Ang Mong Seng
Singapore
“Lihua is also my alma mater. I am very proud that Chen Zhixiang became the top student in Singapore in the "A" level examinations. Use more. Parents should speak Chinese more with their children at home. I also hope Members of Parliament would speak more Chinese in Parliament. When *Cols. 4059-4060.”
“After the cooling-off period, flat sellers can make a final decision. Some unscrupulous housing agents would use various means to persuade people to sell their flats in order to earn commission. They would tell the owners that should they have any problems, just see the MPs.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Chairman, the construction industry requires a lot of foreign workers, including both skilled and unskilled workers. However, the MOM has decided to reduce the number of unskilled workers.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] As our population ages, we see more and more retirees selling tissues at hawker centres, coffee shops and malls to help with their expenses. They do not have CPF, yet they do not want to live by Government welfare – they want be independent.”
“Mr Chairman, may I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary what is the main concern for the Ministry in not issuing licence to the elderly to sell tissue papers in the hawker centre. We are asked to refer all these people to the Community Development Council (CDC).”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Madam, at the moment, 10% of our population is above 65 years old. Twenty years later, by 2030, about 25% of our population will be above 65 years old. If at that time, our population is five million, this will mean that we will have one million people who are over the age of 65.”
The complete record
Every one of 576 lines we hold for Ang Mong Seng, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 1 of 12.
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] According to MOM’s employment data, Singapore’s unemployment rate is 2.2%. By international standards, any rate below 3% is considered full employment. However, during my Meet-the-People sessions, older Singaporeans, especially those aged between 50 and 60, complained to me that they could not find a job. I would like to ask the Minister: what is the unemployment rate for Singaporeans aged 50-60, and how many are there? Did MOM draw up plans to help these older, unemployed Singaporeans find a job? I would like to suggest that MOM distribute the information on these unemployed people to the grassroots organisations. We can use the information to make home visits and understand their situation. We can then help them find a job through CDC’s computer job-matching system. We can solve the unemployment problem directly and more effectively by providing such services. According to the new Re-employment Act, people over 62 years can work until they turn 65. In other words, when the retirement age is extended to 65, the drawdown age for CPF will also be 65. However, some Singaporeans cannot work till 65 due to special circumstances such as illness. May I ask the Minister if these people are allowed to take their CPF savings out early? *Cols. 4531-4532. Employment of older workers”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Chairman, many residents complained to me that they are being harassed by loansharks even though they did not borrow from them. The loansharks spray paint their door or even place a padlock on it! This has caused great inconvenience and stress to the residents who have to live under fear everyday and worry for their family's safety. The root cause of this problem is that someone has "stolen" the address. This person has never lived in a certain HDB flat; but he went to the police station and changed his address to this "fake" *Cols. 4317-4318. address. He then daringly borrowed from many loansharks. Since his identity card address does not belong to him, he does not bother to pay back. The loansharks rely only on the address to get the money back. The poor resident whose address was stolen was therefore harassed unnecessarily. To reduce this kind of incidents, I suggest that the Police, with the help of HDB, use the Internet to affirm that people who come to change their address indeed live there. If the answer is "yes", then the Police will go ahead to change the address; if not, the Police may detain them on the spot and investigate why they are requesting a change. I believe if we tightened the address-changing procedure, we can reduce the incidents of innocent residents being harassed by loansharks Neighbourhood policing”
“Mr Chairman, in my maiden speech on the Budget debate, I did appeal to the Government to consider reducing the road tax by 20%, seeing that more and more ERP gantries are being installed on the roads. I would like the Minister to respond to this.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] According to LTA's regulation, all motorised vehicles such as lorries, buses, cars and motorcycles must have insurance and a proper licence to ensure the safety of the driver and other road users. However, motorised bicycles are not required to have a licence and insurance. Who will be responsible then in the event of an accident? In January this year, there were four accidents involving bicycles within two weeks, causing three deaths and one injury: on 4th January, a Major was hit while riding a bicycle and died; on 6th January, a motorised bicycle collided with a bicycle causing one dead and one injured; on 8th January, an ex-national cyclist was hit on the way to work and died; and on 13th January, a school bus hit a bicycle and the rider was injured. During the 2009 Budget debate, I suggested that the Government step up the regulation on using bicycles. I would like to ask the Minister: first, how many Singaporeans have lost their life in bicycle accidents in the past two years? Second, does LTA have any new plans to regulate the usage of bicycles, especially motorised bicycles?”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A* .] Currently, about 83% of Singaporeans live in HDB estates. To enhance social cohesion among the residents, the People's Association (PA) started to set up Residents' Committees (RCs) from 1978. There are now over 550 RCs so far. They organise community events to increase community bonding among HDB dwellers. Now we have more and more private estates. PA started to set up Neighbourhood Committees (NCs) from 1998 to organise events for private estate dwellers. There are 110 NCs currently. Usually, people think private estate dwellers are not interested in community bonding. That is not true. Recently, five NCs in Bukit Gombak jointly organised a Chinese New Year event at Hillview Avenue. Over 1,000 residents actively participated in the event. All the skits were produced and performed by residents themselves. The atmosphere was very jovial. This photo [indicating ] shows that the residents in private estates are equally involved in community activities for the purpose of community bonding. To encourage NCs to organise events more proactively, I hope PA can assist them in the following three areas: (i) Provide funds to NCs so they can rent commercial space as their office; or to allocate some space in the CCs to be used as NCs' office; (ii) Provide administrative staff to the NCs to handle administrative and financial issues; and (iii) Set aside more community activity fund to encourage NCs to organise more community events for private estate residents. Integration in HDB estates”
“Lihua is also my alma mater. I am very proud that Chen Zhixiang became the top student in Singapore in the "A" level examinations. Use more. Parents should speak Chinese more with their children at home. I also hope Members of Parliament would speak more Chinese in Parliament. When *Cols. 4059-4060. we discuss issues relating to people's livelihood, Ministers should try to respond in Chinese. This will encourage more Singaporeans to speak Chinese and make them realise the practical value of Chinese. 2.45 pm Chinese education”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*. ] When President Hu Jintao visited the United States recently, a group of American children spoke to him in Chinese. This is to show respect to Mr Hu and to demonstrate that they are studying Chinese culture and language. Their enthusiasm in studying Chinese is worth our attention. The rise of China has provided them business opportunities. Therefore, they are studying Chinese very hard, hoping to get into contact with the Chinese directly and do business with them. In Singapore, we have made good progress in our bilingual education in the past decades. However, if we do not keep up with our good work, the Americans will catch up and speak better Chinese than we do. We will then lose our bilingual advantage. I urge all Chinese students to study their Mother Tongue – Chinese – very diligently. To learn Chinese, you must read more, see more, write more and use more. Only when you do all these four aspects of learning can you truly master the language and be able to use it. See more and read more: We should read more Chinese newspapers and writings. Students who study Higher Chinese should read Zaobao's editorial every day. The daily editorial comments on important events and is written with good skills. We should read it several times and read it out loud as well. Only by doing this can you learn both the shape and pronunciation of the characters. Write more. Writing more essays will improve thinking ability. Chen Zhixiang from Lihua Secondary School, the top student in the recent "A" level examinations, said that he beat others because he got A1 for his Higher Chinese. He is especially thankful for his teacher for forcing him to write Chinese essays, enabling him to achieve such great result.”
