliff-effect of learners, especially those who graduate from special schools, is real. The cost of not helping them to continue learning and to renew their skills is high as they may otherwise seek higher cost social services, such as day activity centres, because they are no more relevant to the workforce. There is also an upside in that a number of adults with special needs may be able to take on jobs in our very tight labour market. But even those with special needs who found jobs earlier, will find that without continual customised training and support, they will soon lose their jobs.
The current efforts by SG Enable need more boosting and scale. SkillsFuture for this group of Singaporeans is necessary but may have to innovatively take on a different complexion, with strong collaboration between SSG and other relevant Government agencies, voluntary welfare organisations and the private sector.
One model that I would advocate in this regard is the formation of a Special Education Academy that can become the Uber or Airbnb in this learning space. This Academy, which may be a blend of physical and online presence, need not provide content itself, just like what Uber does, it does not own any vehicle. It should work with the key disability groups for proper needs analysis and development of curriculum and learning solutions for persons with special learning needs. It must align with the Bill's intent to focus on skills and the future.
To support this, I propose that a fund be set aside, very much from the existing SDF, very much like the way MediFund is set aside in the 3M system in healthcare.
And, lastly, for the Minister's consideration, to be Bold to Create and Chase Our Own Rainbow. We have spoken for too long about our admiration for the German and Swiss vocational and training systems. These systems are backed by a culture of centuries of ingrained mindsets that honour craftsmen and strong private-public education ventures. They are not hindered by bias that has plagued us for generations: our bias against sometimes blue-collar workers and our love for scholars and white-collar jobs.
Singapore has our own ITEs and polytechnics. Let us forget about trying to become like the Germans and the Swiss. I suspect that in the future, the dichotomy between vocational, applied education and academic pathways will be blurred. So, let us gather a group of dream-makers and chase the rainbow, and create our very own Singapore excellence model in post-secondary education. A dream that will allow us to master skills to not just make excellent products and services like the Germans and Swiss, but also to market them well like the Americans, in the case of Uber, Airbnb and so forth.
In conclusion, like a typical kiasu Singaporean, I, for one, believe that we can get there, that space. I am confident that SSG, under the Minister's guidance and the team behind him, can blaze the trail for post-secondary education, but only if it will not simply do business as usual. I am prepared to be part of the solution to contribute to SSG's purpose to secure the future of Singaporeans. And I guess Singapore can count on us. Madam. I support the Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Leon Perera.
Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): Mdm Speaker, the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency Bill aims to bring about a far-reaching change in our adult education and training landscape by establishing an agency that is solely focused on adult education in ways that are intimately linked to economic goals, such as employability, productivity and innovation. Clearly, in the 21st Century, these are all critical arenas for us to succeed in as a people and as an economy. We do need to take adult education and training far more seriously to enhance economic goals and also individual career progression. It makes sense from the standpoint of our economy, as well as from the standpoint of individual self-actualisation.
Mdm Speaker, I would like to raise a few suggestions in relation to the goals associated with establishing SSG, according to this Bill.
Firstly, the quantum of SkillsFuture funding that individuals can now draw down in the form of the SkillsFuture Credit is too limited to effectively nudge individuals to take up more extended and expensive training courses that would cultivate deep hard skills, in particular, in future-ready industries. I believe others have commented on this point frequently. Would the Ministry consider, as part of the goal-setting process for SSG, to require that the agency develop a wider variety of co-funding models whereby more extensive Government funding will be provided, perhaps on the condition of the availability of matching funding from employers, industry associations or other stakeholders to enable individuals to take up such courses that are more expensive and more extensive?
Secondly, part and parcel of setting good key performance indicators (KPIs) is setting up good measurement systems. In relation to the new SSG, will the Ministry implement some process to measure the impact of SkillsFuture initiatives on the actual employment outcomes of individuals who benefit from SkillsFuture programmes? Would the Ministry regularly publish such indicators for public and Parliamentary scrutiny? And would such measurements go beyond measuring correlation to measuring causation, that is to say, would such measurement disentangle other causative factors and focus on the impact of just the SkillsFuture programmes normalised for other causative factors? In this way, Mdm Speaker, we can really enhance the effectiveness and national return on investment of SkillsFuture year by year, as opposed to merely highlighting good outcomes that may or may not be directly tied to the actual programmes.
Next, aside from assessing the quality of training in adult education, will SSG go beyond this to stimulate the development of new training and education content in Singapore and how would it do so? I do have a suggestion in this regard. There is a golden opportunity here. There is a large base of local education and training providers and this represents an economic opportunity as well. With the support of SSG, we could create training content that not only enhances employment outcomes for Singaporeans, but will also become exportable services that help drive economic growth and good job creation at home.
There is also an industry that undertakes high-quality translation of such content in the Asian languages like Chinese and Malay. The new SSG could work with economic agencies to grow this translation industry in Singapore to generate foreign source income streams.
Lastly, I would like to highlight one particular group of stakeholders that would benefit from SSG, which is Singaporeans who are serving their prison terms within our penal system.
Mdm Speaker, SSG would be in a position to be proactive in delivering training content to Singaporeans serving prison terms through e-learning platforms or other modalities, other means of reaching out to this particular group of people. And if such Singaporeans could benefit from such training while they are serving their terms, that would make it better for their prospects, rehabilitation and help them to integrate better into the economy as productive contributors to the economy, perhaps even as entrepreneurs upon their release. I would urge SSG to consider this particular group and to take that on as one particular goal that it addresses.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Desmond Choo.
Mr Desmond Choo (Tampines): Mdm Speaker. I stand in support of the Bill. The SkillsFuture movement seeks to prepare Singaporeans for a future that places new demands on jobs and earning a livelihood. It does so through promoting lifelong learning and skills mastery.
This Bill will take SkillsFuture into its next phase. The institutionalisation of SkillsFuture shows that it is not just another policy to be implemented, but it is a movement critical in charting our future. For this movement to be pervasive and sustainable, it must have, at its core, a mission to provide better jobs and better lives for Singaporeans.
There is much to be said about learning and acquiring skills and knowledge as an end in itself. In fact, this intrinsic thirst for learning is critical to mastery and job security. Indeed, both are intrinsically linked. But for the movement to build momentum and gain traction, it must, first, be able to translate how training and learning can lead to better jobs and better job security especially in this current economic climate.
Madam, workers want to train meaningfully and purposefully. In the Labour Movement, during our interactions with workers, the most asked questions are: how can these courses help me to get better wages? How can learning this help me to find the next job? And are these the future skills that we need to stay secure? Answering these questions allow people to see how SkillsFuture can positively change their lives.
Let me now touch on another point. With MOE overseeing SkillsFuture, how can we ensure that this will not only be a movement for the younger Singaporeans? There is a need to prepare our young Singaporeans for jobs that do not exist today. But we should also focus on our current workforce. Every year, 40,000 to 50,000 polytechnic and university students enter the workforce. But this number is small compared to the current resident workforce of more than two million people. How will the new agency work with WSG, MOM, employers and unions so that the agency can be in touch with the type of skills that are needed in the workforce now and tomorrow? Indeed, perhaps, it is the work with the existing workforce that will result in substantive productivity gains that Singapore is striving for.
A key initiative under SkillsFuture is the Earn and Learn programme (ELP) which is a work-study programme to give fresh polytechnic and ITE graduates a headstart in their careers. This is a good initiative but understandably limited in scope and capacity as it is still new. How would initiatives, such as ELP, scaled up to reach a bigger group of graduates nationally? Will SkillsFuture also have a similar programme for working adults or will that be part of WDA and now WSG's Place and Train programme?
Clearly, mapping training to skills, to jobs is critical to helping workers decide what to train for. Equally important is the final mile, that of facilitating workers to train. Online delivery of courses is the right way to go. Yet, many courses require hands-on training. Many workers, especially those on shift find it very difficult to go for training. How can the agency help workers especially those in sunset industries and on shift work to go for training? Can it also consider subsidising in-company training so that the workers can have more options to improve themselves?
We should also consider how we can protect and maintain the integrity of the SkillsFuture framework. For example, it was reported that there are companies offering cash or vouchers when Singaporeans sign up for courses, an indirect way of cashing out on the SkillsFuture Credit. This is reprehensible and must be stemmed. How will the agency act to ensure that guilty parties are punished and the system is robust enough to prevent such incidents from happening? Will the agency have the requisite enforcement capabilities?
Madam, my last point is on outcomes of SSG. How would the new Statutory Board measure its success? More people utilising SkillsFuture Credits and going for courses, picking up new skills are important. However, I encourage the agency to adopt employment outcomes as one of its core KPIs. This will correctly set in context what the mastering of future skills means for workers and, that is, better jobs and better lives. With that, I support this Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Assoc Prof Randolph Tan.
Assoc Prof Randolph Tan (Nominated Member): Madam, first, I would like to declare my interest as an employee of the Singapore Institute of Management University (UniSIM) which has a large enrolment of working adults and is registered under CPE.
Madam, the passing of this Bill will signify a major step forward for the SkillsFuture initiative. It will herald the creation of an entity that will see the SkillsFuture philosophy further take shape. This is more than just bureaucratic re-shuffling because we will then have a public face to go with the name, a national entity to take on the eponym of what has already become one of the most salient aspects of Singapore life today.
Although SkillsFuture is in many ways unique, Singapore has not been alone in awakening to the urgent need to plug the skills gap in the labour market. Many countries, especially advanced economies, are concerned about the gap between workforce skills levels and those demanded by employers.
In South Korea, for instance, the government has given industry a leading role in creating a set of National Competency Standards for job competencies, which the state then certifies and disseminates. In September 2013, South Korea also introduced its \"Work-Study Dual System\" of apprenticeship training. And just recently, in July, the then-Skills Minister of the United Kingdom (UK) announced a radical overhaul of their system of technical education. Thousands of courses which are considered ineffective are now being replaced, with the system simplified to provide 15 high-quality routes. More importantly, employers will be setting the standards.
Madam, as countries around the world modify their approach to preparing entrants to the labour market, what they are doing is jostling to get a headstart in ensuring that the next generation of workers are much more nimble in adapting to the needs of the market. In the future landscape which these countries and we are trying to prepare for, growth rates will have to be eked out despite slowing population growth, an ageing workforce and disruptive technological advances.
The challenges are already apparent in many ways, such as with polarisation in the jobs market, leading to a hollowing out at the mid-skills level. The structure of employment opportunities is changing to produce significantly different rates of job creation at different points of the skills spectrum.
Madam, I believe we are already seeing evidence of this occurring in Singapore. At one extreme, employment and earnings prospects for the highly trained PMET roles have been surging ahead for quite a while. At the other extreme, there has been a high demand for low-skilled manpower for many years and this was, to some extent, met by foreign manpower infusions. In fact, I strongly believe this was one of the main factors which influenced our reliance on foreign manpower for many years. This is similar to the observation in advanced economies like the United States (US) of improved jobs opportunities at both the high and low ends of the skills spectrum, but a significant deterioration in opportunities for middle-skill jobs.
Even in China, which is the last country we would expect to worry about labour shortages, we see the manufacturing sector there turning to robotisation, a fact which the Minister for Finance recently explained in this House during his Budget round-up speech. Although China is not yet an advanced economy, its economy has been developing so rapidly that certain sectors, such as those in high-end manufacturing, are displaying signs of the same polarisation phenomenon I have mentioned earlier.
When we look more closely at Singapore, Madam, we find that at the top end, the demand for highly-skilled workers is not being fully met by the supply from our tertiary-trained cohorts, mainly because our small population cannot cater to every niche area of specialisation. At the low end of the skills spectrum, what we also find is that demand exceeds supply regularly, ironically because our education system has successfully ensured that almost every citizen reaches minimal education standards. One of the things we did not have was a large formalised structure of apprenticeship training which would channel mid-skilled aspirants directly towards the roles in demand within specific areas, and this is one of gaps which the new SkillsFuture intends to plug. Of course, apprenticeships themselves can also vary in appeal but that really brings us back to the key driver, in my view, behind the polarisation process, and that is the race for the best paying jobs. We should not underestimate the effort required to make apprenticeships attractive even under SkillsFuture.
Expectations will build about SkillsFuture, about how it will aid in protecting our workforce against specific longer-term challenges caused by outdated and inadequate skills. Some types of expectation, however, will have to be tempered by reality. Employers will still have to contend with a tight supply of manpower in the short run, even as they participate in schemes to provide training places which are aimed at addressing their long-term needs. And there will be some tension between the two, which employers will look to the new agency to help them navigate.
In any case, an important aspect of SkillsFuture is the emphasis on relevant skills. While it may be possible for an individual to disregard relevance temporarily, for the economy as a whole, being productive without being relevant to the demands of the economy is definitely not viable. So, the SkillsFuture drive should prioritise the long-term goal of an overarching framework so as to create potential, and not be concerned only with short-term gains.
As the SkillsFuture initiative progresses and as the agency develops as an institution, just as with other institutions in Singapore, anticipation will also begin to grow about funding. Already, an extraordinary amount of the focus of SkillsFuture has centred on the SkillsFuture Credits. This is natural, of course, and one of the stated functions of the new agency is to provide funding for the provision of adult education.
Adequate funding is clearly important, and a lack of resources can severely impede progress of the initiative. However, I hope we will be cognitive of the fact that while national funding is necessary, it is only one of several factors that are needed to ensure that demands for the provision of adult education are met. By itself, funding is not sufficient and we should be mindful not to trigger a spiral in which funds chase after limited resources. Rather, the alignment of the agency's goals with the long-term aspirations of the Singapore workforce, as well as the commitment of individual workers to the fundamental ideal of a desire for self-improvement, is much more important.
I would now like to point out two areas, which are related to each other, which I hope the Minister can provide some clarification on.
First, section 5(2)(a) of the Bill identifies Singapore workforce productivity and international competitiveness of our economy as key priorities of focus of the new agency. Given the challenges of defining and implementing measures of productivity that are relevant and appropriate, should this not be more carefully qualified?
Second, given that SkillsFuture is an investment for the long term, and taking into account the multifaceted nature of the proposed agency's functions, what will be the approaches taken to assessing the performance outcomes of both the SkillsFuture movement as well as the agency? In addition, if there are plans to implement measures of performance for SkillsFuture, will a distinction between the short-, medium- and long-term horizons be factored in? Please let me elaborate.
My concern is not with the designation of productivity improvement as a clear goal, because this is part of the bold vision of the Bill that I clearly support. My concern is that if the difficulties with productivity measurement are not qualified, whether this would mire the agency before it even gets around to dealing with the core of the issue.
While the primary concern at this point in time is how to make up our productivity shortfall, the SkillsFuture drive itself is much more important for the long term. SkillsFuture looks at capacity building, without which not just productivity but the essential viability of our local workforce will be called into question.
One way to look at this difference is to ask how critical productivity actually is. Of course, without productivity, we all know that we would not be able to justify our wage increases. However, how critical then is the SkillsFuture drive? If we do not make the necessary improvements on this score, we may end up facing not just productivity issues, but also shortfalls in our future productive capacity. The latter could lead to a litany of problems, such as a lack of competitiveness, unemployment and under-employment, all of which other economies are painfully familiar with.
Next, there is also the difference between the long term and short term in considering the performance of the economy. In some cases, one may have to allow for a trade-off. For the present Bill, this should be particularly relevant because education and training often require making short-term sacrifices. This is something which students I meet in UniSIM, adult workers and adult learners are very familiar with. I think it is very important to emphasise the long term because this is where personal drive and motivation have a critical bearing on the final outcomes. Government policy can only push so much. When the going gets tough, individual motivation will be needed to make the final mile.
Finally, an important practical reason for preferring a longer-term focus on performance is that sometimes, short-term productivity performance may deteriorate even when you are doing the right thing; conversely, short-term productivity could actually temporarily improve in certain absurd situations.
In conclusion, Madam, this Bill serves as a blueprint for the realisation of the SkillsFuture initiative. This is particularly timely, in view of the current juncture which our economy has reached. Workers in possession of a strong foundation of relevant skills are needed in order to be able to maintain an even keel during the ongoing process of deep restructuring, as well as to embrace the future economy with confidence.
In a dynamic and globally competitive environment, such workers will be able to provide the drive and steering needed for a vision of the future. I support this Bill, Madam.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Henry Kwek.
Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, please allow to make the speech in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Speaker, as Acting Minister Ong Ye Kung once said in this House, \"Our children are growing up in a new world, striking paths into a Singapore that is more inclusive, all-embracing, and a place where we can celebrate diverse talents and gifts. Education must be at the heart of this journey, guiding them in purpose, equipping them with skills and helping them seize the opportunities of their age.\"
I could not agree more with the vision Acting Minister Ong has set out. We need to support Singaporeans to find and pursue all kinds of dreams. This is vastly different from a traditional education system. So, SkillsFuture Singapore will have to change mindsets at the national level. This is a very important mandate that cannot be achieved overnight. I have two suggestions here.
Firstly, we should allow children to try out different areas from a young age. As Acting Minister Ong once said, the Government has the duty to understand global trends and to signal to the people what are the areas to pursue.
I am confident that the SkillsFuture agency will be able to effectively spot the trends and include them in the course mix. While we do so, I hope our educational system in the upstream can also take in future-oriented skillsets and let our children learn them early. For example, we all know that programming, learning to deal with machine learning and artificial Intelligence are all important.
The rest of the world are not standing still. Malaysia will start incorporating computational thinking skills and computer science into their primary and secondary school syllabuses next year. We also need to incorporate such future-oriented skillsets into our curriculum. I hope that SkillsFuture can provide insights into how our children can come into contact with various new areas.
Secondly, we should also take reference from industry transformation maps. The Government has mapped out industry transformation maps for certain industries. SkillsFuture needs to align itself with the maps and support Singaporeans to develop mastery that the market needs. But this step will probably take some time. So, I hope that our public can give the SkillsFuture agency more time to work hand in hand with our economic and manpower agencies so that we can get our plans right as much as possible.
I would also like to raise one particular issue. I discovered that the sharing economy can bring many opportunities for mature and disabled workers. I hope that SkillsFuture and WSG can look into this.
We all know that many mature and disabled workers feel very apprehensive about the future. Our Government has done a lot in this area by co-paying the salaries of mature workers and disabled workers, and by raising the age of re-employment from 65 to 67 to encourage employers to re-employ these workers.
Despite that, some employers still do not want to risk hiring mature workers, especially when these workers do not have the relevant work experience. Many mature and disabled workers I talk to do not even get the chance to get interviewed.
I believe the sharing economy can be the light at the end of the tunnel for them because, for consumers, the risk they undertake when they parcel out a one-off job is far smaller. For example, if you are taking a ride from Uber or finding someone to do electrical work or plumbing on ServisHero, the consumer does not ask about the age or unrelated disabilities of the person providing the service. What matters is whether they get good reviews. Already, from what I know, Uber has some hearing-challenged drivers and they are using technology to overcome the communication barriers between them and their passengers.
At the same time, the sharing economy provides choices if our people do not want to or cannot work full time. They can make use of opportunities that the sharing economy affords. While such job opportunities in the sharing economy are largely service-related, over time, the opportunities created could be more diverse.
We should note that the sharing economy is usually conducted via online platforms. Many mature workers or workers with disabilities may not be familiar with such technology. SkillsFuture could roll out training courses to teach them how to make use of these online platforms so that they can manage their reviews online and offer better services.
Of course, there are mature and disabled workers who still need full-time jobs. However, the sharing economy can play an important complementary role. Together with the SkillsFuture courses, they can provide a stepping stone towards ideal jobs for the workers.
I believe that dreams cannot be just castles in the air. We must have the knowledge, skills and determination to make them come true. So, I support this Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Ms Thnaletchimi.
Ms K Thanaletchimi (Nominated Member): Mdm Speaker, I welcome the Bill with enthusiasm as it places important emphasis on adult education and relevance of skills for the current, emerging and future needs of the Singapore workforce and acts with responsiveness to the needs of the companies and employers for a skilled workforce in relevant areas and sectors.
The young should learn skills and acquire knowledge in careers or jobs which they desire and must long to deepen their skills. And those in employment or are retrenched should be given an opportunity to develop in new industries with suitable relevant skills. As what Peter Senge said, one must be willing to \"learn, unlearn and relearn\" and to add more, be willing to embrace lifelong learning as this is the part that we savour as Singapore's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) for the workforce of today and tomorrow and for years to come.
An article by Minister Ong Ye Kung published on The Straits Times website on 21 April 2016 eloquently explains that \"SkillsFuture is about three big ideas\", more appropriately known as a movement instead of just a scheme, as it encompasses the three \"M\"s. The first \"M\" is me or ourselves. We should be chasing after what we are interested in and what we are talented in or what we are prepared to devote our life to in order to become a master at it. \"Mastery\" means being a master at one's craft. It involves continuous learning and being at the top of the game or craft. And the third \"M\" is \"Meritocracy\" which means recognising a person for being good at what he is doing.
Madam, I sincerely hope that SSG can be pivotal in encouraging and supporting a SkillsFuture movement, that is, a journey in itself that needs to complement our education system. It needs all parties, not limited to the Government, but employers, associations, licensing bodies and unions, to commit to come together to ensure employability of our people so as to meet the needs of our economy. SkillsFuture Credit given to each Singaporean is certainly a booster for individuals to come into the movement.
Having said that, is there a concerted effort to make sure that there is skill mastery that can match the current, emerging and future needs of our economy? The Skills movement, if it is much desired, needs to gain momentum and can the Government go beyond promoting public awareness and encourage enthusiasm for lifelong learning? And how will it do so?
Support for apprenticeship. In regard to the support for apprenticeship model, can the industry players play a greater role in supporting apprenticeship and on-the-job training that is applicable and transferrable within and out of the industry? How can we help change the mindset that focuses on academic qualifications over applied industry skills and knowledge that are trialled and tested? How can we harmonise and synergise these?
On the roles of unions and licensing bodies, what roles do the unions and licensing bodies for certain professions play in the development of the SkillsFuture models and frameworks? I do not see that being emphasised in the framework.
Can the licensing bodies play a bigger role in accreditation and certification? Can the union, that is, union leaders and its members who are themselves experienced working people in various industry sectors, including PMEs, take on the role of career counsellors for the young? Can the Minister consider an active involvement of the unions with the young but soon-to-be working people?
Of late, there is also grave concern with private education and training providers. Especially with the announcement of SkillsFuture Credit, these providers sprung into action to provide varied courses and training programmes. How can we then ensure high teaching standards of our private institutions and how do they measure up? How applicable and credible are these private institutions? How do we ensure the standards of teachers and trainers at the private institutions, and maybe even lecturers and teaching assistants at polytechnics and universities? How can we help to facilitate the development of the private education sector, which is very important? In my opinion, there must be a concerted effort to maintain standards and help level up the capabilities of these institutions.
On the need for gatekeeping of SkillsFuture Credit, perhaps, we should have more independent career coaches who do not have vested interests in the courses provided by their own companies. This will go towards helping people make better informed decisions. Can licensing bodies and industry players play a greater role in the approval of courses listed in the Approved List of Courses?
What are the financial incentives offered by SSG to the working people and training providers? Will there be abuse of such incentives? For example, the $4 hourly allowance given to working people for attending courses may attract interest on the wrong track.
On the composition of SSG members, does this cover all industry sectors? For this will ensure employers' full-hearted participation to upskill and deepskill the existing workforce. Workers, too, must do their part to gradually get used to the idea of continuous learning.
Madam, my hope and desire for each and every working person of Singapore is for them to be ever relevant with skills, walk the talk of lifelong learning and succeed through the test of times as the next wave of industrial and technological evolution sets in to prey upon us if we are left unguarded. Let us be well-informed of what the future skills, jobs and careers are that we can look forward to and equip ourselves to be nimble and adaptable and ever ready to embrace change and brave the challenges of time. Madam, with this, I fully support the Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Melvin Yong.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye (Tanjong Pagar): Mdm Speaker, I stand in support of the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency Bill, a Bill that serves as a catalyst to encourage individuals to take charge of their lifelong learning needs. It also shows that the Government is 100% committed to developing a quality workforce which is equipped to meet the needs and challenges of the future economy.
Recently, I attended a presentation by a company on their masterplan to use new technology and automation going forward. They showed a nice video where goods and vehicles are moving fast and autonomously. It was all very exciting. However, during the break, the worker came up to me. He told me that he was worried. He could not find himself in the video. His job was not in the video, not in the future of the company.
Mdm Speaker, current jobs are evolving, and new jobs are being created every day. Our future generations of workers must understand the importance of acquiring work-ready skills and they must never stop learning. Likewise, our older workers need to embrace learning so that they continue to stay relevant. Current skill sets need to be upgraded and new skills need to be acquired so that our workers remain employable and are able to add value to their jobs.
In this speech, let me focus on the mid-career workers, in particular, PMEs, and how more can be done to ensure that the SkillsFuture initiative impacts them positively. Many of our mid-career PMEs, having worked in a particular industry or in a certain job function for a number of years, become contented in their \"comfort zones\". And some could be fearful of change.
We need our PMEs to, first, find it within themselves to want to explore or learn new skills and develop their interests professionally. Such is best exemplified by the \"MasterChef\" reality television series, where individuals participate in a slew of gruelling cooking contests to become professional chefs. These contestants come from all walks of life. Regardless of age, they have something in common – that passion for cooking, and they are not afraid to pursue their dream of becoming a professional chef. This is the spirit that I hope our mid-career PMEs can emulate.
How can we help Singaporeans leverage their interests and pursue them on a more professional level? On the Government's part, the proposed SSG is one good way, and it will need to develop a wide range of courses to cater to the different interests of our people. It will also need to ensure that these courses are relevant to those seeking out a second career option. This brings me to my second point − to increase awareness on the courses available.
I note that one of the functions of the proposed SSG will be \"to promote public awareness in Singapore of the importance of adult education and further education and encourage enthusiasm for lifelong learning\". Many people I spoke to during my worksite visits and house visits told me that they know about the $500 SkillsFuture Credit. However, there are challenges, like not knowing how to use it, not having the time to use it or not being able to go for training courses due to work patterns like working shifts. SSG will need to explore ways and deepen its efforts in helping people understand and appreciate the value of the training courses available. Communication channels must be targeted effectively towards the different groups, different segments of workers.
Thirdly, we need the strong support of employers. A nurturing company that is willing to invest in the continuous training and lifelong learning needs of its employees will see that their employees are more loyal and more motivated. When the trained staff applies newly acquired knowledge to their work, it helps to boost the productivity levels of the company.
In fact, we already have companies which are supportive of the national SkillsFuture initiative and are leading by example. One is Singtel, which signed a memorandum of understanding with WSG in January this year, to collaborate on building a pipeline of skilled ICT and customer service professionals through programmes like Place-and-Train. It is also applaudable that Singtel grants its staff two extra days of leave each year to attend SkillsFuture courses. I hope that SSG can persuade more such enlightened companies to come on board to similarly support the SkillsFuture initiative.
Mdm Speaker, to allow our economy to flourish in challenging times, our people need to embrace the SkillsFuture initiative. It will be tough to keep up with the macro changes if we do not see the value in upgrading our skillsets. As SSG strives to establish a comprehensive learning infrastructure, I urge Singaporeans, especially our PMEs, to spare a portion of their valuable time and invest it in skills upgrading.
The drive to succeed has to come from within ourselves and we need to seek the support from all stakeholders to continually upgrade our skills, to pursue new skills. It is time to take ownership of our lifelong learning needs. It will be an investment with great rewards. Mdm Speaker, I support the Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Thomas Chua.
Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng (Nominated Member): Mdm Speaker, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Speaker, having read the objectives and functions of the SSG, I support the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency Bill.
This Bill brings vocational education and lifelong learning under the jurisdiction of MOE. This is a very fundamental change in the national education concept. In order for this concept to succeed, we cannot just rely on the Government and Statutory Boards. It is important for all enterprises and trade associations to be actively involved.
Changes in Singapore's demography have already created serious manpower challenges. The ageing population, higher educational standards, low fertility rates and the continued decline in new workforce are some of the contributing factors. At the same time, some workers lack the skills to cope with the restructuring economy, and, with the curbs on foreign workers, the manpower woes faced by businesses are becoming more apparent.
Even as businesses are unable to find workers, there are reports in the media on university graduates who are unable to find jobs. MOM statistics show that between 2007 and 2015, the employment rate of local university graduates has declined, from 94.5% to 88.9%. Among these, the employment rate of graduates working full-time dropped from 89.8% to 82.4%, while the employment rate of those working part-time has risen from 4.7% to 6.6%. This is, certainly, a regrettable situation. This predicament prompts the question of whether the nurturing of talent via our education system has been too advanced to match real market needs. Students are educated in an ideal environment, with the latest technology. However, when they enter the job market, they may find that the work requirements are less advanced than the skills they had learnt. Although we are constantly urging SMEs to upgrade their work environment and to build up their brands, the process of transformation takes time.
Thus, setting up the SSG, putting basic education and continuing education into one integrated system, and treasuring every Singaporean's social value, allowing education and training to directly complement the needs of society, are a significant mindset change for the Government. Under the coordination of MOE, SSG could work closely with ITEs, polytechnics, universities and private training institutes to make timely adjustments to the skills training framework according to market requirements.
However, my reservation is that once SSG comes under MOE, would MOE have a comprehensive understanding of employment needs? Would it be sufficiently in-depth? At this stage of economic transformation, market changes are not only accelerated but complex. Emerging industries need manpower, and so do traditional industries, while MNCs have the greatest appeal for young people. When the Government started to promote SkillsFuture, large companies started to get involved and provided internship opportunities to compete for the best talent. In this regard, SMEs are at a real disadvantage.
In the current vocational education system, including polytechnics and ITEs, there has always been a mismatch in supply and demand. Some students are choosing a discipline blindly with no understanding of the industry. They only find out after graduating that they do not like what they studied. Some have graduated but do not enter the job market and hope to pursue further studies; there are other students whose areas of study are too advanced and cannot be applied in local enterprises. All of these scenarios aggravate the manpower shortage.
Hence, I do hope that when SSG draws up its policies, it would look after the interests of traditional industries and SMEs and not only consider the high value-added industries or emerging industries. Enterprises can only function if they have people. Without people, it is pointless to discuss anything. Basically, we have to fill our stomachs before considering growth.
In this area, trade associations can play an important role. Every trade and industry association fully understands their manpower needs and could provide the latest industry development scenarios. Local trade associations must collaborate closely with MOE and SSG to tailor the skills framework for specific industries and to make the necessary preparations for the future growth of their industries. Grooming talent entails a continuous process and mutual coordination. Each stage has its focus. Participating in the training process as early as possible could narrow the gap between manpower needs and the supply of talent.
Looking back, MOE has undergone many strategic changes in direction, from the mode of survival in 1959, to the direction of effectiveness in 1979, on to skills in 1997, and to that of value in 2011. Now, with the establishment of SSG, MOE will coordinate the manpower plans of all trades and industries and look after the lifelong learning journey of every individual. Hence, I earnestly hope that MOE could balance the relations between the education system and manpower needs, and that in this crucial period of economic restructuring, it could adapt to the changes in the environment and restructure the workforce to continually provide the Singapore economy with skilled and quality talent, and enable each and every Singaporean to realise his or her full potential.
Mdm Speaker: Ms Joan Pereira.
Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar): Mdm Speaker, I fully support the establishment of SSG to take charge of our national initiative for lifelong learning and skills upgrading.
New developments in technology are driving change at our workplace at an unprecedented pace. Without constant refreshment and upgrading, our workforce will find it increasingly difficult to stay relevant in the global market.
SkillsFuture allows Singaporeans to take ownership of their own learning and is flexible enough to support evolving career needs and personal interests at different life stages. Individuals can choose from a wide range of studies and skillsets from various accredited institutions island-wide.
My main concern, however, is how to get our seniors to benefit from SkillsFuture and develop the relevant skills. I acknowledge that our elderly are not a homogenous group but, indeed, most of them are not as well-educated nor Internet-savvy.
It is important for the Government to find out in greater detail what occupations our older workers and seniors are in, where they aspire to go in the next stage of their careers or post-retirement and develop related courses and programmes suitable for them. I would like to ask if the Ministry has already looked into this aspect and if the current list of accredited SkillsFuture courses has taken it into consideration.
The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), a study of adults' skills by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), had recently found that there is a big gap between our older and younger workers. Singaporeans aged between 16 and 34 ranked second in problem-solving using digital tools, fifth in numeracy and ninth in literacy. Those aged 45-65 scored lower than the OECD average. They ranked 31st in literacy and numeracy skills and 18th for problem-solving.
The difference in scores is among the widest, compared to other countries, although OECD attributed it to the reason that the survey was conducted in English here, which many of the older generation in Singapore are not as proficient in.
The survey also found that about 12% of Singapore adults had no prior experience with computers, compared to the OECD average of 10%. This is a phenomenon of concern and should be rectified as we are a highly connected economy and depend heavily on ICT in the workplace. Our older workers are, hence, particularly vulnerable if they are unable to keep up with developments in IT usage skills. This has a great impact on their ability to stay integrated at work, and those without IT skills will suffer from depressed wages or, even worse, retrenchment.
English is the main language of the Internet and I would like to ask the Ministry how it intends to overcome the challenges of teaching seniors, who are more comfortable in their mother tongues, computer usage skills. Will the Ministry need to open more English proficiency classes to cater to older Singaporeans, especially those from the lower-income groups who had little education in their youth?
I was heartened to read a recent press report that our polytechnics had increases of between 15% and over 60% in part-time students over the last few years. More and more of those in their 50s or 60s are signing up for part-time diploma courses, attending classes after a long day at work. They shared with the journalist that they were usually tired but persevered because they wanted to improve themselves and got a sense of satisfaction from learning something new.
I hope the Government will eventually look into mandatory time-off for upgrading courses to be hardwired into employment contracts to support employees' upgrading. Singapore's working hours are amongst the longest in the world but we are not the most productive. This indicates that our work culture and employers' attitude need to change from emphasising \"face time\" to focusing on efficiency and actual work done. Mandating a prerequisite number of hours to be set aside for upgrading courses will help to keep our workforce up to date and enable them to be more productive. I would like to conclude with my support for the Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, I recognise with enthusiasm the growing emphasis the Government is placing on lifelong learning. We started in 1979 with SDF as our first training initiative at the national level. Today, we are about to welcome a brand new agency to helm the national objective of continued learning. In this regard, I stand in full support of the Bill.
The job market is changing in ways and at a speed not seen in the past. It is of utmost importance to ensure that the Singapore workforce continue to develop \"skills for the future\" and be well-prepared to predict and plan for medium- to long-term manpower needs. A culture of constant upskilling must be instilled among Singaporeans to help them stay ahead of changing workplace trends.
Today's workforce is also different, as young people spend the earlier part of their career on a journey of self-discovery. SkillsFuture will provide them with a window to explore alternative skills and career tracks with little opportunity cost as they can pursue classes alongside their full-time jobs.
Mdm Speaker, I would like to raise two points with regard to this Bill. Firstly, I would like to ask the Minister if there are provisions in place to ensure that the quality of private courses is upheld.
Clause 5(1)(h) highlights accreditation of providers of adult education. Private institutions can quickly take advantage of the influx of Government funding for their courses, taking in more students at the expense of the quality of their courses. Will there also be checks in place to ensure that course providers do not inflate their course fees? How does the Government decide which private education courses enjoy accreditation and which do not? For example, if a Singaporean would like to pick up a course on film-making, there is currently only one SkillsFuture-approved institution and course available, although there are many similar courses available in the market.
It is also the students themselves who can best testify if the courses are relevant to their needs. In light of clause 5(1)(i), to improve the quality of courses, can the Minister clarify if a mechanism will be put in place to measure the students' levels of satisfaction for the course and course provider?
