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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“NTUC Health and Thye Hua Kwan also provide elder-sitting services, where care staff accompany persons with dementia at their homes and engage them in activities according to their personal interests. We have also worked with Tote Board to put in place a Community Healthcare Fund to support new pilots in the community, including in dementia care. These include Montfort Care's Happy Kopitiam programme which provides caregivers with education and support, while giving an avenue for caregivers and persons with dementia to participate in activities together and Alzheimer's Disease Association's Family of Wisdom programme where caregivers take part in the day care sessions with their loved ones with dementia and provide mutual support. The Government also provides funding support to further catalyse new models of care and ideas. Most recently, we set up the National Innovation Challenge on Active and Confident Ageing under the Action Plan for Successful Ageing to catalyse innovative ideas and research to transform the experience of ageing in Singapore. Last year, MOH launched a grant for innovative preventive programme to delay the onset of dementia and new models of dementia care in the community. The grant call attracted close to 40 proposals from multidisciplinary research teams that comprise clinicians, engineers, sociologists and care providers. We will continue to enhance the access, quality and affordability of care to seniors. We will partner our aged care providers to innovate and make eldercare better and more resource-effective.”
“Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) is also operating a ward which is designed to have minimal distractions from the hospital environment. This is to provide better and more personalised care for dementia patients who may find the unfamiliar environment in a hospital disconcerting and stressful. St Luke's Hospital (SLH) and St Andrew's Community Hospital (SACH) have also introduced dementia-friendly wards which are designed to provide a more private and safer environment for dementia patients to move around, participate in group activities and interact with one another. Staff in these wards received additional training in dementia care to provide care that is tailored to the unique needs and personality of each dementia patient. Dementia care is evolving in Singapore and we are continually seeking to learn and experiment on better models. Even in land-scarce Singapore, it is possible to design spaces that strike a balance between providing for the privacy and dignity of users and ensuring the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of the care model. We will continue to learn and adopt new thinking into our local efforts in designing dementia care facilities. But good dementia care goes beyond the physical attributes of the care facility. Good care has to come from quality hardware design, coupled with good care delivery. MOH is also piloting innovative care models within the community for persons with dementia so that they can continue to be cared for and supported at home and in the community, with funding support provided under the Community Mental Health Masterplan. For example, Tsao Foundation offers a dementia home intervention service where they provide advice to caregivers on how to better care for their loved ones at home.”
“The Ministry of Health (MOH) has been making innovations in care for our elderly, including those with dementia, with our partners. For instance, in some of our new purpose-built nursing homes, we have created closed-loop outdoor gardens next to dementia wards, to enable seniors with dementia to move around independently and enjoy the greenery. We are also experimenting with a dementia-friendly concept of "cluster living" in Ren Ci's new nursing home in Ang Mo Kio, which is in the midst of construction. The home is designed in the form of small "clusters". Each cluster consists of bedrooms with a smaller number of beds compared to other nursing homes, sharing a common living space, including activity and dining area, as well as bathrooms. This design allows for a smaller-scale and more familiar environment to support residents with dementia and yet promotes interaction among seniors and does not segregate or confine seniors in single rooms which may be more challenging in terms of monitoring and care. This design is the result of a brainstorming workshop with Ren Ci, facilitated by Dr Emi Kiyota, an environmental gerontologist based in the US, who is most noted for her work in championing Page: 15 the concept of the "Ibasho" or a place where seniors can live in safety, comfort and dignity. We have also implemented several dementia-friendly initiatives at our acute and community hospitals. The Institute of Mental Health (IMH) has renovated a dementia ward to create a more homely living environment which includes a garden designed to allow dementia patients to move around safely. The ward includes a reminiscence room and a sensory room to provide dementia-specific therapy.”
“However, an Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) survey after the 2011 Presidential Elections suggests that a majority of Singaporeans wish to choose their President through an election. As the 24 January 2016 Sunday Times lengthy feature on impending political changes has suggested, the qualifying criteria for candidates, which has remained unchanged for the last 25 years, should be raised to ensure that the candidate is up to the task given the greater complexity and demands of the EP's custodial roles in today's environment. For instance, the minimum paid up capital of the private or public company that a candidate leads as CEO or chairman of the board of directors should be raised significantly from the current $100 million. I would also support more public education so that Singaporeans have greater clarity on the role of the EP. Mdm Speaker, in many ways, getting our politics right is a pre-condition to Singapore's survival over the next 50 years as we cast our eyes toward SG100. Way before then, quite a number of us in this House, myself included will be in the aged or very aged category. Hopefully, by then, through the inventions of science, and our efforts in living a healthy lifestyle, we will have many more years to life. But I also hope that our Nation for All Ages will be a shining reality, and that it will also add life to our years. Madam, I support the Motion.”
“In fact, this would also affirm our desire to build a more inclusive society. The number of Parliamentary seats has also increased since the last election in 2011 from 87 to 89 in 2015, and it is envisaged that this number could continue to rise given the rising population. Hence, it would be sensible to increase the number of NCMPs in this House. But, regardless of the number of NCMPs admitted, what is most important, to ensure that our Parliament continues to have robust, well-informed and quality debate that will help shape and sharpen policies, is for Singaporeans to judge and scrutinise every Parliamentarian with the same lens and apply the same set of standards – whether it be of conduct or the substance of the argument. Another political innovation has been the Elected Presidency (EP). The EP is the custodian of our financial reserves against pilferage by irresponsible government. He also safeguards the integrity of our public service. The EP is therefore to be above party politics and should play a unifying role. The issue of the EP has drawn vigorous debate in the media recently. One key issue is how to depoliticise the EP scheme, such that it is not an alternate power centre that keeps "checking" on the government of the day or offer presidential endorsement of everything the Government does. Both actions would be contrary to the EP's role and lead to either policy paralysis or cause divisions in our society. The last presidential election was widely perceived as a kind of proxy contest between the PAP and the Opposition. Some commentators have suggested that we do away with elections for the Presidency by the People.”
