Chan Chun Sing
Singapore
“Since 2002, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) has worked with the autonomous universities (AUs) to establish arrangements that minimise disruption to National Servicemen (NSmen) who are pursuing full-time studies up to the undergraduate level, while meeting the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) operational and training needs.”
“Secondments help to build up the range of competencies and work experiences of public officers to strengthen their longer-term employment relevance and resilience. The Public Service Division's guideline to agencies is to support public officers even while they are on secondment.”
“The priority of our National Servicemen must be their military duties and operational training, to meet the Singapore Armed Forces's (SAF's) operational requirements.”
“In January 2026, I had informed this House that the Government had convened an independent committee to conduct a review of the political salary framework that was laid out in 2012. The Committee has completed the review and submitted its recommendations to the Government in April.”
“All countries seek to develop mutually beneficial partnerships, and the United States-Indonesia Major Defence Cooperation Partnership is one such example.”
“Since the Singapore Armed Forces Volunteer Corps (SAFVC) was established in 2014, over 1,500 men and women have completed training and served as SAFVC Volunteers (SVs). Presently, there are about 1,100 in-service SVs, comprising 52% male and 48% female. About seven in 10 of our in-service SVs are new Citizens or Permanent Residents.”
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“We must ensure that our special needs educators who serve in diverse and demanding environments are recognised and appreciated for their efforts and contributions and for the challenging work that they do. We must also ensure that our special needs professionals have professional development opportunities, just like mainstream MOE teachers. Indeed, there should be much more cross-pollination of ideas and mutual support between the mainstream and special needs educator fraternity and, similarly, within the special needs education sector. I hope to have the support of all Singaporeans for us to move in this direction. MOE and MSF will work closely with all our social service agencies to achieve this vision for the benefit of our special needs professionals and our special needs community. We will need to work together. We can achieve more collectively to better take care of the professionals in this sector instead of just thinking of optimising individually in respective institutions. Beyond MOE, other workplaces that involve "hand" and "heart" work, including those in the essential services sectors, also need to play their part. They need to hire, train and reward workers fairly based on skills and competencies. But we all know that this may translate into higher costs for some services provided by our fellow Singaporeans, which our society must be willing to accept and support. Otherwise, no matter how much we broaden the definitions of merit in our school system, none of it will ultimately work because it does not translate into tangible differences in earnings and at the workplace. Fifth, as a society, we must always do more for those with less to uplift the less privileged.”
“Hence, I welcome more companies to partner our schools in our Applied Learning Programmes. After that, industries must also be prepared to invest the time and resources to support our workers to upskill continually. I can understand the challenges for industries to commit to the training of our workers, especially in uncertain times. But if we do not grow our own timber collectively, we will all be fighting over a stagnant talent and skills pool. The Public Service, as an employer, will lead by example in supporting our workers to upskill continually. Our IHLs will continue to innovate and enhance their programme offerings, including through work-study programmes and stackable modules that may be more suitable for mid-career Singaporeans who wish to upgrade their skills. At the same time, our people will need to develop a growth mindset and passion for lifelong learning to make full use of these opportunities. We will need this whole-of-society effort to enable our people to stay relevant and our industries to stay competitive in an ever-more challenging environment. Fourth, not only must we respect a variety of professions, we must also fairly reward and remunerate the "heart" and "hand" work that is commensurate with the "head" work. Our society needs all these roles to complement one another to function well. As an example, MOE is reviewing the remuneration and career progression pathways in the Special Education sector to strengthen the professional development of our special needs educators and improve the quality of services to better support students with special education needs.”
“Those who graduate with a Higher Nitec can look forward to further upgrading opportunities, such as the expanded offerings of ITE's Work-Study Diplomas. Our publicly-funded university degrees will also have a higher lifetime cohort participation rate so that more Singaporeans can look forward to obtaining a degree from our autonomous universities – not necessarily before starting work but at some point in their working lives. Third, we will invest in our people throughout life – not just in the first 15 years when they are with us in our schools, but also for the next 50 years beyond our schools. Our people will need to continually upskill and reskill across their lifetimes to evolve at their own speed, create new value and stay ahead of the competition. To support this, the Government has increased its investment in recent years in CET, including through the national SkillsFuture movement. We will not stop here. We will intensify our efforts to help our people stay relevant and competitive. As part of the Forward Singapore exercise, we will announce more details in due course on how we intend to help our workforce to upskill and remain relevant throughout life. Amongst the various ideas are more targeted training support for mid-career workers, including SkillsFuture Credit top-ups and how we make training more accessible for working adults with competing commitments and responsibilities. But the Government's efforts alone will not be enough. We will need the partnership of industry, the innovation of institutions and the growth mindset of individuals. Industries cannot wait passively for the perfect worker to be developed for them. They must be active partners in shaping students' interests and skillsets even before they enter the workforce.”
“To these ends, we need the support of parents. As parents, we must welcome schools to have their unique value propositions. This can better cater to the diverse needs of our children and help them to realise their full potential. Hence, it is not necessary or meaningful for us to constantly compare why one school's offering may be slightly different from another's. The more appropriate question is not "Is this a good school?", but "Is this a good or appropriate school for my child?" As parents, we must also not fall into the trap of allowing broader dimensions of merit to translate into greater pressure to chase down more and every yardstick to "beat the crowd". We must remember that broader dimensions of merit are meant to help our children fulfil their potential according to their diverse strengths and interests. This is not meant to provide more ways to compare our children with others in areas that are not suited for their strengths or interests. We must remember to teach our children that, it is more important to surpass themselves throughout life than to surpass someone else in an examination. Second, we will continue to create more diverse education pathways to allow greater porosity throughout life. Building on efforts, like Full SBB, in MOE schools, our post-secondary and tertiary pathways will provide more flexibility to better support students' learning and progression. For example, polytechnic students will be able to spread out their learning if they intend to pursue side interests or need more time to build up a stronger academic foundation. ITE's enhanced curricular structure will cater to a diverse range of learner profiles.”