Secondly, clause 5(1)(f) refers to the need to instil enthusiasm for lifelong learning. I could not agree more with the importance of this function. This ensures that we do not miss the point that as we encourage adults to embark on self-improvement, we do not run the risk of turning adult learning into a mere paper chase. A certificate is not an end-all, and what this new agency must focus on is to instil a genuine curiosity for learning, a desire for self-improvement and the resolve to take ownership of one's career. These are the hallmarks of a motivated, robust and highly adaptable workforce, ready to take on the rapid changes in the 21st century workplace.
Employability is measured by a complex matrix of attributes, including not just hard skills, but inherent behavioural attributes, such as resilience, creativity, risk-taking and curiosity – traits which are not often considered the core strengths of the Singaporean workforce. These are soft skills which can never be taught in a classroom, much like attempting to teach children moral values through textbooks.
As we shine the spotlight on adult learning, I urge that we continue our efforts to improve the mainstream education system, giving children space outside of the classroom to acquire soft skills and instilling a genuine desire for self-learning and discovery from a young age.
These comments notwithstanding, Madam, this Bill can only serve the interests of Singapore's workforce, and I stand in support of it.
Mdm Speaker: Dr Intan Mokhtar.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio): Mdm Speaker, this SkillsFuture Singapore Agency Bill is a significant one. The functions and powers of SSG complement that of WSG, where SSG will focus on the facilitation of skills acquisition and lifelong learning, as well as the accreditation and assurance of training providers, and the regulation of the private education sector.
I strongly support the establishment and the functions and powers of SSG. There are, however, a few suggestions that I have which I hope MOE will consider in finalising the functions and powers of SSG.
In clause 5(1)(d), I urge the Ministry to consider including, as part of SkillsFuture initiatives and training, PEIs that are more well-established and have proven track records of accredited programmes and qualifications, as well as high employment success rates of their graduates. There are programmes and certification courses in these PEIs which are attractive to skills upgraders and which add diversity to the post-secondary and tertiary education landscape. It is important to ensure the quality of programmes and include only PEIs that are well-accredited and have high employment or career progression rates for their graduates. And I trust that SSG will continue the work of CPE in monitoring the quality of programmes and courses provided by these PEIs.
We must recognise that when our people go for further training or upgrading courses with such post-secondary institutions and other providers of adult or further education, the expectation is that the new qualification or certification of skills that they obtain, can help them progress in their careers or have better job prospects. Hence, it is equally important for SSG to work closely with these institutions and providers to ensure that the programmes or courses provided are relevant to the requirements of the global and local markets. It is a shame if even after undergoing further training, skills training or upgrading programmes, one is not able to have better job prospects or progress in one's career.
In addition, there are also smaller private companies or organisations that conduct non-academic programmes, such as culinary or coaching courses, which are also useful in helping us upgrade and further hone our skills that may be useful for career progression or even to take up a distinctly different second career. I hope that SSG will also consider working with such companies or organisations, provided that they are able to prove their track records and the content and credibility of their training courses.
For clauses 9 and 10, I urge the Ministry to appoint members of SSG who are of a good mix. They should not just be academically qualified, but also have substantial industry experience, including that from the private sector, and of having worked overseas. I believe that one of the objectives of SSG is to train and help our people be future- and global-ready. Hence, it is imperative that the members and advisors of SSG be those with relevant and adequate global experience and skills which are dynamic and current. Mdm Speaker, please allow me to say a few words in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] SkillsFuture will provide a wider platform for our community to continue upgrading their skills and obtain certifications that will provide various job opportunities. I hope that our community will seize the opportunities that are available through the initiatives and programmes under SkillsFuture.
I would like to urge them, regardless of age or formal educational level, to pick up the courage to change their careers if the new career can provide the opportunity for a more stable job. SkillsFuture can help those who wish to change their careers receive training and obtain skills that will be relevant to their new careers.
I would also like to urge our community to understand that the opportunities presented through SkillsFuture are not limited to enhancing the knowledge and skills that are relevant to their careers. SkillsFuture also provides opportunities for us to pursue lifelong learning so that we can continue to be active even as we get older. I believe that SkillsFuture will be useful in the active ageing process of our community.
(In English): Mdm Speaker, notwithstanding those few areas of concern that I have expressed earlier, I fully support the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency Bill. May the establishment of SSG provide more and better opportunities for our people in terms of education, training, retraining and skills upgrading and, thereafter, better employability and employment prospects.
Mdm Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, I applaud the Government for setting up SSG. This shows the Government's commitment to helping Singaporean workers survive and thrive in a world that is changing faster than ever.
Many people may not be aware that the real wage in Singapore has grown 1.1% per year from 2011 to 2015. Meanwhile, real wages in the US have been basically stagnant over the past four decades, and in Britain and Germany, they have been stagnant over the past decade. I think we can see how that has affected their societies and politics. By contrast, Singapore has managed to protect rank-and-file workers, to a certain extent, against global trends of technology displacing workers.
At the same time, we must not forget that real productivity growth was at only 0.4% per year in the same period. Wage increased 1.1%, but productivity only increased 0.4%. So, we have some way to go in our productivity drive. Given that sectors with higher productivity growth have higher real wage growth, productivity growth is key to our workers doing well in the years to come.
I have noticed an issue in our push towards continuous learning and high productivity. From the feedback from my residents, it seems like there may be some mismatch. The courses that the residents wanted to take are not in the list of SkillsFuture Credit courses. And the courses that are available are not those that they want. So, according to my residents, SkillsFuture credits cannot be used for certain professional qualifications like Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Information System Auditor. And these are qualifications that are highly sought after in the marketplace. Perhaps, there are other professional courses that the residents wanted to take as well.
I think SSG will have to periodically review the courses offered and include courses that Singaporeans request for if they are suitable. This will enable it to fulfil its mission of funding courses that are responsive to the needs of industry.
Another potential issue is the number of people using their SkillsFuture credits. About 18,000 used their credits in the first three months of the programme. But the number could taper off as many people do not find the time or motivation to upgrade themselves. I hope SSG will come up with a plan to reach out to Singaporeans who have not used their credits yet. SSG could remind them of their credits and offer guidance on how to use them.
There are also course providers who jumped onto the bandwagon, hoping to make money from the Government. According to my residents, there are course providers who hard-sell their courses at shopping centres and busy town centres.
According to one resident, he was approached by a course provider at Khatib central. So, he was told, \"You don't need to pay. The Government will pay for it. At the end of the course, you will get a free iPad.\" He signed up for an English course for adults. And he said that when he started to attend the class, the course instructor was not well-prepared and was from another country which is predominantly Chinese-speaking. The way he puts it, \"I hope there will be more audits on the quality of the instructors and how well prepared they are.\" Please allow me to summarise in Chinese.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Government is setting up SSG to demonstrate our commitment to lifelong learning. Data shows that after inflation adjustment, real wage in Singapore has grown 1.1% per year, higher than many developed countries. However, our productivity growth was only 0.4% per year. Hence, we must raise our productivity so that Singaporeans' salaries can rise in tandem.
Some residents told me that the SkillsFuture credits cannot be used for some professional certifications, such as internal auditors or IT auditors. I hope SSG can periodically review people's feedback, and consider adding or removing some courses. After SSG is moved to MOE, I hope it will continue to communicate with MOM on our manpower needs and promote lifelong learning to benefit Singaporeans.
(In English): We can continue to coordinate manpower needs so as to maximise its benefits to our economy and our people. Mdm Speaker, I support the Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Acting Minister Ong.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: Mdm Speaker, first, I want to thank Members for supporting this Bill and for recognising that these are not just boring legal clauses. This is a very exciting mission ahead and a new structure for us \"to chase our own rainbows\".
I want to start with Mr Melvin Yong's comment about the worker who saw the video and said, \"My job is not in there\", and also Mr Thomas Chua's point that there are still many traditional jobs, \"还 有 很 多 传 统 的 工 作\".
So, SkillsFuture is not about, as what the Chinese translation sometimes says, \"未 来 技 能\", that is, literally, \"skills for the future\". It is not meant to be that. SkillsFuture is for both traditional skills, traditional industries, as well as for new industries that are going to come up. Both will need SkillsFuture. We are saying you need to build a foundation of skills, of depth, and with that, we can build our future. If you are in a traditional industry, you must have that and then you can compete globally and regionally. If you are in a new area, you also need that.
Yesterday, Joseph Schooling was here. I was walking out of the Chamber and I bumped into him and his family. So, I asked him, \"Tokyo 2020, are you going to compete in more events?\" He said he would compete in the 100-metre freestyle, 200-metre butterfly, maybe individual medley. But I said, \"Then why not this round?\" He said he wanted to focus on 100-metre butterfly this round. This is SkillsFuture. When you focus on one area and you are excellent at it, it gives you the foundation to do many other things.
Versatility comes from depth, and I think we need to let all our workers know that we must really be excellent in our craft, and then we will have the versatility to move to new sectors. If we just touch the surface of everything, we will not have the versatility. SkillsFuture is applicable to everybody, whether in traditional sectors or in new sectors.
Mr Thomas Chua said he noticed that there is a slight drop in the employment outcomes of our graduates and a slight increase in the unemployed graduates. He said he is a little bit worried \"他 有 一 点 点 担 心\". Actually, I am very worried \"我 很 担 心\". Not for now, because I think slight changes in employment outcomes for our undergraduates, for our graduates coming out from universities will happen as the economy goes up and down.
But what I am very worried about whether is 10 or 20 years from now, we will continue to be able to achieve this kind of excellent employment outcomes for our graduates, both from the ITEs, polytechnics, as well as from our universities?
Today, the part in MOE dealing with higher education, there is a very acute awareness of the need for industry, that we have to produce graduates that are needed by the industries. How else will we achieve high employment outcomes if we do not have that mindset? What I am very worried about is how do we sustain that for the long term, say, 10 years, 20 years down the road?
Mr Desmond Choo expressed a similar concern whether by moving SSG to MOE, will we dilute the focus on industry and only focus on the young. This has also been our preoccupation for the longest time. MOE (Higher Education) pays a lot of attention on industry needs, and we know that we must do this better over time. We have introduced (a) compulsory internships in ITE and polytechnics, even overseas internships; and (b) ELP.
Today, all the curricula of all our programmes are done in consultation with the industry.
How do we do that better? I think the best way is we take an outfit which has deep knowledge in engaging industries, which understands the philosophy of adult training very well and inject them into MOE. This is why we restructured WDA and placed SSG within MOE, so that we can work with the industry and understand the philosophy of adult training even better.
To do this, I think there are two caveats. First, this should not dilute the research efforts of our universities. In fact, I think there is concern on the other side of the House which does research on whether this industry focus will dilute research efforts. It should not. Second, if there are company-specific skills, sometimes, it is better to be taught in the company because, if it is so specific, I think the company should take it up.
There was a suggestion by Mr Henry Kwek that coding is now very \"in\", needed by many industries, and whether we should start to put them into our curriculum. Likewise, you can make a similar argument for data science, and I think all our IHLs – polytechnics and universities are today, starting these courses, whether it is coding or data science.
But I will just be cautious – my colleague Minister Ng Chee Meng, who is not here, has also been very cautious – to put this content into the primary school curricula. We all know our school kids are already quite stressed with a very heavy curriculum. Sometimes, when it is so industry-specific, you might want to leave it to later when you are in an IHL. For younger students, give them the important foundational skills, usually literacy, numeracy and values. Focus on those. Specific skills, leave them for later.
There was a large point made by Ms Denise Phua which is that, for SSG to do well, we have to do better in terms of content, pedagogy or andragogy, as well as assessment. How to learn, when to learn, what to learn and how to assess? All these are part of the philosophy of adult workers' training, which is very different from teaching and educating a student. And SSG has done a lot of work in this. It even has a research outfit to research into adult training philosophy. All that, we will now inject into MOE to uplift our capabilities in this area.
But to do well, we have to make collaborations and partnerships with many partners, as many Members have pointed out. Let me go through some of the key partners that we need to work with.
First, companies and industries. This is a point made by Mr Thomas Chua, Mr Melvin Yong and also Ms Thanaletchimi. There are many existing efforts already in place. For example, we have the Sectoral Tripartite Committees (STC). This is formed at each sector, and within each committee, we always have industry and company representatives to guide the work of the STCs. We also work with associations and chambers, including for training delivery. The latest was the logistics industry which is now also delivering training for the industry. And of course, at the apex, we have the CSIP, where industry leaders are also represented, which is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
There is a suggestion from Mr Desmond Choo that we have an ELP scheme now, but it is catered mostly to the young and not to adult workers. I think it is a very valid suggestion. This is definitely an area that we want to look into – how we expand ELP, not just for the young, fresh graduates from ITE or the polytechnics, but also for adult workers who have worked for a few years and want to do an ELP to upgrade themselves with higher qualifications. It is definitely a priority we will look at.
We are also working on cooperative education programmes, which we announced some time ago. Cooperative programmes mean there is cooperation between the universities and industries. It is different from just an internship where you study three years and, for three to six months, you are out in the company doing work, sometimes ending up photocopying a lot, or buying coffee. But a cooperative programme is much more than that. You spend a whole semester on campus studying the theory and then another entire semester working in a company, working on actual projects.
The big difference is that the company and the universities are working together to design the curriculum. You are bringing the industry into the universities. So, that is a very different concept. It is a point also made by Mr Louis Ng that this is actually the best way to learn soft skills. I always find people describe soft skills and technical skills as a T-shaped skill. One is horizontal and one is vertical. It is actually quite an unfortunate description because first, you assume that they are distinct and separate. Second, because of the way you write \"T\", it implies that learning soft skills and technical skills are sequential. Actually, it is not. It is more like an \"A\", you start with nothing, and then you go deep and broad at the same time. We learn generic skills in the context of practising our technical skills.
With a cooperative programme, students get to work on actual projects, which is when they practise their technical skills and, at the same time, learn the generic skills – teamwork, management, HR, getting along with people, working across cultures. You have to put them in the context of a real technical project. So, we try to achieve this as we roll out more cooperative programmes. We expect the first few pilot projects to be rolled out next year.
This will be our form of apprenticeships, whether it is ELP or cooperative programmes. We will expand them, and extend it to not just the young but also the not so young.
For companies, too, they will have a big role to play, in the way they choose to hire, reward and promote. If what all companies do is look at academic results and hire and promote based on academic results, it would miss the point of SkillsFuture. Companies have to look deep to understand what kind of competencies they are looking for, who are displaying those competencies, who are performing well at the job? Hire and promote people on those basis.
If enough companies do that and it becomes the mainstream way of developing our human resource, then the signal to Singaporean workers and students is very clear. It is your competency and skills that matter, not just your grades. Grades matter a lot, but as you step into the workforce, it is your competency, how well you are performing at the job that matters.
I strongly urge companies to go out, tweak your HR systems, emphasise competency. As you do so, mature workers will have greater chances to get employed. Today, many mature workers do not get a chance even to be interviewed because maybe years ago when they were 18 or 21, their academic results were not as strong. But they might have made up for that with years of experience and doing well in their jobs. They should be recognised as they apply for new jobs or seek new careers.
Besides companies, unions will play a critical role. It is a specific point raised by Ms Thanaletchimi. For unions, the role is especially important in guiding workers because you have 60 to 62 unions now, with wide outreach channels to workers. You also have institutions like the e2i that also has separate outreach platforms to workers. If we can get the whole union network and all their resources to help reach out and guide workers on how to go about their training and development, how to make use of their SkillsFuture Credit of $500, I think that is powerful.
Mr Thomas Chua, Mr Melvin Yong, Ms Joan Pereira, all pointed out the importance of helping to communicate and guide workers on how to use their $500 credit. Our plan is this. Once this restructuring is done, we will have a team in MOE, within ITE, the universities and polytechnics who will help to guide students. We also have a team in WDA today doing the same thing for workers but, at the same time, they are in partnership with e2i, the unions, self-help groups and also trade associations and chambers. They are all what you would describe as independent coaches, which is what Ms Thanaletchimi described. No vested interests. With the restructuring, we can bring them all together, coordinate their efforts, reach out to Singaporean workers and guide them in the use of their SkillsFuture credits in a much more coordinated and effective way. And this is something, a priority, that we want to look into.
Several Members have raised concerns about specific groups. Ms Joan Pereira talked about seniors. We will try to do more for seniors. We have set up a National Silver Academy where there are more than 500 courses and 10,000 learning places in there − in IT, finance, arts, design − and catered to Singaporeans aged 50 and above.
And I do agree with the Member that we can do a lot more in language training. Language training, whether it is English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil, is also a lifelong pursuit. We have to get better and better at the language, through lifelong learning. The fortunate thing is that WDA, over many years, has developed the Workplace Literacy and Numeracy training framework which supports language training. It is not academic in nature but tailored to meet the needs of the workforce. They have done that and they have trained tens of thousands of workers. I think we should see how we can proliferate that so that more seniors can benefit from language training.
The next group that needs special attention are persons with disabilities. That is the point that Ms Denise Phua had raised. We will do several things to help persons with disabilities even more. First, we already have SG Enable. In a way, that could be the nucleus of what the Member described as a special education academy over time. SG Enable courses have been included into the SkillsFuture Credit course directory. So, for persons with disabilities, they can use their $500 for those courses and if there are more suggestions, we will include them.
Second, I still remember the Member and Ms Chia Yong Yong, who is not here, had requested, during the Committee of Supply debate, that MOE review the Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) to see whether we can relax the rules so that persons with disabilities can use the money more flexibly. We are almost completing the review. Once done, we will announce the changes.
Third, we have opened a Special Education Needs support office in every Government-funded university, polytechnic and ITE. This is a first-stop office for students who require special education assistance. It will coordinate all the support, including counselling and workshops, for the students who have special education needs. It also administers the Special Education Needs (SEN) Fund. The students can tap on this fund to buy devices, such as hearing and visual aids that can help them with their education journey. At the same time, they will also train academic staff so that they have basic special needs awareness. So, these are all the things we are doing.
I am of the view that there is space for a place like a special education academy or SG Enable that is focused on helping the disabled. There is also a space for everyone else to do their bit. I visited Bizlink last week. At Bizlink, they do not profess to take in people with all disabilities. They know where they can contribute. They have three or four kinds of work which were suitable for persons with certain disabilities, and they try to fit each individual to the work.
Likewise, I think every company and institution must look at disabilities by asking themselves which individuals they can help and then go out to help them. It is not possible for a single agency or institution to cater to disabilities of all forms. But everyone can contribute to some.
A third group, raised by Mr Leon Perera, is ex-offenders. WDA, even before SSG, has been working with the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE) for quite some time. It is part of the Yellow Ribbon project. They have a project called Project Phoenix through which they help inmates to re-integrate by going into industries, such as culinary, retail and other services. This is ongoing and is certainly an area that we can do more over time. But as SCORE always says, imprisonment is one issue, but when you are released, society can imprison you again. So, again, industry, companies, agencies, we can all do our bit, each one of us. If we are a bit more open-hearted, I think ex-offenders will be able to integrate into society much more.
The other important stakeholder is the training industry. Dr Intan Mokhtar pointed out the need for us to work with the private education industry as well. I fully agree. We always have different tiers in our partnerships with private training providers. The first tier is what we called the Continuing Education and Training (CET) Centres. These are private providers. They could offer courses in film-making, digital animation or culinary arts. There are over 40 of them now. We work closely with them to build up the curriculum, accredit their programmes in line with industry needs, set out their objectives clearly, make sure that the courses are open to all. We buy training places from them, audit the quality of the programmes very tightly and also measure the outcomes.
So, in response to Mr Leon Perera, we do have such a system to support individuals in skills development for more expensive courses. We actually put in a lot more resources to buy the training places so that a member of the public can attend those pre-subsidised programmes, except that we do this on the supply end, whereas SkillsFuture Credit is funding at the demand end. We fund at the supply end because we have to be assured that the supply is of good quality.
Beyond the 40-over CET Centres today, WDA also supports a lot of training in other areas, including in-company training. Some areas of training are useful and we should look at those. This would include, maybe, internal audit or IT audit that Er Dr Lee Bee Wah mentioned. We will take an inclusive approach. If there are, indeed, programmes that help our workers professionally, to deepen their skills or chart a new career, we should look at them. There are plenty of precedents for us to do so.
The last layer of partners includes other training providers that deliver courses that are listed in the SkillsFuture Credit course directory. There are over 15,000 of these courses now. There are many of them because we started off with an inclusive approach and because there were so many workers that needed training. So, whenever we get a suggestion to include a particular course, we do some audit and checks. If the course meets our criteria, we include it in the course directory. That is why, over the last few months, we built it up to 15,000 courses. This is not a small number. In fact, the complaint we usually hear is with so many courses, how to choose? Which goes back to the issue of guidance. But over time, we will have to start streamlining the list of courses and step up audits on training providers. This is a point also raised by Mr Louis Ng which I think is very valid.
We have some upfront checks and some regular audits. Over time, we need to make use of the power of public feedback. WDA is developing an Individual Learning Portfolio (ILP) portal. The portal will host all 15,000 courses. Trainees who attend the courses can rate them and there will be user reviews. So, if you attend a language course where your English is better than the trainer, you can put in the feedback and your rating. No different from shopping on Amazon or Taobao. This is a feature that we will put into the ILP. Hopefully, it will be ready sometime next year and then we will have an additional mechanism to curate the course directory.
There is a comment, by Dr Intan Mokhtar and Ms Thanaletchimi, on PEIs which deliver degree programmes to young people. The latter attend those courses, get their degrees and then are disappointed because they did not get the jobs they wished to have.
This is a concern. We totally understand that for the young, they want to get a degree. We should support as many of our young people to get degrees, provided that our economy can sustain that many graduates. At the same time, we have to make sure that the degree they get is something that the industry needs. If not, it will be very frustrating for our young graduates. So, as I have mentioned in this House before, we need to have more transparency about the employment outcomes for graduates of PEIs. I think this is a point that Mr Leon Perera made as well. If you train people, you educate them to have a degree, are you just fuelling their desire for a degree, or are you trying to answer and address an industry need? That is best measured by employment outcomes.
We have done some work on this with the top six biggest PEIs. We should do more so that students have the information to decide whether to take up the courses. Where possible, try to shift them from providing just general degrees that maybe the industry does not need, to SkillsFuture-related programmes that the industry needs. We will do the students a big service by doing so.
The SSG board, and this is a point raised by Dr Intan Mokhtar and Ms Thanaletchimi, must have a good mix of members representative of our partners and stakeholders. I will maintain the character of the current WDA board which largely comprises industry representatives, with a sprinkling of different expertise from other sectors, including from the unions, and people who are well-versed in finance and audit. As I mentioned very early on, we are not diluting or trying to change the character of WDA. We are taking their DNA and injecting into MOE.
But it will not be possible for every sector to be represented. The Bill only provides for 15 people on the board. We have more than 15 sectors. We will supplement that with the Sectoral Tripartite Committees that we have.
Finally, ultimately, what we are achieving – short term, medium term or long term, as Assoc Prof Randolph Tan and Mr Desmond Choo have talked about – is what kind of outcomes we are trying to achieve. As the saying goes, if you do not measure, it does not matter. For us to want to do something well, there has to be some measurement.
This is also an issue about vision and plan. Vision with no plan is just a dream; a plan with no vision, you are just busy for nothing. So, there must be both a vision for the long term and a plan for the short and medium term.
For the short term, there has to be a plan that is aligned with what we want to achieve. These will be plans that are within SSG's control. These are pretty much measuring what kind of output they will deliver in the short term. For example, how many ELPs you will roll out, what is the training participation rate, how many students or workers you will give guidance to, to bring them into the training and development journey, how many SkillsFuture Study Awards and SkillsFuture Fellowships you will be issuing and awarding, how many cooperative programmes we will roll out. We can measure all these.
But it is harder to measure progress in the medium to long term. In reply to Mr Leon Perera's point, academics and other individuals who have been studying this area have done so for many years, and it is still very difficult to draw causality between training and employment outcomes. You can draw correlation, but it is very difficult to draw causality because there are so many factors at play. Nevertheless, we will always try.
There is the Kirkpatrick Model, which I assume the Member is familiar with. Every year, WDA does a survey to collect feedback on employment outcomes from training and the results are published every year. In that survey, they measure whether, first, the trainee is satisfied with the training; second, after he starts work, is the employer satisfied with the training; third, is there an assessment that he is performing better after the training; fourth, did he get promoted or get a pay rise after the training. But even if there is correlation, we cannot claim causality; it is hard to claim causality.
In 2012, WDA went a step further. They established, econometrically, that more training did lead to better wage outcomes and that obtaining full qualifications resulted in even better wage outcomes. This was a one-time fairly big study done in 2012. I think every few years, we ought to do something; if anything, just to satisfy ourselves that the correlation is still there even if we cannot prove causality.
In the very long term, ultimately, we want to raise productivity; we want to raise competitiveness for the Singapore economy. Assoc Prof Randolph Tan talked about this. I think we cannot rely on one measure because every sector measures productivity and competitiveness differently. It also should not just be SSG's KPI; these are the collective KPIs of all the agencies which are involved. That is why we have so many agencies involved in each Sectorial Tripartite Committee. Each sector develops their own KPIs to measure their competitiveness as well as their productivity.
Other than economic competitiveness and productivity, SkillsFuture goes beyond being just an economic movement in the longer term. I thank Ms Thanaletchimi for reading parts of my article on the \"3M\" definition on SkillsFuture. It is about Mastery, Meritocracy and Me. Ultimately, we want Singaporean workers to want to master something, just like how Joseph Schooling mastered swimming.
We all define ourselves often, not just by who we are, where we are born, but also what we are good at, what is our profession. That mastery is as important to a person's identity. With mastery, we can do something very well and that is when we can derive our future competitiveness.
If we encourage these multiple pathways for every Singaporean to chase their own rainbows and be good at what they are doing in their respective fields, we will have a much more inclusive, much broader concept of meritocracy. We embrace them all and society recognises them all. SkillsFuture is, therefore, not just an evolution in education and training, but also an evolution in society.
Finally, it is about Me, not me as the Education Minister but Me as in every Singaporean knowing what you are best at and putting in the determination to chase your own rainbow.
Restructuring of SSG is just one small step, it is the starting point. We are really combining the tremendous delivery capability of MOE with the adult learning philosophy of WDA into one Ministry. This is not just an SSG endeavour but it is a Singapore endeavour for the long term. Madam, with that, I beg to move. [Applause.]
Mdm Speaker: Mr Leon Perera, you have a clarification? Keep it short.
Mr Leon Perera: I would just like to thank the Minister for the explanations. He engaged very deeply on all the points that were made, so I thank him for that. Just a very brief clarification. My point on pushing education to prisoners was actually referring to prisoners who are currently serving their sentence. My question is: will SSG give some thought to working with the Ministry of Home Affairs to see how we can push out training to prisoners actually serving their sentence. In other countries, you hear stories of people earning their degree when they are in prison. So, that is my point.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The short answer is yes. I think we already have a good working relationship and this is certainly something that we will continue to work on. With Internet, with e-learning, actually the opportunity for everyone to learn, wherever you are, including from prison, becomes more available, with all these technologies that we can leverage on to reach out to many more vulnerable groups, including prisoners who are still serving their sentence.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Ong Ye Kung]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
Mdm Speaker: Order. I propose to take the break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 4.15 pm.
Sitting accordingly suspended
at 3.55 pm until 4.15 pm.
Sitting resumed at 4.15 pm
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
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The Minister for Manpower (Mr Lim Swee Say): Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
There are two main categories of employment disputes: first, salary-related disputes, such as those over non-payment or short payment of salary, allowances, bonuses, commissions and salary in lieu of notice of termination; and secondly, non-salary-related disputes, such as unfair dismissals and grievances from employees.
This Bill focuses on the first category of salary-related disputes. Today, there are three avenues for resolving them.
First, through the unions. Union members in unionised companies have recourse to conciliation under the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) and access to the Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC). Even though most of them are currently rank-and-file workers, but with the IRA amendments passed in 2015, we now allow more professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) to have access to this route.
Second, employees who are covered by the Employment Act (EA) ‒ these are rank-and-file employees and PMEs earning up to $4,500 per month ‒ regardless of whether they are union members, they have access to what is commonly called \"the Labour Court\" at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
Third, all employees have access to the civil Courts. This recourse is important, especially for complex claims which may require legal representation and take longer to resolve.
Madam, even with these three avenues in place, there is growing demand for access to an affordable and expeditious way to resolve disputes. This is especially so amongst PMEs, whose number has increased by about 20% over the last decade and is set to grow further.
To ensure that our employment dispute resolution landscape remains relevant going forward, the proposed Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) will help more employees resolve more types of salary-related disputes with their employers.
Let me first explain how ECT will cover more types of salary-related disputes. ECT will take over the Labour Court's function of hearing statutory salary-related disputes on employee entitlements under the Retirement & Re-employment Act (RRA) and the Child Development Co-Savings Act (CDCA). These include unpaid salary, overtime pay, salary in lieu of notice, employment assistance payment and maternity benefits. In addition, the ECT will hear contractual salary-related claims from employees. Such claims include payment of allowances, bonuses, commissions, salary in lieu of notice and retrenchment benefits, provided that these are expressed in monetary terms in the contract.
The ECT will also hear claims from the employers. However, as with the Labour Court, employers can only bring claims for notice pay to the ECT. The types of claims which the ECT can hear are laid out in the First and Second Schedules of the Bill, which may be updated based on tripartite consultations. Besides hearing more types of claims, the ECT will be accessible to more employees, compared to the existing Labour Court. Besides hearing statutory salary-related claims from employees covered under the EA, RRA and CDCA, the ECT will also hear contractual salary-related claims from more employees, including PMEs who earn more than $4,500 per month and are currently beyond the coverage of the EA.
With this, all employees can now have access to the ECT for their statutory and/or contractual salary-related disputes. Public servants, domestic workers and seafarers will continue to be able to bring their statutory salary-related claims regarding employment assistance payment and maternity benefits to the ECT, just as for the Labour Court. As per current practice at the Labour Court, contractual salary-related claims of these groups of employees will not be heard at the ECT.
Public servants continue to have recourse through the Public Service's internal processes. Domestic workers can approach their employment agencies and MOM to resolve employment disputes. Likewise, for seafarers, they can continue to settle disputes, including salary-related disputes, under the Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention) Act.
I will now describe how the ECT will work. The ECT will be set up under the State Courts, with the claims to be heard by legally-qualified Tribunal Magistrates and in accordance with Court processes.
We have built in features to keep the process expeditious and affordable. All parties will be required to go through mediation conducted by MOM-approved mediators before their claims can be heard at ECT. This is because, from our experience, it shows that mediation is an effective way of resolving salary-related claims amicably between the parties. More than 90% of Labour Court claims will be resolved at the mediation stage without having to go through formal hearings.
The claimant must submit a request for mediation within one year after the claim arises, or within six months if the employment relationship has ended. There will be no legal representation, as with the Labour Court and Small Claims Tribunals. If mediation is successful, parties will sign a settlement agreement and apply for the registration of the settlement agreement in the District Courts for it to be enforceable as a binding Court Order. If mediation is unsuccessful, the mediator will issue a referral certificate for the claimant to lodge a claim at ECT.
Mdm Speaker, ECT will significantly enhance the resolution of employment disputes. Even so, the tripartite partners will continue to have important roles to play.
Tripartite Partners will set up a new centre known as the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM). For a start, TADM will conduct the pre-ECT mediation and serve as the MOM-approved mediation centre for all employees, both unionised and non-unionised members. Union members today enjoy additional remedies, such as the Tripartite Mediation Framework (TMF), MOM conciliation or recourse to the Industrial Arbitration Court. This will continue.
We are also amending the IRA to expand the coverage of TMF so that more union members can use this avenue to resolve more types of disputes. Today, only managers and executives earning up to $4,500 per month who are union members in non-unionised companies have access to the TMF.
We will remove the salary cap and also allow the rank-and-file employees to access the TMF. Only executive employees with substantial managerial responsibilities will continue to be excluded due to a potential conflict of interest. The types of disputes covered under the TMF will be expanded to include re-employment and other statutory employment benefits, for example, overtime pay, public holiday pay and maternity benefits under the EA and CDCA.
In addition, in recognition of the role of the unions, we have included three features in the ECT process. First, the claims limit will be $30,000 per case for cases which go through mediation with union involvement, compared to $20,000 for all other claims. Second, union members in unionised companies can be represented by their unions at mediation and at the ECT, and this will be as prescribed in the subsidiary legislation. Third, union members in non-unionised companies who undergo TMF can seek consent from the ECT to have their tripartite mediation advisors observe their ECT hearings.
Mdm Speaker, I have highlighted the key features of the Bill. With the passing of the Bill today, the ECT and TADM will be established by April 2017.
In conclusion, together, these changes ‒ the proposed ECT, the strengthening of TMF and the setting up of TADM ‒ will provide for a more comprehensive and inclusive suite of dispute resolution services for all employees, while ensuring that unions and the Tripartite Partners continue to have a strong role to play in our employment landscape. Mdm Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mdm Speaker: Mr Patrick Tay.
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (West Coast): Mdm Speaker, I thank MOM as well as the Minister for working closely with the Labour Movement and finally introducing this Bill which seeks to facilitate the expeditious resolution of employment disputes by providing for mediation of such disputes and the setting up of ECT. I also thank our tripartite partner, the Singapore National Employers' Federation (SNEF), for strongly supporting the setting up of ECT.
With the growing number of PMEs in Singapore, I recall mooting the idea of setting up an ECT with our Tripartite Partners four years ago to look into mediating and resolving employment disputes, and I am elated that it is going to come into fruition.
The setting up of the ECT is a landmark development in the area of employment law and industrial relations practice in Singapore. I applaud the setting up of the ECT for five reasons.
First, the ECT is inclusive. It plugs the existing gap of the EA, which has a $4,500 salary cap for PMEs. The new ECT will be able to hear claims from all employees, regardless of their salary levels and whatever their position in the company. It even extends the scope to employees in Statutory Boards and prescribed public sector employees. In short, almost all workers, including all PMEs who are in a contract of service, will now benefit and have access to the ECT.
Second, the ECT consolidates the Labour Court, which henceforth will not exist and fills the current lacuna in that the Small Claims Tribunal does not hear employment-related claims and disputes. Parties are encouraged to resolve employment disputes amicably by requiring parties to go through mediation before their cases are heard by the ECT.
Third, the ECT will go beyond the existing coverage to what I call the 18/43 rule. The ECT will have jurisdiction over 18 types of contractual employment claims and 43 types of statutory employment claims which are availed to all workers. The positive impact would be that the many, who used to have to file a civil suit, can now save the costs of engaging counsel to pursue their contractual claims.
Fourth, it preserves the sanctity of tripartism and the unique tripartite framework via the setting up of TADM to advise and assist aggrieved employees in the entire claims journey.
Fifth, I am glad Minister Lim shared that the ECT does not dilute the role of unions but complements and supports unionism. Union membership is encouraged as unions can and should assist and represent union members through the ECT process. I initially wanted to request the Minister to confirm for the purposes of Hansard recording that union officials, staff and representatives can represent union members throughout the ECT process from mediation to ECT hearing as union representation is not specifically stated in the Bill. I wanted to confirm if it will be done via regulations, and am glad the Minister earlier shared that it is allowed. I thank the Minister on behalf of the unions and the Labour Movement.
In fact, for union members, besides representation by unions, as shared by the Minister earlier, TMF will also be similarly expanded with no salary limits and cover the four existing types of TMF claims over and above the 18 contractual and 43 statutory items where applicable.
Having highlighted the five positive aspects of ECT, I submit five suggestions to further augment and do even better. I call them the \"5Es\" and what do these \"5Es\" stand for? Encompassing, Economical, Enforceable, Ease of Access and Effective.
First, \"encompassing\". On the whole, the coverage of ECT is now much wider than was previously the case under the Labour Court system which only applied to employees covered by the EA. As of now, there are 18 contractual and 43 statutory claims. I am aware our Tripartite Mediation covers an additional four areas. But I submit that MOM should support another review of the IRA to further expand the TMF to extend to areas beyond the 18/43 and the existing four areas to cover those areas not covered by the ECT, such as unfair dismissal of workers outside of the ambit of the EA.