“But a key ingredient to creating such a Nation for All Ages as in tackling other national challenges is leadership and good politics. President Tony Tan has also raised this subject in his address. How do we further strengthen the political system such that the right leaders – honest, selfless, capable, and committed – can surface? How do we sustain a robust political system that does not paralyse Government unnecessarily, but also does not stifle well-reasoned, cogently argued dissent? How can we assure alternative and minority voices a platform to be heard at the national stage? Singapore has implemented various political innovations over the past few Parliaments. One such innovation is the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP). The NCMP scheme presently allows for nine highest scoring Opposition members to enter Parliament. The NCMP scheme was introduced some 32 years ago to allow for alternative party views to be aired in Parliament. This was in recognition of Singaporeans' desire for alternative views and the value of contest of ideas and robust debates to sharpen policy making. But while the People’s Action Party (PAP) has won a strong mandate from Singaporeans in the recent General Elections, the desire for alternative voices has not waned. In fact, I believe that with greater diversity of our population, as well as rising political interest and awareness among a better educated population, such a desire would grow. I would thus support further expansion of the NCMP scheme, say to 12 or even beyond, recognising the value of having issues dissected from various perspectives that can sharpen and refine policy formulation. This is especially relevant as the challenges we face becomes even more complex and unpredictable.”
“We ourselves may also know of friends and family who are triply strained by the stress of their day jobs, the pressure from looking after young children and caring for their ailing elderly parents. We need therefore to refresh and strengthen the support environment for caring for the elderly so that they can age in place in their own homes, in the community, among people who know and care for them. This will also help to strengthen family ties and the community spirit so essential to a cohesive society. How can this work in practice? An example is the befriending programme that has sprouted in different communities. Various community organisations have taken the lead to recruit, train and deploy befrienders to visit and help frail seniors living in the neighbourhood. In Marine Parade, the local senior activity centre Goodlife! started a community kitchen in the precinct called "Goodlife Makan", after they noticed that there were many stay-alone elderly in Marine Terrace. So, there is now a kitchen in the void deck, where stay-alone seniors can come down, cook together, eat together and clean together. I am told that even the gentlemen themselves are learning to cook. We hope to nurture and grow more of such movements. Mdm Speaker, the vision of a distinctive Nation for All Ages I have sketched may sound impossibly hard to achieve because it means changing thought patterns, and ingrained practices. But challenges have never deterred us as Singaporeans from striving to build an exceptional nation. We can apply that to population ageing too. With the same shared vision, many determined hands and many strong hearts, we can chart a positive path ahead for population ageing, one that will inspire not only Singaporeans, but hopefully even other ageing cities.”
“According to the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP), complaints against workplace ageism have been falling, but TAFEP also noted at a seminar last year that some employers here still lack a sense of urgency when it comes to employing older workers. As one The Straits Times reader, Loke Soo Heng, puts it in a Forum article dated 19 November 2015, re-employment legislation caters to older workers who are already recognised for their value in their current companies. But older workers who leave their jobs due to restructuring may be perceived differently when they apply for jobs. The Government will do its part to encourage and engender an ageless workplace. But ultimately, the business community must be convinced of the benefits of being age-blind and to hire purely on merit. Thirdly, I appeal to our communities. We need neighbours and residents living within each community to look out for older residents among them and lend a hand in supporting them to age well in place. This is even more pertinent as families are getting smaller and there is also increasing incidence of singlehood. More fundamentally, we want to provide an environment where the elderly can age with dignity and be supported by family, friends and the community. But the ecosystem for this to take place is multi-layered. Because of the immense strain that caregivers bear, they themselves also need support. We have all read about the tragedy of caregivers in Japan going down a slippery slope after they quit their jobs to look after the elderly, only to find themselves unemployable after their loved ones pass away.”
“While we strengthen legislation to protect the vulnerable elderly, what is key is that every Singaporean parent must help to inculcate the right values of filial piety and care for our seniors in their own children. Our young Singaporeans should not only learn about such values in schools. Most importantly, they need to see how their own parents live out these values in caring for and loving their grandparents, in word and deed. They will do the same when it is their turn to look after their parents. Secondly, I appeal to businesses. Businesses can unlock productivity and innovation in longevity for their own companies and for our economy as a whole. But they can only do so if they see older workers as assets, and if they can create ageless workplaces to enable older workers not only to continue to work but also to thrive in their jobs. Take, for example, Virtual HR. This human resource solutions specialist has tailor-made its working and remuneration arrangements to enable older workers to take on payroll processing and other jobs in the company. As a result, it has seen mature workers in the company bring in more revenue per dollar of salary than some of the younger staff. This need not be a rare exception and indeed it is not. We can find other examples of such age-friendly companies but there can be many more. In fact, I believe it can be the norm if business leaders apply their minds and hearts to it. The Government will continue to help both employers and workers to transit more seamlessly into this new regime. However, employers as well as HR and line managers must take ownership of this challenge to avoid unconscious ageist employment attitudes. Much work has been done over the years to encourage employers to hire older workers.”
“Minister Heng's Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) will also need to blend in the demographic inevitability of an ageing population into its deliberations and recommendations. Our seniors should not be taken out of the equation in the future of our economy. Based on our current demographic trends, they are part of the future of our economy. So, instead of being overwhelmed by the prospect of a silver tsunami, let us ride on longevity to create a distinctive Nation for All Ages. However, this is a future that can only be created by all of us working together as partners – Government, Community, Businesses, Grassroots organisations and individuals. And this is my three-fold appeal. I appeal first to families. We must have strong families that provide emotional support and are willing to love and care for older members. Some frail and older people can be forgetful and walk very slowly. They can become quite grouchy and difficult to get along, like Carl Fredrickson, the elderly widower in the 2013 Disney Pixar movie "Up". But they are still family members with whom we have long ties of kinship and bonds of love. Though still a minority, it is painful to read about cases of cheating, abuse or even neglect of elderly parents. It was recently reported that social workers are seeing more senior citizens who have been cheated or financially abused by their children. I myself have also recently seen a few such instances of financial abuse at my Meet-the-People Sessions. In one tragic case, an elderly parent was convinced to sell her home to live with her son who purchased another house with her money, only to be asked to find a home of her own when the relationship with the son's family turned sour.”