“With the implementation of Full SBB next year, our education system will become more flexible and provide multiple pathways to cater to different learner profiles. Students will have the flexibility to pursue different subjects at different subject levels, which allows them to customise their learning in each subject to a pace suited for them, while developing other areas of interest. This, coupled with our plans to leverage educational technologies, such as AI-enabled adaptive learning systems, will help to provide more customised learning experiences for all our students. We are also broadening the pathways in which students can access their education. With more opportunities for Direct School Admission and aptitude-based admissions, our students will be able to pursue studies based on their passion and aptitude rather than purely academic performance. We will continually review our admission policies to ensure that our schools remain open and accessible for students from diverse backgrounds while balancing other competing needs, such as preserving community ties and maintaining a variegated education landscape, to cater to different students' needs. We will press on with our efforts to develop 21st century competencies in all our students so that they can thrive amidst constant changes in our world. Our curriculum will continue to be refreshed regularly to meet our students' future needs. We will continue to emphasise important life skills and free up time and space for schools to strengthen learning dispositions and holistic development. This will allow our students to develop an empowering portfolio of skills that will serve them well in whatever they end up doing, including adaptability, resilience and the ability to think critically and inventively.”
“It is also human nature to want to pass on our wealth and privileges to our children, be it through the accumulation of assets, like investments and property; or through access to additional education resources, like tuition. But these natural tendencies risk creating an endowment effect in society. Access to opportunities and rewards could increasingly be determined not just by the merits of this generation, but the transfer of wealth and privileges from the previous generations. Meritocracy becomes harder and harder for the less privileged, as their relative start state falls further and further behind the privileged. We must not leave this unchecked, or this will progressively stratify society, undermining our cohesion and eroding our higher purpose to draw on the talents and capabilities from all in society, instead of the privileged few. The fourth danger of meritocracy is the misplaced belief that one's success is attributed entirely to one's talent and hard work, without acknowledging the role that society has played in enabling the person to succeed; the need for them to give back, uphold the system and strengthen our society; and the need to continually push back against the forces of social stratification. To keep our Singaporean meritocracy resilient and sustainable, this Government, together with our people, will focus on six key strategies. First, we value our people's diverse abilities. We will continue to move away from evaluating our people's diverse abilities by any single, static and narrow metric – be it the PSLE results, grade-point averages or whether they hold a degree or diploma. Take Full SBB.”
“As society matures, those who have succeeded under the previous and existing metrics, will tend to want to perpetuate the same set of yardsticks – sometimes, to preserve their personal interests and comfort; and sometimes, they assume that what has worked will continue to work in a different future and do not think of alternatives that society may need going forward. We must not allow any single, static and narrow metric to define success which can easily cause our society to stagnate and become irrelevant. The second danger of meritocracy, beyond competing on a static and narrow metric, is to reward success based on fixed, defined and pre-determined points in life and time. Once the determining test is conducted and the results are known, then it is as if the life trajectories of our people are fixed and become too difficult to change. This cannot be our society. People develop at different paces and demonstrate different abilities at different times. For society to allow everyone to do justice to their gifts, we must have a system of continuous meritocracy where no single test or point in time determines the rest of one's life. This continuous meritocracy must extend beyond the education system, throughout life. Employers and society have as much a part to play to recognise the skills and talents of our people and not fall into the trap of credentialism of using any single dated metric. We must ensure that there is porosity in the ways that people can earn their spurs, contribute throughout life and allow them to bounce back from setbacks. The third danger of meritocracy is stratification over time. It is natural and perhaps inevitable that the successful will tend to mix amongst themselves, creating exclusive social circles instead of sharing social capital.”
“These other systems would not have similarly motivated our people to aspire and strive, nor helped us to attract the best and brightest to commit their future to Singapore. While meritocracy has allowed us to avoid some of these pitfalls, it is now under stress worldwide. There are increasing questions if meritocracy is indeed fair or can it be fair, especially over the long term? The process is also questioned by some who are unhappy with the outcomes. To fix the problems, some real and some perceived, various countries have tried to fix the process in different ways. Some countries have tried affirmative action for the less privileged groups – by levelling the uneven playing field in resources and opportunities for the less privileged groups. It sounds fine, until we have to figure out who gets to decide who are the less privileged and what opportunities we should set aside for them. It becomes even more complicated when everyone feels relatively deprived or less privileged from their own perspectives. While meritocracy has generally worked well for Singapore so far, we also acknowledge that our system is not perfect. We must recognise that meritocracy, by itself, is not a panacea for all of our societal challenges. Let me list a few potential pitfalls; and suggest what we must do to keep our meritocracy sustainable and resilient. First, as the world and our society evolve, our needs are constantly changing. Indeed, our relevance and competitiveness as a country depend on our ability to evolve with the times. Hence, meritocracy based on any single, static and narrow metric for talent and ability, will not allow us to build a resilient society with a diversity of strengths to meet tomorrow's challenges.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of the Motion. As part of our Forward Singapore conversation, much has been discussed about refreshing our social compact. This has also been the central issue at this debate, including in the speeches of the President, Deputy Prime Minister Wong and various Members. Many have asked: what is a social compact? Others asked: what is our social compact? A social compact, is simply our responsibilities towards one another, how we reward work and distribute the fruits of labour and success, and how we relate to and respect one another. So, three "R"s – our responsibilities towards one another, how we reward work and distribute the fruits of our success, and how we relate to and respect one another. Central to the Singapore social compact has been meritocracy. People are recognised based on merit and achievements. We aspire as a nation for all to progress through our abilities, rather than birth rights, family connections or inherited wealth. These principles have brought us this far. It has spurred our people to excel individually. It has allowed us to accomplish much collectively. Indeed, for a new country of immigrants, there did not and does not seem to be a better set of organising principles for people to operate within and excel. Many of our forefathers came to Singapore because this was a place that allowed them to realise their dreams, despite their starting circumstances and lack of connections. Many of us are also here today because of the opportunities afforded to us by this system of meritocracy. This includes Members from all sides of the House. Other systems, such as aristocracy, plutocracy and nepotism, serve the interests of the few, rather than of the many.”