“Could the Minister brief the House, if possible in Mandarin, on the differences between a nursing home and a home for the aged?”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Our population is ageing rapidly. Currently, 10% of Singaporeans are aged 65 and above. By 2030, 20% of Singaporeans will be over 65 years old. Our total population by then will be 5 million while seniors aged 65 and above will be 1 million. We must prepare early, especially in the areas of healthcare and nursing homes. We cannot wait until 10 or 20 years later. We must start right now. The Minister has announced the building of more nursing homes in HDB estates. It is welcomed by the elderly. I would like to ask the Minister how many nursing homes we are going to build in the next five years. As many people do not understand the difference between a nursing home and an old folks' home, I hope the Minister can explain the difference so that the seniors will understand. It is best that if he could say it in Chinese. Secondly, the elderly's medical needs are different from that of young people. They mostly suffer from chronic ailments and need long-term medication and care. We need to train a group of doctors and nurses that understand the elderly so as to provide them good services. I suggest we set up clinics for the elderly at the same time as we build the nursing homes to provide medical services to the seniors. End-of-life care”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] In the eyes of a foreigner, Singapore is a clean and beautiful garden city. However, in a 2010 study by Yale and Columbia Universities on Global Environment Index, Singapore is ranked 28 out of 163 countries. It did not even get into the top 10. It surprised many Singaporeans. Among the criteria are environment hygiene, air quality and water quality. Environment hygiene is the most important measurement. More than 83% Singaporeans live in high rise buildings. High-rise littering makes HDB estates dirty and that might have affected our ranking. HDB residents can see the hard efforts the Town Councils have put in to keep the estates clean. However, some residents have this bad habit of high-rise littering. Residents ask the Town Council to bring these people to justice. We have installed cameras to try to solve this *Cols. 3827-3828. problem. People are caught throwing egg shells, old newspapers and leftovers out of the window, dirtying other people's laundry and the whole estate. According to MEWR's regulation, only people who are caught on camera can be brought to Court. Unfortunately, it is still not easy to do. High-rise littering continues, affecting the cleanliness of the estates. I would like to ask the Minister whether MEWR has good tactics to stop high-rise littering, so we can be ranked among the top 10 in the Global Environment Index in the near future. I would also like know if MEWR has any new measures and plans to work with the private sector and the community to improve our environment and the hygiene level. Food hygiene”
“Mr Chairman, I am very happy to hear the Minister saying that HDB will be building more studio apartments. I would like to find out from the Minister how long is the waiting period. If we apply now, how long can we get a studio apartment?”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Chairman, the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) has been implemented for 12 years. By fitting new lifts in old estates and upgrading the existing lifts, lifts will stop on each level. This will provide a better service for the residents, especially the elderly. When I visited the residents, many applaud LUP and feel that this is indeed the best and the most valuable gift that Government has presented to them. I have four questions for the Minister. First, there are three more years before the LUP targeted its completion time in 2014. I would like to know if HDB can complete the project on time. Second, how many HDB blocks and units have benefited under LUP? Third, LUP is carried out on a national scale. This is a very extensive project. What kind of technology and installation methods has the HDB used to ensure greater efficiency? Fourth, due to the architectural design, some blocks' lifts are not able to stop on every level. What method does the HDB have to solve this problem? Many residents have complained to me that they have lived in the neighborhood for a long time and they like the community spirit there. They do not want to move out because of this kampong spirit. How can the Ministry help them solve this problem? *Cols. 3611-3612.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Chairman, for the past 50 years, HDB has made great achievement in providing public housing. Currently, it has provided over one million units under its home ownership policy. Over 85% of our citizens live in HDB flats and 94% own their own property. Many Singaporeans need more space when they are young, so they buy bigger apartments. By the time they retire and the children have their own families and apartments, they do not need the big apartments anymore. They may consider downgrading to smaller apartments. Many retirees have no income and face the problem of "money not enough". They are cash-strapped although they may own a 4- or 5-room apartment with a market value as high as $400,000-$500,000. Some seniors wish to downgrade to a smaller unit such as a Studio Apartment or a 2-room flat. The remaining proceeds can be used for their old age. For example, when downgrading from a 4-room apartment to a Studio Apartment, they get to save $300,000. They can withdraw $1,000 per month for 30 years. This enables them to have a place to stay as well as cash to spend. This is indeed a "one stone killing two birds" solution. With rising housing prices, Singaporeans especially low-income families may consider buying a smaller apartment, for example, a 2-room apartment first to reduce their financial burden. I would like to ask the Minister whether HDB has any policy or plan to assist these low-income families and retirees or whether there is any special arrangement available for them. Will HDB build smaller apartments such as Studio Apartments or 2-room apartments? Do we have any measures to assist those low-income families to own their own flat? *Cols. 3609-3610.”
