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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“I thought you opt-in because you pay $100; if you do not opt-in, you do not pay $100. If you go and buy the ticket, you pay $100, you opt in. The Member is asking for one extra step. That means, when you buy the ticket, you opt in, and then you pay $100. That would be the same as buying the ticket at $100. Or is the Member suggesting – I just want to clarify – that we have a membership scheme, which I think the Member is not Page: 38 suggesting?”
“Mdm Speaker, today, we have both self-inclusion and self-exclusion. Self-exclusion is for individuals who want to exclude themselves. We also have third-party exclusions where family members may take up a family exclusion order against the person concerned. We also have other forms of third-party exclusions whereby some people, for example, if they are on financial assistance, are automatically excluded. So, this is the exclusion clause. I think the Member's inclusion clause means that those who want to include themselves in this today, they have to pay an entrance fee. So, that would be how they include themselves. Is that what the Member meant? So, we charge them for going in. Is that what the Member was referring to?”
“Mdm Speaker, the short answer to both of Mr Seah's suggestions is yes. As I have explained in my answer, we are prepared to work with employers and other relevant organisations to assess and design a form that can allow for group applications. But it must still be premised on the basis of individual ownership, responsibility and individual decision. So long as we maintain these three principles, we will make it as simple as it can be so that the people who are signing up know what they are signing up for, so that in the event that they want to withdraw themselves for whatever reason, they are also conscious of the Page: 37 fact and they take individual responsibility.”
“Mdm Speaker, the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) administers a self-exclusion system for individuals who wish to voluntarily exclude themselves from the casinos. Today, Singapore residents can make an application online using their SingPass accounts, which is a fast and effective way to exclude themselves. To make the process more convenient to those without online access, since September last year, NCPG has made available an option for applicants to mail in hardcopy applications. These forms are available at community organisations that provide problem gambling counselling and help services, the casinos, jackpot rooms in selected clubs and the NCPG website. NCPG is also making efforts to make the forms available at more locations. For foreign workers who have no SingPass accounts, NCPG has provided the option of group submission. This is done through the Work Permit Online account where employers Page: 36 submit a consolidated application form bearing the signatures of the applicants. Self-exclusion must be premised on individual decision, ownership and responsibility. The NCPG will work with employers and other relevant social civic organisations to assess the feasibility of having group applications, while preserving the principles of individual decision, ownership and responsibility.”
“Mdm Speaker, education and healthcare support are important to the growth and development of young children. Working mothers also need help in managing their caregiving responsibilities over their young children. The Government recognises these needs and provides a range of support in these areas, regardless of the marital status of the children's parents. Page: 35 For example, all mothers, regardless of whether they are married, are eligible for infant care and childcare subsidies. The Foreign Domestic Worker levy concession is also extended to all parents of children aged below 12, including single mothers. These help to keep care for young children affordable and enable mothers to continue to work to achieve self-sufficiency. In addition, all working mothers are eligible for childcare leave before the child turns seven years old and extended childcare leave when the child is seven to 12 years old. To give our children a good head start, Government-funded education programmes and support in our pre-schools, early intervention centres, mainstream schools and special education schools are extended to all children. A higher level of assistance is provided to children from lower income families or those with developmental delays or special needs. Again, such support is provided independent of the marital status of their parents. There are, however, some benefits that single mothers do not currently benefit from, such as eight additional weeks of paid maternity leave and tax incentives. These additional benefits are given to encourage and support parenthood within the context of marriage. This is the prevailing societal norm in Singapore and one which we seek to reflect and preserve.”
“Mdm Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 11 and 12 together?”
“ComCare provides low-income and needy households and individuals with financial assistance to help them with subsistence needs, as well as kindergarten and student care assistance. In Financial Year 2013, 41,036 unique households or 79,333 unique individuals received ComCare assistance9. Page: 168”
“The Government provides support and benefits for the care and development of our children, regardless of whether their mothers are married or not. Examples include benefits linked to childcare, child development, education and healthcare. The table below lists some of these benefits. Page: 166 Benefits that are intended to support marriages and births within the context of families are given only to married mothers. The table below lists these benefits. Page: 167 All policies are subject to regular review to ensure currency and relevance.”
“The VCF supports capability building efforts of VWOs and Charities that deliver social services in Singapore. Organisations can tap on grants to develop their staff's professional capabilities or to enhance productivity, innovation and organisational capability. Over 10,000 grant applications have been approved under the VCF since April 2012. The total approved funding was close to $30 million. The National Council of Social Service (NCSS), which administers the VCF, is actively promoting the fund through various platforms. NCSS will continue its outreach efforts to boost applications for the Fund.”
“It is a work in progress and there is always room to do better. The local planning teams at our SSOs aim to better coordinate the planning and delivery of social services and assistance among the different help agencies in each HDB town. We will continue to work towards improving our support services and coordination. We also need everyone to work together with us in strengthening coordination across the sector. This needs time. Nonetheless, we will keep working at it so that the families receive timely help and support.”