“I thank Ms Lim for the clarification. Indeed, we have not said that.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, thank you very much. I just wish to make a point of clarification to Ms Sylvia Lim's speech. I heard the Member saying that the Government essentially said that people under 21 years old did not have the skills to vote. May I check, when did we say this? Because if I am right – I just checked the Hansard – on 24 February 2023, in my reply to Ms Sylvia Lim's question, I said, "If we look at the rights and responsibility of all our people from the ages of 16 until 21, there is a gradation of scale. At different ages, they have different rights and different responsibilities."”
“Even as we reinvent, reorganise and reskill the Public Service to serve our people and nation better, the values and ethos of the Public Service must remain. The Public Service will continue to reinforce the sense of purpose in our officers and leaders, and maintain the trust of Singaporeans.”
“This will ensure skills diversity and more career mobility for all public officers. The Public Service will also need to build capabilities in science, technology and engineering. The Public Service is reorganising itself to leverage Science and Technology (S&T) advancements to overcome manpower, fiscal, land and carbon constraints. The Science and Technology Policy and Plans Office coordinates the development of S&T capabilities across the Government in areas like robotics and automation, modelling and simulation, and low-carbon and sustainability solutions, with experts residing in Centres of Excellence that support technology adoption and demand aggregation in these areas across the Public Service. For example, the Land Transport Authority supports the public sector’s shift to clean energy vehicles; the Urban Redevelopment Authority supports urban operations and service delivery through urban modelling and simulation platforms. Strong leadership is critical to the Public Service’s effectiveness in an increasingly complex environment. We will continue to invest in developing our pipeline of leaders, ensuring that there is diversity of skills and experiences. We are diversifying our selection and sourcing process for scholarship holders and direct recruits, beyond traditional talent pools. We are also transforming our leadership development approaches to better prepare in-service leaders to lead their teams and organisations. These initiatives, which include the introduction of leadership competencies, 360-degree feedback exercises, job rotations and a stronger mentoring culture, are being extended to more leaders in the Public Service, including professional and specialist leaders and middle managers.”
“The Public Service Division is committed to advancing a Public Service that can always be trusted to deliver excellent service and a better future for Singapore, by building future-ready organisations, new and more agile capabilities, and a strong and diverse leadership with development opportunities for all our officers. We are reorganising our service delivery across different service delivery platforms, including physical centres, call centres and digital platforms, around citizens rather than only around agencies. We are also streamlining and redesigning regulatory processes to make it easier for businesses. We are organising information on GoBusiness so enterprises can access services and resources in an integrated and business-centred way. For example, first-time prospective business owners can now register their business through a step-by-step guided journey on the GoBusiness platform. In a fast-changing environment, the Public Service needs to develop a workforce that can learn, unlearn and relearn, so as to continue serving Singapore better. We are shifting our HR system so that it is anchored on competencies and skills, with more emphasis placed on competency development for officers, and with the use of competencies to guide how we recruit, reward and recognise officers. We are also instilling a mindset of continuous growth among public officers, to support their longer-term employability and contribution. We are concurrently helping officers build new skills and experiences throughout their careers, through training and development opportunities that take the form of structured job rotations, attachments to the private sector, cross-agency projects and short-term immersions with other Government agencies.”
“This will improve the quality of SPED and better enable our students to lead independent and meaningful lives. Third, we will leverage technology to better customise teaching and learning for students of different abilities. We will continue to invest in education technologies to bring out the best in each child. For example, adaptive learning platforms, powered by Artificial Intelligence, will allow more advanced learners to stretch themselves, while freeing up time for our teachers to focus on students with greater learning needs. All of us have a part to play in shaping and strengthening our social compact. Those who have done well in life should pay it forward, and support those who have less. Success must be defined not just by one’s achievements, but also by how we contribute to the common good. By moving beyond the pursuit of paper qualifications and embracing a broader definition of success, our education system can bring out the best in every child and strengthen our resilience as a nation through our diversity of strengths.”
“Every child should have access to quality education, according to their needs, regardless of their starting point in life. We will continue to invest more in preschool education, especially for children from disadvantaged families. We will also step up our efforts to provide opportunities for learners of different backgrounds to interact, empathise with, and support one another. At the same time, to adapt to a changing global landscape, we will need to break new ground. First, amidst economic transformation and labour market disruptions, we must evolve our practices to create new value and stay ahead of the competition. To enable Singaporeans to seize new opportunities and stay employable, we will strengthen our SkillsFuture movement to better support continual upskilling and reskilling across an individual’s lifetime. This includes making training accessible for adult learners, developing new andragogical approaches, and working closely with companies, unions, and training institutions to tighten the nexus between business needs, workers’ skills and training. We will provide stronger support for mid-career workers, in particular, to reduce their opportunity cost for training should they require a substantial skills reboot. At the same time, our people will need to make full use of these opportunities by developing a growth mindset and passion for lifelong learning. Second, we will strengthen support for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN). We will continue to strengthen the educational experience for students with SEN in mainstream and Special Education (SPED) schools. MOE will work with Social Service Agencies to improve remuneration and career progression in the SPED sector.”
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) strives to enable all Singaporeans to realise their potential. We have been engaging our stakeholders as part of the Forward Singapore exercise. We will strengthen our partnerships with families, communities, and industry to refresh our system of meritocracy, so that all can thrive and contribute to Singapore in their own ways. MOE is committed to providing a quality education and a strong foundation for every child. In a complex and fast-changing world, our students will require diverse skillsets to stay resilient, and diverse perspectives to connect and collaborate with others in Singapore and elsewhere. MOE will thus continue to encourage holistic development and cultivate 21st Century Competencies. To meet the wider and more complex needs of our students, we will support our educators by giving them opportunities to broaden their perspectives and skillsets. We will also partner families and the community to provide holistic support for our children’s socio-emotional development. We have moved away from a one-size-fits-all approach to education, and from using a single metric to evaluate the diverse dimensions of our students’ abilities. Full Subject-Based Banding will be fully implemented in secondary schools next year and will allow every student to learn subjects at a level that caters to their strengths and learning needs. Our schools are building partnerships with their stakeholders to offer niche areas of excellence to cater to students’ diverse interests. We will also continue to expand admission routes to schools and Institutes of Higher Learning to recognise the different strengths and abilities of our students.”
