1 Mr Hri Kumar Nair asked\tthe Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs if he will give an update on the investigations by the immigration authorities as to how a breach at Woodlands Checkpoint on 17 January 2014 resulting in an illegal entry into Singapore could have occurred.
2 Assoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked\tthe Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs if he can provide an update on the investigation over the breach at Woodlands Checkpoint on 17 January 2014 and the subsequent inadequate response actions by ICA and the Police; and (b) what immediate corrective measures have been taken to improve security at all checkpoints and improve coordination and response by the Home Team agencies to security breaches.
3 Ms Lee Li Lian asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the type of alert raised by the immigration authorities to the Police and security forces upon finding out that a vehicle has illegally entered Singapore on 17 January 2014; (b) whether it is a high-priority warning and, if not, why not; and (c) what are the specific actions taken after such an alert is out.
4 Ms Lee Li Lian asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) in the past three years, how many cases of attempted immigration checkpoint evasions occurred; (b) how long did the authorities take to solve these cases; (c) what are the penalties meted out to these perpetrators; (d) whether there are any new procedures introduced to prevent recurrences; and (e) whether the current number of immigration officers is enough to deal with the surge in travellers during peak seasons. \t
5 Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs with regard to immigration and security functions at our checkpoints (a) what percentage of the work is outsourced to Auxiliary Police or private entities and for what types of job functions; (b) what percentage of the officers in charge of checkpoint clearances are outsourced personnel; (c) what training and supervision are given to outsourced staff to ensure
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compliance with checkpoint procedures; and (d) whether outsourced functions are being reviewed in light of the alleged security breach at the Woodlands Checkpoint on 17 January 2014.
\tThe Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Teo Chee Hean): Mdm Speaker, with your permission, I will take Question Nos 1 to 5 together.
Mdm Speaker: Yes, please.
\tMr Teo Chee Hean:Thank you. Mdm Speaker, on 17 January 2013 at 1.58 pm, a woman arrived at Woodlands Checkpoint in her Malaysian car. She drove past the ICA officer without going through the mandatory checks by tailgating the car immediately in front of hers, and slipping past the drop-arm barrier. The ICA officer did not immediately trigger an alert.
The car then proceeded to the secondary checking area for security checks to be carried out by an Auxiliary Police Officer (APO). The car did not stop for the APO to carry out his checks and the APO also did not sound the alarm.
Mdm Speaker, there are alarms installed at all immigration counters and also the secondary clearance area. The immediate activation of such alarms, as required in the Standard Operating Procedures at the checkpoints, is critical to stopping cars that evade immigration and security checks.
If the ICA officer had sounded the alarm faster than the two and a half minutes she took, it would have triggered a lock down which would have stopped the car from leaving the checkpoint. This was compounded by the APO not raising the alarm when the car did not stop for secondary security checks. Indeed, the prompt triggering of the alarm by the officer on duty was how similar previous attempts to evade immigration and security checks – either intentionally or inadvertently – at the checkpoint have been stopped in the past.
If, however, a vehicle does make an unauthorised exit from the checkpoint, there is a security protocol for Police and ICA to treat the incident as a breach of border security and issue a high-priority alert to all ground resources.
In this case, however, the ICA and Police ground commanders did not follow the protocol. They made an error of judgement and classified the incident as a less serious one – as an immigration offence. As a result, Police did not
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trigger an alert that would have immediately directed patrol cars to mount road blocks at possible travel routes of the car in major parts of Singapore. ICA and Police also did not issue a heightened and persistent alert with the description of the car and driver that would have alerted all ground forces to continue looking for them when they conducted vehicular searches, checks and screening.
Three days later on 20 January 2014 at 1.32 pm, Police received a \"999\" call from a taxi driver who said that he was being followed by a Malaysian car. On Police's advice, the taxi driver drove to a location outside the Police Cantonment Complex with the Malaysian car continuing to follow him. When police officers tried to engage the female driver of the Malaysian car, she was unresponsive and then drove off. The police officers decided not to pursue her and missed the opportunity to detain the driver for further checks. The officers showed weak situational awareness and exercised poor judgement.
Forty-five minutes later, at about 2.18 pm, the same driver and car intruded into the MFA compound by tailgating another car. MFA's security officers stopped the car in the compound and arrested the driver for criminal trespass.
Mdm Speaker, when the driver and vehicle evaded the required checks, they should have been stopped within the checkpoint. This is a serious security breach. It is also unacceptable that the woman was only arrested three days later, after she had intruded into the MFA compound. On receiving the incident reports, I expressed my deep dissatisfaction to the Commissioners of ICA and Police at the way the incident was handled. I directed them to conduct a thorough investigation, report to me how this happened and recommend corrective actions to prevent a recurrence.
Mdm Speaker, the Commissioners of ICA and the Police have presented to me their recommendations on the corrective actions. I have accepted the findings and recommendations and have directed ICA and Police to implement these measures.
ICA and Police will work closely to improve their coordination and responses, and ensure that such lapses do not occur again. Existing SOPs will be thoroughly reviewed to ensure officers act quickly and effectively to deal with such security threats at the checkpoints. Police will treat all checkpoint security breach cases as high-level security threats and take all necessary steps to locate the intruder, until such time the threat no longer exists. Both departments will also conduct more frequent drills and joint exercises at the
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land checkpoints to maintain the officers' vigilance and validate the emergency response plans.
ICA will also use more advanced technology as it becomes available, improve infrastructural design to depend less on the reaction of the officers on duty and enhance the overall security of the checkpoint.
While the bulk of the critical immigration and security functions at the checkpoint are performed by officers from ICA and the other Home Team agencies, APOs are an integral part of checkpoint operations. They constitute about 20% of the officers deployed at Woodlands Checkpoint for immigration and security clearance functions. The APOs are trained and equipped to carry out specific security functions. ICA conducts regular drills, exercises and audits to maintain the vigilance of the APOs, and reviews the operational procedures and responses regularly. In light of this incident, ICA will also enhance the supervision and deployment of the APOs to ensure that they carry out their duties in accordance with established procedures.
In the past three years till the end of 2013, there have been 26 cases of attempted or inadvertent evasion of immigration checks at Woodlands Checkpoint. Twenty five of these cases were stopped immediately within the checkpoint upon the prompt activation of the alarm. The last such case before this incident occurred on 29 December 2013. The most recent case was on 14 February 2014, just last Friday, when an APO gestured to the driver to stop for checks but the driver drove on. The APO then activated the alarm and the entire arrival car zone was locked down and the vehicle stopped within the checkpoint, as per the SOP. The matter was investigated and it was determined that the driver had inadvertently driven on, with no malicious intent. The vehicle and driver were allowed to proceed after the investigation.
Mdm Speaker, every such case is investigated thoroughly. Most of the 25 cases were found not to have malicious intent. In four cases, the offence was committed without mitigating factors and the subjects involved were prosecuted. The maximum punishment is imprisonment of six months.
The one previous case in the last three years that ICA failed to stop within the checkpoint involved a subject who crashed through a security barrier and exited Woodlands Checkpoint through the staff access lane. The driver was detained within two hours, prosecuted and sentenced to 12 weeks' imprisonment for offences under the Immigration Act, Penal Code and Road
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Traffic Act.
Mdm Speaker, the security breach at Woodlands Checkpoint on 17 January 2014 and the subsequent actions taken until her arrest on 20 January 2014 are not acceptable. I have described the measures – technical, infrastructural, procedural training and exercises – that ICA and Police together are taking to prevent a recurrence.
Lapses can fall into two categories. The first is when there is some negligence on the part of one or more ground officers in carrying out their tasks. The second, and more serious situation, is when there has been a serious error of judgement. This occurred in the current case.
The ICA and Police ground commanders made a serious error of judgement in deciding to treat this intrusion as a less serious immigration offence, instead of a serious breach of border security, as required in the protocol. This was a major reason for the subsequent inadequate response which resulted in the vehicle and driver not being detected and arrested much earlier. Both ground commanders have been redeployed to non-operational posts pending disciplinary action. Their supervising officers overseeing operations should also have realised this and acted to rectify the situation. They will be subject to the appropriate disciplinary action, along with other officers involved in the incident.
Mdm Speaker, as seen in this episode, the way that our officers and our commanders carry out their duties, their vigilance, diligence, sense of urgency, operational instincts and judgement are key to operational effectiveness.
I do not under-estimate the challenges our officers face at Woodlands Checkpoint. It is one of the world's busiest land checkpoints, with more than 300,000 people and 130,000 vehicles passing through each day. I will repeat those numbers: 300,000 people and 130,000 vehicles passing through Woodlands Checkpoint each day.
The security regime there is multi-agency and multi-level, involving various Government agencies such as ICA, Police, Central Narcotics Bureau, Singapore Customs and LTA, as well as the Auxiliary Police Forces. This incident shows that the coordination between ICA and Police at the checkpoint needs to be further strengthened.
It is important that Home Team departments work together closely in carrying out their duties. They must ensure that the concept of a Home Team is
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fully internalised and operationalised, both on the ground and by commanders at all levels, to tackle our security challenges as one united entity.
Mdm Speaker, the public expects us to do our job well. MHA holds our Home Team officers to a high standard of professionalism and takes a very serious view of the security lapses that occurred during this episode.
I have had a thorough discussion with the Commissioners of ICA and Police, and their senior leadership. They acknowledged and apologised for the shortcomings and are implementing the remedial measures. Apart from the physical and procedural measures, they recognise the need to set the tone from the leadership through to every ground unit, and every officer, that we have to remain vigilant and alert, and not let our guard down in the face of the serious threats that can arise.
Mdm Speaker, I have worked closely with our Home Team officers for some three years. I have met and talked with many of our officers on the ground to understand the work that they do, and what they need to carry out their duties better. I appreciate the good work of our officers. They have a good record in ensuring the safety and security of Singapore and Singaporeans. Our overall crime rate is at its lowest in 30 years. The number of immigration offenders arrested has been declining since 2001 and is less than half of what it was five years ago.
I have made it clear to the Heads of all our Home Team agencies and departments that when officers perform well, I will recognise their good work and commend them publicly. If they act professionally and discharge their duties properly and to the best of their abilities, but the outcome does not turn out so good, I will speak for them and support them publicly – for this is the difficult and challenging nature of the job that our Home Team officers are called upon to do, and we all need to support and encourage them.
However, if they have not discharged their duties properly and have fallen short of the required performance standards, as some officers have done in this episode, I will hold them accountable and where warranted, admonish and discipline them. Acknowledging mistakes allows our officers and our organisations to learn and improve.
Mdm Speaker, when Home Team officers report for duty, when they put on their uniforms, they carry a heavy responsibility. The duties they discharge, the decisions they make every day can have immediate and serious consequences
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on the safety and security of their fellow Singaporeans and Singapore. We all depend on them and place our trust in them to do their duty well. And this is a trust that has to be earned in all that our officers do, every day.
\tMr Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mdm Speaker, I would like to thank the Deputy Prime Minister for the update. I have three supplementary questions. First, why did both the officers allow the car to go through without raising an alarm? Secondly, whether any attempts were made to locate the car while it was in Singapore for the three days and why those attempts were not successful? Finally, I understand that disciplinary proceedings are in motion; I would like to ask how many officers will be subject to disciplinary proceedings for this incident.
\tMr Teo Chee Hean: First, why did the officers not sound the alarm, I think they made a mistake. As far as we know, the first officer at the counter consulted another officer, and hesitated and took two and a half minutes, instead of sounding the alarm immediately. So, that caused a problem. The second officer at the secondary security checkpoint did not do so either. I do not know the reasons why he did not raise the alarm.
The officers are not new officers; they have been on duty and in the service for some years. Looking back at their records, they have generally been good officers. So, we do not know the reasons why they did not sound the alarm immediately, but they had been trained to do so.
As I had explained, it is not a frequent occurrence, but it is not infrequent either. It occurs once in every couple of months. So, officers who have been on duty or have been in the service for some years, would more likely than not have experienced this occurrence, which is not unusual.
We also emphasise to our officers that if they err on the side of caution and sound the alarm, no action will be taken against them because they are actually safeguarding Singaporeans' safety.
With regard to disciplinary proceedings, I have pointed out a number of officers who have failed in their duties quite clearly. Disciplinary action will be taken against both officers. There are a number of other officers in the operational supervisory chain who could have and should have noticed and rectified the situation. But they did not. And so, we will assess and see what is the appropriate disciplinary action to be taken. The officers, of course, will have the opportunity to explain and defend themselves. So, I would not want to go
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into numbers right now.
What efforts were taken to locate the car over the three days, as I had explained, the major factor in this was a misclassification of the incident of the breach as an immigration offence and not a major security breach. As a result of it not being classified as a major security breach, the Police did not put out a high-level persistent alert to all ground forces. Therefore, they were not looking for the vehicle and the driver as actively and vigorously as they should have.
\tMs Lee Li Lian (Punggol East): Thank you, Madam. Two supplementary questions. The first is from my original Question No 4 on the Order Paper, part (e): whether the current number of immigration officers is enough to deal with the surge in travellers during peak seasons. The second question: what has been done to ensure that the attention of immigration officers is not compromised as a result of tiredness and/or long working hours?
\tMr Teo Chee Hean: Mdm Speaker, as I have said in my reply earlier, I do not underestimate the challenges of our officers working at the Woodlands Checkpoint. It is one of the busiest land checkpoints in the world. There are 300,000 people and 130,000 vehicles passing though every day. The workload is high, and officers need to remain vigilant and alert at all times.
To manage this, we have, over the years, put more resources into Woodlands Checkpoint. For example, we have increased the manpower at Woodlands Checkpoint by 42% in 2009 as a result of a study that was conducted on workload and work factors at the Woodlands Checkpoint in 2008. So, in 2009, we increased the Woodlands Checkpoint's manpower by 42%. Over the last few years, we have added another 11% bringing the total increase between 2008 and now to 58%.
During the same period, the total increase in travellers and vehicles is 26% and 36% respectively.
In addition, ICA has leveraged on technology and expanded the physical clearance capacity of Woodlands. ICA introduced the enhanced Automated Clearance System (eIACS) and the Biometric Identification of Motorbikes (BIKES) system in 2006. Both eIACS and BIKES are self-service immigration lanes that offer secure immigration clearance by biometric identifiers. Today, eIACS and BIKES are available to Singapore citizens, PRs, Long-Term Visit Pass holders and Malaysian nationals who qualify as frequent travellers. In 2013, 50% of bus and train passengers passing through the land checkpoints used the eIACS, and
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30% of motorcyclists used BIKES. More can still be done to push up the usage rate. ICA will continue to channel passengers and vehicles to use these self-service modes.
Other examples of how ICA leverages on technology include the installation of flexible immigration counters which can switch between manual and automated clearance modes depending on traveller volume.
ICA has also increased the clearance capacity at Woodlands. The current Woodlands Checkpoint was commissioned more than 10 years ago in 1999. It had 40 counters for cars, 12 counters for lorries and 30 counters for motorcycles. I repeat that – 40 for cars, 30 for motorcycles and 12 for lorries.
To alleviate congestion at the Woodlands Checkpoints, ICA re-activated the old Woodlands Checkpoint for lorries, with four additional lanes to add to the 12 in December 2008 and added 20 counters to add to the 30 for motorcycles in 2009.
In the next phase, we will see 30 car counters to add to the 40 we currently have. So, we will have 70 car counters in total, which are expected to be operationalised in 2016. The lorries and motorcycle counters are already in place.
Since the reactivation of old Woodlands Checkpoint, we have seen an improvement in the waiting time for vehicles at the checkpoint. We will continue to monitor the situation at Woodlands Checkpoint.
The crossings are very susceptible to peaks. For example, on a given day, there are very sharp peaks at times when workers come to work or when Singaporeans go across. There are peaks during public holidays. ICA tries to man the counters to the full extent possible. It also means our officers work a bit longer and also on public holidays but peaks being what they are, it is very difficult to design a checkpoint or a system to cater to the peaks, and especially the peak of peaks. So, there will be some delays, but it is also important to understand that security is very important. Even during the peaks, we maintain security.
To put this into context, as I have said, we had about 26 such incidents of checkpoint breach by vehicles over the last three years. There are about 50 million vehicles per year coming through the Woodlands Checkpoint. So, 25 to 26 breaches over slightly more than three years translates to one breach in
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every five million vehicles, which is contained within the checkpoint. And for about every 75 million vehicles, there is one breach that goes beyond the checkpoint for which a fuller response is required.
That is one of the challenges: how to maintain a system which is able to manage a very high throughput and at the same time respond immediately to an abnormal incident in the checkpoint and an even more abnormal one beyond the checkpoint, without clogging up the whole checkpoint. This is a big challenge for us.
\tAssoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene (Nominated Member): Madam, I have three supplementary questions for the Deputy Prime Minister. First, I fail to understand how the investigation could have classified the security breach as an error of judgement by the officers concerned, given that the alleged intruder jumped both immigration and custom clearance. Is it because to classify it as a major security breach, rather than a less serious immigration offence, would entail a lot more consequences for the officers responsible? So, is this a question of officers trying to downgrade the seriousness of the breach?
Secondly, this incident revealed systemic issues within the Home Team. The intruder had gone undetected for three days until a taxi driver made a \"999\" complaint. I just fail to understand how is it that the different agencies could not coordinate in a situation like this.
Finally, this is a very embarrassing incident. I certainly hope that the disciplinary action that will be meted out will not dampen the morale of the Home Team because I think they do do a good job. Nonetheless, I am unable to appreciate how this lapse could have occurred, in light of many other incidents involving the Home Team.
\tMr Teo Chee Hean: Well, I certainly agree with Assoc Prof Eugene Tan. I find the decision that was made by the ground commanders unacceptable. There is a protocol to classify these as security breaches. This was an error of judgement made by the officers, as this is a major security breach. It was also a breach of protocol, which was supposed to be observed. It is not that I have misclassified it as an error of judgement. That is what the officers did on the ground. They made an error. That was the judgment they made. It was wrong, and not only that, they breached the protocol. Therefore, it is a serious error on their part.
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\tMr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): Thank you, Madam. I have four related supplementary questions. The first is: what is the kind of arrangements between the Home Team and the private security company in ensuring the suitability of the APOs for the various types of job functions? The second is: what sort of decisions go into deciding what type of job functions can be outsourced? The third is: is the training the same for the APOs and full-time officers performing the same duty? The fourth is whether any of the APOs are allowed to start their work before completing all the trainings required of them.
\tMr Teo Chee Hean: Well, none of the APOs can start their duties without having completed their training. None of the ICA officers can either. The APOs are deployed to carry out certain specific functions. In the case of this particular APO at the checkpoint, although this is the green lane, his duty is to make sure of two things. One, that the number of passengers in the car tallies with the number cleared through the immigration checkpoint. Second, do a security check of the boot and other things in the car to make sure that the security of Singapore is maintained. These are very specific functions and the APOs are trained to do this before they go on duty.
In general, we will employ APOs where there are very specific functions to be carried out. Where there are functions which would require a broader range of judgement, or a broader application of policies, then we will employ our own Home Team officers who will be able to understand and apply these more complicated and complex protocols in a better way. That is roughly the apportionment between them.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Nicholas Fang, last question.
\tMr Nicholas Fang (Nominated Member): Mdm Speaker, one supplementary clarification for the Deputy Prime Minister. I appreciate the fact that the officers on the ground had chosen to report this as an immigration offence as opposed to a breach of border security. Does this mean that the particulars of the driver and vehicle were then not circulated to all the other ground forces? Is that the reason why, at Cantonment Complex, when the officers responded to the \"999\" call by the taxi driver initially, and then at MFA, the officers failed to respond or recognise immediately that this was a vehicle involved in the breach three days earlier?
\tMr Teo Chee Hean: Exactly so. That is why the mistake in classifying the incident was a major factor in the subsequent inadequate response. But even
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on its own, when a suspicious incident does occur, even without any of these other precursors, the officers at Cantonment Complex could have responded better.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Safety Measures at Construction Sites Given Recent Spate of Accidents","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"6 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Acting Minister for Manpower how the Ministry plans to strengthen and enforce safety measures at construction sites to prevent recurrence of workplace accidents which have led to nine deaths in the month of January 2014 alone. \t
7 Assoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) whether there is a general malaise towards workplace safety and health among key stakeholders; and (b) what plans does the Ministry have to enhance workplace safety and health standards, norms and values among stakeholders beyond increasing penalties. \t
\tThe Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Acting Minister for Manpower (Mr Hawazi Daipi) (for the Acting Minister for Manpower): Mdm Speaker, I would like to take the questions from Ms Foo Mee Har and Assoc Prof Eugene Tan together, please.
Mdm Speaker: Yes, please.
\tMr Hawazi Daipi: Thank you. My Ministry shares the concern of the House over the recent spate of accidents in construction sites. Let me first briefly give an update on the state of safety in the construction industry.
We have made steady improvements since we overhauled the national Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) framework in 2005. Injury rates in the construction industry fell from over 1,200 per 100,000 workers in 2005 to around 480 per 100,000 employees in 2012. Similarly, the fatality rates dropped from 11.9 per 100,000 employees in 2005 to 5.9 per 100,000 employees in 2012.
However, starting from around the second half of 2013, we began to see a decline in WSH performance. In those six months, there were 22 construction workplace fatalities. This was twice as many fatalities compared to the first half of the year, and five more compared to the same period in 2012. This worrying
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trend continued into 2014, with eight out of the nine workplace fatalities in January coming from the construction industry alone. MOM stepped up its inspections over the last two weeks of January and uncovered 114 contraventions of the WSH Act at 89 construction worksites. A total of seven Stop Work Orders, 45 Composition Fines and 69 Notices of Non-Compliance were issued.
Feedback from industry indicates that the recent spate in construction accidents could be due to two contributing factors. First, companies are rushing to complete construction projects on time, as the demand for construction activities continue to rise. Second, a tighter labour market could have contributed to companies overstretching their workers.
However, regardless of the constraints faced by the industry, there should not be any compromises where safety and lives are concerned.
Many of these accidents are preventable if rules and safety procedures provided in the law are followed. For example, legal obligations are imposed on contractors to engage Professional Engineers (PEs) to design and supervise the erection of formwork systems for concrete structures with higher risk. This includes concrete structures that are more than 300 mm thick or more than 9 metres high. The risk of formwork collapses can be avoided if PEs design the formwork adequately, ensures that the formwork structures built are inspected and certify that they are safe for use before any concreting commences.
I note that Ms Mary Liew had asked a related question for written answer* for which I would like to address here because it is related to the two Parliamentary Questions (PQs) asked by our two Members.
[(proc text) *Question subsequently withdrawn – Ms Mary Liew: to ask the Acting Minister for Manpower in view of the recent spate of construction site accidents, whether the Ministry will (i) review the role and obligations of professional engineers in the design and construction processes; and (ii) implement measures for accountability if professional engineers are culpable for negligence resulting in construction site accidents.\" for sitting on or after 20 February 2014. (proc text)]
In response to the series of formwork related accidents in January this year, my Ministry had issued an advisory to PEs to remind them of their obligations. My Ministry takes a firm stance to any contraventions by PEs, and will not hesitate to take them to task if they are found to have violated their duties under the WSH Act. We will also refer them to the PE Board for any possible
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contravention under the Professional Engineers Act.
To ensure that companies do not undertake work at the expense of the safety of their workers, my Ministry will adopt a multi-prong strategy on both the enforcement and regulatory fronts.
First, to provide adequate deterrence, my Ministry will continue to apply for stronger penalties for cases where there are serious breaches of the law. We have in severe cases obtained fines of up to $200,000 against employers who have failed in their duties. We will also ask for custodial sentences on individuals who have blatantly disregarded the law and press for maximum sentencing as allowed under the WSH Act for egregious cases.
Second, MOM will tighten the conditions for lifting of a Stop Work Order (SWO). This is to ensure that companies resolve specific as well as systemic lapses through the effective implementation of their WSH management system. New conditions for lifting the SWO may include the conduct of refresher training on any areas of weaknesses as well as re-audit of the WSH management system.
Third, we will expand the scope of the Business Under Surveillance (BUS) Programme to more companies that require assistance to address serious systemic weaknesses in their WSH Management Systems. The BUS Programme is a strategic enforcement programme that targets poor performing companies for close monitoring and supervision. Companies in the programme will be required to thoroughly review their WSH system and processes, with their WSH performance closely monitored by my Ministry. Companies can exit from BUS only upon fulfilment of the action plan and demonstrate improvements in its WSH performance and management. To help these companies sustain their WSH improvements, MOM will start them on a WSH culture building journey, leveraging on the WSH Council's CultureSAFE programme.
Fourth, we will review and strengthen the Demerit Points System. The Demerit Points System was first introduced in Year 2000 to identify contractors with poor work practices and restrict their access to foreign manpower if there is no improvement in their safety records. Demerit points are issued to contractors or sub-contractors for breaches under the WSH Act and relevant subsidiary legislation. Information on the changes will be released after the review is completed by the middle of this year.
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As we step up our enforcement actions, we will continue to extend support to smaller construction worksites through assistance programmes such as the Safety Compliance Assistance Visits (SCAV). The SCAV involves appointed WSH professionals visiting and providing onsite practical guidance at worksites. Last year, 800 SCAV visits were conducted and the industry has requested for more, and we are happy to work with them. My Ministry recognises the value and need for these services and will be doubling the number to 1,600 SCAV visits this year.
Mdm Speaker, these measures, while necessary, will not be effective without the involvement of all stakeholders in the construction value chain taking proactive ownership for workplace safety. These include the developers, designers, professional engineers, contractors, sub-contractors, project managers, supervisors as well as workers. The WSH Council, through its Construction and Landscape Committee, is proactively engaging all these stakeholders through various programmes to address this challenge together. One such initiative is Design for Safety, which involves the developers, designers and other project stakeholders working together from the start of the project to ensure that construction, maintenance and even demolition safety have been taken into consideration at the design stage, before construction even starts.
The Singapore Contractors Association Ltd (SCAL) has also implemented a SCAL Safety Site Visits programme where the more established contractors help educate the less established ones on how to manage safety at the worksites. This is done through briefings and site visits hosted by the more established contractors' worksites. Such an initiative bodes well for the industry and I encourage more contractors to participate in this programme.
Indeed, the involvement of the Developer is key to good WSH performance in a construction project. A good example can be seen in the construction projects for the London 2012 Olympics. From the onset of the projects, the developer, Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) set a goal of achieving \"Zero Harm\" and put in place several initiatives to align all project stakeholders towards the goal. As a result of the strong WSH commitment by ODA and collaborations with other stakeholders, the project achieved zero workplace fatality. This was the first Olympic construction programme to have achieved this and was not easy considering that an estimated 75,000 companies were involved in this mega project.
Madam, allow me to conclude by reiterating that Workplace Safety and Health is everyone's responsibility. MOM will continue to work closely with the
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industry to raise WSH standards but we will take stern action against errant stakeholders.
\tMs Foo Mee Har (West Coast): Thank you, Madam. I have two supplementary questions for the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. The first question is whether MOM sees a link between workers' health and workplace safety, and whether it will establish requirements for companies to check that workers are indeed fit before they start work, because unfit ones can pose a danger to themselves and others. The second question is whether the Government will consider using record of workplace safety as a factor for approving building projects and also tenders for Government projects.
\tMr Hawazi Daipi: Madam, the short answer to both questions is yes. I think many companies are involved in the health programmes initiated by MOH and HPB, and MOM and HPB are working very closely on this matter. I would take it that most companies would not allow their workers to work if they are not fit, because they can be a danger to themselves and to other fellow workers. On whether the Government is using WSH record, yes, all Government agencies take the safety records of all contractors bidding for Government projects into consideration and they all know this.
\tAssoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene (Nominated Member): Mdm Speaker, I have two supplementary questions for the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. The first question is whether the current approach of promoting WSH is working. It would seem as though when it comes to the crunch of tight deadlines and a tight labour market, the current methods do not seem to work as well. The Senior Parliamentary Secretary has gone through what I call the \"bold strokes\" – enhanced penalties, stop work orders and all – but how do you encourage all the stakeholders to go on the \"long march\" of imbibing the norm of safety at the workplace? I think that is important. My second question is how do you get the stakeholders to recognise that safety is actually a key productivity driver.
\tMr Hawazi Daipi: Madam, if we take a look at the safety records in the last seven or eight years, I think we can establish that we have done quite well. Since we revamped our regulations and the law, as well as the approach towards improving safety at workplaces, we have made much improvement. We had seen a plateau in safety performance and we are addressing it. We saw a huge increase in the number of fatalities in the construction industry in the second half of last year, and we are now addressing it. I think the approach, in general, in getting the industry involved through the WSH Council and for industry
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associations to take a lead role in reaching out to their fellow members as well as the regulations are working. But what we need to do is to ensure that the errant ones, the repeated violaters, will understand that they cannot get away with it, and that will send a very strong signal to the others to ensure that the workers will continue to work in a safe environment.
As to whether we can improve further the approach in deepening the culture of safety, the answer is yes. I have mentioned earlier in my reply that we have a programme called CultureSAFE. This will require a lot of learning and a lot of teaching of the workers. It has to start right from the top to bottom and it has also to be initiated bottom up. It is not easy but we recognise that if it can work elsewhere, it can work here as, indeed, it has shown some improvement in all the industries in Singapore. We have seen some decline in performance, and I think we can work with the industry to address it.
Whether companies will take WSH record as a key productivity driver, I think it will take some time for this to sink in. But, certainly, as in my reply to Ms Foo earlier, contractors know that both safety performance and safety record are taken into consideration when they bid for Government-linked projects. And I think they know the cost of not maintaining a good safety environment for their workers.
\tMr Yeo Guat Kwang (Ang Mo Kio): Madam, many of the accidents actually involved foreign workers. I would like to ask the Ministry whether it will do a more focused review and whether it has plans to help this group of workers to understand, identify and, if need be, blow the whistle on any WSH risk at work, so that they can avoid compromising on their safety just for the deadline or the work target required by their employers.
\tMr Hawazi Daipi: Thank you. I think this is a good question. We recognise that a large number of workers in the construction industry, in particular, are foreigners. Indeed, the employers normally engage workers from the same country, who speak the same language as the supervisors, and when they conduct toolbox meeting before the workers start working, it is always conducted in the languages of the workers. I think we will encourage workers to blow the whistle. In fact, the workers have the right to not work if they find that the environment they work in is not safe. They can report it to the management and they can actively work with management to ensure that the unsafe environment is removed before they start work.
\tPage: 26
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Continued Occurrence of Train Breakdown Incidents","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"8 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport if he will update the House how the public transport operators are addressing the issue of frequent breakdowns and undue delays of train services. \t
9 Mr Alex Yam asked the Minister for Transport with regard to transport network breakdowns and disruptions in January 2014 (a) what reassurances have the transport operators given to LTA that their trains, buses and tracks are fully operational; (b) what contingencies do the operators and LTA have in place to ensure that inconveniences to commuters are kept to a minimum; and (c) what does the Ministry intend to do to reassure the public and boost confidence in our transport network. \t
10 Mr Hri Kumar Nair asked the Minister for Transport how does the disruption rate of train services in Singapore compare to similar systems in other major cities, taking into account factors such as age, load and frequency of services. \t
\tThe Minister for Transport (Mr Lui Tuck Yew):\tMdm Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 8 to 10 together?
Mdm Speaker: Yes, please.
\tMr Lui Tuck Yew: Mdm Speaker, I fully understand and empathise with commuters' frustrations over the recent spate of rail disruptions in January at Kranji, Ang Mo Kio and Tanah Merah. I had called in SMRT's senior management to convey my grave concerns and find out the reasons behind the spate of disruptions and what SMRT was doing to ensure that this was not the start of a new trend of disruptions.
I was especially perturbed because I knew that there had actually been a lot of hard work put in by the team at SMRT as well as the SBST team, together with LTA, to improve train reliability over the last two years. And we had actually made good progress in so doing. I monitor two indicators very closely. Firstly, the number of delays that are more than five minutes; and secondly, the number of unplanned train withdrawals, because some of these train withdrawals may be shorter than five minutes, and yet if it occurred during peak hours, it can be very disruptive. That is also a very pertinent indicator that I ought to pay close attention to.
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On the first indicator, last year, we reduced the number of train delays longer than five minutes by 20% across the whole MRT network, from 1.49 delays for every 100,00 km travelled in 2012, to 1.18 in 2013. The number of delays in 2013 was lower than that achieved back in 2010. What it means in terms of the number of trips that are made every day on the main lines – the North-South East-West Lines as well as the North East Line – is that it works out to just under one such delay for every 2,000 train trips that are operated on these two lines. Put in another way, 99.95%, or except one out of every 2,000 trips would not experience any delay, or a delay of less than five minutes.
On train withdrawals, the rates for the North-South and East-West Lines have also fallen, from 3.32 withdrawals for every 100,000 km travelled in 2012, to 2.25 withdrawals in 2013. This is about a 30% improvement. Again, what we have done is to have restored the train withdrawal rates close to the 2010 levels. For this year, the target for the North-South and East-West Lines is to bring this figure from 2.25 further down to about 1.8.
Likewise, we have also seen a more than 25% reduction in train withdrawal rates from 2012 to 2013 for both the North East and the Circle Lines. Indeed, the withdrawals for the Circle Line are at its lowest since it first opened in 2009.
It is not easy to compare service disruption rates across different countries and systems, in part because of differences in age, length of networks, loading frequency of services and so on, but more so because such data is generally not made publicly available by the operators, unlike our practice which is that every three months, we put this data out on the LTA website, so that Members of Parliament and interested members of the public can actually scrutinise the data comprehensively.
But I note that that for each of the past two years, Hong Kong's MTR – which has a very good record – its domestic rail lines have experienced about three to four major service disruptions of more than 30 minutes, which is similar to SMRT's North-South and East-West Lines. But, again, obviously the size of the network, the loading, the frequency of services are not quite the same.
The improvements in reliability we are seeing have come about because the operators have invested substantially more in maintenance and system upgrading, especially over the past two years. We estimate that SMRT has increased its annual repair and maintenance expenditure for its two rail lines by about 65% over the course of these two years, with $64.5 million spent in FY2013 compared to $38.3 million in FY2011. Even when we normalise the
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repair and maintenance expenditure per train-kilometre for the North-South East-West Lines, so as to reflect the higher usage as well as the ridership that had taken place in these lines, the maintenance and repair expenditure had gone up by over a third in these two years.
It clearly reflects a considerable step-up in resources and efforts to intensify maintenance and fix reliability issues. Beyond this, the LTA-SMRT Joint Team is working on other measures to upgrade the trains and systems of the Compass Lines, which will involve major investments of about $500 million to overhaul the older trains by 2016 and upgrade the signalling system by 2018. Likewise, SBST has stepped up improvement works to rectify tunnel leakages and change out problematic components of the overhead power system in the North-East Line tunnels. It will be commencing a comprehensive mid-life upgrading programme for the North-East Line trains, which are just over 10 years old. The two operators have also ramped up their engineering capabilities and processes, and hired more engineers as well as expanded their maintenance teams.