Or is it time to also review our EA again to relook at some of these dichotomies and whether they are still relevant, specifically, for the $4,500 limit which appears in the EA, to be removed, as even unions, too, face challenges from employers who often use this $4,500 as a proxy for scope of representation?
In a similar vein, I submit we should also review the EA and that the ECT be further stretched to cover possibly new categories of workers, such as professional freelancers who are workers themselves whether in temporary, full-time, part-time or other arrangements especially when these freelancers are more vulnerable than employees themselves who are currently protected by the EA.
In addition, a point of clarification which I have is whether those under apprenticeship agreements, including interns will have recourse to the ECT. I say this because we have many youths and even now new hires who are on such informal arrangements.
Second, \"economical\". There are two steps when one takes on an ECT action. The first would be the filing of claim and mediation and the second would be the actual ECT hearing after mediation. Though the actual costs and prescribed fees of both steps have not been articulated, I suggest that the fees and charges should be made affordable and not exorbitant so that all collars of workers can gain access. For the second step of convening a hearing, the costs and fees should be reasonable and not deter workers who need to proceed for a hearing. At the same time, all the charges must reflect and correspond to the claim amount, and sufficient safeguards must be in place to prevent the floodgates of frivolous, vexatious or unsupported claims.
Third, \"enforcement and enforceability\". It is good that the Bill states that if the dispute is settled at mediation or tripartite mediation, the parties must enter into a settlement agreement in the prescribed form. It is in section 7(1) of the Bill. The agreement will also be enforceable if it is registered in a District Court via section 7(3). Of course, whichever way, there is still the hassle of enforcing it by a writ of seizure and sale. I certainly hope that the enforcement process can be further streamlined, made hassle-free, easier and economical so that the claimant would not be subjected to further stresses when the other party is rogue. In fact, during yesterday's debate on the Administration of Justice Bill, I similarly urged that a more rigorous and robust enforcement regime be imposed for non-compliance of ECT judgments.
Fourth, \"ease of access\". The ECT as well as the upcoming TADM should be easily accessible to all workers. In fact, the entire claims process from filing should be made simple and convenient for the layman. Proper communications and cascading should be done such as simple infographics, workflow charts or pocket guides with frequently asked questions to explain the workings of the ECT and TADM in an easy to read and digestible manner in a variety of languages.
Lastly, fifth, \"effective and efficient\". While the introduction of mediation before the ECT hearing is convened is a positive move, it should never prevent the aggrieved workers from having their claim delayed and their livelihood and work severely affected if the case can be summarily heard or an expedited hearing can be convened without the need for mediation. I, therefore, urge MOM to ensure that the ECT bear this in mind and expedite hearings which are provided for in this Bill so as not to be an encumbrance to clear, genuine, needy claimants and their claims.
To add, it is recommended that presiding judicial officers of the ECT should be well-acquainted with employment and industrial relations issues and, in particular, unions and tripartism, so that they can be even more effective in carrying out their role in dispute resolution and adjudication.
To stay effective and relevant, I further suggest that the claims limits be regularly reviewed and adjusted to stay relevant, inclusive and appropriate. Mdm Speaker, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I support MOM's new Employment Claims Bill. In setting up the ECT, I urge MOM to look into five important aspects.
It must be practical, effective, encompassing, accessible and enforceable, so that it not only benefits white-collar and blue-collar workers, but also protects freelancers, apprentices and interns. It should (a) enable workers to save on legal fees and not end up spending too much; (b) expedite the mediation process and shorten case processing time for workers; (c) also streamline the administration procedures; and (d) be able to solve the cases speedily.
(In English): In conclusion, I applaud the setting up of the ECT. This watershed milestone offers even greater protection for workers in Singapore especially the PMEs who are a growing yet increasingly vulnerable segment of our workforce. It provides an inclusive, affordable and accessible advisory, alternative dispute resolution mechanism and adjudication. With this, I strongly support the Bill. T
Mdm Speaker: Mr Muhamad Faisal Manap.
Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Madam, the move to replace the current Labour Court with the ECT is based on two main considerations: one, inclusivity; and two, enhancing efficiency in achieving resolutions.
The ECT will basically cover all employees who have an employment contract with the employers regardless of their salary level, with the exception of the following three groups of employees: one, public servants; two, domestic workers; and three, seafarers.
The implementation of the ECT will also improve efficiency, shortening the time required to resolve a salary-related claim. I welcome this move in making our labour laws more inclusive and efficient. However, I would like to raise four suggestions to further enhance this Bill so that it can be more encompassing and inclusive.
Madam, in the proposed Bill, domestic workers will be excluded from filing claims when the ECT is set up. However, it opens a possibility that domestic workers may be included and I quote, \"at a later date when operations have stabilised.\" In the meantime, affected domestic workers will have to, I quote, \"approach their employment agencies and/or MOM to resolve disputes\" as they are not covered by the EA and thus do not have access to the Labour Court.
Madam, domestic workers are amongst the most vulnerable workers in Singapore, in part due to the authority and power the employers have over them and they could possibly be in debt upon arriving in Singapore. If they are not covered from the start, requiring them to approach MOM would perpetuate all the downsides of their current claims dispute settlement mechanism that the ECT is trying to resolve. As such, I propose that the Ministry indicate the public timeline for domestic workers to be included in the overall operations of the ECT.
Madam, in the consultation paper, it is stated under paragraph 8 that the ECT is meant to be an, I quote, \"expeditious mechanism to deal with salary-related claims.\" And hence, it will not include other workplace grievances, such as unfair dismissal or discrimination. Thus, I would like to propose that the ECT should preferably deal with claims related to discrimination based on age, disability, race, gender and unfair dismissal. This will bring it in line with other jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom (UK). Including claims related to other workplace grievances will make the ECT more comprehensive and useful for employees.
Madam, such workplace grievances are still commonplace in Singapore. In 2013, for instance, the then Acting Minister for Manpower, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, said that from between the period 2007 and 2013, MOM received an average of 70 cases from female employees annually, 70% of whom are pregnant mothers who felt that they had been unfairly dismissed.
Madam, on accessibility to the ECT, I would like to raise two further points. The issue here is affordability. To be inclusive in this instance is to facilitate access to the ECT, in particular, for those are less fortunate in our midst. Access to any legal recourse should be made accessible to all, regardless of their financial circumstances. This is the point that Members in this House will concur with.
Presently, claimants have to pay $5 per page for the notes of evidence and grounds of decision made by the Labour Court Commissioner. Such cost can be prohibitive, especially for low-wage workers, some of whom may not even have received their salaries for a period of time. The ECT sets out to, I quote, \"create a more accessible system\" for potential employees who wish to seek redress, and higher costs may lower accessibility.
Hence, as my third proposal, I would like to propose that the grounds of decision by the ECT be made free to claimants so that they can better understand the factors considered by the ECT and thus be more aware of their rights. This can also help them decide on further actions they may wish to undertake. Notes of evidence should also be made more affordable, with charges waived for low-income claimants.
Madam, I understand that under clause 34 of the Bill, fees for making claims to the ECT are not specified and the Minister has this flexibility to make regulations to the fees charged. I would like to seek clarity on what these fees are and how they will be calculated. Considering that our claimants could be facing financial difficulties and are seeking recourse through the ECT, I would like to propose that the fees be pegged at no higher than $160 for salary-related claims, a practice common in the UK, and it should be waived entirely for those in financial distress. Madam, in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Madam, the move to replace the Labour Court with the ECT was based on two main considerations, that is, to have more inclusivity and, secondly, to enhance efficiency in reaching resolutions.
I welcome the move to make labour laws more inclusive and efficient. However, I would like to make some suggestions to further enhance this Bill, so that it can be more inclusive.
The first thing that I would like to touch on is related to costs. I am quite concerned that the cost incurred to use the ECT's services may become an obstacle that causes workers, especially low-wage workers, to become reluctant to step forward and make their claims. The issue of cost should not become an impediment for anyone who wishes to obtain any legal service. Hence, with the implementation of the ECT, I would like to request that the Ministry reduce the costs that will be incurred and provide waivers for low-wage workers.
In the Ministry's Consultation Paper, it was stated under paragraph 8 that the ECT was implemented only as an \"expeditious mechanism to deal with salary-related claims\". Therefore, it does not include other aspects like job dismissals that were conducted unfairly or due to discrimination.
Here, Madam, I hope that the ECT can also include claims made by workers that are related to, firstly, issues of discrimination due to age, disability, religion, race, gender and, secondly, dismissals that were conducted unfairly. It cannot be denied that issues of discrimination and unfair dismissals still occur in Singapore. For instance, in 2013, the then-Acting Minister for Manpower, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, said that between 2007 and 2013, MOM received, on average, 70 cases from female workers every year, whereby 70% of them were expectant mothers who felt that they were dismissed unfairly. Therefore, Madam, I believe that the ECT can become more encompassing and, therefore, bring about more benefits and become more meaningful to workers, if claims related to issues of discrimination and unfair dismissals can be included in this Bill.
(In English): Madam, in conclusion, on the basis of these four proposals I have shared earlier in enhancing the working of this Bill, I support the setting up of the ECT.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Zainal Sapari
Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol): The Labour Movement welcomes the Ministry's effort in establishing the ECT to provide a more accessible system that can resolve salary-related claims more affordably and quickly for more employees compared to the current Labour Court. That said, there are some clarifications and suggestions that I would like to make from the perspective of low-wage workers and vulnerable workers that the Ministry could look into.
First, I would like to urge the Ministry to allow the ECT to look into both salary and Central Provident Fund (CPF) claims to make it easier for workers to file salary claims related grievances. Currently, separate claims have to be filed to CPF Board for their owed CPF payments. This is taxing on their time, resources and morale. Since most salary claims are very likely to include CPF payments, making it possible to file both these claims will provide them with better assurance and more efficient work processes.
Second, I would like the Ministry to clarify section 22 subsection 2(a) in the Employment Claims Bill. More specifically, how do we define when claims are deemed frivolous and vexatious and what are the considerations involved? In helping workers with salary grievances, U-Care Centre (UCC) has helped low-wage workers with claims as low as $50. Would these cases count as vexatious or frivolous?
Third, I would like to propose that the first mediation session be held at least 14 days after it is referred to the approved mediator. In section 4 for Conduct of Mediation Sessions, the Bill currently does not stipulate a time frame as a guideline for mediation cases to be resolved, which I believe can open a loophole for exploitation.
Fourth, I would like to seek clarification and confirmation that the Bill would allow for another person, such as next-of-kin, unionists, UCC consultants and others, to make the claim on behalf of the affected employee especially for workers who may not be intellectually sound but may still be able to stay gainfully employed.
UCC had come across salary grievance cases involving workers with intellectual disability. I believe that having a provision to allow representation for workers with some disability can be beneficial to these groups of people who may otherwise not be able to capitalise on the ECT's role in resolving salary disputes.
Likewise, as an extension, I would like to confirm the provisions under sections 18 and 19 with regard to the representation of employees who are non-union members during the ECT. There will be claimants who may not have the capacity and knowledge which may hinder their capabilities to fully represent themselves adequately during mediation or tribunals. Hence, I would like to seek clarification whether the Bill will allow non-union members making the claim to have officers from the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) help centres, such as UCC, to follow through on such cases of salary dispute.
Fifth, I would also like to propose that administrative fees be waived for valid cases involving low-wage workers who are already affected by non-payment of salaries when they file claims. Workers who earn $2,000 and below should be given a waiver so as not to create such a financial strain upon themselves as they are claiming what should have been rightfully theirs to begin with.
Lastly, I would like to make some operational suggestions that may ensure that the ECT can benefit as many Singaporeans as possible who need their services. In UCC's experience in dealing with low-wage workers, there are three factors that have been extremely beneficial for these workers. These three factors cover working hours, claim forms drafted in the various vernacular languages, and ramping up outreach and publicity efforts.
I would like to propose that the ECT should operate at least one weekday evening and on Saturdays as well, as these would be the off-work hours for the low-wage workers and, hence, enable them to come down to make their claims.
Second, claim forms should also be in vernacular languages and the claimant should be given an option to request for officers who can speak in their preferred language or dialect.
Third, I would like to urge the Ministry to ramp up outreach efforts to educate and inform workers on the ECT. The Ministry should look into embarking on strong publicity efforts on educating workers, especially the low-wage, vulnerable workers, on the newly-formed tribunal.
At this juncture, I also call for the Ministry to continue giving support to centres that assist employees with workplace advisory like NTUC's UCC, Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) that could render assistance to our maids, UPME Centre and Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC). Such help centres can play an instrumental role in creating greater awareness about the ECT. Mdm Speaker, please allow me to continue in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The current Bill is timely for several reasons. Firstly, it ensures an inclusive coverage of Singaporean workers who fall outside the wage limits set in the EA. Secondly, it allows workers to save costs of engaging counsel to pursue salary-related claims based on their contracts. Lastly, it complements and supports unionism. I also strongly urge that unions be allowed to represent their respective members in the claims process.
(In English): Mdm Speaker, please allow me to conclude in English. Notwithstanding the clarifications and suggestions that I have made to improve the work processes and accessibility of the ECT to workers in seeking redress for salary disputes. I fully support the Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Ms Thanaletchimi.
Ms K Thanaletchimi (Nominated Member): Mdm Speaker, I rise in support of the Bill. The working people of Singapore regardless of nationality, type of job, union membership, age or gender, require a channel for fair and just hearing and judgment that calls for social justice. It is, indeed, timely that our workers be provided with an inclusive, accessible, expeditious and fair trial for employment claim matters for any specified employment dispute concerning the recovery of salary, re-employment or where an employment relationship has ceased. In this way, workers in non-unionised industry sectors will largely benefit from this tribunal. However, I have a few clarifications to raise and hope the Minister will provide further clarity.
In order to allow for a mediation process as the first line of amicable settlement, the mediation proceeding is seen to be set as a precursor before one proceeds to the ECT at the discretion of the Commissioner. The mediation process must be encouraged and supported for a win-win outcome. There are presently various different mediation routes to cater for various distinct classes of workers, as mentioned earlier by the Minister. MOM's mediation service for employees covered under the EA is one. The second is TMF covered under the IRA for employees who are union members working in non-unionised companies. And the third is MOM's conciliation service for unions and unionised companies as per provision under the IRA.
However, the Bill could have been made clearer as to how mediation through TMF should proceed in the ECT. Allow me to elaborate. Section 5(1)c states that a claimant \"cannot be represented by an agent, whether paid or otherwise\" in the ECT mediation process; and section 34(1)(d) states that \"the Minister may make regulations to exempt any person or class of persons from all or any of the provisions of this Act, either generally or in a particular case\".
The question I would like to ask the Minister is: will all cases be referred to the ECT mediation process, regardless of whether the claimant is a union member or not? If yes, will all unions then have to go through exemptions ordered by the Minister in order to represent our members at the mediation stage?
In terms of representation at the tribunal under section 18, section 34(1)(d) does not apply, that is, the Minister may not order for exemption to allow for union representation at the tribunal. However, earlier, the Minister did mention that unions can represent members at the tribunal. However, the Bill does not state this clearly, so I hope there is more clarity to this.
Claim limits. According to section 12(7), there are set limits on the claims, but the exact amount is silent in the Bill. Section 14 states that \"a claim cannot be divided and pursued in separate proceedings before a tribunal if the only reason for doing so is to bring the total amount alleged to be payable in each of those proceedings within the jurisdiction of a tribunal\", while section 15 gives claimants the option to abandon the part of the claim that exceeds the set limit so that they can be eligible for hearing at the tribunal.
The question is: how was the limit set and why was there a limit in the first place? If the limit is not specified in the Bill, does it mean that it can be varied? How will the limits be made known? Can the claimant file for separate proceedings if he or she has multiple claims of different forms? For example, if claimant has already filed for a case on his overtime pay for a few thousand dollars, will he be able to file for another hearing for his bonus payment? I hope this can be done.
What happens if there is a deadlock during the ECT proceedings or parties disagree with the decision of the tribunal? Is appeal to High Court through section 23 the only available route? Can a union member, on the advice of the union, proceed further to IAC instead?
The tribunal magistrates, who are specialised in this process, do they have any experience on labour matters? If not, will this be a concern and how will it be addressed?
Time bar for employer's claims. In most cases of employees making claims, there is a time bar to the extent of their claims whereas, in the case of employers making recovery of overpayments, there is no similar time bar imposed. Does this time bar apply to both employers and employees making similar claims, for example short payment or over payment of overtime pay?
What happens if the ECT orders a company to pay up to the three months' pay, but thereafter the company refuses, how should the claimant proceed? Under the Administration of Justice Bill, which was passed last night, this would be an act of contempt of Court. Will the company be liable and subject to penalty or will the tribunal demand for the payment to be made good by the employer, such as in the form of instalment payment or payment recovered by Writ of Seizure and Sale of Asset?
The other clarifications I would like to make is: will the ECT address claims under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act? If not, why not? The Regulations in section 34 of the Bill leaves this question open.
As much of the evidence that employees need to prove their claim would often be in the hands of employers, can the tribunal draw an adverse inference where the employer is not forthcoming with that information so as to facilitate access to evidence?
Section 10 of the Bill seems to be silent on the contents of the record of the tribunal and whether parties are entitled to a copy of this record. It seems a stark contrast to section 13(2) of the Small Claims Tribunals Act, where another Court under the same cluster which the ECT will be in, which expressly fleshes out the above. Is there a reason for this? Should the Bill go even further than section 13(2) of the Small Claims Tribunal Act and require written reasons for decisions?
Can non-monetary claims, such as unfair dismissal, discrimination, be included within the ambit of the ECT in future or are the alternative avenues at present sufficient? Madam, with these clarifications raised, I still strongly support the Bill.
Mdm Speaker: Assoc Prof Daniel Goh.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong (Non-Constituency Member): Mdm Speaker, the setting up of the ECT is long overdue. This Bill is a welcome relief for workers. I am sure there will be many refinements down the road to ensure that workers get paid their rightful salaries. For now, I have a few issues that I would like to put to the Minister to address.
First, the most important feature of the ECT is that it covers workers not covered under the EA, especially PMEs who earn more than $4,500 a month. The setting up of the tribunal finally recognises that compelling PMEs to file their claims with the civil Courts can be lengthy and costly, thus discouraging PMEs from pursuing their just compensation and creating the unintended consequences of protecting unscrupulous employers.
However, the obstacles faced by PMEs might return in another form with the tribunal. This is the limit on claims amount. It was stated in the MOM's public consultation exercise that claims amount would be capped at $20,000 per claim, or $30,000, if claimants go through the TMF or MOM conciliation. I would like to clarify with the Minister if this, indeed, would be the case.
[Deputy Speaker (Mr Charles Chong) in the Chair]
If so, what is the purpose of differentiating the claims limit between the two types of claimants, and why give a higher allowance to claimants going through the TMF or MOM conciliation when these claimants have more alternative avenues to resolve their salary-related issues? Secondly, is not the $20,000 cap too low for PMEs, this being less than five months of salary for those earning $4,500 a month?
Clause 12, subsection 8, gives the Government the flexibility to prescribe different classes of employees and employers and different claim limits for different classes of claimants and different circumstances. Rather than prescribe different classes in terms of whether they go directly to the tribunal or through the TMF, I believe the logical thing to do, given the differentiated employment market, is to prescribe different classes of claimants according to their salary range and set the different claim limits accordingly to ensure inclusive coverage of PMEs.
Better still, to ensure fairness to all workers, would the Minister consider a more dynamic claims limit that is pegged to six months of the claimant's last drawn salary or $30,000, whichever is higher? The claims limit should not be pegged to the claims limit of the Small Claims Tribunal. Employment claims are by nature, complexion and quantum dissimilar to small commercial claims. It is very important that we send a signal to employers and employees alike that employment claims are not small claims.
The second issue is the time limit to submit a mediation request. Clause 3, subsection 2, sets out two different timings for claimants: (a) six months after the last day of employment for disputes where an employment relationship has ended; or (b) one year after the occurrence of the dispute for other disputes, presumably where the employment relationship has not ended. This seems anomalous, as I would expect the majority of cases to fall under the former category where the employment relationship has ended.
The six-month timing is, therefore, potentially disadvantageous to the majority of claimants and also adds an extra burden on workers who find themselves in the unfortunate situation of becoming unemployed and in an acrimonious salary dispute with their former employers. I believe the Government can be more liberal and understanding of the situation faced by unemployed workers by extending the timing from six months to one year. This will also equalise the timings among the different specified employment disputes under clause 3, subsection 2, making it fair to all workers.
The third issue is the question of representation before the tribunal. Clause 5 specifies that claimants must act in person and cannot be represented by an advocate and solicitor or by an agent, paid or otherwise. On the other hand, an officer or full-time employee could represent employers for the dispute. There is a potential imbalance here that would disadvantage claimants. Companies could send their in-house lawyers or professional HR professionals at no cost to them. In such a situation, PMEs would also be disadvantaged, not to mention rank-and-file workers and foreign workers hampered by language differences and lack of knowledge. Discretionary powers should be given to the tribunal to allow claimants representation by advocates or agents when it is apparent that the claimants are at a disadvantage.
The fourth issue is the question of enforcement. Clause 22, subsection 11, states that a claims order made by the tribunal might be enforced in the same manner as that made by a District Court. The Minister for Manpower said in his reply to a Parliamentary Question in May 2015 that the Ministry cleared 1,630 cases of salary disputes in 2014, but one-third of workers did not receive the full payment on the pretext that the companies which owed them salaries were facing financial difficulties. When the Ministry investigated further, 80% of the employers who did not make full payment were discovered to be able to make the full payment.
It is apparent from this that enforcement of the claim orders could be a major problem going forward and active enforcement on the part of the Ministry is the only way to minimise the problem. The Minister said in his 2015 reply that the Ministry is looking into enhancing the protection for workers in this regard more holistically. Could we get an update on how the Ministry intends to do this to minimise non-compliance with claim orders?
Lastly, concerning the public consultation on the Bill that closed on 23 March this year, the summary of key comments received and the Ministry's responses were not published on the feedback unit's Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home (REACH) website or the Ministry's website as promised. Would the Minister inform the House what are some of the key concerns the public had with the Bill and the Ministry's responses to them? Would the Minister also please cause the summary of responses to be published online?
Notwithstanding the above issues, this setting up of the ECT is a good beginning. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Assoc Prof Randolph Tan.
Assoc Prof Randolph Tan (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Bill before us today will affect all major segments of the workforce, with very few minor exceptions, especially the fastest-growing group of PMETs. Since 2008, PMETs have made up a majority of the resident workforce. This is true in all three major sectors, even construction, which saw its PMET proportion just exceed 50% in 2015. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that PMETs are also increasingly represented among the unemployed and those laid off.
These changes took place very quickly. In 1990, the proportion of PMETs in the resident workforce was just half the 2015 figure; the proportion in manufacturing just a third of the 60% it has climbed to by 2015. Through such rapid changes, the economy continued to maintain very low levels of unemployment.
Policymakers have been alert to the challenges arising from the rapidly changing composition of the workforce. MOM, in particular, has not held back and instead, delved deep into the underlying problems with initiatives, such as the Professional Conversion Programmes beginning in 2007 and the Career Support Programme in October 2015, as well. As the Minister for Manpower revealed at this year's Committee of Supply debate, his Ministry's approach in implementing these initiatives has become increasingly direct and oriented towards the individual jobseeker's needs.
But jobs do not appear out of thin air. A labour market framework that facilitates job creation is needed. The recognition of this overall framework for employment has to evolve to match the needs arising from these changes. And this is exactly what the Bill today signifies ‒ an advance in our labour market framework.
In January 2015, Parliament passed the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill to extend union representation to PMETs. In August 2015, Parliament voted overwhelmingly on an amendment to the EA, which obliged employers to ensure that each employee is provided with properly written or electronic records of individual employment terms and salary payments and deductions.
The current Bill builds on that kind of momentum. The ultimate aim of setting up the ECT should be to strengthen HR practices among employers, and further improve labour standards in Singapore. When realised, such benefits will accrue broadly to all labour market participants, not just PMETs.
The process for making employment claims should ultimately contribute to the strengths of Singapore's labour market, not weaken them. Complicated legislation raises the costs of adjudication and enforcement. If the employment claims process becomes difficult and costly for employers and employees, each and every dispute could potentially turn into a minefield and end up benefiting no one.
To prevent these kinds of issues, a robust framework for making employment claims should ensure that all parties in any dispute progress towards a resolution in as expeditious a manner as possible. What is undesirable is to have a process which is unable to convince all parties concerned that a clear resolution has been reached. If any party to a dispute thinks matters are unresolved and continues to hold out for more, the delays will clog the claims system and the ensuing gridlock from delayed resolution will, ultimately, have negative consequences for the economy as a whole.
It is also important to consider the lot of small businesses. A clear and straightforward framework will benefit them as well. Unlike larger enterprises, small businesses which do not have the benefit of dedicated HR and legal departments may see a rise in business costs if the risks of employment disputes increase.
I have three main questions for clarification. The first point is on whether the role of unions can be expanded. Why does the role of unions appear limited? I know the Minister has just clarified that tripartite mediation advisors can attend as observers. I believe that this is a significant start and I am glad to see that it has been included.
What I am thinking of is a much more active role for unions mainly because, with union participation, you will get a balance between calls for inclusivity and the need to preserve efficiency in the tribunal's workings. The union movement has been at the forefront of the call for such a tribunal and is in the best position to actually help increase the efficiency of these processes while at the same time improving inclusivity. The role of union representatives or resource persons should be formalised for cases which come before the tribunal after mediation has failed.
My second question is on the claims cap. The claims cap now clearly allows more workers, including PMETs, to avail themselves of the tribunal as an avenue. If we consider the usual notice periods set into contracts for termination, the current caps on claims appear to have been well thought out. But if contractual bonus payments are allowed, then the claims cap becomes limiting. What is the reason for setting the maximum claims at $30,000, even allowing for mediation?
My last question is on guidelines for awards by the tribunal. What will guide the tribunal in its decisions and what should the tribunal not take into account in making awards? What is the process by which award guidelines are formulated? Would a body which has expertise in wage negotiations, such as the National Wages Council or SNEF, be permitted to comment about what the tribunal should take into account? After all, the tribunal's role is adjudication, not policy-making. A framework for stipulating guidelines for the tribunal's decisions and awards would clarify the approach that the tribunal should take, in particular, whether it has to take into account the consequences of periods of higher unemployment, as well as whether it should consider the direction of the economy in setting awards. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, I welcome this progressive Bill which expedites the resolution of salary disputes, thereby ensuring that our labour laws continue to provide better protection of workers. However, allow me to highlight five areas of concern.
My first concern is on representations in proceedings in clause 19(2)(e). While most parties are expected to act in person before the tribunal, the new Bill allows for certain individuals to be exceptions to this rule. Can the Minister clarify who these individuals will be?
According to section 23 of the Small Claims Tribunal Act, certain parties need not act in person at Small Claims Tribunal proceedings. This includes low-wage elderly workers who have received little formal education and have a poor command of English. This group of vulnerable individuals should also be protected at the ECT.
In such cases, there is usually a significant power differential between employees and employers, even if interpreters are provided. Allowing them representation or assistance by solicitors, agents or McKenzie friends will ensure fair outcomes are achieved.
Secondly, the Second Schedule sets out the specific statutory dispute matters that can be heard by the tribunal. However, the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act has not been included. Can the Minister explain the rationale for its exclusion? Leaving out this Act would mean depriving migrant workers of protections offered to them for salary-related claims.
Thirdly, on the rules of evidence, under the EA, there have been reports of inconsistent practices at the Labour Court as to the types of evidence and witness testimonies accepted. It was previously pointed out that Labour Court Commissioners have refused to accept material evidence, such as video recordings of employers confessing to non-payment of salary.
Under clause 33(2) of the new Bill, Rules of Court provide for the summoning of witnesses and provision of evidence. It would be helpful if formal and clear rules can be put in place and publicised as to what types of evidence and testimonies are admitted. This would help claimants when preparing their cases.
Fourthly, I would like to highlight the need for stronger enforcement of Court orders. According to charity workers, low-wage employees currently face difficulties when trying to enforce Labour Court orders or settlements obtained at the mediation stage. Although legal mechanisms, such as a Writ of Seizure and Sale, are available, these involve high costs and are usually out of reach of low-wage employees.
In order to avoid payment, charities have reported that it is common for employers to declare bankruptcy and wind up their companies, only to set up a new company under a new name. As such, I would suggest stronger rules be put in place for the enforcement of tribunal orders and settlements: (a) making it a criminal offence to default on these orders; (b) if directors wind up companies and set up new ones, claimants should be allowed to return to the ECT to make directors, major shareholders and officers personally liable to fulfil the orders; (c) the ECT should hold the funds in escrow to be disbursed to the claimants as employers are less likely to default on payments to be made directly to the Court; and lastly, (d) for bankrupted companies experiencing genuine financial difficulties, a fund could be created to help workers, financed by corporate tax or the security bond paid by employers. One such model is Hong Kong's Protection of Wages on Insolvency Ordinance.
On access to grounds of decision which a previous Member has mentioned, clause 10 of the Bill provides for a registry to keep all records of the tribunal. However, unlike section 13 of the Small Claims Tribunal Act, it does not explicitly state that these records will be available to parties upon application. Can the Minister clarify if records will be made available?
Access to grounds of decision is important to allow employees to make informed decisions on further action to take. Under the current Labour Court system, claimants have to pay $5 per page for these records. One charity has documented a case where a claimant had to pay almost $1,000 – a large sum for low-wage workers. Can the Minister clarify if this sum will be made more affordable?
Sir, while I stand in full support of this Bill, I raise these points to ensure that the proposed ECT provides full protection for employees.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, I declare my interest as a lawyer and I do handle employment matters and disputes in the course of my work.
The proposed constitution on the ECT to decide on employment claims as proposed under this Employment Claims Bill is, indeed, a step in the right direction. I have a few concerns which I hope the Minister can address.
First, I note that the Bill will only deal with salary-related claims, not other types of claims or grievances related to work or workplace. Sir, I also seek the Minister's clarification whether the Ministry intends to set up similar tribunals that handle workplace grievances, such as unfair dismissal or discrimination.
Currently, there is no specific tribunal to address such issues. MOM has, in previous years, acknowledged that there are such cases. In January 2013, the then Acting Minister for Manpower, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, said that from 2007 to 2012, MOM received annually an average of 70 cases from female employees who felt that they have been unfairly dismissed, out of which, 70% involved pregnant women.
We should not overlook the issues of unfair dismissal or discrimination. And discrimination can involve different kinds of discrimination. We should look to the examples of other first world countries, like the UK, which has an employment tribunal handling all types of claims for quite some time now.
I would like to point out that employment claims disputes are often mired in the context of contending allegations of breaches of employment contracts. Unfair dismissal or discrimination could well form part of the factual matrix in some of the cases. How would the tribunal handle submissions or evidence on such issues? It may well be unfair to parties in such cases for the appointed tribunals to just ignore arguments relating, for example, to unfair dismissal or discrimination. It is naive to pretend that such scenarios will not happen and it may be an injustice to employees or employers if the tribunal were to disregard such issues or evidence completely.
Sir, instead of having different forums to hear different types of employment or labour-related disputes, may I propose that the Government consider having one tribunal that can hear all types of labour-related employment disputes? This may take away some cases from the Courts. We can have a tribunal that hears claims or employment claims, unfair dismissal and discrimination as well. My colleague, Mr Faisal Manap, as well as other speakers before me have proposed that domestic workers should also be considered to be entitled to the use of the ECT. By way of example, the Employment Tribunal in the UK hears claims from employees arising from unlawful treatment by employers, potential employers or even trade unions. Unlawful treatment includes unfair dismissal, discrimination and unfair deductions from one's pay.
The Bill provides that claims must be filed for mediation within one year from the date on which the claim arises, or six months if the employment relationship has ended. Comparing the statutory time limit for claims in the State and High Courts for employment contracts-related claims which is six years, the proposed time bar of one year and six months respectively is extremely short.
Could the Minister explain the rationale for having such a short time limit under the Bill, especially that of half a year? Would the Minister consider raising the limits to at least one year after the employment relationship has ended? I have asked this because six months is really a short time and it could well be that the employee was busy looking for a new job, adjusting to a new job or his or her family may require urgent attention or, as we often see in employment disputes, the employee may be communicating with his or her employers and trying to come to an agreement regarding the dispute.
Under this Bill, claims are limited to $20,000 or $30,000 for claimants to go through the TMF or MOM conciliation prescribed under the IRA. I am of the view that, unlike the Small Claims Tribunal, we should set a higher minimum monetary limit for cases before the ECT. A good indication of a minimum limit should be the median annual income so that employers are less likely to be able to delay a hearing before the tribunal on a calculation that the employee may not have sufficient resources to pursue the case in the civil Courts. Hence, the claim limit should be raised beyond $20,000. Let it cover more claims involving more PMEs and PMEs with higher income rather than let it go to the State Courts or beyond, where legal costs would be considerably higher.
Clause 21 of the Bill provides that a tribunal is not bound by the rules of evidence in the conduct of any proceeding and may inform itself on any matter in such a manner as the tribunal thinks fit. This is something which I feel is not satisfactory. If, as what I suggested earlier that the claims limit can be increased beyond $20,000, we should definitely enhance the current provision in clause 21 of letting the tribunal not be bound by the rules of evidence in proceedings under this Bill.
I am saying this because, under the proposed provisions, the tribunal has a wide discretion whether to admit or accept evidence. The risk of a tribunal failing to consider relevant evidence or making its decision based on arguably wrongful evidence cannot be discounted. I feel that this affects the quality of justice.
Naive or less educated workers who may not know how best to protect themselves with written evidence or any agreement with the employers may be disadvantaged by such a system. This problem of the tribunal not bound by the rules of evidence is further compounded by other provisions in the Bill. For example, clause 23 provides that appeal against any decision of the tribunal is to the High Court but only on issue of law or a claim being outside the jurisdiction of the High Court. The High Court is prohibited by clause 25(2) of this Bill to vary the tribunal's decision on the question of fact or to receive further evidence. Why do we not accept further evidence, especially if further evidence turns up after the proceedings?
Sir, this Bill is indeed a step in the right direction, but I hope we can do much more with the proposed tribunal.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Thomas Chua.
Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Deputy Speaker, first I would like to declare that I am an employer. Setting up the ECT to settle conflicts between PMETs and employers is a good move. However, conflicts only need to be settled because there are conflicts. We hope that employers and employees could find a way to smoothen their communication channels to avoid unnecessary conflict.
After this Bill has been passed, employers have to step up on their knowledge in this. Some SMEs have no HR departments, and the work of HR s is usually handled by the Administration Department, or personally taken charge of by the boss himself. PMETs will be implicated under the new legislation. Since most PMETs are well-educated, dealing with them is very different from that of blue-collar workers, in terms of concept and process. Whenever conflicts arise and need to be raised in the tribunal, just the preparation of documents, and following up on detailed procedures, would be extremely exacting for SMEs.
Hence, I really hope that this Bill could form a standard reference for HR management and that employers and PMETs could fully understand the content to avoid getting into conflicts which are impossible to mediate. At the same time, I also hope that the ECT could accurately assess which claims are reasonable and which are not reasonable at all. Local enterprises are all facing severe manpower shortage and, due to economic restructuring, every trade and industry is trying to reshuffle its resources. SMEs also hope to take the opportunity to recruit more PMETs and fully utilise their potential. However, if PMETs and employers can work together cordially, enterprises do not need to waste time and energy to address these conflicts, which only ends up aggravating the situation.
I also have some concerns regarding the salary-related claims to be handled by the ECT. Within the company, any personnel changes, including promotions, demotions, organisational restructuring, performance appraisals, retrenchments, resignations, and other management issues, are all eventually salary-related. How does one then differentiate between standard HR adjustments and unreasonable salary conflicts? Such cases should be carefully dealt with at the ECT, to avoid being abused by employees.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Murali Pillai.
Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok): Mr Deputy Speaker, I declare my interest as a lawyer with a practice involving employment disputes.
The Employment Claims Bill seeks to establish an ECT within the State Courts to facilitate the expeditious resolution of certain specified employment disputes.
In addition, the Tribunal will replace the Labour Court, which is a dispute resolution mechanism currently administered by the Commissioner for Labour to adjudicate on employment claims by employees who are covered by the EA. In contrast, the tribunal's jurisdiction will extend to adjudicating on employment claims of employees not covered by the EA, such as PMEs. Therefore, the tribunal will provide such employees with quicker and relatively cheaper options of dispute mechanisms than having to commence a suit in the civil Courts.
I support these objectives. I take the opportunity to highlight and seek clarification on the following four areas.
First, section 19 of the Bill requires that parties to proceedings before the tribunal must act in person. A similar provision exists for mediation under section 5 of the Bill. A body corporate may be represented by its officer or full-time employee, but parties cannot be represented by an advocate and solicitor.
This is understandable given that the objective of the tribunal is to provide a cost-effective mechanism to resolve the specified employment disputes. While I acknowledge that the tribunal is likely to play a more inquisitorial role than the civil Courts in adjudicating the specified employment disputes, I am concerned that in certain situations, there may be an \"inequality of arms\" between an employer and employee before the tribunal. This would arise if an employer should be represented before the tribunal by a legally-trained employee. I gather from the Minister today that he intends to allow union members to be represented by union representatives. Does he contemplate that these representatives would be legally trained and, if so, how would that reconcile with the principle of section 19 of the Bill?
I understand that the tribunal will be limited to hearing employment disputes of up to S$20,000 for normal cases or $30,000 for claimants invoking mediation or conciliation under the IRA. The quantum of a claim per se is not indicative of the complexity of the claim. While the majority of cases before the tribunal are contemplated to be straightforward claims, there could be cases involving legal and factual complexity, for example, where a dispute requires an interpretation of terms or where an employment contract with a Singaporean is governed by a law other than Singapore law. In such cases, the tribunal would benefit from proper representation of parties' respective cases.
A possible way to address such cases is to allow the tribunal to appoint an assessor on an ad hoc basis, somewhat analogous to section 33 of the State Courts Act which allows a District Judge to, if he thinks fit, on the application of any party, or his own Motion, summon to his assistance a person of skill and experience in the matter to act as an assessor.
This is also similar to the approach adopted in section 60 of the South Australian Employment Tribunal Act 2014 which allows the tribunal to refer any question arising in any proceedings to a special referee for the purpose of procuring a decision or opinion which the tribunal may or may not adopt. This suggestion may, in part, at least, address an issue raised by the hon Member Mr Zainal Sapari when he highlighted the plight of employees suffering from certain disabilities.
Second, I support the objectives of requiring parties to mediate their employment disputes first before their cases may be heard by the tribunal. In most cases, this would be the most efficient dispute resolution mechanism as highlighted by the Minister just now. The UK also has a similar procedure, under section 18A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996
Notwithstanding the benefits of mediation, I highlight that in one specific situation, the requirement of compulsory mediation imposed by the Bill may pose a disadvantage to the employee, by way of an example, where an employee has unsuccessfully mediated a specified employment dispute, such as leave entitlement. He has lodged the claim with the tribunal for that dispute, but before that claim is heard by the tribunal, the employer acts in a manner that gives rise to a second specified employment dispute, such as withholding salary. Under the Bill, the occurrence of the second specified employment dispute is one that the employee would have to submit a fresh mediation request. In such a situation, it appears that the compulsory mediation of the second dispute would lead to duplication of resources and be less cost-effective, contrary to the objectives of the Bill.
It would be more cost- and resource-efficient for the tribunal to be able to deal with both disputes at the same time. In this regard, while the tribunal is empowered under section 18(5) of the Bill to hear the two claims together, this would result in a delay to the employee having to obtain redress for both claims as he would have to wait until the second dispute has been mediated.
A way to deal with such a situation is to empower the tribunal, upon the application of a party, to order the second dispute to be heard without a claim referral certificate. This is what the UK has done by way of its Employment Tribunals (Early Conciliation: Exemptions and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2014.
Thirdly, whilst the creation of the tribunal to hear salary-related monetary claims would allow employees to resolve employment disputes more quickly, an unintended effect may be the added complexity because of the potential overlaps in the roles of the tribunal, Commissioner for Labour and the Minister. Section 16 of the Bill thus seeks to minimise such multiplicity of proceedings. In particular, in relation to the salary-related disputes under the EA, section 38(e) of the Bill will make consequential amendments to section 115 of the EA, to provide that the Commissioner must not inquire into or decide a salary-related dispute unless the dispute is of a type prescribed by regulations made under section 139 of the EA.
Having regard to that fact, the tribunal is expected to take over the work of the Commissioner for Labour in adjudicating salary-related claims. Could the Minister please clarify what kind of regulations under the EA are contemplated and in what situations would it be permissible for an employee to make a claim to the Commissioner under the EA?
Finally, section 16(7) of the Bill provides that where an employee has lodged a claim for an employment assistance payment under the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA), the employer cannot rely on the defence that an employee does not satisfy the re-employment eligibility criteria set out in section 7(1) of the RRA if the employer did not raise this defence during the mediation required under Part 2 of the Bill. Could the Minister please clarify what is the rationale of this subsection? This provision, on surface, seems odd for a few reasons.
First, section 16(7) of the Bill appears antithetical to the purpose of mediation. Mediations encourage amicable settlement of disputes by encouraging parties to speak freely about their issues. And it has been very successful, as the Minister observed earlier. Parties are usually assured that what is discussed during mediation will not be used against them in a subsequent claim. Further, parties are generally discouraged from relying on or referring to their strict legal positions at mediation.
Second, Part II of the Bill which deals with mediation of employment disputes, does not require an employer to raise the defences he wishes to rely on at the mediation stage. If no such requirement is imposed, would it not be inconsistent for section 16(7) of the Bill to preclude an employer from relying on a defence that it is not required to raise the same during mediation?
Third, given that mediation under the Bill is to be conducted in private and, in general, discussions between the parties during mediation are private and confidential, how would the tribunal be apprised of what was discussed during the mediation, given that it was not present at the mediation?
Finally, given that legal representation is disallowed at such mediations pursuant to section 5 of the Bill, the representative of the employer attending at the mediation may not be an individual who is well-versed with the provisions of the RRA, and who may not be aware that he or she would have to expressly rely on the defence afforded under section 7 of the RRA.
In conclusion, notwithstanding my comments on the Employment Claims Bill, I agree the Bill will facilitate expeditious and affordable resolution of employment disputes. I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Miss Cheryl Chan.
Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling (Fengshan): Mr Deputy Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill and would like to make some suggestions to further improve matters in this area.
In April this year, the EA was enhanced to facilitate better administrative records and for employees to better understand employment terms and benefits. According to the TAFEP, 259 complaints were received about unfair practices at the workplace in 2014, compared to 475 made in 2013. While there is a trend of decline in the complaints, most of the complaints received were related to hiring practices which disadvantaged Singaporeans and they were based on age, language and race.
However, there has been little survey statistics available about the percentage of unfair dismissal of workers. Similarly, not much attention has been given to unfair practices that go unreported by the workers who were so affected who may not be covered by the Act or due to lack of knowledge on their entitlements or for fear of losing their jobs, especially when the job market is weak.
Though I agree that not all complaints and claims should be viewed with a negative light, lest we think the current job market is skewed with unbridled bad practices, the need to continue pushing for a fair and inclusive workplace behooves us to look at these areas where current coverage is lacking and has to be enhanced.
And since the primary purpose of the proposed Employment Claims Bill is to facilitate the expeditious resolution of employment disputes by providing mediation for such disputes, there should be prior steps made available that assist employees to make informed decisions or assessments of whether they should raise their cases and how best for those, as covered under the Act, not to overburden our mediation system. So, here, I would like to highlight three areas that I urge MOM to review and consider.
The first area, increasing employees' awareness of employment terms and basic legal structure of contracts and service agreements. Annually, we have fresh cohorts of graduates who are looking to join the workforce at around this time of the year. Many of them would be delighted to have been gainfully employed and offered an employment even before they graduate. But how many of us would recall our first ever employment contract and what it really contains?
To most who are hired as permanent employees, they may remember having signed a contract that contains pages of information and, at best, they would likely take interest in remembering a few things, such as their monthly salary, bonus scheme, annual leave and maybe termination notice period. On one hand, we can say this is a blessing as one should really not have to focus on the contract details regularly when they are contentedly engaged in their day jobs. But on the contrary, when an unfortunate situation does arise, it may be a difficult and costly affair for some of them who did not fully understand what they had been contractually bound from the start.
While it is useful that the enhanced EA mandates stipulating these key employment terms (KET) in writing, but the administration of KET does not necessarily reduce the misunderstandings or even minimise disputes that arise. I suggest that MOM consider with the Workforce Development Agency or now Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture agencies, to providing access on basic knowledge related to contracts, service agreements, common HR practices to all working age adults so that they are better equipped with understanding the latest industry practices and mentally prepared to handle these situations when they arise.
This will also be useful for those undertaking part-time work, mature workers or workers who are transiting back to the workforce, fresh graduates and those workmen who are not covered under any industries specified under the WorkRight initiative. This way, for those who are not covered under the EA or will not benefit from the Employment Claims Bill currently, they will be more aware and better informed to ask the right questions during contract negotiation. It is the first step in preventing them from getting into the unknowns.
The second area, provision of support during and after the claim mediation period. Often, we assume that all these workers who have been unfairly dismissed or treated at work will eventually be duly compensated when their cases are proven and supported. However, many do not know that the consequences of a worker being unfairly dismissed, mistreated or suddenly dismissed goes way beyond the monetary compensations. Some of the downsides include the difficulty of being re-hired due to uncertainty by their prospective hiring companies as to why they have been dismissed in the first place, long waiting periods for professionals to search for equivalent matching jobs, diminishing self-confidence of those who are financially strapped during this claim period and an inability to cope after they have been reinstated post the findings and so on.
Personally, I have some residents who brought up cases of this nature at my Meet-the-People sessions. Let me just cite two real-life experiences. The first case is that of a resident in her early 40s. Before she was laid off, she held the position of HR Director in a multinational corporation. Her dismissal was not due to misconduct or even restructuring, but she was at the end of the fifth month into her first pregnancy. One would imagine that she would know how to handle the situation because of her background in HR and the fact that she is a senior manager. On the contrary, she was devastated and tried to seek help. But she had no avenues to turn to, and the EA excludes her from any coverage for the mere fact of her salary range.
So, though the company did compensate her financially in the end, she was physically not prepared to fight for her rights, which she believed she was justified to have even more of. And the costly process gave her second thoughts because the child was going to be due soon. Searching for a job after her maternity leave would be a second challenge for her as she juggles between her new-born baby and seeking a job of a similar scope and seniority.
The second case is that of a resident whose monthly salary is $1,900 and works for a local SME for the past 18 years. He is aware that he has not been appropriately paid for some of the components in his work package and the matter has come to the attention of the company because there is a group of similar workers just like him a few years ago. While some of his colleagues have had their packages duly adjusted and they have been paid for the missing monies, it was not so for him. But because he is the sole breadwinner in his family and he has minimal paper qualifications, he is afraid of losing his job if he stresses upon this any further with his HR. He thus remained in his job and decided to pursue all overdue claims if he is able to, only provided that he can secure a job externally and because he has got four members in his family to care for.
So, having a claims process and tribunal may be a start for those seeking help, but the claims and appeal cases to be heard could easily take between six months and up to a year. This is a very arduous waiting period and is mentally and physically taxing for many of these workers, especially those who have special circumstances, like those who are sole breadwinners, have unexpected health conditions and or are actually silent individuals who do not dare to contest for their job rights or make the next \"big\" move into the next job. So, how can MOM assist this group of individuals?
The last area, the path of pursuit in terms of the promotion of all these concepts, implementation and enforcement. TAFEP, I recognise, is putting in efforts to expand and play a very key role in changing the mindsets of employers and HR practitioners, so that you build a good workplace architecture in order to get a fair and progressive workplace.
I recognise that to push this in a widespread universal practice across the board is a very huge task and it requires the active participation from all responsible parties in the workforce, not just MOM. Promoting it and education become the natural first steps in all this raising of awareness. However, just relying on the influencers or even some of these advocates of like-minded practitioners to push the agenda for fair workplace practices with SMEs and the private sector may take a very long while to materialise.
In an open economy, companies are more susceptible to the dynamics and impact of all the external market forces. Increasingly, we have observed that trends and all these indicators reflect our workplace as one where it is commonly seen with frequent company restructuring, reduction in breadth of our industries, earlier retirement of our skilled workers and difficulty in well-educated mature workers being re-employed.
Over time, these trends are invariably more challenging to deal with. In order to resolve them, it requires multi-pronged approaches to strike a balance or to mitigate their effects, and many of these effects go beyond the basics of what are considered discrimination on grounds of age, race or even language at the workplace.
I encourage the agencies to consider stepping up on audits, doing external valuations to benchmark, identifying and stemming the current weak practices in some of the sectors, while the educational aspect continues to be communicated and implemented. I feel one area to look into urgently is that of the employment agencies, particularly those that are outsourced. These HR firms actually have very short-term commitments and also non-contractual commitments to the employees who are being hired on behalf of the hiring companies. The parties impacted would be the freelancers, part-timers and mature workers.
For those who have to make career switches due to market conditions or with their acquired upskills through their lifelong learning, it will be beneficial for them to have better visibility and understanding of practices in the new industries before they venture into them.
In conclusion, I believe that the employment claims process can be better implemented and will be well-balanced, without unduly impacting on critical resources when all these updated market practices and necessary legal framework and information are widely made accessible to most of our workers and not only restricted to those who are being protected under the Act.
Awareness and rolling out these good practices would only more effectively circumvent the need for extensive mediation in the long run. Hopefully, through all these different support networks, our vulnerable working groups and PMEs could improve their job opportunities and achieve fair work packages.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Gan Thiam Poh.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): Deputy Speaker, I support the Bill, which will provide for the expeditious resolution of salary-related disputes through the ECT. I am happy to note that most employees, regardless of their salary levels, will have access to this resolution avenue. For now, civil servants, domestic workers and seafarers will be excluded as they have other avenues. However, I hope that they will be included soon to ensure universal access and reduce confusion and duplication. In addition, may I suggest that the ceiling for claims be pegged to our inflation rate so that it will be revised periodically in a timely manner?
I am disappointed that other workplace disputes, such as emotional and physical abuse, discrimination and unfair dismissal, cannot be resolved through this tribunal. Workers will still have to pursue these claims through MOM, if they are covered under the EA, or through the civil Courts, which can be costly. Deputy Speaker, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Recently, one of my residents approached me for help as his employer in the marine engineering sector had been cutting his pay repeatedly to force him to quit. His case is not uncommon. There are also employers who place unreasonable demands on their workers or practise psychological warfare to pressure them to resign. Most employees cannot afford the legal fees to prove their cases and seek compensation for such maltreatment. Employers are aware of this and some exploit their workers in the knowledge that they will not be held accountable. Illiterate, mentally and physically disabled and elderly employees are particularly vulnerable.
I urge MOM to look into this loophole and close it for better protection of our workers. Having a dedicated tribunal which can investigate and mediate will provide more assurance for our workers. It would be necessary to put a cap on the legal fees or provide legal aid so that suffering workers will not be deterred from making legitimate complaints.
(In English): Next, I would like to ask what happens if the employer has filed to wind up the company or if the proprietor or partners have been declared bankrupt. In such scenarios, there will be a limitation as to how much the tribunal can help the employees. Would the Minister share with the House what provisions does the Court have in such situations?
I note that under clause 15, the claimant may abandon the excess amount, so that the tribunal has jurisdiction to hear and determine the claim. However, once the claimant has abandoned the excess amount, he cannot recover that amount in a tribunal or any other Court.
I feel strongly about it. I feel otherwise. I think that the claimant should be given the option to pursue the excess subsequently, even those within a limited time frame. We must understand that most of our population are working people with immediate financial needs to meet – children to feed, education, medical fees, mortgage and instalment payments, parents to support and o son. The expeditious recovery of salaries due is to minimise hardships to the claimants and their dependants. When the claimant's situation is stabilised later, he should have the chance to recover any additional funds. He should not be penalised for choosing a quick interim solution to reduce the negative impact on his family.
Finally, I would like to ask, on behalf of some employers, what provisions this tribunal have for cases where the employees had wilfully injured themselves in order to file claims against their companies. Can such cases be adjudicated through this tribunal?
Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister Lim Swee Say.
Mr Lim Swee Say: Mr Deputy Speaker, first of all, I thank all the Members for their views and suggestions, as well as for supporting the setting up of the ECT. Members have brought up many points. Before I respond to them to the best of my ability, let me just set the stage first, and take a step back.
In the Second Reading opening this speech, I highlighted that, right now, there are three avenues for workers to settle their dispute with their employers – by becoming a union member, through the Labour Court as well as through the civil Court. These three avenues complement one another. We are not trying to find one solution to replace all three because each one, on its own, serves a very important purpose.
For example, unions must continue to be allowed to play a very important role because if the day were to come where our legal framework becomes so comprehensive that unions no longer have a role to play, eventually the Labour Movement will become weak. When the Labour Movement becomes weak, the day will come when the workers can no longer be protected adequately in all aspects of work.
Just look at what is happening in the US today. The labour movement is weak; everybody recognises it. In recent years, we have heard many public reports lamenting that the weakness of the labour movement in the US is today a major weakness in their labour landscape. But in the case of the US, will they be able to find a way for the labour movement to be strong again? This is something for them to worry about, to think about.
In Singapore, the Labour Movement is strong, it is healthy. Tripartism is strong, it is healthy. Let us keep it that way. Therefore, let me stress, firstly, that it is not our intention to weaken the role of the unions through the ECT. Secondly, it is not our intention to make the ECT so comprehensive that it solves all problems. The ECT is meant to be a cheaper, better, faster way of resolving disputes. Cheaper – must be highly affordable, more so than the civil Courts. Better – because it must be able to help more and more employees, including those not covered by EA, to have access to the ECT. Lastly, faster – we want the disputes to be resolved as quickly as possible.
Against that backdrop, let me start by saying that I know many of you will be disappointed by my response, but please bear in mind this. I think Member Mr Dennis Tan or Assoc Prof Daniel Goh said that the ECT is a good start. I fully agree with him. That is our intention. We want to have a good start to the ECT and this good start need not be the ending point, it is just a good start. Against that backdrop, let me try to respond to some of the specific points.
First, Mr Patrick Tay asked about apprentices and interns who are under contracts of service. Yes, they would have recourse through the ECT.
Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Zainal Sapari talked about frivolous claims. Let me assure Mr Zainal Sapari that all valid claims will be heard, regardless of the claim amount. So, even $50 can be a valid claim.
Mr Zainal Sapari asked whether employees filing for CPF claims can come under the ECT. Deputy Speaker, non-payment of CPF contribution is an offence. Workers do not have to claim for non-payment of CPF. All they need to do is notify CPF and we will take enforcement action on their behalf.
Mr Faisal Manap and Mr Dennis Tan asked why not include foreign domestic workers. We have mentioned it before that foreign domestic workers and other categories of workers already have access to separate mechanisms today. Today, their claims are not under the Labour Court. The ECT, for a good start, will take over the role of the Labour Court and not beyond that. Therefore, for these categories of workers, we will look to include them in future phases of implementation.
Time limit – six months, one year. It is debatable. Based on our experience with the Labour Court, six months and one year would be sufficient to cater for most cases. But one important point is that based on our experience with the Labour Court, evidence becomes harder to gather, harder to collate, as the time passed by. As a result, we believe that by imposing this time limit, it will actually force both employers and employees to take quick action. If you have a claim, make it quickly, why wait? And bear in mind, there is a limit of $20,000, $30,000.
The longer the workers wait to file their claims, the more the workers accumulate their claims, the more likely they are going to be affected by the claim limit. So, I would say that having a faster claim works to the advantage of the workers. Do not wait.
On claim limit, why $20,000? If I set it at $50,000, Members will ask why $50,000? If I say $100,000, Members will ask why $100,000? The answer is very simple. Today, at the Labour Court, we have a $20,000 limit for PMEs; for the rank-and-file, there is no limit. But we discovered that, for the rank-and-file, $20,000 is more than adequate. As a result, we decided to continue the existing claim limit of the Labour Court. But this number is not cast in concrete. We will review it from time to time through tripartite consultation.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked why the claimants cannot recover their abandoned claim amounts in other Courts. This is to avoid multiple proceedings in different Courts and tribunals over the same dispute. This is in line with the State Courts' existing practice. It is not something new to the ECT.
Mr Zainal Sapari asked about the timeframe for mediation sessions. For Labour Court claims, the first session is arranged within a month, usually within 14 working days. We will continue with this best practice under the ECT.
Mr Murali Pillai asked whether new claims that may arise between mediation and ECT hearings can be combined. The answer is yes, we will consider his suggestion. However, I would prefer to limit it to only similar and related claims because, if the claims are completely different, it is better that they go through mediation. But I take the Member's point.
Representation at the ECT. Many Members talked about legal representation. The reason why we insist on no legal representation at the ECT is because we think legal representation will work to the disadvantage of the workers. Because if we allow legal representation, it is more likely that the employer will be able to afford legal representation, compared to the employee. But, more importantly, as I have mentioned, we want the ECT to be a very affordable, very expeditious way of resolving disputes. Any complex cases that require legal representation, they should go to the civil Court rather than come to the ECT. We are not saying that this is not important; we are just saying that it is outside the scope of the ECT.
Several Members also asked about the representation at the ECT. I just want to confirm again that for union members in the unionised companies, they may be represented by the unions at mediation and at the ECT hearings. Union members in a non-unionised company, who undergo the TMF, can seek consent from ECT for their tripartite mediation advisors to observe their ECT hearings. These will be prescribed in the subsidiary legislation, in black and white.
Mr Zainal Sapari asked whether the next-of-kin (NOK) can make the claim for some members. Generally speaking, claimants must make their claims in person. But in cases where the employee does not have the capacity to represent himself, his NOK may apply to the Courts to be appointed as a deputy under the Mental Capacity Act. Once appointed as a deputy, the NOK may then submit a mediation request on behalf of the employee.
Some Members also expressed the concern on what if the worker is not able to express himself, not able to present his case fairly due to whatever constraint, then whether the judgment will be a fair one. Here, I want to assure the Members that the tribunal magistrates appointed to the ECT will be legally qualified and they will decide on each case, its merits, and in accordance with the relevant legislation, case law and legal principles.
The ECT will adopt a judge-led approach. So, the judge will lead the tribunal and may allow individuals with relevant skills and experience to act as assessors, as suggested by Mr Murali Pillai. The ECT may also summon any person to give evidence or produce relevant documents. Parties may appeal to the High Court against an ECT order on grounds of law and jurisdiction. In other words, all these measures are to ensure that there will be a fair outcome.
In terms of the processing of ECT cases, I would like to assure Mr Patrick Tay that the ECT and TADM will continue to prioritise the urgent cases, which is what we are doing in the Labour Court today.
I agree with Mr Patrick Tay that the claim process should be simplified where possible. At the same time, Mr Zainal Sapari also asked about the ECT's operating hours and having some claim forms in the vernacular languages.
Mr Deputy Speaker, this ECT is part of the State Courts system. The ECT will align its processes with those of the other State Court tribunals. MOM will work with the State Courts to customise the services of the ECT according to the needs of the workers.
Mr Louis Ng had some questions regarding ECT records and grounds of decisions. MOM and the State Courts will explore these matters in the drafting of the subsidiary legislation.
On ECT fees, Mr Patrick Tay, Mr Louis Ng and some other Members touched on the affordability of ECT fees. I fully agree that the fees should be kept affordable. In fact, that is the whole purpose of the ECT. We will consider various suggestions, for example, to tier fees by claim amounts and so on. Mr Faisal Manap was concerned that the fees may be set too high and he hoped that it would be set below $160 or something like that. We will bear that in mind.
I would also like to assure Mr Zainal Sapari and Mr Faisal Manap that the ECT will be accessible to low-wage workers and we will waive the fees for deserving cases, which is in line with today's State Courts' practice.
Enforcement of the ECT orders. Ms Thanaletchimi asked how the ECT orders can be enforced. If the orders are not complied with, they can commence debt recovery by applying to the State Courts for a Writ of Seizure and Sales. I think Members are concerned about what if the workers do not know how to go about doing this, and whether it will be too costly for them. I am happy to share with Members that TADM will assist them. TADM will give them advice and assist them to go through that process.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh referred to my reply to a Parliamentary Question on 11 May 2015, mentioning that of those employers who did not comply with the Labour Court's orders, 80% of them turned out to be able to pay. Maybe the way I put it was not so clear. So, I wish to clarify. What I meant was that of all the employers who receive Labour Court orders, 80% were able to pay. Only 20% did not make the full payment. Of those 20% who were unable to make full payment, the majority of them were due to financial difficulties, in some cases, going out of business.
For those who wilfully disobey the Labour Court orders, they can be prosecuted under the EA or salary offences. So, we do have the mechanism to prosecute them. We have done so and will continue to do so.
To help the local vulnerable workers who are caught in situations where companies may not have assets to be seized or may have stopped operations and are unable to make the payment, Assoc Prof Daniel Goh, Mr Louis Ng, Miss Cheryl Chan, Mr Gan Thiam Poh and other Members asked whether we can do something to help them. I am happy to say that MOM is in the process of establishing a short-term relief fund to assist such workers, and this fund will be administered by TADM. More details will be disclosed later.
On public communication, I agree with Members Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Zainal Sapari that it is important to raise awareness about the ECT and TADM, including the rules and processes. So, MOM certainly will work with the tripartite partners and key stakeholders to do so.
I also agree with Mr Thomas Chua who highlighted that it is important for the employers, especially SMEs, to enhance and raise their HR competencies so as to avoid disputes rather than to be faced with disputes. We will do our part as well to help to upgrade the HR capabilities amongst SMEs.
Mr Murali Pillai asked what kind of claims will continue to come to the Commissioner for Labour under the EA . With the setting up of the ECT, the Commissioner for Labour will continue to hear claims related to the transfer of employment to another company because of restructuring, and claims related to the recovery of salary not paid in legal tender. These will not be under the ECT. In addition, the Commissioner for Labour will continue to handle non-salary-related disputes, such as unfair dismissal.
Mr Murali Pillai asked why is it that employers should raise the issue of re-employment eligibility during mediation and not during the ECT hearing. I want to clarify that under the RRA, re-employment eligibility is determined by MOM. If the employees and the employers have disagreements over re-employment eligibility, the employee should come to MOM and we will get it settled. Once it is determined that the employee is eligible for re-employment, if they cannot agree on the payment of the Employment Assistance Payment (EAP), that is where the ECT will come in to rule whether the payment is adequate and appropriate.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh asked about the outcomes of public consultation conducted earlier this year. We did receive feedback, and many of the feedback were similar to the issues raised by the Members today. A summary of the feedback and the response will be made available online on the Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home (REACH) platform following the debate in this House.
Mr Deputy Speaker, establishing the ECT is a big step forward, but is not the final step. It is just a good start. We are going to do much more.
For example, Mr Patrick Tay asked about reviewing our employment legislation. Over the years, we have progressively expanded our EA coverage for PMEs. We first extended salary protection under the EA to PMEs earning less than $2,500 because, prior to that, there was no coverage for PMEs. In 2008, we included PMEs earning less than $2,500 under our EA. This salary ceiling was raised to $4,500 in 2011. In 2014, we amended the EA to give PMEs some non-salary protection, such as sick leave benefits, unfair dismissal. We will continue to work with the tripartite partners to regularly review our employment legislation, including the EA salary ceiling as suggested by Mr Patrick Tay.
Mr Tay also asked about covering more types of disputes under the TMF. Today's Bill now allows the TMF to cover a broader range of disputes, including salary-related and non-salary related disputes, like re-employment. We will continue our discussions with the tripartite partners for the TMF to cover more non salary-related disputes, such as unfair dismissal. This is something we will do through tripartite consultation.
Mr Faisal Manap, Mr Dennis Tan, Ms K Thanaletchimi and Mr Gan Thiam Poh also asked whether the ECT could hear non salary-related disputes in future, including unfair dismissals, workplace injury claims, discrimination and so on. The tripartite partners have deliberated at length and we have decided and agreed that the ECT should start with resolving salary-related dispute claims in an affordable and expeditious manner now, before we consider to expand the scope of the ECT to hear non salary-related issues in future. So, not now, but in the future. The tripartite partners will continue to deliberate on this issue.
In conclusion, Mr Deputy Speaker, I want to come back to the point made by Assoc Prof Randolph Tan. It is a very important point. At the end of the day, what we really want to strive for is having good progressive HR practices at the workplaces so that disputes can be prevented. I share his views completely.
The ECT is a solution to resolving disputes. However, we must not forget that, at the end of the day, avoidance of disputes is better than resolving disputes.
I also agree with Mr Thomas Chua's point about paying more attention in supporting SMEs. We will be doing even more to help SMEs to keep upgrading their HR capability. I share Mr Thomas Chua's concern that if the ECT mechanism is made too complicated, many SMEs may not be able to cope with it. That is the reason why we have set up the ECT as a first step to be as simple and direct as possible.
I believe that the establishment of the ECT and TADM is an important step forward in addressing salary-related claims for all workers and, hopefully, will create a more comprehensive dispute management landscape here and lay the foundation for us to continue to update and evolve the dispute resolution mechanism in Singapore. Mr Deputy Speaker, with that, I beg to move.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Murali Pillai.
Mr Murali Pillai: Mr Deputy Speaker, I am grateful to the hon Minister for providing very detailed explanations. I have one short clarification to make in relation to his answer about a claim under the RRA.
The Minister mentioned that the employment eligibility criteria are set by the Ministry. The thrust of my question is not that. It is in relation to the fact that the defence of the employer can only be raised if the employer had raised it in the course of mediation. The problem with that is that mediation is usually seen as a \"without prejudice\" kind of a discussion where there is a certain level of candour expected.
Perhaps, as a halfway point, one way to deal with this issue is to provide, under the regulations, that the employer would be raising this defence on a headline basis that the employee did not satisfy the criteria, without really going into the facts and details so that it is highlighted at the mediation stage and, later on, if it proceeds to the tribunal stage, the tribunal can take cognisance of whether or not the employer had declared that this would be a defence to the employee's claim.
Mr Lim Swee Say: Mr Deputy Speaker, I will discuss that with the tripartite partners. My understanding is that, if a case is relating to the payment of the EAP, the first to be established is whether the employee is eligible for re-employment because, if the employee is not eligible for re-employment, then the payment of the EAP does not arise.
So, at the mediation stage, if the employer feels that the employee is not eligible for re-employment, that is where he should bring it up during the mediation. And if the mediator agrees with the employer that the employee does not qualify for re-employment, the case is closed.
If the employee disagrees with the mediator that he does not qualify for eligibility, he can come to MOM, and MOM is the final decision-maker to decide whether a worker is eligible for re-employment. Once MOM rules that the person is eligible for re-employment, then the mediation will proceed. After the mediation, if there is no outcome, they will go to the ECT. That is my understanding of how it works. So, by the time it goes to the ECT to re-debate on the eligibility of the employee, it is, in a way, setting back the whole process all over again.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Assoc Prof Daniel Goh.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong: I have a minor clarification for the Minister on the \"80%, 20%\" point. I am quoting the Minister from the Hansard: \"At the same time, employers were also taken to the Labour Court to settle the payments to the workers. For that, last year (2014), we cleared about 1,630 cases. And of these cases, two-thirds of the workers were able to receive full payment. However, one-third of them, due to financial difficulties faced by the companies, received either partial payment or no payment. We investigated further into those employers who were not able to make full payment and we discovered that 80% of the employers were able to make full payment but 20% of them were unable to pay due to financial difficulties.\"
So, it seems that of the one-third that initially did not pay to the workers to settle the claims, 80% were found to be able to make the full payment because of MOM's investigation. That is my clarification. My questions are: did MOM actively then enforce the order on this 80% and get them to make the full payment to the workers? Would MOM then continue to do so for the ECT?
Mr Lim Swee Say: Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Member for the clarification. I read the Hansard as well and I think the way I worded it may have created this wrong impression. This is the reason why I thought it is important that I clarify it here.
Basically, what I meant to say was that of all the companies, of all the employers who received the Labour Court order for payment, 80% actually were able to make payment; only 20% did not make the full payment.
Of the 20% that did not make full payment, some of them did not have assets for seizure, some of them had run into financial difficulties or they had closed down their businesses. For these, obviously, there is no recourse. For those who are able to make payment, but for whatever reason refuse to make payment, we prosecute them under the EA because this is a salary offence. In other words, even with the ECT, we still have the right to pursue employers for failing to make salary payments.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Thanaletchimi.
Ms K Thanaletchimi: Sir, I have just one clarification. Section 10 of the Bill seems to be silent on the contents of the record of the tribunal and whether parties are entitled to a copy of the records. Will the decision of the ECT be made available to the parties in written form?
Mr Lim Swee Say: Mr Deputy Speaker, this will be in accordance with the State Courts' procedures. For example, whether the issue of re-employment eligibility was discussed in mediation, the information will be made available to the ECT. Likewise, the records of the ECT, as I had replied earlier to the suggestions made by Mr Louis Ng, we will work together with the State Courts to look into these proposals.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Assoc Prof Daniel Goh.
Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong: The Minister said that MOM will continue to prosecute those who do not want to pay under the EA. But would this cover PMEs because the EA does not cover PMEs?
Mr Lim Swee Say: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, for those who are covered under the EA, we can prosecute them under the Act. For those not covered under the EA, the advantage of the ECT is that the order of the ECT is now enforceable by registering the settlement outcome with the District Court. That is a big plus.
By the way, for TMF, that is, likewise, the biggest improvement. Salary-related settlement agreements at TMF are now enforceable through registration with the District Courts.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Lim Swee Say]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Minister for Communications and Information (Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim): Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
Let me, first, explain the context behind this Bill. In January this year, I announced that we will restructure the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) into two new organisations ‒ the Info-communications Media Development Authority, or IMDA for short, and the Government Technology Agency, or GovTech for short.
Both IDA and MDA have contributed significantly to the development of Singapore's infocomm and media sectors since their formation in 1999 and 2003 respectively.
As the infocomm regulator and developer, IDA has contributed significantly to Singapore's position as a dynamic, competitive and innovative global infocomm capital. IDA fully liberalised Singapore's telecommunications market in 2000, two years ahead of schedule, and ensured that we are the only country in the world that has nationwide fibre in our homes and businesses. That is why Singapore is consistently ranked among the world's top in telecommunications infrastructure, thus giving our consumers and businesses access to competitively priced, high-speed connections. IDA has also fostered a vibrant infocomm startup community and a growing pool of successful infocomm small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and enterprises that have flown the Singapore flag high around the world.
MDA has also been instrumental in growing Singapore's media sector through the implementation of the Media21 Master Plan and the Singapore Media Fusion Plan. It has actively promoted the creation of high-quality local content for public service broadcasting, and nurtured generations of filmmakers, directors, games developers and writers with its scholarships. In addition, MDA has put in place co-regulation and content classification frameworks to uphold our community norms, while helping Singaporeans make more informed decisions about the media content they wish to consume.
Sir, the pace of technological change has significantly increased in recent years. More and more disruptive technologies and new business models that are enabled by infocomm media technologies have sprouted up. Rapid convergence between Singapore's infocomm and media sectors has been seen in recent years, blurring the traditional divide between these previously distinct industries.