“The guidelines in section 2.4 of the Candidate Handbook for General Election (GE) 2020, concerning activities from the Writ of Election to Nomination Day, are legally correct in respect of GE2020.”
“The law does not prohibit anyone, including former Members of Parliament (MP) from holding Meet-the-People sessions, interacting with residents and providing assistance to them, such as by writing appeal letters, after Parliament is dissolved, as long as they do not misrepresent themselves to be serving MPs. Ministries and other Government agencies will duly consider any appeal letters received, whether they are written by serving MPs, former MPs or members of the public, and will reply to the appeal letters after due consideration.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in response to the last question by Mr Gerald Giam, I have already stated during my answer just now. Anyone can interact with any residents at any time of the year, so long as it complies with the laws of the land. Second, in answer to the first supplementary question that Mr Gerald Giam asked, what is the difference between the period from the Writ of Election to the nomination, the details can be found in the guidebook that we have published. What are some of the key differences? For example, during the election period, there are rules that governs the electoral advertising – what can be done and what cannot be done, as part of electoral advertising. As to the rest of the activities, Mr Giam can also refer to the election guidebook and the rules that apply to the normal course of activities that all of us conduct on a daily basis.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, on behalf of Prime Minister, please. Our election laws primarily regulate campaigning during the campaign period, which commences from the closure of the place of nomination on Nomination Day and ends at the start of the eve of Polling Day. Outside of the campaign period, the election laws do not prohibit political parties and aspiring candidates from conducting activities, such as house-to-house visits; visiting markets and coffee shops to interact with residents; or to explicitly canvass for votes while wearing their party uniforms and badges. This is assuming that these activities comply with the other laws of the land. However, there are some restrictions during this period. For example, election advertising must comply with the prevailing publishing requirements and non-Singapore Citizens must not publish or display election advertising.”
“The Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) are secular institutions which provide a common space for our young to develop a shared identity as Singaporeans, irrespective of race, religion or social status. Students and staff can access informal spaces on campus for their personal religious needs and our IHLs also have multi-purpose quiet rooms that can be used for various purposes.”
“The Government provides a budget for staff welfare for civil servants, which agencies use to fund activities that improve employee physical and mental health and well-being and show care and appreciation to staff. We do not allocate a specific budget for mental health activities.”
“In recent years, we have increased the number of allied educators and administrative staff who support teachers in non-teaching duties in school, such as counselling, working with students with higher needs, and other administrative and operational tasks. We focus on recruiting suitable individuals with the right disposition and competencies, rather than be too fixated on specific short-term recruitment targets.”
“As non- and irregular attendance issues are often complex and multi-faceted, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and schools take a holistic approach in dealing with each child’s unique circumstance without predetermined timelines. Schools monitor students’ attendance closely and engage students and their parents proactively when they observe non- or irregular attendance. This includes providing counselling to the students, having conferences with parents and conducting home visits. If necessary, schools may also refer the child or family to community-based support, such as the Enhanced STEP-UP Programme or Family Service Centres. If the child’s attendance does not improve, schools will refer these cases to the Compulsory Education Unit in MOE for further investigation and engagement with parents. Where other forms of social assistance are required, other agencies such as the Ministry of Social and Family Development and community groups will be brought in to help resolve underlying familial issues that affect the children’s attendance. In cases where parents still refuse to ensure their children’s attendance, their cases are escalated to the Compulsory Education Board, which may summon the parents and children for a formal hearing. Legal enforcement is used as a last resort. Due to the effectiveness of these actions by schools, community and the Compulsory Education Board, no parent had been convicted under the Compulsory Education Act since its inception in 2003.”
“Since 2021, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has enhanced the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) curriculum to give a stronger focus to guide students' online learning and interactions. Through CCE lessons, primary school students learn to be discerning of what they read and share online and to be respectful of one another, including of their privacy. Older students at the secondary and pre-university levels learn to engage in online discussions in a respectful and meaningful manner, and to value multiple perspectives. Beyond the CCE curriculum, MOE also engages parents to highlight the importance of guiding their children to have respectful online and offline discussions.”
“This question has been addressed in the Ministry of Education's reply to Question No 2 for oral answer on the Order Paper for 28 February 2023. [Please refer to "Considerations for Converting Single-sex Schools to Co-ed Schools and for Relocating Schools", Official Report, 28 February 2023, Vol 95, Issue 88, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“In school, students are taught to guard against scams through various subjects and resources. Character and Citizenship Education classes teach students to evaluate and verify the credibility of online information sources and to recognise and report different types of online scams, including phishing scams, online purchase scams and Internet love scams. Food and Consumer Education classes teach lower secondary students to be a discerning consumer, exercise financial responsibility, and not fall prey to scams. Social Studies classes teach students the impact of cybersecurity risks and are equipped with information and media literacy skills to critically evaluate different sources of information, both online and offline. The Singapore Student Learning Space provides self-paced lessons for all students to learn financial literacy. As scams constantly evolve, the Ministry of Education will continue to work closely with partners, such as Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams, the Singapore Police Force and other agencies, to promote anti-scam messages through talks and programmes in schools and Institutes of Higher Learning. Public education for adults would still be needed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, on behalf of the Prime Minister, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill is associated with the previous Bill on the Order Paper, the Presidential Elections (Amendment) Bill. In the Second Reading speech for that Bill and the debate we just had, I have explained the main amendments proposed in both Bills. Although Members have already raised their questions and expressed their views on both Bills during the earlier debate, I welcome Members to raise any additional questions they may have on the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill. Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)] [(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Chan Chun Sing]. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]”
“Mr Speaker, sir, the answer is yes. We have done this before. The last election we used the vote counting machine that is the same as those used by the currency exchangers. That was demonstrated to all the political parties prior to ensure that the accuracy of the system. [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time. (proc text)] 6.08 pm”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Ms Sylvia Lim for her two clarifications. The quick answer to the first one is, yes, of course, the Minister will work with ELD to try to anticipate all the possible contingencies that we have to deal with prior to the elections. I am sure you agree with me that during the election period, you are as busy as me. Not the time for us to make new regulations at that point in time. Yes, so ELD has a scenario plan, various contingencies, as I have described, and we will try to put this out as early as possible. On the second question, yes, indeed, we are working closely with the nursing home, not just on the logistical and administrative arrangements, but also, as part of our outreach, to let the voters that are potentially voting in a nursing home, understand their rights and responsibilities.”