On LTA's part, we are upgrading the rail infrastructure to improve reliability. The replacement of ageing timber sleepers with concrete sleepers on the North-South and East-West Lines has been under way since 2012, while the replacement of traction power cables on the Circle Line has been completed. These traction power cables were the cause of a series of disruptions back in 2012. Some of you may remember this. In 2014, the North-South East-West Lines' third rail system will undergo a full, system-wide change-out. We will also be improving the North-East Line's overhead power system with new corrosion-resistant materials, to minimise the recurrence of stress-corrosion cracking in its components that afflicted parts of the tunnel, particularly to the south, back in 2012 as well as the earlier part of 2013.
So, we have, overall, made some strides in the right direction, but there is certainly room for further improvement. Thus far, the joint teams that LTA has set up with SMRT and SBST have adopted a fine-and-fix approach to rectify existing issues with the rail systems. Following the completion of separate consultancy studies that we have activated on both of the operators, both operators will, going forward, adopt a new predict-and-prevent approach to their respective maintenance regimes. Under this new approach, operators will undertake active condition monitoring of rail systems and formulate maintenance processes to optimise the performance of the assets over their life cycles.
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In our perspective, we understand that service disruptions do happen from time to time, especially as the rail network expands and ages, and as we run more and more train trips. But in the case of the January incidents, SMRT could have done much better in service recovery, especially to provide timely information to affected commuters. The LTA's Code of Practice requires operators to put out announcements at stations and through various media platforms to provide clear and timely status updates and to advise commuters on alternate travel options, such as the free boarding of public buses and shuttle services between affected stations.
As part of its investigations, LTA will highlight gaps in the SMRT's communication with affected commuters and work closely with both operators to share learning experiences and to further improve their incident management. The SMRT senior management team has already committed to review its contingency plans on a station-by-station basis and to refine its command-and-control structure in times of disruption so as to provide better ground support to its staff.
\tEr Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Madam, I have two supplementary questions for the Minister. First question: the disruption of 20 January 2014, which was at Ang Mio Kio station, had affected many of my residents because they were travelling to the city to work. I understand that the disruption was for more than 20 minutes and the residents said that there was no communication, they did not know what happened and it was very stuffy – no ventilation. I would like to ask the Minister what can be done because the train operator has been doing this all the time and still such things happened.
My second question is: it is good that the Minister called in the higher management of the train operators when this thing happened. I would like to ask the Minister whether the Minister would call in the higher management again to ask them to forgo the fare increment which has been recommended by PTC because the service is still not satisfactory.
\tMr Lui Tuck Yew: As mentioned in my reply, certainly for the recent spate of disruptions, we do find shortcomings in how it was handled by SMRT in terms of the announcements not only to the affected commuters but also in making sure that people who are joining the network understand where the disruptions are, approximately how long it may take to recover, as well as to find and offer alternative modes of transportation.
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On fare increment, it is best to separate these two issues. While I understand the emotions involved in it, we also have recently completed the Fare Review Mechanism Committee (FRMC) report. The FRMC report came up with a formulation that all parties ought to try to abide by and follow, which is to compute the fare adjustment on an annual basis, with room to roll over by taking into account the macro factors of wage increases, core CPI, as well as the energy index.
\tMr Alex Yam (Chua Chu Kang): I thank the Minister for his response. Just two supplementary questions. One, in terms of communications, it is not the first time that we have had disruptions over the last three to four years. However, it seems that every time something happens, the transport operators are reacting to remedial situations that are happening when they could easily have projected them. Is there any reassurance from the Minister's meeting with higher management that they will take this into serious consideration? Two, the Minister mentioned the condition monitoring system that the companies are to introduce. Is there a timeline that we can see this put in place so that we can reduce further disruptions in the transport network?
\tMr Lui Tuck Yew: I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. I meet up with the senior management of SMRT and SBST roughly on a quarterly basis to run through reliability issues, what they have managed to accomplish and what is still outstanding, to urge that they put in greater resources, for example, for re-sleepering, resignalling works and so on.
My feel after talking to the SMRT team is that they take it seriously. As the CEO himself told me, the team was actually very disappointed themselves with the series of incidents as well as with how staff on the ground had handled them. We agreed that SMRT should review their contingency plans on a station-by-station basis rather than to have a more generic plan that covers stretches of their rail system because you do need very specific drawer plans that you can activate at a time of contingency.
On condition monitoring, which I believe is the Member's second supplementary question, already some of that has been done. For example, there are a couple of trains that have been instrumented – these are operational trains so, therefore, they run across the entire network, that is, the North-South Line and the East-West Line – to, for example, detect whether there are sags in the third rail. Indeed, there was a recent incident where we had to require the train to, fortunately, make a bypass through the Bishan Depot because one of these trains picked up a minor sag in the third rail around the Ang Mo Kio-Bishan area and, because we were able to pick it up in time, the team decided
\tPage: 31
that they would want to rectify it as quickly as possible, and we were in a position to be able to do a bypass for the train. Within about 10 minutes, they had managed to rectify it. That is one.
The second, for example, is a system to monitor the collector shoes. Members will remember that this was the cause of the major disruptions back in 2011. There is a system now to monitor the health of these collector shoes on an ongoing basis.
These are the things that we continue to explore to try to make sure that they have real-time, including telemetric data that is being sent back, so that they can be analysed as well as, in certain instances, trigger rectification action on an urgent basis.
\tMr Cedric Foo Chee Keng (Pioneer): May I ask the Minister whether he will consider another metric of measuring delays? He did talk about the number of delays of more than five minutes. Would it not be better to look at the number of commuters affected multiplied by the number of minutes delayed because a delay that is 45 minutes in duration involving two major East-West station is much more significant in terms of commuter impact than one in an off-peak period for six minutes?
\tMr Lui Tuck Yew: I did not give Members all the statistics because we measure greater than five minutes' delay, greater than 10 minutes' delay and greater than 30 minutes' delay. We also measure whether any incident affects more than 20,000 commuters. These are some of the different metrics.
The reason why I mentioned unplanned withdrawal rates is that if you have a train carrying 1,400 passengers during the peak period, and if you withdraw the train, it may take you a couple of minutes because that is almost as quickly as they can do it, but it will take quite a long time before those thousand over passengers continue on their journey. That is something that is harder to quantify in terms of impact. To me, it is an indicator that if we do not bring down the withdrawal rates, then we do run the possibility that it will one day happen during the peak hour and affect far more commuters than it would during, say, the middle of the afternoon.
\tPage: 32
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Oversight of Singapore's Defence Budget","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"11 Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Defence in view of Transparency International's Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index which gives Singapore a poor rating, whether Singapore's defence budget oversight and procurement processes are sufficiently robust. \t
\tThe Minister for Defence (Dr Ng Eng Hen): Madam, Singapore and its various Government Ministries and agencies have achieved a reputation for zero tolerance against corruption for many years. For MINDEF, we have strict procedures to ensure that our procurement systems adhere to the highest and most rigorous standards and I think defence experts acknowledge this. For example, credible defence journals, such as Jane's Defence Weekly and Jane's Defence Industry, have acknowledged our robust and comprehensive system for procurement. The Financial Times also noted the \"stringency and transparency\" of our processes while the Aviation Week publication lauded Singapore's Defence Ministry as a \"reference customer\" and a \"model of cost-effectiveness\" to suppliers and buyers of defence equipment.
Among global defence companies, it is common knowledge that MINDEF buys equipment at very competitive prices and has stringent standards of performance for its purchases.
So, the difference between MINDEF's hard-earned and well-known reputation of being stringent, transparent and cost-effective in our procurement practices, and that of Transparency International's defence corruption risk reports which place us in the same category as countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, point to a credibility gap of Transparency International's reports.
We examined Transparency International's assessment and found their assumptions to be flawed and processes weak. For example, Transparency International (TI) stated that while there is \"no evidence of illicit economic activity\", they further went on to add \"we may assume some off-budget allocations, perhaps on a limited basis\". I do not know what is the basis of that assumption, but it is a very, very serious allegation.
Further, the evaluator, a person called Mr David Fouquet, added that he has \"on good personal authority\" that there was a phantom employee on MINDEF's payroll, without giving any details. We would suggest to TI that their processes need to be strengthened by relying on more authoritative sources and substantiated facts. In fact, Transparency International's analysis seems to be
\tPage: 33
based mainly on Internet sources. We have endeavoured to reach out to this organisation to give them more information but they have flatly declined our offers of more information to debunk their false assertions.
TI also asserts that \"parliamentary and legislature process to scrutinise the defence budget is not robust due to a lack of opposition voices in the political system\". This is a rehash of old debates that if Singapore does not conform closely to their model of parliamentary democracy, we must be corrupt. TI's reports do injustice to our Members of Parliament here and ignore the strong legislative oversight as well as strong executive controls in our system.
The Defence Budget is presented and passed by Parliament and approved by the President each year. The Parliament appoints a Select Committee, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), to work closely with the Auditor-General's Office to conduct regular scrutiny of our expenditure and accounts. This is further complemented by strong executive oversight. We have a robust system of checks and balances, an independent Auditor-General who reports to the President and a clean Civil Service. Detailed information on our anti-corruption, budget, audit and procurement checks and balances are available on public sites.
In fact, more established publications, such as the Asian Intelligence Report by the Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Limited, consistently ranked Singapore as the least corrupt country in Asia since 2002. Other reputable publications, such as the Governance Matters report published by the World Bank Institute, has also consistently ranked Singapore in the top fifth percentile out of over 200 countries in the area of Control of Corruption. The findings from this Governance Matters report are drawn from over 20 different indicators, some of which include reputable sources, such as the Economist Intelligence Unit and the World Competitiveness Yearbook by the renowned Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development.
Indeed, TI's Headquarters' most recent Corruption Perception Index 2013 placed Singapore as the fifth least corrupt nation in the world. The fact that the same organisation, albeit through two different publications, gives us quite different assessment, again calls into question TI's credibility.
My Ministry reiterates that we are committed to upholding Singapore's reputation as a country that is clean, honest and trustworthy, and a Ministry which emphasises the highest levels of integrity and incorruptibility.
\tPage: 34
\tDr Lim Wee Kiak (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister for his reply. I would like to ask the Minister two supplementary questions. First, within the TI's website, it was mentioned that based on their methodology, there are 77 questions and apart from the evaluators, they are also peer reviewed two times, and they invited the governments to review their draft reports. I would like to ask the Minister whether we were invited to view the draft report before they published this. Secondly, this is not the first time an organisation has accused the Singapore Government of having very poor transparency in terms of our defence procurements. What is MINDEF doing now to further improve that perception or to correct that perception?
\tDr Ng Eng Hen: Mdm Speaker, yes, TI does engage with us and there have been instances where we offer and we want to give them information. Sometimes, they have accepted but, as I have said, in this particular instance, they did not. Dr Lim Wee Kiak said this is not the first time that MINDEF or the SAF had been accused of not being completely open about our processes. I agree with him. For instance, one of the reasons for TI's ranking us in the category as it did was, I quote, \"no information exists on asset disposal or any scrutiny that may be subjected\". In other words, I must tell you what I am disposing, but in order for me to tell you what I am disposing, you will know what I have. Or that \"the percentage of defence expenditure allocated to secret items is not known publicly\". Well, that is the reason why I do not tell you.
So, I think there is a difference in form in terms of what they want. We are not about to compromise our security by revealing the exact dollars and cents for each thing that we purchase. I come to this House; we tell you what we are going to purchase as I did with the Aster 30 systems, upgrading our submarines, that we are looking seriously at certain aircraft platforms. But it has not been our habit to publicly announce the minutiae because we take that stance to make sure that it gives us a more robust security system in the SAF.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Revision to Funding Formula for Schools","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OA","content":"12 Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai asked the Minister for Education what is the rationale behind the lowering of Government funding to several schools and whether this will adversely affect the ongoing programmes at these schools.
13 Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for Education in 2013 (a) how much funding for secondary level education is given, on average, by the Ministry to (i) independent schools (ii) autonomous schools and (iii) schools
Page: 35
which are neither independent nor autonomous; and (b) how will this funding level change with the recent revision to the funding formula for schools.
14 Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked\tthe Minister for Education if he will clarify the amount of funding provided by the Government for Singapore schools and whether all schools will be funded appropriately to meet the school's requirements and programmes.
15 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Education in light of the new funding formula for schools (a) what is the rationale for cutting the funding for the Integrated Programme rather than the Gifted Education Programme; and (b) which primary and secondary schools have more than 80% of their normal classrooms installed with air-conditioning units and whether the operating costs of the air-conditioning units are funded under this new formula.
\tThe Minister for Education (Mr Heng Swee Keat): Mdm Speaker, may I have your permission to take the next four questions together?
Mdm Speaker: Yes, please.
\tMr Heng Swee Keat: I thank Mr Lim Biow Chuan, Mr Edwin Tong, Mr Ang Wei Neng and Mr Yee Jenn Jong for their interests in how our schools are resourced.
Mr Lim asked whether all schools will be funded appropriately to meet the schools' requirements and programmes. This is the crux of the matter. Indeed, MOE funds our schools on the basis of their requirements and programmes, so that each school has adequate resources to develop the students under its charge. MOE also aims for the resources to be used prudently to achieve the desired educational outcomes.
Mr Ang and Mr Tong asked about the rationalisation of funding for school programmes. I appreciate that recent media reports may have caused concerns. Please allow me to set out the context.
Our schools provide a range of programmes to develop the students under their charge, taking into account their strengths and interests. We have a school landscape that is made up of diverse offerings. Within this landscape, independent schools play an important role in exploring new approaches of developing and stretching students with a strong academic foundation. We are
Page: 36
committed to supporting and resourcing independent schools appropriately so that they continue to stretch their students in their areas of strengths, and, just as important, to inculcate a sense of service to our society.
All schools, including independent schools, are resourced based on the programmes they offer and their enrolment. The Ministry conducted a review recently to assess if independent schools are resourced appropriately, taking into account factors such as the higher overheads in schools with smaller enrolments. Allow me to clarify several points on which there may be some misunderstanding.
First, let me set the record straight on the issue of independent school funding. As a result of the review, more schools received increased funding this year. Six out of 10 independent schools received up to 5% more funding, and only four did not. For these four, their funding is around 3% less, at the most. The main reason for the review is that schools with higher enrolment can spread their overheads better, while schools with lower enrolment cannot enjoy the economies of scale. To adjust for this, MOE introduced a fixed component and a variable component depending on the student enrolment number.
Second, there is no change to funding for the Integrated Programme. Apart from the independent schools, the Integrated Programme is also offered in some of our Government and Government-aided schools. For students who are on both the school-based gifted education programme and the Integrated Programme, our review found that the students can develop well and fully with the funding provided by one programme grant. For these students, schools will receive only the funding for the school-based gifted education programme. This streamlining allows us to use resources more efficiently, without affecting educational outcomes.
Third, in rolling out these changes, MOE engaged the key stakeholders and management teams to ensure that schools are able to manage. We are confident that the schools can continue to provide quality and holistic education for their students. Our aim is to ensure that we continue to pursue excellence at all levels, regardless of where the students are – it is never to level down. We also want to encourage our schools to use the resources prudently to achieve maximum impact.
Fourth, some parents are concerned whether, as a result of the changes, independent schools may have to raise fees. As I indicated earlier, more schools are receiving higher funding. Those that did not actually enjoy greater existing
Page: 37
economies of scale. I would like to assure parents that an education in an independent school will continue to remain affordable and accessible to all eligible students.
In fact, just this year, the Ministry enhanced the independent school bursary (ISB) to better support Singaporean students in independent schools. Independent schools have not increased school fees for 2014. We must keep our schools, including independent schools, open to all, and continue to encourage excellence in all our students' pursuits. The Ministry will continue to work closely with our independent schools to ensure that fees remain affordable.
As part of the resourcing review, the Ministry also discussed with the management of independent schools the areas where resources can be utilised more effectively to achieve good educational outcomes. For example, we have discussed with schools the judicious use of air-conditioning as we strive to be ecologically sustainable and cost-effective in operating our schools. We also engaged with the independent schools on focusing their fundraising efforts on areas with strong educational merits and to do so at a pace that would not overly burden teachers, parents and students.
The Ministry appreciates and welcomes the strong support of the alumni of these schools in donating funds and in volunteering their services. In fact, the strengths of many of these schools include their long histories and a tradition of alumni support. At the same time, we should not put too heavy a burden on teachers, parents and students to raise funds, as that may deter some students, especially those from less well-off families, from applying to the school. This is all about striking a good balance.
I am heartened that independent schools have responded positively. Some principals have noted that this is an opportunity to review existing programmes, such as immersion programmes, to explore whether the same outcomes can be achieved in a more cost-effective way. I am happy our school leaders understand and support the intent of the review.
I now turn to Mr Yee's questions on the resourcing of different categories of schools.
Singapore is fortunate to be in a position to invest heavily in education. Funding for the various schools is not a zero-sum game – we do not have to cut funding to one school to give to another. With good economic growth and a
Page: 38
healthy fiscal position, MOF provides sufficient resources to fund every school to meet our educational objectives. MOE has significantly increased its investment in education across all levels and schools in the past decade. The per capita cost of educating a primary school student more than doubled from $3,600 in 2004 to $8,700 in 2013. Likewise, the per capita cost of secondary education almost doubled during this period, from $5,700 to $10,800.
The Ministry appreciates the resources that have been given and it is our responsibility, at every level, to continue to ensure that we are prudent in the use of these funds in our schools.
Schools are resourced on a needs-basis. The actual resources provided to each school depend on the needs of the students, the programmes offered and the enrolment. Resourcing for each school varies, even within the same category of schools that Mr Yee has asked about.
Resourcing can vary depending on the programmes offered by the school as well as enrolment. For example, if a school offers a language elective programme or a particular niche or a learning support programme, its funding would reflect the additional resources for the programmes offered. For the same programme, the resources provided are also dependent on the number of students in the school on the programme since not all students in the school are on the same programmes.
We also resource schools based on the profile of the student body. For example, for schools with more at-risk students, more resources are provided for counselling support. The overall school enrolment will also affect the level of funding. On the other hand, comparison by per capita funding has its limitation as it does not take into account similar overheads that schools have to bear regardless of the enrolment.
A comparison across different groups of schools based on the averages would therefore not be meaningful. Resources are part of the story, but the fundamental question is how each school can best cater to the holistic learning needs of each student and best achieve the desired outcomes of the programmes.
In summary, let me thank all the Members who have raised questions. While it is understandable that attention is paid to specific items and numbers, I hope that we can take a step back to look at the broader principles and values that undergird these changes. MOE will continue to invest adequately in all
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schools to develop our students fully and holistically. We will continue to encourage our schools to use resources prudently and effectively. This will also have the effect of inculcating the right values in our students. We will continue to encourage all schools to strive for excellence and are confident that independent schools, as with other schools, will continue to deliver quality education for many years to come.
Mdm Speaker: Order. End of Question Time.
[Pursuant to Standing Order No. 22(3), Written Answers to Question Nos 18-19, 22, 25, 27-28, 30, 32-35, 37-40, 44-45, 47-50, 53-54, 56 and 58-59 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix. Question Nos 16-17, 20-21, 23-24, 26, 29, 3136, 41-43, 46, 51-52, 55 and 57 have been postponed to the next available sitting of Parliament.]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority Act (Chapter 2A of the 2005 Revised Edition) and to make consequential and related amendments to certain other written laws\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Senior Minister of State for Finance (Mrs Josephine Teo); read the First time; to be read a Second time on a Sitting on or after the 1 April 2014, and to be printed. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Plant Varieties Protection (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BI","content":"[(proc text) \"to amend the Plant Varieties Protection Act (Chapter 232A of the 2006 Revised Edition)\", (proc text)]
[(proc text) presented by the Senior Minister of State for Law (Ms Indranee Rajah); read the First time; to be read a Second time after the conclusion of proceedings on the Estimates of Expenditure for FY2014/2015, and to be printed. (proc text)]
\tPage: 40
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Rearrangement of Business","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"OS","content":"The Leader of the House (Dr Ng Eng Hen): Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the proceedings on item 2 on the Order Paper for today be taken after item 7\". That is, the Public Order (Additional Temporary Measures) Bill will be taken after the Singapore Institute of Technology Bill.
[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Resolved, \"That the proceedings on item 2 on the Order Paper for today be taken after item 7.\" – [Dr Ng Eng Hen]. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Land Titles (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Senior Minister of State for Law (Ms Indranee Rajah): Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
Mdm Speaker, this Bill seeks to amend the Land Titles Act to improve our laws on land administration and for greater operational efficiency.
The amendments proposed in this Bill were arrived at after consultation with the relevant Government departments, the Law Society of Singapore, experienced conveyancing lawyers and they are also in response to public feedback.
The Bill does several things. It empowers the Court to create easements and to vary or extinguish existing easements. It improves the remedies available to a property owner in response to a caveat lodged on his property. It introduces a list of dealings in respect of which registration cannot be prevented by a caveat. It makes miscellaneous changes for greater clarity or consistency and for better administration of the Land Titles Act.
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The Bill also makes related amendments to the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA) and the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act (CLPA).
I will now take the House through the main features of the Bill.
At present, access by non-owners through another person's property is established by use over a long period of time or the landowner granting a right of way, also known as an easement.
When land is re-parcelled and developed, it can give rise to situations where previous easements are affected or new easements are required. For example, owners who previously had access to a main road may now find their access blocked, or the historical easement may now no longer serve its original purpose. This results in less efficient use of the land.
The Court, currently, does not have the power to vary or create easements under the existing provisions of the Land Titles Act.
In the recent local case of Botanica Pte Ltd v Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No 2040, the High Court suggested that in light of increased activity in the redevelopment of properties, it was perhaps timely for the Legislature to consider the need for the Court to have an express power to modify easements.
My Ministry has considered this issue and we are of the view that it would be useful to give the courts power to modify easements. This is addressed in the Bill.
The Bill will empower the Court to create, vary or extinguish an easement over land if it is reasonably necessary for the effective use or development of the land that will have the benefit of the easement or that is affected by the easement and if it is consistent with the public interest.
Where necessary, the Court may also award compensation to any party affected by the Court's order.
The Land Titles Act deals with registered land. Related amendments will be made to the CLPA to confer similar powers on the Court in respect of the creation, variation or extinguishment of easements over unregistered land. We
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envisage that these amendments will facilitate more efficient and optimal use of land.
They also align our practices with those of Commonwealth jurisdictions, such as Australia – for example, New South Wales and Queensland – New Zealand and Canada, which have similar provisions.
The next amendment relates to the lodging of frivolous or vexatious caveats.
Under the current Land Titles Act framework, when a caveat is lodged, the onus of getting the caveat removed is on the property owner. The procedure, as it currently stands, is as follows.
(a)\tWhen a caveat is lodged against a property and the property owner is of the view that it is frivolous or vexatious, the property owner must file a statutory declaration with the Registrar of Titles to that effect.
(b)\tThe Registrar will allow the caveat to remain if the caveator is able to:
(i)\tproduce documentary evidence to show that he has an interest in the property; or
(ii)\tobtain a Court Order for the caveat to be retained.
(c)\tUsually, the caveator will produce evidence that, on the face of it, justifies his claim of an interest in the property.
(d)\tShould the property owner disagree, he would have to obtain a Court Order to remove the caveat.
We have received feedback that this practice is unfair to property owners, as they have to bear the burden of removing frivolous or vexatious caveats.
As such, clause 57 amends section 127(2) of the Land Titles Act to require the caveator, within 30 days, to obtain a Court Order for the caveat to remain if the property owner lodges an application with the Registrar to challenge the caveat's validity.
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This amendment puts the onus on the caveator to justify his claim of an interest in the property. This is in line with the normal burden of proof that he who asserts must prove his assertion.
This is also the position in Australia, namely, New South Wales and Victoria.
The next amendment deals with registration of dealings in land. The general rule is that a caveat prevents the registration of any subsequent dealing in the land identified in the caveat, unless the Land Titles Act provides otherwise.
Presently, section 129 of the Land Titles Act sets out a list of dealings which can still be registered, despite a caveat having been lodged against the property, unless the caveat specifically prohibits the dealing on that list.
Examples of such dealings include release or extinguishment of easements or restrictions on land.
However, this is not entirely satisfactory as the current list contains dealings which would not necessarily conflict with the caveator's claim of interest in the property, for example, a change or correction of the property owner's name.
Presently, such dealings are included in the same list and will be prevented from registration if the caveator chooses to extend the prohibition to the list of dealings.
The Registrar would have to issue a notice to the caveator giving him 30 days to apply to the Court if he wishes to prevent its registration.
It is not desirable to prevent the registration of such dealings when they will not conflict with the caveator's claim of interest in the property.
It also causes unnecessary delays in registration and increases administration costs.
To do away with such delays and costs, clause 58 of the Bill therefore proposes to amend section 129 of the Land Titles Act to create two separate lists of dealings.
First, a \"permissive list\" of dealings the registration of which the caveator can still prevent by lodgement of the caveat; and secondly, a \"non-conflict list\"
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of dealings the registration of which the caveator cannot prevent by lodgment of the caveat. These are dealings which do not conflict with or have any impact upon the caveator's claim of an interest in the property, for example, a name correction or an application for a new certificate of title.
The Bill updates the maximum fines for offences involving fraud under section 169 and for falsely certifying the correctness of any application, dealing or caveat lodged at the Land Titles Registry under section 59(6) of the Land Titles Act.
This ensures that penalties are commensurate with the offences committed, especially in the light of the higher values of property transactions today.
The updated penalties are also in line with those of similar offences found in other legislation.
Finally, the Bill makes several technical and housekeeping amendments. Mdm Speaker, 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. – [Ms Indranee Rajah]. (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":"Singapore Tourism Board (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Second Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr S Iswaran): Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
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Tourist guides play an important role in the Singapore's strategy to create high quality, authentic and differentiated travel experiences for our tourists. They are licensed by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to ensure that they have the necessary knowledge, language proficiency and professional conduct to do their job well. This licensing framework is provided for in the Singapore Tourism Board Act and its subsidiary legislation. It was last reviewed almost 30 years ago.
Our tourism landscape has clearly evolved since then. Tourist arrivals to Singapore and the region have risen steadily, fuelled by the rise of affluent Asian middle class travellers. Visitor arrivals to Singapore have almost doubled over the last decade. In 2013, we welcomed 15.5 million visitors who spent $23.5 billion in Singapore, marking four consecutive years' of growth in visitor arrivals and tourism receipts since the global financial crisis in 2009.
These growth opportunities have encouraged more locals to take up guiding and higher value work, such as bespoke travel experiences for the discerning traveller. The number of licensed tourist guides has increased over the years, growing from less than 1,500 in 2004 to almost 2,400 today.
However, competition from other destinations has been rising and we need to take steps to maintain our competitive edge. We need to strengthen our regulatory framework to uphold guiding standards and accommodate new guiding models that will help Singapore diversify our offerings to tourists.
It is thus timely for Government, in consultation with industry stakeholders, to review the regulation and the development of the tourist guide industry.
The Singapore Tourism Board (Amendment) Bill marks the culmination of almost a year of work by MTI and STB officers to strengthen our regulatory framework for tourist guides. MTI and STB had consulted extensively with some 150 stakeholders, including the Society of Tourist Guides Singapore (STGS), the NTUC Tourist Guide Chapter, other members of the guiding community, travel agents and key attractions operators.
The tourist guide industry has, in general, welcomed the proposed changes to the regulatory regime, while travel agents and attraction owners recognise the benefits of higher guiding standards and improved service quality that the proposed changes will bring. I want to thank all who have contributed to this effort, for their valuable suggestions which have helped MTI and STB to develop
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and refine the Bill.
Let me now outline the key amendments proposed in the Bill.
Unlicensed guiding tarnishes the image, and impedes the professional development, of the industry and licensed tourist guides. It has become more apparent in recent years with the rapid growth in visitor arrivals. While STB has stepped up enforcement against unlicensed guiding, legislative amendments are needed to address limitations in the current regulatory regime. For example, STB cannot compel uncooperative suspects to submit to investigations. Foreign offenders may leave the country before investigations are complete. STB also does not have the powers to search premises and take evidence. This has made it difficult for STB to follow up on suspected cases of unlicensed guiding.
Clause 6 of the Bill introduces sections 19L to 19N to strengthen STB's investigative and enforcement powers against unlicensed guiding. With these provisions, STB's officers will have the necessary and proportionate powers to arrest suspects who refuse to provide their personal particulars during preliminary investigations. They will also be able to search premises and the people found within, and take evidence, when they reasonably believe that unlicensed guiding has taken place in the premises. STB's officers will also be empowered to question persons who may be linked to suspected cases of unlicensed guiding. Anyone who obstructs STB's investigations or provides false information can be fined up to $5,000 under sections 20 and 21, as described in clause 7.
Today, STB's officers face an additional challenge in taking enforcement action, even when they reasonably suspect that unlicensed guiding is taking place. This is because, to prosecute a person for unlicensed guiding, STB must also prove that he or she has been or will be remunerated for his guiding work. However, as tourist guides often do not transact money in public places, and the parties involved are generally not forthcoming with evidence of such transactions, STB's officers are often unable to take immediate or effective action against unlicensed guiding.
Clause 6, section 19C aims to address this limitation. This provision allows for the presumption that an individual carrying out guiding activity of a certain scale and degree of organisation is doing so as a vocation, that is, they are doing it for remuneration. The individual thus has to be licensed as a tourist guide to carry out such activity, failing which he would be deemed to have committed an offence. This provision facilitates the proving of the offence and also allows
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STB to take timely enforcement action against those who are reasonably suspected of unlicensed guiding activity. A suspect can rebut this presumption by showing proof that he or she has not been, and will not be, remunerated for the guiding activity.
Complementing these provisions is clause 8, section 25A which empowers STB to compound offences on the spot for swift enforcement. If the suspect refuses composition, STB can serve him or her with a notice to attend court under section 19O, as described in clause 6.
Clause 6, section 19B expands the offences of unlicensed guiding and hiring unlicensed guides, and section 19F prohibits certain activities that are related to unlicensed guiding. For example, some tourist guides allow their tourist guide badges to be used by unlicensed guides. Such improper conduct is made an offence under section 19F.
The maximum penalty for each offence has also been raised to maintain its deterrent effect.
Besides enforcement against unlicensed guiding, we also need to work with industry to raise the professionalism of licensed tourist guides. To this end, clause 6 introduces section 19G which empowers STB to issue codes of practice. These codes of practice will be developed by STB in consultation with industry.
Non-compliance with these codes, licensing conditions and other provisions of the STB Act will be dealt with under section 19I. This section allows STB to impose financial penalties administratively, and set the quantum in line with the severity of non-compliance, subject to a maximum of $1,000. This allows for calibrated action against licensees, beyond the current options of warning, suspension or revocation of licences.
Madam, tourist guides also need to upgrade their skills, and be able to differentiate themselves by their capabilities and experience. This in turn allows for greater differentiation in remuneration and more avenues for career progression. For example, a tourist guide may choose to specialise in a particular field through professional development courses that equip him or her with the requisite domain knowledge and skills.
Formal recognition from STB and the industry is an important incentive for tourist guides to pursue such upgrading and differentiate themselves. Hence, clause 6, section 19E will empower STB to tier licensing categories according to
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the capabilities, experience and other proficiencies acquired by tourist guides.
At the same time, we want to accommodate emerging guiding models, and facilitate innovation and productivity enhancement efforts across the tourism industry. For example, owners of attractions and galleries are increasingly engaging their own guides and volunteers, with rigorous in-house training and curated itineraries, to cater to various visitor segments at their premises. Volunteer guides, like the Tiong Bahru residents who banded together to curate heritage trails in their neighbourhood, are also doing their part to help visitors understand and experience their community with greater depth and nuance.
STB wants to support more of such ground-up initiatives, including some which need not be subject to licensing requirements. The exemption framework provided for in sections 19B and 25C under clauses 6 and 8 of the Bill will allow us to do so. Certain groups, like heritage and nature guides, could be exempted from licensing, and can continue creating new experiences for visitors so long as they meet certain conditions which STB will establish with the relevant stakeholders and lead agencies.
Madam, the legislative changes I have outlined are one aspect of our efforts with stakeholders to raise the quality of the tourist guide industry. STB, WDA, NTUC and STGS are studying various non-legislative measures to help local tour guides enhance their guiding skills, take on higher value work and improve their career prospects. These include reviewing the competency roadmap and training curriculum for tourist guides, making training more accessible, and tailoring capability development initiatives for their members.
Mdm Speaker, the Singapore Tourism Board (Amendment) Bill will help STB tackle unlicensed guiding more effectively, raise the professionalism and standards of guiding, and accommodate new guiding models. Together, these initiatives will sharpen Singapore's competitive edge as a tourism destination.
STB will continue to work closely with the industry on capability development and other initiatives to position our tourist guide industry for quality growth. Mdm Speaker, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
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Mr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio): Mdm Speaker, the tourism sector is, indeed, a growing and important economic driver. As illustrated by the Second Minister earlier, it has received an increased number of visitor arrivals and tourism receipts. Many make their living, whether directly or indirectly, in this sector. Indeed, to grow this industry, we need quality attractions, F&B, hotels, and to upkeep our status as a premier destination for tourists, we need to ensure that our visitors have an enjoyable experience.
To make the visit a memorable one, having a quality experience with our tour guides is, indeed, an important component. The key to what constitutes a good tour guide is their level of professionalism; whether they are constantly updated with information on events and attractions. Do they attend training courses? Are they knowledgeable about heritage, history and tourism offerings? And do they possess good language proficiency and maintain professional conduct?
In Singapore, only licensed individuals and those that are certified by the Singapore Tourism Board can carry out guiding. As mentioned earlier, about 2,400 of them possess such a licence. The ground feel that I get from speaking to tour guides is that there are about 400-plus to 600 who are active on a full-time basis. In this instance, what it really needs is that many depend on guiding as a career, not just as a part-time job.
I look at this amendment Bill and assess how will it contribute to enhancing the quality and livelihood of our tour guides. Understandably, the legislative changes focus on enforcement and strengthening the regulations against illegal guiding. Whilst most of the amendments are in the right direction, there are a few areas that I hope to get some clarity from the Minister.
Firstly, a \"tourist\" is now defined as an individual who visits Singapore for recreation, pleasure, business or any other purposes. And a \"tourist guide\" is defined as an individual who personally provides guiding services to a tourist for remuneration. Singaporeans, Singapore PRs and those on social visit pass are excluded from this term.
Tour guides I spoke with are concerned that existing activities that are fee-paying may become confused and unclear. They feel that this may impact on their livelihood, increase the chances of travel agents trying to bypass their services to cut costs and, consequently, impact the experience of our visitors. For example, there are guides who conduct heritage or history tours for expats who are living here for long term. In this case, are those who take part in such
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activities considered \"tourists\" under the amendment since they are locals and also they pay a fee for the guiding services?