Our traditional media, telecommunications companies (telcos) and technology (tech) companies have expanded into content creation and new media businesses and vice versa. For example, our media broadcasters have developed online platforms that can stream content around the world and are partnering overseas players to bring in fresh content for our viewers. Several, like StarHub, are even developing their own content, through the Public Service Broadcast (PSB) Contestable Funds Scheme. With convergence, the delivery of content and services is no longer restricted to traditional platforms. We can see this in the mobile market where there are mobile handsets capable of receiving video and television broadcast streams. Thus, content developers now have the opportunity to sell their content to a larger spectrum of service providers.
My Ministry has been closely monitoring these trends. We have begun to bring IDA and MDA's industry plans closer together through the development of Infocomm Media 2025, which was launched last year. The process has confirmed our view that the time is right to set up a converged infocomm media developer and regulator.
IMDA will build on the successes of IDA and MDA and help develop Singapore as a future-ready infocomm media hub. Consumers will also be a key focus for IMDA, ensuring that they continue enjoying a variety of infocomm media services at good service standards and competitive prices. I have reminded the staff of IMDA that, ultimately, what they do to harness the power of infocomm media must have a positive impact on the lives of Singaporeans.
The Bill before this House will legally establish IMDA. After the creation of IMDA, I expect to put forward more specific legislative proposals to bring about a converged perspective on consumer protection, infocomm media regulations and industry development efforts.
On the industry development front, IMDA will help Singapore harness the opportunities in the converged infocomm media landscape by equipping Singaporeans with the skills to thrive in a digital future and driving our economy through promoting digital connectivity and creativity.
The Infocomm Media 2025 Plan which I launched last year sets out broad directions to guide the development of the infocomm media sector. Having a single agency implement the plan will provide greater clarity to industry partners and deliver more impactful outcomes.
For example, one of IMDA's priorities will be to build a future-ready Singaporean Core for infocomm media. As a converged organisation, IMDA will be better poised to address the talent needs, and develop professional skills for the infocomm media sector. It will do this by building interest and cultivating talents from young and introducing our students and young adults to the exciting world of infocomm media. IMDA will also build on the initiatives and programmes that IDA and MDA currently have for students and professionals, to help them build and strengthen the core infocomm media skills that they need to seize opportunities and compete both locally and internationally.
IMDA will also enhance support for our infocomm media companies. For example, IMDA will have three innovation facilities under its wing, inherited from IDA and MDA. These are the IDA Labs, the Games Solution Centre, and Creators' Space. The new IMDA team will be studying how best to bring these facilities together as an integrated network that will better support the ideas and aspirations of companies in the converged infocomm media space, such as tech and online content creators. In particular, SMEs and startups will be able to leverage these facilities for prototyping and content creation, and bring their innovative products, services and content to fruition. This opens up interesting opportunities for collaboration and learning.
For example, a film animation company may be interested to venture into product merchandising. It can use the IDA Labs facilities to learn more about coding, and tinker around with robotics to prototype \"toys\" that can be launched in conjunction with their films. Conversely, an IDA Labs tech startup can leverage the Creators' Space to work with a community of online content creators to develop a compelling narrative for a crowd-funding campaign.
IMDA will also encourage greater sectoral innovation and transformation using infocomm media technologies in order to benefit Singaporeans and create greater economic and social value for our companies. For example, IDA has introduced the \"Internet of Things\" to some schools to enable authentic, inquiry-based learning. Students can use the sensors to capture data and upload them onto an online platform for data exchange and sharing. IMDA will also work with industries to explore ways to bring virtual reality and augmented reality technologies into the classrooms.
Sir, while the formation of IMDA is prompted by the rapid convergence of the infocomm and media sectors, there are areas which IMDA will oversee where convergence may not feature so prominently, such as our postal services, and the registration and coordination of satellite orbital slots. These remain important areas of work. For example, as the Postal Authority, IMDA will continue to ensure the smooth operation of postal services in Singapore and that it continues to innovate to meet changing consumer needs.
Regulatory certainty and clarity are highly critical in a converging sector. As we move to a connected and digital world, we need to grow trust between businesses and consumers. Regulatory frameworks must, hence, be sufficiently robust and holistic to ensure that our policy objectives are met in this new converged environment and avoid having regulatory lacunas with regards to convergent services. At the same time, we need to enable fair competition and further the interests of businesses and consumers and, most importantly, Singapore. This is important as we move to a more connected and digital world.
Today, IDA's regulatory powers for the telecommunications and postal sector are spelt out in the subject-matter legislations, namely, the Telecommunications Act and the Postal Services Act. However, MDA's regulatory powers to manage market competition for the media sector are contained in the MDA Act. With the formation of IMDA, subject-specific legislation for the telecommunications, media and postal sectors will continue and will be implemented by IMDA. For expediency, the market competition provisions in the MDA Act will be carried forward into Part 7 of the IMDA Bill as an interim measure. The longer-term plan is for IMDA to develop a holistic approach to regulation and competition management for the infocomm media sector through streamlined rules and regulations. This will make it easier for businesses to grow.
On the content regulation front, MDA currently enforces sector-specific Acts such as the Broadcasting Act and Films Act. Moving forward, IMDA will take over these subject-specific legislation and continue to ensure that content guidelines reflect community standards. With convergence, the same content can be carried over traditional as well as non-traditional media platforms. It is, hence, important for IMDA, as a converged regulator, to keep pace with technological developments that change the way media content is delivered and consumed and ensure that such content is consistent with our community norms and values.
IMDA will also oversee the personal data protection regulation. Today, the Personal Data Protection Act, or PDPA for short is enforced by the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC). When IMDA is formed, the Commission will be a unit under IMDA to enforce data protection regulation in the private sector. The synergies between infocomm media and personal data protection have led to our decision to site the Commission within IMDA. For example, companies often set up websites that collect, process and provide access to personal data of their customers. Many of the solutions to enhance personal data protection, hence, leverage on infocomm media technologies. The Commission, under IMDA, will continue to ensure that all private sector companies comply with the PDPA. As companies make more use of data to improve their offerings, IMDA will also ensure that our personal data regulations and policies promote public trust and confidence in our companies.
As a converged regulator, IMDA will now have the opportunity to improve consumer protection policies across the infocomm media sector. Moving forward, IMDA will study how such consumer protection policies can be further developed.
Sir, having explained the rationale for the Bill and the roles that IMDA will play, I will now describe the main elements of the Bill. The Bill comprises 11 Parts.
Parts 1 and 2 of the Bill provide for the key concepts used in the Bill and to establish the IMDA. Part 2 also sets out IMDA's functions and powers, which are drawn from the existing provisions in the IDA and MDA Acts. These cover industry development and regulatory functions that IDA and MDA currently play in the infocomm and media sectors. IMDA will not have any additional functions and powers beyond what IDA and MDA currently have. Any difference in the exact wordings of the clauses is to simplify the language. The substance and meaning of the provisions remain unchanged. Parts 3 to 6 are on matters regarding IMDA's Board members, their decision-making procedures, IMDA's own employees and its financial provisions.
Sir, as I mentioned earlier, Part 7 of the Bill empowers IMDA to regulate competition matters in the media sector. These provisions were ported over from the MDA Act and are essential to give IMDA the legislative powers to intervene in competition-related matters that have an impact on the industry and consumers, including mergers and consolidations that involve media companies, and potential abuse of market powers by dominant media companies.
Part 8 of the Bill sets out the administration and enforcement powers of IMDA. These apply to offences under the IMDA Bill and do not replace the enforcement powers that are in IMDA's subject-specific legislation, like the Telecommunications Act and the Broadcasting Act.
Parts 9 and 10 contain provisions that transfer the relevant undertakings and personnel to IMDA, to repeal the IDA and MDA Acts and provide for saving and transitional arrangements.
Finally, Part 11 of the Bill makes consequential and related amendments to other Acts, including to incorporate PDPC into IMDA, as I earlier mentioned.
Sir, as a single infocomm media authority, IMDA will have many opportunities before it to reshape and strategise industry development so as to bring greater value. I am confident that IMDA will build on the successes of IDA and MDA to create a vibrant and dynamic infocomm-media hub and discover new economic opportunities for Singapore and our people. Sir, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Zaqy Mohamad.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang): Thank you, Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to speak on this Bill which changes the way the Government approaches infocomm and media.
The restructuring of IDA and MDA is both relevant and timely and will support the development of the Infocomm Media 2025 plan. Both infocomm and media around the world are converging and this presents both opportunities and challenges. From both the Government and corporate point of view, the restructuring also made sense, so as to be able to better deal with the challenges and the huge potential that the new digital world offers.
Before this, in Singapore, the lines between pay television and telecoms operators had become blurred as regulatory and competition issues had straddled both IDA and MDA. The introduction of over-the-top services, such as Netflix, further illustrates the need for a converged regulator and industry development agency. Hence, businesses that offered the bundled services of both telecoms and media had to work with both IDA and MDA.
Under the newly formed IMDA though, these companies need only to work with one agency guided by the converged policy framework. This will promote industry development as it facilitates business planning and creates a more conducive regulatory environment.
However, there are some areas that the new IMDA must make clear with respect to regulation since these have not been discussed in the public domain yet. With the new IMDA in charge of content regulation – I know the Minister spoke about Acts that will come under IMDA – will there be further changes in (a) laws and regulations in the near future to simplify business operations in the industry, and (b) regulations on content that can be carried across different multiple platforms?
In this respect, I would also like to ask IMDA to review the possible market failure or issues with lack of competition which results in Singaporeans being taken hostage to pay for expensive, exclusive sports content. The English Premier League saga has gone on for some time, and cross-carriage does not address high costs for content. We were very lucky with the last-minute agreement for Mediacorp to screen the Olympics. The sentiments evoked by Joseph Schooling's win would not have been the same if Singaporeans did not have access to the \"live\" screening.
As older sectors, such as marine and oil and gas start to slow down, we must identify and cultivate new engines of growth. And I am confident that the infocomm media sector has the potential to be one of them.
I am heartened that industry development will be a focus for IMDA because this will bring great benefit to Singapore, as it emphasises on talent, research, innovation and enterprise. To begin with, IMDA aims to equip Singaporeans with the skills to thrive in a digital future and drive the domestic economy by promoting digital connectivity and creativity.
It is important to note that in terms of its industry development focus, the priorities of IMDA are to grow the infocomm media sector, foster a stronger culture of creating and building, building a future-ready Singapore Core for infocomm and media, strengthening Singapore's connectivity and harnessing data as a competitive advantage. I believe that these priorities will, in part, help to create a stronger pipeline of Singapore content. And we recently saw with the right dedication and nurturing of talent, Singapore was placed on the global sporting map at the Olympics. And I am confident that with the right development of local talent and content in the infocomm media sector, IMDA can nurture a world-class talent pool for the global media landscape.
In terms of opportunities that this convergence creates, I look forward to hearing what plans IMDA has in rolling out some of the projects that leverage synergies across the infocomm and media sectors.
Having the right regulatory environment alone is not enough. To develop the industry in-depth and to allow Singapore to leverage all of the opportunities that the convergence of infocomm and media presents, we must also have the right supply of resources, that is, talent and human capital, to help create a specialised sector and to support its expansion.
At the moment, we do not have a critical mass of professionals in this sector to support this scale of industry development, and I would like to hear from the Minister how IMDA plans to grow more infocomm media professionals for future demand. For those with the potential to switch to this field, how can we attract them and develop their skills and competencies in this area? How will these be done differently under IMDA as compared to the times when IDA and MDA were separate entities? Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to continue in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The restructuring efforts being done by the Government in the infocomm and media sectors as well as in the application of technology towards the creation of a Smart Nation are essential steps to not only adapt to a changing world but also for us to prepare for the future. They clearly show a change in the Government's approach to achieve outcomes that would further benefit Singapore.
The establishment of IMDA is a welcome move, in view of the many changes that have occurred in the global technology landscape. IMDA is a new agency resulting from the restructuring of IDA and MDA in order to support the development of the Infocomm Media 2025 Plan. Both sectors, infocomm and media, are increasingly converging at the global level into one huge platform. Therefore, this amalgamation will definitely open new opportunities and, at the same time, present new challenges.
We are aware that, just like the more traditional sectors, for instance marine, oil and gas, which are among the pillars of Singapore's economy, we need to identify and develop new growth sectors. In this aspect, I am confident that the infocomm media sector is one of the sectors with a bright future for Singapore. This sector promises a huge potential that can contribute towards Singapore's economy and provide our people with better job opportunities and attractive career prospects.
One clear benefit is that service providers and companies that previously dealt with IDA and MDA separately can now deal with a single agency only. This will further facilitate the development of this industry because it will make dealings easier and provide a more conducive enforcement environment.
Nonetheless, the overall functions of IMDA need to be explained more clearly. For instance, will it supervise the regulation of media content and will changes be made to the regulations since the same content can be published on various platforms?
Even so, I believe that IMDA's priorities are to focus on the growth of the infocomm media sector and to develop a Singaporean culture that is more prepared to deal with changes in this sector. It will prepare our citizens with relevant skills for the digital future, including in terms of appropriate media and digital content.
In terms of prospects and opportunities arising from this amalgamation of agencies, I look forward to the details of IMDA's plans for projects that will make the sector flourish further. In terms of expertise and talent, it is also important to let us know about the plans to develop suitable manpower and the strategies that will be adopted, through IMDA.
(In English): I look forward to hearing from IMDA about their exciting plans and evolution in policy to bring Singapore in line with the latest developments in due time. I am certain that this streamlining and convergence will bring about a bright future for the infocomm media sector in Singapore. This is a sector that, if well-developed and managed, could become a key enabler of Singapore's growth moving forward. Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of the Bill.
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Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Digital Age has certainly arrived. The convergence of infocomm and media sectors in the digital realm has transformed the way we live, interact, learn, teach, travel, shop and more.
When I first dabbled in digital technology more than a quarter century ago, I would have not imagined that the painfully slow 14.4-kilobit dial-up modem that I had could transform the Internet to be so pervasive years later, and that the clunky cellular phone in my hand could stream \"live\" video and do so much more now.
The author of the article, \"The Dawning of the Digital Age\", wrote, \"We are no longer on the cusp of it. We have all – to a greater or lesser degree – become Digital Citizens, which means we are both witnessing and participating in seismic change which permeates every aspect of our daily lives from work to play, education to commerce.\"
If we look around us today, we are certainly experiencing a seismic change in the way we live our lives with the advent of the digital age. Information, media, and services are readily available anytime, anywhere and on demand.
The formation of the IMDA, as stated in its press release, is to recognise the importance of the digital economy and seize new opportunities. The authority will regulate a converged infocomm media sector and safeguard the interests of consumers as well.
The digital world moves at an unprecedented speed. Indeed, we must seize new opportunities lest we be left behind. But we must also regulate the digital economy with a light touch so that innovations and creativity can thrive and grow in a fast moving and ever-changing environment.
I wish to seek some clarifications and make some suggestions on the Bill.
Although section 12(1) of the Bill does not preclude the Minister from appointing suitable candidates from the information, communications and media industry to be members of the authority, I am of the opinion that such appointments should be seriously considered. This is important because the authority must possess the depth to understand the opportunities lurking in the converged infocomm media sector, and to enact laws and regulations not just to accommodate the evolving sector, but to accelerate the development of the sector as well. IMDA has regulatory and promotional functions. How the authority intends to carry out both functions in a converged infocomm media sector, where change is the new normal, will depend on the members it appoints.
The Infocomm Media 2025 plan states that it wishes to \"nurture an infocomm media ecosystem that encourages risk-taking and continuous experimentation\". Perhaps, IMDA should also take some risk and experiment with the composition of its members, so that the voices of practitioners in sectors like publishing, video and film production and online news media, are not just heard but represented in the regulatory decision-making process.
Next, in terms of support for local content creators and to promote Singapore as a place to create content, I would like to seek clarification on whether the funding model for these initiatives would be different under the merged and enlarged entity as opposed to when MDA was a separate agency.
Last, I urge IMDA to look into enabling more public-private partnerships (PPPs) so as to encourage and ensure contents with little or no viable commercial values, but of immense public interest, are made available for the benefits of the masses. An example of such contents will be the \"live\" broadcast of the Olympics.
Under sections 5 and 6 of the Bill, the authority has to facilitate \"the provision of an adequate range of media services that serves the interests of the general public\" and has the power to \"collaborate with other organisations, in or outside Singapore, for the purpose of promoting information and communications services and media services\".
Singaporeans almost missed out watching history being made \"live\" from Rio de Janeiro last Saturday, when Joseph Schooling won the first-ever Olympic gold medal for the country, had the impasse in the broadcast rights for the Rio Olympics not been resolved at the very last minute.
The reality is that Singapore has a small domestic market. The decision to have \"live\" broadcast of events like the Olympics cannot be solely based on commercial consideration. This Government has continued to support Formula One year after year. Can it not do something for events that happen only once in every four years, and of which Singaporean athletes are participating, and winning as well?
I urge IMDA to look into facilitating more PPPs in bringing services and contents that may not attract viable commercial interests but may bring immeasurable benefits to the nation as a whole. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Thomas Chua.
Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in Mandarin.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Deputy Speaker, IDA and MDA will be re-organised as IMDA and GovTech, and I support this restructuring which aligns with the development of the environment. Moving ahead, the two agencies will have two distinct roles. IMDA will serve the public at large and the private sector, while the GovTech will focus on the public sector.
The restructuring of these two agencies reflects the industry developments. Emerging technologies are promoting cross-border collaboration; the interaction between different areas and different industries opens up new opportunities and business models. Businesses should pay attention to these trends and break out of traditional mindsets and concept in order to be more aligned with clients and markets.
Singapore's e-Government capabilities have been consistently ranked among the top in the world. However, the development of e-commerce lags far behind that of e-Government. According to the Global Information Technology Report 2016, our e-Government services rank No 2 globally, but we only rank 24 in business-to-consumer Internet use, with capacity for innovation ranking 19.
The disparity in these statistics evidently show us that Singapore's IT standards are unquestionable, and that e-Government applications have become very successful, but somehow the development of e-business did not keep up with that of e-Government. Actually, Singapore has already achieved very high standards of infrastructure and application frameworks in the e-Government space. The challenges we need to overcome are how to bring this into the business arena and let businesses leverage existing Government resources. Through restructuring the Government agencies, getting IMDA to coordinate the infocommunications for the public and private sectors and digital media applications, this could hopefully be an instrumental change to improve Singapore's overall information and communications (ICT) applications for business.
Getting one Government agency to handle overall coordination in a particular area to improve efficiency and delivery levels has seen successful precedents. I sincerely hope that IMDA could drive the entire industry development. At the same time, I hope that IMDA and GovTech could work closely together, sharing resources, thereby bringing the advancements and experience of e-Government into the business arena. They should not work in silos just because they are different Government agencies. In the eyes of the people, there is only one Government, bound together for good or ill. It is essential to strengthen mutual coordination and synergies in order to achieve prosperity for the nation and for society.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Kok Heng Leun.
Mr Kok Heng Leun (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, as we move forward with the Media 2025 plan, it is heartening to note that the new IMDA aims to develop these sectors through, I quote from the Ministry of Communications and Information's (MCI's) press release, \"an emphasis on talent, research, innovation and enterprise\". The infocomm and media sectors are highly dependent on creative talent. I believe we can all agree that creativity requires the desire to question and to go beyond comfort zones and tried and tested methods. MDA has recognised this and, as such, its functions, as stipulated in its Act, chapter 172, clause 11(b) states that it is to encourage, promote and facilitate the industry.
Mr Deputy Speaker, with regard to the new IMDA, my question to the Ministry is whether the new entity will be continuing this nurturing role of promoting creativity. I ask this because I noted that the new Bill states in clause 5(1) that the authority's function includes, I quote, \"to promote the efficiency, competitiveness (including internationally) and the development of its information, communications and media industry in Singapore\". The omission of the term \"to encourage\" differs from MDA's stated function. As such, I would like the Ministry to clarify if the new IMDA will take a step back on encouraging the industry's creativity and will focus instead on its regulatory functions in a bid to promote efficiency and competitiveness. Will regulatory and economic concerns override the need to protect the creative space and instead of encouraging creative development may potentially hamper it for market purposes? It will be beneficial for all industry players, audiences and this House alike if the Ministry can clarify how IMDA will regulate and encourage self-regulation, whereas encouraging industry development is predicated on creativity and content creation.
Deputy Speaker, as MDA has done, I have no doubt that the newly merged IMDA will work towards ensuring that infocomm and media services are maintained at an impeccable standard and present high-quality, balanced and diverse subject matters, inline with public interest and good taste.
At the same time, as a creative maker, I am concerned as to how responses to creative works can be subjective, as evidenced by cases, such as the recent Les Miserables, a comic moment could be misconstrued by a few complainants as offensive.
A minority group's complaint could thus easily override and overrule the silent majority who were not offended. In such a situation, a clear and transparent procedure within IMDA for dealing with such disputes is so important to ensure that all voices are heard and identified so that the content provider can adequately respond. Therefore, I would like the Ministry to elaborate on these operating procedures, such that creative work is protected and both content providers and complainers can openly dialogue and find common ground in a transparent way.
Deputy Speaker, I believe we all acknowledge the importance of positive engagement between the Government and the public. Constant open dialogue between stakeholders help to ensure accountability and transparency as well as to encourage mediation and negotiation. This entails that a clear procedure of appeal be set in place. As this will be under the purview of the new IMDA, I would like to seek clarification from the Ministry on this process of appeal so that content providers have ample time to respond and negotiate.
To take a recent example, the case in point was Newsha Tavakolian's exhibition \"I Know Why the Rebel Sings\" presented under the open programme of the Singapore International Festival of Arts. The application for an Arts Entertainment Licence was submitted within the application period and yet it was only three days prior to the show that the organisers were told to remove a number of photographs found to be objectionable. Clearly, a three-day lead time gave little room for negotiation and appeal. And is it turned out, such missed opportunities for engagement and dialogue ended in media furore and subsequent unhappiness, both of which could have been avoided.
Given that creative work would undoubtedly illicit subjective responses, I believe that the clarity of the procedures of negotiation and appeal would go a long way in preventing such situations and I urge the Ministry to relook the procedures as part of shaping the roles and responsibilities of the new IMDA.
Deputy Speaker, as a nation, we are encountering new sets of challenges and opportunities with media convergence. IMDA is well-placed to spur the development of our infocomm and media industries so that Singapore can continue to be a media hub and creative city. Yet, as IMDA focuses on its regulatory functions, I believe it is also essential for the newly merged entity to ensure that the space for creativity is not stifled. It would, hence, be important for the Ministry to clarify how it aims to do both regulation and promotion as well as provide a transparent, accountable procedure where regulations and appeals are concerned. With that, Deputy Speaker, I thank you.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Darryl David.
Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Deputy Speaker, in early 2012, the then Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, or MICA, appointed the Media Convergence Review panel to study how a converged media space would impact Singapore as a whole and the type of regulatory framework that would be best suited in the new converged media space.
One of the key factors then that led to the appointment of the panel was the increasing speed of how previously distinct media platforms were being merged and how the merger of these platforms was changing the way that content was being distributed and consumed.
Four years later, in 2016, this convergence has only intensified, and the setting up of IMDA is thus timely as the proliferation of Internet-enabled devices and the digitisation of media have enabled content to be consumed in novel and innovative ways.
Take, for example, the latest mobile app, Pokemon Go!, that has taken the world by storm and was launched recently in Singapore. I am sure many Members here have their own encounters in their constituencies, of groups of people coming together almost in a zombie-like daze; and even some Members here might have evolved into pretty good Pokemon hunters themselves. But my point is this. Pokemon Go's augmented reality engine allows players to interact with in-game characters based on their geographical location in real time, which further blurs the line between digital content and real life.
With Pokemon Go! being a massive global hit now, more app developers will emulate the likeness of that app and create more digital content that uses what we call augmented reality. So, would IMDA consider extending its regulatory framework to cover these mobile apps so that we could avoid the possible downsides of some of these apps? Or should we encourage and support our homegrown mobile app developers to tap on augmented reality technology to create the next Pokemon Go! even as we are aware of the potential issues that such apps might cause?
Sir, this somewhat illustrates the paradoxical and complex role that IMDA has to play, which is balancing between regulating infocomm and media content and fostering the creative development of local infocomm and media companies.
From an ontological perspective, having a regulator which is also supposed to encourage the flourishing and development of what it regulates is inherently contradictory. So, how can IMDA ensure that it will play these dual roles impartially?
I am sure that the regulation department would be a separate entity from the department that looks after the creative development of infocomm and media. However, how can we ensure that there will be no self-censorship from the creative department when they would or could be subconsciously toeing the line set by their regulation colleagues? I think these are important details that IMDA needs to flesh out.
Sir, the next area I would like to speak on is the development of infocomm and media talent, and before I continue, I would like to declare my interest as part of the management team in the School of Design of Temasek Polytechnic.
Having spent a substantial amount of my career in the media and education industries, I am of the opinion that the best way to foster creative infocomm and media industry development is to ensure a pipeline of high-calibre talent supply. As the agency now responsible for developing the infocomm and media landscape of Singapore, it is thus paramount that IMDA has a comprehensive roadmap in place to attract and develop talent.
Sir, the infocomm and media industries typically reward skills-mastery over academic qualifications. The notion of college dropouts who go on to create successful multi-million-dollar Internet companies might seem like a cliche but, in truth, there are many such stories. Likewise, there are also many infocomm and media professionals who have succeeded with a diploma, and not a degree.
Teaching and training talent are as important as attracting talent to enter the industry and I believe that we need to ensure that our schools and training providers recruit good educators from the field to train the next generation of infocomm and media professionals.
Although our post-secondary educational institutions, or PSEIs, are increasingly working closely with industry experts to bring their knowledge to the classrooms, they continue to use academic qualifications as one of the primary employment criteria for lecturers and educators.
As mentioned earlier, the infocomm and media industries reward talent based on abilities and skills, and not academic qualifications. So, using academic qualifications as a key evaluation tool to decide on whether a particular talent would be employed, and which scheme or career track they would enter into is counter to what is valued by these industries.
Sir, in March 2015, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean announced that there would be a common career track in Government Ministries for degree and non-degree holders. While many Ministries and Government agencies have combined their two tracks, I believe that this has yet to be the case in some of our PSEIs in terms of hiring educators.
During the earlier debate on the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency Bill, Acting Minister Ong Ye Kung talked about how competencies and skills matter and how organisations should hire based on competencies and skills, and not just academic results. I wholeheartedly agree with the Acting Minister.
So, I hope therefore, that MCI can work with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to expedite the process of combining the career paths and compensation packages of the two tracks in these PSEIs to facilitate the hiring of talented and capable infocomm and media professionals who actually display competencies and skills. This hiring right will boost the quality and training and education of infocomm and media students, which will, in turn, help strengthen the output in the infocomm and media industries. With that, Sir, I conclude my speech in support of the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Ganesh Rajaram.
Mr Ganesh Rajaram (Nominated Member): Deputy Speaker, Sir, firstly, let me declare my interests as a Board Member of MDA. I also run the Asian business of a multinational media company, FremantleMedia.
Sir, I speak in support of the Info-Communications Media Development of Singapore Bill and its related amendments as we live in a converged world and standalone charters governing linear and digital environments are no longer relevant. This Bill and related amendments will be crucial in the evolution of our media landscape and our collective Smart Nation ambitions.
It is also an opportune time to relook and enhance the functions and powers of IMDA to better suit the converged media landscape of today and the future and review the areas where we are found wanting. Sir, in light of this, I would like to make a few suggestions and observations which I hope the Ministry will take into consideration when fine-tuning the details of the Bill.
Firstly, as a regulator, IMDA will have to contend with a plethora of new media entities, some existing but many that are still on drawing boards and others that do not yet exist. This will require IMDA to have the capability to react and regulate with increased speed and efficiency. Let me illustrate this point with a recent example which I feel should be a benchmark of sorts when approaching similar scenarios.
In January this year, global online content giant Netflix launched in Singapore. As an aspiring Smart Nation and arguably one of the world's most connected cities, it was important to attract online leaders like Netflix, not just to launch their service here, but also to set up their Asian base on our shores. With Netflix, the biggest issue facing regulators all across Asia has been the issue of censorship. Netflix's biggest attractions are its critically-acclaimed original productions. Titles like \"Orange is the New Black\", \"Narco\" and \"Marco Polo\" are meant for mature audiences; and under local censorship guidelines, would be restricted to Restricted 21 (R21), or audiences over 21 years of age. Some of our neighbours like Indonesia and Vietnam had initially banned Netflix from operating in their territories and would only issue an operating licence if their censorship fears are allayed.
In my view, MDA's stand on Netflix should be commended. Early last month, MDA introduced a new regulation which said that online content providers – the likes of Netflix and others like Viu, which offers Korean content, and even Singapore's very own Toggle, just to name a few – must provide age check firewalls for R21 content. This marks a watershed in media regulations in Singapore as it acknowledges the fact that, in this new digital world, you cannot have blanket censorship laws to govern the on-demand world. The on-demand universe is very much a \"lean forward\" as opposed to a \"lean back\" experience, where much of the responsibility and choice lie solely with the consumer.
The response of MDA was a measured one in that it not only allowed Netflix to offer the programmes that were most sought after, but also created a level playing field with the rest of the pay television market by instituting the same age check firewalls that it already has for R21 content on our pay platforms like Starhub and Singtel MIO.
This is the new normal. More platforms like Netflix will be hitting our shores before we know it. The likes of Amazon have already launched in many markets across the globe. IMDA will be faced with these imminent launches and similar pragmatic approaches would be needed.
Another more recent example is the Pokemon Go! game, which my colleague Darryl David alluded to. I think most of us in this House are familiar with this interactive augmented reality game that has taken Singapore and the rest of the world by storm. While personally I have yet to try the game – for fear that I would get addicted to it – in my household, the game is a hit not just with my 16-year-old son but with my wife, who has never been a fan of any game, virtual or physical.
From a regulatory standpoint, again, MDA has approached the phenomenon in a calibrated, prudent manner. Despite the initial furore in some quarters predicting that the game would be banned by authorities because of safety concerns, the game was launched with advice from the Police on personal safety and issues like trespass. This is not any different from the approach taken in most countries or even the alerts built in within the game itself. Again, and increasingly, consumers have to accept responsibility for playing the game. The reality is that more games like Pokemon Go! will be coming on stream, and much of the responsibility has to fall on the consumers and not the regulators like MDA.
I, for one, have already seen positives from the latest Pokemon craze. Over the last couple of weeks, I have never seen as many people gathering together or walking around playgrounds, parks and shopping malls. The game has made people get out of their homes, interact with others, particularly when they are exchanging tips on where and how to catch a Snorlax or Exeggutor ‒ forgive me, I do not know what it is, my wife put it there ‒ and it is clearly contributing to a healthier, outdoor lifestyle which can only be good for Singapore. These examples clearly illustrate that IMDA has to be equipped and prepared to deal with these issues in a fast and expedient manner.
However, Sir, there are also areas where I feel IMDA can take a more proactive role. One example is the recent issue over the securing of television broadcast rights for the Olympics that are currently being held in Rio. I am sure most of us in this House have been cheering on our Team Singapore athletes, such as Feng Tian Wei in table tennis, Quah Zheng Wen and Joseph Schooling in swimming, or Jasmine Ser in shooting, just to name a few.
Last week, the family and I stayed up to watch Schooling go head-to-head against Michael Phelps in the heats of the 100-metre Butterfly, and I was watching him again on Mediacorp's Toggle in the office when he clocked the fastest time in the semi-finals. We also watched Joseph make history in the pool by claiming our first-ever Olympic Gold!
For those of us who watched the race, seeing a Singaporean from our tiny nation take on and beat the world's best brought about such great pride and joy and unity in spirit as Singaporeans. These are emotions you cannot put a value to. This is not just about sport at the highest level. This is about bringing people together, building national pride and identity among both sport and non-sport fans.
Now, imagine what would have happened if we were deprived of watching this \"live\". We would have missed seeing a Singaporean beat the world's best swimmer and greatest Olympian of all time, missed seeing him touch the wall for a new Olympic record, missed seeing him receive the Gold medal, missed seeing our flag flying high, ahead of others, at the world's greatest sporting games, and missed hearing our National Anthem being played for the first time in Olympic history.
It is extremely puzzling to me that a deal to broadcast the Olympics in Singapore could not be reached over almost a three-year period, and this was achieved only at the eleventh hour. Many of us watched Joseph's dad, Colin Schooling's emotional interview right after watching his son win the Olympic Gold on \"live\" TV. As did hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans all across the island, the raw pride and joy were heard and felt across the island, not just among Singaporeans, but by many others, too, who live and work in Singapore.
So, why were we just hours away from not having access to a \"live\" telecast in a country that positions itself to the world as a modern, connected city, a \"Smart Nation\"? High content costs were cited as the main reason. \"It's a commercial decision\", some said. As someone who works in the industry and who has had the experience of being both a buyer and a seller of such content and rights, I would like to very politely disagree with the reasoning put out, and the manner and approach to securing the 2016 Rio Olympics television rights.
Content costs, particularly sports rights, are expensive and have been for a while now. This is a global trend, and one that is not unique to Singapore. But the Rio Olympics, or any Olympics for that matter, carry a significance beyond a commercial price point. Its value lies in that cloud of pride and joy that still hovers over the island. We felt it in this House even yesterday. This is a sense of unity and spirit of invincibility of superhero proportions – that you can do anything if you work hard enough and persevere; that you could be the only person in the world to outswim your childhood hero and the most bemedalled Olympian in history. Why else do we really spend millions on world-class sporting facilities? Why bother funding sporting associations, sportsmen and sportswomen? Why do we hire the best coaches and sporting administrators in the world?
If we say that we support Team Singapore and that we have built world-class facilities in support of our sporting dream, does this not extend to creating access to their moment of reckoning and glory for Singaporeans to support and celebrate? What if we had missed out on arguably Singapore's most significant 50 seconds of sporting history as it unfolded? So, when there was almost a three-year impasse between the negotiating parties, why did MDA not step in in the interest of the nation?
Singapore broadcasters have spent hundreds of millions of dollars so that we can watch Manchester United on TV, week-in, week-out. The rights to watch the Rio Olympics was a miniscule fraction of that amount for Singapore's fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters to watch their family members – the nation's best sportsmen and women on the world stage. Perhaps, we can learn from our immediate neighbour, Malaysia, and how they approached securing the rights for the Olympics.
Radio Televisyen Malaysia, Malaysia's national free-to-air broadcaster; ASTRO, Malaysia's biggest cable broadcaster; and Telekom Malaysia – not just a telco but they also run an Internet platform – all came together to create a TV pool. Each of these parties paid an equal one-third share of the costs. I am told that even with the split, it would be difficult for them to recoup their investment. But it was done in the spirit of national interest and they secured the rights in good time to be able to publish schedules in advance, as well as sell sponsorship and airtime around the Olympics to help recoup part of the cost.
But after what happened with the TV rights for the Rio Olympics in Singapore, it is obvious that this cannot be left to chance. If Singapore broadcasters will not work together in the spirit of national interest, then this Bill must include safeguards to ensure that this never happens again. It is the very least the Government can do to honour the years of sacrifices made by our national sportsmen and women and their families.
In fact, a strong case can be made for the Olympic Games' telecast rights in Singapore to be funded by IMDA as part of the PSB funds that are disbursed annually. The Olympics will certainly generate far more ratings and viewership numbers than most of our current PSB programmes. And, more importantly, create a sense of unity and national pride that is not tangible, and these values more than qualify as being of public service.
The next summer Olympic Games in 2020 will be held in Tokyo, in four years' time. With Tokyo just an hour ahead of us, most of the events will be telecast during our prime time, making it even more accessible to a bigger audience in Singapore. Having witnessed the impact of the Rio Olympics on Singaporeans of all walks of life, I would urge IMDA to secure these rights as soon as possible.
Sir, that brings me to an issue that I have raised before – transparency in public service-funded initiatives. Our national free-to-air broadcaster, Mediacorp, today outsources 40% of public service-funded projects to independent production companies in the private sector. There is also the contestable funding initiative that is open to all platforms in Singapore, as long as they make available their content to the public for free.