“This is why the current mode is for the election officials to conduct this rather than to certify many other individuals who are not election officials to help respective individuals. Ms Lim can also be assured that the randomness of the issuance of ballot paper is the same as any polling station. You asked whether polling agents can assess, I think I have answered that, answer is yes, to view the processes in the nursing home. And electronic means, we have answered that as well. The counting machines are not connected to the Internet. Mr Gerald Giam asked about whether we can qualify individuals to help the PwDs. As I have explained, I think it is best that we do this in a way that gives us confidence that the officials are cleared, neutral, impartial in their work rather than to clear many individuals for respective needs which we may not have the confidence to say that they are all clear about the processes. With that Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move. I urge all Members on both sides of the house to give your fullest support to both Bills.”
“I would also like to assure Ms Lim that ELD will consult the political parties as it has done in the past, should advancement in technology allow the safe and secure use of electronic voting machines before rolling this out. Mr Giam may also wish to note that the section 50B of the Parliamentary Elections Act currently sets out the various requirements to be fulfilled before electronic counting machines can be used. This includes testing of the system in the presence of candidates and their agents. Mr Speaker, Sir, let me conclude by reiterating the intent behind these Bills, which is to update the existing laws to enhance voter accessibility, strengthen trust and confidence in our electoral processes, and ensure that Singapore politics is for Singapore Citizens only. ELD has consulted political parties on the key initiatives on the new voting modalities last year in 2022 and these are part of the continuous efforts of ELD to enhance our electoral processes and election administration. Mr Speaker, Sir, let me also touch on a few points that were raised just now. Ms Lim asked if we are going to pre-screen the electoral roll before we determine the nursing homes to be involved. As for how many people will be eligible to vote in a nursing home, this will depend on those people who have previously registered. So, we do not pre-screen as a procedure, those people that pre-register. But as I explained, during the voting, the election officials will make that assessment as to whether the person has the mental capacity to conduct the voting. We agree with Members that the secrecy and the neutrality of the elections officials are very important.”
“Over the years, ELD has introduced various initiatives to make it easier for them to do so, such as stencils for those who are visually impaired and lap booths for those on wheelchair. If the voter is physically unable to mark the ballot paper, he can request for an election official to assist him. These arrangements have served us well and we have no plans to change them currently. Sir, let me now address Mr Louis Ng's question on how the RO will make the assessment to establish a special polling station in a nursing home and to authorise special polling arrangements there. As Mr Ng rightly noted, the Bill sets out various factors that the RO is required to consider. As mentioned in my speech, ELD is piloting this new initiative at selected nursing homes with more than 50 voters for a start. In preparation for the roll-out of this new voting arrangements at these nursing homes, ELD has engaged MOH to understand the profiles of the residents and in-patients. ELD also visited these nursing homes to understand their unique context and environment. Let me now address Ms Lim and Mr Giam's comments on the amendments to enable the use of counting machines. Let me assure Ms Lim and Mr Giam that there are no plans to introduce electronic voting for now, and ELD will continue to use standalone machines that are not connected to the Internet. While ELD does not rule out any future solutions that can help enhance our election processes, electronic voting currently requires information on the voter's vote to be retained in the system for audit purpose. This makes it challenging to maintain voting secrecy in the event that an audit has to be done.”
“Sir, I would like to assure Mr Ng that the mobile polling team will not take the polls of residents or in-patients if there are medical grounds, for example, because they are quarantined or are not able to receive any visitors. This is to safeguard their well-being and safety. For such cases, we will require the production of medical documentation as evidence. On Ms Sylvia Lim’s question on voters with some limitation in mental capacity, we will adopt the same approach as that for regular polling stations. That is, before the issuance of ballot paper, the election official will request the voter for his identification document and poll card. If the voter does not respond to the election official’s request for his identification document and poll card after a few attempts, the voter will not be issued a ballot paper. If the ballot paper has been issued but the voter is somehow unable to mark the ballot paper, the election official will seek the agreement of the polling agents present that the voter will be allowed to cast a blank vote. I would also like to assure Ms Sylvia Lim that for those who are able to make their way to the special polling stations set up at the premises of the nursing homes, the procedures are the same as the regular polling stations. Candidates will be able to send polling agents to the nursing homes to observe that voting continues to be secret and that the various procedures are adhered to. Mr Gerald Giam asked whether a voter with disability can request someone who is known and trusted by him to help him vote. Sir, our voters with disabilities are independent and many of them are able to vote on their own.”