Some guides shared with me that they felt the definition of a tourist should instead be activity-centric rather than person-centric, that is, not so much their ICA status but what kind of activities they participate in. They feel that anyone who participates in a sightseeing activity and where guiding is needed can be deemed a visitor, whether you are local or international. I also recall that during the SARS period, STB also actively promoted domestic tourism to keep the industry going.
Another related question is: how will the amendments impact on the livelihood of our guides? Despite the rapid growth in visitor arrivals, the number of tour guides has remained fairly constant over the last few years. Based on the figures, can we assume that existing guides are, therefore, taking more assignments and earning more income? Or that more visitors to Singapore are free and independent tourists who may not rely on tour guides for their visits?
Guides have shared that their income has remained stagnant and, most of the time, they attribute this to the fact that illegal guides are undercutting them and, therefore, resulting in stagnant income. And, therefore, many do welcome the amendments and the strengthening of the legislation to take care of those who are illegal guides.
It brings me to the next question, which is, do we have a manpower plan in place to ensure that Singapore has sufficient tour guides to provide good quality guiding services? Do we have a clearly mapped out capability development plan for our tour guides? Do we know the age profile of our guides and whether or not they are an ageing workforce and there is a new pipeline of guides coming onstream to ensure that we have a constant flow of tourist guides to serve our visitors coming to Singapore?
I have three specific recommendations for the Ministry to look at.
Firstly, some guides face conflicts in their payment and unfair contract terms with travel agents. Instead of pointing them to legal recourse, can they be better served through processes, such as mediation? Perhaps, STB can, in addition to looking at the code of practice, also consider setting up a mediation centre with the involvement of agents, tour guides and the union.
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Secondly, guides currently pay about $72 every three years to renew their guiding licence. I would like to suggest that this amount be waived, reduced or even tiered in accordance with the professional level of competency attained by the guide. This is in recognition of, and serves as an incentive for, those who invest heavily in skills deepening.
Thirdly, I would like to recommend that the marketing collateral by STB, especially those in their overseas office, feature prominently the identification and value of using licensed guides. Perhaps, STB can also strengthen its assistance in marketing the services of our tour guides on its websites.
Madam, at the end of the day, for visitors, we want them to have an enjoyable and memorable experience in Singapore. I believe that good guides will enhance their experience to appreciate and understand the significance of an attraction or cultural tradition in Singapore.
For guides, they will need an effective market to operate in and where their professionalism will be acknowledged and supported.
For the industry, I hope that they will work closely with STB to understand the amendments and to comply with the rules.
Finally, for STB, I urge that, apart from enforcement, they do two other things. One is to have in place plans to ensure a pool of professional and licensed guides. And, secondly, to strengthen their own enforcement team within STB with experienced staff who will be able to carry out and conduct the enhanced regulations that we will put in place following the passing of this amendment Bill. With that, Mdm Speaker, I support the Bill.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): Mdm Speaker, I rise in support of the Bill. As the Second Minister has stated, the issue of illegal tour guides is a growing problem, rising with the tourism boom in Singapore in recent years. Tour guides in Singapore need to undergo recognised courses and examinations in order to be licensed. There are over 2,300 licensed tour guides here, made up mostly of Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents. Illegal tour guides not only affect the livelihood of local guides but they may provide wrong information about Singapore and damage our efforts to promote Singapore as a tourist destination.
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Hence, I support the measures in this Bill that will provide greater powers for the authorities to act against illegal guides, such as fines for both the illegal guides and tour agencies that knowingly engage their services, and greater clarity on what constitutes illegal guiding.
I have two areas which I wish to highlight for operational considerations. The first is about the Taxi Tourist Guide scheme launched in 2004, 10 years ago. The scheme is to train and license taxi drivers to allow them to act as tour guides for small groups of tourists. Section 19C of this Act defines a tour guide as somebody who \"provides any guiding services to eight or more tourists\".
A taxi can never take eight or more passengers. Hence, there seems to be some discrepancies here. Does this mean that the taxi drivers who wish to act as tour guides do not need any licensing and the Taxi Tourist Guide scheme is now redundant? On the topic of taxi tourist guides, I would like to understand from the Minister if the scheme has been popular and, if not, what may be the reasons.
The second is that this Act provides the power for the inspecting officer to detain and arrest any suspected illegal tour guide if the officer reasonably believes that he or she has committed a crime as defined by the Act. The arrested person can be brought to a police station for questioning. The tour guide may be in the midst of handling a busload of foreign visitors. The arrest would leave these visitors stranded in the middle of a tour destination. For practical considerations, inspecting officers must handle the situation carefully, or it may leave a bad impression in the eyes of our foreign visitors.
Procedures on how to inform the tour agency involved and getting an immediate replacement tour guide from the agency and other arrangements to allow the suspect to settle the visitors first will be important. This is to minimise disruption to the innocent visitors who are just out here to enjoy Singapore.
Mdm Speaker: Second Minister Iswaran.
Mr S Iswaran: Madam, I want to thank Mr Ang Hin Kee and Mr Yee Jenn Jong for speaking in support of the Singapore Tourism Board (Amendment) Bill. It is noted the proposed amendments are an important part of a larger effort between the Government and the Ministry to review and enhance the tourist
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guide industry's capability and development.
Mr Ang and Mr Yee have observed that strengthening the regulatory framework will help our tourism industry to enhance standards, retain its competitiveness and continue offering differentiated experiences to visitors.
Let me now address the specific points that Mr Ang and Mr Yee have raised. Mr Ang asked whether the definition of \"tourist\" could be broadened to encompass guiding activities for locals. Mr Ang is concerned that such a definition might adversely affect the livelihood of licensed tourist guides, as those excluded from the proposed definition of \"tourist\" would not be required to engage guiding services by law. If I may make one clarification, those here on a social visit pass, up to 90 days, are covered by the definition of tourists. It is really those who are here for a longer period than that.
Madam, there are good reasons for the Singapore Tourism Board to adopt this definition, which, in fact, is already the practice today in Singapore. It is consistent with international practice. For example, guiding regulations in Queensland, Australia and Taiwan, one can see, are similarly focused on tourist-based facilities and activities. This is understandable as tourists, given their limited local knowledge and time, are probably the most susceptible to being exposed to unlicensed guiding.
Moreover, it is important that we guard against over-reaching in regulation, even as this Bill proposes to strengthen STB's investigative and enforcement powers against unlicensed guiding. We must also recognise that new guiding models are emerging; also, technology is being more widely adopted as part of the industry. If the boundaries within which these powers are exercised are broadened too much, we may end up regulating even school groups and community groups on excursions to places of interest like the Zoo, and require them to hire licensed tourist guides. I do not think that is the intent of this exercise.
I do want to add, however, that though we are not mandating that locals use licensed guides, it does not preclude licensed tour guides from offering their services and for locals to avail themselves of their services where relevant. And this is really something for which the market has to find its level. If the licensed tour guide is offering a valuable service, I am sure the demand will continue to be there, as Mr Ang has described.
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Mr Ang has raised an important point on the welfare of tourist guides. I personally met representatives of STGS and NTUC in the past year and I understand their concerns and that of the industry's.
Travel agents should offer fair contractual terms and clear payment schedules to tourist guides as this affects their livelihood. These arrangements are important and underpin the relationship between tourist guides and travel agencies. We need to enhance the working arrangements between travel agents and tourist guides so that both can continue to thrive in our evolving tourism scene.
On the issue of mediation, tourist guides employed by travel agents are already covered by MOM's Employment Act. They can avail themselves of the mediation that exists under that Act, and, if it fails, they can then go on to the Courts.
I understand Mr Ang's concern is more for the freelance tour guides who have recourse to the Small Claims Tribunal, but this, in and of itself, may not always yield an outcome that the tour guides or the freelance tour guides are happy with. I understand and thank Mr Ang for his suggestion to set up a specific mediation centre. I have asked STB to consult NTUC and STGS to see whether this is a feasible proposal that can be implemented in discussion with other stakeholders.
On the enforcement part, Mr Ang's request was that STB ensure that it has adequate resources to do so, to give effect to the intent of this Bill. I assure him that is the case. STB has already been enhancing its enforcement efforts and, if this Bill is approved, then they will take additional measures, both in terms of in-house resources and also external support, in order to give effect to its provisions.
Mr Yee's point on how the enforcement is carried out is invalid. It has to be done in a manner that does not create an unsavoury experience for visitors, whilst ensuring that the intent of the law is carried out. And this is really the reason why we have other measures in the Bill, including composition, so that immediate composition can be offered, and it is only in extremis where we have an extremely uncooperative individual who is suspected of such an activity, then additional or more serious measures need to kick in. But STB is fully cognisant of the points that Mr Yee has made, and the enforcement measures will be sensitive to that.
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Mr Ang has asked about the capability developments for the tourist guide industry. Mdm Speaker, indeed, regulation alone can only do so much to raise the tourist guides' capability and improve their career prospects. The proposed legislative amendments are but one aspect of a broader effort to enhance the tourist guide industry for quality growth.
Let me share with Members some other specific initiatives that STB has undertaken with the industry to help Singaporeans enhance their guiding skills so that they can take on higher value work and improve their career prospects. First, STB, WDA and e2i have formed a task force to review the competency road map for tourist guides at various stages of their careers. This includes reviewing the training curriculum for entry level and seasoned guides, like the competency road maps will complement the tiered licensing framework which STB is reviewing, to create the conditions for tourist guides to differentiate themselves and progress in their careers.
Mr Ang would agree with me that such a structured progression would make a career in tourist guiding more attractive for Singaporeans and help us to attract more talent to the industry. The point about waiver of fees per se, I think the most compelling incentive here is really to have a clear career path, opportunities to upgrade and to be able to then command the remuneration that is commensurate with experience and capabilities. STB will ensure that those are the steps to undertake.
Second, the taskforce is working with the industry to make tourist guide training more accessible to those who are interested in the profession. We are studying various ways to do this, including increasing in the number of training providers. The taskforce is also looking at how training can be made more modular, and reviewing the training delivery modes to give trainees greater flexibility in acquiring the training they need.
Finally, STB will engage the industry associations, STGS and NTUC regularly to help them better appreciate industry trends and to support capability development initiatives of their members. One such trend that Mr Ang has mentioned is the rise of the free and independent traveller. These travellers are looking for bespoke and modular offerings which they can experience at their own pace and they are prepared to pay a premium for this. This is the space in which tour guides with the right skills and expertise, the niche offerings, can thrive.
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This is one reason why STB is supporting STGS' effort to collaborate with the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations to bring the latter's internationally accredited training programme to Singapore. The programme will comprise training and enhance hands-on guiding, including advanced storytelling techniques, as well as train-the-trainer elements for more seasoned guides who wish to take on trainer roles in the future.
This is the first for the tourist guide industry here. STB, STGS and WFTGA will share more details when available. In addition, NTUC and STGS have embarked on study visits facilitated by STB and this is really meant to foster greater understanding and to learn from best practices within tourism destinations overseas.
Mr Yee mentioned the Taxi Tourist Guide Scheme that STB and the Singapore Taxi Academy put in place in 2004 to enhance taxi drivers' employability and to better serve the needs of free and independent tourists. Even though the scheme has ceased since 2007, close to 50 taxi drivers continued to be licensed as tourist guides today under the National Tourist Guide Training and Licensing Framework, administered by WDA and STB respectively. And STB will continue to support these and other guiding models that are emerging. So, a taxi driver today, if he wishes to be a taxi tour guide in the sense that Mr Yee has described, he has to go for the tour guide course and take the test that is administered by STB, and then he will be licensed as such.
The point on eight or more tourists and otherwise you are not a tour guide, that is the point for the issue of presumption which can lead to enforcement. It is not to preclude those who have smaller tour groups from conducting tour guide activities. So, I hope that clarifies.
Madam, STB will continue to work with the tour guide industry and relevant stakeholders to capitalise on quality growth opportunities, and our tour guides, in turn, must play their part by upgrading their capabilities and constantly updating their offerings in line with industry trends so that they can fully benefit from these job opportunities. I think STGS and NTUC can also add value to their members by proactively marketing their members' services, and STB is ready to assist in such ground-up marketing efforts where needed.
Madam, the enhancement of the tourist guide industry is a joint effort. The industry and the Government today are embarking on one key aspect, which is, to strengthen regulation. STB and industry stakeholders can collaborate in more areas so that our tourist guides continue to contribute meaningfully to
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and benefit from Singapore's growth as a vibrant tourist destination. I urge all Members of this House to support the Singapore Tourism Board (Amendment) Bill.
[(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 S Iswaran]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
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The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Vivian Balakrishnan): Mdm Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
The Environmental Public Health Act was first enacted in 1969 to address the urgent need to improve our public health standards. And it is sobering to recall in this day and age that, in the 1960s, most of us lived in homes without proper sanitation or even regular waste removal. The streets were sometimes filled with rubbish – I think we can see some old photos of that – and clean drinking water and food were sometimes hard to come by.
This Act has served us well and, to be honest with this House, because of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and the founding leaders' insistence on extremely high environmental standards, sheer force of personality, the willingness to enforce strictly, extensive public education, cooperation of the public and the relentless rollout of infrastructure – we have today solved our most fundamental public health and environmental problems. Today, Singaporeans enjoy a high standard of public health. Our air and water are much cleaner than before;
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refuse is collected daily; food and water are safe; our streets are swept daily.
However, we must not become complacent and we need to do more. We have, therefore, before us, a Bill to amend our Environmental Public Health Act (EPHA), which was last amended in 2008, to enable us to better address the emerging concerns we face today.
Mdm Speaker, I shall now highlight the main amendments and provisions in the Bill.
One area of serious concern is the state of public cleanliness. Although Singapore has transformed itself and we have a reputation for being a clean and green city, this is not something which we can afford to take for granted. It has been a source of competitive advantage and pride for Singaporeans. But I fear that, today, we are a \"cleaned\" city, in the passive sense of the word, rather than a \"clean\" city, as in the active adjective. In fact, if you take a walk in any neighbourhood before our long-suffering cleaners have done their work, I think Members of this House will understand what I mean.
In recent years, there are clear signs of increased littering. From 2010 to 2013, the number of complaints that we have received for littering has increased by almost 50%. Despite our constant urging and the cooperation of the vast majority of civic-minded Singaporeans who take pride in our clean environment, there is still a significant minority of litterbugs who persist in irresponsible behaviour. They litter and they dirty our public places. They indiscriminately discard their waste from their vehicles or their flats, and they cause damage to the environment and, more importantly, pose a danger to their neighbours.
We must not tolerate such irresponsible acts and we must not allow the inconsiderate minority to threaten the well-being of the majority. We must, therefore, take strong enforcement actions and ensure that our penalties will deter those who continue to act irresponsibly.
Pursuing enforcement actions against littering from cars and from high-rise residential flats is a particularly difficult undertaking as the litterbugs are rarely caught in the act. Gathering evidence that can withstand scrutiny of the Court is a big challenge. NEA has had to painstakingly deploy officers on the ground and install high-tech surveillance cameras to aid investigations into high-rise littering. After all their efforts and considerable expenditure, last year, NEA only managed to prosecute 19 high-rise littering offenders. Nineteen is a very small number, if you compare that to the fact that we received 1,300 complaints on
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high-rise littering last year alone. Therefore, we propose to strengthen the EPHA to facilitate investigations, as well as increase our penalties.
Clause 5 allows police officers and authorised officers to require the owners and occupiers of the residential flats to provide information that may lead to the identification of the alleged high-rise litterer. Similarly, where the driver or a passenger of a motor vehicle is alleged or suspected to be guilty of littering from a motor vehicle, clause 5 will allow police officers and authorised officers to require the owner of the vehicle to provide information about the driver and passengers at the time of the alleged offence. Any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with the requirement to provide the information within the specified time period shall be guilty of an offence. This provision is based on the existing section 19(3)(b) and (4) of the EPHA.
In a sense, this replicates the system that we have for our traffic offenders. If you detect that a car has committed or is suspected to have committed an offence, the Traffic Police will write to the owner and ask for details of the driver and, then, we will allow investigations to proceed from that point.
Clause 8 doubles the maximum penalties for littering-related offences from $1,000 to $2,000 for the first conviction; and from $2,000 to $4,000 for the second conviction; and from $5,000 to $10,000 for the third and subsequent convictions. The existing maximum fines of $1,000 and $2,000 for the first and second convictions respectively have not been revised since 1987. This proposed revision seeks to ensure that the penalties will continue to have deterrent effect.
Let me now draw the attention of the House to the plight of our cleaners. For many years, the cleaning industry has been subjected to cheap sourcing, which has resulted in low productivity and low cleaning standards in the sector, as well as depressed wages for our cleaners, who also tend to be less educated, less skilled and non-unionised. This has led to a vicious cycle of high attrition, poor training and poor employment conditions for this sector. We have, therefore, decided to press the \"reset\" button for this particular sector and to impose a mandatory licensing regime to regulate all cleaning businesses.
All businesses which provide general cleaning services, even if these services are only a part of the overall business or just one of a suite of services that they provide, will be required to obtain a cleaning licence. We have to insist on a level playing field. Otherwise, the better and more enlightened employers will risk being undercut by less progressive businesses. Through this licensing regime, we seek to ensure that cleaning businesses will offer better training and
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employment conditions for their cleaners. And this, we believe, will lead to a more motivated and more competent cleaning workforce that can deliver better service and higher standards.
Furthermore, as part of the licensing regime, the NEA will maintain a register of licensed cleaning businesses, thereby providing greater transparency to the industry and protecting service buyers against fly-by-night cleaning contractors. These enhancements will help reduce the disruption of cleaning services due to unreliable contractors. And I think Members of the House will be familiar with incidents from time to time even in our own hawker centres where the cleaning contractor just ups and leaves the place in a lurch.
We intend to, therefore, have enlightened, fair employers who would train and have productive cleaners who take pride in their work and can look forward to receiving wages that are commensurate with their training, skills and productivity.
Clause 15, therefore, inserts a new Part into the EPHA to provide for the licensing regime for the general cleaning industry. Under the proposed licensing regime, all cleaning businesses involved in general cleaning must possess a valid licence. Existing cleaning businesses will have to obtain their licences from the NEA within five months after the statutory provisions of this Act come into force. Cleaning businesses found operating without a valid licence, as well as service buyers who engage unlicensed cleaning businesses, shall be guilty of an offence.
Cleaning businesses must fulfil several pre-requisites in order to be eligible for a licence. For example, they must have trained cleaners; they must have a track record of cleaning contracts and submit a progressive wage plan that meets certain criteria. New start-ups must have at least one officer or employee who either has practical experience in supervising cleaning work or has attended the required training. Any person who, in relation to any application for a cleaning business licence, provides false or misleading information or documents shall be guilty of an offence. NEA will also maintain a register of licensed cleaning businesses so that service buyers can check whether their potential service providers are appropriately licensed.
Once the cleaning businesses are licensed, they must ensure that their cleaners undergo training as required by the Director-General and are issued with written employment contracts and payslips. Licensees who fail to comply with any of these licence conditions may receive a financial penalty of up to
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$5,000 and face the risk of their cleaning business licence being suspended or revoked.
One key feature of the licensing scheme is the adoption of the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) as recommended by the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners (TCC). To deliver a good and reliable cleaning service, the cleaning industry needs a stable and experienced core of resident workers. It is, therefore, imperative to ensure that our Singaporean and Singapore Permanent Resident cleaners are motivated to work and to remain in the sector in order to help sustain the higher cleaning standards and the higher productivity levels which are expected to come with licensing. The Progressive Wage Model will provide them with better wages, in tandem with skills and productivity.
Mdm Speaker, it is worth my while to reiterate that our Progressive Wage Model is quite different from a national minimum wage. We are not ideological about these matters. We are focused on outcomes. Our key concern has always been to ensure that, first, workers with limited skills do not lose their jobs – these are our most vulnerable workers. Second, whatever scheme we come up with must create opportunities so that these same workers can receive better wages as they upskill and become more productive. Consequently, our uniquely Singaporean model of the Progressive Wage Model has three attributes which I hope the House would contemplate.
First, it is a targeted approach. The Progressive Wage Model enforced by the Government is not going to be necessary or even be considered across-the-board in all the different sectors. We have chosen the Progressive Wage Model for the cleaning industry because we believe there are certain peculiar characteristics of this industry. This has been one that for too many years has been characterised by cheap sourcing and where the majority of Singaporean and Singaporean PR workers have been older workers with low education, limited job choices, are non-unionised and have low bargaining power. The case for a targeted Government intervention is, therefore, stronger in such circumstances.
The second attribute: the Progressive Wage Model is determined through tripartite negotiations. It is not set by political decree. The unions and the employers must discuss and they must agree on the appropriate benchmarks used in the Progressive Wage Model wage-skill ladder. The licensing regime merely sets up the framework for these agreed benchmarks to be operationalised in a fair and transparent fashion in a level playing field. This tripartite approach is important – in fact, I think it is crucial – and it is a unique success ingredient for the Singapore model. It reduces the risk that workers,
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especially our older and more vulnerable workers, will lose their jobs as wages rise to unsustainable levels.
The third attribute is that the Progressive Wage Model is part of a wider and more comprehensive Government effort to raise wages of lower-income citizens and their families. Eligible low-income cleaners will continue to receive wage supplements in the form of the Workfare Income Supplement, which can constitute up to 30% of their wages, as well as enjoy generous training subsidies through the Workfare Training Support scheme. While the Government restructures the cleaning industry to raise productivity and income for the cleaners, such broad-based measures will help low-income cleaners to stay in their jobs and receive improving pay.
The Progressive Wage Model will, therefore, be given effect under the proposed new section 80H where the Commissioner for Labour will make an order to specify the progressive wage levels payable to Singaporeans and Singapore PR cleaners based on the TCC's Progressive Wage Model. The cleaning businesses must, as part of the licence conditions, ensure that the basic wages of these cleaners are not less than the specified wage levels for the respective classes of cleaners as recommended by the TCC. Cleaning businesses which provide employment contracts which are compliant with these requirements but which thereafter fail to pay their cleaners the wages stated in the employment contracts may be prosecuted under the Employment Act. The provisions in the EPHA seek to ensure that cleaners are provided with wages according to the Progressive Wage Model and also have prospects for improvement over time.
Let me move on to the next section which focuses on ensuring sustainable waste management. Maintaining a high level of public cleanliness is only one side of the coin to ensure a clean environment. Having sustainable waste management is the other. Given our lack of land resources, we must minimise our waste volume and prolong the usage of our only remaining landfill, Pulau Semakau, for as long as possible. The key, therefore, is to reduce, reuse and recycle our waste to the maximum extent possible.
Our overall recycling rate was 60% in 2012. However, for many large commercial premises, such as hotels and shopping malls, the recycling rate is still too low. Waste disposal costs typically account for only around 3% of their utilities bills even though they sometimes dispose of two or more tons of waste per day. Given that commercial waste disposed is less homogeneous, we believe that upstream waste segregation requires sustained management
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attention.
To improve our recycling rate, we announced in March 2012 that we would amend the Act to make it mandatory for large commercial premises, starting with large hotels and shopping malls in 2014, to report waste management data and improvement plans. This will better draw and sustain greater management attention on the waste generated by their activities.
Clause 10, therefore, empowers the Director-General to require any owner, occupier or lessee of a workplace to provide information on waste produced, maintain records and submit waste reduction plans. Any person who fails to comply can be fined up to $5,000 for the first conviction. For the second and subsequent convictions, the penalties are a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both.
In addition, to ensure the continuity of waste collection, clause 11 allows NEA, under special circumstances, to manage the waste collection operation of the public waste collector licensees. Such special circumstances include, for instance, when a public waste collector licensee is likely to be unable to pay its debts, or when it is in the interest of security and reliability of waste collection services for the public for NEA to step in.
Clause 11 also imposes certain restrictions on the winding up of a public waste collector licensee. In particular, no public waste collector licensee can voluntarily wind up without the consent of NEA. Similar provisions are found in other pieces of legislation, such as the Electricity Act and the Gas Act. These moves would serve to minimise disruption to an essential service and ensure continuity of that service.
I will now move on to enhancing penalties for food establishment, market and hawker and water supply-related offences. Another important aspect of public health is having hygienic food and safe drinking water. The penalties under Part IV of the Act, which deals with the licensing of food establishments, markets and hawkers, have not been revised since 1987. Clause 12 enhances the penalties under this Act to be commensurate with the severity of the offences and the appropriate level of deterrence required. For instance, first-time offenders of illegal hawking offences will face a fine of up to $5,000 whilst those operating food establishments without licences or selling food unfit for human consumption will face a maximum fine of $10,000 for the first conviction.
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Apart from food, the safety of our drinking water is equally important. The current penalties for offences concerning purity of water supplies are drawn from the general penalties of the Act, which stipulates a fine of up to $5,000 for the first conviction and up to $10,000 fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both. This is significantly lower than the piped drinking water regulations in the US and UK which stipulate fines of up to US$25,000 and £20,000 respectively. Clause 15 thereby specifies that the penalties under Part IX to be a fine of up to $20,000 and in the case of continuing offences, a fine not exceeding $1,000 for every day the offence continues after conviction.
Mdm Speaker, poor housekeeping at construction sites also poses a risk to public health, through, for instance, the breeding of mosquitoes and rodent infestation. The current legislation requires the occupier of any construction site with construction projects worth more than $10 million to engage a qualified Environmental Control Officer to help plan and monitor the control measures on site. However, we have noticed that in order to circumvent this requirement, developers would sometimes award work on site to different contractors under different contracts, so that the project comes in below the value specified by the EPHA. Even for those construction sites with more than one occupier where the total contract sum exceeds the specified value, the responsibility as to which occupier should employ an Environmental Control Officer becomes unclear. Clause 14, therefore, empowers NEA to require the developers of these construction sites with more than one occupier where the total contract sum exceeds the specified value to employ an Environmental Control Officer and ensure that the Officer is employed until the completion of the works on that site.
There will also be several other amendments to allow NEA to be more effective and responsible in carrying out its role.
Clause 16 allows the Director-General of Public Health to recover expenses incurred for carrying out emergency works. Clause 17 introduces an offence for knowingly providing false or misleading information to the Police or authorised officers. Clause 20 introduces a new section which will make the officers liable for an offence committed by bodies corporate if the offence was committed with the consent or connivance of the officer or was attributable to any neglect on his or her part. Clause 21 amends the computation of composition fines to be aligned with the Criminal Procedure Code.
Madam, we should not take our clean environment for granted. Keeping Singapore clean and green requires the cooperation of everyone in Singapore.
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My Ministry will continue to seek the support of all Singaporeans. At the same time, we have to adopt a stricter enforcement posture against irresponsible recalcitrants and deter them with enhanced penalties. We will also uplift the wages, skills and job prospects of our Singaporean cleaners, and this Bill will empower us to resolve emerging public health problems more effectively, and help us achieve our vision of a truly \"clean\" Singapore – a reflection of our values and our sense of collective responsibility. Mdm Speaker, I beg to move.
Mdm Speaker: Order. I propose to take the break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 4.30 pm.
Sitting accordingly suspended
at 4.11 pm until 4.30 pm.
Sitting resumed at 4.30 pm
[Mdm Speaker in the Chair]
[(proc text) Debate resumed. (proc text)]
Dr Teo Ho Pin (Bukit Panjang): Mdm Speaker, I rise in support of the Bill. The proposed amendments to the Environmental Public Health Act will achieve the following objectives: (a) upgrade and improve the performance standards of the cleaning industry; (b) increase the wage and welfare benefits of local cleaners; and (c) reduce the number of cases of high-rise littering in Singapore.
Madam, it is, indeed, timely to regulate the cleaning industry and improve the business practices and skills of our cleaners. Over the years, it has become increasingly challenging for cleaning contractors to recruit skilled local cleaners. As a result, the cleaning standard in many places has declined and more complaints were received.
The standard of services of the cleaning companies is further compromised due to cheap sourcing and intense competition. Competitive bidding for cleaning services based solely on lowest tender price has also suppressed the wage growth of local cleaners, and discouraged cleaning firms from adopting
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innovative solutions to improve productivity and quality.
Madam, in the 15 PAP-run Town Councils, we have a total of 107 cleaning services contracts provided by 19 conservancy contractors employing 2,500 local cleaners. As part of the ongoing efforts of the Town Councils to improve our services to residents, the Town Councils had implemented the Job Redesign Programme (JRP) for our cleaning contracts a few years ago. The Town Councils adopted a three-pronged approach, namely: (a) Performance-based tender system; (b) Performance evaluation system; and (c) Price-Quality Method tender evaluation system to improve the cleaning standards of our contractors.
In doing so, we have increased the skills and wages of our Town Council cleaners. With effect from 1 November 2013, all PAP Town Councils' local cleaners are employed under the Progressive Wage Model salary structure. At the same time, the Town Council cleaning contractors have started investing in the mechanisation of various cleaning operations, such as sweeping, washing, floor scrubbing and so on.
Madam, the PAP-run Town Councils fully support the licensing of the cleaning businesses, as stated in section 80A, to regulate and upgrade the cleaning standards and productivity in the cleaning industry. While it is good to regulate cleaning firms, it would be challenging for the Ministry to enforce as there are many small-sized cleaning sub-contractors in the industry.
Many of these firms will face difficulties in complying with the licensing requirements, such as sending all their cleaners for training, keeping training records, providing written employment contracts and pay slips. Therefore, the licensing will have immense impact on SME cleaning firms.
Madam, I wish to ask the Minister how the Ministry plans to enforce the licensing regime on all cleaning firms, and what measures can be taken to assist SME cleaning firms to fulfil the licensing requirements.
Madam, section 80H (1)(c) requires the licensee to enter into a contract of service for each cleaner. As there is no definition of \"contract of service\" in the Bill, this licensing condition may not protect the rights and welfare of cleaners. For instance, a written contract of service could be just a letter stating the salary and commencement date of work. It may not provide employment terms and conditions, such as annual leave, medical benefits, insurance or termination notice. As such, I wish to propose to the Minister to consider incorporating
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essential employment terms and conditions into section 80H (1)(c) as part of the licensing requirements for contract of service.
Madam, the job of a cleaner is a tough one in Singapore, and often not appreciated by many people. I would urge the Government and all Singaporeans to do more to recognise the efforts of our tireless cleaners.
Madam, each year, the PAP-run Town Councils receive about 2,200 complaints on high-rise littering. About 50% of the high-rise litter includes cigarette butts, food, rubbish, tissue, sanitary pads and so on. The other 50% are killer litter or potential killer litter, such as flower pots, bamboo poles, cages, windows, mops, glass, mattresses and so on.
Despite years of public education and enforcement efforts, high-rise littering remains a problem. These ungracious acts cause hygiene problems, and pose safety hazards to the general public. Very often, it takes a lot of effort to resolve the high-rise littering problem as it is difficult to catch the litterbug red-handed. Furthermore, the cleaning of high-rise litter trapped at building ledges, roofs or trees is difficult and costly. The Town Councils and NEA have been working closely to resolve this issue. In some cases, we encounter difficulty in seeking the cooperation of our residents to resolve the high-rise littering problem.
Therefore, I support the amendment to section 17 requiring the flat owner or occupier to provide information to the police or authorised officer which may lead to the identification of the alleged offender of high-rise littering. This new provision will deter high-rise littering, and facilitate enforcement efforts. But I am not sure whether the expansion of investigation powers of police officers and authorised officers will resolve the problem.
Madam, high-rise littering is usually attributed to two groups of residents, namely: (a) persons with mental illnesses; and (b) persons who are lazy to dispose of rubbish properly at home. Therefore, by obtaining information of the occupiers at the time of the offence, the authorities may identify that the alleged offender is a mentally unsound person.
What then can the authorities do to resolve the problem? We need further empowerment of the Police officers and authorised officers to bring such persons for proper medical treatment so as to resolve the root cause of the problem. Thus, I would urge the Minister to consider empowering the Police officers and authorised officers under section 17 to arrest and send such
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mentally ill persons for medical treatment.
As for repeat offenders, I support the increase of penalty to impose a fine not exceeding $20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both. This will provide a strong deterrence to high-rise littering. Madam, to further deter high-rise littering, I would urge the Ministry to consider investing in more technology, such as surveillance camera or DNA identification technologies, to identify offenders, and take strict enforcement action. At the same time, I would urge all residents staying in high-rise buildings to play a more active role to keep watch of these high-rise litterbugs and work closely with the Town Councils or authorities to make our living environment a safe and pleasant place.
Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Tampines): Madam, I welcome the Bill as it puts in place a new framework to lift the low wages of cleaners and to transform the standards of this sector. It signifies a shift in the Government's mindset towards setting a sector-specific minimum wage or wage floor, something that I and a few Members have asked the Government to consider for sometime.
I commend the Government on its readiness to take this targeted approach for the cleaning sector with its preponderance of low-wage workers. This is a critical and urgent move, given how rapidly the income gap is widening and how the valiant efforts all these years to lift their wages in various ways have proven to be slow and less than satisfactory.
About 70,000 workers clean our HDB estates, offices, buildings, hawker centres and streets. About two-thirds, or 51,000, of them are resident cleaners. Yet, despite all that they do to provide us a high quality of life in this clean and green city, to keep our economy running, and to give us a competitive edge in the world, they are paid among the lowest wages in Singapore, with their median monthly wage being $815. They are working hard and playing by the rules, and they deserve a chance to build a better life for themselves and their families. That is why this legislation is so important.
Their wages have remained largely stagnant for many years and, in some cases, have also declined. This is due mainly to the market trends that are out of their control. The rapid rise in outsourcing and the growth in the number of cleaning companies have resulted in increasing competitiveness of
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subcontracting, with contracts going to the lowest bidder.
There are now more than 900 cleaning companies. At the same time, the heavy reliance on foreign workers, which are cheap with no bargaining rights, has depressed wages. These trends have combined to erode the wages, working conditions and potential collective power of resident cleaners.
The Government has been tackling these issues. It has tightened the supply of foreign workers in the cleaning sector and increased their levies. The new mandatory licensing scheme is another critical step to counter that dynamic. The challenge is how to move in a managed and effective way from the current framework to a far more equitable arrangement. This Bill provides a useful model not only for this sector, but also for other sectors which suffer chronically from low wages, such as the security and landscaping sectors.
To ensure that it provides a successful and effective model, we need to take a hard look at possible pitfalls and to scrutinise the details of the mechanism. Madam, I would like to make three points.
First, to succeed, the model must be relatively easy to implement and enforce. The principles are clear: a legislated wage floor and wage grid will be set, specific to this sector, decided by a tripartite committee which will negotiate the wages. What is not so clear are the workings of the mechanism and the objective criteria used for setting wages. It should be recognised that wage negotiations for low-wage workers for this sector all these years have not yielded significant increases. Unions in certain low-paid industries are constantly under pressure to keep wages low in an attempt to protect jobs in a competitive global economy. At their best, they work with companies to improve productivity and profitability so that they can afford to pay it. Indeed, this is the approach that the Progressive Wage Model seems to be taking.
