Amy Khor Lean Suan
Singapore
“Sir, NEA does conduct inspections of these premises from time to time. For this particular premises, they actually did six inspections since 2021.”
“The Land Transport Authority (LTA) conducts enforcement actions against drivers who are found to have provided illegal car-pooling services. An individual who provides an illegal car-pooling service may face a fine of up to $3,000, up to six months' imprisonment, or both.”
“We will also provide the first 500 private heavy vehicle chargers co-funding of up to 50% of the charger installation cost, capped at $30,000 per charger. These measures will narrow the lifecycle cost gap between an electric and internal combustion engine heavy vehicle and spur adoption of electric heavy vehicles.”
“With regard to the extension of the lower speed limit to school zones for full day, we will work with the relevant agencies on the enhanced enforcements.”
“They will provide a certain amount of protection to the pedestrians because, as I have said, the bollards will absorb the impact of the collision from the vehicles. So, there is a protection. But ultimately, of course, road safety really depends on a multitude of factors, including road user behaviour.”
“The bollards installed at pedestrian crossings by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) are not of the K4, K8 or K12 standards stated by the Member. Bollards of these standards are typically security bollards. They are installed to protect critical infrastructure or at high security areas, such as Changi Airport, to be unyielding.”
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“First, let me say that, currently, there are four stallholders in wet markets managed by NEA, who are selling live turtles. As I have said earlier, we have stopped tendering out wet market stalls for the sale of live turtles since 2012. SFA, in consultation with NParks and NEA, has evaluated the risk of zoonotic disease transmission by reptiles associated with the slaughter and sale of live wild-caught turtles. The risk of transmission, as I have said earlier, of pathogens or disease by reptiles such as through the sale and slaughter of live turtles is assessed to be low as long as food safety and hygiene standards are maintained. And there have been no cases of zoonotic disease transmission from these animals from our wet market stalls. Also, when we look at the potential human health risks associated with the trade of wildlife, the vast majority of zoonotic pathogens, especially the emerging ones, are associated with mammals and birds rather than reptiles. So, in 1992, we stopped the slaughtering of poultry at our wet markets and centralised this at the slaughterhouses. SFA's regular inspections have also not detected any food safety and hygiene infringements at these wet market stalls. But, as I had also earlier said, the agencies are reviewing the sale and slaughter of live animals at our wet market stalls, taking into consideration international benchmarking and scientific evidence, and also as part of our efforts to improve food safety and environmental hygiene standards in Singapore, including at the wet markets. As part of this review, we will consult the relevant stakeholders and we will share of the outcome of this review when ready.”
“And then, we subsidise the table-cleaning and centralised dishwashing so that they do not have to pay at all into the extended circuit breaker period. But we are also looking at the longer term. We will be working with the food delivery companies – in fact, we are already engaging them – to see how they can adapt their model for the hawker centre context, with potentially lower costs for the hawkers. This is not just for the circuit breaker period but beyond. In addition, in recent years as well as just this year, we have got various programmes to support and sustain the hawker trade. So, this is not just about the circuit breaker but actually, how to help them to remain competitive in this very tough F&B environment. That includes, for instance, a Hawkers' Development Programme where we have worked with Skillsfuture. The hawkers can get onto modules to learn how to market themselves as well as leverage on social media, digitalisation, e-payment and so on. We encourage the hawkers to make use of this opportunity to upskill themselves and further develop their business. Above all, I would like to encourage all Singaporeans to support our hawkers by patronising them, utilising food delivery services and takeaway, now.”
“I thank the Member for his question as well as suggestions. Firstly, regarding assistance to the hawkers on food delivery services, as I have said, for food delivery services, in order to encourage the hawkers to get on to these food delivery platforms or adopt third party logistics partners, so that they can have an added revenue stream because dine-in is not allowed during this circuit breaker period and it may last a little while longer and beyond that even, we have given this $500 assistance and we are extending this till the end of June, in order to encourage applications. So far, we have 600. We are actually working very closely with the Hawkers' Associations to encourage the hawkers to come on board. In order to further facilitate this, we will be providing an information package that will include a non-exhaustive list of all the various food delivery platforms, third party logistics partners, as well as those that I had mentioned earlier, the newer, maybe smaller operators but newer models, in terms of where they can allow for aggregation of orders within a centre. And some of these operators do not impose a direct commission on the hawker food prices. Instead, they charge delivery charges to the patrons, whereas some would charge a lower commission like 10% and then, co-funding of the delivery charges. So, these are available. We will put them up on an information package, including some of these portals like Hawkers United and SG Dabao, so that our hawkers have a good idea of the types of platforms available which they can adopt. Once they have decided on one, the relevant companies will come on board to help them adopt these services. Beyond that, within the short term, as I have said, we are providing rental waivers, in fact, till June, 50% in June.”
“I thank the Member for the supplementary question. Indeed, NEA is aware of this issue. Smoking outside the boundary of the Orchard Road No Smoking Zone is not prohibited but what we have done is to send our enforcement officers to these areas, around Nutmeg Road, Jalan Lada Puteh, Jalan Jintan and so on, to monitor the ground situation as well as to take enforcement action against anyone found to have committed any public health offences – for instance, littering of cigarette butts and indeed, we have actually done this. We have also sought to relocate any litter bins around the area further away from the residential premises so that they do not congregate near the residential homes. We have also engaged the service provider in that area to step up the cleaning frequency to ensure the cleanliness of the area. I think what we want to do is to urge the smokers to be socially responsible and considerate, not to congregate around the fringes of the estate to smoke, but actually to move to the nearest DSAs within the Orchard Road No Smoking Zone instead. We will continue to monitor the ground situation and review the locations of the DSAs if necessary.”
“Even as we undertake a whole-of-Government review to enhance our efforts, a whole-of-society approach is necessary to build mental resilience in order to prevent suicide in Singapore. Mr Deputy Speaker, even as we celebrate life, we all know too well that it can sometimes be stressful and challenging. COVID-19 for instance poses yet another huge test for all of us, not least in mental resilience. Beyond the Government’s resources and support as well as the many community programmes and efforts, I urge my fellow Singaporeans to stand together, look out for each other, develop strong empathy and reach out your hand to others to uplift them. Only together, can we ensure each other's mental well-being, especially in such unprecedented times. On this note, let me conclude by thanking the Member for her selfless efforts to promote mental well-being and prevent suicides. Let me assure her and all Members of this House that the Government, too, will not let up our efforts on this front. [Applause.] [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn." (proc text)] Adjourned accordingly at 7.13 pm.”
“We also have services in place to support persons in distress who require assistance such as Institute of Mental Health (IMH)’s 24-hour mental health helpline and the SOS' hotline which is funded by NCSS. I agree with Ms Anthea Ong that every life matters, and we will continue to strengthen our efforts. During this year’s COS, MOE shared that they will feature mental health education in the revised Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) and MOH will also be setting up an Integrated Youth Service (IYS) in Woodlands this year. MOM has also announced their intention to work with tripartite partners to develop a Tripartite Advisory on Mental Well-being. In addition, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) has recently clarified that companies should not ask for declaration of applicants’ mental health conditions unless there is a job-related requirement. We have established platforms for a coordinated interagency approach to suicide prevention. For example, the Inter-Agency Research Workgroup for Youth Suicides, brings together agencies to study the issues surrounding youth suicides and to facilitate deeper collaboration between the various agencies. The workgroup will be sharing their recommendations, for agencies to follow up later this year. Since February this year, more than 800 people from different walks of life responded to Minister Desmond Lee’s open call and will have an opportunity to be part of the Youth Mental Well-being network to be established. This Network brings people together to identify opportunities and gaps to work on, to improve youth mental well-being. There is no easy solution to suicide prevention as the causes are complex and multifaceted.”