In a recent dialogue session with independent producers, some of the feedback centred on inconsistencies in commissioning policies, particularly with cable operator StarHub. There have also been calls from the industry for several years now, asking for more transparency with regard to the quantum and projects. There is much expectation that with the establishment of IMDA, the agency can now finally make public, projects that are commissioned under the PSB framework, as well as the contestable fund initiative. This should include details like genres, durations and production budgets.
This is a move in the right direction and will create more transparency and trust between broadcasters and production entities and build a more balanced and robust competitive environment that can only be good for the marketplace. It will definitely put paid to nagging rumours about broadcasters and their perceived favouring of inhouse producers vis-a-vis independent production entities. With more players entering the market because of digital platforms, transparency and openness are essential to creating more quality content and a more market-friendly Government positioning.
This brings me to my final point on the high-value freelance community in the media industry, and the role IMDA can play to regulate and foster growth. The media manpower sector has an extremely large pool of freelance talents. There are thousands of freelances employed in the media sector with most companies employing them, as many of our SMEs are not capable of carrying big overheads. These talents span the gamut of the media sector, from film and video, broadcasting, publishing, online media to games.
Beyond supporting local platforms, the freelance community is also very involved in big-scale regional and global productions, such as Amazing Race Asia and Masterchef Asia, as well as several feature films. We expect to see this pool grow as many of the new generation of media practitioners prefer to work on their own schedules on a project-by-project basis.
MDA and the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) have made much progress in working with the freelance community. Programmes, such as the Attach-and-Train programme, which subsidises employers to pay 70% of freelancers' pay for six months, have helped provide some stability to the community.
There are still, however, serious issues confronting the community, such as insurance coverage for freelancers. I am heartened to hear that a few of my colleagues in this House have been working tirelessly with the freelance community, as well as agencies like MDA, WDA and the NTUC to find viable solutions.
Sir, there is a pressing need for these issues to be fast-tracked and to be dealt with in a holistic manner. I would like to suggest that IMDA facilitate the setting up of a guild that would champion the interests of the freelance community. Singapore is too small, in my view, to have separate bodies representing writers, producers or camera crew. A media freelancers' guild would address issues, such as insurance, talent standards, payment, pipelines and structure. These have all been the bane of the freelance community for many years now, and IMDA has to urgently help find solutions. Resolution of these issues would also help Singapore as a regional and global production hub, as international productions need a vibrant and quality freelance community to help support their projects.
Sir, in summary, the establishment of IMDA is a timely move and will help Singapore better address the many challenges that convergence throws up. However, it is also an opportune time to relook and address some of the issues that have been around for a while now, as I have stated in my speech. I would like to end my speech, Sir, by reaffirming my support for this Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, I welcome this move to better regulate the infocomm media sector, spur growth in the sector and, ultimately, create a globally-competitive infocomm media ecosystem for Singapore.
I am particularly keen on IMDA's mandate to strengthen safeguards for consumers, highlighted in clause 61, as ordinary users are exposed to greater risks with the increasing use of infocomm platforms.
I recall 15 years ago, when Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) was first started, we bought a 56-kilobit dial-up modem and struggled to get connected to the Internet. Little did I anticipate that 15 years later, I can use a smartphone to take high definition videos and, within seconds, send it to anyone anywhere in the world. Indeed, it is an understatement that the Internet has transformed our lives for the better.
However, technology is a double-edged sword and I hope that while the agency promotes the use of the Internet and e-commerce, it can be accompanied by an equal measure of education on the risks they present. It should inform consumers on the rise in phishing and malware attacks.
A case emerged in June this year involving a phishing email which pretended to be sent from the Development Bank of Singapore. When the attached zip file was opened, the malware it contains would immediately infect the customer's computer or device and steal its login and authorisation details.
For many Singaporeans, they may fall prey to this tactic. I have heard many stories from my residents who have been misled by fraudsters to share sensitive personal data or unwittingly clicked on links which downloaded malware. With the pervasive use of data, I welcome efforts to continue promoting and regulating data protection through PDPC.
In this regard, could the Minister clarify what further efforts will be put in place by the new agency with regard to the protection of personal data? Will the Minister step up outreach efforts to the public and provide details on the methods it will employ?
Lastly, some of the functions of the agency include facilitating an adequate range of media services that serve the interest of the general public, ensuring that media services are provided at a high standard in all respects, particularly in respect of the quality, balance and range of subject matter of their content and ensuring that the content of media services is not against public interest, public order or national harmony, and does not offend against good taste or decency. In essence, the authority will decide on behalf of the public, amongst others, the range, quality and content of media services.
Can the Minister clarify how the authority will make these decisions and whether more public consultations can be conducted to ensure we better understand the interest of the general public? Sir, these concerns notwithstanding, I stand in support of the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister Yaacob Ibrahim.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, let me thank all the hon Members who have spoken in support of the Bill and for their questions and comments.
First, Mr Darryl David asked about the dual role of IMDA in terms of infocomm media industry development and regulation. Sir, regulation and industry development are often two sides of the same coin. There can be significant synergies when a single organisation undertakes both regulation and industry development roles, as many of the policy trade-offs and discussions can take place concurrently.
Today, IDA and MDA are both regulators and developers of the infocomm and media sectors respectively, and we have found that this approach works well and allows us to achieve an appropriate balance between development and regulation. We do in fact have a process in place for appointing diverse representatives from the industry, so that their perspectives are incorporated into decisions, while at the same time being mindful of potential conflicts of interest. A good example is Mr Ganesh Rajaram himself who is from the private sector sitting on the MDA Board. So we remain open to the representatives that we will seek to sit on our boards so that our boards can be dynamic and timely in terms of their response.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad has asked for further elaboration and examples of how IMDA will develop the infocomm media industry. IDA and MDA are already working together to look into possible initiatives that will build on IDA's and MDA's strengths and will benefit the infocomm media industry as a whole.
Mr Darryl David asked about our approach to Pokemon Go! and other cutting-edge mobile apps. I think we would be quite circumspect about expanding IMDA's regulatory ambit without being clear about our real concerns, and whether there are other levers to manage these disamenities or undesirable outcomes. So, the advisory from the Police is about the right response at this point in time.
We must be mindful about not unnecessarily dampening the spirit of innovation that is so critical to the development of innovative products and services in this sector. The integration of IDA Labs, the Games Solution Centre and Creators' Space that I mentioned in my earlier speech is precisely intended to help develop exciting new ideas, such as the next Pokemon Go!. There are many more projects in the pipeline. IDA's iSPRINT is today a very successful programme that helps SMEs raise their productivity through investments in infocomm. We can extend iSPRINT to the media SMEs to help them use infocomm technologies to raise productivity and grow faster. We will share more details of these efforts in the coming months.
I echo Mr Ganesh Rajaram's comments that freelancers are very important in the media industry. That is why MDA has been with the Association of Independent Producers to encourage the adoption of industry best practices, such as including freelancers' insurance as a qualifying cost item in all PSB-funded productions in MDA's master agreement with Mediacorp. Moving forward, IMDA will also look into ways to support freelancers better, including the Member's suggestion of setting up a freelancers' guild.
Besides developing talent, amidst changing media consumption habits, we must continue to have good quality local programmes for Singaporeans to enjoy, build strong capabilities in the production of these local content, and develop effective channels that stay relevant. IMDA will continue to encourage this through PSB. PSB funds do not just fund Mediacorp programmes, but also support the growth of the independent media sector through outsourcing.
Mr Ganesh Rajaram commented on the importance of transparency in PSB funding. Sir, MDA has in place today a framework to ensure that the PSB funds are well-spent. We conduct regular audits of PSB funding expenditure to ensure that the funding agreements are adhered to, and that proper processes and internal controls are in place. Since 2013, we have set aside some PSB funding for independent producers. The PSB Contestable Fund Scheme, which was mentioned by Mr Ganesh Rajaram, is also open to all local production companies to enable the commissioning and development of innovative content with public service value.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked how IMDA will encourage infocomm media professionals to develop their skills and competencies. Sir, I announced the new TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) at this year's Committee of Supply to develop the infocomm manpower capabilities. Through TeSA, which is an initiative under SkillsFuture, we can better plan, coordinate and enable the development of ICT professionals. We have made it a point to partner major employers for TeSA, because employers must buy into our efforts to build a strong Singaporean Core. There has been considerable progress since my announcement of TeSA in April this year. In fact, earlier this month, IDA launched an industry consultation for its first draft of the ICT Skills Framework under TeSA. IDA has also been engaging key industry players at the senior management level and they have expressed strong support for TeSA.
Besides TeSA, IMDA will also launch several exciting projects to nurture a generation of digital natives in time to come. For example, the existing ICT Learning Roadmap will be augmented to include key media domains, such as storytelling, into an Infocomm Media Learning Roadmap. This roadmap will encourage Singaporeans to develop skills that are valuable in today's digital age.
IMDA will also be developing the Media Skills Framework for key job roles, which include current and emerging skills maps that indicate competencies for each occupational level and career progression pathways. This will help to encourage employers to hire talent based on skills and competencies, rather than academic qualifications.
On this point, I thank Mr Darryl David for his suggestion to look into harmonising degree and non-degree employment practices for infocomm media professionals. We will work closely with the relevant agencies, such as MOM and MOE, as was suggested.
Sir, I would also like to thank Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Mr Ganesh Rajaram, Mr Louis Ng and Mr Kok Heng Leun for their questions and comments about arts and content regulation, including content classification policy. Our regulatory framework in this area has always been guided by three fundamental principles: protect the young while providing more choices for adults; reflect community values and support racial and religious harmony; and safeguard national and public interest.
These principles still remain relevant in a rapidly changing media landscape. IMDA will continue to regulate content, while ensuring that guidelines are in line with community values and social norms. The relevant regulatory provisions will be found in subject-specific legislation, such as the Broadcasting Act, the Films Act, the Undesirable Publications Act and the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act.
I would like to make a few points on suggestions raised by the Nominated Member Mr Kok Heng Leun. I wish to assure Mr Kok that IMDA will continue to take seriously its role in promoting creativity and content creation, as has been done by MDA thus far. As a content regulator, MDA will take into account community values before deciding on the classification, in order to strike a balance between the artistic merits of the performance and broader social norms. In so doing, IMDA will be as transparent as possible.
For the Les Miserables example raised, I have already given my written response to the Nominated Member Mr Kok Heng Leun's Parliamentary Question. In short, MDA reviewed the feedback and established that the organiser had failed to inform MDA of a particular scene that had an impact on the classification rating. This was conveyed to the organiser, who decided to remove the scene on its own volition.
MDA also strives to inform organisers of its decision early, once all the supporting information and materials are received and processed. In a small number of cases, more time may be needed to assess the content due to its sensitive or controversial nature. In the photography exhibition \"I Know Why The Rebel Sings\", MDA informed the organiser of its concerns as soon as MDA determined, after consultation, that the exhibition contained photographs of members from a terrorist-linked organisation who had committed acts of violence to further their cause, such as suicide bombing. MDA then conveyed clearly to the organiser that Singapore takes a firm stand against extremism and would not allow photographs that undermine public order or national interest or security to be displayed.
Mr Louis Ng shared his concerns on the protection of personal data. We recognise that many companies collect and hold personal data, and it is important that they put in place measures to protect their customers' personal data. PDPC has undertaken many outreach activities to promote awareness of personal data protection in Singapore. PDPC has also released a number of advisory guidelines, such as on securing personal data on electronic medium, so that companies have practical tips and resources to help them adopt better ICT security measures.
Moving ahead, PDPC will update their existing guidelines and also issue new guidelines and resources to help our companies, so that they can put in place better measures to protect their customers' personal data.
Mr Louis Ng also raised an important point about instances of Singaporeans falling prey to phishing and malware attacks. Raising awareness of cybersecurity and heightening Singaporeans' vigilance against online cybercrime is something that all of us have to work together to achieve. IMDA will play a role as part of its outreach efforts, alongside partners, such as the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, schools, and our law enforcement agencies.
Finally, I thank Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Mr Ganesh Rajaram for commenting on the process of securing coverage of major sporting events, the Olympic Games being the topical case in point.
Sir, the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth has stated that the decision on whether and how to broadcast the Olympic Games should remain a commercial one. I agree that the parties should aim to conclude their negotiations early, especially given the significant interest by our public. However, we cannot compel parties to reach a deal that does not make commercial sense, or which results in escalating content prices in the long run. And I take Mr Ganesh Rajaram's point that content prices will go up because it is in demand. The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and MCI will continue to monitor the content market developments closely. Nevertheless, I am glad that, in the end, the parties eventually reached a deal that allowed Singaporeans to watch the Olympics \"live\", cheer our Team Singapore athletes on, and join in celebrating Joseph Schooling's historic achievement.
Sir, I mentioned in my earlier speech that IMDA will encourage greater sectoral innovation and transformation through leveraging infocomm media technologies. Logistics is one such industry that can greatly benefit from this effort. IMDA, together with SPRING Singapore, has started to explore ways to leverage technology to help streamline delivery schedules, thus reducing truck congestion at loading bays of retail malls and increasing the productivity of logistics service providers. This is currently being deployed at Tampines Mall, and initial results have been encouraging.
IMDA is also working with the Housing and Development Board to deploy federated parcel lockers in residential areas, to make it more convenient for consumers to receive their packages, and to improve productivity for last-mile delivery services. In addition, IMDA will also work with other agencies, including GovTech, to help businesses better leverage infocomm media technologies to transform – and I thank Mr Thomas Chua for raising this point.
Sir, I believe I have addressed the issues that have been raised by Members. I would like to thank them for their support. I am confident that IMDA will be a forward-looking organisation that will help Singapore and Singaporeans seize the exciting opportunities in the infocomm media sector through dynamic industry and manpower development initiatives, while safeguarding the interests of consumers and fostering pro-enterprise regulations.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Government Technology Agency Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Minister for Communications and Information (Prof Yaacob Ibrahim): Sir, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
Sir, I have described in the Second Reading of the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) Bill, the context behind the restructuring of Infocomm Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Media Development Authority (MDA). The other part of this restructuring process is the formation of a dedicated organisation focused on info-communications technology (ICT) and related engineering, called the Government Technology Agency, or GovTech for short. This Bill provides for the formation of GovTech.
We are creating GovTech from the strong foundation that IDA and its predecessor, the National Computer Board (NCB), have built. GovTech has vast experience in managing enterprise information technology (IT) systems for the public sector and implementing service-wide e-services, such as Singpass, OneInbox and the OneService mobile app. Today, it directly manages the IT departments of about two-thirds of all Government agencies and handles other critical systems for the rest of the public sector. We have done well so far. Nine out of 10 Singaporeans are satisfied with the overall quality of Government e-services, and Singapore is regularly ranked amongst the best digital governments in the world.
However, we cannot rest on our laurels. Technological advances are constantly disrupting our operating environment and the public's expectations of Government services are rising. At the same time, technological advances in ICT and related engineering create new opportunities for the Government to deliver innovative and impactful digital services to citizens and businesses. GovTech will play an important role in driving the digital transformation of the public sector, with citizens at the centre. GovTech will work with agencies to try new things, test ideas, commission proof of concepts, and take calculated risks. At the same time, GovTech will further build on the core of its work to develop and maintain systems, as well as to ensure that the Government's ICT systems remain reliable, secure and are safe against cyber threats.
Sir, let me now elaborate on GovTech's role. GovTech will drive the Government's delivery of the next generation of citizen-centric, anticipatory and secure digital services to individuals, businesses and public sector employees. When developing these services, GovTech will implement industry best practices, such as agile development, emphasis on user interface design and the use of data analytics. It will also spur the public sector to design digital services that are responsive to citizens' needs and provide a better experience when interacting with the Government. We can look forward to more services, such as the recently launched MyInfo, which removes the need for citizens to repeatedly provide the same personal data when transacting with different Government agencies, or the Business Grants Portal which allows small and medium enterprises (SMEs) a one-stop platform to look for relevant financial assistance.
GovTech will also encourage citizen participation in co-creating applications that can benefit the public. It will do so by making data and other tools, such as Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), open and publicly available. An example is the Beeline app that brings together private bus operators and commuters with common transport routes and uses EZ-link data to assess demand for suggested routes. Instead of the Government developing all services for citizens, GovTech aims to build platforms that facilitate greater co-creation with citizens and businesses, and engender a culture of crowd-sourcing. We believe that there are many other innovative apps waiting to be co-created that will benefit the public.
As a leading competency centre of ICT and related engineering capability within the Government, GovTech will be well-placed to support Singapore's Smart Nation vision. GovTech will take the lead to put in place the underlying public sector infrastructure needed to operate a Smart Nation. One example is providing the infrastructure and data analytics backbone to support sensors deployed by public sector agencies. GovTech will ensure that the deployment of such sensors by the public sector is well-coordinated and optimised. It will also promote the sharing of sensors and sensor data among agencies to maximise their usefulness. Another example is an effort with the Singapore Land Authority and National Research Foundation (NRF) to develop a Virtual 3D geospatial rendering of Singapore to aid in urban planning and operations.
It is also critical that GovTech ensures the reliability and security of our ICT systems across the public sector. It will put in place strong technical standards, clear governing policies and robust security measures for a resilient ICT infrastructure. This will apply across all public sector agencies. Given the interconnectedness of our ICT applications and networks, the strength of the entire system depends on the weakest link. Therefore, where necessary, GovTech will be actively involved in the governance of public sector ICT systems, regardless of whether they are managed directly by GovTech or by their own in-house IT teams. I would like to assure Members that stronger governance by GovTech on standards and policies, particularly those governing security, will not inhibit innovation. Rather, they allow agencies to innovate with the confidence that they are building their systems on the foundation of robust security and resilience.
To do all of the above well, GovTech will need to sustain deep technical capabilities in ICT and software development, as well as to build new ones. These capabilities extend beyond the ICT domain, and include related engineering fields, such as the Internet of Things, or fields which have become essential to the delivery of digital experiences, such as design. GovTech will set up Capability Centres to focus on developing technical specialists in these fields. Examples include application development, data science, Government ICT infrastructure, geospatial technology, cybersecurity and sensors, and the Internet of Things.
GovTech will recruit ICT professionals, both fresh out of school and mid-career professionals. There are already programmes, such as the Technology Associates Programme (TAP) and the Smart Nation Fellowship Programme, to attract talent to work at GovTech. GovTech will also foster an organisational culture of experimentation, inclusivity and learning that empowers our people to be bold about how they can make a positive difference.
Sir, the GovTech Bill provides for the establishment and constitution of GovTech and outlines its main functions, duties and powers. GovTech will primarily work within the public sector. In anticipation of future developments in technology, including in the fields of cyber-physical systems and the Internet of Things, GovTech's remit in the Bill goes beyond ICT to include \"related engineering\" areas. I will now highlight the key clauses in the Bill itself.
Parts 1 and 2 of the Bill provide for the key definitions used in the Bill and to establish GovTech. Part 2 also spells out GovTech's functions and powers. These include new functions which were not contained in the IDA Act but which will be essential for GovTech's expanded role, such as to ensure the security and reliability of ICT and related engineering systems and services in the public sector, as well as to promote competencies and professional standards.
Parts 3 to 6 relate to the formation of GovTech's Board, the decision-making procedures, personnel and financial matters.
Part 7 of the Bill empowers GovTech with the statutory mandate and powers to ensure the security and reliability of ICT systems and services, and to level up technology standards across the public sector. GovTech will be able to develop, implement and monitor the agencies' compliance with directives, codes, standards or guidelines. It can carry out audits and report on agencies' non-compliance, including the power to require access to information or premises. If authorised by the Minister, GovTech can direct agencies to implement security, mitigation or recovery measures that it considers necessary from a security or reliability standpoint, including the deployment of resources and personnel. After this Bill is passed, GovTech will provide agencies with administrative details on how these powers will be implemented.
Part 8 empowers GovTech to extend its governance measures and standards beyond the public sector to non-Government bodies providing essential public sector-related functions. These are called \"public entities\" in the Bill. An example is restructured hospitals, which, although not part of the public sector, are nonetheless an essential part in the delivery of public healthcare. The intent is certainly not to take over the running of IT systems of such public entities. However, if the info-comms or related engineering systems or service of a public entity is at significant risk or has been significantly compromised, or if it is in the public interest to do so, it would be sub-optimal if GovTech, with its capabilities, is unable to assist in any way. Hence, the Bill provides that under certain specified conditions, GovTech may develop and recommend directives, codes, standards or guidelines, as well as to provide advice on security, mitigation or recovery measures.
The Bill contains clear conditions and safeguards under which GovTech can assist public entities. Firstly, GovTech can only advise a public entity upon request from the \"Responsible Minister\", which is the Minister responsible for the sector or agency that includes the public entity, or the authority that regulates that public entity. Once a request is made, the Minister for Communications and Information will assess and may direct GovTech to establish the necessary arrangements with the public entity. GovTech will have to seek the public entity's agreement on the scope of the governance measures and the manner in which GovTech's measures and standards will be applicable. This arrangement must also be approved by the \"Responsible Minister\", who remains accountable for the public entity's execution of the necessary actions and compliance to GovTech's recommendations.
Parts 9 to 11 of the Bill relate to the administration within GovTech that provides for offences under the Bill, the transfer of undertakings and personnel of IDA to GovTech, and saving and transitional arrangements.
Finally, Part 12 of the Bill provides for the consequential amendments to other Acts to insert references to GovTech in place of IDA.
Sir, with the faster rate of technological disruptions, there is a growing imperative for a dedicated agency to drive excellence in Government technology, ICT systems and digital service delivery. The formation of GovTech enables the Government to deepen its capabilities in ICT and related engineering fields and attract engineering talent into these areas. GovTech will play a critical role in the digital transformation of the Government, which is a key plank in our Smart Nation vision. GovTech will allow the Government to deepen our technical capabilities and enable us to remain agile and responsive to leverage technology in making a difference to the lives of our citizens and businesses. Sir, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Zaqy Mohamad.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for allowing me to speak on this Bill which, I believe, will have a significant impact on governance in Singapore.
The new GovTech aims to harness and deploy ICT services that benefit Singapore and Singaporeans. It aims to deliver citizen-centric services to support Singapore's Smart Nation vision by pushing the boundaries in the use of applied technology and levelling up the ICT standards in Government.
Replacing the \tGovernment Chief Information Office (GCIO) wing of the current IDA, it will build on its traditional strength of enterprise IT to take on new functions, as the Minister described earlier on, the digital transformation of the public sector, growing deep technical capabilities, seeing to governance and standards, looking into cybersecurity and managing the Smart Nation platform, solutions and applications. In this expansion of its mandate alone, the very establishment of GovTech is designed to innovate governance here in Singapore. And we are probably the first government in the world that announced an agency focusing on Government technology. This focus should enable GovTech to lead the Singapore Government's innovation of its processes, offerings, functions, infrastructure and citizen engagement. But we must not forget that the ultimate goal is to improve citizens' lives and make governance more productive for their benefit.
Firstly, I hope that GovTech will look at simplifying Government-citizen interaction by putting in place the technology and infrastructure to operate smart applications for our young, our seniors and also those with special needs. We can do more to make Government technology inclusive for all. Some of the applications that IDA currently deploys show promise. Like the Minister described earlier, MyInfo service allows citizens, who have given their personal details before, to have their transaction forms online pre-filled upon their consent.
Secondly, I hope that we also see more interactive Government digital services to citizens that can improve citizens' lives. The MyResponder app by the Singapore Civil Defence Force is one example, which links cardiac arrest patients to nearby volunteers to help save lives.
Third, I hope that GovTech can bring the whole of Government with it to unlock the value of information to solve everyday problems affecting citizens. The Beeline is one such example, which analyses user-suggested route data with existing transport data smartly to identify popular routes. GovTech will aid this effort also by setting up the Smart Nation platform, which will collect data that can then be analysed by policy-makers in various fields, including urban planning.
Besides the development of efficiency and innovation within society, I hope that GovTech will also continue to play an important role in protecting our Government systems and citizen data which are stored in these systems.
With all these functions, GovTech will be the core technology agency within the Government. However, this role will also require it to work closely with other agencies in areas that are, at present, cross-cutting or overlapping. It is less clear how this will be done and if any of the functions will be reassigned to GovTech instead or what permutations may exist.
As GovTech develops expertise in a broad range of technology areas, including cybersecurity, how will it aim to create synergies with other agencies, such as the Smart Nation Programme Office (SNPO), Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and Cyber Security Agency (CSA), and minimise duplication of work and harness the synergies? The Minister covered several restrictions in the Bill, outlining GovTech's ability to work with other agencies or advise the private sector, for example, the oil industry.
With GovTech developing expertise and experience handling complex ICT projects for the public sector, it has a lot of potential to also help the private sector and the industries. Should the work of GovTech extend beyond the current scope of mainly operating within the public sector? For example, can GovTech share expertise and Government experience in cybersecurity and analytics and help the SMEs, for example?
Conversely, there is a lot that GovTech can learn from and collaborate with the private sector. I am not sure if the Minister plays Pokemon Go!, but I know many Singaporeans who have. I am not at a very high level, but I keep up with my kids and to understand the phenomenon. But what this app has achieved, as several Members have spoken before me, it is through innovation of what agencies like the National Parks Board and the National Heritage Board would have benefited. For example, today, you have more Singaporeans going on heritage trails and going to our parks, for example, which we have difficulty getting people to do before this. And today, the Health Promotion Board should also thank Pokemon Go! for the many kilometres our digital-natives are walking through just to hatch Pokemon eggs. There is a symbiosis that we can tap and much potential that can be synergised through the exchange of ideas, research and collaboration.
Whether or not GovtTech's scope extends beyond the public sector, it is also important to put in place various indicators to determine if GovTech is heading the nation in the right direction as many of its functions can be difficult to evaluate. As the building of Singapore into a Smart Nation is an important exercise that we cannot get wrong, how do we know if we are in the right direction? So, what will be GovTech's measure of success?
Do we measure it based on how many citizen-centric apps are created to improve engagement with society? Or do we measure its success based on how efficient or productive the Government becomes in offering its services to the people? These are just two possible yardsticks. But based on how wide GovTech's mandate is, there are certainly many other possible measures and these will have to be decided upon. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, my speech in Malay, please.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The establishment of GovTech is a welcome move in view of the many changes that have occurred in the global technology landscape.
GovTech was established to enhance Singapore's effort to fulfil its Smart Nation aspirations. It is hoped that this new agency will achieve the objective of leading the public sector and the Government in terms of improving the application of technology in order to provide a more effective service to the people and corporate organisations.
The establishment of GovTech is timely. It will definitely approach the application of technology in a way that will further benefit our citizens and our nation, operating under the concept and implementation of a Smart Nation vision.
Technology is now widely used but education and upskilling will be required from time to time. What is also important is that, hopefully, as many people as possible will be comfortable using technology in their dealings with the Government, including in terms of cybersecurity. For instance, websites, apps, electronic transactions and others should be easy and safe to use, including in terms of data security.
With all these functions, GovTech will be the Government's main agency in the usage of technology and there is room for it to operate outside the public sector.
Just like the infocomm media sector, GovTech will also require investments and planning to develop expertise and manpower capabilities in order to successfully develop those sectors.
(In English): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Leon Perera.
Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, the creation of GovTech marks the turning of a page in the evolution of Singapore's IT infrastructure.
The new GovTech will and I quote, from the Bill, \"undertake the procurement of ICT and related engineering goods for the public sector…\" It will have powers and I quote, \"to issue directives, codes, standards and guidelines for the public sector in relation to the architecture or use of ICT or related engineering systems or services in the public sector.\"
The new agency recalls one of the core functions of the National Computer Board, formed in 1981, which was to implement the computerisation of the Civil Service. However, GovTech will do so in a very different context, one where ICT has become pervasive and is, in many cases, mission-critical in the Civil Service.
GovTech looks set to take the lead in enabling the public sector to optimally use big data analytics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and other disruptive technologies. It will probably take the lead in the procurement of IT systems for the public sector. It is also likely to play a leading role in setting and enforcing best practice standards as well as levelling up the standards of public sector agencies in terms of their use of ICT to fulfil their missions. As such, the role of GovTech is potentially very impactful.
Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to make several points and pose several suggestions for the goals, functioning and processes of GovTech.
Firstly, in relation to the development of local SMEs in the ICT space. In other developed countries, SMEs have the advantage of good access to their domestic market, an advantage that some of our SMEs and local enterprises lack due to the small size of our domestic market. This is compounded by the fact that many public sector agencies may tend to prefer established global brands in procuring ICT systems and services.
I would like to suggest GovTech find ways to work with local enterprises and SMEs to enable them to benefit from its work. These local champions should be our economy's strong third pillar of job creation and value creation, a pillar that will hopefully be more resilient and rooted to Singapore whichever way global economic winds blow, as compared to multinational corporations.
No doubt Singapore needs to observe its obligations under the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), which requires non-discrimination against foreign firms. However, there could be ways to work with local firms while remaining consistent with the GPA. For example, GovTech could work with certain local firms with niche technologies on R&D partnerships which are not procurement tenders per se. Such local firms could also receive targeted SME incentives from economic promotion agencies like SPRING Singapore or the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
Another possibility is to issue certain procurement tenders that provide preferential consideration for SMEs, both local and foreign. This may, in certain context, be GPA-compliant, if the same preference is given to both local and foreign SMEs. But practically speaking, of course, there will not be as much foreign SME competition as there would be foreign MNC competition. Some global government agencies, I am given to understand, do implement SME preferences in their tender evaluation criteria to some degree in this way. I hope that the Ministry of Communications and Information and GovTech will consider such approaches.
Secondly on privacy protection. The new GovTech will have access to a great deal of personal and corporate data. As a best practice, will GovTech conduct and encourage other public sector agencies to conduct privacy impact assessments? I would urge GovTech to give serious thought to this because not only would it result in greater privacy protection, such regular private investment assessments (PIAs) would also help strengthen public confidence in sharing information with Government agencies. PIAs are conducted by first world government agencies such as the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security in the United States and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the United Kingdom (UK), for example.
Thirdly, the Civil Service, including all Statutory Boards and agencies, is a vast organisation. Across the ranks of all state employees, there could exist a digital divide, with some employees being much more IT-literate in their skills and habits than others, particularly including some of those who are older. I suggest that GovTech take the lead in identifying IT literacy gaps within the broader Civil Service and use its considerable procurement power to develop and push out ICT literacy training on a whole-of-Government basis. This would enable those state employees who are lagging in comfort level in ICT skills to level up and thus gain access to productivity-enhancing opportunities which would improve their career prospects.
Lastly, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask why the Cyber Security Agency (CSA), formed in April 2015, is located within the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). With the creation of GovTech, would not GovTech offer the best location for the lead agency for public sector cyber security? Are there plans for the CSA to thus eventually be subsumed under GovTech? This would facilitate cybersecurity becoming better embedded in public sector ICT systems, processes and cultures.
If the answer to that question is that CSA is tasked with national level cybersecurity going beyond just the public sector, should it not then be located under the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) which would allow better integration with other modalities of Total Defence?
Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Sun Xueling.
Ms Sun Xueling (Pasir Ris-Punggol): I thank the Minister for sharing his thinking behind the setting up of GovTech.
GovTech has a huge task at hand, not only because of the scale of supporting 90-plus Government agencies, but also because it ventures into the unknown with technology and needs constantly evolving. What then will be GovTech's measure of success?
I would like to suggest putting effort into building enablers which could benefit a broad base of users and also make possible more efficient business processes and upgrading the capabilities of the industry as a whole.
For instance, our current landscape for electronic payments seems to be playing catch-up to developments in some other major cities. We had started out quite strongly when the Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) was launched in 1985 but NETS has not evolved to be more inter-operable, being only available to consumers of one of the associated banks in Singapore and not interoperable with international card schemes. Consumers now find themselves faced with a dazzling array of card payment terminals with proprietary standards when they want to make payments. And credit card payments are already graduating towards mobile-enabled payments.
We are thus in need of a platform that enables a seamless payment experience for consumers. This not only provides greater convenience to consumers but can also increase productivity and cut down costs for businesses. For instance, the man-hours and costs of processing cheques and handling cash are far higher than those of processing digital payments.
However, a corollary of progressing mobile and digital payments is the ability to authenticate one's digital identity. While we are moving towards two-factor authentication for Singpass, huge advances are already being made in biometric authentication for financial services. Biometric automated teller machines have been deployed in several parts of the world including the UK, Japan, China, Brazil and Poland.
The development of an efficient digital payment system with common infrastructure at the base level, a central addressing system where citizens can transact with one another safely and effectively and a unified point-of-sale solution for consumers is probably the way to go. Such an overhaul will require a multi-agency effort and I would like to suggest that this be one of the key priorities for GovTech.
The second area of focus I would like to suggest to GovTech to look at is to use technology and solutions to better harness resources in the society and also unleash the potential in traditionally underserved or special needs communities in Singapore.
Given Singapore's limited resources, the general economic climate and evolving trends in business models, there is an increasing need for us to embrace a \"sharing model\" to deploy resources more effectively. There are many latent resources in our society and community. This could be in the form of physical assets, labour and capital, for instance, under-utilised community spaces, stay-at-home mums who could act as volunteers. If GovTech is able to co-create solutions with citizens to enable better use of latent resources in our society, we could have win-win solutions for owners of resources and society as a whole.
Separately, for special needs communities or the elderly, technology can be used to enable the elderly and less physically abled to access Government services from home, work from home and be more productive. This would help build a more inclusive society as more segments of the population can be actively participating in societal developments. Those with disabilities can also potentially use their abilities to support themselves, enabled by smart devices to help them operate equipment, read and also enter data.
GovTech could thus be a key enabler in society, using technology to build platforms and creating convenience and increasing convenience for consumers as well as raise productivity for industries. GovTech could also be a key mobiliser in society, using technology to access segments of the population that are underserved and unleash the potentials in them. I hope the Ministry is able to prioritise the work of GovTech to maximise its role and make a critical difference to the lives of citizens. With that, I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Darryl David.
Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Bill.
In our electronic global village, cybersecurity is of the utmost concern. Based on a source cited by Tech Insider, there were more than a thousand successful cyberattacks in 2015 that led to a leak of 300 million records and almost $1 billion in stolen money.
Although a large proportion of these attacks are cybercrimes targeted at siphoning money from corporations and individuals, there were also cases of cyber espionage and cyber warfare targeted at Government systems.
In today's electronic day and age, a successful attack on our e-Government system will have widespread social and economic impact on our nation. With more than 3.3 million Singpass users transacting with the Government, it is not hard to imagine how a breach in Singpass security, for example, would cripple our e-services system and would have serious repercussions on the personal data of Singaporeans. The fallout from such an attack could be likened to the detonation of a cyber-nuclear bomb, leading to a long nuclear winter in cyberspace where the Government system would be paralysed for a sustained period of time.
The danger is very real and it is not one that we can afford to take lightly. I am thus particularly glad that one of the key roles of GovTech is to coordinate the Government's cybersecurity jointly with CSA. While there are obvious advantages of adopting a centralised Government-wide cybersecurity framework, it also means that the impact of a successful intrusion will increase exponentially, since intruders can now exploit the same backdoor that exists in the entire e-Government system.
I believe that it is thus imperative for GovTech to explicate clearly how it will work hand in hand with CSA and perhaps other agencies to enhance cybersecurity across the different Government entities. Most importantly, GovTech needs to ensure its own gates are secure because it now holds the master key, as it were, to our e-Government system.
Although primarily focusing on public agencies, I was heartened to hear the Minister say earlier that GovTech would also work closely with private corporations of public interest to enhance the quality of services that these entities deliver to public consumers. Two examples I can think of are in the public transport and public healthcare areas.
Although co-operation in these areas are with private organisations that are currently outside the official public sector framework, they provide essential services to Singapore. I believe that it is thus in the public interest that GovTech work very closely with corporations in such areas as developing actionable intelligence by using big data analytics techniques so that these corporations can better predict usage patterns of their service and design more consumer-centric service delivery models.