“When they process such cases in the future, they can then deal with them in a more compassionate manner, to exercise greater flexibility so as to help resolve the residents’ problems. Mr Speaker, I support the 2011 Budget. *Cols. 3195-3202. 2.51 pm”
“Thirdly, waive the 30-month ban for retirees to apply for a smaller flat after selling their bigger flat. The sale of these bigger units in the resale market will help meet the demand of young families, while reducing the demand pressure on HDB to supply flats. This is a "win-win-win" solution which I hope HDB will seriously consider. Next, I would like to talk about the financial difficulties faced by some low-income families. Let me give you an example. A resident, with a household income of $800, has four children. He owes SP Services around $470 in utilities bill. On the 16th December, he received a letter from SP Services requesting him to pay all outstanding fees by the 24th December or the water and electricity supply to his home will be terminated. He came to ask me for help during the Meet-the-People session. He felt lost and sad. He told me because he ran into financial difficulties, he is unable to pay off all outstanding fees at once. At the same time, he is unable to withdraw his CPF to pay. If the water and electricity supply is cut, he will have to light candles on Christmas Eve. Most Christians light candles and sing carols on Christmas Eve to rejoice in celebration. But this family is lighting up candles because they have no electricity supply. The mood is totally different. In the end, I advised this resident to come up with $50 first. In addition to the $60 utilities voucher that I gave him, he managed to get a total of $110 to pay for part of the utilities bill to avoid termination of the water and electricity supply. Hence, I suggest that SP Services consider allowing their officers to attend our Meet-the-People Session to understand the residents’ problems, so that they can experience first-hand the problems faced by the residents.”
“Recently, I did a survey with a few hundred grassroots leaders and residents when I attended an activity in my constituency. All the residents who bought flats directly from HDB confirmed that the value of their flats have gone up. I am sure that all Singaporeans who bought flats directly from HDB have made money because flats are of good quality and are well-maintained by Town Councils. That is why flats have maintained their value and even increased in value. We must thank the Government for their home ownership policy and the efforts of Minister Mah Bow Tan, to enable Singaporeans to maintain and increase the value of their property. Most Singaporeans use their CPF funds to pay for their mortgage. However, when they reach retirement age, they have no job, no income and not much left in their CPF accounts as most of the CPF funds have been used to pay for the house. They own a 4-room or 5-room flat worth $400,000 to $500,000 dollars, but they do not have cash. In order to help these Singaporeans with financial problems, I have three suggestions to make. First, retired home owners can consider downgrading from a bigger flat to a smaller flat, for example, a studio flat. When the elderly sell their bigger flat, not only will they have cash to pay for expenses in their golden years, they will also have a smaller unit which is easier to maintain and designed to meet the needs of the elderly. I hope HDB will build more studio flats for the elderly soon. I also suggest that HDB build more smaller flats, for example, 2-room flats, for retirees and low-income families. Not many small flats are available at the moment. Judging from cases seen at the Meet-the-People Sessions, there are not enough small flats to meet demand.”
“Secondly, to encourage more Singaporeans to switch to public transport, I hope the Government can consider and hasten the pace of building office buildings and commercial centres around MRT stations, to make it more convenient for the working people and Singaporeans to switch to public transport, so that fewer would want to buy cars, thus reducing the cost of owning a car. Thirdly, I hope some Government Ministries and larger corporations will move beyond the city area. Currently, tens of thousands of cars are driven to the city from suburbs like Ang Mo Kio, Clementi, Jurong, Woodlands, Sengkang and Punggol in the morning, then driven back home in the evening causing traffic jams. I hope the Government will develop business centres outside the city area, encourage more businesses to move their offices out of the city, thus reducing the number of cars entering the city. HDB’s move to relocate their headquarters to Toa Payoh is a good example. It boosted business activities in the surrounding neighbourhood and made it more convenient for Singaporeans to process their flat purchase. The Government has announced the development blueprint of Jurong Lake. I hope that the Government will implement similar development plans in other suburban areas at a faster pace to relieve our traffic problems. Mr Speaker, next, I would like to touch on the housing problem. As a result of the Government’s home ownership policy, 83% of Singaporeans live in HDB flats, 94% own properties. This extraordinary achievement is a result of the Government’s home ownership policy. Recently, many Singaporeans are concerned that they will be unable to afford a HDB flat due to rising housing prices. My understanding is that all those who bought flats directly from HDB have made money.”
“How much would one have to spend on car ownership, from the age of 30 to the retirement age of 62? I believe not many Singaporeans have done their sums. I have calculated before and would like to share with everyone. If you buy a 1,600 cc car at $120,000, inclusive of COE, a seven-year instalment package means that you would have to pay $1,200 in monthly instalments. In addition, the monthly expenses incurred in terms of petrol, road tax, insurance, maintenance fees, parking fees, ERP fees and the occasional fine meant that the monthly cost would be $2,000 in total. That works out to be $25,000 per year. If the calculation is based on 30 years, you would have to spend $700,000 to $800,000, all these costs are paid in cash. This may be why some retired Singaporeans with no income face the problem of a lack of liquidity. Some Singaporeans who own cars tell me that they have no choice but to buy a car because they need to go to work and do business. Cars are necessary for their work. The cost of car ownership is high and the burden is heavy, but for the sake of their business, they have no choice. We need to help them with these challenges. At the same time, we should also improve the public transport service to make it convenient for Singaporeans. I would like to make three suggestions. Firstly, the number of ERP gantries has been increasing. We have achieved our original objective of implementing the ERP system, which is "use more, pay more". Since we have installed many ERP gantries, I suggest the Finance Minister consider lowering road tax by 20% to lighten the burden of Singaporeans.”