“For the community, ageing can become a powerful, unifying cause that rallies residents, students, community organisations, and grassroots organisations to create new programmes and develop new social networks to embrace our senior population as active and participating members of an inclusive Singapore society. One aspect of this is promoting senior volunteerism. We can help them start the journey by matching volunteering opportunities to seniors with the appropriate backgrounds, and by providing the necessary tools to equip them to function more effectively as volunteers. This will be the proof of concept for an inter-generational volunteer movement to help and be helped by seniors in our community. At the national level, ageing can be an opportunity for businesses to create new products and services to tap the silver market, in the same way that millennials constitute a distinct market segment for smart phones, tablets, social media marketing and the like. Whether it is gym facilities for those over 65 only or anti-ageing products – if you swear by them – or holiday packages for retirees, the opportunities are limited only by our imagination. Likewise, rather than fret over a declining workforce, or dependency ratios in some cases, we should instead seek to harness the productive and creative energies of more mature workers, many of whom bring a steady hand to help and guide the younger ones. Beyond the mere economics of a longer stream of income, productive work has many benefits such as bestowing on the elderly a sense of fulfilment and keeping their minds alert. Mdm Speaker, population ageing will be a part of the Future of Us.”
“Let me clarify, just in case they are misconstrued or misrepresented. SCCs, nursing homes, and other forms of long-term care facilities would be provided in places where we assessed that there are needs from the residents. Just like Edusave awards which are awarded based on eligibility criteria, they will be awarded to students who qualify regardless of which constituency they stay in. I think these are very fair and objective assessments based on needs and merits. Indeed, we should not be consumed by what we see on one side of the coin – the fear of a silver tsunami, with all of its attendant problems. If we do, we are shortchanging ourselves. The other side of the coin is longevity, with the immense opportunities for Singapore and Singaporeans that come with a population living longer. I would urge all Singaporeans to be bold and positive about our ageing population, and not just look at the challenges this brings. Just as we have turned our water insecurity into path-breaking water technology solutions highly sought after even by other countries, we need to reframe our ageing problem as a platform for us to innovate and create new opportunities. We need a new "philosophy of ageing" to guide our national narrative on ageing at the individual, community and national levels. So, how can ageing be re-framed? For individuals, ageing can be a positive force. Longer life spans could open up new life choices, new learning, new careers and new experiences. To allow this to happen, we will need to provide the platform for seniors to keep their minds active and their spirits fulfilled by working for as long as feasible and providing them with opportunities to learn new skills and develop new interests.”
“Mdm Speaker, the President highlighted that one of the challenges we face is a rapidly ageing population. By any definition – statutory, scientific, common sense – I am or will soon be in the "aged" category. That I suppose qualifies me to speak on this subject. This is not a new subject, but one that has exercised the minds and skills of policymakers for many years now. We need to plan far ahead to adequately meet this challenge. Hence, the Ministerial Committee on Ageing announced last year an Action Plan for Successful Ageing. It is a collaborative effort among Government agencies, Voluntary Welfare and Non-profit organisations, business and community organisations as well as union leaders, and reflects the aspirations and ideas of more than 4,000 Singaporeans from all walks of life who were widely consulted over a period of close to one year. The Action Plan offers more than 60 initiatives in 12 areas such as health and wellness, employment, volunteerism and retirement adequacy. And we welcome ground up innovative ideas including those suggested by Members Miss Cheryl Chan and Ms Joan Pereira yesterday. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has plans to co-locate Senior Care Centres (SCCs) at Community Clubs and town hubs such as at the Bedok Integrated Complex. The first such SCC, co-located with Ci Yuan Community Club, will be welcoming its first clients in the coming months. The SCC will also provide home care services to surrounding residents. We are also planning for Active Ageing hubs in new HDB developments with both aged care and active ageing programmes together. We hope to work with more grassroots organisations to develop a range of active ageing and aged care programmes, using existing CCs and Residents’ Committees (RCs) as platforms.”
“The Ministry will undertake to do its best and I think we all know that we want to ensure FDWs' well-being as they are working here in Singapore. That is one of the reasons why the Ministry implemented compulsory and mandatory education programmes and training for both new FDWs and employers. These education training and guidebooks provide information on mental well-being as well as stress management and also guide the employers on how to identify depression in FDWs. When FDWs go for medical screening, the FDW is supposed to declare whether she has any history of mental disorder. The doctor, in doing his clinical assessment, also has to certify whether he is of the view that there is any abnormal mental state, in the medical assessment form. Having said that, even if you go for a thorough mental health screening, it is only able to detect any mental health issues at the point of assessment. It does not assure that the state of mental well-being will remain, because mental health conditions are influenced by many factors. At the end of the day, even as we will do as much as possible to prevent any unfortunate incidents, all stakeholders really have to play their role and take responsibility. Employers, if they are concerned about their FDWs' mental condition, should refer them for a medical check-up and treatment as quickly as possible. MOM also sends FDWs newsletters on a regular basis. If they have any issues, they should either call the Police or our MOM hotline or the hotline operated by VWOs like FAST, which is a 24-hour hotline. The employment agencies, at the point of recruiting the maids, should also discharge their due responsibility. Page: 38”
“The Police do not track the number of abuse cases caused by mental illness by either foreign domestic workers (FDWs) or employers. The Ministry of Manpower's (MOM's) mandatory education programmes and guidebooks for both new FDWs and new employers cover issues like mental well-being as well as stress management. FDWs are also educated on avenues they can seek help from if they face any issues, including MOM's dedicated FDW hotline number, as well as contacts of other VWOs like the Foreign Domestic Workers Association (FAST). Employers are also taught how to identify early signs of depression in their FDWs and how they can seek help. Mental health checks for FDWs are available at hospitals, the Institute of Mental Health and private specialist clinics for employers who wish to make use of such services. However, Page: 37 such tests are not mandatory as they are time-consuming, costly and not always foolproof.”
“We are making steady efforts to enhance nursing as a profession and will continue to invest in our nurses and support them in their work.”
“The appropriate nurse-to-patient ratio is determined by patient needs and the main factors considered are patient acuity and the clinical setting. The nurse-to-patient ratio for day shifts in the general wards in the public hospitals was one is to five in 2014, compared to one is to eight in 2004. The overall ratio has improved, but caring for patients remains demanding because our patients' acuity and needs have also increased over the period, partly due to our ageing population and partly due to higher expectations. To address these challenges, we have been redesigning processes and harnessing technology to improve productivity. For example, the Closed Loop Medication Management (CLMM) System implemented in several public hospitals has significantly improved efficiency and patient safety, even while the hospitals are handling increasing patient volumes. The Page: 36 automated processes have saved substantial nurses' time previously spent on medication administration, freeing up their time for direct patient care. As nursing ward care in the hospital is 24/7, we are also looking into implementing more flexible work arrangements in the public healthcare institutions to better meet the work-life needs of nurses. Since the start of this year, selected wards in the Changi General Hospital, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore General Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital have piloted new flexible work arrangements. Feedback from the pilot wards has been encouraging. The participants of the pilot generally welcomed the initiative. With these enhancements to the workplace, our nurses are given more flexibility and are able to derive a greater sense of satisfaction from being able to provide a higher level of care to their patients.”