The Tripartite Committee recommends $1,000 as the entry-level basic wage for cleaning jobs in offices and commercial buildings, as well as the F&B sector; and $1,200 in the conservancy sector. One may ask: why $1,200 for conservancy cleaners, and not $1,300 or $1,400, for instance?
It is useful to have a more systematic and objective criteria to set the wage floor, to provide wage security and fairness for the workers, and to provide predictability and transparency for the businesses.
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For this, I would like to propose that the wage floor be set with reference to objective criteria, such as a minimum living level and inflation rate. There should be automatic annual increases linked to changes in the cost of living, with regular reviews to the wage levels.
As it appears now, the mechanism seems to depend entirely on collective bargaining by the Tripartite Committee and the ability of the members to reach a consensus. Madam, we have cause to take pride in our tripartite model but, for the purpose of law, it would be prudent to provide for contingencies. What if the negotiations were to be drawn out or to break down? Will the Commissioner for Labour intervene?
In Germany, which implements industry-specific minimum wage, it has encountered such pitfalls. Renegotiations on a sector's minimum wages are renewed regularly. But when renegotiation fails, several months may elapse, during which no minimum is in effect. Employers have sometimes seized the opportunity to hire employees at wages that are 30% below the minimum amount. This is what happened, for instance, in late 2009 in the industrial cleaning business.
It is a delicate balance to set wages at the right level. Indeed, one of the Government's major concerns of introducing minimum wages of any sort, be it sector-specific or industry-wide, has been that it would lead to a job loss, and this is a serious concern. But with the right labour measures and business incentives, and the support of Singaporeans, we can mitigate against this for this sector. There is now a tight labour market for local cleaners. Businesses need not suffer the cost inflation alone – they can draw from the various funding schemes provided by the Government and also pass some of the cost on to their customers.
Madam, it is important to prepare for the various scenarios. I would like to ask the Minister for an analysis of the impact on jobs, cleaning contracts and the steps that would be taken to mitigate the impact on those affected. This leads me to my second point.
It is important to ensure that, as this Bill pushes through the reforms, the group which we intend to help – the low-wage workers – will, indeed, see fairer wages, better working conditions and a higher quality of life.
I hear the constant mantra that wage increases should be linked to productivity. In general, that is correct. But in this case, for this sector, I would
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argue that this productivity link should not be over-emphasised. The way I see it, we have been undervaluing and underpaying our cleaners for far too long.
We are now moving decisively, through these provisions of this Bill, to put this right, to correct an injustice, to hit the reset button, as the Minister said. So, let us pay them according to the job worth.
Education and training are important, and so is increasing productivity in the longer term. But, in the short term, we should accept that the scope for increased productivity in this sector is limited. This is not unique to Singapore. Even in Europe, they found that productivity increases in the cleaning sector are particularly difficult to achieve at the bottom of the earnings scale, compared to jobs in the manufacturing sector where productivity gains are easier and faster to achieve.
To compound the problem in Singapore, most of our resident cleaners are older and low-educated. They take this job because they cannot find a better one. Their options are severely restricted. It is a tough job. For example, a typical Town Council cleaner would have to clean two to three blocks a day on top of spot cleaning. They work from 7.00 am to 4.00 pm, sometimes later. To increase productivity, he would have to cover more blocks, or do the same blocks faster. Certainly, using machines would help. But the way the corridors of HDB blocks are designed, with scupper drains, the cleaner would typically still have to use a broom to sweep every floor. For block washing, the cleaner would use a high-pressure machine jet. But this requires strength and energy. This would usually be assigned to younger foreign workers, as our older local workers find this difficult to handle.
If it is required by fiat that they must show higher productivity for getting a wage rise, I fear that our older workers will get the short end of the stick. We need to assure our older workers that even as this Bill takes effect, they will have a place in our workforce with decent and fair wages.
I would urge the Ministry to ensure that employers do not exploit workers by increasing their workload or working hours to justify the wage increase. It should also track the wage levels closely, to monitor if they are stuck at the lowest level or if there is, indeed, progression over the years.
A related point is the pay of foreign cleaners. From an equity point of view, foreign workers should also enjoy a wage increase, which should go into their pockets and not siphoned off as Government levies. It should not be added as
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extra cost to the business, which already pays a $600 levy for a foreign cleaner. The higher salaries should be taken off the foreign workers' levies. Presently, foreign cleaners are already paid lower than local cleaners, although foreign cleaners generally work longer hours and do a greater share of the dirtier and heavier work. As a matter of principle, we should pay according to the value of the job.
Last year, in Tampines Changkat, my constituency, we held a Model Cleaner Award competition. We invited residents to vote for the top five cleaners, one from each RC Zone. It is our way of recognising the good cleaners in the estate. And all five cleaners that the residents voted for were foreign workers. The residents recognise their hard work. So, why then should a foreign worker who cleans the blocks as diligently as a Singaporean worker, or, as is often the case, more diligently, continue to be paid $800 a month while a Singaporean would be paid $1,200 a month under the Progressive Wage Model? Let the foreign worker also enjoy a fair wage. This will help to build a more stable and harmonious labour environment, given Singapore's high reliance on foreign workers in such sectors and also a more decent and fair society.
My final point is on the increased penalties for littering. I welcome this. I am not so sure, however, if the response of litterbugs to big fines is one of remorse and shame or one of anger at the Government for fining them. Will they go, \"Oh dear, I am so sorry that I was caught littering. I will never do this again\", or will they curse and swear at those who have identified, nabbed and fined them?
I would ask for more emphasis on the Corrective Work Orders (CWOs), which will help to bring home the point that this is an anti-social behaviour, it is irresponsible and, at the same time, give them a sense of how it feels like to pick up after residents. And I would especially ask the Minister to consider forcing litterbugs to do CWOs in their own neighbourboods, for those who litter in their neighbourhood. Be a cleaner for a day in their own block. This would raise public awareness of the working conditions of a cleaner, as well as respect for the job. Ultimately, what would improve the working conditions of cleaners would be if there would be less litter.
There is an unfortunate attitude among some who think that because they pay the Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC), they can litter at all hours of the day and there will be a cleaner to pick up after them. And if the cleaners do not pick up fast enough, it is the cleaners' fault. Their dogs can urinate in the lift or staircase landing; they can leave rubbish all around the bins but not in the bins; they can chuck their bulky items – cupboards, mattresses – all over the
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place, anywhere, because they pay for the cleaners to remove all these. Madam, we must correct this attitude firmly. It is important to register the point that the cleaners are not servants. They are professionals deserving of consideration and respect.
If there is less rubbish left at the corridors and staircase landings, less urine and dog poo in lifts and corridors, fewer soiled pads and less leftover food thrown from windows, this will save a lot of time for the cleaner. And this will contribute to a reduction of cost for the client, in this case the Town Council and, ultimately, also the residents. Then, Singaporeans can justifiably take pride in being part of a clean city, because they help to keep it clean, rather than a cleaned city, as the Minister mentioned, which is maintained by an army of underpaid workers.
In conclusion, this Bill is a critical move to raise the wages of resident cleaners to enable them to secure a decent pay rise and feel a little more valued, a little more respected, a little more self-sufficient. If this model succeeds, there will be more low-wage people with more money in their pockets and with a better future to look forward to. We realise that such a development may be strongly resisted by certain vested interests. However, the alternative is to continue living with a large group of working poor and growing inequality, which will threaten to erode our social cohesion and the relevance of our social compact. On that note, I support the Bill.
Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang): I support the Bill but I have some concerns that I hope the Ministry can address.
Mdm Speaker, I would like to first address the new licensing requirement in the Amendment Bill. According to NEA, the new licensing regime for the cleaning industry will incentivise businesses to improve standards and productivity, and also help to enhance the professionalism and image of the cleaning industry.
In its current state, without the new licensing regime, almost 82% of the population enjoy a clean environment, as reported by the last Town Council Management Report (TCMR). All Town Councils receive a Green Mark in the area of cleanliness. Even without a 100% trained workforce today, cleaning companies, serving a large part of Singapore, are doing a decent job, according to the TCMR. So, is there any study done or proof that by imposing a 100%
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training compliance licensing requirement in the cleaning industry, standard and productivity will improve? I am thus concerned that the Government may be adding a lot more administrative burden on an industry which is already known for cheap sourcing practices, low wages, limited productivity gain and high turnover. The focus on getting all workers trained at each licence renewal cycle may take centre stage at the expense of further wage increases and productivity gains.
The new 100% training compliance licensing requirement will increase business costs for cleaning companies. It is costly to get all workers, local and foreign, trained under the Environment Cleaning WSQ (EC WSQ) Certification. A training grant for local cleaners is welcome. But the bulk of the cost pressure will come from training foreign workers under the new licensing regime. Will an assessment-only pathway (AOP) be extended to foreign cleaners as well? How much will AOP cost per session per worker? Will the foreign workers be classified as technically skilled after going through EC WSQ? Will the company then enjoy a lower levy payment, now that its foreign workers are technically skilled after going through EC WSQ?
It is also difficult to maintain a 100% trained workforce in an industry known for high attrition of workers. Local cleaners come and go in this industry. How would a cleaning company ensure all its workers are trained at any one time? If a company were to hire a group of local cleaners prior to renewing its licence, is there enough time to get these workers trained to meet the 100% training compliance requirement? Is NEA going to make AOP readily available to help such companies on short notice?
Looking at these scenarios, I have a few proposals for NEA to consider.
First, I propose to NEA to allow a company with new local hires of less than three months to be given a grace period to be trained at the point of renewing its licence. This will not only give the company more time to comply with the training requirement, it will also give the company more time to assess if these new hires are suitable for the job, and vice versa. This is to acknowledge the high attrition of cleaners in the industry.
Second, I propose to NEA to exempt part-timers from the 100% training compliance requirement. A cleaning company is in breach of licensing conditions any time it hires untrained part-timers for urgent jobs. This is not a technical breach but a material breach, and the company may risk having to pay
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a fine or having its licence suspended or revoked.
Last, I also notice that the new licensing regime seems to have taken a leaf out of the Clean Mark Accreditation Scheme (CMAS). And for some unknown reason, the new licensing regime not only subsumes the gist of the CMAS, it now makes the scheme compulsory for all companies that wish to acquire the new licence. Does it mean that the company now has to go through two assessment processes to comply with the new licence conditions?
I would thus propose that companies that have enrolled in the voluntary enhanced CMAS be exempted from the licensing requirement. This scheme is reported to be jointly developed by multi-agencies in consultation with industry representatives and unions. The scheme is comprehensive right down to paying resident cleaners progressive wages and more. Surely, any company that volunteers in this scheme is more than qualified to be in the cleaning industry.
There are many unanswered questions in this piece of legislation. I hope the Minister can shed more light on this new licensing regime and provide more clarity for companies in the cleaning industry to move forward.
Next, I support the move to enhance the investigative powers given to a Police Officer or an authorised officer to gather information from any occupier or owner of a flat, which may aid in the identification of the alleged offender in cases involving littering from a residential flat.
Littering from a residential flat is beyond just an anti-social behaviour. It poses a danger to lives and properties as well. Recently, I have a resident who was a victim of a reckless act committed by his neighbour which, thankfully, did not result in any serious fire in his house. And the cause of it all was just a tiny cigarette butt. Littering from a residential flat is hard to eradicate, and even harder to prosecute, due to the great difficulties in acquiring the necessary evidence to prosecute the alleged offender.
Many a time, residents, town councils and even MCSTs are at a loss on how to eradicate such anti-social behaviour. I hope these enhancements to the investigative powers of a Police Officer or authorised officer in cases involving littering from a residential flat will aid the collective effort by all stakeholders to make our living environment safer for all flat dwellers.
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In conclusion, the Minister has said that we are becoming like a \"cleaned\" society rather than a clean society. So, the problem confronting our cleaning industry lies beyond raising standards and productivity. The Ministry must embark on its sustained and comprehensive campaign to keep Singapore clean so that our hardworking cleaners will not be overworked and taken advantage of in our clean city.
Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mdm Speaker, I rise in support of this Bill which marks a milestone change in improving the prospects of lifting cleaners' wages. There is market failure in determining the wages of the cleaners. Cheap sourcing and competition from foreign workers have depressed their wages for a long time.
There is a general trend among service buyers to select their cleaning service providers on the basis of price as the only criterion, without considering the quality of service, the working conditions and personnel training or even the professionalism of the companies bidding for the contract.
In the past, many service providers who have invested in training and equipment may still be at a disadvantage because other service providers leverage against them during tender competition through undercutting the price by depressing cleaners' wages or cutting corners to save costs.
By doing so, the cleaning industry is devouring itself from within through nonsensical pricing, with the service buyers cheering them on this uncontrolled race to the bottom on cleaning contracts. The result, all too often, is that cleaners' wages are low and their employment conditions precarious.
This Bill is a game changer in the industry because it would create a level playing field for service providers and they now have to compete with each other based on their cleaners' training, productivity and their professional track record since wage costs would be the same across all parties. It also creates a level playing field for service buyers because their competitors are also facing the same cost pressures while trying to maintain business competitiveness.
Mdm Speaker, in the grand scheme of things, mandating the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) is perhaps the easiest thing to do in our effort to help cleaners earn better wages. However, the road ahead is still fraught with challenges for us to ensure that the Bill achieves its intended outcome to
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improve the lives of our local cleaners.
A concerted effort must be taken to ensure effective implementation and compliance within the industry. Many cleaning companies have expressed support for this Bill, but they are concerned whether service buyers of their existing contracts would allow for contract sum re-negotiation to enable them to pay their cleaners according to the Progressive Wage Model.
They shared that their profit margins are thin at between 10% and 15%, with wages forming 80% of the total cost. Unless the service buyers allow for contract renegotiation, their continued operations may be untenable.
Mdm Speaker, the Progressive Wage Model may send shock waves through the industry, and cleaning companies will face difficulty in absorbing costs and staying afloat. If there is a way for all cleaning contracts to be renegotiated, I would like the Ministry to seriously look into this. I know this is a long shot, but I believe we must legally allow service providers affected by this Bill to renegotiate their contracts and allow them to withdraw, without penalty, should any service buyers refuse to renegotiate.
The Government has shown strong support for the Progressive Wage Model when it was first announced in 2012. Many cleaners working under Government contracts are already receiving wages recommended by the Progressive Wage Model. I hope all Statutory Boards and Government-Linked Companies would be next to support their cleaning service providers by agreeing to contract renegotiation. The private sector and MCST must also follow suit.
As service buyers, they must do the right thing and stop this modern-day slavery. Making it hard for service providers to pay wages according to the Progressive Wage Model on the excuse that the contract sum has been previously agreed upon is akin to the service buyers being unfair, cruel and without any sense of righteousness.
In some countries, service buyers or management are awarded the Golden Vacuum Award if outsourced cleaners working for them have poor working conditions and are getting low salary. Why the name Golden Vacuum? It is because these service buyers \"suck the cleaners dry\" through cheap sourcing. I want to believe that no management, company or any organisation here will take pride to be shortlisted for this award and will do the right thing to help the
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cleaners earn fair wages and have good working conditions.
Mdm Speaker, another concern expressed by service providers is the practice of imposing punitive and exorbitant liquidated damages for minor breaches in the service agreement. Service providers are worried that service buyers may attempt to recoup the cost increase because of PWM by imposing liquidated damages. This will lead to a vicious cycle of service providers cutting corners to save costs but at the expense of service delivery, leading to more liquidated damages.
I would like to urge the Ministry to explore the possibility of setting up an Industry Tribunal to mediate disputes over service level agreement, especially in a business environment where outsourcing is becoming more common.
Mdm Speaker, the cleaning companies were briefed that they would need to renew their licence on an annual basis. I would like to propose that the licensing checks be conducted at two-year intervals instead of one. This would ease the strain on cleaning companies to prepare and submit the requirements to NEA for auditing. Cleaning companies awarded the Clean Mark Accreditation should also automatically qualify for the licence as it has more stringent requirements.
Given that this is an industry practice that some cleaners are \"cross-deployed\" in terms of job requirements, I hope that MOM and NEA would allow for a reasonable grace period to allow cleaning companies to adjust the categorisation of their cleaners before taking action against non-compliance. They should be given an advisory or warning, but firm action must still be taken against recalcitrant offenders, with them being subjected to punishments as outlined in the Bill. On the part of the union, we will work with our unionised cleaning companies to ensure our union members are accorded the correct classification.
Some cleaning companies are also concerned with the training requirement stipulated for licence renewal. They would like NEA to take into account the size of the company. For a company with 2,000 cleaners to comply with a 100% training requirement is more challenging, compared to companies with a much smaller cleaning workforce. With regard to the issue of new hires raised by the hon Member Mr Png Eng Huat, there is a provision for a three-month grace period for them to be trained, based on the briefing given by NEA to the service providers.
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Another consideration is for NEA to give recognition to in-house and OJT training conducted by the respective cleaning companies. This would make it easier for companies to meet the training requirement.
Mdm Speaker, while I welcome this Bill, I am also concerned about its possible impact on the less privileged cleaners or the very elderly cleaners. They risk being unemployed or having their services terminated if their productivity does not match the salaries advocated in the Progressive Wage Model. I hope service providers and service buyers would allow them to continue working.
Mdm Speaker, the effectiveness of this Bill relating to the mandatory adoption of a Progressive Wage Model requires every cleaner, every cleaning service provider and every service buyer to do their part. Cleaners must acquire the necessary skills to provide better cleaning service and do their utmost to upgrade their productivity. Service providers must pay cleaners based on wages stipulated in the Progressive Wage Model and invest in equipment for greater productivity.
On the part of service buyers, they must best-source and move away from head-count contracts. Contracts must not be one sided, with all risks borne by the service providers. It is important that service buyers work towards establishing long-term cooperative relationships with their service providers to establish mutual trust to ensure no party tries to outwit the other in their attempt to survive in this competitive business environment. It is estimated that for most building owners, cleaning costs make up a very small part of the overall costs of maintaining a property, so that significant improvements in wages could be introduced with very little effect on the returns from rental income or impacting overall costs.
Establishing a long-term relationship may also entail service buyers giving the incumbent a percentage discount on the tender price, during evaluation, to prevent a situation where cleaners' salary are cut upon contract renewal. When all stakeholders work as one, the future of the cleaning industry will be brighter. Mdm Speaker, please allow me to speak in Malay.
(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Speaker, the Environmental Public Health (Amendment) Bill is a proposal that is very welcomed by the Labour Movement because it can bring about a great change to the lives of 55,000 cleaners in Singapore who have been receiving low wages all this while due to the negative practice of outsourcing based on the lowest
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price. The arrival of cheaper foreign workers has also hindered pay increases in this sector.
The requirement imposed on cleaning companies to practise the Progressive Wage Model will bring about wage increments to cleaners that commensurate with the skills, productivity and responsibilities that they have.
The effectiveness of this Act depends on the ability of each stakeholder to play its part. The cleaners must undergo training and learn to operate machinery that can help them to become more productive. Cleaning companies must pay reasonable wages based on the Progressive Wage Model. They must also equip their workers with cleaning equipment that can make the job of cleaning easier, since many of these cleaners comprise mature workers.
The service buyers must also practise best-sourcing and avoid fixing the number of cleaners required. This is to allow cleaning companies to provide the best service using technology. They must also be willing to pay for contracts at a reasonable price in order to obtain good quality cleaning services.
(In English): I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners for their work in uplifting the cleaning industry. I would also like to express my appreciation to those involved in the Environmental Public Health (Amendment) Bill for supporting to make a difference to the life of the cleaner. Mdm Speaker, I support the Bill.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Non-Constituency Member): Mdm Speaker, this Bill enhances the powers of the Director-General of Public Health to improve the state of cleanliness and public health in Singapore. A prominent feature of this Bill is a new requirement for all cleaning companies to be licensed and adopt the tiered wage system for their cleaners.
The Government's intent appears to be to use licensing to compel all cleaning businesses to adopt its Progressive Wage Model (PWM). The PWM consists of a ladder of wage levels which is supposed to provide a pathway for cleaners to progress to higher wages as they become more skilled, more productive and take on higher responsibilities. The PWM was introduced to counter the practice of cheap sourcing which, the Government says, prevents the market from working well, to translate training, standards and productivity
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gains into improved wages for workers.
The Government has taken pains to emphasise that the PWM is not a national minimum wage because it believes that wage increases must be driven by productivity growth. Hence, the PWM does not just set wage floors; it also prescribes requirements for training and certification for cleaners.
I welcome any measure that will raise the incomes of low-wage workers on a sustainable basis over the long term, and I am glad to see the wage floors introduced in the PWM. However, the PWM contains several big assumptions which must be questioned. It assumes that training and certification will translate to better work performance, which will improve cleaning standards and lead to productivity gains, which will then justify higher wages.
I am not fully convinced of the causal link between training and improved productivity in the cleaning industry. What studies has the Government done to validate this assumption?
For the Environmental Cleaning (EC) Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) programmes, does the WDA require training providers to administer pre- and post-course evaluations and assessments to measure training effectiveness? If so, can the Minister share how these assessments prove that the EC training programmes conducted so far have translated into better work performance and improved business outcomes for the cleaning companies and the cleaning industry as a whole?
Let us dive a little deeper into what the EC WSQ programme entails. The basic EC WSQ Certificate requires general cleaners to undergo up to 122 hours of classroom training with approved training providers. This is over 15 working days for a full-time cleaner, or 30 working days for a part-time cleaner. It should be noted that many cleaners work part-time.
The core and elective units in these courses include: perform basic cleaning of hard floor surfaces – 24 hours; perform basic cleaning of washrooms – 32 hours; perform basic cleaning of carpets – 24 hours; and demonstrate an understanding of the local cleaning industry – 12 hours.
And that is just for the first level of certification. The next level, the Higher Certificate in Environmental Cleaning, demands another 16 working days of training, while the Advanced Certificate requires another 21 working days. During this time of a nation-wide manpower crunch, it would be a significant
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strain on cleaning companies to have to release each of their cleaners for so many days of training.
More importantly, do general cleaners really need so many hours of classroom training to perform their work well? I believe for most general cleaners, on-the-job training, hands-on experience and a good working attitude will be more effective and productive than 15 working days of classroom training. Furthermore, the methodology for many of these courses includes lectures, AV presentations and written tests. This might present a challenge for the many elderly cleaning \"aunties\" and \"uncles\".
These courses do not come cheap either. The total course fees for the basic WSQ Certificate in EC are over $2,000 per trainee. Yes, there is Government funding of up to 90% of course fees for Singapore residents, but this funding is still taxpayer money.
There are only five approved training providers for this programme, including NTUC Learning Hub and ST Electronics (e-Services). With over 55,000 resident cleaners and many more foreign cleaners to train, I wonder who is benefiting more from this mandatory certification programme: the cleaners or the training providers?
Even the Government seems to recognise that training can place a burden on companies and is not always necessary to improve work performance. Because of this, WDA allows an Assessment Only Pathway (AOP) for cleaners to obtain their WSQ certification without having to attend classroom training.
To comply with the licensing requirements and the PWM, there will be many more costs for cleaning firms, over and above the higher wage bills. These include the cost of training, the cleaners' absentee hours, the cost of training administration which includes submission of claims, cost of assessments and penalties for any non-compliance.
Will cleaning companies, many of whom are already operating on very thin margins, be able to bear all these costs? Is the Government prepared for the possibility that many of these cleaning companies will have to shut down as a result of these compliance costs? If this happens, many cleaners will lose their jobs and may not be able to easily find jobs in other companies because they do not hold the necessary WSQ certifications. We have to keep in mind that many cleaners are elderly workers who are not able to easily adapt to a new work environment. What is the Government's plan to help these workers,
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beyond existing social assistance schemes?
I would like to seek some clarifications from the Minister regarding how the wage levels under the PWM were derived. The PWM for office and commercial cleaners dictates a wage floor of $1,000 for indoor cleaners, $1,200 for outdoor cleaners, $1,400 for multi-skilled cleaners and $1,600 for supervisors. F&B establishment and conservancy cleaners have slightly different wage levels.
How were these wage levels derived? In other countries, minimum wages are set in a much more transparent manner, using factors like age, industry sector, skill level, or cost of living and the wage required to cover the basic needs of workers and their families. Which factors were considered and what was the methodology used by the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners (TCC) in setting the current PWM wage levels?
I note that section 80H(3) of the Bill states that the Commissioner for Labour shall consider the recommendations by the TCC in setting the PWM wage levels. In order to increase the transparency of these wage setting exercises and provide better guidance for other industries, I would like to propose that section 80H(2) and (3) be amended as follows.
First, to require the TCC to publish a report explaining its methodology of how it derived its wage recommendations; and, second, to require the Commissioner to explain his reasons for differing, if at all, from the TCC's recommendations.
Madam, the Government has said that this is not the beginning of a national minimum wage policy, but a targeted sectoral approach to upgrading skills, quality and wages. However, by introducing this Bill which targets the cleaning industry, it has swung from a laissez-faire free market approach of letting companies determine their workers' wages, to one featuring a high degree of micromanagement of cleaning businesses by civil servants.
This is, in fact, a more intrusive and interventionist approach than a national minimum wage. A national minimum wage approach leaves it to companies to adapt and respond to the minimum wage levels set by the Government and the methodologies used are transparent, taking into account cost of living, economic conditions and labour market factors. The PWM leaves most of the adaptation and response to Government bureaucrats, most of whom have little industry experience.
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Are we sure that civil servants can do a better job at improving the productivity of the cleaning industry than the cleaning company bosses?
Madam, the Government has announced that it will soon extend the PWM to the security industry. Will it also become a template for some other industries employing low-wage workers? If so, it is important that we embark on the correct approach to raising wages, and not go overboard in introducing bureaucratic micro-management of businesses and industries, which might end up hurting both the businesses and the workers they employ.
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, I rise in support of the Environmental Public Health (Amendment) Bill.
The Bill will achieve several firsts. NTUC and the Labour Movement have been lobbying for the implementation of the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) for more than a year now. With this Bill, it is also the first time through a statutory provision that the concept of PWM is introduced, endorsed and mandated. In fact, the very words \"progressive wage\" appears for the first time in the new sections 80F, 80G and 80H of the Bill. I am particularly heartened that the Government, through NEA, has supported this drive towards implementing PWM.
In the same vein, it is the first time a mandatory licensing scheme for cleaning companies is introduced for the industry. For the first time, the Director-General of NEA can exercise the grant or refusal of a cleaning licence in view of whether the cleaning company is able to pay a monthly basic wage of at least $1,000 to the cleaners.
The genesis for mandatory licensing with a sectoral wage ladder stems from the PWM advocated by NTUC for the cleaning and other sectors. The emphasis is not just on the monthly minimum basic wage of $1,000 alone but the development of a progressive wage plan, accreditation and building in a series of wage, skills and career ladders to get workers' pay to move up through increased productivity by making their jobs easier, safer and smarter.
To give full force and legislative effect to the spirit of tripartism and the work of the tripartite partners towards this end, it is the first time where it is stated explicitly and engraved in section 80(H) that reference will be taken from the recommendations of the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners which comprise
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industry players, Government agencies, including NEA, the Ministry, as well as our unions representing the cleaning industry.
The passing of this Bill is a significant breakthrough on two fronts. Firstly, the Bill provides a catalyst effect linking the public sector's procurement processes and budget for public services, such as cleaning, to its push for better wages for low-wage workers in this sector. Secondly, the requirements for licensing, a first for the cleaning industry, will set a sectoral benchmark and instil the urgency of the private sector to embrace and raise their productivity.
Singapore faces the challenge of a widening income gap. The median income of Singapore in 2012 is $3,480, with an inflation rate projected at 3% this year. We have kept this income gap in check through various national schemes, such as Workfare. We must constantly remind ourselves that this gap should not be allowed to grow. Due to cheap sourcing, wages of workers in low-wage outsourced sectors have proven to be sticky. This has to change. For PWM to work, the collective determination of the tripartite cluster and Government agencies within the cluster is critical.
NTUC, as part of the tripartite cluster, will seek to monitor the progress of PWM. In Deputy Prime Minister Tharman's speech last month at the Best Sourcing Symposium held at e2i, he highlighted that once the Bill is passed, non-compliance will be taken seriously and penalties will be levied on companies which have failed to meet the licensing requirements. Employers should take heed and pay attention to the welfare of their cleaners.
Linking minimum pay to skills certification is a good start for the cleaners. Hopefully, employers can also proactively consider other hygiene factors that will improve the working life of cleaners, such as in the areas of transport, healthcare and proper meal breaks at proper rest areas. We have observed that most of the workers in these outsourced sectors are generally not so young. We need our employers to abandon old mindsets and explore how we can make their work easier, safer and smarter with automation and technology. Perhaps, the day will come when we do not see brooms, mops or even rags anymore, but more use of innovative devices and equipment to make a cleaner's job much easier. We have the Inclusive Growth Programme and the Progressive Wage Incentive, amongst other Government funding, to help employers implement PWM and enhance productivity amidst this tight labour market.
We, from NTUC and the Labour Movement, thank our fellow tripartite partners in this drive to uplift the wages for cleaners. Most importantly, I wish
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to state in clear and unambiguous terms that we will forge ahead to extend this PWM and best-sourcing initiative to other low-wage sectors, such as landscaping and provision of private security services. We will not stop here. We will also look at how PWM can be applied to PME jobs as well. We will go sector by sector, company by company and job by job to share, cascade and implement PWM.
With this approach, we will go beyond tripartism at the national level but transcend into this new wave of sectoral tripartism. Increasingly, we see the importance of tripartism at the sector and industry levels as the programmes and initiatives vary across different industries and the interface may well be with public sector agencies and regulatory bodies other than MOM. An example would be in the healthcare sector where MOH plays an active role as a co-lead in the healthcare cluster tripartite workgroup's effort in implementing PWM and rolling out productivity initiatives.
Last but not least, I am glad to hear that the same PWM framework would also be applied to the private security sector in due course. Having been with the Union of Security Employees previously as its Executive Secretary, I have personally witnessed the long hours which private security officers have to put in in their jobs and the tough conditions they have to work under. Implementing a progressive wage ladder will serve as an impetus for buyers of security services and security agencies to move away from headcount to performance-based contracts, embrace technology and innovation, and for private security officers to constantly challenge themselves to upgrade their skills and capabilities and, at the end, earn a better pay.
[Deputy Speaker (Mr Charles Chong) in the Chair]
Whether it is a cleaner, private security officer or landscape technician, their life is an arduous one, starting work even before dawn, working on night shifts and having to ply different work sites and often under the beating of the elements. Their stories pull at the heartstrings and serve to remind us that no matter how successful Singapore has become, we will need to look out to ensure that none is left behind. In many ways, PWM will also transform the jobs and make them more attractive. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in Chinese.
(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] We from the Labour Movement applaud this amendment Bill. It will not only benefit some 50,000 resident cleaners, but also bring about many \"firsts\".
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This is the first time we are introducing a mandatory licensing scheme in the cleaning industry. More importantly, this Bill also helps to drive the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) championed by the Labour Movement.
There are several impetuses behind the PWM. The first is to improve the skills of the workers. Those who are more skilled will enjoy higher wages. The second is to improve the cleaners' career prospect so their wages can increase; the third is to encourage the employers to use new equipment to increase productivity.
The Labour Movement appreciates the collaborative spirit of the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners. We hope that PWM will not only be applied to the cleaning sector or other low-wage sectors; it can be applied to all sectors and all businesses. I learned from other union leaders that the tripartite partners are already starting the discussion on how to implement PWM in the private security sector. I wish them success.
(In English): In conclusion, I would like to commend the Environmental Public Health (Amendment) Bill for lending weight to sectoral tripartism and as a step to improve the livelihood of our well-deserving cleaners who ensure the hygiene of our nation. I hope to see PWM as a system which extends beyond the cleaning, private security and landscape industries to other sectors, including PME jobs. I support the Bill.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Environmental Public Health (Amendment) Bill. I walk around my HDB estate regularly to have a feel of the local environment of the constituency. Each time, when I see a large amount of litter around the estate, I feel a sense of disappointment. The presence of the litter is not due to the lack of effort by the Town Council cleaners. Instead, they are the result of inconsiderate actions of a small number of people who litter and who make the living environment unpleasant for the rest of the residents.
I checked regularly to ensure that the Town Council cleaners carry out their work. However, despite all the hard work that they do, the estate can never be clean enough unless everyone does their part to keep the estate clean.
During a recent \"Clean the Town\" exercise which my Town Council carried out, I had picked up the following items from the ground floor of some of the
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flats: cigarette butts, soiled tissue paper, bottle caps, empty cigarette packages, plastic bags, styrofoam boxes, straws and empty bottles.
My cleaners and residents also feedback to me that they have seen sanitary pads, packets of unconsumed food and even human waste being thrown down onto the ground floor by inconsiderate upstairs residents. Unfortunately, NEA finds it difficult to track down the culprits as it requires 24 hours' surveillance of the suspected flats. Even with the high-rise CCTV, it is usually difficult to determine exactly which person in the flat unit is the actual offender who throws the waste litter from the flat.
The latest amendment to the Act gives the NEA a boost to track down the offender and to take action against that litterbug. Clause 5(5) of the bill imposes an obligation on the flat owner or occupier of the flat to provide certain information required by the police to identify the person who was at the flat at the time of the offence. This will certainly help the police or NEA to identify an offender who deliberately throws litter down from the flat.
With this amendment to the law, hopefully, we will be able to reduce the number of incidents whereby recalcitrant offenders can get away from being punished even though NEA knows clearly which flat is responsible for the litter. For those residents who are innocent of any littering offence, they do not have to worry because all they have to do is to provide the details of the person who was occupying the flat at the time of the offence. Hopefully, this law will enable Singapore to remain a clean and green country with a living environment which residents will be proud of.
I have a few questions to ask the Minister regarding this part of the Bill.
Under clause 5(6) of the Bill, what is the intended meaning of \"without reasonable excuse\"? Under what circumstances would the Minister accept as \"reasonable excuse\" from the owner or occupier of the flat unit?
Next, in the event that the owner of the flat provides information that there is more than one person occupying the flat at the time of the offence, how would the police or NEA be able to identify the actual culprit who committed the littering offence?
For the punishment under clause 5(6), other than doubling of the fine, would the Government also consider imposing a Corrective Work Order as punishment on the person who, without reasonable cause, failed to provide
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information required by the Police? And this is to cater for a situation whereby the offender may be financially unable to pay the fine.
Would the Government also consider DNA testing of the \"matter\" or \"thing\" being thrown or discarded so as to identify the person who threw or discarded the \"matter\" or \"thing\"?
Finally, Sir, for persons who are found to be suffering from some mental illness and who have littered, urinated or defecated in public, what would the Government do about such offenders? Whilst I am sympathetic towards their mental condition, sometimes, the Town Council is under great pressure to find a solution to provide an acceptable and pleasant environment for the rest of the residents.