“According to an editorial in Lianhe Zaobao, dated 23rd February, titled "One should plan early for life after retirement", international market research firm, AC Nielsen, recently released an online survey report. According to the report, among Singapore netizens who participated in the survey, only 14% indicated that they have prepared financially for life after retirement. This is lower than the average 22% in the Asia-Pacific region and the global average of 18%. Hence, we must prepare for the future and look into the root cause of Singaporeans’ lack of financial resources in retirement. I would like to discuss this problem by looking at the cash and CPF aspects. Mr Speaker, food, clothes, accommodation and transport are the four basic needs of Singaporeans. I believe there are no problems in terms of food and clothes. Singaporeans are well-clothed and well-fed. Now, I would like to talk more about transport and accommodation. These are the two areas that young Singaporeans are currently most concerned about. Transport is an area that Singaporeans are very concerned about. They bought cars for work. Currently, there are about 600,000 privately-owned cars in Singapore. Considering Singapore has 3.28 million citizens and 500,000 permanent residents, this comes to a total of around four million people. After discounting one million residents below 18 years old, we come to the figure of three million people. Based on this figure, an average of one in five people in Singapore owns a car. This rate is quite high. If Singaporeans start to own a car from 30 years old, he would likely own a car for life as few of those who own cars will give up their cars totally and switch to public transport.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Speaker, Sir, this year's Budget is a generous Budget, as Government shared the Budget surplus with the people. As the saying goes, we stick together "through thick and thin". When our nation faced the economic crisis, the entire nation worked together with the Government to swiftly overcome the crisis. In FY2010, our economy achieved 14.7% growth. In this year’s Budget, the Finance Minister announced a number of hongbaos, which benefited the elderly, the young and even children. Of course, the size of the hongbaos depends on each individual’s situation. On the whole, everybody is satisfied and praised this year’s Budget. After the Budget was announced, when I took part in some activities in my constituency, many residents told me they were very happy about the Budget. When I attended Lunar New Year events organised by the constituency, associations and companies, we tossed the yusheng (raw fish salad) and everybody was cheering "Fa!" "Fa!", meaning to strike it rich. The atmosphere was very joyous. As this year’s Budget was announced during the Lunar New Year period, everybody was in a good mood, and it created a harmonious and cheerful atmosphere. Everyone was happy and satisfied with the Budget. Hence, I do not need to spend a lot of time to discuss the contents of the Budget. Today, I will touch on issues that the public is concerned about. Many Singaporeans work their entire life only to find that when they retire and have no income, the money they have is not enough. As Singapore faces a rapidly ageing population, there will be more and more retirees.”
“I would like to ask whether the Commissioner's Office is an independent organisation or is under the purview of MOM. In one of my recent Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS), a resident brought his relative to see me to complain about her employment agency. The agency promised to bring her child to Singapore to study and at the same time apply for her a Work Permit to work here as a study mum. After she arrived in Singapore, she found out she could not work here as her Work Permit application was declined by MOM. She was very angry and accused the Singapore Government of misleading her. I explained to her that it was the employment agency that did not tell her the truth and had misled her. There was no promise from any Government agencies. Only after my explanation did she realise that the employment agency provided her the wrong information. The incident involved two Ministries, MOM and MOE. I think the two Ministries should consider setting up a channel to step up collaboration to prevent more study mums from believing that they can work in Singapore just because their children are studying here. I hope the Minister of State can consider the above suggestion. I support the Employment Agencies (Amendment) Bill. 6.21 pm”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, currently we have 12,000 Work Permit holders in Singapore. They come from different countries and have different cultural background and living habits. We allow these foreign workers here because they can supplement our labour force and they can also make a living and support their family back home. They have contributed to our economic growth and we have the responsibility to take care of them. The import of these workers into Singapore is currently handled by employment agencies whose standards vary greatly. The lack of supervision has led to many complaints and disagreement. I would like to ask the Minster of State how many of these employment agencies are licensed right now and how many are operating without a licence. I heard that some agencies "outsource" their work to unlicensed ones. These illegal employment agencies may not be familiar with our local labour laws and regulations regarding hiring foreign workers. They imported some illegal foreign workers into Singapore and caused many unhappy incidents and social problems. I wish to ask the Minister of State if MOM has taken any measures to prevent such activities by the illegal employment agencies. MOM often draft new regulations. I would like to ask the Minister of State if MOM provides regular training courses for the management and staff of the employment agencies so they are familiar with the new rules and regulations. Are there any regular tests to ensure that these agencies are clear about the rules on employing foreign workers so that they are able to provide the correct information? Under the Bill, MOM is empowered to appoint a Commissioner and a Deputy Commissioner to supervise the employment agencies.”
“By the time they reach 50 years old, the employer's CPF rate will fall progressively lower. By the time they reach 60, the employer's CPF has fallen to 5%. This wage cut, again and again, is unfair to them because they continue to work as they have been and they continue to have the same duties. The employer should decide based on the company's situation and that of the employee's performance instead of a fixed mentality that all elderly workers' wages should be cut. Now, I would like to bring Member's attention to a newspaper article in the Lianhe Zaobao on 16th December last year. NUH will employ those retired workers and their salary package will be the same as before. These workers will not only not have their wages cut, they will also continue to enjoy the health benefits, leave and welfare that they have been enjoying in the past. If they perform well, they will get a pay raise and even a promotion. The hospital believes that age is not a determining factor for performance and that work attitude is the most important factor. The hospital believes and recognises that these elderly workers can still contribute. By continuing to work in the hospital, they can impart their knowledge to their younger colleagues. I see the NUH as a role model in this regard. Hopefully, both the public and private sectors can look to NUH and support the new policy of re-employing elderly workers. I hope that the Minister will consider my suggestions. I support this Amendment Bill. 4.50 pm”
“In assessing their work performance, the employers have to look not just at the employees' past one year's work duties and performance but also take into account their work experience and contribution to the company in the past. As for the health requirement, the key question is: what kind of health standards will disqualify employees from continuing to work? Every industry has different demands and everybody's health is different. I would like to ask the Minister if this health standard is established by MOM or by the different companies. I fear that if we leave it to the individual companies to establish this health standard, there are some companies who may intentionally raise the threshold to make it difficult for elderly workers to meet this health requirement. With regard to the criteria for re-employing workers, I would like to ask MOM if there are policies in place to ensure that the elderly workers can continue to work without their employers making unreasonable demands on them, such as having them master the latest computer working procedures. If so, with *Cols. 2343-2346. such harsh criteria, these elderly workers may not be able to be re-employed. With regard to employers who flout the rules, I would like to ask the Minister if the employee meets all the requirements but is refused reemployment by the employer, are there any measures in place to prevent such a thing from happening? If the employers do not follow regulations, what kind of penalties will they get? In accordance with the current Retirement Age Act, employers who continue to employ those between 60 and 62 years can reduce their wages by no more than 10%. Elderly Singaporeans are concerned that if they are re-employed after they reach 62 years old, they will have to face another wage cut.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Speaker, our population is ageing rapidly. By 2012, about 20,000 people will hit the retirement age of 62 years every year. Of course, our quality of living has improved tremendously. Most citizens can get access to better healthcare so their longevity has also increased. The average man can live up to 80 years old; the average woman 85 years old. Because most people do have access to better healthcare even after they have hit 62 years of age, they will still be very healthy. The body continues to function well and they are full of vitality. The elderly worker has a rich working experience. If he can continue to be part of the workforce, he will be able to put that vitality and working experience to use, allowing them to continue contributing to society. It is good that elderly workers continue to work because it will make their lives more fulfilling; it will also ensure they have a more stable income and lower their reliance on the society and their families. So, I feel that this Retirement Age (Amendment) Bill proposed by the Manpower Minister is very timely because it allows the employers to re-employ those who reach 62 years old. Just as we are always talking about letting people age in a place they belong, this is about letting them be employed in a place they work. This is a new measure that will work well with current and future generations. As such, I support this Bill but have a few suggestions here that I would like to share with Members. According to page 7 of the Bill, those who reach the retirement age of 62 years old can be re-employed if they have good work performance and are healthy.”