“Further enforcement action will be considered only if the individuals do not comply. Let me also assure Mr Louis Ng that any prosecution for such an offence will depend on the facts of the case and will only be instituted with the consent of the Public Prosecutor. Mr Giam asked about the kind of election activities allowed in the period from the day the Writ of Election is issued to Nomination Day. Political parties and candidates may continue to conduct routine activities, as long as they are conducted within the limits of the law. On Mr Gerald Giam’s other requests on whether former Members of Parliament are allowed to hold Meet-the-People Sessions to interact with residents, provide assistance to them, whether grassroots advisors can continue to operate as per normal after the Writ is issued, and the Candidate Handbook, these questions are out of the scope of the Bills. Mr Gerlad Giam may wish to file Parliamentary Questions and we will be happy to answer them separately. Ms Lim asked about the amendment to require the display of posters and banners only in permissible locations and whether all political contestants will be assured of ample space in prime locations. The amendment is merely to set out clearly the permissible locations for the display of posters and banners, such as lamp posts and banner structures. These locations will be set out in regulations later. And I am sure that will be sufficient space for all political parties to do the necessary. Mr Louis Ng noted that a person in charge of a nursing home may inform the mobile polling team that a visit to a resident or in-patient is forbidden on medical grounds, and asked about the safeguards in place to ensure that this is not abused.”
“As stated in my opening speech, examples of private or domestic communication include sending or forwarding election-related content within a private chat, or a closed group with family or a small group of friends. When deciding whether a communication is of a private or domestic nature, the Returning Officer, or RO, will make a case-by-case assessment, taking into consideration three factors: first, the number of individuals in Singapore who are able to access the content; second, whether there are restrictions to access the content, including whether it is a public or closed group; and third, the relationship between the sender and receiver of the content, for example, whether they are strangers or known to each other. Next, Mr Louis Ng sought clarification relating to the penalties imposed for breaching the new election advertising requirements, whether individuals will be given an opportunity to rectify breaches of election advertising requirements and whether the penalties for such breaches are too "harsh" since if convicted, a voter may be banned from voting for seven years. Mr Speaker, Sir, any person who publishes or causes to be published any election advertising during the election period is already required to comply with the published-by requirements under the existing law. These requirements are there to promote informed voting and to safeguard our elections from external influence. The penalty for not complying with these requirements is thus serious. This has not changed. Let me reiterate that it is not our intention to penalise unintentional breaches of the election advertising laws. In general, individuals who have breached these laws will be notified and given the opportunity to voluntarily rectify the breach.”
“Such persons include: one, the person who authorised making available to the general public the election advertising; two, he person who approved the content in the election advertising; and three, the person for whom or at whose direction the election advertising was published. For any election advertising, these three persons may or may not be same. Some of these roles may also be played by entities, including marketing firms engaged by candidates or political parties. It is important for the identities of those involved to be set out clearly to ensure accountability and transparency. Let me illustrate with an example. A political party hires a social media influencer for a fee, to post election advertising on social media on its candidate's behalf. As required under the law, the candidate must first provide written authorisation to the influencer to conduct election activity on his or her behalf. Thereafter, the candidate approves the content prepared by the influencer, before the influencer publishes the content on his or her social media account. In this case, the political party is deemed to have directed the influencer to publish the election advertising, while the candidate had approved the contents of the election advertising. Meanwhile, the influencer is deemed to have authorised the publishing of the election advertising, since the election advertising was published on his or her social media account. Hence, the full names of the political party, the candidate and the influencer must be displayed on the social media post. The post should also state that it was paid for by the political party. Mr Louis Ng also had a question on the meaning of private or domestic communication.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, let me first thank Members who have spoken on this Bill. Let me first address the comments on the changes to the election advertising rules. Mr Louis Ng and Ms Sylvia Lim sought clarifications on the amendments pertaining to election advertising. Mr Ng asked whether it will be a defence for the accused to prove that he or she did not know that the content included election advertising and whether enforcement will take into account the difference in culpability between a layperson who carelessly forwards messages and links to a friend and a political operator looking to influence the elections. The answer to both questions is yes. It is not the intention to penalise unintentional breaches of the election advertising laws. The legislation provides for a defence if a person unknowingly breaches the election advertising rules but takes steps to rectify the breach when he or she becomes aware of it. There is also a defence for persons who breached election advertising rules due to circumstances beyond their control, for example, if the breach was due to sabotage. Ultimately, any defence has to be considered based on the facts of each case. Mr Louis Ng also asked for clarifications on the difference between authorising and directing an election advertisement and Ms Sylvia Lim asked for the rationale for naming the individuals and entities who approved the content of the election advertisement, even though they ultimately take instructions from the candidates or political parties. The published-by requirements require that election advertising displays the full names of all persons who played an active role in publishing it.”
“Second, to notify a declarant that his community declaration has been rejected as it is incomplete, or, in the case of a reserved election, not made for the relevant community the election is reserved for. In all other situations, the community declaration will be accepted for consideration without the need for explicit notification. The PrEA Bill also replicates relevant changes made to the PEA in 2018 through the amendments in clauses 8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 25, 32, 34, 36 and 41. These amendments relate to allowing electronic payment of election deposits, streamlining of processes involving nomination, polling, recounting of overseas votes and election expenses returns, and updating of the definition of election activity. All these changes were elaborated during the amendments to the PEA that year and I will not repeat them today. Mr Speaker, Sir, the amendments described above are part of ELD’s regular efforts to update and refine our electoral rules and processes. These proposals will help enhance voter accessibility and engender greater trust and confidence in our election administration and electoral processes. Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)] 5.26 pm”
“Sir, I will now cover the amendments that apply to presidential elections in clauses 3 and 4 of the PrEA Bill. These amendments are administrative in nature to streamline the presidential election processes. First, the Presidential Elections Committee, or “PEC” in short, is responsible for ensuring that candidates for the office of the President have the required qualifications prescribed in the Constitution. For example, the applicant must be a person of integrity, good character and reputation and has met either the public or private sector service requirement. Clause 3 of the PrEA Bill streamlines the processes to remove the requirement for the PEC to consider applications from applicants who do not meet the minimum age of 45 years on Nomination Day to qualify as a Presidential candidate. Clause 4 of the PrEA Bill allows the PEC to reject an application from an applicant who does not state in his community declaration that he considers himself to be a member of the community that the election is reserved for. The next amendment relates to the Community Committee, or “CC” in short. The function of the CC is to decide whether a person who has submitted a community declaration belongs to the Chinese community, the Malay community or the Indian or other minority communities. Currently, the CC is required to notify every declarant that their community declarations have been accepted for consideration. With the proposed amendments under clauses 5 and 6 of the PrEA Bill, the CC will only be required to notify declarants in the following cases. First, to notify a declarant in an open election, who had declared that he did not belong to any of the prescribed communities, that his declaration has been accepted.”