“I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. In fact, as I have said, IMH is re-organising and reviewing its nursing model of care. They are re- Page: 22 categorising patients, including long-stay patients, medium-stay patients and so on according to their acuity and ability levels. For patients who may not need long-term institutional care, and we do want to encourage as many to reintegrate into the community as possible, there will be different levels of support and care for them according to their needs. Even if they go back into the community, there is always a hotline available for either the patient or the caregiver to call these teams to get guidance. In fact, the teams can actually go for home visits and escort them back to IMH or to one of our satellite outpatient clinics if needed. So, the idea really is to have a strong support network to care for the patients according to the levels of acuity. IMH does have long-term patients, too. We are working with the community hospitals for, say, the shorter-term stayers and we try as far as possible to improve their functioning to integrate back into the community. So, I agree with the Member that we need to do more in order to be able to provide targeted help to each of these groups of people.”
“So, you are right to say that it means that if you require two caregivers, you still get $200 per year. But having said that, if it is really necessary to have more than one caregiver, it is possible to tap on other sources of funds. For instance, for IMH, there is a Woodbridge Hospital Charity Fund that you can tap on for caregiving training and other activities. And I am sure that if it is needed, we will definitely be able to get the funds, the resources, to help support the caregivers.”
“With regard to the Member's comments about bed capacity and inadequate staff, let me say that at IMH, for admissions into acute wards, IMH has consistently been able to admit patients within four hours from the decision to admit them. MOH, together with IMH, consistently reviews the mental services capacity within the system and if there is a need to create more services and capacity, we will do so when Page: 21 appropriate. One of the ways that MOH, together with IMH, has worked on to reduce reliance on tertiary services, as I have said, and therefore less demand on tertiary beds, is to develop Community Mental Health. And one of the ways is to work with GPs to manage the more stable patients within the community. In fact, in the community, they have also expanded memory clinics in the restructured hospitals and the capacities of memory clinics. They are also working on increasing the capabilities for dementia care in nursing homes, day care centres as well as in the community hospitals, St Luke's Hospital and St Andrew's Hospital. In addition to that, IMH works to reorganise and remodel its model of care to provide targeted holistic help to specific groups of patients with varying patient acuity and mental conditions so that care is more efficient and more targeted, with a view to improving their functioning so that they can eventually reintegrate, where possible, into the community. And that helps them to work within the manpower currently available. As I said, we have increased the nursing staff-to-patient ratio over the years. With regard to caregiver training, caregivers of mental patients are eligible for the caregiver training grant. But the caregiver training grant is given per recipient to a care recipient per year. It is $200 per care recipient.”
“IMH is continually innovating to provide holistic care for its patients. Other than traditional caregivers in the institute, IMH case managers ensure that patients are doing well after their discharge, through telephonic case management and home visits whenever required. In addition, IMH also works on the development of community mental health to support persons with mental health problems in the community. For example, IMH has worked in collaboration with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) to engage a pool of general practitioner (GP) partners to help manage more stable patients in a primary care setting through the GP Partnership Programme for Mental Health. These outreach efforts reduce the reliance on tertiary services and support better care management in the community.”
“Mdm Speaker, the upgrading of the Institute of Mental Health's (IMH's) infrastructure to offer better care to patients has been ongoing to meet the needs of the population. Some of the new facilities at IMH include: (a) two dementia-friendly wards at IMH's campus built in 2014 and (b) a High Dependency Psychiatric Care Unit which was operational last year. In addition, IMH has also upgraded its Specialist Outpatient Clinics at its Buangkok premises in 2013 and IMH's Community Wellness Clinics at Queenstown and Geylang Polyclinics in 2009 and 2013 respectively. Currently, several IMH facilities are being upgraded to improve the inpatient care and these include: (a) expansion of the Mood Disorder Ward for patients with conditions, such as depression and bipolar disorder; and (b) creation of an Early Psychosis Ward for patients with first-episode and early psychosis. The Ministry of Health (MOH) regularly reviews the mental health services capacity in our system and, when needed, new capacities and services will be added to meet the mental healthcare needs of our patients. For manpower, IMH has about a thousand nursing staff today, with an adequate nursing staff-to-patient ratio, as required by MOH's regulations. The nursing staff-to-patient ratio has improved from 1:2.46 in 2010 to 1:1.68 in 2014. Over the years, the number of clinical and nursing staff at IMH has grown to keep pace with the gradual increase in patient Page: 20 numbers. The increase in manpower at IMH is as follows: (a) the average number of doctors has increased from 98 in 2010 to 150 today; (b) the average number of allied health professionals has increased from 328 in 2010 to 481 today; and (c) the average number of nursing staff has increased from 862 in 2010 to 1,025 today.”
“Out of the nine companies, one received a stern warning, which means that they will be on our watch list and eight had their work pass privileges curtailed.”
“So, for the cases which are unresponsive or recalcitrant, and where there is prima facie evidence of discriminatory practices, they will be referred to MOM for investigation. For last year, we enforced action against the nine companies. Whilst it is true that these are not nationality-based, the fact is that most companies do employ some numbers of foreign Page: 41 workers and, therefore, curtailing their work pass privileges is very serious for them. We curtail the work pass privileges for six months and more.”
“As I have noted earlier in my reply, we believe that the way to tackle workplace discrimination, whether it is age-related or based on nationality, race, language, religion or any other workplace discrimination, fundamentally, you have to change the mindsets of employers. Therefore, we have adopted the promotional approach as well as the capability-building approach but coupled with enforcement by MOM for cases where there is prima facie evidence of discriminatory practices. As I have also noted, the number of cases over the last five years has actually remained relatively stable at about 80. We encourage anyone who feels that they are victims of discriminatory workplace practices to come forward and inform TAFEP. But when we talk about the promotional and capability-building approach, we are also talking about educating the employers, human resource (HR) practitioners, the supervisors in the companies not to inadvertently practise discrimination at the workplace. In addition to that, last year, 2014, there were nine cases. As I have said, for the less than 80 cases that come up to us, TAFEP will investigate every case and when there is no evidence, as the Member has noted, it is not easy. It is unlike other employment offences, it is actually not easy to prove discriminatory practices. Therefore, if TAFEP sees that there are gaps in HR practices or gaps in some of the hiring practices, TAFEP will advise and share guidelines with these employers. In most instances, the employers respond positively. They will either take down or refine the job advertisements. For gaps in HR practices, employers will rectify them. In most cases, they indicate that they are supportive of fair hiring employment practices.”