“In comparison, the lawyer who handles the legal aspect of the transaction, which is very important, only gets $3,000 to $5,000 in lawyer's fee. The difference is huge. An agent needs to conclude just one million-dollar deal in one month to make more money than a MP's allowance. With such attractive commissions, no wonder so many degree holders and professionals with diplomas join the industry. I do not think this is a healthy trend. This causes a brain drain, and many companies already have trouble hiring enough professionals. Hence, I recommend that CEA set out rules on how to calculate commission. For example, if the transaction is under $500,000, the commission should be 1%; between $500,000 to $1 million, 0.75%; and over $1 million, 0.5%. Agents can still make decent commissions, but the amount will not distort the market and cause professionals to give up their own profession to become an agent. I believe this Bill will make our property market more professional. Like accountants and lawyers, agents will be able to provide better service to Singaporeans in the future. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support this Bill. *Cols. 1171-1174. 4.39 pm”
“This defeats the original purpose of issuing work permits to them. What is more, these work permit holders have limited time in Singapore. If they cannot complete the deal within the time stipulated, who will do the follow up work for the transaction after they leave? The sum of money involved in property transactions is very big. It takes many months to complete the whole process and we cannot do this carelessly. To protect consumers' interest, I hope the Minister will consider disallowing foreigners to act as property agents. Third, improve the professional image. For most Singaporeans, a property transaction would be the biggest monetary transaction in his or her life; therefore the agents must act very professionally and carefully. Property transactions involve tens of thousands and millions of dollars and agents must maintain a high standard and a good image. They should not display advertisements or flyers on HDB walls randomly. Some agents even set up temporary offices in coffee shops or neighbourhood centres to get business. This is no different from "koyok " selling, like Er Lee Bee Wah has mentioned [showing a photograph to hon. Members ]. This kind of sales behaviour tarnishes the professional image of the whole industry. Therefore, I hope CEA can establish rules to better manage the industry's image by cleaning it up and putting a stop to this kind of unprofessional marketing tactics. Fourth, control the commission. With the support of a strong economy, property prices have been going up every day in recent years. The resultant amount from the 1% commission has increased substantially as the transaction sums grow. A million dollar transaction can bring tens of thousands of dollars to the agent.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Speaker, Sir, in order to improve the professional standard of the real estate industry and to protect consumers' interests, MND will set up a Council for Estate Agencies (CEA). This is a timely move. This Bill will provide for the establishment of the Council for Estate Agencies. The Council stipulates that only those who pass the CEA test can be registered and real estate agencies will have to appoint a key executive officer to supervise their agents. This will better protect the interest of home-owners, buyers and tenants. I support this Bill. I have some suggestions. First, avoid conflict of interests. I support the new rule that agents cannot represent both the buyer and seller in the same transaction to avoid conflict of interests. To improve transparency, I suggest that we do not allow the same real estate agency to represent both parties in HDB flats transactions. They can only represent the buyer or the seller. The same practice applies to lawyers handling property transactions. Second, disallow foreigners from becoming real estate agents. Currently, the law does not prevent foreigners from becoming agents. I know that some foreigners act as real estate agents. MOM issues work permits and employment passes to foreign workers to solve the labour shortage problem of some industries. These foreign citizens are not allowed to do any work other than that stipulated in his work permit. The high commission earned by agents has already drawn many locals into the real estate industry which has about 30,000 agents. The sector is not in need of agents at all. If we allow these work permit holders to act as agents, they may not do their 'real' work properly.”