“To ensure that Singapore politics is only for Singaporeans to decide, foreign individuals and foreign entities should not be allowed to participate in election activities. The current PEA and PrEA prohibit foreign individuals from participating in election activities but are silent on foreign entities, such as foreign companies. Clause 41 of the PEA Bill and clause 42 of the PrEA Bill seek to make clear that foreign entities are also prohibited from participating in election activities. I will now cover the amendments relating to events that disrupt the election process. Currently, the provisions to deal with disruptive events are in the PEA and PrEA, which mean that any amendment that needs to be made to respond to contingencies will need to be passed in Parliament. From the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a real need to provide greater flexibility in addressing disruptive events, to enable contingency arrangements to be put in place quickly, should they be required, to enable an election to be conducted while meeting the needs of the situation. Clause 44 of the PEA Bill and clause 43 of the PrEA Bill allow the Minister to make regulations so that contingency arrangements can be put in place in a more timely and effective manner. The definition of disruptive events is also expanded to include transport accident, unplanned or prolonged outage of any telecommunication or electricity service, or an information and communications system, which is essential for the proper conduct of an election. Any regulation made under the Act to implement such contingency arrangements must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Government Gazette.”
“To facilitate public inspection of election expenses returns, clause 36 of both Bills will allow for the publication of all election expenses online for greater transparency. This will allow voters and other stakeholders to inspect the returns filed by candidates free of charge without having to make a trip to ELD. To further enhance the accountability and transparency of our election processes, clause 37 of the PEA Bill provides powers to the RO to audit any election expenses returns submitted for parliamentary elections. Allowing the election authorities to audit a candidate’s election expenses returns is not a new concept. Countries, such as Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, require some form of audited election expenses returns from the candidates or from the political party that fielded the candidates. Sir, the fourth category of amendments seeks to improve the election processes. Let me highlight the key amendments. Under the current law, a polling station for an electoral division can only be situated within the electoral division boundary. To provide greater convenience to voters who are residing near the electoral boundary, clause 14 of the PEA Bill and clause 13 of the PrEA Bill will allow the RO to set up polling stations in the adjacent electoral division if it will benefit a large number of such voters. Currently, to ensure that children are protected from exploitation during elections, a person attending a primary or secondary school as a student is prohibited from taking part in election activities. The amendment of clause 42 of the PEA Bill and clause 41 of the PrEA Bill will change this to an age-based restriction to prohibit individuals below 16 years old from taking part in election activities. This is a more consistent approach.”
“There are exceptions, for example, flags that contain only the name and/or symbol of a political party, for the sole purpose of indicating that the office of the political party is located at or within a building. Clause 30 of the PEA Bill and clause 28 of the PrEA Bill also provide that the display of posters and banners must be at a place stated in a list of permissible locations in the regulations, and not within the 50-metre zone around any polling station. For example, posters and banners may be hung on street lamp posts along public roads outside the 50-metre zone around any polling station. Finally, clause 30 of the PEA Bill and clause 28 of the PrEA Bill set out the ban on foreigners knowingly publishing or publicly displaying election advertising, and extend the ban to cover foreign entities. These amendments serve to strengthen the well-established principle that Singapore politics are for Singaporeans alone to decide. Sir, the third category of amendments seeks to streamline the administration, as well as enhance the accountability and transparency, of the election expenses regime. Clause 30 of both Bills will allow candidates to make technical corrections to their election expenses returns by submitting fresh returns to the RO, instead of having to apply to the Election Judge to do so. Examples of technical corrections include blank entry due to inadvertent omission, miscalculation during tallying, correction made but no signature initialed against it. Such corrections must, however, be made before the deadline for the submission of the election expenses returns, which is, 31 days after the election result is published in the Government Gazette.”
“Having OEA laws, and keeping them up-to-date, helps safeguard our electoral processes from external influence and ensure that Singapore’s future is only to be decided by Singaporeans. Besides having these laws, all political parties and candidates participating in elections have a vital role to abide by these rules to protect the integrity of our elections. Now, let me elaborate on the amendments relating to non-online election advertising or “NOEA”. Clause 2 of both Bills defines NOEA which covers a wide range of non-online advertising, from electronic advertising by way of short messaging service or SMS, and telephone calls, to traditional advertising, such as a banner, flag or poster. To maintain coherence in the treatment of OEA and NOEA, the published-by requirements continue to apply to NOEA. Of the five published-by requirements, two are new, namely, to disclose the person or entity who approved the election advertising content, and to disclose the person or entity who paid for the election advertising. The two new requirements will better enable voters to assess the credibility of the information presented when forming their views on their preferred candidate. Clause 30 of the PEA Bill and clause 28 of the PrEA Bill stipulate that the public display of traditional election advertising should only commence during the campaign period under the authority of a permit granted by the RO, as per the current regulations. To ensure a level playing field at parliamentary elections, clause 30 of the PEA Bill introduces a new offence of publicly displaying, between the issuance of the Writ of Election, and before the start of the campaign period, any traditional election advertising that contains political party symbols or party-affiliated symbols.”