“The Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT) offers easy access to mental health resources and help via different avenues for young persons between 16 and 30 years old. Young persons may either visit the CHAT hub, log onto CHAT’s online portal for its WebCHAT service or call CHAT’s hotline. Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) conducts programmes on how to identify suicide warning signs and where to seek help. The Agency of Integrated Care (AIC) has been working with community-based organisations to set up Community Outreach Teams to reach out to seniors with or who may be at risk of dementia or depression. Anti-stigma efforts play an important role in encouraging persons in distress to seek help early. Hence, in 2018, the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) rolled out a multi-year public education campaign, called "Beyond the Label" to achieve this objective. NCSS also recently launched the Beyond the Label Helpbot, Belle to make access to mental health information and resources to the community easier for the general public. We recognise that persons who are greatly distressed and attempt to take their own life requires help and the criminal justice system may not be the best option. As of 1 January 2020, attempted suicide is no longer a crime in Singapore. However, the Government will continue to track reports of such cases. Additionally, public hospitals are working on tracking attempted suicide cases that they attend to. There are a range of services in place to support at-risk groups of all ages in our community. For instance, we have trained Silver Generation Ambassadors to identify seniors who live alone, and to proactively offer them befriending services, identify and escalate cases with mental health needs.”
“Suicide prevention and intervention strategies have been developed in schools, workplaces and in the community. Let me briefly highlight our many efforts under the four key strategies. As part of suicide prevention strategy, MOE has focused on upstream efforts to build students’ social and emotional skills and resilience through the school curriculum, CCAs and various programmes. The Health Promotion Board (HPB) also offers mental well-being programmes to equip students with the skills to cope with stress, overwhelming emotions, interpersonal conflicts, change and transitions. At the workplace, HPB conducts mental well-being roadshows and workshops to provide stress management tips and techniques to employees. MOM’s Workplace Safety and Health Institute, in partnership with other agencies have developed an assessment tool, iWorkHealth, as well as a website to help workers identify workplace stressors and resources to improve one’s mental well-being. Under the National Seniors’ Health Programme, HPB organises healthy ageing workshops that include psycho-social education modules aimed at empowering our seniors aged 50 years and above with the knowledge and skills to manage their mental well-being. Early identification and encouraging help seeking are vital for suicide prevention. Hence, we have invested in raising mental health literacy through training and education programmes. Beyond SOPs, school teachers are trained to identify students experiencing distress, provide timely support and refer students in distress to school counsellors or mental health professionals for further interventions. Peer support structures are also being established in schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) by HPB as well as MOE.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, MOH is committed to mental well-being and suicide prevention and to this end, Singapore adopts a multi-pronged approach. Internationally, based on WHO's 2016 age-standardised death rates, Singapore’s age-standardised death rates from suicide – 7.9 per 100,000 resident population – is lower compared to not just countries like South Korea at 20.2 and Japan 14.3, but also countries like Finland and US – 13.8, and 13.7 respectively. It is also lower than the annual global age-standardised suicide rate of 10.5 per 100,000 population. In Singapore, the number of suicides involving 10- to 19-year-olds fluctuated from 13 cases in 2014, 27 in 2015, 22 in 2016, falling to 12 in 2017 and rising again to 22 in 2018. The number of elderly suicides has declined from 126 cases in 2014 to 115 cases in 2018 despite an ageing population. Nonetheless, we recognise that every suicide is one death too many and we have and will continue to strengthen our strategies to prevent suicides, as guided by the National Mental Health Blueprint and Community Mental Health Masterplan. Through partnering Ministries and agencies, we have adopted a multi-prong approach to suicide prevention based on the following key strategies of building mental resilience; encouraging help seeking and early identification; supporting at-risk groups; and providing crisis support. We have also invested in resources for mental health as well as put in place monitoring and tracking mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of our programmes. As noted by Ms Ong, there are social and environmental factors that contribute to the individual's intent to self-harm. Therefore, our strategy targets upstream protective factors in addition to strengthening downstream supportive services.”
“Let me say personally that I also felt that many people may not realise they only have a very limited amount of time to build up bone health. And for women, I am told is actually even before 30 years old. You will maximise your bone health and after that, either you try and keep it or you are going to lose it. And from menopause onwards, it is a steep decline if you do not do anything. For seniors, we have been working with seniors on bone health. But as the Member has rightly pointed out, what we want to do now is to go upstream. We are not the first. In the US, they provide a guide to the parents about how to build up strong bones in their kids from young. So, what we are doing is to work with HPB and Osteoporosis Society to trial this, to pilot this in 10 schools. We want to try and do it in a fun way. So, they are developing the curriculum as well as putting up videos to get students to understand and have a healthy lifestyle, good nutrition as well as exercise and so on. The Member is right that one of the things is, under our Women Health Advisory Committee, we are also looking at how we can reach out to get more to understand that if they do not do this, fracture is really a very debilitating condition.”
“The public healthcare institutions welcome older workers or mid-careerists to work in the public healthcare sector. For us, manpower is a perennial challenge. So, we are doing everything we can to attract as well as to retain our mid-careerists and to re-employ older workers. Some of the things that we have done is firstly, to design age-friendly workplaces as well as put in place age-friendly employment measures. So, redesigning the job roles, flexible work arrangements, part-time, for instance. The nurses now have access to part-time work, more flexible work arrangements, as well as even preparing, what we call, pre-retirement preparatory training to prepare them to be re-employed again or to encourage them to be re-employed again. And then, in the community care sector, we are also working to redesign jobs so that they can be broken up and seniors or older workers can do part-time work. A very good example is NTUC Health. They break up care roles so that seniors could be escorts to bring the patients to the senior care centre or care for them through active ageing programmes in a care centre. Another one would be to reduce the manual burden or workload on the senior workers. So, patient uplifters, transfer aids and so on, which are really helpful to our healthcare workers, including nurses. Lastly, even within the healthcare institutions, we have got jobs that help to take some of the workload, say, from the nurses so that nurses can focus more on their clinical work, so "Basic Care Assistants", for instance. And we have got 100-odd of them now and more than half are actually above 50.”
“Regarding mental health of the LGBT community, as I have said earlier, healthcare providers who are caring for all persons with mental health conditions, are trained and they are supposed to provide these patients with empathy, sensitivity and due consideration to their specific care needs as well as risk factors. What we have done is to adopt a team-based approach to healthcare and ensure that different perspectives are considered. If need be, they can get the experts to come in to provide holistic care. In addition to that, let me say that in 2017, the Institute of Mental Health set up the Gender Care Clinic. This clinic provides counselling and psychiatric treatment for persons experiencing emotional difficulties pertaining to gender identity, including the people who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria. And approximately 50% of these patients have a co-morbid psychiatric diagnosis. Majority of them will have anxiety and depressive disorders, and they are actually treated there. So, there are various avenues that we help this group of people. 4.30 pm I think I have answered all the queries. Oh, one more. If the community care provider is working together, say, with the GP or with the polyclinic and they are referred to them, then I think they can access MediSave. But, of course, the community care provider must be qualified.”