“After the cooling-off period, flat sellers can make a final decision. Some unscrupulous housing agents would use various means to persuade people to sell their flats in order to earn commission. They would tell the owners that should they have any problems, just see the MPs. As a result, many of our parliamentary colleagues have had to face many residents who had sold their flats hastily without realising the consequences. I hope that the Minister would consider my suggestion. On this note, I support the Bill. *Cols. 835-838. 5.58 pm”
“In order to help Singaporeans in such predicament, I have the following three suggestions: Firstly, the Government should provide more ComCare fund to help those residents who are really in financial troubles and assist them to tide over the difficult times through proper channels. This will prevent them from making a wrong decision out of desperation. Secondly, we lack non-profit organisations to provide low interest loans for people who are in difficulties. I made the same suggestion during the Budget debate in 2008. In 1976, Bangladesh economist Muhammad Yunus set up a micro-credit bank called Grameen Bank for the benefit of rural residents, after seeing that they were exploited by loan sharks. In the beginning, people were laughing at him and thinking he would run into big losses by providing loans without collateral to the poor. But Grameen Bank proved to be a success and have maintained profits for more than 10 years. It has since become a model of combining profit-making with public interest. More than six million people have borrowed from the bank, and 58% of them, together with their family members, have risen above the poverty line. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2006 because of this effort. I hope the Government would also set up micro-loan facilities to provide Singaporeans with an additional loan option. The New Paper had reported my suggestion positively at that time. HDB should also consider introducing a one-week cooling-off period for all HDB sales. During this period, HDB should consult HDB flat sellers and explain to them the relevant policies; for example, they cannot buy or rent an HDB flat within 30 months after they sell the flat and explain to them on the HDB’s housing loan policy.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Deputy Speaker, HDB has been implementing the "Home Ownership" policy which aims to provide a good home for everyone and to meet Singaporeans' aspiration of owning their own property assets. Currently, 85% of Singaporeans have benefited from this policy and HDB has provided more than one million HDB flats to Singaporeans. This is a unique achievement, thanks to HDB’s efforts of providing nice homes to our people for the last 50 years. For Singaporeans, an HDB flat is not only an important asset which appreciates over time but it also provides security for old age. As such, Singaporeans generally would not take the risk of mortgaging their HDB flat. Yet in 2008, 12 HDB residents mortgaged their flats and were forced to sell because they were unable to pay their debts. As a result, they became homeless. In 2009, the number rose to a staggering 546 cases. Although this number is negligible compared to the one million HDB flats that we have, we have to take precautionary measures. I must applaud the HDB for making fast and decisive moves to amend this law. Hence, I support this Amendment Bill. However, the Amendment Bill may not address the root cause of this problem. The reason why Singaporeans resort to mortgaging their HDB flat is that they have to raise money when facing financial difficulties. They are not able to get a loan from the bank, nor can they borrow from their friends or relatives. They have no choice but to make a risky decision by turning to moneylenders.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Chairman, the construction industry requires a lot of foreign workers, including both skilled and unskilled workers. However, the MOM has decided to reduce the number of unskilled workers. I understand that it is very difficult to get Singaporeans to work in the construction industry. If we do not have enough foreign workers, our construction projects will be delayed. Does it mean that we will have to wait longer for our HDB flats? In addition, the foreign worker levy would also increase the cost of construction projects and we all know that the property prices have already gone up. Will this increase in foreign worker levy cause inflation? Does the Minister have any plans to solve this problem?”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Our current official retirement age is 62. By 2012, it will be raised to 65. The Government values human resources. Therefore, it encourages employers to continue hiring their older workers to keep them in the workforce. MOM also recommends that employers continue to employ workers over the age of 62 if they are still healthy. If the company is unable to do so, the older employee should be given an one-off employment assistance grant equivalent to three to six months of his salary, capped at $10,000. I want to know the response to this measure, which I think is a very good one. I hope that the implementation of this policy can be brought forward to this year. I also want to know if MOM has any proactive measures to help the older workers. With people living longer and the excellent healthcare, more and more senior citizens are enjoying good health even when they reach the age of 65. Employers should continue to employ them and let them work as long as they are physically able to. I suggest the Minister to consider abolishing the retirement age completely. *Cols. 4181-4182 6.00 pm Wage cut at retirement”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *] This year, the Budget's emphasis is on training workers and improving their skills and productivity. The Ministry of Manpower will gradually raise the foreign worker levy and reduce our dependency on foreigners. I have a few suggestions. The demand for foreign workers differs from sector to sector. For instance, the construction, maritime and heavy industries have been having difficulties in recruiting Singaporeans and most of their workers, up to 95% , are foreign workers. If we reduce the foreign workers by a large quantum in a very short time, there will be a significant adverse impact on these industries. Hence, the Ministry of Manpower should continue to allow them to employ enough foreign workers to contribute to our economic development. As for industries whereby Singaporeans can undertake foreigners' work, we can reduce the dependency ratio and reserve the jobs for Singaporeans. When implementing the quota policy on foreign workers, we must make sure that we take into consideration the needs of the various sectors and formulate the right policies. We encourage the employers to also train their foreign workers to improve their productivity, but employers worry that the foreign workers are not able to remain in Singapore after their training. We do not want to become a worker training centre for other countries. Hence, I suggest that, for two-year work permit holders, we extend the work permit validity to four years after they have completed their training so that they can apply what they have learned to their work and the training investment made by the Government and the companies would get a better return. *Cols. 4173-4174. Manpower shortage and foreign workers”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] The Government provides various incentives schemes for babies to encourage Singaporeans to have more children. The schemes have yet to achieve its target. Last year, our TFR dropped again at 1.23%. One of the key reasons is that young couples who want to have children cannot conceive for various reasons. The only way to have children for these couples is adoption so as to fulfil their desire to raise children. "The Well Being of Singaporeans", a book by NUS Business School, has pointed out that 70% of Singaporeans would consider adoption to enjoy a family life. I would like to ask the Minister, during the last three years, how many children were adopted and among them how many were born locally and how many were from other countries. Current adoption procedures are very complicated, resulting in long waiting time. To speed up the process, I suggest we simplify the procedures to cut down the waiting time. We can appoint more agencies to handle adoption cases involving children from China. I would also like the Minister to review and relax adoption polices to facilitate childless couples to adopt children more quickly and easily, and to allow couples with the means to adopt more than one child. According to a Zaobao article in one United Nations report, there were 96 million Asian females who 'disappeared'. In China and India, 85 million females 'disappeared' due to abortion, infanticide or lack of care. If there are good adoption agreements and systems between countries, these babies can be saved. This will make a positive impact on countries with a low birth rate. Please consider my suggestions. *Cols. 3919-3920. Caring for singles”