GovTech should also work with these private corporations to ensure that their cybersecurity systems are not compromised, as that would have a negative impact on the public and society at large.
Sir, as mentioned in my earlier speech on the IMDA Bill, the increasingly powerful processing prowess of digital devices, coupled with greater and easier access to novel online content, has certainly brought about a new dawn in media consumption.
In such an environment, the Government will no doubt continue to offer more citizen-centric online platforms for Singaporeans to interact with the various public agencies. And as these platforms emerge and evolve, we also need to ensure that we have a robust network and security system to support these e-services.
Sir, I am heartened to note that GovTech will be set up to address these issues and I stand in support of the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Louis Ng.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Sir, this Bill will catapult Singapore to worldwide leadership in applied technology and I stand in full support of it.
It will pave the way for Singapore to go full speed ahead as a Smart Nation, providing top-class infrastructure for people and businesses to thrive. Minister Yaacob shared that this will encourage citizens to participate in the co-creation of public digital services, in line with our Smart Nation initiative to solicit participation from non-government stakeholders to contribute innovative ideas and solutions.
I especially welcome this move towards co-creation with the community, as I believe the Government does not hold the monopoly on good ideas and innovations, especially not with the growing pool of exceptional talent among the youths. Furthermore, as interactions with Government services move increasingly to the digital realm, the move to streamline IT-related transactions can only serve Singaporeans better.
Many of my older and less tech-savvy residents in Nee Soon East face challenges navigating the complex web of Government red tape when trying to apply for licences, grants, social welfare services, and so on. As such, I thank the Minister for the new whole-of-Government approach to cut down on administrative burdens in Government transactions.
Sir, allow me to raise just one recommendation in this Bill in clause 36 on the Appointment of Committees to provide advice to the authority. This committee will further strengthen our move towards co-creation with the community.
Based on my experience as part of the Animal Welfare Legislation Review Committee, which led to improvements in animal welfare policies and legislation, I have found great value in setting up committees which include parties with differing views. For example, the Animal Welfare Legislation Review Committee comprised of Members of Parliament, animal welfare groups, Town Council staff, veterinarians and the pet industry. This was a group of stakeholders with diverse views, who are not like-minded at times, but came together to argue, debate and find common ground.
Sir, I reiterate my comments from my maiden speech in Parliament, calling for the setting up of more of such committees to enable robust consultations with a wider spectrum of people from society. I strongly believe that it is committees like these, with more devil's advocates, where we will get the best policies drafted and, in this case, the best technology created.
In this regard, I would like to ask the Minister if the setting up of the new agencies, such as GovTech and also previously, IMDA, can be accompanied with committees comprising more people on the ground, from more diverse backgrounds.
The robust debates among people with dissenting views will ensure that we truly understand what the ground concerns and the various ideas out there are, and the different solutions available. Because ultimately, I believe we do not have all the answers. These comments notwithstanding, Sir, I stand in support of the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister Yaacob.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, let me thank the hon Members for their questions and comments.
First, Ms Sun Xueling and Mr Zaqy Mohamad both asked about what success would look like for GovTech. I had earlier spoken about GovTech's role in driving the digital transformation of the public sector and in partnering Government agencies to deliver next-generation digital services to the public.
Citizens desire the same level of efficiency and personalisation from public services that they receive from digital services they use in other spheres of their life. GovTech is cognisant of this rising public expectation. For example, GovTech is reviewing how technology can better enable public services to be more personalised and anticipatory when individuals and businesses interact with the Government, such as registering a marriage, buying a flat or applying for licences.
I also agree with the broader points that Ms Sun Xueling and Mr Louis Ng have made, which is that GovTech should consult more widely and, as far as possible, co-create with and crowd source from the community in the implementation. GovTech will work closely with the respective lead Government agencies to do so, with a view towards designing and delivering more citizen-centric digital services.
The Beeline and MyResponder applications are examples of how digital services can be designed to enable citizens to play a more active role in achieving more impactful outcomes for the larger community. At the same time, GovTech will continually benchmark ourselves against international best practices to ensure that we remain a leading digital government in the world.
On this note, I would like to thank Ms Sun Xueling for her suggestion that GovTech should look into the development of more efficient electronic payments in Singapore, in light of developments in this area abroad. IDA is already working with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and key industry players to effect the shift towards digital payments. Initiatives that are being developed include unified point-of-sale terminals and a central mobile addressing system that allows payers to make near-instant interbank fund transfers as long as they know the payee's mobile number. IDA is also exploring the possibility of a common and secure mobile digital identity to enable convenient and secure digital transactions. I would like to assure Ms Sun Xueling that GovTech will continue to work with MAS and MOF to enhance our electronic payments systems.
While GovTech harnesses technological advances in ICT to drive innovation and the digital transformation of Government services, it is also critical that there is adequate focus on its core work, which is to keep the public sector ICT systems stable, secure and resilient. I echo Mr Darryl David's concern that it is an area which we cannot take for granted, given the increased risk of cybersecurity breaches and rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape.
At the end of the day, we are cognisant that GovTech's goal must be to improve the lives of Singapore Citizens. I agree with Ms Sun Xueling that technology can be a key enabler in our society. The Government is committed to ensuring that all groups have access to and can benefit from technology.
Today, IDA and MDA have a wide range of programmes that support vulnerable groups in society, such as the elderly, disabled persons and school-going children from low-income households, through initiatives, such as the Silver Infocomm Initiative. We aim to build a culture of co-creation between citizens and businesses through open data and application programming interfaces or APIs, which can unleash the untapped potential in the population. So, we welcome citizens from all backgrounds to provide ideas and develop applications using these APIs.
Sir, Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Mr Darryl David have asked about how GovTech will create synergies with other agencies that also have a strong technology remit. The overarching principle is that GovTech will coordinate closely with these agencies and tap on one another's expertise and experience. In some cases, like DSTA, the scope of its work is quite distinctly different from GovTech's, whereas, with other agencies, we can expect more collaboration.
In the area of cybersecurity, CSA is the authority at the national level spanning 11 sectors to ensure that critical information infrastructures are resilient and protected from cyber threats. GovTech will oversee cybersecurity for one of these sectors – the Government sector. As GovTech and CSA both require cybersecurity expertise, they will jointly set up a capability centre in cybersecurity to deepen the Government's capabilities in protecting against cyber threats.
Mr Leon Perera has a specific question on why CSA is sited in PMO instead of MINDEF. It is to give CSA the ability to oversee cybersecurity at the national level because there are 11 critical sectors in which cybersecurity measures have to be put in place to protect the critical ICT systems. For the Government sector, the responsibility rests on GovTech, which will work closely with CSA to ensure that we put in place the necessary measures, as stipulated by CSA.
Sir, GovTech's focus will be to apply available technology and its intimate domain knowledge of public sector needs to relentlessly innovate with a view to addressing real world problems and meeting user needs. It should benefit from the pipeline of research from the research institutes in Singapore. Hence, it will collaborate with agencies in this domain, such as the NRF and A*STAR.
Members also asked about GovTech's role in the Smart Nation initiative vis-a-vis SNPO. Like many other agencies that contribute to the Smart Nation vision, GovTech will work closely with SNPO, which will coordinate agencies' efforts towards the Smart Nation vision.
GovTech plays a key role in implementing the Digital Government strategy, which is a key plank in the Smart Nation vision. GovTech will lead the public sector effort to design and implement Government ICT infrastructure and digital services, including the Smart Nation platform, in order to deliver innovative citizen-centric solutions.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Mr Darryl David have asked if GovTech's work should extend beyond the current scope of mainly operating within the public sector. I would, first of all, like to thank both Members for their votes of confidence, but GovTech cannot and should not do everything. It should focus on the digital transformation efforts in the public sector and support the development of Smart Nation, which is already a very significant task.
GovTech will work closely with the newly-formed IMDA on its industry-development efforts. For example, GovTech will support IMDA's accreditation programme to accredit promising Singapore-based ICT startups and bring innovative products to Government agencies.
Mr Leon Perera has some suggestions on how we can work with SMEs. I would like to inform him that we are already working with SMEs to help them to gain accreditation. In fact, we have accredited 15 companies, and 35 projects have been awarded to startups and SMEs accredited by IDA. This effort will be continued by IMDA, working together with GovTech.
I would also like to emphasise that even as GovTech builds deeper technical capabilities, it will not be able to design, develop and maintain ICT systems and applications by itself. Public sector projects and solutions are often co-created with private sector partners in ways that are mutually beneficial. The private sector has skills and strengths that can complement what GovTech does well, which GovTech does not intend to compete or displace.
At the same time, GovTech's work will definitely have an impact on both the wider ICT industry, due to the scale and variety of the Government's technology needs. GovTech can spur the industry by acting as a catalyst for progressive and interesting public sector ICT initiatives and projects. By uplifting ICT technology standards in the Government, GovTech can also ensure high standards in industry and influence the direction of investment and growth in our ICT sector.
It is in GovTech's interest that there is a vibrant ICT industry ecosystem, comprising both smaller and large firms as partners in achieving its goals. In response to Mr Leon Perera's question, the majority of the ICT tenders are awarded to our SMEs.
On Mr Leon Perera's point about privacy impact assessment, the public sector has in place a robust set of data protection rules, which are similar to those under the PDPA. In fact, we have statutory provisions in several of our Acts, including the Official Secrets Act, which regulate the collection, use and disclosure of information by the public sector.
As I understand it, privacy impact assessment is just one specific model of ensuring an appropriate balance between individual's expectations of privacy and protection of personal data and public interest. Ultimately, the public sector is subject to responsibilities that maintain confidentiality and limit the disclosure of personal information, while allowing them to carry out their duties. All public officials are aware that they have to abide by these rules and we will work with agencies to ensure that they continue to be implemented.
On the other point that Mr Leon Perera made about how we ensure that there is no digital divide within the Civil Service, we will work with the Civil Service College to conduct a variety of programmes to ensure that civil servants who need the training will be given training opportunities. There is a whole range of efforts within the Government to ensure that no officers are left behind and that they have the necessary skills to navigate the digital world.
Sir, I would like to thank the Members for their questions. The keen interest in GovTech's work shows that digital Government transformation is an important piece of work and is one that a dedicated agency would be better suited to accomplish. The use of ICT provides immense opportunities for improving the delivery of Government services. GovTech understands these expectations and I am confident that it will be able to deliver on them to the lives of Singaporeans.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)]
[(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
","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 a date to be fixed.\" – [Mr Desmond Lee]. (proc text)]
Adjourned accordingly at 8.34 pm.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Abuse and Harassment of Students in Orientation Programmes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"1 Dr Chia Shi-Lu asked the Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) in light of increasing incidents of sexually offensive and \"sexualised\" activities during orientation activities at the National University of Singapore over the last decade (a) what are the regulations in place to protect students in our tertiary institutions from physical abuse and harassment; (b) whether these regulations are standardised across our polytechnics and universities; (c) what checks and enforcement are in place to ensure that the regulations are adhered to; (d) how many students or staff have been found guilty and have had to face disciplinary action and how were they punished; and (e) whether any civil or criminal suits had been filed as a result.
2 Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) (a) whether the Ministry has a code of conduct to prohibit sexually inappropriate or degrading activities in institutions of higher learning and schools; (b) what measures have been taken to ensure adequate oversight by university staff on students organising such activities; (c) how many complaints has the Ministry received in the past five years and what actions have been implemented to prevent recurrence; and (d) why safeguards have not been put in place to prevent the recent incident in the National University of Singapore.
3 Miss Cheng Li Hui asked the Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) in light of the reports of sexual harassment and abuse during orientation activities at the National University of Singapore (a) whether the Ministry has been monitoring this situation in all our tertiary institutions and keeping track of the number and nature of incidents reported; and (b) whether resources have been provided to our institutions to ensure the safety of our students.
4 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) with regard to the incidents of sexual harassment and physical abuse during orientation activities at the National University of Singapore (a) what are the existing guidelines for orientation activities and whether students/staff have been properly advised and guided; (b) how many complaints on such lewd orientation activities has each of our tertiary institutions received annually in the last 10 years; (c) what measures have been taken by the respective institutions to prevent such abuses by the students or staff who organised the orientation; and (d) how many students or staff have repeatedly been found to be responsible for such orientation activities.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: On 26 July 2016, The New Paper (TNP) published an article on sexualised activities which occurred during freshmen orientation at the National University of Singapore (NUS). The reported acts were demeaning, reprehensible and have no place in a university.
NUS immediately made known that it was against such acts and that it will take strong disciplinary action against those found responsible. Staff met with student leaders involved in orientation camps to remind them of the regulations.
On 28 July, a video went viral. It showed students flat on their backs, being dunked in a shallow pond. It raised fresh concerns about orientation activities.
Unlike the first TNP report, these are not sexualised activities. It is a tradition in Sheares Hall observed by students during special occasions, such as birthdays, and is not just for freshmen.
The long-standing rule in NUS is that ragging of freshmen is strictly prohibited. As a result, NUS decided to suspend student-organised orientation activities. Given the circumstances, I understand and respect NUS' decision.
Our universities have put in place a multitude of rules and processes to regulate and guide orientation activities.
At NUS, all student leaders involved in organising and leading orientation activities are briefed and quizzed on orientation dos and don’ts. Banned activities, such as ragging, are explicitly highlighted both in the briefings and in NUS's Student Code of Conduct, and the penalties for such behaviour are clearly stated. Student organisers have to submit detailed orientation proposals to be vetted by staff advisors and the Office of Student Affairs – a painstaking process that takes about three to four months. Any inappropriate activities, such as those involving piggybacking between opposite genders, intimate body contact and wastage of food, will be removed during this process. Orientation-week, or O-week, culminates in the Rag and Flag, where freshmen work together and raise funds for charity. This year, they raised $472,000.
As for the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), it has, over the last three years developed a fresh model for freshmen orientation. A University Undergraduate Co-ordinating Committee, which includes student union representatives, sets orientation objectives and guidelines, which includes rules against ragging. There is an explicit recognition of the right of freshmen to opt out of any activities. Student organisations then work with the respective faculty and staff to organise the activities. Today, freshmen overnight orientation camps are mostly held within campus and not outside, where discretion is wide and problematic practices tend to occur. This break from the past required some getting used to at first, but it is quite well-accepted now.
The other universities – the Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) – are much smaller in scale and intake numbers. Their orientation activities are, therefore, much more closely supervised than NUS and NTU.
If all these measures are in place, why do inappropriate orientation activities still happen? They happen when staff and faculty are not watching and when some students decide to deviate from approved plans. Such inappropriate orientation activities happen occasionally. They are certainly not widespread. To answer the specific questions of members, complaints to the university administrations have been very few over the last five years. Neither have any Police reports been filed to date, to the best of our knowledge.
Amongst NUS students and alumni, there is a range of views on the matter of orientation. Speaking to them, or reading NUS Whispers, a confessional site for students and alumni alike, one will realise that there is a fairly strong view that orientation has been useful for freshmen. This is because orientation is an integral part of the university experience. This is when freshmen are introduced to university life, its curriculum and demands. This is when they make friends, establish networks and forge bonds that may last a lifetime.
After the NUS suspension, one alumna, Sarah Tan, who graduated in 2014, wrote to me. She told me that she was totally against the sexualised activities. But she also disagreed with the suspension of orientation activities. While preparing for this reply, I got her permission to quote her explanation in one of her blogs: \"My life would have been very, very different if not for the camps I joined as a freshie. I would not have met so many amazing people, students, staff and non-NUS folks alike. I would not have had the opportunity to build up such a large network. I would not have overcome my fear of public speaking. And I definitely would not feel that my time in NUS was the best period of my life... O-week is incredibly important for the freshies…\"
Personal growth is incredibly important. So is personal safety. Bonding is incredibly important. So, too, is respect for the dignity of others. University campuses are full of energetic young people, independent-minded, who are stepping up to take their place in the world. On top of that there are rules, unspoken norms, and traditions.
In this environment, we should not expect to watch their every move, ameliorate every risk and cushion every eventuality. We want our young to learn, in and outside of the classroom, from successes as well as mistakes. If something goes wrong, we have to correct them, immediately and thoroughly, and NUS is, indeed, doing so. For those who did wrong, they will have to expect discipline and rebuke. For those who suffered wrong, they have the option to forgive. For the rest, the system did not start from Lord of the Flies, so let us not push it to 1984.
That is why when NUS informed me that they intended to put a stop to orientation this year, we discussed and carefully decided that it should only apply to student-organised team-building activities, and that these would be \"suspended\" instead of \"cancelled\" or \"banned\". This is because orientation is fundamentally beneficial for freshmen, and the correct response should be to take this opportunity to improve, right the wrongs, and bring it back later, even after lessons have started. It will not be the same as having O-week, but we owe it to the freshmen of 2016. That is what NUS is planning to do.
A last point I would like to address is that as NUS tightens its enforcement against ragging, and as orientation activities evolve, some students are going to lament the loss of certain traditions.
There is a Chinese wedding tradition, which is to get a little boy to roll on the bed of the couple the night before the wedding. It is supposed to help the couple bear male offspring. I am not sure many young couples follow that tradition anymore. I am not even sure their parents and grandparents are insisting on it either. Traditional practices do change with the times. But couples still faithfully observe tea ceremonies during customary weddings. Because this is not just a ritual, but it also signifies the true spirit of the tradition – which is respect for our elders and expressing our gratitude to them.
What is the true spirit of NUS? Service to society, excellence, passion and integrity, to be the keys to the world. What is the true spirit of Sheares Hall? It is named after Benjamin Sheares, our second President, who came from humble origins, excelled in his studies, became a doctor and pioneered new surgical methods. As President, he was widely respected and was a symbol of Singapore's unity. These are the true spirit of traditions and values that should live on and that should be expressed in orientation activities and initiation processes.
I wish our universities orientations that will inspire freshmen and which everyone can be proud of and remember – for the right reasons.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of GIC and Temasek Holdings' Lower Returns on Government's Budget and Long-term Programmes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"16 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Finance whether the outlook of lower long-term financial returns as reflected in the annual reports of GIC and Temasek Holdings indicates that the Net Investment Returns Contribution from the financial reserves will be lower going forward and whether that will have an impact upon the Government's ability to balance the overall Budget and to fund committed long-term programmes.
17 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Finance (a) whether the Government needs to review its dependence on Net Investment Returns Contributions from Temasek and GIC to fund its Budget, given the tough investment environment and modest growth prospects; and (b) whether any long-term spending programmes will be affected if long-term returns from both portfolios end up materially lower than in previous periods.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: The Net Investment Returns (NIR) framework is based on the expected long-term real rates of return on the reserves invested by the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Temasek Holdings, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The expected long-term rates are used because the NIR framework seeks to smooth out budgetary spending across market cycles, in other words, to ensure we do not overspend in bull markets, or face a shortage of funds during a market downturn.
If there were to be a long term deterioration in the investment environment, in other words a secular rather than cyclical deterioration, we would expect a downward adjustment to the expected long-term rates and, hence, a lower NIR Contribution (NIRC) to the annual Budget. The investment entities and the Government are each studying the possible scenarios for the long-term environment. We cannot rule out a scenario of lower expected long-term rates. It is an added reason why the Government has to continue to review both our revenues and expenditures to ensure sustainability.
First, even as we recognise the rising needs of an ageing population, we must remain prudent in our spending and emphasise value-for-money in every programme. We must continually transform the delivery of Government services to be more productive and innovative in achieving better outcomes.
Second, we must continue to build up our revenues for the long term. I should highlight that although NIRC is a sizeable revenue item, our operating revenues (comprising tax revenues as well as fees and charges) continue to serve as the primary source of our total revenues, at slightly over 80%. Going forward, we must continue to build a revenue structure that allows us to meet important spending needs, while ensuring that we maintain our economic competitiveness as well as keep our overall system of taxes and benefits progressive and fair.
Third, and most fundamentally, sustainable Government finances depend on whether we have a healthy and growing economy. The recommendations of the Committee on the Future Economy, and the Industry Transformation Programme that we have embarked on, are key to growing the economy and creating good jobs for our people. This is the key way to grow our revenues sustainably.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Encouraging More Adults and Elderly to Go for Vaccinations","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"18 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Health (a) what plans does the Ministry have to encourage more adults and the elderly to go for vaccinations in view of local immunisation rates being below 20% for adults and below 10% for those aged 50 to 69; and (b) whether the Ministry can consider allowing Singaporean adults to use MediSave to pay for all types of vaccinations instead of limiting the use of MediSave to the current few types of vaccinations.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: An Expert Committee on Immunisation advises the Ministry of Health (MOH) on vaccination. The Committee comprises specialists from public and private healthcare institutions in infectious diseases, microbiology, paediatrics and public health.
For adults, the Expert Committee has recommended a targeted approach of influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations in specific high-risk groups. They include seniors aged 65 years and above, and persons with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, asthma and heart diseases. These patients can use their MediSave to pay for influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations.
There is room to improve the vaccination rates in these high-risk groups. To achieve this outcome, MOH needs to work together with healthcare professionals and the public to raise awareness and encourage patients in these high-risk groups to go for the recommended vaccinations.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Disputes between Foreign Workers and Employers","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"20 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how many disputes have been received involving foreign workers and their employers in the past three years; (b) on average, how long does it take for the Ministry to investigate and resolve a case; (c) what are the options open to either party if they do not find the results of the investigation to be satisfactory; (d) whether there is a deadline after which the employer will not be required to continue paying for the worker's food and accommodation; and (e) what is the longest period so far where a case is unresolved and the employer has to bear the cost of maintaining the worker.
Mr Lim Swee Say: The Employment Act sets out the basic terms of employment including salary and other statutory benefits. Where there are disputes, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) first attempts to resolve them by mediation. If parties are not satisfied with the outcome, they can have the dispute adjudicated at the Labour Court. In the past three years, MOM received about 4,500 disputes involving foreign workers per year. This represents less than 0.4% of the foreign workforce in Singapore.
MOM ensures that all disputes are dealt with expeditiously. The large majority, that is, more than 90% are amicably settled through mediation within one month. The remaining 10% of cases are resolved through adjudication at the Labour Court. Adjudication takes an average of another month to complete. Hence, practically all disputes are resolved within two months from the time the foreign workers surface their disputes to MOM. MOM requires the employers to be responsible for the workers' well-being, including the provision of proper food and accommodation, for the duration of the dispute. This ensures that the employer does not unfairly pass on the cost of upkeep to other taxpayers. The state will provide for the upkeep of a worker where necessary, if the worker is required by the state, for example, as a prosecution witness or an accused person.
The longest case in the last three years took about 10 months to complete as it involved not only a salary dispute but also a criminal breach of the Penal Code, where the employer was also investigated for allegations of salary fraud. The worker involved in that case was given proper upkeep and was also allowed to change employer after two months to continue working in Singapore.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Trend of Child Abuse Cases","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"22 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what are the number and trend of child abuse cases that have been reported in the last three years; (b) how many of these cases involve the child having to be hospitalised; (c) how many have led to fatality; (d) what improvements have been made to our structure and processes to detect such cases for early intervention; and (e) whether teachers and the public have been educated or trained to look out for cases of child abuse.
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: In 2015, my Ministry's Child Protective Service investigated 551 cases of child abuse and neglect. This number was higher than the 300 to 400 cases investigated in the previous three years. One reason for this trend is that there is better detection and reporting by professionals, such as social workers and teachers, as a result of our investment in strengthening the capabilities of our partners. A second reason is that we have expanded our role and redefined the criteria for assessing when a case would be taken up for investigation.
About 20 of the children involved in our investigations last year were admitted to hospital for medical treatment for their injuries. There were two fatalities arising from child abuse between 2013 and 2015.
My Ministry has invested in strengthening the capabilities of professionals such as teachers, healthcare and social workers, to detect abuse and intervene appropriately. For instance, we have developed sector-wide guidelines to have clarity and consistency in how professionals would screen for child abuse, and regular training on the use of these guidelines. In schools, for instance, teachers will alert school counsellors and, if necessary, my Ministry's Child Protective Service, to provide support to students who show signs of distress or possible abuse.
For better detection and early intervention, we have established interagency networks, such as the Inter-Ministry Workgroup on Child Protection and put in place clear processes for schools, community agencies and hospitals for reporting suspected abuse.
To further reduce the instances of child abuse that go undetected, the Government will continue ongoing efforts in public education and community outreach. Preventing child abuse is everyone's responsibility. Anyone who is aware of a child being or is at risk of being abused, can help by reporting it.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Commitment of New Companies in Developing Strong Singapore Core","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"23 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade) how will the Ministry ensure that new companies or investments brought into Singapore are aligned to developing a strong Singapore Core and progressive workplace practices.
Mr Lim Hng Kiang: The Economic Development Board (EDB) adopts a targeted approach to investment promotion, attracting projects that are in line with Singapore's competitive strengths, as well as our constraints in manpower, land and planned international commitments on carbon emissions, to create good jobs for Singaporeans. From 2011 to 2015, EDB secured commitments of S$65 billion in fixed asset investments. These investments are expected to generate total business expenditure per annum of S$34 billion, value-added per annum of S$77 billion, as well as create 107,000 jobs when fully implemented.
The Government works with relevant educational institutions and industry partners to ensure that Singaporeans are equipped with the skills to take up good jobs. This is embodied in the national SkillsFuture movement, which develops an integrated system of education, training and career progression for all Singaporeans, promotes industry support for individuals to advance based on skills, and fosters a culture of lifelong learning. One initiative that encourages employers to develop a Singaporean Core is the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme. This is a place-and-train programme for fresh polytechnic and ITE graduates, who are matched with employers and have opportunities to learn through structured on-the-job and institution-based training. This programme equips graduates with industry-relevant skills. Those who successfully complete this programme receive industry-recognised qualifications.
The Government also ensures that Singaporeans have a level playing field for good jobs through the Fair Consideration Framework. It sets out clear expectations for all companies to consider Singaporeans fairly for job and career opportunities. In addition, all companies must comply with the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices and have fair employment practices that are open, merit-based and non-discriminatory.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Proposal for National Emissions Trading Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"24 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether the Ministry will implement a national emissions trading scheme as an instrument for Singapore to meet its COP21 commitments.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Climate change is a global problem with wide-ranging implications. Many countries around the world today are already feeling the effects, whether it is record high temperatures, more intense rainfalls or the threat that rising sea levels bring to coastal cities. Although Singapore only contributes less than 0.2% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions, we are a responsible global citizen and will play our part.
Given this, Singapore had pledged at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference to reduce our emissions intensity by 36% below 2005 levels by 2030 and to stabilise our emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030. These are ambitious targets which the Government alone cannot achieve. We would require the collective effort and action of every individual, community and business to make greener lifestyle choices and reduce their energy consumption.
Members would be aware that the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change (IMCCC), chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, recently released a Climate Action Plan that explains the whole-of-Government strategy we have adopted to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and to protect Singapore from the impacts of climate change. Improving our energy efficiency continues to be a key strategy.
Specifically, the Member has asked whether a national emissions trading scheme will be implemented as part of this strategy. In recent years, many countries around the world have implemented various carbon pricing instruments, including emissions trading schemes, to help in their climate change efforts. For example, the Republic of Korea launched its emissions trading scheme in 2015. China, which has seven regional pilots, has also announced its intention to introduce a national cap-and-trade system in 2017.
In Singapore, the Government has not made any decision on carbon pricing, including emissions trading schemes.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Crowdfunding as Alternative Financing for Start-ups and SMEs","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"26 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Prime Minister how the new licensing regime for crowdfunding platforms announced by MAS is expected to support crowdfunding as an alternative source of financing for startups and SMEs as well as ensure schemes under crowdfunding are fair, transparent and protect investors against frauds.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for the Prime Minister): The Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS') new regulatory framework supports securities-based crowdfunding (SCF) as an alternative source of financing for startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It does so in two ways.
First, MAS has simplified an existing rule that allows companies raising less than $5 million within 12 months (small offers) to do so without a prospectus. Under the existing rule, SCF platforms assisting companies to raise funds were required to ascertain that investors have the knowledge, experience and are suited for SCF investments. Most retail investors would have difficulties meeting all three requirements. With the simplified rule, SCF platforms need to ascertain that investors meet any one of the three requirements to be able to have access to SCF investments. It will expand the potential investor pool for SCF investments.
Second, MAS will reduce the financial requirements for SCF platforms that raise funds from only accredited and institutional investors and do not handle customers’ monies. Both the minimum base capital and operational risk requirements for such intermediaries will be reduced to $50,000. The previous requirements were $250,000 and $100,000 respectively. The requirement for a $100,000 security deposit will also be removed.
But SCF investments are not without risk. MAS’ SCF regulatory framework seeks to strike the right balance between widening access to funding for startups and SMEs and protecting investor interests. All SCF platform operators seeking to operate in Singapore will require licensing by MAS. MAS will admit only platform operators that are assessed to be fit and proper. They are required to ensure proper segregation of investors’ monies and keep proper records of transactions.
As a further safeguard for investors, MAS has introduced a new requirement for SCF platform operators that are intermediating small offers to disclose the key risks of SCF investments. These operators will also be required to obtain investors’ acknowledgement that they have read and understood these risks before they can proceed to invest. However, I have to emphasise that SCF investors have to exercise due care and must, ultimately, bear responsibility for investment risks.
SCF operators are expected to deal fairly with investors in the conduct of their business. Where a licensed intermediary is found to have breached MAS’ rules, supervisory measures will be taken, ranging from enhanced audits to revocation of licence.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Support of Community Integration Activities at Condominiums","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"27 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth whether there are plans to increase efforts or support for community integration activities at condominiums given the rising trend of rental units and permanent residents residing in these compounds.
Mr Chan Chun Sing (for the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth): The People’s Association (PA) promotes social cohesion amongst residents from all races, age groups and socio-economic backgrounds, including both public and private estates.
To enable private estate residents to be involved in community activities, PA has helped to facilitate private estate residents to form more Neighbourhood Committees (NCs). There are currently 183 NCs, up from 112 in 2011. We will continue to expand the number of NCs as necessary to deepen their engagement with the wider grassroots network.
Besides organising activities and forming interest groups to bring residents together, NCs also facilitate residents' involvement in their own communities via the OneConnect Programme. Through this programme, residents can offer suggestions for estate improvement and formulate community solutions to tackle common issues, for example, to eliminate dengue breeding spots. NCs also partner various grassroots and community organisations to reach out to the residents, including the less privileged, through various meaningful initiatives.
PA also offers many community programmes and courses at the Community Clubs/Centres to meet the different interests and needs of residents, including those living in condominiums. All residents are welcome to participate in these activities where they can get to know their neighbours and community better.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Review of HDB's Joint Singles Rental Scheme to Prevent Violent Disputes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"28 Dr Lily Neo asked the Minister for National Development (a) in the past year, how many disputes between co-tenants of HDB rental flats resulted in violence; and (b) whether a review should be carried out to improve the Joint Singles Scheme for the rental of HDB flats.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) does not keep specific records of disputes among tenants, or whether disputes result in violence. In 2014 and 2015, HDB received 235 requests for a change of tenant due to disputes, out of around 12,000 households under the Joint Singles Scheme (JSS).
For disputes which the tenants cannot settle between themselves, HDB will refer them to seek help from grassroots organisations or the Community Mediation Centre. If mediation fails, one or both parties may still submit separate applications to rent another public rental flat with other eligible persons.
HDB currently has no plans to review the requirement to pair tenants under JSS, as it enables HDB to help as many needy singles as possible to have a roof over their heads, within the limited resources for public housing. Most JSS tenants are able to live together amicably and derive benefit from having company. The key is mutual respect and tolerance.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Maintenance of Black and White Bungalows","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"29 Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Law (a) how many black and white bungalows are there in Sembawang managed by SLA; (b) how many are currently rented out; (c) what is the Ministry doing to maintain these bungalows, some of which are in a state of disrepair; and (d) whether these bungalows will be preserved as part of our heritage.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) currently manages 45 black and white bungalows in Sembawang. Twenty-nine of them are currently rented out, while four units are available for rent as residences. The remaining 12 units are safeguarded for Government agencies which are exploring other uses for these properties.
SLA has appointed a managing agent to carry out regular maintenance on all the vacant properties. The maintenance works include housekeeping, grass cutting, tree pruning and vector control. SLA's managing agent also carries out painting, building, mechanical, electrical and interior works before the properties are let out, or during tenancy renewals. Repair works are also carried out when necessary. SLA ensures that none of these properties falls into a state of disrepair.
The Government recognises the heritage value of these bungalows. The Urban Redevelopment Authority will take this into consideration when studying the future development plans for the area.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Average Teacher-Student Ratios over the Decades","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"30 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Acting Minister for Education (Schools) what has been the average teacher-student ratios for primary, secondary and junior college levels respectively over the decades of 1970-1979, 1980-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2010 and 2011 to date.
Mr Ng Chee Meng: Since the 1970s, the student-teacher ratio, or what is known internationally as the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR), has improved across all levels. For the primary level, the average PTRs of each decade in Government and Government-aided schools improved progressively from 30 in the 1970’s, to 28, 26 and 23 in the subsequent decades, and to 16 in 2015. A similar trend also took place at the secondary level, with the average PTR improving over each decade, from 25, 22, 21, 19 to 13 in 2015. Data for junior colleges (JCs) was not available in the 1970s, when the JC landscape was in its nascent stage. From the 1980s till now, the average JC PTRs over each decade have improved from 25, 15, 12, to 10 in 2015.
Our PTRs are comparable to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation average of 15 and 13 for primary and secondary schools respectively.
PTR is an aggregate measure that compares the total number of teachers to the total number of students, and reflects our increase in investment of teacher resources over the years to bring out the best in each child. Besides the general increase in resources for every student, we have also invested resources in developing customised programmes for those requiring special attention. This includes lower primary students, students weak in literacy and numeracy, as well as students with special education needs. Through our continuous efforts, we have achieved progressively good outcomes for our school-going cohorts over the years. One indicator of this would be the extremely low dropout rates of students who did not complete secondary education, at less than 1% of the Primary 1 cohort.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Mandatory Prolonged Break during June School Holidays","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"31 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Acting Minister for Education (Schools) (a) how many schools adhere to the Ministry's guideline on giving students and school teachers at least a two-week break during the June school holidays; (b) whether the Ministry can review this guideline to at least a three-week break so that students and school teachers can have more time to rest and bond with their families; and (c) whether a limit can be made to the number of hours a day that a student can spend in school for official remedial classes or co-curricular activities during the school holidays.
Mr Ng Chee Meng: The well-being of our teachers is important and we have put in place various initiatives to support their work-life needs. A set of guidelines is provided to schools to support and guide them in managing their teachers' workload and well-being. One of these guidelines is the provision of protected vacation time during school holidays to ensure that teachers have sufficient time to rest and bond with their families. The baseline protected time in the school vacation comprises at least two days in March, two weeks in June, two days in September and three weeks in November/December.
Under the guideline on protected vacation time, teachers are to be given at least two weeks off in the June holidays and this has been observed by all the schools. As this is a baseline provision, schools do, in most cases, give their teachers more than two weeks off in the June holidays. While setting this baseline provision, the Ministry of Education (MOE) is mindful of the need to accord schools some flexibility to meet their specific needs, for example, to support teachers' professional development programmes as well as programmes for their students. In principle, schools seek to optimise the holidays to ensure that their teachers get a sufficient break to rest and recharge.
Similarly, schools seek to ensure that students are also given adequate time off during the holidays to rest and spend time with their families and pursue their personal or recreational activities. Unless necessary, students are not required to attend school during the holidays. However, schools may use part of the school holidays to conduct remedial or enrichment classes and co-curricular activities (CCAs) for specific groups of students. These activities are planned after due consideration of the students' learning and developmental needs. For example, the June holidays may be an opportune time for teachers to address students' learning gaps identified during the mid-year examinations through the provision of small group remediation to those who may benefit from it. Part of the school holidays may also be used to organise activities for CCAs that may not be easily conducted during term time, such as camps and leadership courses.