“The word is not there. I only listed a few, because I did not have enough time. For wait time, as in for access to many other treatments, we are always mindful of the wait time. What we are doing to try and reduce the wait time is that for the hospitals and polyclinics, they are trying to see how they can review their work processes to optimise the appointment slots. For instance, you try to tighten the triaging, so, they call the patient before the appointment, to try and optimise these slots. We are also looking at tiering of services to provide the appropriate level of care, because not everything has to go to the specialists. When it is possible to get care in the community or in primary care sector, then we will refer them to the primary care sector or community care sector. For the Member's information, as I have said over the years, we have tried to increase access to treatment and we have now got about 210 GPs who are trained to provide mental healthcare. If they do not need to go to a specialist, they can be treated or cared for in the primary care sector. And, actually, there is no wait time, and they still can get a subsidy, through CHAS as well as through CDMP. If they access care through the community intervention teams, the first referral is within two weeks – 14 days – a lot shorter. That is what we are trying to do. And then, only for the more complex cases, they go to the specialist – to try and shorten the wait time. Besides that, if urgent medical mental health assistance is needed or they need to see the doctor immediately, they can contact IMH through the 24-hour Mental Health Helpline or show up at the IMH 24-hour Emergency Services. Having said that, we are working on how we can reduce the wait time. So, I hope that answers the Member's question.”
“I think it is more like six follow-up questions, not four. I will try and answer them. First of all, this thing about parity between MediSave and MediShield Life. As I have tried to explain, when we set the withdrawal limits for MediSave or MediShield – say, inpatient, for the different types of treatment, different types of conditions, not just mental health but other conditions, we look at the bill sizes. To give you an example, in 2018, the average daily bill size for inpatient psychiatric treatment at IMH is $90. But for acute hospital, the average bill size, taking out the cost of surgery procedures, is $480. So, if you talk about parity, we are talking about parity in terms of making sure that the withdrawal limits will cover a majority of the cost of the treatment for subsidised patients. Therefore, for MediSave daily withdrawal limit, it is $150 for psychiatric treatment. And as I have said earlier, for inpatient MediSave withdrawal limit, less than one in 10 actually exceed their $5,000 yearly withdrawal limit and less than three in 10 exceed their daily limit. So, that is what the parity is. It is not the absolute amount but what is the bill size. I assure the Member that we will and we have always continued to monitor to make sure that the withdrawal limits are adequate, to make access to healthcare affordable to our subsidised patients. And, as I have said for MediShield Life, the MediShield Life Council is reviewing the MediShield Life limits for the different conditions. So, the same thing with MediSave withdrawal for outpatient treatment. The next question is on OCD. The word is not there. It is under "Anxiety disorder". So, if a doctor says under anxiety, it is OCD, it is covered. Dr Chia Shi-Lu is nodding his head. So, it is covered.”
“Or they can sell and use the housing grant of up to $30,000, the Proximity Housing Grant, to stay near their children or stay with their children. What we have done is work with MND, and also based on feedback to look at another housing option for seniors – assisted living, which is not just the hardware, the physical space, but is actually the flat twinned with a basic service package that will be sold to the seniors. It is really to meet different preferences, needs as well as lifestyle aspirations. This might be useful for a group of seniors who want to be independent, live independently, may not have very strong family support, who feel that as they get more frail, they will need more services. In addition, they want to prevent themselves from being socially isolated, they want to have some kind of communal living and yet have some privacy. So, that is what this assisted living housing form is for. We will monitor the demand for this. This is a pilot. We will monitor the demand and decide if we will build more of this housing form. As I have said, we are also looking at a pilot in the private housing market.”
“With regard to the Member's first question about the Community Nursing Scholarship and how this relates to the Community Care Nursing Leadership Programme. The Community Nursing Scholarship is for fresh school leavers, whether they are "A" Level or existing nursing students. So, they are fresh. What we are doing is trying to inject fresh talent into the community care sector – those with leadership potential and who have a passion to serve in the community care sector. As the Member has said, that started in 2017. Between 2017 and 2019, we have got 17 of these scholars. Although, of course, the class sizes in the Polytechnics are bigger, but those under this scholarship programme, there are 17 now. For the Community Care Nursing Leadership Programme, this is a talent development programme. It is leadership development for the existing cohorts who are already registered nurses. They do not have to be in the community care sector. So, any registered nurse with good, strong clinical skills as well as nursing experience, and who are interested to join the sector, could apply for this. They will have an individual development plan for them to become leaders, take leadership positions in the sector. Regarding assisted living, the Member's question was whether there will be enough. Firstly, let me say that there is already a range of housing options for seniors. One of them, of course, would be 2-room flexi flats. They can also choose to stay in their existing flat and get the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) and the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE), and then, get services like home care, day care and so on, and with the support of family.”
“Singaporeans are living longer and healthier and we should allow them to continue contributing, if they wish to. This is a win-win scenario for both employers and employees. In 2019, around 99% of public healthcare workers aged 62 and beyond were offered re-employment and 95% of them accepted the offer. To support our mature healthcare workers who are able and willing to continue working, MOH has worked with the Healthcare Services Employees' Union and public healthcare institutions to raise the retirement age to 63, and re-employment age to 68 from July 2021 onwards – one year ahead of the national schedule. Those who wish to retire or stop working at 62 may still do so whilst those who want to keep working now have the choice to work even longer. In closing, it is our unending pursuit to find ways for each of us to age healthier, happier and in a fulfilling manner. I want to urge all Singaporeans – young and old – to help us achieve this.”
“Hence, we will be introducing a new Community Care Nursing Leadership Programme this year, to groom the next generation of nursing leaders for the sector. Regardless of their current place of practice, all experienced Registered Nurses who want to take on leadership roles in the community care sector are welcome to apply. The programme will provide nurses with opportunities in clinical training, leadership development, attachments and mentorship. Lastly, all of us must find ways to eliminate unnecessary workload and adopt best practices to work smarter. This would include process and role redesign as pointed out by Ms Irene Quay. Collaborative prescribing is one example. Since 2019, 34 advanced practice nurses and 31 clinical pharmacists in 11 healthcare institutions have been trained and empowered to prescribe drugs to their patients. We hope more institutions and professionals will come on board in the near future. In response to Ms Irene Quay, employers may already choose to go beyond the minimum provisions in the Employment Act to accept medical certificates or time chits issued by allied health professionals. In respond to Mr Faisal Manap, the regulatory scope of the new Healthcare Services Act (HCSA) includes traditional and complementary medicine services. MOH will monitor the prevalence of use and risks to patient safety, before considering whether to license these services under HCSA. Nonetheless, traditional and complementary medicine practitioners are already subject to relevant provisions under the Medicines Act and the Sales of Drugs Act, just to name a few. Chairman, even as we face shrinking birth cohorts, we are also presented with the gift of longer health-adjusted life expectancy, which we can capitalise.”
“I also echo Ms Joan Pereira and Mr Christopher de Souza's call to continue supporting professional growth and development for nurses and allied health professionals. Last year, we launched the Skills Frameworks for allied health workers and medical social workers, just to name a few. This year, I am pleased to launch the Community Nursing Competency Framework, which can be used by community nurses and employers as a guide to identify skills gaps and pursue development opportunities. From this year onwards, fresh school leavers and in-service staff may apply for the new Community Care Scholarship to take up programmes relevant for the community care sector, such as in the disciplines of Occupational Therapy and Social Work. Besides training, we must also create opportunities for our healthcare workers to take on leadership positions in the sector. Nurses, in particular, play a leading role in care delivery in the community care sector and we must nurture those with strong clinical skills and leadership potential. Let me share the story of Assoc Prof Edward Poon. He started as a staff nurse at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) before joining the community care sector early in his career. Over time, he took on various leadership positions and he is now Director of Nursing at St Luke's Eldercare (SLEC). Assoc Prof Poon's impact extends beyond SLEC. In addition to upholding and maintaining the quality of care at SLEC, he also conducts training for the sector and collaborates with public hospitals on geriatric research. We hope there will be more budding professionals who will go on to take on nursing leadership roles in the community care sector, just like Assoc Prof Poon.”