“First, let me note that MOM takes a very firm and serious stance against workplace discrimination. There is no place for discrimination at the workplace and we expect all employers to consider and treat employees fairly, complying with the Fair Consideration Framework and the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices. MOM, together with TAFEP, will seriously follow-up on every discriminatory case received. For Ms Heng's case, I understand that TAFEP contacted both Ms Heng as well as the company in question. According to the company, the person who posted the discriminatory post is not one of their employees. In fact, they have actually lodged a Police report to investigate the incident. With regard to the other nationality-based case, I think it is in relation to a Myanmar national. I understand that we are currently looking into the matter. Let me highlight that given that social media has the potential to amplify a case, it is important that we get our facts right. And let me also assure the House that MOM, together with TAFEP, will continue to work at addressing workplace discrimination. In fact, recently, my Minister has also announced additional measures under the Fair Consideration Framework as well as the National Jobs Bank to address nationality-related discrimination cases, and to build a strong Singapore Core.”
“Thank you, Madam. The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) was set up in 2006 to promote fair employment practices. TAFEP released the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices in 2007. Recognising that the key to dealing with discrimination issues is to change employers' mindsets, TAFEP adopts both a promotional and capability building approach in helping employers to adopt the Tripartite Guidelines. An employee who feels discriminated against can approach TAFEP for assistance. In the last five years, TAFEP has, on average, received less than 80 race-, language- and religion-related discrimination complaints per year against employers. This number has remained fairly stable. When TAFEP engages these employers, the large majority will rectify their employment practices. Where there is evidence of non-compliance with the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, TAFEP will refer these cases to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for investigation. In 2014, MOM investigated and took action against nine employers for race, language and religion-related discriminatory employment practices. These employers were issued stern warnings and had their work pass privileges curtailed. I am happy to note that most employers that have been approached by TAFEP have responded positively and have adopted fair employment practices. Only a small minority are Page: 39 referred to MOM for enforcement. This shows that our current approach has worked well.”
“Madam, with your permission, can I take Question Nos 8 and 9 together?”
“Of course, we are also looking into increasing public awareness in terms of helping the public to understand end of life issues, advanced care planning, palliative care and so on.”
“In terms of the number of day-care places, I think the Member asked earlier about wait-time and ratios. For day-care places, the estimated wait-time was about 20 days in 2014. This is a significant improvement from 2013, which was about 30-odd days. As I have said in my speech, we are ramping up capacity very rapidly. Over the last four years, we have increased the number of day-care places by 1,000 and we are on track to increase the number of day-care places to 6,200 by 2020. Whilst they are waiting for day-care places, the hospitals could assist in terms of referring them for interim caregiver service or transitional care service. In order to further ramp up capacity, as I have said, we are also ramping up homecare. So, an alternative really would be homecare services. With regard to palliative care, Minister Gan did announce about MOH's plan last year to develop the palliative care sector in a holistic and comprehensive manner and it is in four areas. In terms of quality, there is a palliative care guideline which we are finalising and it will be used as a developmental guideline and to improve and enhance service. And also in terms of capacity, we are expanding capacity both in home palliative care as well as inpatient palliative care beds. In terms of affordability, we further expanded the use of Medisave for palliative care to reduce the patients' cash payment upfront. So, withdrawal limits have been increased and lifetime limits for terminal cancer or end-stage organ failure have been removed for home palliative care. Where it is the family members who pay, the life time limit has been increased.”
“As of February this year, 71 out of the 78 applications have been approved and we are on track to reach out to 100 companies by end of this year. Moving forward, HPB will encourage the uptake of the grant and women's health programmes at the workplaces. Sir, our vision is to achieve graceful ageing in place in a community for all ages. We will realise an aged care system that is anchored by home and community care, as well as strong community support from fellow Singaporeans. In the next 50 years, I am confident that Singapore will remain an inclusive and caring home for all. Primary Health Care”
“AIC has been working with WDA, NTUC, e2i and CDCs to organise geographically-targeted recruitment fairs to attract more residents to take up jobs in the ILTC sector. Since April last year, AIC has co-organised 20 recruitment fairs and will continue to do so this year. Our work to enhance the attractiveness of healthcare careers will continue. MOH will continue to review salaries regularly for all healthcare staff to recognise their contributions fairly and to keep pace with the market. Beyond remuneration, our public healthcare institutions and aged care providers have enabled healthcare staff to better meet their work-life priorities through flexible employment options and part-time work arrangements. There is also progress in adopting IT innovations to lessen the administrative work of healthcare staff. With less time spent on administrative work, our Patient Service Associates (PSAs) in Page: 124 Tan Tock Seng Hospital, for example, can then be up-skilled to take on certain roles that are traditionally performed by pharmacy technicians or nurses. PSAs' career progression is enhanced, while nurses and pharmacy technicians have their time freed up to focus on more complex work. Let me now move on to issues on women's health. Ms Ellen Lee and Ms Tin Pei Ling asked for an update on the workplace health grant for women's health. Sir, the Women's Health Advisory Committee (WHAC), which I chair, introduced the Workplace Health Grant for women in July 2013. Organisations may use the grant to encourage female employees to go for breast and cervical cancer screening and organise women's health talks on chronic diseases and other conditions, and it has been well received.”