In respect of clause 5(4) of the Bill, may I ask the Minister whether this would also extend to owners or persons in charge of a heavy vehicle which leaves construction debris like sand or cement onto the roads? Can MEWR take stricter action against such heavy vehicles to deter such vehicles from leaving debris along the road which, in turn, causes danger to other road users?
Next, Sir, moving to Part IXA of the Bill, I support the move by the Government to improve the wages of our cleaners. Very often, cleaners are low-skilled and not well educated residents. As a result, they do not get to enjoy the improvements to living standards which many Singaporeans take for granted. Regardless of how else they improve their skills, there is a limit to the increase in productivity which employers can ask from these workers. As a result, the wages of cleaners have remained generally low.
Whilst the Government and the unions can continue to push for improvements to the productivity of the cleaners, I feel that, as a nation which has done well economically, we should do more to help our lower-skilled workers secure a better wage and to have improvements to their living standards. Asking the cleaning companies to implement a progressive wage plan for their cleaners and to ensure that the cleaners continue with upgrading courses is something to be strongly encouraged.
Hence, I support this Part of the Bill as it will improve the wages and working conditions of our cleaners. There are many details which are not available yet as they are dependent on the recommendations of the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners. However, I do recall reading an article by Prof Tommy Koh in 2012 where he compared the wages of a cleaner in Denmark, Finland, Norway
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and Sweden where the wages of the cleaners in those countries are between $2,850 and $5,500. Would the Government be prepared to eventually push the wages of the low-wage cleaners and other low-wage workers to a higher level, not necessarily of that amount but to a higher level, so that there is eventually more equity in income distribution? This may, of course, mean higher taxes and higher costs of living for all Singaporeans. What is the Government's view on this?,
May I seek just a minor clarification from the Minister – does this section apply to self-employed cleaning ladies who clean offices? What about self-employed cleaning ladies who carry out cleaning of residential households? There are quite a few such small businesses and many of them are wondering what is the impact to them and their livelihood once the new law is in place? Sir, I support the Bill.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Sir, I thank the Members who have spoken and I note that both sides of the House have expressed support for this Bill. If I may take the liberty of summarising the issues and questions being raised, I think it is in the following order.
First, why are we having licensing? Secondly, is there a link to productivity? Third, why have training? Fourth, what are the implications on jobs and contracts? Fifth, why are we focused on locals only or primarily?
And then there was a cluster of other issues related to littering, basically questioning our tone, our attitude towards increased penalties, increased surveillance, as well as a few technical questions which Mr Lim Biow Chuan has raised.
I want to commend, especially Mr Patrick Tay, for his speech. It is the most comprehensive exposition of what the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) is, and, perhaps, it is no surprise because he is speaking from the union.
So, let me address the first issue: why licensing? The concept of progressive wages was not invented in this House. It was not invented by my Ministry or by NEA. It originated from the NTUC. And NTUC felt that we should have a ladder and this ladder should be predicated on productivity, training and
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capability, and, underlining that, is this value of a fair wage for our cleaners.
They first proposed this idea about two years ago and the rest of us in Cabinet felt, \"Yes, this is a good idea\". The fact that it targets especially a segment of our workers who are older, less educated and have been vulnerable to cheap-sourcing, made it more attractive. So, we said, \"We support it and, in fact, Government will lead by example.\" So, we said, \"Government will only contract with companies that have voluntarily come onto the Clean Mark scheme\". I believe the PAP Town Councils coordinated by Dr Teo Ho Pin also voluntarily came onto this.
The Government even provided more. MOF said, \"Well, for all Government contracts, if the employers make adjustments to their workers' pay, we will also find ways to help such enlightened employers financially.\" Members will recall that, in fact, in the last Budget, the Deputy Prime Minister announced the Wage Credit Scheme in which the Government pays 40% for wage rises which employers make last year as well as this year, and I think for another year forward.
The point is that it was a good idea. There was no shortage of support, even financial support, but it was not enough. It did not take off. My question was: why? When we went around and we asked employers, \"Do you think cleaners should be paid more?\", everyone said \"Yes\". Employers said \"Yes\". But the key problem they identified for us was the lack of a level playing field which means, \"Yes, fine, I believe my cleaners should be paid more; I want to pay my cleaners more; I want to give them good terms; I want to have proper terms of employment, payslips and all that. But my competitor is not bound by such and because my competitor is not bound by this, he has an unfair advantage, he undercuts me and I won't win future contracts.\"
And even though the Government and the PAP Town Councils have taken the lead, they said, \"Well, thank you very much but you constitute a small fraction of the overall market. In fact, if you want me to voluntarily bind myself to such enlightened employment practices, it's not worth my while.\" Some companies will actually say, \"In that case, I don't want to touch Government contracts. I don't want to touch PAP Town Council contracts. I want to go after the bulk of contracts out there which operate on cheap-sourcing.\"
I have explained all this at length so that Members understand why we took this step of licensing. It was not a step which this Government embarks on lightly. As many Members in this House said, we want to be careful not to
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micromanage; we want to be careful not to increase costs. We do not want to add administrative burdens to our companies, especially our SMEs, at a time like this when they are facing so much stress because of the curtailed access to foreign labour. Nevertheless, we decided to go for licensing in order to achieve a level playing field. That is the answer to the first cluster of questions.
Then the next question: is there a link to productivity? Can you really improve productivity in cleaning? The answer is: it is very difficult but there is a role and a place for training. For instance, to operate a machine does require some minimum instructions, it requires familiarity and the fact that the cleaner may be older or less educated, in fact, makes it even more important that we train them on how to use this.
I think Mr Giam tried to say, \"Well, we are having excessive burdens – number of hours of training.\" As far as this legislation is concerned, the minimum requirement is one module – eight hours. The module costs slightly over $200, of which the Government will fund 90%. So, in fact, you are talking about $23.
Members of this House will agree that providing a modicum of training, heavily subsidised, so that our workers really can take advantage of new tools and new technologies is viable, is worthwhile and is not an unnecessary imposition of a burden or an unjustified burden on our companies.
Next question and this was an important question: \"Why did you choose this route of a Tripartite Cluster?\" Mr Giam unfairly said, \"This is a bunch of civil servants sitting down, micromanaging, deciding salaries.\" Absolutely not the case.
The Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners consists of the unions, the employers and the people in the industry. I took pains just now in my opening speech to say this is not a minimum wage by political decree. I do not want that. I hope wages in the future will not be set by Members in this House. It should certainly not be set by the civil servants either. It should be set through a tripartite process of consultation and consensus involving employers, employee groups and the unions.
Why do we want to do that? Because after almost 50 years of running Singapore, we have found that our model of tripartism is a key competitive advantage. Yes, I know it is not easy and, from time to time, there will be long arguments. But this system has worked well and our clear guidance to the
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Tripartite Cluster is that, \"Whatever you do, do not kill this sector; do not destroy jobs, do not deny job prospects for the people in it.\" So, I would urge Mr Giam and others to give the Tripartite Cluster an opportunity. Let them prove that their recommendations are realistic and practical, both in terms of wages as well as terms of employment.
And, again, I will give Members the assurance that we are not trying to burden our companies. You can ask me details and I will tell you I do not know the details because I do not want to wade into the details of exactly what is printed in the payslip, what is printed in the terms of employment. I would rather that it be determined by people who are in that sector and, hence, the primacy of Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners. I would urge this House to have faith, let us see how this works. I am sure we will need to make adjustments over time and we will make the necessary adjustments.
The next question was the implications on jobs and contracts. You are absolutely right. We must be extremely sensitive to whether or not we end up destroying jobs. That is the key worry when people start talking about minimum wages or wage floors. I have said just now we do not want to be ideological about this matter. I do not want to get into the theoretical discussions about the pros and cons of a minimum wage. But I just said we are primarily concerned about making sure that our cleaners continue to be able to get jobs that they want and they get paid a fair wage which, in any case, all the employers seem to believe they are entitled to and can achieve if there is a level playing field, if there is adequate training and there is adequate access to the technology.
The next question, I think, was Ms Irene Ng's, \"Why only locals?\" Again, I do not want to get into an extended debate but the first point I would make is that my primary responsibility is to Singaporeans. Second point I would make is that when foreign workers come to Singapore, they come on agreed terms and there is no reason for us to insist that those terms be exactly identical to the terms of employment and to the wages of locals. They are coming from foreign lands with completely different cost structures. They come here with their eyes wide open, they come here voluntarily and we should allow that market to continue. Otherwise, if you consider what we are doing now on the supply of foreign labour and if you are to suddenly make a quantum leap in wages for foreign workers, I think you will well and truly kill our local companies. So, no, I am not focusing on foreign labour sources for cleaners. I am focusing on ensuring that Singaporean cleaners get a fair and decent wage.
The next list of issues was with regard to littering. All Members who spoke agreed that there was a need to enhance the penalties – regrettable but
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necessary. In fact, there is a deeper issue behind that. I think Ms Irene Ng alluded to that. If the probability of getting caught is low, then once in a blue moon, someone gets caught for littering, that person gets very angry, very surprised and very shocked, and says, \"How come I am the one who gets booked and not someone else?\" I have told NEA that, henceforth, we are going to adopt an approach of increased surveillance and we have to increase the probability of getting caught. The idea is not to catch more people or to collect more fines. In fact, by simply making it clear to everyone that if you are irresponsible and you litter, the probability of you being identified and prosecuted is high, I am hoping that increased deterrence will, in fact, mean fewer people get prosecuted, fewer people pay fines. After all, my ultimate objective is to reduce the amount of litter and to reduce irresponsible behaviour within our estates.
There were other questions: \"Do we need higher tech?\" I think many Members, including Mr Png Eng Huat, supported the use of high-rise surveillance cameras. This cannot be the complete solution. It is one measure. But we cannot put high-rise surveillance cameras on all blocks of flats all the time. So, we need to target where the problem is most difficult. On this point, I would also add that the Town Councils have to cooperate with the NEA, because if the Town Councils make it difficult for NEA to install these high-rise surveillance cameras, we cannot do our job, we cannot help you identify culprits and we cannot deter people in your precincts.
There was an interesting suggestion about CWOs. Yes, I agree with the Member. I think CWOs should be publicised and I think we should make them do work in their own neighbourhoods. Hopefully, the fear of peer pressure from your own neighbours who know that you have littered your own area will make them think twice. In fact, to be honest, although I do not have the exact figure here, the recidivism rate, that means the rate of re-offence of the CWOs, is significantly lower. So, I will take the point that we, perhaps, should ask for more of such sentences in the future.
I just want to address two other technical points. There was a question on whether the self-employed are covered by this Bill. The answer is no. If we read this Bill, it is really going after outsourcing companies which employ people or engage people in order to provide cleaning services to other entities. So, for a person who is directly self-employed and looking for casual work, this Bill will not impact their ability to find work or their ability to continue making a living.
Reasonable excuse: that was a question from a lawyer, so I had to consult the AGC. This was basically with respect to asking an owner to furnish details
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of the people who are occupying the flat and, therefore, may have contributed to high-rise littering. An example of a reasonable excuse will be if you, the owner, were to say you were overseas, the flat is unoccupied and the flat was burgled at that time, so clearly the owner did not know who was in the flat and who could have contributed to the high-rise litter. That is an example which the AGC has informed me. We will have a reasonable approach to this issue.
Let me conclude, Mr Deputy Speaker, by saying that, at the end of the day, our approach to this has to be based on values. The first value is fairness. That is why we want to give cleaners who work so hard a fair wage. Second value is that of responsibility. We are responsible not only for ourselves, our families and our own homes but also for our neighbourhoods. If there are irresponsible members in our community, we must be prepared to act against them, to deter them and to, hopefully, put them on the right track.
Finally, let me thank all Members and, especially the trade union movement, because this Bill and this very major move to institutionalise progressive wages through licensing would not have been possible without the support and active formulation of the unions.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Mr Gerald Giam. You may seek your clarification but not make a speech.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: Yes, Sir. I have three clarifications for the Minister. One is regarding the requirement for the WSQ programmes to be taken before you can be certified. I understand what the Minister means that you only need to have one WSQ EC module in order to meet the requirements under this law.
But the law also requires the companies to adopt the Progressive Wage Model which requires companies to achieve the Certificate in Environmental Cleaning, the higher certificate and advanced certificate, in order for the cleaners to progress up the wage ladder. So, it is not just one module, it is actually more modules at the end of the day for these cleaning companies to send their cleaners for.
Secondly, I first acknowledge the Minister's point that the TCC does not consist of only civil servants but the Minister has not responded to my request on whether the TCC can publish the methodologies for arriving at its wage
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recommendation and explain its reasons for coming to those recommendations.
And the third clarification is: the Minister did not answer my question about what the Government's plan is to help the workers who find themselves out of a job because of the consolidation of the cleaning industry as a result of this law.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Thank you and just quick answers. As far as this Bill is concerned and the imposition of licensing, we just want to focus on the workers first. As long as the worker has gone for that one module, he will qualify as a trained worker. If a company finds that there is greater value from sending more workers for additional training modules, for instance, the company may have some very sophisticated equipment or very sophisticated purchasers who want special services, we should not stand in their way.
The point I want you to understand is that we are putting in just a minimum requirement and we will be guided. And I accept the Member's point that we should not train for training's sake and we should not unnecessarily inflate expenditure. I accept that point.
The second point is that he was asking for the TCC to publish its deliberations. Again, in the spirit of not being overly intrusive, I will take this as a suggestion from the Member. We will convey that to the TCC but I do not want to prescribe that; I certainly do not want to make that mandatory within a legislative framework. As I have said before, this is a unique feature which we have in Singapore. This is tripartism that works. It has worked so far and without us having to be overly intrusive, without asking them to be overly officious, and everybody just takes official positions, digs trenches and becomes defensive about it. This has worked. Let tripartism work.
The third issue is plans to help workers who are out of jobs. First of all, I really do not believe cleaners will suddenly find that there are no job openings. In fact, because of the shortage of labour and especially the reduction of foreign labour, I think the opposite is going to be true. There are going to be far more job vacancies than cleaners available. The question will be whether the cleaner will want to work. And I think the answer to that question is – will he receive a fair wage? Will he receive good terms of employment? Will he be working for an enlightened employer?
Beyond that – as I have said earlier – do not view this progressive wage as a magic bullet or the final solution. As I have said just now, there will still be
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low-wage workers, even at $1,600, they will still qualify for Workfare. And the entire suite of Government support for low-income families will apply. So, the point is that the amount of support which we will continue to give will be extensive, will be comprehensive and will be integrated.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: Just one more clarification, Minister. Will the workers need to get the EC WSQ certificate before they can qualify for that minimum wage that is specified in the Progressive Wage Model, or do they just have to take that one module?
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The onus will be on the employer to make sure that they have sent their workers. Remember the whole objective here is to make things better and easier and more secure for the workers. We are not going to burden the workers and say, \"Well, you have not gone, you are not going to receive that wage.\" Not at all. The burden would be on the employer. But I hope Members of this House will appreciate that we have tried very carefully to achieve the right balance. We do not want to squeeze the employer so hard that the whole business collapses. On the other hand, we got to make sure that everything we do makes life better for the worker.
[(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. – [Dr Vivian Balakrishnan]. (proc text)]
[(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]
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The Minister for Transport (Mr Lui Tuck Yew): Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
This Bill seeks to make changes to the Rapid Transit Systems Act to improve LTA's regulatory oversight over the Rapid Transit System (RTS) licensees and enhance LTA's ability to develop commuter facilities at MRT stations and ensure the timely construction of RTS works. There are four key areas of change.
Let me first address the changes in the Bill to increase the maximum penalty for rail incidents.
Earlier this afternoon, I updated the House on the progress made in improving rail reliability. This progress has come about because the rail operators have invested substantially more in maintenance, and implemented targeted measures to address train and system-related issues identified by the joint LTA-rail operator teams. While we will continue to work collaboratively with the rail operators to improve the reliability and performance of the rail system, this must be complemented by effective licensee regulations.
Following the conclusion of the Committee of Inquiry investigations in 2012, LTA undertook a review of its rail regulatory framework to set higher Operating Performance Standards (OPS) for service levels, and more prescriptive and stringent Codes of Practice for maintenance and incident management. I am sure the House will remember that this is brought forward in 2013. The intent is to achieve better reliability and service levels for commuters, by enhancing the penalties for operators if they fail to prevent rail incidents and properly manage their impact on commuters and to ensure that they strengthen their maintenance regimes and operations.
To this end, we have tightened the OPS, which will progressively take effect from 1 January this year. Rail operators are now required to ensure that train frequencies do not exceed five minutes, except during periods of extremely low ridership in the early hours, morning or very late at night. New OPS will also hold operators accountable for short service delays. In addition, LTA has mandated more stringent and prescriptive Codes of Practice, which would require rail operators to review their maintenance regimes periodically, monitor and analyse trends of faults and defects, and submit reports of the trend analysis and follow-up measures to LTA. The overall maintenance approach for our rail system will also shift from a posture where we reactively \"detect and rectify\", to one where we proactively \"predict and prevent\". With stricter
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regulation of train frequencies and maintenance regimes, commuters will benefit with shorter waits for trains, and greater assurance that train journeys will not be interrupted by train faults and delays.
In tandem, LTA has recalibrated its penalty guidelines for each category of regulatory breach to better reflect the severity of incidents and their impact on commuters, and enhance their deterrent effect. RTS licensees are now subject to lower tolerance and higher penalties for individual categories of regulatory breach. Overall, any incident involving multiple breaches and service disruption will warrant a higher overall financial penalty than today.
To effect this, clause 8 of the Bill therefore amends section 19 of the RTS Act to raise the maximum financial penalty for each rail incident to 10% of the annual fare revenue of the licensed rapid transit system affected, or $1 million, whichever is higher. Unlike the previous maximum quantum of $1 million, setting the maximum penalty as a percentage of the fare revenue makes it commensurate with the scale of operations of the affected rail system.
When deciding on the 10% maximum penalty quantum, we studied the maximum penalties of other domestically regulated services, such as energy and telecommunications. We also looked at other jurisdictions such as France and the United Kingdom.
We will continue to channel penalties paid by RTS licensees into the Public Transport Fund, to fund schemes that would benefit public transport commuters such as Public Transport Vouchers for needy households.
Sir, the second set of changes to the RTS Act is to enhance LTA's regulatory powers over the board composition of RTS licensees. Clause 7 of the Bill introduces a new section 18A, which empowers LTA to compel, if the situation warrants, an RTS licensee to augment its board.
This is to ensure that the boards comprise the appropriate and relevant range of expertise and experience, including engineering background, needed to fulfil their primary role as public rail transport operators. We do not envisage invoking this provision lightly, as it is intrusive. However, this provision helps ensure that boards take a longer term, more sustainable view of operations, and ensure that the board is adequately equipped to discharge its responsibilities.
To enforce the power given to LTA under section 18A, clause 8 includes non-compliance as an offence for which LTA may impose a penalty under
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section 19.
Sir, the third set of amendments in the Bill gives LTA further powers to develop our railway facilities to benefit commuters. Currently, there is no legislation that enables LTA to fit stations with commuter facilities, such as bicycle racks, except where the additional facility falls on State land within or adjoining road reserves. By amending section 4 of the RTS Act, clause 3 of the Bill allows LTA to enter State land, even if it is not adjoining road reserves, but as long as it adjoins the railway area, to construct facilities for railway commuters.
In addition, clause 2 amends section 2 to introduce a new definition of \"railway commuter facilities\", which expressly includes bicycle racks, lifts, escalators, staircases, ramps and other amenities to enhance connectivity to MRT stations. Through clause 6 of the Bill, LTA is now empowered to develop these railway commuter facilities and to require the rail operators to maintain them as part of the station premises.
The final set of amendments in the Bill enhances LTA's access to private land for the timely completion of RTS construction and improvement works. Currently, under section 5 of the RTS Act, when private land is affected by RTS construction works, land owners receive a two-month advance notice prior to occupation. There have been, however, instances where private land owners refuse to surrender their land after the two-month notice period, or demand that compensation be agreed upon before granting access.
Clause 4 of the Bill hence amends section 5 to introduce a new penalty of up to $1,000 to deter land owners or occupiers from denying, obstructing, hindering or delaying LTA's access to private land for RTS construction works after LTA has fulfilled the requisite two-month advance notice period. This penalty quantum is aligned to the current penalty under section 9 for occupiers who impede the LTA's rightful access to both State and private land for inspection and survey purposes. For consistency, clause 5 also amends section 9 to align the exact circumstances under which occupiers may be penalised for such obstruction of rightful access, with the circumstances stated in the amended section 5.
In summary, this Bill strengthens the LTA's regulatory oversight of the RTS licensees. It enhances its ability to develop commuter facilities at MRT stations, and supports the LTA's exercise of authority as Singapore's railway developer.
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With these amendments, LTA will be able to better achieve its overall improvement plan for the rail system to restore reliability, to raise service standards and to enhance rail connectivity for commuters' benefits. Sir, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Mr Deputy Speaker, I welcome this Bill to further strengthen powers of LTA to ensure that the public transport licensees discharge their responsibilities to provide a reliable and sustainable rail system to serve the public commuters.
Apart from enhancing the LTA's regulatory powers, this Bill also enhances LTA's ability to improve the rail network's connectivity to meet diverse commuter needs.
Service reliability has been an issue of concern for commuters and, indeed, there have been a number of significant service disruptions. MOT and LTA have taken serious steps since the Committee of Inquiry was concluded in 2012 to tighten the regulatory regime for our MRT operators.
As with all other regulatory measures, setting high operating and maintenance standards alone is not enough. These must be complemented by sufficient deterrence against failure to comply and effective enforcement. With the tightened regulations and higher standards, an increase in the maximum penalty is thus necessary.
A regulatory penalty must be set sufficiently high for deterrence purposes, and it must also reflect the true cost of non-compliance. The MRT system is a critical infrastructure and is extremely important for the daily lives of Singaporeans. A serious disruption today causes extreme inconveniences to commuters, especially if it occurs during the peak hours. Time is lost, incomes are affected, and trust in public transport in general gets eroded. There are social costs to poor public transport reliability, on top of economic costs.
In this regard, it is useful to take reference from the maximum regulatory penalties for other essential services, such as energy regulated by EMA and telecommunications regulated by IDA, which are also set at 10% of licensees' turnover. The higher level of maximum penalty gives LTA greater flexibility in
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calibrating an appropriate level of penalty to be imposed on an errant MRT operator, according to the nature and severity of the incident.
However, I want to add that penalties imposed on service disruptions are after all still reactionary measures; in other words, where the damage is already done. I would urge LTA to be more pro-active in identifying potential service disruption risk within each of the PTOs as well as regular compliance audit to assess the robustness of the licensees' maintenance regimes, similar to the way MAS supervises the banks. Taking preventive or even pre-emptive measures, if necessary, to sharply minimise disruption risk is still the preferred approach.
This is why I support this other set enhancement measures in the Bill to enhance the regulatory power over the licensees' board composition.
The power for LTA to approve the appointment of RTS licensees' Board Directors already exists in the RTS Act. This power will be extended, for LTA to require RTS licensees to augment their Boards if necessary, to ensure the Boards have the expertise and experience, including relevant engineering experience and sufficient independent perspectives, to administer their roles as public transport operators. This is again not new for the other industry. For example, in the banking sector, MAS has fairly wide powers over appointments of bank directors and the key executive appointments, including requiring the key officers to undergo a fit and proper test.
However, these enhanced powers should not remove the responsibility of the board of PTOs to assemble the best team possible, both to help ensure the fiduciary interests are protected as well as to ensure that customers' needs are also well served.
Ideally, LTA should never have to invoke these powers but if the situations call for it, LTA must be empowered to take the necessary interventions to preserve public interest.
Finally, I welcome the new definition of the \"railway commuter facility\" in section 2 of the Act, which specifically mentioned about bicycle parking facilities, pedestrian overhead bridges, footpaths, ramps, lifts and other similar structures and facilities that integrate the rail system with developments around it so as to maximise patronage of the system.
The RTS Act was originally enacted in a period where the connectivity provisions were at a more basic level. Today, however, commuters have diverse
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needs for their daily commute. For instance, the elderly and the mobility-challenged are increasingly taking steps out of their homes to remain active. This is very positive and should be encouraged. As our society ages, we need to better support the mobility needs of our silver generation.
We are also seeing more modes of travel, in particular, the increasing trend of cycling to neighbourhood destinations and the MRT stations. The amendments in the Bill, which enhance LTA's ability to meet these diverse commuter needs, are timely and integral to our overall efforts to build an inclusive society.
I like this definition in section 2 of the Act and the new emphasis, that is, besides the task of building a major infrastructure, it should be also about delivering the \"last 5%\" of our transport service even better. Take the example of the Downtown Line, where we spent tens of billions of dollars to build an underground line right into the heartlands. But the initial design at Bukit Panjang MRT station only provided two underground accesses, which would have resulted in a large proportion of commuters having to cross a busy junction to get access into the station. Imagine doing this on a daily basis during morning and evening peaks and during bad weather. I am glad that LTA finally agreed to build a third underpass access after some lobbying to avoid such a situation.
These are thoughtful things or the so called \"last 5%\" that will give commuters a positive experience in their daily commuting. Mr Deputy Speaker, with that, I support the Bill.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Non-Constituency Member): This Bill seeks to amend the Rapid Transit Systems (RTS) Act by enhancing the financial penalties that may be imposed for regulatory defaults by licensed MRT operators, also referred to as \"licensees\". It also enhances the powers of LTA in relation to the appointment and removal of the CEO, chairman of the board of directors and directors of a licensee.
Currently, in the event of a regulatory default, a licensee will be liable for a fine of up to $1 million. This Bill seeks to provide LTA with the option of imposing a fine of up to $1 million or up to 10% of the licensee's annual fare revenue, whichever is higher.
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In the history of the MRT, the maximum fine of $1 million has only been imposed twice. SMRT was issued a $1 million fine for each of the massive service disruptions on the North-South and East-West lines that took place on 15 and 17 December 2011, which affected over 221,000 commuters.
The move to peg the maximum penalty at 10% of annual fare revenue raises the financial risks for the two operators. However, despite the maximum penalty being imposed for the December 2011 disruptions, there has been no consistent decline in the number of incidents on the MRT network causing delays since then. In fact, the number of incidents causing greater than five- and 10-minute delays increased from 2011 to 2012 before declining slightly in 2013. This does not give very much reason for hope that increasing the penalties further will improve service levels.
The MRT operators include the penalties as part of their operating expenses. In its most recent annual report, SMRT stated that its \"other operating expenses saw an increase of 8.8% to $204.5 million, due mainly to higher legal and professional fees and a $2.0 million penalty imposed by LTA for the December 2011 train service disruptions\" as well as other expenditure.
During the operators' last application for fare adjustments, they cited higher operating expenses as one of their key justifications for fare increases. Hence, the penalties could be indirectly contributing to fare increases. When the PTC examines the public transport operators' (PTOs') requests for fare increases, which include reason of higher operating expenses, does it factor out the fines that the PTOs have incurred for service lapses?
Next, penalties imposed by LTA for service disruptions are donated to the Public Transport Fund, which is used to buy transport vouchers for needy commuters. This means that the fines paid are eventually returned to the operators in the form of fare revenue.
Finally, the Bill stresses that financial penalties \"still cannot be imposed on a licensee by the LTA if the licensee is likely to fail to provide and maintain an adequate, safe and satisfactory service\". This provides yet another safety net for the MRT operators, who may claim that a penalty is too large for it to bear without impacting maintenance and service quality.
Will all these circumstances surrounding financial penalties neutralise their deterrent effect and render them a rather ineffective mechanism for ensuring
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good performance?
Furthermore, financial penalties are imposed on the company and do not directly impact the people who are in a position to improve service quality and reliability – that is, the top management of the PTOs. There is nothing in the RTS Act that stipulates that bonuses or salaries must be cut, or heads must roll if senior managers fail to meet their KPIs and major disruptions occur too frequently.
The most the regulator can do, under this Bill, is to direct the licensee under section 18A(2) to remove a CEO from his or her position, but it appears that this can only be done if LTA never approved of the appointment of that CEO in the first place. Could the Minister clarify? If LTA had approved of the appointment of a CEO, and that CEO subsequently fails to perform, can the LTA direct the licensee to dismiss him or her?
Besides influencing the appointment of the CEO and directors on the board, would the Government consider introducing other regulations to make senior managers of PTOs more personally accountable for the quality and reliability of their MRT services?
For example, the LTA could require licensees to name the individual who is assigned crucial responsibilities like rail and train maintenance, so that when regulatory action is taken against the company, the LTA will know which senior people should be held responsible, and, if necessary, censured. I believe this approach could be more effective in keeping the PTOs on their toes than imposing large fines on the company.
Mrs Lina Chiam (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support this Bill's provisions to enhance LTA's regulatory framework through increasing the amount of financial penalty and conferring additional powers on LTA. These are in line with the general direction to strengthen LTA's regulatory framework. However, we believe these are not sufficient.
A more outcome-based approach allowing LTA to remove the CEO of SMRT will be required. By this, I mean that LTA must set key performance indicators (KPIs), such as: less than 0.5% of train rides over the last six months should be delayed; less than 0.1% of train rides over the last six months should come to a complete fault for more than 10 minutes. When these KPIs are not met, the
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Government must have the consideration and the mandate to remove the CEO of SMRT. I understand that this may seem like a narrow corporate KPI compared to the other priorities, such as profitability and cashflow, but SMRT delays and breakdowns affect national productivity.
We do not believe that financial penalty works. SMRT is an asset- and cash-rich firm. They also have the ability to recover penalties through increase in fares and rentals of their assets. So, I think the company would not be penalised as much as we think they would. Other measures like clauses in future contracts to cease their services and the option to remove their CEO will help to better align the transport KPIs.
LTA cannot remain as a policy-maker. I urge the LTA to introduce prescriptive and technical requirements on SMRT. I also urge that these standards be imported from the most competitive transport systems around the world. We expect productivity increases from all our sectors. I think it is fair to expect the same from a state-owned enterprise. I think it is also fair for MOT and LTA to call for external audits on SMRT's operations. It is not intuitive why SMRT is allowed to call for its own audits, as recommended in the latest COI framework.
Lastly, we believe the responsibility for public transport in Singapore should not just rest with the CEO of SMRT. I think it is fair to have a senior officer in MOT at the level of Deputy Secretary or Permanent Secretary to be made personally responsible for the rail transport system in Singapore.
Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister Lui.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Ms Lina Chiam for their expressed support for this Bill. Maybe I should ask Mr Gerald Giam, first of all, does he support or does he not support the Bill. Yes or no?
[(proc text) Hon Member indicated assent. (proc text)]
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: He supports the Bill. Then, we do have support for the Bill. We all agree that train services are a critical part of the transport network. It is really critical to not only our daily activities but also to the economy. Therefore, we take a couple of directions in order to try and improve the overall
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reliability of the service that I will get into. One is to enhance the standards to make sure that the joint teams that have been established by LTA and the operators pay even greater attention, not only to finding and fixing the faults but also to proactively predict and prevent, meaning more attention to trend analysis, more attention to the faults that may be coming up, more attention to doing enhancements even before they are needed. That is important. At the same time, we also recognise the need, just as they have done in the telecoms infrastructure and the energy infrastructure, to look at the appropriate financial penalties that ought to be imposed on this, because these are some of the critical sectors that provide a public good and an essential service to residents.
I know that both Members were not in the House earlier when we had a series of Parliamentary Questions (PQs) that were related to reliability. Perhaps, to say that there had been no consistent improvement in reliability may be unfair, so I would try to just summarise some of the key points that I talked about in my earlier reply.
I said that I look at two aspects or two indicators that are most critical to me: incidents that delay the trains for more than five minutes. Anything beyond five minutes I pay a great deal of attention to it. The second is unplanned withdrawals of trains from service. Sometimes, these are longer than five minutes but on a number of occasions, shorter than five minutes. Three minutes, for instance. But even during a peak hour period, such unplanned withdrawals can really have a very disruptive effect on the movements of people.
So, if I may share with the Members again what are some of the statistics. Last year, we reduced the number of train delays longer than five minutes by 20% across the whole MRT network from 1.49 delays for 100,000 km travelled in 2012, to 1.18 in 2013. This number of delays in 2013 is lower even than the 2010 levels. It works out to less than one such delay on the North-South East-West Lines and the North-East Line every day out of more than 2,000 train trips operated on these lines. Or put in percentage terms – I have worked it out and my Maths is a little bit better now – 99.95% of train trips operated on a daily basis across the North-South, East-West Lines and the North-East Line do not face any delays, or if they face delays, delays of less than five minutes, it is 99.95%.
The next would be train withdrawals. Train withdrawal rates for the North-South East-West Lines have also fallen from 3.32 per 100,000 km travelled in 2012, to 2.25 in 2013. This year, our target is to try to reach 1.8 such withdrawals. But from 3.32 to 2.25 is a 30% improvement over that course of the year and it restores the train withdrawal rates close to what it was in 2010. For the NEL and
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the Circle Lines, we have seen a more than 25% reduction in train withdrawal rates from 2012 to 2013, with withdrawals for the Circle Line at its lowest since its opening in 2009. So, I thought we should have the more current data on that, which I gave to Members a little bit earlier.
There was a second point that was made which is, whether penalties contribute to fare increases. We have gone through this in the House before, the formula past and the fare formula current which was put together by the Fare Review Committee (FRMC), chaired by Mr Magnus, in which a fare formula takes into account three factors: one, the core CPI; two, the wage increase; and three, the energy index. This is part of the new formula, and then there is a productivity extract. Nowhere in the formula does it take into account the penalties that are paid by the operators into the Public Transport Fund and I believe that that would continue to be so even in future should we need to review the formula. In the past as well as in the present, there is no provision in the fare formula for operators to recover their penalties through the fares.
A third is on cutting bonuses and heads rolling. I would have to say that I am less interested in heads rolling. I am more interested heads fixed on and focused on identifying as well as resolving the problems, and tackling the challenges and making sure that we have a systematic way to deal with the issues at hand.
Whether the CEO should be removed or not, I leave it to the Board. That is part and parcel of the Board's responsibility: to identify the most appropriate person or to remove him or her should they deem it necessary.
The amendment to the Act that we have now would be for us to make sure that LTA has the ability to ask for an augmentation in the composition of the Board should it be skewed in a particular direction and if we feel that the Board is lacking in certain expertise. The expertise that concerns me most is engineering expertise and that is where I would like to have an augmentation if we deem that the Board is not sufficiently composed of the right people to give it the expertise. At the end of the day, it is not so much of a commercial entity as it is an engineering and operating company.
So, I hope that some of these clarifications would have helped. I, once again, thank all three Members who have spoken for expressing their support for the changes that we are going to make for the Rapid Transit Systems Act.
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[(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 Lui Tuck Yew]. (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":"Air Navigation (Amendment) Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Mrs Josephine Teo): Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
Singapore is a Contracting State to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, or more commonly known as the Chicago Convention. It is our obligation and commitment to adopt the standards and requirements set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as they are being developed and updated to improve aviation safety. Where necessary, we will also update our regulatory regime.