“Nevertheless, to support her transition into the community care sector, Ren Ci Hospital placed Ms Noraini under the Senior Management Associate Scheme (SMAS). When she completes her induction programme this year, Ms Noraini can continue to attend leadership programmes to support her development. Second, we must invest in our people, especially in the community care sector, to enable the shift of care beyond hospital to community. To support the attraction and retention of manpower in this sector, MOH previously funded a total of $350 million between 2012 and 2017 to community care institutions to raise salaries for their staff. Around 90% of MOH-funded institutions participated in this exercise. Over the next three years, MOH will set aside another $150 million to support community care institutions to further improve the competitiveness of salaries. We project that this will benefit up to 4,000 local nurses and support care staff, if it is fully taken up. After these three years, MOH will factor in the higher salary levels in our funding to community care providers. We strongly encourage employers to take the opportunity to enhance salaries of nurses and support care staff and continue to improve career prospects of our care staff in the community. We are also eager to bring non-practising nurses back to our healthcare family. Over the past four years, about 500 local nurses have returned to practice annually. Returning nurses may undergo a refresher course under the Return to Nursing scheme, and those who return to the community care sector are eligible for a retention bonus of up to $5,000. In response to Mr Melvin Yong, MOH has been actively working with the union and employers on the retention and development of our healthcare workforce.”
“Manpower is a perennial challenge, but on the flipside, it is also an opportunity for Singaporeans who seek a meaningful career. We have made some headway in growing the number of healthcare workers. For instance, the number of practising nurses has grown by 3.3% per annum in the past five years. In comparison, Singapore's total employment grew by 1.1% per annum over the same period. With the expansion of services, we could see up to around 6,000 additional jobs in the healthcare sector in the next two years. This is on top of hiring to replace attrition. We will continue our efforts to attract and recruit Singaporeans to build a strong local core in our workforce. However, with shrinking birth cohorts, the labour market will become much tighter in the decade beyond 2020. To meet our growing manpower needs, we must rethink our current approach and find creative ways to attract and retain people in the sector, particularly in the growing community care sector. First, we need to diversify our hiring sources. Besides attracting fresh graduates, we will continue our efforts to bring mid-careerists into healthcare. Mid-careerists play a valuable role as they bring with them unique expertise and fresh perspectives from their previous careers. In the last two years, about 2,000 local mid-career PMETs transited into the healthcare sector, and about one-third of them are mature workers aged 40 and above. Besides healthcare staff, there are many administrative positions available in the healthcare sector too. Take, for example, Ms Noraini, who joined Ren Ci Hospital after spending more than 20 years as a special needs educator and then as a business executive. Ms Noraini's experience placed her in good stead for her role as a resident care manager in Ren Ci Hospital.”
“Chairman, in recent months, our healthcare workers are at the frontline, battling against the spread of COVID-19. I will also like to take this opportunity to thank all our healthcare workers who have gone above and beyond their duty to keep us safe. We are grateful, and we will do our utmost to support all of them. I share Assoc Prof Daniel Goh's pride in our nurses. It is unfortunate that some of our nurses were shunned and even berated for wearing their uniforms in public recently. Our nurses wear their uniforms with pride, and I hope members of the public can appreciate and trust their professionalism and affirm their efforts The work of our healthcare workers is not any easier in "peacetime". Healthcare workers sometimes, inadvertently, bear the brunt of patients' and their families' emotions. Under the Protection from Harassment Act, the Government adopts a zero-tolerance policy against the harassment of public healthcare workers performing their official duties. The same Act also protects them as private citizens if they are harassed when off duty. All our public healthcare clusters also have counselling services and hotlines for our healthcare workers if they need help. But the best way to support our healthcare workers is not to react after harm is done but to refrain from taking out our stress on them. I urge Singaporeans to take a moment to recognise their efforts, and I am heartened by those who have rallied behind them. Chairman, our healthcare workers are truly the backbone of our healthcare system. Battling COVID-19 is but the latest example. Their role will only continue to grow in importance. As care needs increase in our ageing population, we will need a steady pipeline of dedicated healthcare workers.”
“In 2018, only about two in 10 patients who withdrew MediSave for their outpatient mental health treatment reached the yearly withdrawal limit. To further defray the costs for patients with complex chronic conditions, say, a patient with OCD and osteoporosis, we will be raising their MediSave withdrawal limit. Further details on this will be shared by Senior Minister of State Mr Edwin Tong. Singaporeans who still require financial support after tapping these schemes can apply for MediFund from our public healthcare institutions. 2.30 pm We must also not forget that the well-being of persons with mental health conditions often rests on the care-givers, and they are at risk of burnout. Hence, we will be piloting a structured system of support for care-givers of persons with mental health conditions. Under this system, upon first diagnosis of their loved ones, hospitals and community partners will provide care-givers with information, such as disease progression and expected care needs and link them up with the necessary health, financial and social support services. With this, we hope that care-givers will know upfront that they are not alone, that there is an entire network of support for them. Even as we expand our suite of care services for persons with mental health, we must strengthen our multi-pronged strategy to better address mental health and this extends beyond medical care. Hence, in the coming months, we will be undertaking a whole-of-Government review of our mental health strategy, to identify gaps and strengthen existing inter-agency efforts. Besides enhancing support for the mental well-being of seniors, we will also focus on youth mental well-being, which Senior Minister of State Lam will elaborate on.”
“Over the next year or so, MOH and the Agency for Integrated Care will be engaging our stakeholders, including disability associations, to identify ways to improve mental health support. As highlighted by Ms Anthea Ong and Mr Daniel Goh, Singaporeans can tap multi-layers of financial support, such as Government subsidies and CHAS, MediShield Life, MediSave and Medifund, for treatment of mental health conditions. MOH reviews the amount of financial support regularly to ensure that they are adequate. For example, the MediSave and MediShield Life claim limits differ across inpatient treatments to reflect different bill sizes. As the bill sizes of inpatient psychiatric treatments are comparatively lower than other inpatient treatments, the MediShield Life and MediSave limits are also correspondingly lower, to cater to different treatment types. Based on the latest available data, fewer than one in 10 subsidised patients exceeded the MediSave yearly withdrawal limit for inpatient psychiatric stays, while fewer than three in 10 subsidised bills exceeded the MediSave daily withdrawal limit. As for MediShield Life, we have been reviewing the claim limits and more details will be announced later this year. For outpatient treatment of mental health conditions under the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP), which includes depression, anxiety, including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) – so, that is included in CDMP – bipolar disorder and schizophrenia – CHAS cardholders may tap on subsidies of up to $500 per year for treatment at CHAS GPs, and more for our Pioneer and Merdeka Generation cardholders. Patients can also withdraw up to $500 per year from their MediSave for outpatient treatment for conditions under the CDMP.”
“Severe disciplinary and enforcement actions are taken against users who wilfully breach patient confidentiality. Organisations must also comply with the Personal Data Protection Act. Chairman, over the years, we have expanded our network of partners to ensure that persons with mental health issues can access the support they need. For example, the Institute of Mental Health operates a 24-hour Mental Health Helpline. NCSS has also recently launched a Helpbot named "Belle" to provide 24/7 access to consolidated information about helplines and mental health resources, according to what users are looking for. To date, Belle has supported 1,000 users. Community intervention teams have also been established to support partner General Practitioners (GPs) and service providers with allied health services, such as psychotherapy and counselling. Over 26,000 persons have been supported by these teams. In addition, persons with mental health issues who face social and family issues may approach Family Service Centres for counselling support. To date, more than half of our polyclinics provide mental health and dementia services. In addition, over 210 GP partners have been trained to diagnose and support persons with mental health conditions. These services are available to all Singaporeans, irrespective of their specific risk factors, such as disability or gender identity. However, we agree with Ms Yip Pin Xiu and Ms Anthea Ong that care providers need to take into account specific care needs and risk factors. For example, for persons with hearing loss, sign language translators will provide counsellors with the necessary support. The Singapore Association for the Deaf also provides counselling services.”