“In addition, we want to put in place support programmes to help caregivers of dementia patients cope. For example, we have the dementia home intervention services for caregivers of seniors who display behavioural issues. For caregivers who need time away from their caregiving duties, we have put in place the weekend respite care and eldersitter service. We are partnering some VWOs to innovate new responses to support patients and caregivers. For example, Montfort Care set up the Happy Kopitiam located at Marine Drive and Telok Blangah. This is led by a social worker with the help of volunteers to provide caregivers with education, support and respite care. Both caregivers and clients are also encouraged to participate in activities together. And this is an example of a ground-driven initiative to enable our seniors to age gracefully at home without over-medicalising our care. We will be embarking on a major ramp-up of our health and aged care services in the next five years. We need more Singaporeans to join us in our mission to provide the best care for our citizens. And this is a concern that is also shared by Dr Chia Shi-Lu, Mr Patrick Tay and Ms Tin Pei Ling. To support these expansions, we have estimated that the healthcare professional workforce will need to grow by about 50%, or 20,000 more between 2011 and 2020. We are on track to meet our manpower needs. Our healthcare professional workforce expanded by 9,000 between 2011 and 2014. We are expanding the local training pipelines and would also like to see more mid-career entrants, especially women re-entering the workforce and retired nurses, join us. There is a wide choice of employment locations near home, especially in the aged care sector.”
“Third, we target to expand IMH's aftercare services and enlist more community-based VWO teams to provide long-term support. Together with the constituency-level community support, these community-based aftercare teams aim to serve around 5,000 clients by 2017. We will also beef up our capability to support seniors with dementia, under our community mental health plans. According to a recent study conducted by IMH on the Well-being of the Singapore Elderly (WISE), we understand that the prevalence of dementia amongst seniors aged 60 years and above is 10%. Hence, with an ageing population, there will be more elderly with dementia in the future. We will enhance the capability in public hospitals and the community for seniors requiring assessment for dementia. To date, we have expanded capacity in six outpatient memory clinics in the public hospitals to provide early assessment and intervention for dementia patients. Specialists from the RHSes will also partner 50 GPs to manage dementia clients within the community. We will also be scaling up the capacity of community-based dementia care services. As of December last year, we have put in place around 650 day dementia care places, increased the number of eldersitters to 90, and put in place 575 dementia nursing home beds. By 2020, we will increase day dementia care places to at least 3,000, increase the number of eldersitters to 160 and increase dementia nursing home beds to 1,970 beds. We will expand our partnership with voluntary welfare organisations to outreach and educate seniors and their caregivers on how to pick up early signs of dementia and seek help. Page: 123 We will more than triple the number of community outreach teams from the current seven to 24 teams by 2017, to reach out to seniors island-wide.”
“Hence, a third area is to further strengthen community support by building local community support networks (LCSNs) among grassroots leaders and volunteers, social work agencies, the Police and Town Councils, to enable them to respond to residents who may have mental health issues. Over the past year, we have been in touch with over 20 constituencies and trained over 400 grassroots leaders and volunteers. Take Kembangan Chai Chee (KCC) as an example. A network of volunteers comprising 120 grassroots leaders, volunteers and partners have been given basic mental health and eldercare education, and are equipped to identify residents in need and link them to various help needed. Page: 122 Finally, we want to enhance the capability of primary and community care to help detect and support the treatment of mental health patients. Since 2012, we have partnered and trained 70 GP partners to attend to mental health patients. We established nine community-based specialist and allied health teams to support GPs with clinical advice and allied health services. To date, these teams served over 4,700 patients, providing them with access to holistic care closer to home. MOH launched the Community Mental Health Masterplan in 2012 to strengthen access to psychiatric care. With the pilots that we have started in the past two years in primary care and fostering community support systems, we are ready to scale up our efforts over the next three years. First, we aim to train and partner 120 GPs and set up a total of 17 allied health and specialist-led teams in the community with a total capacity to serve up to 21,000 clients by 2017. Second, through our outreach, we hope to set up similar local community support networks and engage a total of 50 constituencies.”
“Under the City for All Ages project at Marine Parade, we took a holistic approach to preventing falls. We screened seniors for fall risk, and conducted seminars for seniors and their caregivers to understand how to prevent falls. We twinned this with hardware retrofits in the town and home retrofits. The home retrofits are now part of the EASE programme under HDB. We will do more in public education as suggested by Ms Chia Yong Yong. Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef, Ms Ellen Lee and Ms Tin Pei Ling asked about the progress of our community mental health efforts and our plans ahead. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked about our approach to mental health patients living in the community. Sir, we believe that it is possible for psychiatric patients to stay well in the community, if we set up a good system to support them. Let me elaborate. First, the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) has in place an after-care programme to support discharged patients who are assessed to be at higher risk of default or had more severe illnesses. IMH reminds these patients of their follow-up treatment through regular telephone calls and even home visits when necessary. Second, IMH has put in place a 24-hour Mental Health Helpline to provide immediate support for patients and their caregivers whenever needed. Community partners can also call the hotline, regardless of whether the cases have pre-existing records with IMH. If a patient refuses or defaults on treatment, IMH will work closely with family members, caregivers and other community partners to engage the patients. Sometimes, it does take a village to enable patients to recover and recover well in the community.”
“MOH's National Medical Research Council has earlier provided grants for innovations related to hearing problems in seniors. We will study with A*STAR and NRF on how to promote research, innovation and market access of products needed by our seniors, including hearing aids. Currently, Singaporean seniors who are 60 years old and above with hearing difficulties can apply under the SMF or Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund for up to 90% subsidies to defray the cost of hearing aids. So far, more than 1,400 seniors have benefited from SMF subsidies for hearing aids. The SMF is the main source of help for Singaporean seniors while the Special Assistance Fund (SAF) targets persons with disabilities of other age groups. A senior who is eligible for SMF will not be eligible for the SAF. AIC works closely with SG Enable to refer applications to the appropriate fund. Since July 2013, close to $17 million in subsidies have been disbursed from the SMF. Caregivers are the unsung heroes of home and community care. We need to support them and encourage them. Last year, we announced the establishment of respite care services in Eldercare centres during weekends on top of existing nursing home respite care services. Caregivers can drop off their loved ones for a few hours to run their errands or just chill out. We now have 280 places each weekend, since introducing the service in April last year. To date, more than 500 seniors have benefited from both services. Page: 121 Sir, we also need a senior-friendly urban environment so that seniors can move around independently and safely. Ms Chia Yong Yong asked about falls and disability prevention. We have started community efforts to prevent falls among seniors.”