The Air Navigation Act (ANA) was enacted in 1966 and the last major amendments were in 2007. Since then, there have been new developments in the aviation industry such as the emergence of new aircraft types and aviation technologies. Consequently, new rules and standards have been promulgated by International Civil Aviation Organization. This Bill amends the ANA to bring it up to date with recent developments and improves the future-readiness of aviation safety regulation in Singapore.
I will now highlight the key amendments in the Bill.
The amended section 3 and the new section 3A align the ANA with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Act 2009, in which CAAS is assigned the
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statutory role of national regulator of aviation safety, by empowering the CAAS to make subsidiary legislation for aviation safety and related matters.
In addition, CAAS is in the process of re-organising the aviation safety regulations in the voluminous Air Navigation Order (ANO) made under the previous section 3 of the ANA. The regulations will, in future, be organised as modular parts, each of which is specific to a particular industry sector or aviation activity. For example, the modules for airlines will be separate from those relating to aircraft maintenance organisations.
There are several benefits of the shift to a modular approach. Industry players will experience a higher level of transparency and accessibility. New parts can be created more easily as aviation activities emerge. As far as possible, the modules will also be harmonised with the legislation of other major regulators to enhance the ease of doing business across borders.
When the modular regulations are completely promulgated under section 3A, the Air Navigation Order will be revoked and Parliament's approval will be sought to repeal section 3. Until then, the amended section 3 clarifies that the current Air Navigation Order (ANO) remains in force.
The new sections 4C, 4D and 4E give CAAS a wider range of options to enforce compliance with the ANA and to deal with aviation safety breaches. Today, persons or companies in breach either face prosecution or are liable to have their certificates, licences or permits suspended or revoked. These new sections will enable CAAS to calibrate its response based on the severity of the breach by imposing new licensing conditions or issuing provisional orders to ensure compliance. CAAS can also impose financial penalties under its regulations.
Sections 4J to 4N transfer the current powers for safety inspections and audits from the Air Navigation Order to the ANA. The enforcement powers for CAAS have also been strengthened. Currently, CAAS can only detain a whole aircraft and in circumstances where the aircraft is prevented from flying. With the change, CAAS will also be able to detain an aeronautical product, such as the engine and other equipment on the aircraft, and as long as it has reasonable grounds to believe that the operation of the aircraft or aeronautical product may endanger persons or property. To ensure that CAAS acts in a reasonable manner, certain safeguards such as the right to appeal against the detention are provided.
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Sections 8, 8A and 8B transfer from the Air Navigation Order to the ANA several provisions on unruly conduct that poses a serious threat to aviation safety. The provisions are adapted from the ICAO model legislation and set out more clearly the elements that would make such conduct an offence.
Sir, although some functions are being transferred from MOT to CAAS, three areas remain under the Ministry's purview. These are, firstly, air accident and incident investigation; secondly, regulation of aviation security; and thirdly, provision of licences for air services. There are good reasons for this, for example, to ensure the independence of accident investigations or for better coordination of aviation security matters with the various security and enforcement agencies. The Bill, therefore, will also make a related amendment to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Act 2009 to clarify the scope of the responsibilities of both MOT and CAAS.
Sir, Singapore has seen rapid developments in our aviation hub in recent years and the Government is committed to its continued development. The amendments to the ANA will give CAAS the powers and tools to carry out its responsibilities as aviation safety regulator more effectively, to ensure the proper functioning of our regulatory regime. Sir, 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. – [Mrs Josephine Teo]. (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":"Extension of a Sitting","subTitle":"In Parliament","sectionType":"OS","content":"Mr Deputy Speaker:\tOrder. Pursuant to Standing Order No 2(5)(d), I propose to extend the time of this day's sitting beyond the moment of interruption for a period of up to 30 minutes.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Singapore Institute of Technology Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Order for Second Reading read. (proc text)]
The Minister for Education (Mr Heng Swee Keat): Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, \"That the Bill be now read a Second time.\"
Singapore's higher education landscape has evolved significantly since our nation's independence. In 1965, we had two universities with small intakes. Over the years, we have been able to progressively raise education standards – the quality of our schools has improved and our students are achieving more with strong educational foundations. Today, we have four autonomous universities, five polytechnics, as well as three Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Colleges.
Our higher education landscape today reflects our steadfast efforts to continually expand the opportunities for Singaporeans, by enabling our people to develop a strong foundation in the academic, technical and professional domains, as well as developing their interests and values; and by continual restructuring of the economy so that a wide range of good jobs can be created. This two-pronged approach has created opportunities for successive cohorts of students to pursue a diverse range of careers and to fulfil their aspirations.
It is not possible to foretell the future, but we can be reasonably certain that the global economy will continue to evolve, different kinds of jobs will be created, and the demand for new and deeper skills will grow. We are expanding our higher education sector in a careful and calibrated manner in order to equip Singaporeans with the right competencies so that they may continue to access good jobs, pursue meaningful endeavours and fulfil their potential.
Some Members of the House will recall that in 2000, then-Minister for Education RAdm Teo Chee Hean moved a Bill on the Singapore Management University. In 2011, then-Education Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen moved a Bill on the Singapore University of Technology and Design. Members of the House gave strong support for the Bills. Both universities are now developing well. The Government's policy of a calibrated expansion of university places has served Singaporeans well.
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Today's Bill seeks to add another institution to the list of Institutes of Higher Learning as our fifth autonomous university – the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) – which will enable even more Singaporeans to benefit from higher education.
Today's Bill is the result of two years of very intensive work and extensive consultations. In 2011, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted the need to further develop and expand the university sector. In response, MOE set up the Committee on University Education Pathways Beyond 2015, chaired by then-Senior Minister of State for Education and Information, Communications and the Arts Mr Lawrence Wong, to explore the expansion of publicly funded degree programmes and the strategies for achieving this.
The Committee consulted deeply with students, employers and other stakeholders to understand their needs and hopes. After the extensive consultations and study visits to other countries, as well as careful study of the evolving needs of our society and our economy, the Committee recommended that we raise the publicly funded university cohort participation rate for pre-employment training from 30% in 2015 to 40% by 2020. To continue to inject diversity in our university sector, the Committee proposed a new applied degree pathway, and for SIT to be the fifth autonomous university to pioneer this new pathway. The Government has accepted the key recommendations of the Committee.
The applied degree pathway can better meet the broad range of learning preferences, strengths and interests that our young Singaporeans possess. By fostering a strong nexus with industry, it will enable our graduates to seize new and diverse job opportunities. This enriched university landscape will meet the individual learning needs of our youths and, in so doing, help them fulfil their potential to the fullest.
By integrating a strong theoretical foundation with real life applications, and by combining hard skills and a range of soft skills such as communications, problem solving and teamwork, graduates from the applied degree pathway can distinguish themselves.
SIT is well placed to pioneer the applied degree pathway. SIT started out in 2009 offering degrees in partnership with overseas universities. By offering specialised education in growth sectors of the economy, SIT has built strong credentials for the school and students amongst industry players. SIT will build on the experience of partnering overseas universities and, at the same time,
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build up its capability to offer degrees in its own name. Starting from this year, SIT will offer its own applied degree programmes, focusing on the science and technology disciplines, and in areas that are relevant to the economy. There will be up to 200 places for SIT's three new programmes in 2014, namely, the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Infocomm Technology (Software Engineering), Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) cum Masters of Engineering Technology in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Land Transport Systems) and Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours).
To ensure that SIT graduates continue to have the right competencies to succeed in a dynamic world, SIT will have to continually refresh its programmes in step with the developments of our economy and our society, and the aspirations of our young. To enable SIT to respond nimbly, SIT will be granted the status of an autonomous university, and be given similar flexibility as that accorded to the National University of Singapore, the Nanyang Technological University, the Singapore Management University and the Singapore University of Technology and Design.
Given the substantial investment of public monies in SIT and the key role that our universities play in nation building, SIT, like our other autonomous universities, should be governed by an Act of Parliament to safeguard public interests and the use of public funds. The SIT Bill thus aims to serve three key functions.
First, it grants SIT the right to confer and award degrees, diplomas and certificates, including honorary degrees and other distinctions, signals the Government's support for SIT, and assures the public of SIT's credibility and standing.
Second, it empowers the Government to guide the strategic development of SIT towards meeting national objectives.
Third, it permits the Government to provide resources to SIT and to monitor the performance and finances of the institution in order to ensure accountability for the use of public funds.
Let me now highlight the key clauses in this Bill.
Clause 3 sets out the function of SIT, which includes conferring and awarding degrees, diplomas and certificates.
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Clauses 5, 6 and 8 allow the Government to influence the strategic development of SIT and: (i) allow the Minister for Education, hereafter referred to as \"the Minister\", to establish policies on higher education in Singapore, in consultation with SIT; (ii) empower the Minister to appoint, remove and replace members of the SIT Board of Trustees; and (iii) require that the monies provided by Parliament to SIT may only be applied or expended by SIT for such of its objects provided by its constituent documents as the Minister may allow.
Clauses 4 and 9 allow the Government to monitor the performance and finances of SIT through an accountability framework and permit the Minister or a person authorised by him to have access to the accounts and financial statements of SIT.
Clause 12 amends the Private Education Act, Chapter 247A, to provide that the Act will not apply to SIT.
Sir, this Bill encapsulates our goal for SIT to enable more young Singaporeans to fulfil their goals and aspirations. Our fifth autonomous university is an exciting development for Singaporeans, and I believe that SIT and the applied pathway it pioneers will, in due course, become significant pillars of our higher education landscape. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move.
[(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]
Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of the Bill. For the past many years, after the \"A\" level results are announced, I would receive appeals from students and their parents appealing for places in one of our local universities like NUS, NTU or SMU. If they are unable to secure a place in one of the local universities, many students would have to enrol in one of the private schools providing a foreign degree. For those who can afford the higher cost, they would travel to UK, Australia, USA or some other countries to pursue their dream of becoming a university graduate.
I know that many families understand the value of attaining a university education. Parents have no qualms digging into their CPF funds to pay for the tertiary education of their children. For many children, getting a degree would help them secure a better paying job and this would in turn help provide a more favourable financial environment for the family. For this reason, there are many
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Singaporeans who are pursuing a foreign degree overseas.
SIT was established in 2009. At that time, it collaborated with five established overseas universities like Technical University of Munich, the Newcastle University for naval architecture, offshore and marine engineering, the Digipen Institute of Technology, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for Hotel Administration and Culinary Institute of America. At that time, it offered eight new degree programmes and it provided more opportunities for our polytechnic students to obtain industry relevant qualifications.
Today, SIT has 11 overseas universities partners and it offered 27 degree programmes. According to SIT website for this year, they will also be offering an accounting degree, an infocomm technology degree and an engineering degree programme in their own name.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I support this Bill for the following reasons.
The Government has committed to increasing the publicly funded university cohort participation rate to 40%. SIT will provide 2,000 full-time university places in 2015. This is indeed good news as it will allow more of our students to achieve their aspirations of having a university degree at a publicly funded university instead of having to incur more costs and expenses, chasing a degree through the private educational institutions or having to travel overseas for their undergraduate studies.
SIT will provide a niche education pathway by offering practice-oriented degree programmes with strong industry links. Hence, the degree programme will not be the same as that of NUS, NTU or SMU as the emphasis is on applied learning. According to then Minister of State for Education, Mr Lawrence Wong, SIT will be a \"best in class\" institution that is different in character but equal in status to the existing autonomous universities. It will augment the options available by offering a distinct degree education that caters to a wider spectrum of preferences and abilities. Very importantly, it will also produce a different type of graduate with industry oriented skills that will be valued by employers; SIT graduates will help to meet the diverse needs of the economy.
SIT should also take in students from polytechnic, JC and IP track programmes. Other than these students, I understand that SIT will also take in polytechnic graduates with work experience. This means that polytechnic graduates who are already in the workforce will have the opportunity to upgrade themselves at SIT. This is reflective of the \"many pathways to success\"
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approach by MOE to allow people of different abilities to gradually achieve their potential by enrolling at university after some years of work experience. Thus, a student who may not have done well at PSLE will still have the opportunity to go for ITE training, upgrade to a polytechnic diploma, if they so choose, and then enrol for a degree programme at SIT.
There are just a few clarifications which I wish to ask of the Minister.
Firstly, the three new degree programmes issued by SIT for accountancy, infocomm technology and engineering – how do we ensure that these degrees are not seen or perceived to be weaker or inferior degrees as compared to the degrees issued by the other autonomous universities? Would these degrees be recognised internationally if graduates from SIT were to work overseas?
Secondly, besides the three degrees currently issued by SIT this year, are there plans to issue other SIT degrees? How would this affect the collaboration with the other 11 overseas universities? Are there plans for SIT to issue its own degrees for all subjects eventually?
Thirdly, how will SIT ensure that there is uniform standard in the training provided to its undergraduates at the university? Where would SIT employ its lecturers and tutors from?
Fourthly, other than the usual applied studies relevant to the degree programme, how would moral values and other life skills be taught at this university?
In 2011, Mr Lawrence Wong had said, and I quote, \"The more we invest in good education for our people, the better we enable them to excel in the workplace and to maximise their potential. Across all industries, employers are looking for people who are inquisitive, prepared to learn, adaptable, creative and innovative.\"
I totally agree with this approach. SIT will enable more Singaporeans to live the Singapore dream of pursuing their further studies to excel in their workplace and to maximise their potential. I look forward to even more publicly funded university degree places when Singapore has a sixth autonomous university. I support the Bill.
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Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constitutency Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of this Bill. The Prime Minister had announced last year the creation of two new local universities, the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and the Singapore Institute of Management University (UniSIM). These will be Singapore's fifth and sixth universities, certainly a big change from when I was a student and there was only the National University of Singapore (NUS). Last year, then-Senior Minister of State for Education, Mr Lawrence Wong, had said Singapore's economy has room for more graduates.
Indeed, the desire of our local population for higher studies has long been there. In 2011, in response to my Parliamentary Question, MOE revealed that there were about 41,000 Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents who were pursuing undergraduate degrees at private universities and Private Education Institutions. For every local studying in a publicly funded autonomous university, there was another local studying in a private university here. The number of locals pursuing private university education is even larger when we consider those studying overseas, as MOE did not track this number. These recent moves will see more locals being supported in their aspirations for places in Government-funded university education.
Last month, I had a chat with a young banker named Lawrence. Lawrence told me that he was playful when young and just managed to make it into the polytechnic. It was at some point during his polytechnic studies that he decided he needed to work harder. He graduated from the polytechnic but was unable to secure a place at NUS or at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). He said he was fortunate that the Singapore Management University (SMU) allowed him to take the SAT examinations. He qualified through SAT, worked even harder and graduated with Second Upper Honours. He has now worked at two international banks and is a proud father of two. He was grateful for that break to do his studies in a local university as the cost in a private university would have been very high. SMU was then the new third university offering chances at university education to people like Lawrence.
SIT was established in 2009 primarily to allow polytechnic graduates to top-up their diplomas to an external university degree in a field related to their polytechnic studies in targeted growth fields. With this Bill, SIT will now be a university able to offer undergraduate and postgraduate programmes of its own.
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What is the \"Institute of Technology\" brand? People would associate a learning institution with such a name with industrial, engineering, sciences and technology capabilities. I did a google search on the term \"Institute of Technology\". It threw up a long list of universities and polytechnics from all over the world. These range from lesser known educational institutions to those with long and rich histories and which are highly ranked in the world. The Swiss have long established themselves as a centre of technological and scientific research. Their two federal universities that are classified as Institutes of Technology are highly ranked globally. They have produced many Nobel laureates, including Albert Einstein. Germany too has a strong engineering and technology history. They also have highly sought after Institutes of Technology. The nine largest and most renowned technical universities in Germany have formed the TU9 German Institutes of Technology. There is also a family of Institutes of Technology in India whose alumnus run Fortune 500 companies. Their graduates are highly sought after by top technology firms around the world. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is widely recognised as one of the best universities in the world. It began humbly in 1861 with three principles: (a) the educational value of useful knowledge; (b) the necessity of \"learning by doing\"; and (c) integrating a professional and liberal arts education at the undergraduate level. I like its strong emphasis on the practical aspects of learning.
What will SIT, a newcomer in the business of university education, evolve into? How will the brand of \"Institute of Technology\" in Singapore be defined?
I wish to share some practical concerns for SIT going forward.
First is the lack of a single campus, unlike the other universities. A physical campus is important to generate a sense of identity and belonging amongst the students. SIT facilities are decentralised across the different polytechnics, dispersed throughout Singapore. Students will be at the polytechnic where their programmes are being offered. They feel a greater sense of identity with the polytechnic rather than with SIT. SIT also does not have hostel living which NUS and NTU have, which can provide important experiences for university students in their total development.
While I understand the history of SIT and why it was decentralised at its formation, it may be useful to consider a central campus in the future when it becomes feasible to do so. Meanwhile, SIT may have to work harder at building its identity amongst students through programmes that may cut across physical
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facilities.
Second, SIT will face challenge for students from the more established local comprehensive research-based universities in the form of NUS and NTU, niche universities like SMU, SUTD and Yale-NUS College and from UniSIM, a teaching university with a longer history through its open university background and its association with SIM. This is especially so when SIT opens its programmes to \"A\" level school-leavers. This is a challenge for the SIT pioneers; its management, faculty staff and students to rise up to in order to establish the branding and recognition for SIT. Starting afresh will allow SIT to explore its own niches.
As an applied and practice-oriented university, the role of the industry will be important to SIT. I believe strong links with the industry will be necessary, such as attachment programmes and experiential learning. SIT's current batch of students are likely to be more matured in age than NUS, NTU and SMU and may have work experiences, especially the pioneer batches.
SIT can continue to play a useful role for working people wanting to acquire a degree. To cater to such students, SIT can explore modes of operations that fit them better. This can include shorter quarterly academic terms of three months. Where practical, it can also explore the sandwich degree arrangement where students will need to undertake a placement year or longer internship in the industry, typically in the second or third year of studies.
SIT could play a role in strengthening Singapore's technical capabilities. I had previously shared in this House of my concerns of our SMEs not able to grow under the shadows of MNCs and GLCs. This may be an opportunity to help our medium enterprises in key industries we wish to develop. SIT could be required to focus on working with emerging medium enterprises so that the undergraduates, in their most explorative and creative years, could help inject fresh ideas and innovation into the medium enterprises.
Switzerland and Germany have strong vocational and technical education. Their technical universities have strong history of linkages with the industries, allowing the country to build up their industrial abilities such that their SMEs can provide quality products desired worldwide. To make their degree more relevant to the targeted industries and the graduates more marketable, SIT could explore external validation where possible by industry associations. In Germany, vocational graduates are highly respected because the graduates often enter into guild-like professional associations that continue to guide post-
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graduation career development and also collective bargaining. While this is beyond the scope of SIT, the Government could think of setting up the infrastructure to promote and support these developments. Support can include providing training, assistance and even grants to help medium sized companies dedicate resources for collaboration with technical universities and to spur these companies to develop rigorous internship and apprenticeship programmes.
Next, some of our local universities may have larger than average proportions of international students such as Yale-NUS College. In answer to my Parliamentary Question last year, MOE said that higher proportions of international students are required for specialty colleges to provide the diversity needed for this type of courses. SIT can focus on locals and gear them for the skilled jobs needed to help build stronger local industries. Also, in the globalised and higher competitive job and economic environment of the 21st century, it will be important to impart the mindset for creativity and innovation to the SIT graduates.
Finally, I will end with the continuation of the story of Lawrence, the banker whom I spoke about earlier. He did not have good academic results earlier in life and just barely made it through to the then-new third university, SMU, through an alternative admission pathway. He shared that he now feels he is as good as the graduates of the other established universities and had been able to prove that in his career.
SIT will certainly face a lot of challenges competing with our other local universities in order to establish itself. I look forward to the \"can-do\" spirit in its pioneers to define the Institute of Technology brand in their own way to make it one that will be as desired as the rest of our universities.
Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) Bill. Tracing SIT's history will help explain why. Essentially, it has grown from strength to strength since its inception.
In May 2009, MOE announced that a new university would be set up to provide an avenue for deserving polytechnic graduates to obtain industry-relevant degrees, and to provide them access to subsidised degree programmes. At the time, about only one in seven polytechnic graduates
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matriculated into one of the three autonomous universities (AUs) that we had back then, namely, NUS, NTU and SMU.
SIT was slated to accommodate 2,000 full-time university places each year at its steady state, and would allow MOE to achieve its target of raising the university cohort participation rate in Singapore to 30% by 2015. With the inclusion of SIT into Singapore's university landscape, MOE hoped to expand the upgrading opportunities available to polytechnic graduates by attracting industry-related degree programmes from reputable overseas universities, in close partnership with the five local polytechnics. Some key disciplines that were identified include Applied Sciences and Engineering, Digital Media, Health Sciences and Hospitality.
Within a short period of time, very short period of time, SIT was able to secure tie-ups with several reputable overseas universities from the US, UK, Australia and Europe that had high academic standing and strong industry reputation – these include the University of Manchester, Technical University of Munich, Newcastle University, University of Glasgow, University of Nevada (Las Vegas), the DigiPen Institute of Technology and the Culinary Institute of America.
In August 2010, SIT welcomed its first cohort of students, numbering about 500 students in total. By the start of the next academic year in August 2011, SIT was able to double its intake of students to 1,000 students, and was already offering a total of 17 degree programmes.
To facilitate synergy between all the relevant parties, it was imperative that SIT work closely with its overseas university partners to develop a robust and relevant curriculum that would be able to tap onto the strengths of their degree programmes, and the existing polytechnic diploma curriculums.
In 2012, the vital role that SIT would play in complementing the existing university landscape was affirmed by the recommendations made by the Committee on University Education Pathways Beyond 2015, or the CUEP for short.
In its report released in August 2012, the CUEP highlighted an urgent need to develop a university model that offered degree programmes in niche disciplines that were not being offered by the existing universities, as well as areas that required more skilled manpower, such as hospitality and tourism,
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social services and healthcare services.
The CUEP envisioned a co-operative education model, where academic studies would be fully integrated with practical, hands-on work experience, and where students alternate between semesters of full-time study and relevant paid work. It was their belief that this was necessary in order to preserve the high standards of our university sector and ensure good employment prospects in Singapore for years to come.
The SIT that we have today embodies many of the recommendation highlighted in the CUEP Report and caters to a wider group of students with varying abilities, learning preferences and interests. It has created opportunities for university education for our polytechnic diploma holders, effectively increasing the proportion of university graduates in the Singapore workforce.
Over time, SIT-based degree programmes have produced exceptional graduates who are equipped with both a strong theoretical foundations in their chosen discipline, as well as a keen understanding of its real-life application in the relevant industry.
The proposed Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) Bill that is before Parliament today aims to establish SIT as the fifth autonomous university in Singapore, which will empower SIT with the right to confer and award degrees, diplomas and certificates in its own name. The Bill also seeks to put in place mechanisms to allow the Government to provide public funds for the operation of the university, and to influence the strategic development of SIT in the interest of the public.
I support this Bill for two reasons: first, the establishment of SIT as Singapore's fifth publicly funded autonomous university truly reflects the confidence that the Government has in SIT's ability to provide innovative degree programmes that will complement the existing university landscape. Secondly, degree programmes offered by SIT will be able to harness the potential of students at different stages of their educative years, by providing them with opportunities for university education in their chosen disciplines.
The introduction of this Bill today is a true reflection of the confidence that the Government has in SIT's unique ability to provide university opportunities to a wider group of students with varying abilities, interests and learning preferences. Unlike the degree programmes that are offered by other existing universities, SIT will offer a myriad number of applied degree pathways in
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disciplines with strong practice orientation, and a university education that is equally grounded in both theory and practice.
With the enactment of this Bill, SIT would be empowered to offer its own unique degree programmes, advancing beyond merely offering niche degrees from foreign universities. It has been announced that SIT will start by offering three new full-time degree programmes in the areas of infrastructure engineering, information and communication technology and accountancy.
What differentiates SIT from other local universities is its ability to integrate a strong emphasis on theoretical foundations, with an exposure to real-world industry experience. This will be achieved by integrating work experiences into the degree programmes, where students will combine relevant industry attachments with their studies.
An example of how such a melding of studies and work might be done is where Accountancy students would do an attachment at an auditing firm on the weekdays, to understand the real-life application of what they are studying, and will then return back for classes on the weekends.
It is clear that SIT's degree programmes will be different and distinct from existing degree programmes, effectively adding diversity and dynamism to the university sector, and will provide students with more choices and opportunities to develop themselves holistically.
Furthermore, SIT's strength lies in its ability to harness the potential of students at different stages of their educative years, and to allow them to express themselves fully, depending on their own learning abilities and interests.
In an advanced society like ours, there must be a multitude of educational avenues available to students to blossom and find themselves at different times and ages. We can no longer adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to education, and must strive to adopt innovative educational methods and pedagogies to ensure that there are distinct pathways to help young Singaporeans to excel, based on their own unique abilities, learning preferences and interests.
What SIT is able to do is to provide a platform for young Singaporeans, who might have discovered their passion and true abilities at a later age, to be able to attain university education in a relevant discipline of their choice. SIT will be the avenue that allows them to excel at the right time, and would put
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them in good stead to be successful in their future careers.
Ultimately, for the students, the university experience should be challenging, interactive and meaningful, integrating a strong theoretical foundation with real-world industry experience.
With the development of this unique blend of a teaching-focused, industry-linked and practice-based university education, it is my firm belief that SIT will be successful in enabling young Singaporeans to realise their full potential and bring Singapore to even greater heights. Therefore, I support this meaningful and courageous Bill.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Exempted Business","subTitle":"Motion","sectionType":"OS","content":"[(proc text) Resolved, \"That the proceedings on the business set down on the Order Paper for today be exempted at this day's sitting from the provisions of Standing Order No 2.\" – [Dr Ng Eng Hen]. (proc text)]
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Singapore Institute of Technology Bill","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"BP","content":"[(proc text) Debate resumed. (proc text)]
Mr Deputy Speaker: Minister, would you like to answer the questions posed by the Members?
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me thank Mr Lim Biow Chuan, Mr Yee Jenn Jong and Mr Christopher de Souza for speaking in support of the Bill. I am very heartened by the Members' strong support for the education of Singaporeans in general, and for SIT in particular. This bodes very well for the future of SIT and in particular your endorsement of the unique pedagogy that SIT will be adopting. So, let me address some of the specific concerns and comments which have been raised.
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Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked about the standing of SIT's degrees and whether the SIT's degrees will be recognised by employers both here and abroad. Sir, although offering degrees in its own name is new for SIT, SIT itself is not new, having been around since 2009. Over the past five years, SIT has worked closely with the industry and has produced graduates who are well received by the industry. SIT will continue to maintain close links with the industry and to ensure that its graduates can excel. The Bill that is before the House will also clearly signal the Government's support for SIT and its degrees. MOE will also put in place the governance and quality assurance framework for SIT, similar to that for the current autonomous universities, to maintain the rigour of the programmes and that standards are maintained across the university. The expansion of places and programmes at SIT will also be carefully calibrated to maintain these standards. With these measures, I am confident that graduates of SIT's own degree programmes will be recognised both here and abroad, and have their distinctive standing.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan has also asked whether SIT will offer other of its own degrees beyond the current three and the status of SIT's collaboration with overseas universities. Sir, as Mr Christopher de Souza has also shared, these collaborations have produced graduates who are highly valued for the industry relevant skillsets. Thus, SIT's collaborations with overseas universities remain important, especially for the niche areas where certain overseas institutions and overseas universities have specialised expertise and where it is difficult to build critical mass in Singapore.
As SIT builds up its capabilities, it will offer other degrees in its own name as it would need to respond to changing demands in the industry. Our intent is for SIT to be able to respond dynamically to these changes. However, the pace of expansion would have to be calibrated to ensure that the quality of the programmes stays high.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan has also asked about how we could ensure a high quality of education in SIT. Mr Yee Jenn Jong mentioned about a more distinctive pedagogy. Mr Christopher de Souza has also noted that SIT will be pioneering the applied degree pathway and will offer young Singaporeans a distinctive education focused on integrating theory and practice as well as hard skills and soft skills. This approach will permeate across SIT's curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.
So, let me say a few words on how each of these elements – curriculum, pedagogy and assessment – will shape SIT's distinctive approach and how we
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could ensure that its quality will be maintained.
On curriculum, SIT will tap heavily on its industry partnerships to ensure that its curriculum is current and relevant. I am glad that many companies recognise the value of SIT's approach and have stepped up to offer their support. Mr Yee Jenn Jong mentioned about partnership with industry associations. I am very pleased to say that key companies have already signed Memoranda of Understanding with SIT or offered to sit on SIT's Industry Advisory Committee to help shape SIT's curriculum.
In terms of pedagogy, SIT will not just focus on teaching students to learn to work, but rather to learn by work. Here again, the industry will play a crucial role. SIT students will undergo structured and longer work attachments aimed at integrating classroom learning and the application of theory at work. SIT students will also be able to take on applied projects, centred on real-life work-related issues following their attachments. Such experiences with industry will be invaluable in preparing SIT students for work and life after graduation.
Finally, SIT will also seek to cultivate in its students the important habits of continually learning, unlearning and relearning in order to adapt to dynamic trends.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan had also touched on a very critical aspect of developing values and character in our students, including at the universities. Indeed, education is not just about learning technical knowledge or preparing for work. Rather, it is in developing one's character, developing a curious and lively interest in the world around us and developing an interest to create value. The board of SIT and its leadership team are deeply committed to both character development and the habit of lifelong learning.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked where lecturers and tutors will be recruited. Indeed, this is a very important aspect of how SIT will be run. In line with SIT's focus on applied pathway, SIT intends to recruit a significant proportion of lecturers with relevant industry experience and the requisite academic qualifications. The most important quality, though, will be a passion for teaching, a passion for making a difference to our students.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong mentioned that SIT does not have a centralised campus. In fact, SIT does. It has a current centralised campus at Dover Road as well as five distributed centres. I have met many students of SIT as well as graduates of SIT and discussed this with them. It is important indeed to create that sense
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of identity and that sense of being part of one university. I have been studying this issue for some time now, and we will announce details when we are ready. In fact, I have also asked the leadership of SIT to not just think about creating the sense of identity but to think about how the university can play a role in the broader community.
Mr Christopher de Souza mentioned about the need to diversify the education sector to enable us to provide a number of distinct pathways for students to excel based on their individual strengths, and I fully agree with him. That is why we have developed SIT to offer an applied degree pathway to add diversity to our higher education landscape and to provide educational opportunities to a greater number of young Singaporeans.
In line with the philosophy of an applied education, SIT is adopting a more holistic admissions framework that will look at criteria such as work experience, hands-on orientation and passion for the programme, and their own unique strengths and interests. This will allow us to have a wider spectrum of students with different strengths and learning preferences the access to a skills-based degree qualification.
I am happy to share that SIT is already off to a good start. Its recent Open House drew significant interest from a broad range of students and it will be extending its outreach to build public awareness of its new degree programmes.
Mr Yee Jenn Jong shared the story of Lawrence and how our students have been benefiting from the expansion of university pathways and the way that we have created a more diverse university landscape, including at SMU. I thank the Member for raising this point. In fact, opportunities for our students to access higher education, be it through the ITE or the Polytechnics and the universities, have expanded significantly in the last decade. So, apart from students who enter full-time programmes at our autonomous universities, many more are also doing part-time programmes at our existing autonomous universities particularly at NUS and NTU, and more so at UniSIM and all these programmes are heavily subsidised.
Sir, MOE will continue to ensure that our youths have access to high quality education that enables them to realise their potential and aspirations, and to contribute back to our society. Certainly, the degree qualifications signal a certain level of competency. I would like to add that what matters most of all, is the deep skills and expertise of our students, the disposition to continue learning all their lives and the character traits and emotional competencies that
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allow them to lead, care and strive. These are the endearing qualities that will allow them to succeed at work and in life.
SIT is an exciting endeavour to provide a holistic education and to expand opportunities for our young. As Mr Lim Biow Chuan and Mr Christopher de Souza mentioned, this is another major Government initiative to create many pathways to success, many more distinct paths, different paths that allow us to develop our young more fully. We have high hopes for SIT as our fifth autonomous university that it will develop into an innovative and distinctive institution that nurtures graduates to rise and soar in their chosen fields, while staying rooted and committed to our society.
Once again, I thank Members for their support of the Bill, and look forward to your continued support for the education of our young.
[(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 Heng Swee Keat]. (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.\" – [Dr Ng Eng Hen]. (proc text)]
Adjourned accordingly at \t7.40 pm.
\tPage: 130
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Non-citizen Quota for Renting HDB Flats","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"18 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for National Development with regard to the new non-citizen quota on subletting of HDB flats (a) how many neighbourhoods and blocks have reached this quota; and (b) which neighbourhoods have reached this quota.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: HDB implemented a Non-Citizen (NC) subletting quota in January 2014 to maintain the Singaporean character of our HDB heartlands while balancing the subletting and housing needs of citizens and foreigners in Singapore.
Two neighbourhoods and 112 blocks have reached this quota. The neighbourhoods are located in the central and western areas, while the 112 blocks are spread across Singapore.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Not-for-profit Management Model for Hawker Centres","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"19 Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in light of the recent feedback from hawker associations, whether the Ministry will review the not-for-profit management model for hawker centres, such as the one at Aljunied Avenue 2.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Hawker centres have evolved into an integral aspect of life in Singapore. They serve as focal points for the local community to have good affordable fresh food in an informal relaxed setting. That is why we changed policy after a hiatus of 26 years – to build new centres and sought fresh perspectives into improving the layout, design, workflow and management of our current centres. One key consideration has been to maintain stability of rentals – and, hence, I announced in 2011 that all hawker centres would be run on a not-for-profit basis. Hawker centres are social infrastructure – and not an opportunity for property speculation or rent seeking by commercial entities.
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A Hawker Centres Public Consultation Panel was convened in 2012. One of their recommendations was to explore the potential for social enterprises to act as managing agents for some hawker centres. They may be able to bring fresh ideas, improve branding, optimise tenant mix, achieve economies of scale and explore bulk purchasing. Consequently, NEA conducted a Request for Information (RFI) exercise in January 2014 to invite not-for-profit entities to share ideas on the management of four hawker centres whose leases under the Stall Ownership Scheme will expire on 31 May 2014. The four centres are Block 207 New Upper Changi Road, Block 117 Aljunied Avenue 2, Block 20 Ghim Moh Road and Block 503 West Coast Drive.