“Dr Lily Neo, Ms Anthea Ong, Mr Daniel Goh and Mr Murali Pillai highlighted the importance of taking this approach for not just physical health but also mental health. I agree and we are embracing this approach. For instance, the HPB promotes both physical and mental health in its preventive health programmes organised in the community and at workplaces. Like a migraine or backache, we should seek help for mental health issues early, so as to avoid problems that are more challenging to address later on. To that end, we have set up 43 community outreach teams and trained over 24,000 frontline staff from Government agencies and community partners across Singapore to identify persons with mental health needs in the community and refer them for appropriate support. As of December 2019, we have reached out to over 300,000 persons and provided assistance to more than 23,000 persons who were at risk of developing mental health conditions or dementia. IMH and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) have also been driving the “Beyond the Label” national campaign to facilitate more conversations about mental health. This way, we hope to chip away at the stigma associated with mental health and encourage those with mental health issues to seek help promptly. Ms Anthea Ong should also be assured that physicians are bound by duty and ethics to protect patient confidentiality and to ensure data sharing and use for patient care purposes only – for all medical conditions, not just mental health. Healthcare institutions are also required by licensing conditions to safeguard confidentiality of medical records. Specifically, our public healthcare institutions have implemented safeguards to ensure access by authorised users on a need-to-know basis.”
“The FGDs were conducted at these specially constructed mock-up flats and communal living room to help participants better imagine the assisted living experience. It was helpful as participants could give us very specific feedback: a moveable partition between kitchen and sleeping areas, room for a full-sized fridge, and more. We took in all the feedback and improved the design of the housing units, communal living room and basic service package. We are also exploring additional care service options to support frail seniors, such as after-hours care. So, what is the difference between assisted living flats and the range of senior housing options today, such as 2-room flexi-flats? Unlike 2-room flexi-flats, these assisted living flats will be sold, twinned with a service package. Elderly residents will benefit from 24/7 emergency response, as well as the assistance of an on-site community manager. The community manager will monitor the health status of residents and link them up with relevant care services according to their needs. The community manager will also curate programmes to foster a strong sense of neighbourliness, and residents can look forward to mingling at the communal space on every floor – much like the good old kampong days. The first Assisted Living flats in Bukit Batok will be reserved for seniors aged 65 and above. In addition, we will set aside some units where priority will be given to seniors with care needs. More details will be shared in the coming weeks. Planning for a private Assisted Living pilot is also underway. MND and MOH have consulted developers and care operators on this and will announce details later. MOH continuously seeks to wrap care and support around Singaporeans.”
“As feedback has been positive, we target to expand our pool to 300 community nurses by 2021. Kudos to our nurses from the Regional Health Clusters, who have attended to 86,000 residents in the community, up from just 33,000 just a year ago. I am glad that not only do our residents cherish our community nurses but nurses, likewise, found their job meaningful, and nearly all of them have stayed on the team since the pilot started. In fact, only one left. This year, as earlier announced by Minister Lawrence Wong, we will also be rolling out another HDB housing type – assisted living flats – to expand the housing options for seniors. The first one will be launched in Bukit Batok. These new assisted living flats are meant to provide seniors with a housing option for independent living, with care available if needed, and a gotong royong spirit amongst neighbours. We co-designed the flats with Singaporeans. In the past year, MOH and MND conducted 14 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with seniors, service providers and healthcare professionals. Chairman, may I display a few slides, please?”
“We also echo Ms Irene Quay’s view that community pharmacists play an important role in ensuring medication adherence in the community. In 2017, of some 517,000 seniors, more than 43% were prescribed five or more regular medications and seen by three or more healthcare providers. Seniors who have multiple co-morbidities often struggle with making sense of many medications from many clinics and the risk of medication error then increases. Thus, MOH conducted a small proof-of-concept for a pharmaceutical care service for 150 seniors at eight eldercare centres last year. Community pharmacists from both private and public healthcare institutions worked with the centres’ care teams to optimise seniors' medications. Through one-to-one sessions with their pharmacists, seniors and their care-givers received tips on managing their medications, including medication packing and management of side effects, so that they may take their medications safely and independently at home. Feedback from participants of the pilot has been positive. Hence, over the next three years, we will be extending the pharmaceutical care service to another 2,500 seniors at more eldercare centres. This will allow us to establish scalable solutions to help seniors manage their medications safely. Besides pharmacists, community nurses pounding the ground complement the role of eldercare partners. To Ms Joan Pereira's question, we have expanded the number of community nursing posts from about 70 a year ago to about 120 community nursing posts today. These are sited at senior activity centres, community centres and religious sites, just to name a few. We now have a pool of 245 community nurses, exceeding our target to recruit 200 community nurses by end 2019.”
“In this case, depreciation refers to bone loss. HPB will be working with Osteoporosis Society Singapore to train 300 Bone Health Ambassadors to reach out to more Singaporeans on the importance of a healthy lifestyle and diet, starting in the second half of this year. These ambassadors will help to run public educational sessions, particularly in the area of fall prevention. Dr Lily Neo, Ms Tin Pei Ling and Ms Joan Pereira asked about our progress in supporting seniors to age-in-place. Since 2015, MOH has expanded the number of home and day care places by 70% to support seniors to age-in-place. For nursing homes, we have expanded bed capacity by 30%, we now have sufficient capacity nationwide. Besides expanding capacity, we are also enhancing the scope of services to better address the spectrum of care needs. I announced last year that we will enhance the scope of eldercare centres, to go beyond aged care to social support and preventive health. Currently, MOH funds 82 Senior Activity Centres to provide wellness programmes and social support to residents in rental flats. In the next four years, we will progressively level up and fund at least double the number of eldercare centres to provide an expanded suite of baseline support services for all seniors nationwide and not just those living in rental blocks. Services include active ageing programmes for the well, befriending services for the lonely, and information and referral for care services for our frail seniors. In addition, about half of the eldercare centres will also provide higher level care services, such as day care and community rehabilitation services, to cater to those who are more frail.”
“To that end, we have partnered the Centre for Seniors (CFS) to pilot bite-sized life-stage conversations, with the aim to reach out to some 5,000 mature workers, especially those in their early 50s, through collaborations with companies, union leaders and community organisations over the next two years. The conversations will touch on a wide range of topics such as employment, health and family, to help mature workers prepare themselves early for the transitions in their senior years. As of December, CFS had organised some 63 lunch-time talks for over 2,000 participants. Chairman, speaking from experience, I will now like to urge all younger Singaporeans in their 20s and even younger to prepare early for their golden years, which could so easily come upon us in the blink of an eye. Just like me – Members of this House on the right side of 50, I think would surely understand. Bone health, in particular, deserves our careful attention. With an ageing population, the number of hip fractures has nearly doubled, from 1,500 cases in year 2000 to nearly 3,000 in 2017. About 14% of those with hip fractures pass away within a year of fracture – a sobering statistic. Of the patients who survive, 20% require assistance with activities of daily living. Fractures can have a debilitating effect on our quality of life. 2.15 pm To reduce the risk of fracture when we age, we must start "saving up" calcium from young, before we reach maximum bone density at around 30 years old, after which, we can only maintain the density at best. To inculcate the importance of proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle, HPB will be conducting a pilot outreach to 10 schools on bone health. Besides "saving up" calcium in our youth, we must also continually upkeep and prevent depreciation of our assets.”