“Since subsidies started from 1 April last year, some 370 patients have benefited as at the end of 2014. The number of patients on home rehab annually has steadily increased from 302 in 2012 to 731 in 2014. 5.00 pm Page: 120 Between 2010 and 2014, the number of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists in the public healthcare and ILTC sectors has grown by about 40% to more than 1,200 today. The total physiotherapy and occupational therapy intakes at Nanyang Polytechnic have increased by 58%, from 104 in 2007 to 164 in 2014. Similarly, the biennial intake for speech therapy at the National University of Singapore has increased by 15%, from 20 in 2007 to 23 this year. We will continue to review the manpower demand and supply regularly and build up the local training pipelines. We have also worked with some home and community care providers to redesign jobs and train Singaporeans to take up jobs in providing maintenance rehabilitation. While it is important to enhance capacity, we have also worked to improve the quality of home and community care. Last year, we announced the development of the new home-based care, community care and palliative care guidelines. We have since conducted a series of focus group discussions with providers, patients and caregivers. There has been overwhelming support and some suggestions to enhance the guidelines, which we have incorporated. The home-based care and community care guidelines have now been finalised and AIC will work with providers to make improvements to their quality of care based on these guidelines. Sir, we agree with Dr Janil Puthucheary that more can be done in the area of innovation related to successful ageing.”
“Ms Tin Pei Ling and Mr Low Thia Khiang asked about rehabilitation services. Yes, we anticipate an increase in rehabilitation needs with an ageing population, so we have been adding capacity in community hospitals, day centres and home rehabilitation, including an upcoming day centre at Kaki Bukit. In addition to the expansion of day centres, which will mean more day rehab places, we are also adding capacity in community hospitals. The fact that the elderly may not follow up with rehab could be due to other factors as well, such as no transport to day rehab. This April, we will enhance transport subsidies under the Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund (SMF) so that more seniors can benefit from it. We will extend transport subsidy under SMF to all seniors requiring some form of mobility assistance and not just to wheelchair-bound seniors attending rehabilitation and dialysis services or those attending dementia day care services, to get to MOH-funded eldercare and dialysis centres. The level of funding support given will be based on mobility needs, and MOH will provide more funding support to eldercare providers to arrange for specialised transport for less ambulant seniors. MOH expects to provide additional funding of some $14 million from the SMF to support eldercare providers to provide transportation to clients. An additional 1,000 elderly will benefit from this enhancement, up from some 2,000 seniors now. We are also piloting tele-rehab which can further enhance the access of patients to rehab services, without even needing them to leave home. We raised subsidies for intermediate and long-term care in 2012, including for day rehab services. We also started subsidies for home rehab last year.”
“Mdm Chairman, in the next few decades, our population will age more rapidly, and we need to plan ahead to ensure that our aged care system is future ready. Ms Tin Pei Ling and Ms Ellen Lee spoke about ageing in place and asked about our plans for home and community care. MOH will expand home and community care as the anchor of our aged care system, because we want to fulfil our seniors' aspirations to age in place and enable children to take care of their parents at home for as long as possible. Over the past four years, MOH has been building up capacity rapidly, and enhancing the quality and affordability of home and community care. Since 2011, we increased the number of home care places by 2,700 and the number of home palliative care places by 1,200. We have also increased the number of day care places by 1,000. This expansion will be an on-going effort that will span a number of years, because population ageing will be massive in the next decade. By 2020, we can expect 10,000 home care places, 6,200 day care places and 6,000 home palliative care places. Page: 119 [Deputy Speaker (Mr Charles Chong) in the Chair] This year, we will open the provision of subsidised home and community care services to the private sector just like what we have done for nursing homes. Operators whether VWO or private can tender to provide these services. These operators will be selected based on care models and affordable fees. Recently, we launched a Request for Proposal (RFP) under the Build-Own-Lease model for a Senior Care Centre at Ci Yuan CC that is open to both the VWO and private sectors. Providers have to tender to operate day services in the senior care centre as well as offer home care services out of the centre.”
“Mdm Chair, with your permission, may I display some slides?”
“Since we implemented the Jobs Bank, about half of the ICT applications have not been approved, they have been rejected. The conditions are stringent. We study every case carefully.”
“Yes, thank you. I have to explain. For those allegations that are substantiated, the case officer will engage the company to learn about what are the issues and so on. So, there are various recourse and actions that we take. For those that are just HR gaps, we will then advise them and get them to plug the gaps and follow up. For those that are more serious, we may issue warnings and will also put them on a tighter scrutiny. And there will also be some cases where we may curb their work pass privileges. So, for about a third of the cases, there were issues where we either issued warnings, put them on scrutiny or curbed their work pass privileges. Regarding the Intra-Corporate Transfers (ICTs), these are actually exempted from the advertisement requirement. You know that we are a global and regional business hub, so companies that base their headquarters here will need to transfer some of their senior personnel and professionals here because they want to understand the market or lend their expertise and experience. In fact, our own firms do the same thing when we venture abroad. And they also send locals overseas. So, we allow exemptions, but it is actually very stringent. In order to allow exemptions, the definition of "ICT" must comply with WTO's definition under the General Agreement on Trade in Services. There are certain criteria that they must conform to. We implement these very stringently. We look at the salary, we look at the organisation chart, to see if they actually conform with the ICT definition before they are allowed to enter, and there are limits as to the length of the period they are able to stay here. But we need to allow this simply because, as I have said, we have got regional and global business hubs.”
“Regarding the action that we will take for firms that we find have engaged in discriminatory practices, and the Member has also asked for the numbers, I have actually given it in the reply in response to Mr Zaqy Mohamad's query. There were a total of 230 nationality-related discrimination complaints that were received either by TAFEP or MOM in 2014. That number is down from 310 in 2013. What we do is when we receive a complaint, we will assess and study the information provided by the complainant. Of the 230 complaints that we received, about 40% were unsubstantiated. There were complainants who, when we pursued the case, they then refused to provide further details, including their own names. These are unsubstantiated. I Page: 136 am tired. Sorry.”
“We need to ensure that we have a fair and level playing field, ensure that companies will consider Singaporeans fairly for the job but, at the same time, we need to also make sure that the framework makes sense for companies, for employers, because many of the employers actually do access the local workforce to fill their positions. So, we need to calibrate and come up with a balanced framework that will help us achieve the objective of building a strong Singapore core and make sure that Singaporeans are able to be considered fairly for the jobs and, if they cannot because they do not have the right skills, then we will equip them or enable and encourage them to undertake skills Page: 130 upgrading, get the skills in order to get the jobs.”