Twelve organisations have responded to the RFI and NEA is studying their suggestions. We have not yet made any decisions on the appropriate management model. NEA will continue to manage these four hawker centres directly if there are no better management models.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Financial-viability of Foreign Contractors Awarded Government Tenders","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"22 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether measures will be taken to ensure that foreign contractors who tender for public projects in Singapore are financially independent and legally separate from their parent company to ensure that they remain financially viable during the fulfillment of their contracts when their parent company faces financial adversity.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: Foreign contractors intending to tender for public construction projects in Singapore must be registered with the Building and Construction Authority. Like local contractors, they will be assessed for their capacity to finance the project till completion. In addition, to be considered for larger projects, all contractors also have to undergo credit rating by an independent credit rating bureau.
There are two ways in which foreign contractors may be registered in Singapore. If they register a local subsidiary, the Singapore company is a separate legal entity and not liable for the debts of its foreign parent company. If a local subsidiary company is liquidated as a result of financial difficulties faced by its foreign parent company, the Companies Act requires the creditors
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of the local subsidiary company to be paid before payment is made to the foreign parent company as a shareholder.
Alternatively, a foreign contractor can register a branch which is part of the same legal entity as its parent company. Foreign contractors registered as branches are required to submit information on the parent company's finances, including audited accounts. If the parent company goes into liquidation, the law also requires that its assets in Singapore be used for payment of debts incurred here before any of it can be transmitted overseas.
Regardless of which contractor is appointed, public agencies continue to monitor the progress of public projects and watch for signs that they may be running into financial difficulties, for example, a sudden slowdown in work progress or an unexpected reduction in manpower assigned to the project. If the foreign parent company goes into liquidation, the Government will take steps to minimise possible cost impact or delays to project schedules arising from the need to replace contractors.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Measures Adopted by Schools to Prevent Fatal Incidents during Physical Education Classes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"25 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Education if he can provide an update on the recent deaths of two Secondary school students within a week in the course of physical education lessons and what is being done to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: I am deeply saddened by the recent deaths of two of our Secondary school students. The teachers and students in the two schools have also been very affected by the loss. The causes of the deaths in the two cases are being investigated by the Police.
Following these tragic incidents, MOE did another round of review to ensure that safety protocols have been followed. In both cases, the protocols were followed.
MOE has reminded all schools to continue to observe the safety protocols. These include:
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(a) Reviewing overall risks assessment for the PE programme regularly to ensure that risks are adequately mitigated.
(b) Collecting medical declarations from the parents to surface any pre-existing medical conditions students may have.
(c) Asking students at the start of each PE lesson if they feel well. Those who are unwell, students with parents’ letters, medical certificates and those who have just recovered from flu, cold and cough with chest infections are excused from the physical activities. A visual check is also done. Students with asthmatic conditions are advised to have their prescribed reliever medicine with them at all times.
(d) Conducting warming-up and cooling-down exercises before and after physical activities.
The safety protocols are reviewed from time-to-time and refinements made when necessary. PE teachers are also trained in first-aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation to respond to emergencies.
Schools will continue to ensure safety procedures are followed for PE and co-curricular activities that have physical activities. The safety of our students is of paramount importance. All schools will be vigilant. We will ensure that our students are developed holistically in a safe environment.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Reliability and Consistency of Mobile Telecommunications Services","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"27 Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) what is the progress on the Ministry's ongoing initiative to ensure greater resiliency by mobile telecommunications providers following the recent service outage by M1; (b) how have the various mobile telecommunications providers performed according to IDA's service standards; and (c) how can business continuity be improved.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: The latest M1 service disruption on 4 February 2014 caused great inconvenience and frustration to M1 customers. M1
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subsequently shared more information on the cause of the outage and announced that it will be appointing an independent expert to review its network architecture and further enhance its network performance. In addition to this, IDA is carrying out its own investigation and will share its findings in due course.
No network service is foolproof, particularly as the complexity of technologies and networks increases. Yet, operators must plan and design their networks with all necessary resiliency and business continuity measures to minimise service outages. IDA's Telecom Service Resiliency Code requires operators of key network infrastructure to invest in and enhance the resilience of their networks, and to have processes in place for quick service recovery in the event of a service disruption. IDA has penalised operators under the Code in instances where IDA believed operators could have prevented outages, or taken shorter time to restore service. For example, in October 2013, a fine of $1.5 million was imposed on M1 for the service outage in January 2013.
IDA has also been reviewing its policies and regulations to enhance resilience. International experts were brought in to conduct an in-depth review of the resiliency of the mobile operators' networks. While the review showed that the mobile operators’ networks met international standards, IDA has pressed ahead with further improvements that can be made.
This includes IDA's intention to implement an audit framework on the resiliency of mobile networks by the second half of 2014. In November last year, IDA held consultations with the mobile operators on the scope of the audit. The framework could cover areas, such as network design, technical processes, business continuity planning, as well as infrastructure and facilities to support the mobile networks. It also includes the possibility of implementing automatic failover for key network components, enhancing the mobile operators' network design to minimise the number of single points of failure, upgrading their network architecture to support full redundancy, and implementing better business continuity planning. IDA is assessing the responses from the consultation and intends to finalise the audit framework for implementation in the second half of 2014. IDA will continue to put in place relevant and up-to-date regulatory frameworks to ensure greater resiliency.
At the same time, we would also urge organisations to put in place business continuity plans that suit their needs. Businesses that require higher resiliency can adopt various strategies, such as purchasing services from different operators or using different technology platforms, for example, fibre and
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wireless, for broadband connectivity. As their needs vary, some businesses may need to work closely with their service providers in order to ensure that the service offered is well integrated into their enterprise systems.
We recognise the increasingly pervasive use of mobile services and devices, as well as heightened public expectation of the quality of mobile services. Hence, IDA's Quality of Standard (QoS) framework for 3G mobile services was enhanced in 2012, and the revised in-building service coverage indicator came into effect from 1 April 2013. The enhanced framework requires mobile operators to comply with the minimum standards set by IDA to ensure that consumers experience an acceptable level of service quality for the key telecommunication services.
The three mobile operators have improved their performance under the enhanced framework. In IDA's latest 3G QoS audit, all the mobile operators met the QoS standards for tunnel service coverage, and in-building service coverage for Q2 and Q3 2013. SingTel Mobile and StarHub Mobile also met the nationwide outdoor service coverage standard of more than 99% for the same two quarters. While M1 also showed improvement in its performance on this revised outdoor service coverage standard, it still fell short of the QoS standard of more than 99%, achieving 98.75%. Hence, IDA recently imposed a financial penalty of $25,000 on M1 for non-compliance with the outdoor service coverage indicator.
I would like to assure the House that IDA will continue to press ahead with improvements needed to enhance resilience in our telecommunications network as well as to review our policies, to ensure that they remain relevant, given the critical nature of our mobile services.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Cyber Threats to Government and Public-access Online Sites","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"28 Mrs Lina Chiam asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) whether the Government websites that were down on 2-3 November 2013 were due to a planned maintenance or due to hacking; (b) what were the Government websites that were being maintained or hacked; and (c) whether sensitive data, such as that stored in the SingPass system, have been
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compromised if hacking is established.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: I would like to assure the Member that the Singapore Government takes cyber security and threats to its ICT infrastructure very seriously. In response to the declared threats against the Government's ICT infrastructure in late October last year, Government agencies were put on heightened vigilance and were instructed to enhance the security of their IT systems.
On Saturday, 2 November 2013, IDA had also scheduled a preventive maintenance for Government systems to implement additional security measures from 1 pm to 3 pm. During the maintenance process, technical difficulties were encountered due to a combination of a routing issue and a hardware failure, resulting in Government websites being inaccessible to the public. By 5.20 pm, all websites were back online. The Member has asked if the websites were down due to hacking and if sensitive data were compromised. IDA has established that no Government website was hacked and no sensitive data were compromised on Saturday, 2 November.
Cyber security is largely about risk mitigation, and the Singapore Government will stay vigilant and continue to strengthen the security of our Government ICT infrastructure. If a website or system is compromised, the Government will do its utmost to ensure that the services to the public are restored as quickly as possible and the integrity of data is maintained.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Students Admitted to Secondary Schools via Direct School Admission Scheme in 2013","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"30 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the number of students admitted to Secondary schools through the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme in 2013; and (b) if he will provide an update on the broadening of DSA to admit students based on qualities, such as character, leadership, personal or community work attributes.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: There were about 2,600 Secondary One students in 2014 admitted through the 2013 Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme to their respective Secondary schools.
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The DSA scheme was introduced in 2004 to allow schools the flexibility to recognise a more diverse range of student achievements and talents, other than performance at the national examinations. The intent was to encourage students to pursue a holistic education and to introduce broader definitions of merit.
To further widen our definitions of merit, the DSA scheme will more explicitly take into account the personal qualities we wish to develop in our students as part of holistic education, such as resilience, leadership and care for others. These qualities, while difficult to quantify, are valuable.
Some of our schools already recognise these qualities in their DSA selection process. By ensuring that all schools recognise these qualities for a small handful of deserving students, these deserving students would have more opportunities to enter a Secondary school that has the relevant programmes that can build on their strengths. This will further develop them and eventually allow them to contribute more to the progress of Singapore and fellow Singaporeans.
MOE is currently finetuning the implementation details in collaboration with our school leaders to ensure that the intent of this enhancement can be achieved.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Fire Safety Measures in Commercial and Residential Buildings","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"32 Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs in view of the death of two private security officers at Marina Bay Suites (a) whether there are fire safety and security requirements for such commercial and residential buildings and, if so, whether the Ministry will review them; and (b) whether there are regulations in place to ensure that personnel looking after these buildings, such as private security officers and building custodians, are equipped with the necessary personal protection equipment, skills and training to handle fires and other similar incidents.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: First of all, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the families of the two deceased security officers. Investigations, led by the Police and SCDF, are currently underway into how the two security
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officers died in the fire at Marina Bay Suites. We are, therefore, not able to provide specific details on this incident.
In any case, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) sets fire safety standards for all buildings in Singapore under the Code of Practice for Fire Precautions in Buildings (the \"Fire Code\" in short). All new buildings are required to comply with the Fire Code. Existing buildings are also required to comply with the requirements of the Fire Code when they undergo addition and alteration works.
The Fire Code requires high-rise residential buildings that are more than 40 storeys high, such as the Marina Bay Suites, to have refuge floors, or safe holding areas, at intervals of not more than 20 storeys; at least two fire-protected exit staircases to facilitate evacuation; and fire lifts and fire-fighting lobbies, which are protected by fire-rated doors and walls, to support fire-fighting and rescue operations. The Fire Code is reviewed regularly in consultation with stakeholders.
To enhance fire safety standards, the Fire Safety Act requires Fire Safety Managers (FSMs) to be appointed for large public and industrial buildings but not for residential premises. These FSMs are responsible for assisting building owners to formulate, exercise and execute the emergency response plans for the buildings under their charge. The Fire Safety Act, which was reviewed in 2013, further mandates the formation of Company Emergency Response Teams, or CERTs, to promote greater ownership in the safety of such premises.
Security officers employed by building owners/operators are usually members of CERTs, and are required under the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) framework to complete two compulsory licensing modules before they can be deployed for duty. They are taught the handling of fire-related incidents in one of the modules. The lessons do not cover the use of personal protection equipment, which is usually not required in the residential domain.
Upon completion of the fire investigations, the security Industry Skills and Training Council (ISTC), which administers the WSQ framework and comprises key stakeholders, such as the Police, SCDF and WDA, will review the findings and assess if there is a need to enhance the relevant provisions and training for security officers to respond safely to fire incidents within buildings.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Security Risk Assessment before Engaging Security Services","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"33 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs whether a security risk assessment, with standards defined by a certified professional security agency, can be made mandatory for businesses, building owners and individuals who engage security services.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: A security risk assessment is carried out for the purpose of identifying suitable physical, procedural and technological measures to mitigate major security risks. Such a risk assessment is currently mandatory for buildings deemed as critical infrastructure, that is, they provide essential services vital to our country's survival. MHA works with relevant Government agencies and the owners of critical infrastructure to conduct the risk assessment of their entire site, including the building premises.
For the other buildings, including residential premises, security risk assessment is not mandatory.
The Government has implemented a series of outreach programmes targeted at building owners, to enhance their security knowledge and encourage them to adopt best practices in building security and procurement. For example, MHA's \"Guidelines for Enhancing Building Security\" provides building owners with practical information on how they can enhance the security of their buildings. MOM and its tripartite partners have also launched a guidebook providing detailed and practical guidance on best sourcing for better security services. In addition, risk assessment is one of the factors taken into account in the grading of security agencies. These measures encourage security agencies and building owners to work together to consider the unique operating environments and tailor solutions to enhance the overall security outcomes.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Disbursements from Skills Development Fund","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"34 Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Acting Minister for Manpower over the past three years (a) how much monies were contributed yearly by employers to the Skills Development Levy (SDL); (b) how much monies were disbursed yearly
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from the Skills Development Fund (SDF) as subsidies for training; and (c) how much of the disbursements were made to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and, of these, how much were made to SMEs with less than 10 employees.
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Monies collected from the Skills Development Levy (SDL) are placed into the Skills Development Fund (SDF). Funds from the SDF are used to support workforce upgrading and to provide training grants to employers when they send their employees for training.
In the latest financial year, FY2012, approximately $210 million in SDL was collected. A total of $171 million was committed for both training subsidies and CET infrastructure development. Of the $171 million, $67 million was given directly to employers in the form of course fee subsidies and absentee payroll, with 43% ($29 million) received by SMEs. Of the $29 million, $7 million went to sponsoring SMEs with 10 employees or fewer.
SMEs form the backbone of our economy. As we restructure our economy to achieve productivity-driven growth, we are also investing heavily in helping SMEs to upgrade the skills of their workforce. Since 2012, we have increased the funding for SMEs, providing 90% course fee subsidies and higher absentee payroll to encourage SMEs to send their employees for training. This was based on feedback from SMEs and industry associations who identified training and upgrading as a key area where they hoped to receive more Government support.
As we continue to enhance our CET offerings, we would like to take this opportunity to encourage all enterprises to actively tap on our CET programmes to improve the skills and productivity of their workforce.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Setting Up Foreign Workers Fund to Improve Workers' Welfare","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"35 Ms Tan Su Shan asked the Acting Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will consider setting aside part of the contributions to the Foreign Worker Levy to create a Foreign Workers Fund that can underwrite initiatives to improve foreign workers' welfare.
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: I agree with the spirit of Ms Tan Su Shan's suggestion for the Government to set aside a reasonable budget to help improve the
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circumstances of foreign workers in Singapore. This is, in fact, already the case today.
The foreign worker levy serves to regulate demand for foreign manpower. As with other taxes and levies collected, revenue arising from the foreign worker levy is channelled to the Consolidated Fund and forms part of the Government's revenue to finance expenditure in general. This covers all areas of Government expenditure and includes, but is not limited to, building public infrastructure like roads and hospitals, as well as assistance schemes for locals like Continuing Education and Training (CET) where the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) provides generous course fee subsidies to locals pursuing WSQ courses. We also resource initiatives pertaining to foreign workers.
The latter measures are overseen by an Inter-Ministerial Committee, and include regular reviews to ensure that our legislation is relevant and adequate to protect the evolving rights and well-being needs of foreign workers; education and outreach to inform foreign workers of their rights before they enter Singapore; as well as developing infrastructure to provide foreign workers with adequate housing, amenities and recreational facilities.
For instance, the Government has been launching dedicated recreation centres for foreign workers to supplement the facilities and amenities in their dormitories. These centres provide foreign workers with additional places to rest and socialise, and have a wide range of amenities, such as remittance services, supermarkets and sports facilities. They are well-utilised, and visitorship is especially high when these centres host events, such as sports competitions and cultural celebrations. Most of these centres also organise regular movie screenings. The Government intends to launch more of such gathering spaces, to better cater to foreign workers' needs. Other examples include the cleaning of congregation areas, to maintain an acceptable level of public cleanliness; and inter-agency roadshows at foreign worker dormitories and gathering areas, which help to raise awareness of key Singapore laws and social norms.
I believe that Singaporeans understand and appreciate that just as the Government takes care of their needs, it is also right and proper for us to look out for the needs of foreign workers who contribute positively to our country.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Compensation for Commuters Affected by Train and Bus Service Disruptions","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"37 Mr Teo Siong Seng asked the Minister for Transport whether the Ministry will consider converting the penalties levied on rail and bus operators into direct compensation for commuters affected by the service failures.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: Today, when there is a prolonged train service disruption, commuters within the affected stations will have their fares waived. Free bus bridging and free boarding of public buses at the affected stations are also provided, as required under LTA's regulatory standards. If penalties are levied on the operators, they will go into the Public Transport Fund to benefit needy commuters, for example, during fare adjustments.
It is not straightforward to identify who should be eligible for compensation, as these could potentially include commuters who detour using alternative routes, as well as those who have to forgo their journey. Nonetheless, the Ministry will study the Member's suggestion further.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Financial Penalties Imposed on Public Transport Operators","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"38 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the amount of the total financial penalties imposed on each of the two public transport operators (PTOs) in each of the last three years; and (b) whether the PTOs are allowed to factor these penalties in their operational expenses and, if not, how does the Public Transport Council ensure that these penalties are not included as part of the PTOs' operational expenses.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: SMRT was fined a total of $2.2 million for incidents occurring in 2011; $0.5 million for incidents occurring in 2012; and $0.36 million for incidents occurring in 2013. SBST was fined $0.4 million for incidents occurring in 2012; and $0.25 million for incidents occurring in 2013.
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As publicly-listed companies, the public transport operators (PTOs) account for all regulatory penalties in their annual reports and income statements.
The Public Transport Council (PTC) does not consider the financial penalties imposed on the PTOs when deciding on fare adjustments. The fare adjustment quantum is determined using the fare formula, which is based on macroeconomic indicators, such as the Core-Consumer Price Index, Wage Index, Energy Index and a Productivity Extraction component. The fare formula clearly does not allow the PTOs to pass on the cost of financial penalties to commuters through higher fares.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"HDB's Rent and Purchase Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"39 Mrs Lina Chiam asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether HDB's Rent and Purchase scheme has been scrapped; and (b) if so, whether the scheme can be reintroduced to help potential HDB owners.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: \tWe introduced the Rent & Purchase (R&P) Scheme in 1999. After we resumed the building of 3-room flats in 2004 and 2-room flats in 2006, and introduced substantial CPF housing grants to help low-income working households own their first home, the demand for the R&P Scheme dropped significantly. For example, in 2008, there were only two applications. The scheme was, therefore, suspended in 2009. We have no plans to revive the scheme at this point in time.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"HDB Flats for Divorcees","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"40 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for National Development whether divorcees, with or without children, can be made eligible to purchase 2-room Built-to-Order (BTO) flats under the Singles Scheme even if they are not first-time flat buyers.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Divorcees with children under their custody, care and control form a family nucleus. They can apply for a BTO flat as a first-timer
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or second-timer household, depending on their housing history.
As for divorcees who have no children under their custody, care and control, HDB treats them as singles. If they have not received a housing subsidy before, they are eligible to buy a two-room BTO flat in a non-mature estate. If they have received a housing subsidy before, they can buy a resale HDB flat. We do not extend BTO flats to them at this point in time, because we would like to first meet the housing needs of first-timer singles who have not enjoyed a housing subsidy before.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Comparison of Bus and Train Fares in Singapore and Major Cities","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"44 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Transport how do the bus and train fares in Singapore compare with those in other major cities in terms of fare per kilometre and percentage of monthly income.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: If we look at a typical journey of, say, 10 km bus-only or train-only, such a journey would cost between about $1.15 and $1.42 in Hong Kong, $1.89 and $1.99 in Tokyo, and $2.23 and $2.98 in London. On the other hand, such a journey in Singapore costs1 a commuter $1.27 on an air-con bus, or on the North-South-East-West Line, and $1.52 on the premium rail lines. For a 10-km journey that combines two 5-km trips on a bus and train, commuters in Singapore would not pay more because we have adopted a distance fare system. In contrast, a similar journey2 with 5 km on bus and 5 km on train in other cities would typically cost more, for example, $2.11 in Hong Kong, $3.58 in Tokyo and $5.21 in London.
In short, our fares are significantly cheaper than those in London and Tokyo, and comparable to Hong Kong's for a bus-only or train-only journey, but, for journeys with transfers, we are cheaper. These figures are in Singapore dollars and have been adjusted for purchasing power parity.
Taking the typical public transport user household, that is, those in the second quintile of income distribution, such households spent an average of 2.6% of their monthly household income on public transport in 2012. Based on the latest figures we have, we estimate median income households in Hong Kong spent close to 4% of their household income on bus, train and tram fares
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in 20103. This is prior to their fare increases by 2.2% in 2011, 5.4% in 2012 and 2.7% in 2013.
Nevertheless, we are mindful that average spending patterns of average income households are not necessarily reflective of the impact of public transport fares on all Singaporeans and, hence, we will also focus on what we can do to help the lower-income groups, as well as specific disadvantaged commuter groups, through various new and enhanced concession schemes.
\t
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["1 : Current fare levels, before the fare increase on 6 April 2014.","2 : Based on 2013 fare levels of typical bus and rail trips in other cities.","3 : Based on Hong Kong's 2011 Thematic Report of Household Income Distribution and 2010 Household Expenditure Survey Report."],"footNoteQuestions":["44"],"questionNo":"44"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Justifications for Recent Public Transport Fare Adjustments","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"45 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Transport whether the Ministry can provide the specific list of justifications submitted by each of the two public transport operators for their recent application to the Public Transport Council for fare adjustments.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: In its applications to the Public Transport Council (PTC), SMRT indicated that overall operating costs for their bus and train operations had increased by almost 30% between 2010 and 2012. This is largely attributed to an increase of about 35% in their energy costs, and about 28% increase in manpower costs arising from additional recruitment and salary increments. Increased expenditure to maintain an ageing MRT network, and for mid-life refurbishment of the trains and infrastructure, has also impacted their finances.
Similarly, SBS Transit informed that their operating costs increased by almost 8% between 2011 and 2012, with manpower seeing the most significant increase of over 11%. In the first nine months of 2013, rising costs for the North-East Line, and start-up costs for the new Downtown Line, have resulted in their
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train operations going into the red.
Both operators also highlighted the growing losses in their bus business.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Time Extension for Fulfilling Government Building Contracts","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"47 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry can consider allowing all Government agencies to grant their building contractors a time extension of up to six months to fulfill their building contracts without imposing any liquidated damages in view of the tightening on foreign labour.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: As part of our construction productivity drive, we have regulated the demand for foreign workers by progressively reducing the Man-Year Entitlement (MYE) quota for new projects, and raising foreign worker levies. We have announced these measures in advance so that builders can factor these changes in their bids for new construction projects.
Our intention is to price the workers right so that builders will deploy more skilled workers and use more productive technologies to raise construction productivity and reduce our reliance on foreign workers.
Singapore is experiencing a tight labour market across all economic sectors. For the built environment sector, this affects both private and public sector projects. To address this, contractors who need more workers beyond the MYE quota can apply through the MYE-waiver tier, but would have to pay higher levies. We have also set up the Construction Productivity and Capability Fund to help firms defray the cost of mechanisation uptake and raise their workers’ skill levels.
Besides the tightening of labour supply, there are many other reasons for project delays, such as ground problems at the worksite; diversion of roads and services; and poor site management and safety practices. Currently, there are standard contractual provisions which allow builders to submit requests for time extension to complete the projects so long as these are justified. Our agencies will evaluate such requests on a case-by-case basis while not letting up on our objectives of boosting construction productivity and reducing our
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reliance on foreign workers.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Motorists Caught by Adjustment to Speed Limits","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"48 Mr Baey Yam Keng asked the Minister for Transport since the speed limit on the KPE was raised to 80km/h on 29 December 2013 (a) what is the number of motorists caught speeding near the Upper Paya Lebar Road (north bound) exit and the Airport Road (south bound) entrance where the original 70km/h speed limit has been retained; (b) how does this number compare to that before 29 December 2013; and (c) whether there is a need to enhance the signs to remind motorists of the lower speed limit.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: The number of speeding violations at that location mentioned has increased to about 55 per day in January 2014, compared to about 30 per day in October last year. LTA will add two pairs of \"Reduce Speed Now\" signs per direction along the stretches approaching that location, in addition to the existing signs and road markings, to remind motorists to comply with the 70km/h speed limit.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of Bus Lane Schemes on Bus Speeds","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"49 Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for Transport (a) if he can provide an update on the Bus Lane Schemes and their impact on bus speeds; and (b) whether these schemes can be extended to include other public transport modalities, such as taxis.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: In 2013, LTA added 25 km of bus lanes, including full-day bus lanes, primarily within the CBD area, bringing the total to 203 km of bus lanes island-wide. LTA also expanded the Mandatory Give Way to Buses scheme to 27 bus stops in 2013, bringing the total to about 200. Bus speeds have stayed steady at a monthly average of 17.3 km/hour in 2013, at a time when the overall bus fleet and number of bus services have increased.
However, the current bus speeds are still below optimal. Therefore, we would be wary of allowing more vehicle types, such as taxis, to use the bus
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lanes, given the adverse impact on bus speeds.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Pawnshops and Moneylending Shops in HDB Estates","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"50 Mr Seng Han Thong asked the Minister for National Development (a) what are the conditions set for running pawnshops and moneylending businesses in HDB heartlands; and (b) whether there is any plan to limit the number of pawnshops and moneylender shops within the same neighbourhood or precinct so as to ensure a mix of shops of different trades.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: In precincts where there are fewer numbers of shops, HDB will manage the shop mix to ensure that residents are adequately served by essential trades, such as medical clinics, bakeries, hair salons and so on. In neighbourhood and town centres where there is an ample supply of shops, HDB generally does not limit the number of shops for each trade. It allows the market to determine the trade mix as long as they do not create disamenities to residents.
The licensing of moneylending establishments and pawnshops is under the purview of the Registry of Moneylenders and Pawnbrokers, which is overseen by MinLaw. MinLaw is currently reviewing the moneylenders' regulatory regime. If the Registry subsequently introduces measures which require HDB's cooperation, HDB will act accordingly.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Impact of China's Air Defence Identification Zone on Singapore's Interests","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"53 Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) whether Singapore's interests are affected by China's declaration of an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea in November 2013; and (b) what is the Ministry's interim assessment of the prospects of China establishing a similar ADIZ over the disputed Spratly Islands.
Mr K Shanmugam: Mr Singh has asked whether Singapore’s interests are affected by China’s declaration of an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over
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the East China Sea.
Every country has the right to establish ADIZs. ADIZs are not uncommon. Besides China, the US, Japan and some ASEAN countries have also established ADIZs.
The East China Sea ADIZ announced by PRC overlaps with ADIZs which had been declared by Japan and South Korea. This overlapping of ADIZs could cause some complications.
Singapore is a major aviation hub. Changi Airport is connected to the Northeast Asia region and beyond. Our primary concern is with the freedom of overflight and safety of airliners, in accordance with international law and regulations. For example, given the overlapping ADIZs, what will happen, if pilots are given conflicting instructions by two control centres?
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has sought clarification from the Chinese authorities on the implementation of the East China Sea ADIZ. Likewise, Singapore has also sought clarification from China on what it means for civil aviation.
The other aspect is regional stability. China's ADIZ is part of a series of actions and counter-actions taken by different parties over many months that have increased tensions in the region and, in this instance, in an airspace that has busy commercial airways. There is not much point debating who started it or which party is right or wrong. It is more important to ensure that all the parties concerned work together to lower tensions and enhance mutual trust and cooperation.
With regard to the second part of Mr Singh's question, it is a hypothetical question. It is not in Singapore's interest in this case, and at this time, to be publicly speculating on whether China might or might not announce an ADIZ over the Spratly Islands, which is an area of contention among several countries.
I would add this point China, as well as several of the countries which have commented on China's new ADIZ over the East China Sea, have strong relationships with Singapore.
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There are deep economic, as well as strategic relationships between us and all of them, including China.
Thus, I would urge Members to exercise some care, and to look at the facts carefully, if and when they comment on these issues.
Specific to the South China Sea, let me reiterate our position. Singapore is not a claimant state in the South China Sea dispute and does not take any position on the merits of the various territorial claims; however, we have several vital interests. We have a fundamental interest in ensuring peace and stability in the South China Sea, a vital sea line of communication for our survival. We urge all claimants to resolve their disputes in a peaceful manner, in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We also have a fundamental interest in upholding all states' inherent right to freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea. We hope that all parties to the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) on the South China Sea will exercise restraint and avoid taking unilateral actions that will amplify concerns and escalate tensions. ASEAN and China have begun work on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and we should focus on concluding the Code soon.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Health Promotion Board's Frequently Asked Questions Segment for Same-sex Relationships","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"54 Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for Health if he will explain why the Health Promotion Board promotes a same-sex relationship as not being different from a heterosexual relationship.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The Government's policy is that the family is the basic building block of our society. This means encouraging heterosexual married couples to have healthy relationships and to build stable nuclear and extended family units. There has been no shift in the Government's position on this. HPB takes reference from this consistent position in its health promotion activities.
The Health Promotion Board (HPB)'s mission is to promote healthy living for all Singaporeans. HPB thus conducts outreach and educational programmes to raise awareness among the public, including youths, on sexual health matters, such as the prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs),
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including HIV and AIDS.
HPB tailors its sexual health education initiatives to the health concerns of specific target groups. HPB has identified Young Men Who have Sex with Men (YMSM) as one target group for STI and HIV education. To reach out to this group, HPB works with NGOs, VWOs and professional counsellors to produce educational resources.
The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on sexuality and sexual health provide a one-stop resource of factual information from a public health perspective on sexuality, STI and HIV prevention. The FAQs were published on the HPB website in November 2013. The FAQs do not encourage same-sex relationships, but rather provide advice to young persons and their parents on mental and physical health issues from a public health perspective.
The FAQs also provide specific information to young people at risk of engaging in sexual behaviours which expose them to STI and HIV. The statement that \"A same-sex relationship is not too different from a heterosexual relationship\" and the statement that follows \"Both require the commitment of two people\" should be taken together. They highlight that relationships require commitment, and it is possible to remain faithful to one’s partner, regardless of one's sexual orientation. This drives home a key STI and HIV prevention message to \"Be faithful\" to one's partner, rather than to have multiple partners. This helps to protect individuals from STIs and HIV, minimise transmission risks, and, thereby, safeguarding public health.
The HPB continually reviews its resources to keep them relevant, appropriate and effective in reaching out to target populations to help them make healthier choices. MOH and HPB receive much valuable feedback from members of the public, expressing a diversity of views. HPB will take into consideration all relevant inputs in our reviews.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Monitoring Sentiment towards Foreign Migrants","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"56 Ms Tan Su Shan asked the Prime Minister what more can be done to arrest the growing potential for social discord following the expression of negative sentiment towards foreign migrants.
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Mr Lawrence Wong (for the Prime Minister): There have recently been occasional waves of negative sentiment towards foreign migrants, especially on the Internet. This is, in part, due to the way social media amplifies and quickly spreads negative sentiments. However, it is heartening to see that such anti-foreigner sentiments are often countered by many people who urge reasonableness and calm.
Public education has an important part to play in raising public awareness that we need to be more discerning in what we read and more responsible in how we behave on the Internet and social media. In this regard, the community and stakeholders, such as the Media Literacy Council, have an important part to play in developing programmes to promote information and media literacy. The Government is also studying how our legal framework can be enhanced, so that people can be better protected against acts of harassment and related anti-social behaviour, both in the real world and online.
Beyond these measures, it is important to sustain efforts to integrate newcomers into Singapore and promote mutual understanding between locals and foreigners. The National Integration Council (NIC) has been working with its partners to broaden and deepen our outreach to immigrants and foreigners, to help them understand and adapt to our culture and social norms. In the community, we will continue to promote volunteerism to newcomers, including in civic organisations, as well as major events like the 2015 Southeast Asian Games. Through volunteerism, new immigrants will be able to foster friendships with locals and showcase their contributions to society. In our schools, we will continue to create opportunities for all students to interact and share common experiences. We are also working with the Singapore National Employers' Federation to encourage more employers to promote integration among their employees.
Many civic groups and individuals are also doing their part to help integrate newcomers. These include Connexions International, which seeks to build friendships with international students and help them understand Singapore society. Another community organisation, the Singapore Loving and Giving Society, organised a seminar to help new immigrants and international students better understand our social norms and adapt to life in Singapore. These are just two examples of the numerous ground-up projects, supported by the NIC, that contribute to integration.
Even as we work continuously to sustain integration, there will be future occasions when the spotlight is thrown on some foreigners' comments or
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behaviour. At such times, it is our balanced responses that will be important to mitigating negative emotions and maintaining our social cohesion.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Land for Private Retirement Villages","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"58 Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Government will be releasing more land for private retirement villages in view of the recent successful launch of the pilot project along Jalan Jurong Kechil; and (b) whether the recent pilot project met the Government's objectives for retirement village development.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Developers can already build private retirement housing on any site zoned for residential use. These sites are available through private sources, as well as the Government Land Sales programme.
Nevertheless, in response to requests from developers for a suitable site to be offered for retirement housing, URA released a site in Jalan Jurong Kechil through the reserve list of the Government Land Sales programme in 2006. To spur market interest by reducing the upfront cost of development, it was offered on a shorter lease tenure of 30 years initially, but later extended to 45 or 60 years. In addition, URA offered developers a gross floor area (GFA) incentive scheme to encourage the provision of elderly-friendly medical and communal facilities. The site was eventually triggered for tender and sold in 2012.
The site has since been launched by the developer, which has marketed it as a \"retirement resort\". Whether this development proves successful as a retirement village will only be clear when it is completed and residents have moved in.
Meanwhile, our priority is to enable the vast majority of Singaporeans who live in HDB estates to age in a senior-friendly and familiar environment. We have implemented many measures to facilitate this, including the upgrading of lifts, rejuvenating of older neighbourhoods, installation of barrier-free ramps and retrofitting of flats through the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) scheme. Seniors also have the option to move into purpose-built studio apartments. We will continue to provide more care and support services and facilities so that our seniors can age in place, within a familiar community.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Profile of Those Registered on Community Health Assist Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WANA","content":"59 Mrs Lina Chiam asked the Minister for Health to date, how many Singaporeans have been successfully registered for the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) out of the estimated number of potential eligible applicants and out of the total number of applicants who live in HDB rental flats respectively.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: About 520,000 Singaporeans have signed up for the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) as at 31 December 2013. Based on our records, we have successfully registered close to 20,500 households living in HDB rental flats for CHAS. This translates to about 40% of all households living in HDB rental flats. The remaining 60% who are not on CHAS includes Singaporeans on the Public Assistance (PA) scheme who enjoy free medical services at public healthcare institutions, as well as younger families who can now qualify for CHAS following the removal of the age floor on 1 January 2014.
Working closely with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), HPB and grassroots organisations, MOH will continue to explore ways to target our outreach to the lower- and middle-income Singaporean households to encourage more eligible Singaporeans to sign up for the scheme. In particular, for residents of HDB rental flats, AIC has been conducting door-to-door visits, together with grassroots leaders, to assist them in their applications if required.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Option for Government Scholarship Recipients to Donate Quantum of Financial Support to Charity","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"1 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Prime Minister whether an option can be granted to recipients of Government scholarships to take the scholarship without the financial support and for the quantum of financial support to be donated to a charity nominated by the scholarship recipient.