“This January, we launched the Healthy Longevity Catalyst Awards in partnership with the United States National Academy of Medicine, to spur bold, innovative ideas and technology to extend healthy longevity. This could include assistive devices, smart-enabled homes or job redesign solutions. We received more than 100 applications and I look forward to leveraging these innovations to help seniors stay active and engaged. With all our efforts, I am glad to inform Ms Tin Pei Ling that the 2019 Ageing Survey showed that Singaporeans generally had a positive outlook towards ageing. Across all age groups, those who were still working or volunteering were also less likely to describe themselves as old. However, 96% of Singaporeans cited health as the top concern in old age and three in four retirees wished they could have worked longer. As we plan for both seniors of today and tomorrow, we must respond to changing needs and aspirations. As part of the SG Together movement, the Government will engage Singaporeans across all ages to refresh the Action Plan for Successful Ageing, so as to co-create a future where generations of seniors may thrive in. Health and employment will be key focus areas in the Action Plan, to address our seniors' top concerns. Of course, while we strive to make the best of our golden years, most of us will eventually come face to face with creaky knees and back pain. But if we prepare ourselves and plan ahead early, we can better cope with the uncertainty and lengthen the good years of our lives.”
“Chairman, ageing should not be regarded as a Silver Tsunami to be feared but rather as Silver Equity to be drawn upon. Longevity is also not a disease! It is a gift to celebrate, so long as we stay healthy. With the gift of time and health, we can pursue the things we enjoy. Minister Gan shared that Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 84.8 years, of which 74.2 years are lived in full health. How would we seize the opportunities of at least 74 good years? Since we launched the Action Plan for Successful Ageing in 2015, we have made significant strides in building a caring and inclusive home, centred on 3Cs – care, contribution, and connectedness. From scaling up the Community Networks of Seniors nationwide, to promoting learning and volunteering opportunities, we have sought to enable seniors to age in a caring environment, pursue the activities they enjoy and contribute to others in the way they wish. We are also helping our seniors stay connected by capitalising on man's best friend. No, I do not mean a dog or cat – Member Mr Louis Ng is not here – but, you might have guessed it. I mean the smart phone. Together with Smart Nation and Digital Government Office and Public Service Division, we have developed the Active Ageing module in the Moments of Life (MOL) app. As one of the 250,000 Merdeka Generation members that the Silver Generation Ambassadors have reached out to to-date, I found it really easy to access information about the various active ageing programmes via the MOL app and pick the one nearest home. From next month, not only can I browse information on the MOL app, I can also sign up and "chope" a spot for active ageing programmes by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), such as health talks, cooking demonstrations and more!”
“If you can use incineration bottom ash, that means instead of filling it up, putting in Semakau landfill, if you can actually use incineration bottom ash as construction material, NEWSand, then you will also reduce the amount of waste that you have to landfill in Semakau.”
“We launched the Zero Waste Masterplan last year and one of the key goal, of course, is to reduce the amount of waste that we bring to Semakau by 30% by 2030. The Zero Waste Masterplan lays out in details the initiatives that we will be implementing or are already doing in order to achieve this goal. One of the these would be on the three key waste streams – e-waste, packaging waste and food waste. The Resource Sustainability Act has been passed and it is to enable some of these measures to be put in place. So, extended producer responsibility will be starting next year for e-waste. That will help to reduce the amount of waste, including those that may be trashed to Semakau. Packaging waste is another one and we are actually bringing part of this EPR framework forward with the Deposit Returns Scheme that we will be implementing in 2022. If we implement the Deposit Return Scheme, post-consumer plastics, like PET bottles and so on, will then not have to be trashed if we can create a demand for this as feedstock. Then, other ideas, which I have mentioned in my speech, about chemical recycling – again to recycle the contaminated plastics, turn them into "NEWOil", for instance. All these measures will help us to reduce the amount of waste that will go to Semakau landfill. We want to save Semakau. We want to extend the lifespan of Semakau landfill for as long as possible. The other one, of course, is NEWSand where we are already looking into having a commercial facility for NEWSand to be used as construction materials. Road pavements – we are going to do a study later on, on its effectiveness and impact.”
“Even as the existential challenge of climate change looms over us, opportunities abound. We have to seize them and find creative solutions to make the most out of them. Just take my blouse as an example. Its designer JJ Chuan named it MusicCloth. Ms Chuan told me that 56 million kg of plastic had been used to make cassette tapes since they were first introduced in 1963. I am not sure how many Members here remember or know what a cassette tape looks like. She gives them a new lease of life by upcycling discarded cassette tapes, weaving them into the "fabric" for new products such as this evening bag, and also this prototype houndstooth matching blouse. By planning ahead and working together as SG United, you can turn the challenges from climate change into opportunities for our companies to innovate and internationalise and create better jobs for Singaporeans. That is really turning trash into treasure. [Applause.]”
“Thus far, there are seven ITE graduates in the two Earn and Learn programmes. Ms Germaine Chong is one of them. As an Aquaculture Technician at Apollo Aquaculture, Germaine benefited from structured on-the-job training, mentorship and technical training. Recognising Germaine’s good work performance, Apollo Aquaculture has even offered to sponsor her for the full diploma. This year, SFA will be working with NTU to launch a new Food Science and Technology post-grad certificate programme. This programme will cover contemporary topics on urban agri-technology, such as post-harvest of agriculture produce and novel food such as microalgae and insects. I believe technology will remove the "yuck" factor and bring the "yum" factor in. On the Environmental Services side, we have launched the first ever NEA-Industry Scholarship Programme. We will partner the industry to award 20 scholarships to ITE and Polytechnic students in related fields, such as engineering, environmental technology and sciences. The scholarship provides scholars with financial support during their studies and attractive salary and clear progression pathways upon graduation. In the recycling industry, the three upcoming e-waste recycling facilities are expected to add another 430 jobs. In tandem with the implementation of the Zero Waste Masterplan and Resource Sustainability Act, industry transformation will create more career opportunities requiring engineering, science and environmental management expertise. I therefore want to assure aspiring entrants into these fields that the jobs are exciting, pay well, leverage on new technology, and most importantly, are Planet-saving! Mr Chairman, I want to end off my speech on an optimistic note.”
“In time, ECOs will be valued as certified experts who are well-versed in multiple aspects of environmental management. They are leaders who can drive and raise environmental standards of the premises they oversee. In some ways, ECOs are almost as important as CEOs! As part of SFA’s regular review of the Food Hygiene Officer course curriculum, SFA will enhance the training framework for FHOs. FHOs can look forward to a holistic food safety education to better equip them as food safety guardians at their workplaces. SFA will also be developing a new Advanced FHO framework, which would allow FHOs to upgrade and progress to Advanced FHOs. Advanced FHOs will be trained to develop and implement internationally recognised Food Safety Management Systems. Over the next 10 years, 9,000 new and existing FHOs and 400 Advanced FHOs will be trained. Courses under these training frameworks can also be offered as certifiable modules to students in food-related programmes. This enhances their relevant skills and increase their job opportunities. There will also be exciting jobs created in new growth areas such as the high-tech agri-food sector. SFA has been working with government agencies, Institutes of Higher Learning and the industry to build competency within the agri-food workforce. This includes developing training programmes at various levels, which will be rolled out at the right time to meet industry needs without creating oversupply. In the last two years, SFA has collaborated with Temasek and Republic Polytechnics to implement two SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programmes leading to diplomas in Aquaculture and Urban Agricultural Technology respectively. These programmes equip fresh ITE graduates with relevant skillsets to start their careers as Aqua or Agri Technicians.”