Given that there are different student profiles and needs across the schools, it may not be meaningful to set a limit on the number of hours a student can spend in school during the school holidays that can be universally applied to all students.
Nonetheless, we agree that the school holidays are an important time for the students to take a break from school. In planning holiday programmes, our schools are mindful of this and have processes in place to monitor and coordinate holiday homework and activities. School holiday programmes are usually not compulsory, and students do have a choice to opt out of them. Schools are also reminded to inform parents of planned school activities early to facilitate their holiday planning.
MOE will continue to monitor that schools are judicious in their planning of holiday activities and to be mindful of the students' and teachers' need for a restful break during the school holidays. MOE will also continue to engage School Leaders in their review of programmes to maximise vacation time beyond the baseline protected time for teachers and students while striving to meet the developmental needs of teachers and students.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Claims against Foreign Vehicle Owners Involved in Accidents in Singapore","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"32 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the process for Singaporeans to claim against foreign vehicle owners who are involved in accidents here, including damage to vehicles; (b) on the average, how long does it take to settle such claims; and (c) how can the Ministry assist in simplifying the process to facilitate easier motor insurance claims for both Singaporean and Malaysian motorists involved in accidents in Singapore.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Motorists of foreign-registered vehicles found responsible for causing accidents are liable for the damages incurred. Thus, Singaporeans involved can claim against the motorists or their insurer if the insurance covers third-party property damage for accidents that occur in Singapore.
In addition, the Motor Vehicle Act requires all vehicles used on Singapore roads, whether local or foreign-registered, to be insured against third-party bodily injury and death. To effect this for Malaysian-registered vehicles, the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Singapore (MIBS) has Special Agreements with Malaysian insurers to require that they settle claims against their insured who get into accidents in Singapore which involve deaths or injuries. In such cases, MIBS will facilitate the third-party claimants from Singapore to file their claims with the insurers in Malaysia. The duration of the claim process varies from case to case, depending on the complexity.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Appropriate Disposal of Renovation Debris and Bulky Items at HDB Estates","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"33 Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Ministry will strengthen measures to ensure that contractors with renovation permits from HDB adhere to regulations on the appropriate disposal of renovation debris and bulky items; (b) what enforcement measures and resources are deployed in new BTO estates to ensure compliance with such regulations; and (c) what measures will be taken against contractors who are caught illegally dumping such debris.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Town Councils have the statutory responsibilities to manage and maintain the common properties in Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates, which include the regulation of proper disposal of renovation debris and bulky items. TCs may impose penalties if any parties are found to have contravened the respective Town Council's by-laws.
HDB requires renovation contractors to register with HDB before they are allowed to carry out the works. The terms of the registration include the proper disposal of debris. At newly completed Build-To-Order (BTO) projects, HDB carries out site inspections to ensure the proper disposal of debris by renovation contractors. HDB will also inform the residents engaging these errant renovation contractors to remind their contractors to stop any indiscriminate dumping. Notices will also be placed at the lift lobbies to remind other residents. Members of the public who come across improper disposal by a renovation contractor should report the matter to the respective HDB branch. Contractors who are found to have improperly disposed of renovation debris and damaged the common properties can be fined up to $3,000 or debarred for a period of up to three years.
Beyond enforcement, we also encourage Town Councils to consider providing haulage and debris removal services, or skip tanks for proper disposal, especially during the first few months of newly completed BTO precincts. Such measures have been found to be effective and have reduced the costs for cleaning up and repair of damages to property.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Enhancing Competency of Home Team to Tackle Online Crime","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"35 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how is the Ministry training and improving the competency of Home Team officers to collate evidence and tackle online crimes; and (b) whether it is working with the private sector to improve its detection and forensics capabilities.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) equips its officers with the skills to tackle online crimes, through specialised and structured training programmes.
Newly-appointed Police Officers undergo both theory and hands-on training on how to respond to online crime as part of their basic training programme. Those appointed as Investigation Officers receive additional training on how to search and seize information technology (IT)-related evidence on laptops and mobile devices, and the proper handling of such evidence.
Police’s cyber investigations and forensics capabilities have also been strengthened. Last year, Police established a Cybercrime Command in the Criminal Investigation Department to build up capabilities to combat cybercrime. In addition, Cybercrime Response Teams were formed in the six Police Land Divisions to equip frontline units with the necessary investigative and forensic capabilities to deal with cybercrime.
To combat e-commerce scams, the Police reach out to organisations such as financial institutions and remittance agencies, to train their staff to detect victims of scams when they process remittance requests. Police also engage online advertising portals to proactively identify and remove fraudulent advertisers from these online platforms.
In addition, SPF has forged close partnerships with international and local partners to tackle cybercrime. These partners include the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation, Infocomm Development Authority, the Cyber Security Agency (CSA), local research institutes and institutes of higher learning. Such partnerships strengthen SPF's cyber-forensic and detection capabilities in areas, such as malware analysis and uncovering trends in online scams.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Societies Denied Registration by Registrar of Societies","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"36 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Home Affairs how many societies have been denied registration by the Registrar of Societies in 2005-2015 and what is the breakdown of cases by different types of reasons for rejection.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Registrar of Societies refused 20 society applications from 2005 to 2015. The applications were refused on grounds provided within the legislation under the Societies Act. They have been refused where the society was likely to be used for purposes that were unlawful or prejudicial to public peace, welfare or good order in Singapore; the applications did not comply with provisions under the Societies Act or its regulations; or where registration of the society would be contrary to the national interest.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Licensing Fee for Street Hawkers Selling Tissue Paper Packs","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"40 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether the Ministry will consider reducing the licensing fee for street hawkers selling tissues to a nominal fee as these hawkers are usually in dire financial situations.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Under the current Street Hawking Scheme, licensed street hawkers are allowed to sell goods, which they have to state upfront at the point of application, at fixed locations in public spaces without the need to pay rent. They only pay an annual licence fee of $120 or $10 per month and this has remained unchanged since the start of the scheme 15 years ago. There are no plans to revise this.
Street hawking is not a permanent solution for someone trying to make a living. Those experiencing financial hardship can be assisted through the various help schemes available. There are also various Government-funded training programmes for those who wish to pick up new skills and seek more stable forms of employment.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Comparative Frequency and Severity of Oil Spills on Singapore Roads","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"41 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Transport (a) how do the frequency and severity of oil spills on our roads compare with other major cities; and (b) what are the estimated economic losses due to the damage and travel delays caused.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Other major cities do not publish data of oil spills on roads and, hence, we are unable to compare.
Minor oil spills are quite common on our roads and there are at least three or four per day. However, major oil spills that require road repairs are infrequent. There were two in 2014 and seven last year. Of these, only three caused major tailbacks. Depending on assumptions on the economic value of time, we estimate the costs to be in the region of $200,000 to $300,000 for each of these tailback incidents.
We are looking to impose a stronger deterrent against major oil spills.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"New Public Transport Policy of MRT Operations","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"42 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Transport what will be the new model and public transport policy of MRT operations after the acquisition of SMRT's operating rail assets by LTA on 1 October 2016.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Under the previous financing framework, rail operators own the operating assets, such as the trains and the signalling system. They are, hence, responsible for the building up, replacing and upgrading of the operating assets. However, as operators bear the full financial risk, they may be too cautious to undertake these costly works. This can affect the capacity and reliability of train services.
That is why the Government implemented the New Rail Financing Framework, or NRFF, in 2011 for the Downtown Line. Under NRFF, the Government owns the operating assets and is responsible for expanding, replacing and upgrading them. The train operator pays an annual Licence Charge for the right to use these assets and to earn revenue from operating the line. The Licence Charge is paid into a Railway Sinking Fund to finance future build-up, replacement and upgrade of the operating assets.
Following Downtown Line, the Land Transport Authority began discussions with SMRT and SBS Transit (SBST) to transit the older lines to NRFF. The discussions with SMRT have concluded. Subject to SMRT shareholders' approval, the North-South and East-West lines, the Circle Line, and the Bukit Panjang Light Rail Transit (LRT), will be transited to the NRFF.
The transition will benefit commuters in the following ways. First, we will be able to respond to increased ridership, and replace and upgrade operating assets, in a more timely fashion. Second, the operator, having been relieved of heavy capital expenditure, can focus on providing reliable and well-maintained rail services for commuters. Third, we can shorten the licence tenure from 30-plus years to 15 years. The operator will need to perform well if they want to be reconsidered at the end of 15 years.
On top of this, to ensure that the Government’s assets are well-maintained and operations are better run, SMRT Trains will be required to comply with a rigorous set of Maintenance Performance Standards, Asset Management Requirements and Codes of Practice. In particular, the Maintenance Performance Standards will regulate maintenance processes upstream to ensure that issues which may affect train reliability are pre-emptively identified.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Traffic and Pedestrian Accidents Related to Mobile Phone Usage","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"43 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the number of road accidents related to the use of mobile phones or other personal electronic devices by pedestrians in the last three years; (b) what efforts are made to educate pedestrians on the dangers of using such electronic devices while walking; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider banning the use of personal electronic devices by pedestrians while they are walking or using the roads.
Mr K Shanmugam: The number of road accidents involving pedestrians has remained fairly stable over the past three years, with an average of 952 such accidents. We do not have the breakdown of the number of accidents that are related to the use of mobile phones or personal electronic devices.
It is not practical to ban the use of electronic devices by pedestrians when they are walking or crossing the road. A better approach is to instil good road safety habits in road-users.
In this regard, the Traffic Police conducts outreach programmes to raise road safety awareness. Such educational and engagement efforts include road safety training for the public, as well as talks and exhibitions at schools and community events.
Last year, the Traffic Police introduced the \"Use Your RoadSense\" movement to inculcate good road behaviour and practices amongst all road users, including pedestrians. This includes the importance of pedestrians remaining alert to their surroundings and not be distracted when using the roads.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"School Re-admission Assessments for Children of Returning Overseas Singaporeans","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"46 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Acting Minister for Education (Schools) whether school-going children of returning Singaporeans from overseas can be allowed to take the school re-admission assessments at the local consulates or embassies where they are presently residing instead of having to travel back to Singapore for the assessments.
Mr Ng Chee Meng: The Ministry of Education (MOE) is committed to helping returning Singaporeans re-enter our schools smoothly. We have made available several admissions routes, to cater to different circumstances and preferences.
The first option is via the centralised School Placement Exercise for Returning Singaporeans (SPERS), which caters for admission into secondary schools and junior colleges. SPERS offers families the convenience of a single round of tests. Based on their performance, returning Singaporeans could indicate their school preferences and would be offered places in schools based on their results, choices, and school vacancies. SPERS is conducted twice a year to cater to the different timing of return for overseas Singaporeans.
Nevertheless, MOE recognises that not all returning Singaporeans are able to time their return to one of the SPERS cycles. A second option is for such returning Singaporeans to approach MOE for help to obtain a school place. MOE will do our best to match the child to a school with a vacancy that is near his or her home. The school will usually require the child to take a placement test and, based on the results decide if it could offer the child a place and at which educational level.
A third option is also available to families who already have a specific school in mind and want to approach that school directly to be considered for admission. Again, the school will require the child to take a placement test and can offer the returning Singaporean child a place if it has available vacancy.
Most returning Singaporeans will make use of the centralised SPERS option as it is most convenient for them, where they only need to take a single set of tests and be assured of a posting by MOE to a suitable school.
On the Member's query, MOE has previously explored conducting admissions tests overseas, but the demand was low. Thus, we decided to conduct SPERS twice a year for the convenience of more returning Singaporeans and to ensure that the tests are administered by trained invigilators so that placement outcomes are fair and educationally sound.
In summary, there are sufficient routes of admissions to cater to returning Singaporeans seeking re-admissions at any time of the year. I would like to assure the Member that MOE's commitment is for every returning Singaporean family to reintegrate smoothly back into Singapore society.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Enhancing Care-giving Options for Dementia Patients","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"48 Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for Health how can the Government (i) make professional caregiving for dementia patients more attractive so as to improve the pipeline of professional caregivers; and (ii) provide better training for foreign domestic helpers as many FDWs are neither trained nor mentally prepared to become caregivers for dementia patients.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Today, seniors with dementia may be cared for at home, or at aged care facilities, such as day centres or nursing homes. Nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and healthcare assistants work together to care for these patients. The Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) are working to improve the attractiveness of a career in professional caregiving for dementia patients in a few ways.
First, through more structured training and capability development. We promote and fund training for care staff. Between 2013 and 2015, AIC offered over 2,400 training places in dementia-related courses and talks to equip care staff with the necessary skills to provide better care for seniors with dementia. In addition, our public hospitals arrange for other dementia care training for their care staff and those from other aged care partners like nursing homes and eldercare centres on skills, such as managing challenging behaviours and communicating with dementia persons. MOH and AIC are now also working on a comprehensive competency framework to better define the skills and competencies required in dementia care. Besides enhancing skills and career development for the staff, it will help guide us in levelling up the skills content and productivity of the jobs.
Second, through better remuneration and recognition. MOH has provided funding to our subvented aged care institutions to raise the pay of the care staff in these settings to be more competitive. The remuneration levels will be adjusted further in future, in tandem with progress in our work to raise skills and productivity.
Finally, through promoting awareness among locals of careers in community care services, including dementia care. In January 2016, for example, MOH launched a campaign on job opportunities in the community care sector, and a Community Care Traineeship Programme to train and place locals to take on these jobs.
Some seniors with dementia are cared for at home by caregivers and foreign domestic workers (FDWs). Under our Caregivers' Training Grant, subsidies are provided for caregivers, including FDWs, to attend caregiving courses. There are currently 28 dementia care courses addressing a range of needs, such as managing mealtimes and creating a comfortable and safe environment for persons with dementia. Between 2013 and 2015, about 1,000 out of more than 11,000 FDWs who had utilised the subsidy had attended courses on dementia care. Our public hospitals also provide training and guidance to family caregivers caring for dementia patients, where needed, before the patients are discharged home.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Career Progression of Dental Surgery Assistants","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"49 Ms K Thanaletchimi asked the Minister for Health (a) whether the career progression of dental surgery assistants can be enhanced and their skills upgraded as part of a strategic manpower plan; (b) whether their jobs can be professionalised through deep skilling; and (c) whether the registration or licensing of dental surgery assistants can be considered.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The National Dental Centre and Singapore Dental Association jointly run a National Institute of Technical Education Certificate (NITEC) in Dental Assisting Programme. The programme trains between 25 and 30 Dental Surgery Assistants (DSA) annually.
After they start their job, DSAs have further opportunities to upgrade their skills professionally. For example, besides undergoing training that enable them to better prepare dental surgeries and assist dental surgeons during procedures, they may also undertake courses in infection control, managing patients with mobility impairments, and emergency management. DSAs who perform well may progress to become Senior DSAs who have larger responsibilities, such as coordinating the operations at dental clinics and teaching and training new DSAs.
As DSAs assist the dental surgeons but do not treat or manage patients directly, our assessment is that registration and licensing of DSAs are not necessary. Dental surgeons are ultimately responsible for the safety and standards of care to patients who undergo dental surgery.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Security Clearance for Those Applying for Jobs at Government Agencies","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"50 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) in what contexts do Statutory Boards, Ministries or other organisations send job applicants' personal data to the Internal Security Department (ISD) or any other designated department for security clearance; and (b) what safeguards are in place to ensure the accuracy of the information collected and used in the security clearance procedure.
Mr K Shanmugam: Security and background checks for Government jobs are not unique to Singapore. Many countries do so. The checks are done in a variety of contexts by different agencies and departments. Several factors could be relevant, including the security classification of the position, the nature of work and the confidentiality of the information that the position deals with. It is difficult to be more precise because the question is so broad. And for operational reasons, I will not be able to go into how or when such checks are done.
As regards the second part of the question on safeguards, the information collected for security checks is looked at, and assessed where possible against other relevant information for reliability and accuracy. Officers are guided by their supervisors as necessary on what to look out for when assessing the information. I am unable to say more without getting into confidential operational procedures.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Extending Enhancement for Active Seniors Programme to Seniors Living in Private Estates","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"52 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will consider extending the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme to seniors living in private estates who have no one supporting them and who have little savings.
Mr Lawrence Wong: There are no immediate plans to extend the Enhancement for Active Seniors programme to private estates at this moment. But we will continue to study this.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Height and Weight Allowance for Local Mixed Breed Dogs Kept in HDB Flats","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"53 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will consider increasing the height and weight allowance for local mixed breed dogs approved for living in HDB flats under the Project ADORE scheme as the majority of dogs in our shelters and from the streets do not currently qualify for adoption under the scheme.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Under Project (ADOption and REhoming of dogs) ADORE, mixed breed dogs that are up to 50 centimetres tall at the shoulder and weighing up to 15 kilogrammes may be rehomed in HDB flats. These limits are set at sizes roughly equivalent to the current approved dog breeds for Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats. Dogs of this size are generally considered to be more easily carried and controlled, especially in confined spaces such as lifts.
I appreciate the Member's intention to rehome more local mixed breed dogs. The Ministry of National Development also supports this objective. But in making any changes to Project ADORE, we have to also take into consideration the concerns raised by HDB residents who have reservations about their neighbours keeping larger dogs in HDB flats. This is why we are taking steps to bring in more partners on the project and to broaden our engagement with residents. Ultimately, we want this project to succeed. For that to happen, we should not rush the implementation, but must ensure that any changes to the criteria are broadly accepted by residents living in our HDB estates.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Leasing of Homes for Short-term Stays","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"54 Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for National Development (a) in the last two years, how many home owners have been found to be illegally leasing out their premises to tenants for short-term stays; (b) what actions have been taken against these home owners; and (c) whether an update on URA's review of the short-term rental policy for private residential properties can be provided.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) took enforcement action against 36 cases of unauthorised short-term subletting in private residential premises in 2014, 23 cases in 2015, and 44 cases in the first six months of 2016. Altogether, there were 103 such cases between 2014 and mid-2016.
Once URA confirms a case of unauthorised short-term subletting, it sends an enforcement notice to the offender requiring the unauthorised use to cease. In the vast majority of cases, offenders have complied with URA's notices and there has been no need to undertake further action against them.
URA's public consultation on short-term rentals concluded in April 2015. The review is still ongoing. The issue of allowing short-term rentals warrants careful and balanced review without a rush to conclusion. In particular, we must carefully consider the implications of doing so, given the potential impact and disamenity of such rentals on neighbouring residents.
In the meantime, URA's existing requirement for a minimum tenancy duration of six months in private residential rentals continues to apply.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Recovering Revenue from Motorists who Evade Car Park Charges","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"56 Ms Sun Xueling asked the Minister for National Development (a) what is the possibility of collecting back the revenue lost from motorists who evade parking charges; and (b) whether new solutions are being considered to counter manipulation of the carpark system by motorists.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The process to recover parking charges involves much time and manpower resources. Nevertheless, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will do its best in tracking down errant motorists who evade parking charges. HDB will also leverage suitable technology like CCTV to help in the process of recovering these parking charges. However, this will have to be balanced with the cost effectiveness of chasing down every errant motorist.
Going forward, HDB will make greater use of technology to help prevent evasion of car park charges and recover any loss in parking charges. In addition, HDB will be implementing more mitigating measures to reduce future tailgating instances, such as installing additional humps, to prevent motorists from following too closely behind another vehicle; putting up \"No Tailgating\" signboards to warn motorists; and possibly banning use of the car park by errant motorists if their outstanding charges are not paid up.
Another key strategy is to take tighter enforcement actions against errant motorists. The Parking Places Rules have been amended in July 2016 to allow immediate enforcement action against motorists who deliberately evade payment of parking charges. Recalcitrant cases will face a stiffer fine amount of up to $2,000. Such measures will raise public awareness of the seriousness of these offences and help to deter evasion of parking charges 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":"Impact of Extending Equal Medical Benefits to Female Pensioners who Retired before 2005 and Their Dependants","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"57 Mr Leon Perera asked the Prime Minister (a) how many female pensioners are there currently who have retired before 2005; (b) whether the Ministry will consider extending equal medical benefits to this group of pensioners' dependants, especially spouses; and (c) how much is the projected incremental pension expenditure should equal benefits be extended to the pensioners' dependants, including spouses.
Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): There are currently 8,400 female pensioners who retired before 2005.
Since 2005, all officers, male and female, on the MediSave-cum-Subsidised Outpatient, or MSO scheme, can claim medical benefits for their spouse, and for their dependant unmarried children below the age of 18. Pensioners and serving officers on the older medical schemes can opt to convert to the MSO scheme at any time. However, as the older medical schemes offer more generous benefits than the MSO scheme, few have done so.
If medical coverage were to be extended to the dependants of all female pensioners and serving officers currently enrolled in the older medical schemes, the additional cost would exceed $30 million annually.
All Singaporeans, including the dependants and spouses of female pensioners on older Civil Service medical schemes, now benefit from lifelong protection provided by MediShield Life.
In addition, those who are Pioneers also enjoy the benefits of the Pioneer Generation Package. This includes subsidies for healthcare and MediSave top-ups which will help with their healthcare costs. MediSave top-ups for dependants who are Pioneers, and MediShield Life coverage continue even after the lifetime of the pensioner, unlike Civil Service medical benefits.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Next Batch of Noise Barriers for MRT Tracks","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"59 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport (a) when will LTA be installing its next batch of noise barriers for MRT tracks; and (b) whether these barriers will be installed in the Nee Soon South constituency and, if so, where will these noise barriers be located and how long will it take to complete the installation.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The tender for the next phase of the noise barrier programme is planned for the second half of this year. It will include Nee Soon South constituency. We expect to start installing noise barriers along Yishun Avenue 2 in 2019.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Plans for Highspeed Rail Project to Proceed without Delay and Losses","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"60 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport with the announcement of the US Department of Justice's investigations into 1MDB and the ongoing investigations by MAS, AGC and CAD of various 1MDB-related fund flows through Singapore for possible securities fraud, cheating and money laundering offences (a) whether the Government should be concerned about Bandar Malaysia as the terminus of the High Speed Rail (HSR), being a 1MDB project; and (b) what contingencies are in place to ensure that the project will proceed with no delay and losses.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The Singapore and Malaysia Governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 19 July 2016 for the High Speed Rail project. Under the MOU, each Government takes responsibility for funding, constructing and maintaining the civil infrastructure and stations within their own countries. Therefore, the Malaysian government will be responsible for funding, constructing and maintaining the Bandar Malaysia terminus. We would not be involved.
Furthermore, we have worked out with the Malaysians a robust commercial framework and approach for joint procurement that we believe will give the best opportunity for the High Speed Rail project to be financially viable and sustainable in the long term. A bilateral committee will also be formed to oversee the cross-border aspects of the project, including to ensure adherence to timelines and minimise delays.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Healthcare Infrastructure Expansion Plans on Staff's Remuneration","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"61 Ms K Thanaletchimi asked the Minister for Health with the infrastructure expansion plans of current and future healthcare institutions, how will the expansion be funded so that the remuneration of healthcare staff will not be affected when the healthcare clusters have to dig into their reserves to fund current excess capacities.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Ministry of Health (MOH) fully funds the development costs of healthcare infrastructure at our public healthcare institutions. This includes the cost of building in spare capacity to cater for future expansion to meet increases in demand.
Spaces catering to future expansion are designed so that the institutions are able to put them to productive uses in the interim. This minimises the holding cost associated with such spare capacity. When institutions encounter difficulties doing so, MOH will work with them on possible solutions and assist them with separate funding to defray these additional costs if necessary.
Therefore, the cost of expansion of our healthcare institutions is separately funded and should not affect the funding for the remuneration of our healthcare staff.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Studies and Projections on Commuter Usage Patterns of Taxis and Private Hire Cars","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"1 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether the Ministry has carried out any studies as well as medium-to-long-term projections on the commuter usage patterns of taxis and private hire cars; (b) if so, whether these findings or projections can be shared with the public; and (c) if no such studies or projections have been made, whether the Ministry will conduct such studies or projections.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: In recent years, taxi ridership had grown by about 2% annually, based on data on taxi trips submitted by taxi companies. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) also conducts the Taxi Customer Satisfaction Survey (TCSS) annually, which provides a good understanding of commuter usage patterns and satisfaction with different aspects of taxi services.
These taxi demand trends may change, given the growth in supply and popularity of competing services like those provided by Uber and Grab. However, our data on the chauffeured services industry is relatively scant and we do not yet have any projections for the industry, as chauffeured services' popularity is a recent phenomenon.
To complete the picture, we will be expanding TCSS to include chauffeured services. We are also amending the Road Traffic Act to require chauffeured service providers to provide LTA with trip data. Taken together with the data we have of taxi services, LTA will then be able to more comprehensively study overall commuter patterns and make meaningful projections.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Resident Workers Offered Re-employment Contracts upon Reaching Retirement Age","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"2 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Manpower (a) since 2011, how many resident workers have been offered re-employment contracts upon reaching retirement age; (b) of these, how many have received a reduction in wages and other remuneration despite having no change in job scope or responsibilities; (c) what has been the average reduction in wages and other remuneration; and (d) how does the Ministry ensure that employers do not unfairly reduce wages of workers reaching retirement age even though there is no change in their productivity and performance.
Mr Lim Swee Say: The re-employment model was introduced in 2012, after extensive tripartite consultations. Under the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA), employers are required to offer re-employment to eligible employees who turn 62 years old or the contractual retirement age if it is higher, up to the prevailing re-employment age. Employers may re-employ employees on a new contract with re-negotiated terms, or allow them to continue on their existing contracts. The law requires any adjustments to contract terms to be based on reasonable factors, such as the employees' productivity, performance, duties and responsibilities and the wage system applicable to the employee, including any seniority element. Currently, the re-employment age is 65 and it will be raised to 67 by 1 July 2017, as announced at the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM's) Committee of Supply debate in April.
In recent years, over 98% of resident employees who wished to continue working were offered employment beyond 62. Specifically, in 2015, 98% of those who accepted re-employment in the same job, be it on a new or existing contract, did not experience a cut in their basic wages. Of the small minority of 2% who did experience wage cuts upon re-employment, the median wage cut was 10%. It is worth noting that among those on new contracts, almost one in 10 actually received higher wages upon re-employment.
To create higher awareness of employers' obligations on the employment of older employees, the Tripartite Partners have issued a set of Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Employees. The guidelines are gazetted and are used by MOM, the Industrial Arbitration Court and the High Court in settling re-employment claims and appeals. Employees who feel that their wages have been unfairly adjusted upon re-employment should approach their unions or the MOM for early assistance.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Median, Mean, 10th and 90th Percentile Totals in Deceased Members' Individual CPF Accounts","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"3 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Manpower from 2010 to 2015, what has been the median, mean, 10th percentile and 90th percentile total amount of money in individual CPF accounts when those individuals became deceased in each of those years.
Mr Lim Swee Say: Half of Central Provident Fund (CPF) members aged 65 or older who passed on in 2015 had about $6,800 or less left in their CPF accounts. Table 1 below shows the CPF balances of CPF members aged 65 or older who passed away between 2010 and 2015.
Any unused CPF balances are bequeathed to the deceased member's nominated beneficiaries. If there are no nominated beneficiaries, the unused CPF balances are distributed under intestacy laws.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Number of Intra-company Transferees from India Approved under Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"4 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Manpower what is the number of intra-company transferees from India that have been approved under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with India from the year when the agreement came into effect to the latest year for which data is available.
Mr Lim Swee Say: Intra-company transferees (ICTs) from any country, including India, would need to meet the Ministry's work pass qualifying criteria to work in Singapore. The only difference is that ICTs from all countries are exempted from the advertisement requirement in our Jobs Bank. The Ministry does not disclose data on foreign manpower with breakdown by nationality, including data on ICTs.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Abuse of Criteria for Approval of EP Applications","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"5 Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Minister for Manpower with regard to the case where an employee of Harry's International Pte Ltd was caught with falsely declaring information on hiring 20 Employment Pass (EP) holders (a) what are the criteria which the company met to get approval for 20 EP applications; and (b) what safeguards are in place to ensure that lack of quota for EP holders in the firm is not abused.
Mr Lim Swee Say: Employment Pass (EP) applications are assessed based on a combination of factors, including educational qualifications, work experience and salary. The 20 EP applications for Harry's International Pte Ltd were approved as they met the criteria. However, their employee was subsequently found to have falsely declared the salaries in the EP applications. She was convicted in Court and fined $40,000.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) safeguards the integrity of our work pass framework by conducting the necessary verification on doubtful EP applications. These include checks on qualifications by overseas screening agencies or with the issuing education institutions. Employers may also be asked to show proof that the submitted qualifications are genuine and that they have the financial ability to pay the declared salaries. Audits may be conducted to ascertain if EP holders were, indeed, paid the salaries as declared.
EP applications found with doubtful qualifications will be rejected. EP applicants found to have submitted forged qualifications will also be barred from employment in Singapore. Applications with a declared salary suspected to have been inflated will also be rejected.
Strong action is taken against those who make false declarations in work pass applications. If convicted, the offender can be fined up to $20,000 and/or jailed for up to two years under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA). They will also be barred from hiring new or renewing work passes of their foreign workers. Members of the public who know of such offences should report the matter to MOM. Since 2014, a total of 58 employers have been convicted for making false declarations of salary in work pass applications.
While there is no EP quota, employers must consider Singaporeans fairly in hiring and career development. MOM subjects EP applications from companies which have signs of unfair employment practices to closer scrutiny. Processing of their EP applications will take longer. Where such companies do not take corrective action, MOM may, on the recommendation of Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP), suspend their work pass privileges.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Review of Yearly Cap on Use of Medisave","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"6 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Health whether the Ministry will review the yearly cap on the use of MediSave in line with inflation of medication costs and increases in treatment costs for common chronic diseases such that 90% of costs can be met with MediSave.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Under the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP), Singaporeans can use up to $400 per MediSave account per year to pay for their chronic disease treatment. Nineteen chronic conditions are covered under CDMP, which accounts for more than 90% of chronic attendances seen at polyclinics today.
In 2015, the $400 CDMP limit was fully sufficient for nine in 10 subsidised patients with common chronic conditions. This was higher than eight in 10 in 2014 and was due to the full effect of outpatient subsidy enhancements for lower- and middle-income Singaporeans and the Pioneer Generation Package in 2015.
Patients whose medical bills for chronic conditions exceed the $400 cap can also use the MediSave of their family members to pay, or apply for MediFund at the polyclinics or subsidised specialist outpatient clinics in public hospitals if they face financial difficulties.
The Ministry of Health will continue to monitor the affordability of subsidised care, especially for chronic diseases, and review the MediSave withdrawal limits regularly, while taking into consideration the need to ensure that MediSave balances are not depleted prematurely.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Infrastructure Projects Planned Since Inception of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"7 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Finance (a) since the inception of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, are there any infrastructure projects being planned; (b) what can local companies do to tap on the benefits that come with Singapore's membership; and (c) how will Singapore's economy benefit from this involvement in the long term.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: Since its establishment on 25 December 2015, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has been focusing on recruiting staff, putting in place financial and operational policies and developing a strong project pipeline.
AIIB has achieved some early success. The AIIB Board of Directors recently approved in June for the Bank to finance the first four projects worth over US$500 million. Three of the four projects will be co-financed with other multilateral development banks, namely, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank. These include (i) a motorway in Pakistan; (ii) a highway in Tajikistan, and (iii) a slum upgrading project in Indonesia. The fourth, financed entirely by AIIB, involves a power distribution system in Bangladesh.
More projects are being considered, with AIIB targeting to lend up to US$1.2 billion to finance five to 10 projects in 2016, and double that in 2017. Over the medium term, AIIB will also look to crowd-in funding from the private sector. This will contribute additional market expertise and financial discipline to the managing of future infrastructure projects.
AIIB is an important addition to the international financial architecture. Singapore has long-standing cooperation with other multilateral development banks like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Joining AIIB further complements Singapore’s role as an international financial centre and an urban development hub for the region.
Asia's infrastructure needs are large and growing. Our companies can seek partnership opportunities with AIIB by bidding for infrastructure projects, or providing advisory services, such as project structuring and urban planning.
By investing in much-needed infrastructure in Asia, AIIB plays an important role in helping to increase the economic competitiveness and vibrancy of the region. An economically vibrant region, with greater trade, investment and business opportunities, will benefit Singapore as well as the companies based here.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"HDB Blocks without Fire Engine Access Roads","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"8 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for National Development (a) how many HDB blocks are currently without fire engine access roads; (b) how does HDB ensure that all older blocks built in the 1980s or earlier are provided with fire engine access roads or acceptable alternatives; (c) whether there are guidelines that HDB must adhere to regarding the maintenance of such roads or alternatives; and (d) how does HDB ensure that regular and appropriate maintenance are carried out.
Mr Lawrence Wong: Over the years, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has enhanced the fire safety provisions for older blocks. As a result, all HDB blocks have either a fire engine access road, or access to a fire rising mains breeching inlet.
As the access roads are part of the common property, Town Councils are to ensure that maintenance works are carried out in accordance with the Fire Code.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Rationale for Pricing of 2-Room HDB Flexi-flats on Short Lease","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"9 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for National Development with regard to the pricing of 2-room HDB flexi flats on short lease, what is the rationale for setting a higher price for first-timer single, divorced or widowed applicants under the Single Singapore Citizen Scheme compared to those applying under other schemes.
Mr Lawrence Wong: We set aside the majority of our heavily subsidised new flats for the benefit of first-timer families with two or more persons. This includes two or more singles purchasing a 2-room flexi flat under the Joint Singles Scheme. These singles, as well as divorced/widowed persons applying with their children, pay the same price as families.
Singles, including divorced/widowed persons without children, buying a 2-room flexi flat on their own under the Single Singapore Citizen scheme pay a price difference of $15,000 for a 99-year lease flat. For those aged 55 years and above who purchase a 2-room flexi flat on short lease, the price difference is prorated based on the length of the lease. This ensures that limited housing subsidies are equitably distributed among homebuyers.
Singles who subsequently marry a Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident can apply for the CPF Housing Top-Up Grant and enjoy the same subsidy as a family.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null}],"writtenAnswersVOList":[],"writtenAnsNAVOList":[],"annexureList":[],"vernacularList":[{"vernacularID":1643,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Patrick Tay(1).pdf","fileName":"Patrick Tay(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":1644,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Thomas Chua(1).pdf","fileName":"Thomas Chua(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":1645,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Er Dr Lee Bee Wah","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Lee Bee Wah(1).pdf","fileName":"Lee Bee Wah(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":1655,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Zaqy Mohamad","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Zaqy Mohamad(1).pdf","fileName":"Zaqy Mohamad(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":1656,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Thomas Chua(4).pdf","fileName":"Thomas Chua(4).pdf"},{"vernacularID":2043,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Zaqy Mohamad","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Zaqy Mohamad(2).pdf","fileName":"Zaqy Mohamad(2).pdf"},{"vernacularID":2321,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Patrick Tay(2).pdf","fileName":"Patrick Tay(2).pdf"},{"vernacularID":2322,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap(1).pdf","fileName":"Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":2323,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Zainal Sapari","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Zainal Sapari(1).pdf","fileName":"Zainal Sapari(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":2324,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Thomas Chua(4).pdf","fileName":"Thomas Chua(4).pdf"},{"vernacularID":2325,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Gan Thiam Poh","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Gan Thiam Poh(1).pdf","fileName":"Gan Thiam Poh(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":2578,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Henry Kwek(1).pdf","fileName":"Henry Kwek(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":2579,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Mr Thomas Chua Kee Seng","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Thomas Chua(4).pdf","fileName":"Thomas Chua(4).pdf"},{"vernacularID":2580,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Intan(1).pdf","fileName":"Intan(1).pdf"},{"vernacularID":2581,"sittingDate":null,"vernacularTitle":"Vernacular Speech by Er Dr Lee Bee Wah","filePath":"d:/apps/reports/solr_files/20160816/vernacular-Lee Bee Wah(2).pdf","fileName":"Lee Bee Wah(2).pdf"}],"onlinePDFFileName":""}