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Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): We thank the Member for his suggestion.
There have been scholarship recipients who voluntarily donate a quantum of their scholarship allowances to charitable causes and set aside time for community service. We will continue to encourage and remind all scholarship recipients of their commitment to serve Singapore and Singaporeans.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"False Motor Insurance Claims","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"2 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the number of reported cases of false insurance claims related to traffic accidents in the last three years; (b) what are Police's considerations in deciding whether there are merits for further investigation; and (c) how many people have been prosecuted for false insurance claims in the last three years.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: There were 244 reports of motor vehicle insurance fraud in the past three years.
As with any other criminal offence, Police will investigate complaints of alleged motor vehicle insurance fraud if it is assessed that there is sufficient evidence that a criminal offence has been disclosed.
Fifty-seven persons have been prosecuted for motor vehicle insurance fraud in the past three years.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Inactive Liquor Licences in Proclaimed Area of Little India","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"3 Assoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) for each year between 2009 and 2013, what are the number and type of liquor licences issued but are inactive in the proclaimed area of Little India; (b) what are the reasons for the issued liquor licences being inactive; and (c) how many of these inactive liquor licences are
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subsequently renewed in the following year.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: A liquor licence is deemed \"inactive\" when the licensee has ceased the sale of liquor before its expiry date. Currently, there is no requirement for the licensee to terminate the licence or inform Police about the cessation of operations. Hence, Police do not have any record of \"inactive\" licences from 2009 to 2012. As these \"inactive\" liquor licensees had ceased their business operations, it is unlikely they would renew their licence.
Following the riot in Little India, Police implemented additional liquor sales restrictions in the area. This provided an opportunity to update the status of licence holders. Police found that 43 of the 374 liquor licence holders had ceased operations. Hence, the 2013 figure was amended to reflect the actual number of active licence holders.
Currently, inactive licence holders can continue to hold licences for which the licence fees had been paid. Police will look into imposing an additional requirement for a licensee to inform Police if the licensee ceases operations before the licence expires.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Updating SCDF Emergency Handbook to Include Response Recommendations on Handling Unruly or Destructive Crowds","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"4 Ms Tan Su Shan asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs whether the SCDF Emergency Handbook will be updated to include response recommendations to large crowds turning unruly or destructive.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: The Civil Defence Emergency Handbook contains advisories that are related to Emergency Preparedness and National Emergencies, and covers key topics, such as first aid, fire safety, peacetime and war-time emergencies and terrorist threats. The Handbook, in its seventh edition, is regularly reviewed and updated periodically.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Singapore Police Force will look into this suggestion with a view to include appropriate advisories in the next edition of the Handbook for members of the public who are at locations where there are large crowds, or if they encounter situations of unruly crowd
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behaviour.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Strength of Auxiliary Police Forces","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"5 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the current total strength of the auxiliary police forces; and (b) what proportion of the total strength (in percentages and in absolute numbers) comprise Singapore citizens, permanent residents (PR) and non-PR Malaysians respectively.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: The current total strength of the auxiliary police forces is about 6,000 officers. The majority of the officers are Singaporeans, while the others are Malaysians. The employment of Malaysians into the auxiliary police forces started in the 1970s and we have continued with this practice till today.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Reported Cases of Voluntarily Causing Hurt","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"6 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs in respect of cases of voluntarily causing hurt that are reported to the police (a) what is the total number of cases recorded by the Police in 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively; (b) what is the incidence of such cases per 100,000 population for 2011, 2012 and 2013; and (c) what proportion of these cases are charged by the Police in Court for each of the years.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: There were about 10,000 reported cases of voluntarily causing hurt a year for the period 2011-2013. This works out to about 200 cases per 100,000 population each year. For the same period, there were more than 600 criminal charges filed against persons accused of voluntarily causing hurt each year.
Voluntarily causing hurt cases range from a slap during a family dispute to road bullying. Most of these cases have been resolved by the parties themselves or upon mediation by a magistrate. In cases where there is clear harm to public interest or where vulnerable victims are involved, the Magistrate or the Public Prosecutor may grant Police powers of investigation under the
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Criminal Procedure Code to investigate the matter with a view to prosecution in Court.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Reported Cases of Serious Sexual Crimes","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"7 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs with regard to Police investigations into reports of serious sexual crimes handled by the Criminal Investigation Department in the last three years (a) of the cases charged in Court, what is the median time which elapsed between the making of the Police report and the completion of investigations such that the prosecution is ready to proceed; and (b) what percentage of reports is not prosecuted in Court and for what offence types.
Mr Teo Chee Hean: There were about 180 reported cases of serious sexual crimes, that is, rape and sexual assault by penetration cases, a year for the period 2011-2013. These resulted in close to 30 criminal charges being filed against sex offenders each year. For the remaining cases, depending on the findings of investigations, the outcome may be a stern warning in lieu of prosecution or no further action taken against the defendant.
On average, Police require about 12 months to conclude investigations into such crimes. However, the actual length of investigations may differ based on the complexity of each case.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Nationwide Outdoor Signal Service Coverage Survey by IDA","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"8 Ms Lee Li Lian asked the Minister for Communications and Information in comparison with the nationwide outdoor signal service coverage survey conducted by IDA in September 2012 that is performed with an average of 524,875 signal strength sample readings for each cellular network (a) how many sample readings are taken for the latest coverage survey in 2013; and (b) what is the time interval between each sample reading.
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Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Under IDA's 3G Quality of Service framework, the nation-wide outdoor service coverage is tested with a minimum sample of 100,000 test signal strength readings per month, per cellular network. When samples are taken, an average of three sample readings is collected every two seconds by the test equipment for each of the three cellular networks.
September 2012's 524,875 signal strength readings per cellular network were higher than the minimum sample of 100,000 test signal strength readings as it was the first time IDA was performing an audit to validate the mobile operators' performance after the standard was revised upwards in April 2012.
IDA has also stepped up the frequency for its collection of signal strength readings. It is now conducted on a monthly basis starting from Q2 2013. The total number of sample readings taken over the second and third quarters of 2013 was more than 800,000 per cellular network. The survey results for the fourth quarter of 2013 are currently being compiled.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy (TTFS)","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"9 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (a) what is the surplus amount from the non-disbursement of Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy (TTFS) for 2012; and (b) how many more students have benefited from the scheme in 2012 after the introduction of the revised criteria, compared to 2010 and 2011.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: The Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy (TTFS) is a subsidy for the tuition fees of Malay Students at institutes of higher learning (IHLs).
The grant is disbursed by Yayasan MENDAKI to eligible students. In 2012, the undisbursed TTFS amount was $15.48 million, which was 32.9% of the $47 million TTFS advance received by MENDAKI. The undisbursed TTFS funds are channelled to MENDAKI's Education Development Fund (EDF) to support educational assistance schemes and other educational programmes.
With the revised income criteria in 2012, the number of students who benefited in academic year (AY) 2012 increased by 3,805 compared to AY2011.
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For AY2012, 5,973 students benefited from TTFS, compared to 2,168 students for AY2011, and 2,182 students for AY2010.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Verification of Network Traffic Logs of Local Mobile Network Operators by IDA","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"10 Ms Lee Li Lian asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) what types of independent tests does IDA carry out to verify the accuracy and correctness of the network traffic logs of our local mobile network operators; and (b) whether there are any inconsistencies between mobile network coverage which is tested independently and drop call rates which are based on mobile operators' network traffic logs and, if so, what are the reasons for these inconsistencies.
Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: To ensure that the mobile operators meet IDA's Quality of Service (QoS) standards for mobile telephone services, IDA regularly conducts tests across the island to measure the signal strengths in outdoor and in-building areas, including roads and MRT tunnels. These tests also include call success rates and drop call rates, and IDA carries out on-site audits on the mobile operators' network traffic logs to validate the operators' call success and drop call rates. The performance of the mobile operators, based on the audited results, is measured against the IDA's QoS standards.
There are no inconsistencies between the results for mobile network coverage and call drop rates as they measure different aspects of an operator's network. The former measures the presence of radio signals of a certain signal strength, at a certain location. End users typically see this represented by the varying number of signal strength \"bars\" on their handphones. Test results for this indicator are typically collected by IDA through drive and walk tests. The drop call rate, on the other hand, is a measure of the availability of radio channels to handle and maintain established calls. It is assessed by IDA using the network traffic logs, which reflect actual users’ data.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Regular Servicing and Maintenance of Air-conditioning Units by HDB Flat Owners","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"11 Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for National Development whether HDB will consider mandating the regular servicing and maintenance of air-conditioning units in HDB flats by home owners so as to minimise neighbourly disputes arising from poorly maintained air-conditioned units.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Home owners are responsible for the maintenance of the fixtures and fittings in their flat. They have to ensure that their air-conditioners are properly secured and in good working condition so as not to cause any inconvenience, such as leaks or noise disturbances, to their neighbours.
Upon receiving feedback on poor maintenance of air-conditioners, HDB will investigate and inform the lessee to rectify the problem. If lessees are uncooperative, HDB may issue warning letters and summons.
The number of feedback received by HDB on disamenities caused by poor maintenance of air-conditioners is low and residents would generally rectify the problems upon receiving HDB's advice.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Second-time HDB Applicants Yet to Secure Their Flats","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"12 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development what is the current estimated number of second-time HDB applicants who have yet to secure their flats and what is the average waiting time for their requests to be fulfilled.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Between October 2012 and September 2013, there were 3,700 second-timer applicants who applied for Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in the non-mature estates but did not have a chance to select a flat. We do not have the average waiting time for second-timer applicants, as this depends on various factors, such as the applicants' preferences and the popularity of their preferred project. In general, applicants should have a better chance of securing a flat if they apply for a project with lower application rates.
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Over the last three years, we have ramped up the supply of BTO flats to meet the housing needs of Singaporeans. In March 2012, HDB tripled the allocation quota for BTO flats in the non-mature estates for second-timers from 5% to 15%. In May 2013, the allocation quota for 2-room and 3-room flats was further increased from 15% to 30%. Second-timer application rates have fallen from 14.9 times the supply in January 2013 to 2.7 times in November 2013. As we clear the backlog of first-timers, second-timers will have better chances of getting a flat.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Supply of Granite and Sand for Major Public Infrastructure and Other Building Projects","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"13 Assoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether there will be sufficient granite and sand for the major public infrastructure and other building projects notwithstanding the release from the national stockpile; and (b) what plans are there to build up the national stockpile of granite and sand so as to enhance our resilience.
Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The way to ensuring supply resilience is source diversification. We import granite and sand from several overseas sources. Together with our national stockpile, this diversification strategy buffers us against any supply disruption from any particular source. In this way, we minimise impact to our construction activities.
Meanwhile, we will help the industry to ramp up supply from these diversified sources, and to identify new sources. In addition, we will continue to promote the use of steel, drywalls and recycled concrete aggregates, so as to rely less on natural aggregates.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Criteria for Placement of Full-time National Servicemen","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"14 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Defence what are the factors or criteria that are used to determine the full-time National Service placement of individuals, whether serving in the police force, armed
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forces or civil defence force.
Dr Ng Eng Hen: The deployment of full-time National Servicemen (NSFs) to the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Civil Defence Force and Singapore Police Force takes into account the operational and manpower requirements of each of these uniformed services, as well as the suitability of the individual to perform various vocational roles based on his medical fitness and aptitude.
It is the aim of the Home Team and the SAF that every NSF will regard his assigned duties as an important and meaningful role in the defence and security of Singapore. We will continue to examine ways to optimise the roles and contributions of our National Servicemen.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Number of Magistrate's Complaints Relating to Offence of Voluntarily Causing Hurt","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"15 Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Law how many Magistrate's Complaints lodged in 2011, 2012 and 2013 relate to the criminal offence of voluntarily causing hurt.
Mr K Shanmugam: The number of Magistrate's Complaints lodged in 2011, 2012 and 2013 which relate to the criminal offence of voluntarily causing hurt is 513, 880 and 943 respectively.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Review of Termination of Pregnancy Guidelines","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"16 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Health (a) if he will give an update on the review of the Termination of Pregnancy guidelines which commenced in March 2013, particularly with regard to the criteria for mandatory pre-abortion counselling and the contents of the counselling; and (b) when will this review be completed.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Today, the majority of women seeking abortion already receive counselling. MOH has reviewed the criteria related to pre-abortion counselling and is proposing to extend mandatory pre-abortion
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counselling to all pregnant women seeking termination of pregnancy in Singapore. We will be consulting the public on this proposal in the second half of 2014.
The review of the contents of the pre-abortion counselling is ongoing and it includes the improvement of information provided during counselling to women seeking abortion, as well as strengthening of the training provided to abortion counsellors. More details will be shared in the second half of 2014.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Women Terminating Pregnancy in Singapore","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"17 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Health (a) in each of the last 10 years (i) how many women have sought to terminate their pregnancy in Singapore; (ii) how many women are referred to a trained counsellor for pre-abortion counselling; (iii) how many women decided not to terminate their pregnancy after undergoing counselling; and (b) what are the names of the organisations that patients are currently referred to for mandatory pre-abortion counselling.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: The number of requests for termination of pregnancy in Singapore is appended in the table below.
The table below refers to the number of women who underwent pre-abortion counselling.
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The table below provides the number of kept pregnancy after pre-abortion counselling.
Currently, mandatory pre-abortion counselling is conducted by a trained counsellor, that is, a doctor or nurse, in institutions approved to carry out Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) under the TOP Act and Regulations which include both approved public/private healthcare institutions. For unmarried pregnant women below 16 years old, pre-abortion counselling is provided by the Health Promotion Board Student Centre.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Singaporeans Who are No Longer Insurable under MediShield or Medisave-approved Integrated Shield Plans","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"18 Mr Png Eng Huat asked the Minister for Health what is the number of Singaporeans who are no longer insurable under MediShield or Medisave-approved integrated shield plans due to exhausted benefits and claim limits upon diagnosis of major illnesses since 2000.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: MediShield and some Medisave-approved Integrated Shield Plans (IPs) impose lifetime limits on the payable claims for each policyholder. The lifetime claim limit for MediShield is $300,000 and varies across IPs4. Since 2000, 1455 MediShield policyholders have reached the lifetime claim limits and are, hence, no longer insured under the scheme. Since the inception of Medisave-approved Integrated Shield Plans (IPs) in 2005, no IP policyholders have reached their respective lifetime claim limits.
The MediShield lifetime limit was increased in 2005 and, more recently, in March 2013 from $200,000 to $300,000. The enhancement was made to provide protection for higher lifetime claims, due to increases in life expectancy and accumulation of claims over time. The Ministry will continue to monitor the trend in policyholders' cumulative claims, in relation to the adequacy of the new lifetime limit. Financial assistance is also available for those who face difficulty with their medical bills at our public healthcare institutions.
As part of the ongoing review on MediShield Life to provide greater assurance for Singaporeans for life, the MediShield Life Review Committee is studying the parameters for MediShield Life, including reviewing the lifetime limit. The Committee is expected to present its recommendations for the Ministry's consideration in mid-2014.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":["4 : From $800,000 to unlimited.","5 : Refers to the number of unique instances where policyholders reached the lifetime limit. It may include those who had reapplied for coverage after having reached the old lifetime limit, and subsequently reached the new lifetime limit."],"footNoteQuestions":["18"],"questionNo":"18"},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Proposed ElderShield Reform","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"19 Mr Chen Show Mao asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the proposed ElderShield reform that is reported in 2011, including plans to increase payouts to $800-$1,000 per month.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: MOH is currently undertaking a holistic review to enhance affordability in the intermediate and long-term care (ILTC) sector through enhancing both Government subsidy and insurance in the form of ElderShield.
Today, ElderShield provides cash payouts of $400 a month for up to six years to help defray the cost of care for a severely disabled senior. MOH is reviewing the key design parameters of ElderShield to provide greater protection and support for Singaporeans. We are mindful that enhancements to ElderShield benefits will affect the premiums for policyholders and we have to carefully study the benefits of these enhancements and what they will mean for premium levels.
In the meantime, to improve the affordability of ILTC services for Singaporeans, MOH has enhanced the ILTC subsidy framework to provide more help from the Government. Subsidies were increased in July 2012 and the qualifying income raised so that more middle income households can benefit from the subsidies. We also started absorbing Goods and Service Tax (GST) for all subsidised patients receiving care at GST-registered ILTC institutions. In addition, we introduced the Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) Grant to support middle income households that need a domestic helper to care for their frail or disabled elderly family member, and raised the monthly cash payouts for disabled elderly under the Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly (IDAPE). These efforts work together to reduce the overall out-of-pocket cost of ILTC services for many Singaporeans.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Compulsory Third-party Insurance and Traffic Rules Training for Cyclists","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"20 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport whether he will consider (i) making third-party insurance for cyclists compulsory so that in the case of an accident, victims can make a claim without resorting to civil suits; and (ii) requiring cyclists to attend compulsory training to familiarise themselves with road traffic rules in the interest of public safety.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: It is not practical to require every single person who wants to ride a bicycle to first have mandatory third-party insurance or to go through compulsory training. Cycling proficiency programmes in other countries, such as Bikeability in the United Kingdom and AustCycle in Australia, are also voluntary. Our approach is to impart the relevant knowledge on safe road use to different groups of cyclists through targeted platforms, such as talks and exhibitions at community events and in schools.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Transportation Plans for New HDB BTO Developments on Former Keat Hong Camp Site","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"21 Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are the transportation plans for the new HDB BTO developments on the former Keat Hong Camp site that will add more than 10,000 units to Choa Chu Kang estate when the flats are completed in phases between 2014 and 2016; (b) what measures is the Ministry putting in place as each phase is completed to ensure that existing residents have sufficient bus, LRT and MRT capacity during the morning and evening peaks; and (c) how does the Ministry plan to assure residents of its plan, given the already high utilisation of the existing bus, LRT and MRT services.
Mr Lui Tuck Yew: Specifically for the Choa Chu Kang area, more buses have been added to Service 975 under the Bus Service Enhancement Programme (BSEP). SMRT has also added more trips for Service 300. In addition, Service 982E, a new route, was introduced in March 2013 to provide residents travelling to the CBD with an alternative to the MRT during the peak period. We will continue to monitor the situation and introduce new bus services or re-route existing ones to serve the new BTO developments, as
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necessary, and in tandem with the increase in population in the estate.
Choa Chu Kang residents can also look forward to the additional capacity for the North-South and East-West Lines (NSEWL), with 13 more trains to be added this year and another 28 trains by 2016. Thirteen train-cars will also be added to the Bukit Panjang LRT this year.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Criteria for Opening of Primary School in Neighbourhood","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"22 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Education (a) what criteria are used to decide if a Primary school should be opened in a neighbourhood; and (b) under what circumstances will the Ministry consider reopening Pandan Primary School to meet the needs of Teban Gardens and Pandan Gardens residents.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: MOE regularly reviews the demand and supply trends at the national and local levels to ensure that there are sufficient school places for every P1-going child. Our school planning takes into account the current and projected population and planned housing development programmes to ensure that there are sufficient school places to meet the demands of each residential area.
While MOE tries to ensure that every child of school-going age in Singapore has a place in a school reasonably near his or her home, it will not be possible to build a Primary school in every area. Every new school needs to have a sufficient catchment of students to enable it to mount a range of activities for the benefit of the students, and to be run efficiently.
Parents with Primary school-going children living in Teban Gardens and Pandan Gardens have four Primary schools within 2 km to send their children to Clementi Primary School, Fuhua Primary School, Nan Hua Primary School and Qifa Primary School. As there are sufficient Primary school places in the area, we have no plans to build any new Primary schools in the vicinity or to re-open the former Pandan Primary School.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Offer of Three Official Mother Tongue Languages in All Public Schools in Singapore","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"23 Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for Education (a) whether all three official mother tongue languages (MTL) (Chinese, Malay and Tamil) can be offered in all public schools in Singapore; and (b) whether public schools in Singapore are allowed to offer non-official MTLs, such as Hindi, Bengali or other Indian languages, in lieu of Tamil, which is the official Indian MTL.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Our mainstream schools teach the official mother tongue languages (MTLs) as part of the school curriculum. Classes are organised in schools where there is sufficient demand for the subject, premised on our being able to recruit sufficient number of teachers.
Currently, Chinese and Malay language instruction is available in all schools other than the Special Assistance Plan schools. Tamil Language (TL) instruction is offered in most schools except those where the number of students is too small to form a class. There is also a challenge in recruiting suitably qualified TL teachers.
At the Primary level, MOE has provided TL instruction in most schools. Primary students who offer TL attend schools which provide TL instruction, and attend TL lessons conducted in their school. MOE will continue to look into ways to recruit more suitably qualified TL teachers so that more Primary schools would be able to provide TL instruction.
At the Secondary level, students are older and can travel on public transport on their own. Thus, students from schools that do not offer TL instruction attend TL lessons at one of the eleven regional school-based centres, which were set up to cater to students from schools nearby, or at the national Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre (UPTLC) which is located near the Farrer Park MRT station. The larger number of students at UPTLC allows students to benefit from a richer TL learning environment where there are more opportunities for interaction in the language.
Mainstream schools do not provide instruction for non-official MTLs. Instruction for non-Tamil Indian Languages (NTILs) of Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu, which are recognised by MOE as mother tongue-in-lieu, is overseen by the Board for the Teaching and Testing of South Asian Languages
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and provided for by the respective NTIL community groups.
NTIL students separately pay for and attend the NTIL lessons conducted by their respective NTIL community groups. These take place primarily at a few designated NTIL centres on Saturdays. For some, they take NTIL lessons conducted in their schools organised by their respective NTIL community groups on school days. This is an arrangement between the parents of the NTIL students and their respective NTIL community group, subject to the availability of suitable teaching venues in the school.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Schools Offering Drama as \"O\" and \"A\" Level Subjects","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"24 Ms Janice Koh asked the Minister for Education (a) how many schools are offering and how many students are pursuing Drama as \"O\" and \"A\" level subjects today compared to five years ago; (b) whether the Ministry will consider introducing more Singapore content into the \"O\" and \"A\" level Drama syllabus; and (c) whether the Ministry has plans to encourage more schools to offer Drama as \"O\" and \"A\" level subjects and, if so, what preparations are being made to train our teachers to teach Drama as part of the core curriculum.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Students who are interested in Drama can offer the subject as an \"O\" level School Initiated Elective subject at the \"O\" level, the Theatre Studies and Drama (TSD) at the \"A\" level or the Theatre programme at the IB Diploma level offered by the School of The Arts (SOTA).
Currently, three Junior Colleges offer TSD. The number of TSD students, including SOTA Theatre Year 6 students, is 53. In 2010, TSD was offered in four Junior Colleges and the number of students was 55. The number is stable and averages around 56 students per year.
Currently, four Secondary schools offer Drama, and the number of Drama students, including SOTA Year 4 Theatre students, is 93. In 2010, eight Secondary schools offered the subject. The number of Drama students, including SOTA Year 4 Theatre students then, was 77. The number fluctuates over the years and averages around 81 students per year.
MOE is currently developing our own syllabus for the \"O\" level Drama to be offered by schools in 2017. This will better cater to the interests and needs of
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our students and develop a stronger appreciation of our Singapore culture. MOE has recently established a dedicated drama unit to better focus on supporting schools. Resources and training will be provided to support schools to offer the subject in tandem with the implementation of the new syllabus.
With regard to infusing more Singapore content in the \"O\" level Drama and \"A\" level TSD syllabuses, both syllabuses have a coursework component whereby students are encouraged to draw inspirations from their lives to devise performances which are meaningful to them. As such, students' practical work tends to be of Singaporean content as they engage with issues close to their hearts. For \"O\" level Drama, students may use local plays for their text-based performances, for example, those by local playwrights, such as Kuo Pao Kun and Haresh Sharma. In addition, Asian theatre and drama have been a feature in the \"A\" level TSD since 2006.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"School-based Student Care Centres","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"25 Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the current number of school-based student care centres (SSCs); (b) what is the total enrolment capacity of SSCs in aggregate; (c) what is the average enrolment across SSCs over the past 12 months; (d) what is the percentage of SSCs with students on a waitlist; and (e) what is the number of new SSCs that will be opened over the next two years.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: As at December 2013, there are 80 school-based Student Care Centres (SCCs), a significant increase from less than 50 in 2011. In tandem, the number of students enrolled in school-based centres has almost doubled, from around 3,500 to more than 6,500 in 2013.
Many parents have given positive feedback on our school-based SCCs, as SCCs provide students with a convenient, structured and supportive environment after school. MOE is working together with MSF to study the demand pattern for SCCs in general, and for school-based SCCs in particular. MOE and MSF are also studying the capacity of SCC operators to expand the number of SCC places, both for community-based SCCs and school-based SCCs. While MOE will continue to support Primary schools to explore the scope for expansion of school-based SCCs, any expansion must allow us to continue to maintain quality, affordability and accessibility. MOE will provide more details
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of our plans for school-based SCCs in due course.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Religious Knowledge as Part of Secondary Education Curriculum","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"26 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider re-introducing Religious Knowledge (RK) as part of the Secondary education curriculum.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Our school curriculum today provides for our students to learn the values of respect, responsibility, care and harmony in fostering racial and religious harmony in Singapore. In Character and Citizenship Education and Social Studies, which are taken by all students, they learn the six major religions in Singapore; namely, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Taoism. Aspects of these religions, such as their origins, significance of beliefs and practices, celebration of festivals and being sensitive to the beliefs and practices of others, are covered.
Our schools also celebrate Racial Harmony Day annually. With the range of efforts to teach our students about multicultural and multi-religious Singapore and the good values taught in the religions, it is not necessary to introduce Religious Knowledge as a separate subject.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Additional Time Allocated for Character and Citizenship and Physical Education","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"27 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the additional time allocated for Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) and Physical Education (PE) has resulted in longer school hours; (b) whether there is sufficient time for the completion of curriculum for the other subjects; and (c) whether schools are using time after the official curriculum hours to complete the syllabus for examinable subjects.
Mr Heng Swee Keat: Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) and Physical Education (PE) are important ways through which our students are
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developed holistically. In developing the CCE curriculum for implementation this year, the allocation of curriculum time was reviewed to allow schools to have sufficient time to inculcate values and build social-emotional competencies in their students. For instance, the Form Teacher Guidance Period was introduced in Primary school to provide Primary school teachers with more time to interact with their students.
The curriculum time for PE lessons was also reviewed and increased to provide enough time to develop in students the knowledge, skills and attitudes that would help them pursue an active and healthy lifestyle.
In summary, there has been an increase in curriculum time by between one to two hours per week to meet the holistic development needs of students. This increase in time is aligned with the Ministry's commitment to investing more resources in developing students beyond the academic curriculum. The Ministry appreciates the support of parents, who have responded positively to these changes.
The Ministry designs the curriculum such that the learning outcomes for each subject are achievable within the recommended curriculum time. As students may have different learning needs, schools have some flexibility to adjust the curriculum time allocated to the teaching of the various subjects.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Student Care Centres Outside School Premises","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"28 Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what is the current number of student care centres which operate outside of the school premises; (b) how has the number of such centres changed over the past five years; and (c) what is the number of such centres that have ceased operations over the past five years.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: Student Care Centres (SCCs) provide before- and after-school care for children aged seven to 14. SCCs that administer the Student Care Fees Assistance are registered with MSF.
Today, there are 409 SCCs registered with MSF, of which 329 operate outside of school premises. The number of such centres ranged from 307 to 373 over the last five years. MSF does not have the breakdown of the reasons
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behind the centres' decisions not to re-register to administer the Student Care Fees Assistance.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Medium-term to Short-term Comcare Scheme Applicants and Recipients","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"29 Mr Chen Show Mao asked the Minister for Social and Family Development with regard to the medium-term to short-term ComCare schemes for each year from 2009-2013 (a) how many recipients are there on these schemes at year-end; (b) how many applicants are assessed for these schemes; (c) how many have been successful; and (d) how many applicants in each of the above categories from (a) to (c) are aged 55 and above.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: The relevant data for ComCare short- to medium-term assistance are shown in the following tables.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Age Profile of Those on Work Support Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"30 Mr Chen Show Mao asked the Minister for Social and Family Development in respect of the Work Support Scheme (a) at year-end of 2012 and 2013, how many on the scheme are aged (i) 45 to 55; (ii) 56 to 65; and (iii) above 65; (b) how long do the participants spend on the scheme on average in each of the years of 2012 and 2013; and (c) how does the Ministry measure the success of the scheme, for example, with reference to job retention rates.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: The relevant data is shown in the table below.
The Ministry tracks the job placement rate of beneficiaries who receive case management support. From 2008 to 2012, about three in four unemployed beneficiaries were placed in jobs. About 65% of all beneficiaries who were case-managed saw an increase in their income.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Eligibility Criteria for Public Assistance Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"31 Mr Chen Show Mao asked the Minister for Social and Family Development since the widening of the eligibility criteria for the Public Assistance Scheme in 2012 and 2013 (a) how many applications were received for the scheme in 2013; (b) how many such applicants had been successful; and (c) for each of the groups in (a) and (b), how many were aged 55 years and above.
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Mr Chan Chun Sing: The Public Assistance (PA) Scheme provides assistance to those who are permanently unable to work due to old age, illness or disability, and have little or no means of income and family support.
In 2013, the Ministry received 629 applications for PA. Of these, 510 were placed on PA, while another 23 were assisted under other ComCare assistance or linked up with local assistance schemes. Of the 629 applicants for PA in 2013, 541 were aged 55 and over. Of the 510 persons placed on PA in 2013, 442 were aged 55 and over.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Secondary and Discretionary Tiers in Public Assistance Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"32 Mr Chen Show Mao asked the Minister for Social and Family Development since the introduction of the secondary and discretionary tiers in the Public Assistance scheme in 2013 (a) how many applicants have been assessed for each tier; (b) how many have been successful; (c) for each tier, what is the average payout or estimated value of items paid out to each successful applicant; and (d) what are the most common expenses for which assistance was paid out under these tiers.
Mr Chan Chun Sing: Beneficiaries under the Public Assistance (PA) scheme receive a cash grant and other support, such as free medical services and other community services. In April 2013, the Ministry introduced two new tiers of assistance for PA beneficiaries. The secondary tier provides assistance for recurrent health and hygiene needs, and the discretionary tier covers one-off purchase or replacement of items, such as assistive devices or household appliances.
Between April and December 2013, 70 and 140 applications were received for the secondary and discretionary tiers respectively. All the applications for the secondary tier were successful, while 92% of applications for the discretionary tier were approved.
The average value of items supported were close to $200 for both tiers, with recurrent medical consumables, such as adult diapers and milk feeds, and household maintenance items like mattresses and fans, being the most
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common expenses.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Repayment of CPF Funds and Accrued Interest upon Withdrawal of Name from Co-ownership of HDB Flat","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"33 Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Acting Minister for Manpower whether the requirement for the repayment of CPF funds and accrued interest upon withdrawal of one's name from the co-ownership of a HDB flat can be reviewed, where if this is done by a Singaporean who is co-owning the flat with his aged parents, an option can be given to the younger Singaporean co-owner to seek (i) lump sum repayment of the CPF funds used; (ii) instalment repayment of the CPF funds used; or (iii) waiver of the repayment of CPF funds used.
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: When a CPF member wishes to relinquish his ownership of a property, he is required to refund the principal amount of CPF savings withdrawn for the property, as well as any interest that would have accrued had this amount not been withdrawn, before we are able to lift the CPF charge on his property. Otherwise, there is a risk that the monies may not be returned to the member’s CPF account, compromising his retirement adequacy.
Dr Intan suggested that the child be given a choice of (a) lump sum repayment of the CPF funds used; (b) instalment repayment of the CPF funds used; or (c) waiver of the repayment of CPF funds used. I would like to clarify that some flexibility in repayment is already provided for today. The full refund amount is only required within six months of the child taking possession of his new flat, at which point he withdraws as a co-owner in his parents' flat. This could take a few years, if he is buying a new flat that is under construction. In the interim, voluntary repayments can be made to progressively bring down the outstanding refund amount. If the parents are eligible for HDB or bank loans or have CPF monies that are available to be used for housing, these monies can also be used to make the refund upon the withdrawal of the child as a co-owner.
However, we are unable to allow the child, or any CPF member, who has used CPF savings for a property, a waiver of the required refund when he sells or relinquishes ownership of the property. Doing so would compromise his retirement savings which he will need when he enters old age.
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","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Effectiveness of WorkPro Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"34 Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) what has been the effectiveness of Government schemes, such as WorkPro, in fostering more progressive workplace practices amongst employers; and (b) what is the increase in the total number of Singaporeans on flexible work arrangements since the launch of WorkPro.
Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: The WorkPro scheme was launched in April 2013 to foster progressive workplaces, augment local manpower and strengthen the Singaporean core in our workforce. It helps to build employers' capabilities in age management, job redesign and work-life practices to better attract and retain workers. The scheme will run until 2016. We encourage employers to tap on it to foster more progressive workplaces in Singapore.
The Work-Life Grant under WorkPro supports the implementation of flexible work arrangements. As of December 2013, we have approved applications from 84 organisations for the Work-Life Grant. Over 8,000 employees in these organisations will benefit from the flexible work arrangements when implemented.
The Government is working closely with the tripartite partners to intensify our efforts in promoting flexible work arrangements. The Tripartite Committee (TriCom) on Work-Life Strategy, chaired by Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Manpower) Mr Hawazi Daipi, is following up on feedback received and looking into new initiatives to promote adoption and develop capability in implementing flexible work arrangements. The details will be announced in due course.
","clarificationText":null,"clarificationTitle":null,"clarificationSubTitle":null,"reportType":null,"questionCount":null,"footNotes":null,"footNoteQuestions":null,"questionNo":null},{"startPgNo":0,"endPgNo":0,"title":"Elder Singaporeans Not on CPF LIFE Scheme","subTitle":null,"sectionType":"WA","content":"35 Ms Lee Li Lian asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) what is the number and percentage of Singapore citizens born in 1950 and before who are not currently on the CPF LIFE scheme; and (b) how many of these citizens are not in the scheme because they cannot afford to join the scheme.
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Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: CPF LIFE was introduced in 2009. It was made mandatory for cohorts turning 55 in 2013. For cohorts who turned 55 before 2013, that is, born before 1958, participation in CPF LIFE is voluntary. Amongst this group, about 10%, or close to 86,000 members, have opted to join CPF LIFE. 35,000 of these members were born in 1950 or earlier.
Members who do not join CPF LIFE will still be on the Minimum Sum Scheme which means their CPF balances will be drawn down gradually over time but, unlike CPF LIFE, there is no guarantee of an income for life. Affordability is not a barrier to participation in CPF LIFE. CPF members are free to join CPF LIFE prior to age 80 regardless of the size of their CPF balances.
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