“As I have said, there are two reasons or objectives why we collect this set of information. Firstly, it is to capture the reasons why locals are not hired. This will also help us in terms of developing the skills of locals for such jobs. Secondly, it is to remind the employers – it is a clear signal to employers – that they should consider locals fairly before making an EP application. If we were to do more than that, put in place more requirements, the fact is that it may have unintended consequences. I think we all know that when we compete for jobs, it is actually in the global marketplace. It is between countries, it is not only within countries. Particularly for a small city-state like Singapore, the first thing we need to do is to compete for job opportunities with other cities in order to be able to get companies to set up shop and create jobs that Singaporeans want. So, if we make it too onerous, rigid, costly, cumbersome and time-consuming for firms to access manpower – because when the firms create jobs, they need to access manpower, not just Singaporeans, they may have to access workers and skills from overseas to complement the Singapore core workforce, then they may decide that it is so costly, cumbersome and if I have no access to manpower or my access to manpower is constrained, I may relocate some or all of the operations overseas to other countries. If that is the case, then the very jobs that Singaporeans aspire to and which we want to create and help Singaporeans to get may not be there in the first place. So, we need to strike a balance.”
“With regard to the hon Member's question about if we have these updates then it will be easier to identify which are the firms that may not be engaged in fair hiring practices in terms of giving Singaporeans a fair chance, or consider them fairly for the job, basically, for those who are going to apply for EP, after they have advertised in the Jobs Bank, we do require them, when they submit to tell us their job ID posting, that they have conformed with the advertisements as well as give us other information about salary levels when they put up through WDA for job postings so we can check. We will then also know from this information and we will ask them for reasons why they have not employed a Singaporean. This would help us in various ways. First of all, of course, it can alert us also to firms that may just be submitting job advertisements, complying with that, but may not be engaged in fair hiring practices. So, we can actually use that as an indicator. But we also use other indicators to alert us to companies that may not be considering Singaporeans fairly. We will engage these companies. In fact, let me add that in the UK, for instance, it is also not Page: 129 compulsory for employers to update the status of their job postings. With regard to the hon Member's other question about other countries, some of them have onerous labour market testing in terms of having to prove that they have actually interviewed locals and they, for various reasons, have not hired them. Let me just reiterate that for us, currently under our FCF, employers submit their EP application. As I have said, after posting, they give us the ID job posting number, we check against their requirement – 14 days. We also check against the salary, we will ask them to give us the reasons.”
“With regard to the Jobs Bank and requiring the employer to update the advertisement once the post is filled, I think the key objective of the Jobs Bank is to make job opportunities more transparent to Singaporean jobseekers and, therefore, we want to encourage as many companies as possible to post on the Jobs Bank. If we require them to update the status of their job postings, that basically means additional paperwork and manpower for these firms, particularly if they are SMEs. And the concern, of course, is that there are many who may not want to post on the Jobs Bank because not everyone who posts on the Jobs Bank is actually looking to employ EP holders. And if that is the case, I think the outcome is actually poorer for Singaporean jobseekers. In addition, referring to my reply earlier, we have also said that Jobs Bank is just one channel amongst the many channels to which employers can source for jobseekers and jobseekers can also source for job opportunities. And even if the job is actually through the Jobs Bank, if they apply directly through the firm's HR portal or directly to the firm, we may not be able to track it. So, if we are talking about tracking the employment outcomes of Singaporeans, the Jobs Bank itself may not give you a representative or accurate indicator of the level of employment for Singaporeans. We need to use other sources, for instance, what we do now through the regular surveys that we do, labour force job vacancy surveys. Of course, coupled with the information from the Jobs Bank, it will give us a good handle of how our market is as well as employment trends.”
“On the ease of enforceability of ECT orders, we understand Mr Tay's concerns about duration and cost of procedures if one seeks to enforce the order through a Writ of Seizure and Sale. We will review the process together with MinLaw. My Ministry is also looking at how the Tribunal and the enhanced TMF can complement each other in helping employers and workers resolve their disputes in an expeditious and amicable manner. We will consider Mr Tay's suggestion to have compulsory mediation and work through the details with our tripartite partners. The Tribunal will look at a specific set of employment disputes relating to the employment contract or benefits provided for in employment legislation. But it cannot resolve every workplace issue. It is in the interest of both employers and employees to try to resolve any dispute early and at the workplace as a first resort. Companies should, as a Page: 111 matter of good practice, have a process to handle grievances and disputes at the workplace. Unions, too, continue to play an important role in assisting and representing workers. Together with the recent amendments to the Employment Act and Industrial Relations Act, these proposed changes reflect MOM's and the tripartite partners' efforts to enhance protection, workplace representation and access to dispute resolution mechanisms for workers. Madam, MOM remains committed to our priorities to ensure better jobs and higher incomes, progressive and harmonious workplaces and a secure retirement for all Singaporeans. By working closely with our tripartite partners, the industry and other stakeholders, we believe this can and will be achieved. We will press on in our efforts towards securing peace of mind for Singaporeans.”
“We will also set up an Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT) to provide all employees, including PMEs, with an expeditious and affordable dispute resolution mechanism for their salary-related disputes. Mr Patrick Tay spoke about the Tripartite Mediation Framework (TMF). We announced in April last year that my Ministry was working with tripartite partners to strengthen the Tripartite Mediation Framework as an alternative mechanism to resolve employment disputes. Mr Tay would be pleased to know that we will also remove the existing salary cap of $4,500 for managers and executive union members. Presently, workers can seek tripartite mediation for issues relating to salary payment, breach of employment contracts and payment of retrenchment benefits. As part of the review, we are also looking at expanding the current set of issues to cover re-employment disputes and other employment statutory benefits such as leave benefits. I would also like to thank Mr Patrick Tay for his support for the Employment Claims Tribunal. The tribunal will address the current challenge faced by PMEs earning above $4,500, who can only pursue breaches of employment contract through civil suits, which can be protracted and expensive. We have studied the tribunals in UK, Australia and Hong Kong to draw lessons. Under our proposal, the ECT will hear salary-related claims that are statutory and contractual, subject to a certain claims limit. A higher "claims cap" will apply to cases which have undergone formal mediation processes, such as the TMF. We also agree with Mr Tay that the ECT adjudicators should have a strong appreciation of the employment and industrial relations landscape in Singapore.”