“Mr Chairman, may I ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary what is the main concern for the Ministry in not issuing licence to the elderly to sell tissue papers in the hawker centre. We are asked to refer all these people to the Community Development Council (CDC). In fact, I am referring this group of people, who are old and are not able to take up any job. Even if I refer them to CDC, I think they may not be able to offer any job to this group of people. So I would like to propose that the Ministry consider implementing this scheme as a pilot project for one year, so that we can review it in the next COS.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] As our population ages, we see more and more retirees selling tissues at hawker centres, coffee shops and malls to help with their expenses. They do not have CPF, yet they do not want to live by Government welfare – they want be independent. Unfortunately, this has attracted attention from Government officers who issue them warnings or even fine them. I suggest the Ministry conduct an investigation among these tissue-selling seniors. If they are truly needy and need a job to make a living, they should be issued a licence or some kind of identity card so they can work at peace and provide a service that people need. It will also prevent foreign groups from making an unethical profit from these tissue-selling old or disabled people, "killing two birds with one stone". Please give due consideration to this proposal. *Cols. 3473-3474. Enforcement action against littering”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] We all are feeling very hot and humid these days with the temperature rising up to 35-36 degrees. High temperature has contributed to the increase consumption of water and electricity. I would like to ask the Minister, if this situation continues, do we have enough supply of water and electricity? How should Singaporeans make adjustments in regards to water and electricity consumption? Climate change has caught the attention of every country. The rising temperature has caused the fast melting of Artic ice, which has subsequently led to the rising of sea levels, threatening the survival of coastal cities. New York, London, Shanghai, Bangkok and Tokyo are among them. Not long ago, the earthquakes and tsunami in Indonesia caused panic among people. Singapore is an island next the earthquake zone. Many Singaporeans, especially those living near the sea, worry that Singapore will also be threatened by earthquakes, tsunami and the rising sea level. I hope the Minister can share with us how we are going to cope with the situation. I would also like to know Singapore’s role at international climate change forums. Are funds provided by big countries such as US, China and Japan enough to work out to a solution? *Cols. 3471-3472. Green energy”
“Could the Minister comment on my proposal on whether HDB will consider selling some of the 3-room or 4-room flats on a 60-year lease, instead of 99 years, to provide another choice for those people in the low-income group?”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*] Currently, HDB allows buyers who did not take loans from HDB to sell their flats on the open market within a year of purchase, without any conditions. This might have provided opportunities for people who want to make a quick profit. This may have also contributed to the fast rising housing prices. To prevent speculation, I suggest the MND amend this policy and extend the number of years the buyer must stay in the flat before he can sell it. Recently, I received a lot of feedback from Singapore citizens who are not pleased to see the rising trend of PRs buying flats from the open market. To my knowledge, 20% of the flats sold in the open market are bought by PRs. To differentiate the housing benefits between PRs and citizens, I have the following two suggestions: First, HDB should restrict PRs such that they can only buy resale flats once from the open market. This will prevent them from profiting from reselling their flats; and second, only allow them to buy flats in non-mature estates. Currently, 85% of Singaporeans live in HDB flats. As demand increases, the price will rise at the same time. Some low-income families already feel that HDB flats are beyond their means. To help this group, I suggest to sell them the flats with a shortened lease of 60 years. This will lower the price of the flat and provide another option for our people, so that every Singaporean will be able to have a flat that is within his means. *Cols. 3255-3256.”
“Then, to whom do they lend their money? They would lend only to those who have the means to service the loan – the gamblers. Now, with the opening of the casinos, their market is even bigger. I was told that some of the bigger loan sharks are now buying up the smaller loan sharks so that they can have more manpower and become more powerful. Is the police prepared to cope with the challenge of dealing with these groups? *Cols. 3041-3042. Drug and inhalant abuse”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] The loan sharks have no respect for the law. They operate lawlessly, threatening and harassing innocent HDB residents by splashing paints on the walls and damaging public property. As a result, the Town Council will have to wash up, clean up and carry out repair works costing tens of thousands of dollars every year from the conservancy charges paid by the residents and the taxpayers' money. I would like to ask the Minister whether there are any measures to prevent the loan sharks from such acts of vandalism. In my view, loan sharks and their runners who are convicted of such offences should be liable for the damages and pay for the repairs. According to newspaper reports as well as complaints from my constituents, many affected residents are actually completely innocent. Some of them were unfortunate to have bought their flats from those who had borrowed from the loan sharks and defaulted on their payment. Hence, the loan sharks tried to seek them out and in the process harassed the poor new owners of the flats. I hope that the Police would protect the new owners by installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) upon receiving complaints so that they can solve such cases. I hope the Minister will consider this suggestion. In January this year, we passed the Moneylenders (Amendment) Act. I would like to know what effects have we achieved so far with the amended law. There are three groups of people that the loan sharks do not lend money to: firstly, those who are more powerful than they are, because they do not have the means to recover the loan; secondly, their closed friends and relatives, for fear of damaging their relationships; and thirdly, the poor, because they may not even recover the principal loan.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Madam, at the moment, 10% of our population is above 65 years old. Twenty years later, by 2030, about 25% of our population will be above 65 years old. If at that time, our population is five million, this will mean that we will have one million people who are over the age of 65. The various Government departments have been providing better services to our senior citizens like lift upgrading so that the lift stops at every floor. Now, I am more concerned about how to promote a healthy lifestyle among our senior citizens and whether we have any facilities to help them to live a happy life. 5.00 pm *Cols. 3033-3034 Active ageing and wellness for seniors”
“In attracting these immigrants and foreign talent to Singapore, have we also done enough to encourage our own local students who are studying abroad to come back to Singapore? I wish to ask the Deputy Prime Minister: how many local students do we have now studying in higher institutes of learning abroad and how many will come back to Singapore? Are there any plans to bring them back? *Cols. 3029-3030. Foreign talent and Singaporeans”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Chairman, the birth rate in this country has been decreasing in recent years. In the year 2009, the birth rate has fallen to a historical low of 1.23%. Although the Government does provide baby bonus and other incentives, the birth rate has yet to increase to the Government’s targeted level. In order to have enough manpower to build our nation and sustain our economic development, the Government has no choice but to open its doors to allow more foreign immigrants into Singapore to boost our population. Currently, the population of Singapore is five million. Out of this five million, 3.28 million are Singaporeans, 600,000 are PRs and 1.2 million are work permit holders. As such, we now see many negative reports about the PRs and foreigners such as them causing the rise in housing prices and depriving locals of their jobs. The total number of PRs and worker permit holders stands at 1.8 million, that is 40% of our population. I need to ask, how long, on average, do these PRs live in Singapore and what is their average age? What kind of contribution have they made to our social and economic development? How have they impacted on our social behaviour and values? What kind of policies are we going to have to implement in the next few years with regard to foreign immigrants and PRs? According to my knowledge, some who have been PR for more than five or even 10 years are still not willing to convert. We need to encourage them to become a citizen and provide services to this country. Can we perhaps invite those PRs who have been PR for more than three years to become citizens so that they can start contributing to this country sooner?”