“In line with the updated scope of OEA, amplifying access to OEA which was published before the cooling-off period will also be subject to the ban to ensure space for voters to reflect on the issues at stake before casting their votes. The exceptions to the cooling-off period ban will be retained, including for private and domestic communications, such as individuals sharing election-related content within a private chat or closed group with family or a small group of friends. Currently, the Returning Officer, or RO, has powers to issue directions to candidates or their election agents to address certain breaches of the OEA regulations. Clause 30 of the PEA Bill and clause 28 of the PrEA Bill will provide expanded powers for the RO to address OEA-related breaches, by issuing corrective directions to any content publisher, including social media companies, to remove or disable access in Singapore to the OEA, or to stop or reduce electronic communication activity involving the OEA. The RO can also specify that the corrective actions must be taken within a certain period of time, so that breaches are addressed promptly during the short campaigning period. These powers are intended to address the concern that online content that breaches the elections laws can potentially spread rapidly and, hence, tip the playing field and impact electoral outcomes. The RO will look at the specifics of each case, to determine the appropriate course of action. If necessary, the RO can exercise these powers expeditiously, to uphold the integrity of our elections. We have witnessed how the threat of foreign interference in elections has intensified around the world, especially in the online space.”
“Second, OEA content is considered to be published in Singapore, if the content is accessible from Singapore, or if it originates in Singapore. To enhance transparency and accountability, clause 30 of the PEA Bill sets out the updated published-by requirements in a new section 61B. For the PrEA Bill, this is in clause 28 and a new section 42B. Currently, OEA is required to display the particulars of the person who is responsible for publishing the OEA, and the particulars of the person who directed the OEA to be published. If the OEA is paid for, it should also show the particulars of the person who paid for it. With the amendments, the particulars of the person who approved the content of the OEA must be shown as well. In the virtual world, it is easy to hide behind aliases and third parties to put out election advertising. This amendment strengthens transparency, so that voters can better discern the persons responsible for the election advertising. From the start of the campaign period, election activity can only be conducted by political parties or candidates, or third party campaigners authorised by a candidate or their election agent. As paid election advertising constitutes election activity, clause 30 of the PEA Bill sets out the offence for unauthorised third parties to publish paid OEA. The equivalent provision in the PrEA Bill is in clause 28. The same clauses restate the ban on publishing or displaying election advertising on Cooling-off Day and Polling Day. These will replace current section 78B of the PEA and section 60A of the PrEA respectively.”
“Currently, the rules for online and non-online election advertising are set out in subsidiary legislation. Clause 30 of the PEA Bill and clause 28 of the PrEA Bill elevate these provisions on online and non-online election advertising to the respective main Acts. These amendments are needed to enhance transparency, so that voters know who is communicating the election advertising, and accountability, by making persons publishing election advertising responsible for their communications. Let me begin with the amendments for online election advertising, which will be referred to as OEA in short. The laws for OEA are largely unchanged by the Bills. The amendments are intended to provide greater clarity on the rules for online election campaigning and to address unique features and functionalities of online communication activities, especially since political discussions and campaigning are increasingly taking place online. At the same time, space is preserved for Singapore Citizens to participate in political discourse online. For example, during the election period, barring Cooling-off Day and Polling Day, a Singapore Citizen can continue to publish OEA without adhering to published-by requirements, as long as the content is published in his individual capacity, he is not directed by others to do so and is not paid or did not pay to publish. Clause 2 of the PEA Bill and PrEA Bill each contains updated definitions on the scope of OEA. First, the meaning of publishing OEA is extended to include amplifying access, such as boosting, reposting, sharing or resharing of existing OEA. Amplifying access increases the reach of the original content to more users and has a similar effect to publishing fresh content. Hence, it should be held to the same requirements.”
“To ensure that only bona fide postal ballot papers are counted, there will be a pre-count process in Singapore to sieve out the return envelopes which do not meet the criteria for counting. The process is set out in the lower row of the handout on counting of postal votes. For example, the return envelope must bear the signature of the voter furnished during registration and an official QR code which is unique for each voter. The QR code enables the wet-ink signature on the return envelope to be matched against the specimen signature furnished during registration. To ensure voting secrecy, the postal ballot papers from the return envelopes will be removed and mixed with other overseas ballot papers before the start of counting. Candidates and counting agents will be able to observe this entire process. Ahead of the upcoming Presidential Election, ELD will demonstrate the process and the system to be used to the media and political parties. Next, let me touch on postal voting offences. Clauses 26 and 28 of the PEA Bill and clauses 25 and 26 of the PrEA Bill deal with offences pertaining to postal voting. These include forging or fraudulently defacing any return envelope, supplying any return envelope without due authority to any person, or unauthorised possession of a return envelope. The present offences on improper handling of ballot papers will be extended to include postal ballot papers. These provisions seek to address the concerns surfaced during ELD’s engagements with political parties and overseas Singaporeans. Mr Speaker, Sir, now, I move on to the second category of amendments to update the law on election advertising. These amendments aim to support informed voting at elections, which is essential to Singapore's system of representative government.”
“Step one is to register to vote overseas by applying online via ELD Voter Services. During registration, the overseas Singapore Citizen has to make a deliberate choice to either vote by post or at one of the overseas polling stations. Application to vote by post or at one of the overseas polling stations by an eligible overseas Singapore Citizen can be done anytime except during the period from the third day after the Writ of Election is issued until the end of the election. If he or she has chosen to vote by post, he or she will need to provide his or her wet-ink signature during the registration. Step two, an overseas Singapore Citizen who has opted to be a postal voter can log in to ELD Voter Services using his Singpass after Nomination Day to download and print his postal ballot paper and the prepaid return envelope. Step three, the postal voter will mark his vote on the postal ballot paper, fold and insert it in the return envelope, and seal and sign on the return envelope. Step four, the postal voter should then post the sealed return envelope without delay. This has to be done during the postal voting period, which starts on the day immediately after Nomination Day and ends on the eve of Polling Day in Singapore. In order to be accepted for counting, the return envelope must be postmarked before Polling Day and reach the Returning Officer in Singapore within 10 days after Polling Day. The requirement for the postmark to be before Polling Day is to ensure that all votes are cast before the close of poll in Singapore so that voters residing in a time zone that is behind Singapore, such as the United States of America, do not cast their votes after knowing the results of the local poll.”