“Through upskilling and technology adoption, more than 45,000 people will benefit from higher value jobs in the environmental services, water and agri-food sectors over the next five to 10 years. Let me share about Mr Soh Han Hwee, who started 17 years ago as a Site Supervisor in cleaning services company Horsburgh. He believes in constantly upskilling oneself and has completed over 20 courses from cleaning, work-at-height, productivity management, risk management, Leadership & People Management courses, and the list goes on! Through his training, Mr Soh has been promoted to become an Operations Manager and now has more than a hundred people under his supervision. As we move towards a risk-calibrated co-regulation approach, we will support companies and entire industries to build up their competencies and create higher value jobs. Just as how the Water Efficiency Management Plan created Water Efficiency Manager roles in companies, strengthening our environmental sanitation and food hygiene will also create demand for higher-skilled roles, such as the cross-functional Environmental Control Officers or ECOs, and Food Hygiene Officers (FHOs). NEA will be enhancing the competencies of ECOs who are currently engaged at construction sites as advisers of good environmental practices. Enhanced vocational training will benefit approximately 2,600 ECOs by equipping them with up-to-date skills to better plan and implement a full array of measures including vector control, environmental sanitation and waste management. We will further review the ECO scheme as a competency-based vocation and broaden their work areas beyond construction sites to more premises types, like shopping malls.”
“From the 9 March 2020, market stallholders will also be able to apply for the HPG, and a broader range of items will be supported, such as queue management systems. We will also extend the HPG to March 2023. (In English): Today, as is fast becoming customary of MEWR's COS, besides Minister's treat of a meatless satay and gyoza from Impossible Meat, I have arranged for some hawker delights to be served in the Members' Room. I urge all of you to tuck into these drool-worthy eats, if you have not done so. The kentang and sardine epok are from Kalsom Kuih Muih Curry Puff at Yishun Park Hawker Centre, lovingly handmade by Mdm Kalsom Kamis and Mr Zaidi Bin Zainal and are simply sedap! I know because I have tried it. 3.45 pm Also, try the exquisite cakes from The Headless Baker at Ghim Moh Hawker Centre – you might just fall head over heels for them! This is a new Incubation Stall run by Ms Amber Pong, who used to work as a pastry chef in Melbourne. Building a sustainable and climate-resilient Singapore for ourselves and for future generations is not only about addressing our challenges. As Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, Mr Mohamed Irshad and Mr Desmond Choo pointed out, it also brings economic opportunities for our companies and creates good jobs for Singaporeans. Local companies can leverage sustainability as a competitive advantage to export their innovative solutions and grow beyond our shores. An example is Orinno Technology Pte Ltd, one of NEA’s key partners in Project Wolbachia. NEA and Orinno have jointly developed innovative Wolbachia-Aedes solutions, and have even filed five patents! Not only has Orinno played an important role in advancing Singapore’s public health research, they have also gone on to export these solutions, such as to Thailand and Australia.”
“We will share details on the awards and nomination process later. A key challenge that the Workgroup raised was the physically demanding nature of the hawker trade. We had launched the Hawkers' Productivity Grant (HPG) in 2017 to help stallholders adopt kitchen automation equipment. Close to $1.5 million has been disbursed to 526 cooked food stallholders. You might have tried the ayam penyet by Mr Abdul Rahman Bin Suradi. He tapped on the HPG to buy a multi-function food processor to prepare his chilli sauce. Now he needs only a quarter of the time and can ensure the correct consistency and quality. With the time saved, he can serve more customers. To help more hawkers improve their productivity, I am pleased to announce that we have taken in the Workgroup's suggestion to enhance the HPG. From 9 March 2020, we will expand the HPG to market stalls, and the scope of supportable items will be broadened beyond kitchen automation to include service innovation, such as queue management systems. We will also extend the HPG, which would have ended in October this year, to March 2023. Mr Chairman, in Mandarin please. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Hawkers are the heart and soul of our hawker centres. To help our stallholders tide over the COVID-19 situation, we will provide one-month of rental waiver, with the minimum sum of $200, to all stallholders in our hawker centres. Stallholders will receive 50% rental waiver this month and 25% in April and May. We have also listened to feedback from hawkers and will be enhancing the Hawkers' Productivity Grant to help more hawkers adopt productivity solutions.”
“This will help them with their operating costs during the current COVID-19 situation. Stallholders will receive 50% rental waiver this month, and 25% in April and May. This will benefit about 14,000 cooked food and market stallholders. About one third of the stallholders, whose monthly rentals are below $200, will in fact enjoy more than one month of rental waiver. We share Ms Joan Pereira's concern – we will monitor the situation and are prepared to provide further assistance if required. Nonetheless, I am heartened to see the resilience of our stallholders. At Chinatown Complex Market, the stallholders are working hard to achieve the SG Clean quality mark for their stalls, and are even organising a promotion event this weekend. So do show them your support! It is okay to, you know, gain a few calories or inches. Last year, we also facilitated the formation of two Workgroups, which Mr Liang Eng Hwa spoke about, to co-create solutions to key issues facing our hawker trade and culture. I am pleased to note that even before the Workgroups submit their recommendations, we are already adopting some of their ideas. For instance, we have already implemented one of their ideas, the Hawkers' Development Programme (HDP). Classes start next month, and I encourage aspiring hawkers to apply. The Workgroup also suggested fostering a strong hawkers’ network and facilitating hawker-to-hawker sharing. Following the positive feedback for the inaugural Hawkers' Seminar held last year, we will support the Federation of Merchants’ Associations, Singapore to organise this Hawkers' Seminar as an annual event. Another Workgroup idea that we are working on is a series of hawker awards to recognise hawkers’ efforts and achievements.”
“The next centres to open are Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre in end-2020, and Fernvale Hawker Centre and Market in early 2021. NEA will tender out these two centres to socially-conscious enterprise. These operators provide active management to build up clientele and vibrancy at hawker centres, such as through curating food mix and programming. Currently, there are seven hawker centres under the Socially-Conscious Enterprise Hawker Centre, or SEHC, model, and most have done well. Nonetheless, we will constantly review and improve the model. When evaluating tender proposals for operating future hawker centres, NEA will give greater emphasis to footfall, vibrancy, and sustaining the hawker trade. We will also assess operators' performance in maintaining high footfall and stall occupancy. In the past year, NEA introduced the Staggered Rent Scheme, and extended the Productive Hawker Centre grant to stallholders at SEHCs. NEA also reviewed the contracts between operators and stallholders to better safeguard stallholders' welfare, and required operators to conduct regular Hawkers’ Feedback Groups. To Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap's question about stallholders’ feedback, these are usually on what more operators can do to improve vibrancy, attract footfall and help stallholders with their operations. All in, these measures serve to ensure that the SEHC model continues to benefit residents, and support stallholders at the same time. I assure our hawkers that we will always look out for them. As part of the Stabilisation and Support Package announced during Budget 2020, we will provide a one-month rental waiver, with a minimum sum of $200, to all stallholders in hawker centres managed by NEA or NEA-appointed operators.”
“Let me emphasise here, that whatever new approaches we take cannot substitute the need for public vigilance and collective action to suppress mosquito breeding and prevent dengue. I strongly urge all Singaporeans, young and old, to take proactive measures to protect yourselves and your loved ones. Actively practise the "7 Habits of Good Public Hygiene" and "Mozzie Wipe-out". I would like to thank all our cleaners who have worked extra hard to keep SG Clean. We can all show our support for the cleaners by playing our part too. At hawker centres for instance, we can do so by eating from our trays and returning them, as Mr Alex Yam has rightly pointed out. We have achieved a tray return rate of 62% on average at our Productive Hawker Centres, double that of other hawker centres. This was achieved through a suite of efforts such as implementing salient reminders, providing strategically-located Automated Tray Return Stations, and ensuring that trays are clean and dry for use. We will continue working with stakeholders to promote tray return at all our hawker centres. This will also alleviate the cleaners’ workload so that they can focus their efforts on maintaining general cleanliness. As custodians of our much loved hawker culture, we will continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that affordable and good hawker food can continue to be a mainstay in Singapore. Mr Gan Thiam Poh, Mr Amrin Amin, Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap spoke about new hawker centres and the SEHCs. Of the 20 new centres we are planning to build by 2027, seven are already in operation. Ten more are currently in the design or construction stage, and we are working out details for the remaining three.”