“When I went to the community’s Chinese New Year parties, many residents asked me this question. So, to put their minds at ease, I urge the Minister to make it clear again to Singaporeans that Singaporeans can still enjoy the above rebates. An article in 23rd February Zaobao impressed me very much with its very simple explanation on the Budget. So, all the details of the Budget are clear and easily understood; you can take in the details of the Budget in a single glance. So, I hope the Ministry of Finance can consider adopting the same method when delivering the message. I am laying this newspaper on my table for my residents to see it. On this note, I support this Budget. *Cols. 3017-3022. 1.40 pm”
“Second, fund training expenses for the companies. Third, provide interest-free loans or cash grants to companies to improve their productivity. Fourth, reward staff who contribute to the company's productivity and share the company's gains with staff. Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister also announced setting up a National Productivity and Continuing Education Council chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Teo. The mission of the Council is to train people to innovate and to increase productivity. This is a good policy for the young and educated. However, some old and less educated Singaporeans may not be able to get training and end up losing out. This kind of structural unemployment will create social problems. I know structural unemployment rate in developed countries is 5%, in France is 6% to 7%. Currently, the European welfare system provides a social safety network for the unemployed. Singapore does not have such a welfare system. I would like to ask if the Council has any solutions for structural unemployment. This year's Budget did not hand out hongbao like the previous years, but it drew up future plans for Singapore. Topping up the Medisave Account for people over 50 years old will benefit 1.02 million people, which will cost the Government $310 million. The Government is also setting aside $200 million for Medifund to help needy Singapore and another $200 million for the Eldercare Fund. In total, direct transfer to Singaporeans amount to $1.4 billion and it will be $1.8 billion if we include WIS. Many helping measures in previous Budget are extended to this year, so, in a way, we are still getting hongbao. For example, utilities, S&CC, rental and GST rebates. So, we are still getting all these but many HDB dwellers do not understand this.”
“Such a policy helps to ensure our long-term growth. However, for industries that are not popular with Singapore such as construction and maritime industries, foreign workers are still needed to man their operations. If we reduce foreign workers substantially in a short period without getting sufficient local workers to fill in the gap, then two problems will arise. Firstly, over 90% of construction workers are currently foreigners, that is about 245,000 workers. Reduced manpower will slow down, even delay ongoing projects. Secondly, increased levy will add to construction costs which, in turn, will push up housing prices. The consequences will be dire. Government encourages automation and mechanisation to increase productivity. I believe most companies will support this. However, this requires a lot of resources and skilled technicians. Time is needed to get everything ready so as to generate more output with less input. This is very much like a marathon runner who must warm up before his run to achieve best result. I believe our marathon runner, Mr Teo Ser Luck, would agree with this. Another good example is the recent car recall incident involving Toyota, Hyundai and General Motors. This has created huge losses for the industry. As you know, car manufacturing is a high-tech and highly automated industry. By going for quantity, these car markers have overlooked quality. This has not only affected sales but also greatly tarnished the companies' image; they might even have to retrench workers now. We must be aware not to commit the same mistake. Improving productivity is nation-wide movement. All Government agencies and companies must give their full support. I suggest: First, set up a cross-agency committee to train all civil servants on the productivity mindset.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Speaker, Sir, last year's economic crisis was the most severe the world has ever seen. Our Government responded swiftly by providing a $20.5 billion Resilient Package and tapping into our past reserves for the first time. The Jobs Credit Scheme has helped to keep workers' jobs and companies to operate smoothly. With the support from our tripartite partners and our people, we managed to overcome the most severe economic downturn and have started embarking on the recovery journey. In 2004, our per capita GDP was $23,700, ranking No. 2 among the four Asian Tigers. Hong Kong was No. 1, Taiwan No. 3 and Korea No. 4. Five years later, we surpassed Hong Kong with a per capita GDP of $50,300 whereas Hong Kong is only $42,700, so we have become the "head of the dragon". Singapore is now No. 1. We are ahead of everybody else. To maintain our leadership position and advantage, we must formulate new plans and strategies to improve our competitiveness. Everyone is striving for new breakthrough. No progress means regress. The Finance Minister announced in this year's Budget a series of measures to restructure Singapore's economy in the next five years. A total of $5.5 billion will be invested in companies and individuals to improve their productivity and to increase productivity growth from the current 1% to 2%-3% and to improve Singaporeans' real income by one-third in 10 years. To achieve this target, we must formulate new strategies and development plans to boost economic growth. A key strategy is to increase productivity, reduce our dependency on foreign workers by gradually increasing foreign worker levy and to create better jobs, better income and better life for Singaporeans.”
“Thirdly, doctors with repeated offences. I would like to ask the Minister, over the last five years, how many doctors were complained against on the same issue, ie, the repeat offenders. Fourthly, high-tech medical equipment. With modern advance technology readily available, I would like to ask the Minister whether there is any provision for technology to be deployed to prevent or detect any unintentional wrong-doings on the part of the surgeons. I remember there was a case where a surgeon left his scalpel inside the body of the patient after the operation. Could we consider using some sophisticated detector scanners, just like the metal detectors at the customs checkpoints, to scan the patient after each surgical operation? Should any substance that should not be left in the body of the patient be detected, it could be removed as soon as possible, thus improving the safety of the patient and reducing the chance of the doctor making a mistake. I support this Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill. *Cols. 1987-1990.”