“We will work with sectoral leads to progressively implement the new requirements from 2021, starting with higher-risk premises with high footfall and immuno-vulnerable occupants, such as childcare centres, schools, eldercare facilities and hawker centres. We do not know how long COVID-19 will last. We are entering a new situation, a new normal, where enhanced personal hygiene habits and social responsibility will have to be an integral part of our lives. Let us work together to make SG Clean our new way of life. SG Clean and our fight against dengue go hand-in-hand, as we remove stagnant water and keep our environment clean and litter-free. In 2019, there were nearly 16,000 reported dengue cases, with 20 deaths. This year, the Aedes mosquito population remains high, and indeed we are concerned about the increasing number of cases of the less common dengue virus serotype 3, or DENV-3. We must be careful as Singapore has not seen a DENV-3 outbreak in almost three decades, and population immunity to DENV-3 is low. Let me assure Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and Ms Sylvia Lim that we are addressing these risks through a multi-pronged dengue management approach. First, NEA conducts comprehensive surveillance of the mosquito population via more than 64,000 Gravitraps nation-wide. This allows NEA to target its operations early and prioritise areas with higher mosquito population. Second, NEA leverages technology, such as using drones to aid inspections or apply insecticide in hard-to-reach places. Third, NEA shares data on dengue clusters and areas with higher mosquito population publicly on its website and myENV App. This facilitates early community intervention and pre-emptive measures.”
“We will need to shift from the current top-down compliance-focused approach towards a more collective approach, where all stakeholders take accountability and ownership to proactively achieve high standards of cleanliness in Singapore. The SG Clean effort is needed even if our regular surveys indicate that we are mostly doing well in keeping Singapore clean. In the last two years, we witnessed multiple incidents of gastroenteritis linked to contaminated environments, including at pre-schools and nursing homes. These incidents underscore the importance of environmental hygiene. So last August, even before COVID-19, NEA convened an interdisciplinary technical committee to develop a set of national baseline cleaning standards for premises. NEA is currently consulting with stakeholders to further develop sector-specific standards. To catalyse this transformation, we will amend the Environmental Public Health Act (EPHA) to introduce mandatory baseline cleaning standards later this year. These standards will comprise a regime for proactive and thorough cleaning, as well as disinfection, at prescribed frequencies. This will include the oft-neglected "back of house" areas such as bin centres. As part of the EPHA amendment, we will place greater accountability on premises managers for the cleanliness of their premises. They will be required to appoint a Designated Person to assist them to develop an environmental sanitation programme and advise on measures to remedy any lapses. We will be mindful to calibrate the standards to minimise compliance costs.”
“30 pm NEA is including these thresholds in the Code of Practice on Environmental Health, to ensure that from 2021 onwards, obligated owners and operators will allocate space for on-site food waste treatment systems in their development plans. To support premises to prepare for the mandatory requirements, NEA is developing a guidebook on best practices and case studies on the implementation of food waste segregation and treatment. Segregating food waste from the other waste streams will make it easier to maintain cleanliness in premises. Cleanliness and hygiene is a first line of defence against evolving public health threats. Seventeen years ago, when we were battling SARS, we instituted regular "spring cleaning" of our hawker centres to safeguard environmental hygiene and curb the spread of such diseases. Last month, in response to COVID-19, we launched the SG Clean campaign to rally Singaporeans to keep Singapore clean and to safeguard public health. At the individual level, we call on Singaporeans to practise good personal hygiene and social responsibility through the "7 Habits of Good Public Hygiene". Concurrently, NEA is working with Government agencies and business premises to step up public hygiene standards. We want our hawker centres, public transport nodes, schools, retail malls, shops and various premises to receive the "SG Clean" quality mark. SG Clean seeks to turn the current crisis into an opportunity, by uplifting the standards of public hygiene and sustaining them. It is to be a whole-of-nation movement to instill a national "keep clean culture" for the long term, beyond the battle with COVID-19.”
“NEA is now pre-qualifying organisations for the tender, and aims to appoint the PRS operator by the second half of this year. This will give the operator sufficient lead time to establish its collection and treatment network and organise public outreach programmes. Similar to packaging waste, the e-waste EPR framework will finance and drive local e-waste recycling capabilities. TES-B, a new lithium-ion battery recycling facility will be completed in the coming months. EWR2 and SMC Industrial are also planning to build two recycling facilities dedicated to large household appliances, ICT equipment and batteries. They will be completed by mid-2020 and mid-2022 respectively. Together, the three new facilities will be able to process more than 50,000 tonnes of e-waste per year when fully operational. With these additions, Singapore will be ready to treat our e-waste collected under the EPR system. Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and Mr Mohamed Irshad spoke about food waste, another major waste stream with high generation tonnage and low recycling rates. Last year, I announced that from 2024, owners and occupiers of commercial and industrial premises that generate large amounts of food waste will be required to segregate their food waste for treatment. Owners and occupiers of new buildings will also be required to treat their food waste on-site. These requirements will apply to shopping malls and hotels with more than 3,000 sqm of F&B area, including function area for hotels; as well as industrial premises that either house at least one food manufacturer of more than 750 sqm, or are above 20,000 sqm and have more than 20 food tenants. 3.”
“We have been working closely with our economic agencies to actively engage interested companies to set up mechanical recycling plants for post-consumer plastic waste here. PET bottles and the like can then be processed locally into plastic pellets, which can in turn be used to make new products. We will announce details when ready. But not all plastic waste is suitable for mechanical recycling, for example, contaminated plastic bags. To treat these, we are also pursuing chemical recycling solutions. Chemical recycling can potentially convert these plastics into higher-value products, like pyrolysis oil, which is a potential feedstock for Singapore's petrochemical sector. If successful, this will move us closer to both our goals of being a Zero Waste nation and a Low-Carbon economy. We hope that this will become – get ready for this – "NEWOil", and strengthen our resource resilience, just as we have done with NEWater and aim to do so with NEWSand. We are working with EDB and industry partners to look into establishing a pilot chemical recycling plant that will contribute to and help anchor the chemical recycling value chain in Singapore within the next few years. Dr Chia Shi-Lu and Mr Mohamed Irshad asked about our progress to address e-waste, which is our second priority waste stream. NEA has started registering producers under the e-waste EPR framework, which will take effect next year. Producers have also recently begun collecting data on the amount of regulated electrical and electronic products supplied in Singapore, for submission to NEA early next year. NEA will launch a tender this month to appoint the Producer Responsibility Scheme (PRS) operator, a key stakeholder in the e-waste EPR framework.”
“Countries like Norway and Germany have implemented a DRS and achieved high recycling rates of over 80% for beverage containers. We are studying international best practices and will conduct industry consultations and a Request for Information for the DRS later this year. The DRS is also an idea proposed by the Citizens' Workgroup on #RecycleRight. Workgroup members will partner NEA to work through the DRS implementation, such as co-designing surveys to optimise outcomes of the DRS. Together with our industry stakeholders and Singaporeans, we will design a DRS suitable for Singapore. The DRS will aggregate post-consumer plastic waste, such as PET beverage bottles. This will supply a steady feedstock to drive demand for local recycling capabilities. With your permission, Mr Chairman, may I display some slides, please.”