“Caregiving for children with disabilities or as a single parent can be demanding and stressful. This is even more so if these are vulnerable families with multiple needs. Over the years, Government agencies have worked with voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) to put in place a stronger network of services to help these families and caregivers. Caregivers may find it a challenge to navigate the various support schemes and services. Families can approach either the Family Service Centres (FSCs) or Social Service Offices (SSOs) for an assessment of their needs and for help to navigate the help system. The FSCs will assess, coordinate and integrate the various types of assistance that may be required for these families with multiple needs. The FSC social workers will help families navigate the "many helping hands" system for different forms of assistance. The addition of the SSOs facilitates greater access to help for the families. Besides providing ComCare assistance for those facing financial difficulties, the SSOs also help to coordinate other forms of assistance for families based on their needs. MSF has recently set up local planning teams at our SSOs to better coordinate the planning and delivery of social services and assistance among the different help agencies in each HDB town. For some of these families, there are dedicated agencies that have a deeper understanding of the issues faced by caregivers of specific groups. Besides the FSCs, single parent families can also approach the two single-parent services – HELP FSC and PPIS As-Salaam Family Support Centre – for support. Caregivers of children with special needs, could contact SG Enable, who would provide information and referral services for persons with Page: 143 disability.”
“Mdm Speaker, yes, indeed that is one of the ideas that we are exploring to balance what I have just described as the two extreme models. Somewhere in between whereby we have a certain critical mass of special needs students at the same place to allow the resources to be used more efficiently; yet, at the same time, integrated with some of the programmes from the mainstream schools. This will require us to do better upfront planning in terms of infrastructure support so that the two set-ups can be integrated together. And this is something that we will certainly explore going forward and we welcome Ms Denise Phua's help and suggestions to mobilise the community for us to see how we can bring this together. Because that would help us to better achieve the outcomes in terms of social integration and also resource utilisation, which is also a real challenge for the sector.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me answer the second question on EIPIC first. Yes, indeed, we are in the process of expanding the capacity for EIPIC. Over the last few years, we have upped the capacity to about 2,300. By 2015, we should see it going up to about 2,700. We will continually assess the needs for such services as we do better in early intervention and diagnosis for young children. For the first question on the DSP, we will expand the programme according to the needs of the sector. But I must say at this point in time that we are also taking a review of how we organise the entire sector to provide support for children with special needs. And that is because we have two contrasting models possible. One is to have special childcare centres where all the children with special needs are concentrated together. This, arguably, is efficient; but from a social mixing point of view, it may not be optimal. On the other hand, we have another model which is to integrate all the children with special needs into the programmes for all the other normal children. This is, arguably, more resource-intensive. It stretches the teachers a lot because in each of those centres, we need to have dedicated teachers who are able to do those programmes with the children. But arguably, from a social integration point of view, that is a better outcome. Between these two contrasting models, we have to find the balancing point between what we are able to do with what is optimal from a social integration viewpoint. And my Ministry will continue to look at this issue closely.”
“The answer is "yes". We are closely working with the Ministry of Manpower to see how we can expand the pool of teachers trained in this speciality and that includes the possibility of looking for foreign trained teachers.”
“Mdm Speaker, from 1 October this year, Early Intervention Programmes for Infants and Children (EIPIC) teachers are required to attend certified training in early intervention within two years of joining the sector. The courses include Ngee Ann Polytechnic's two-year part-time Advanced Diploma in Early Childhood Intervention for Special Needs and certificate courses run by the Autism Resource Centre. Eighty per cent of the course fee is covered by subsidies from the VWO-Charities Capability Fund. The Development Support Programme (DSP) supports children in mainstream preschool with mild learning difficulties. An eight-month course is in place to train the Learning Support Educators to equip them to screen the children and to carry out in-class support. In addition to these efforts, the Early Childhood Development Agency will support preschool educators to develop deeper professional competencies and skills by putting in place structured career pathways for the early childhood sector. Opportunities for upgrading are also being expanded through a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Masterplan, which has seen over 5,000 teachers trained this year. More CPD courses will be added next year, which will include courses that help teachers identify and support children with special needs.”
“Like in many other countries, we have found that the result for the child is more positive if we are able to encourage the child to stay in a homely environment in the community rather than a residential or institutional environment, which is always artificial at its best.”
“We believe that in such an environment, the Page: 24 child is best able to re-integrate with his immediate family, rehabilitate and re-establish the family ties where possible. In the event that we are unable to have the child placed in a relative's home or an immediate family member's home, the second tier would be foster-care. Again, we believe that this is still better than a residential or institutional environment because this provides a more natural environment for the child to grow up and be re-integrated into the community. As a final resort, if we do not have family support and are unable to find a suitable foster parent for the child, we will put the child into an institutional home. But even at this stage, we will be constantly looking out for opportunities to re-integrate the child with the family or, if not, to bring the child to a suitable foster family for him or her to grow up in a more homely environment. I do not think at this point in time resources have been a constraint. However, we would like to encourage more families to come forward to provide foster care for the children. I have recently made known at the 25th Anniversary of the Muhammadiyah Welfare Home that we are, indeed, looking at more families coming forward to join the Foster Parents Scheme. Even if a new foster family cannot take on the responsibility immediately, we are exploring ways to induct the family progressively into the Foster Parents Scheme and also to help the child build up the relationship progressively with the foster parent family.”
“Mdm Speaker, with reference to the first question, yes, there is indeed a formal review process should any children under our care come into harm's way or should there be an unfortunate incident where a death occurs. But there are two separate processes. One is for cases that are known to us but not under the Child Protection Service. And the other one has to do with children under our care and that could include children under residential care. In both scenarios, in any incident where anything untoward happens to the young child, we would initiate a review process like what the Member has suggested. We will look through our own processes to see where we can tighten or where there might have been lapses, we will take action accordingly. So, there are processes in place whenever such an unfortunate incident happens. For us, we take each and every case very seriously because whether the child is directly under the charge of the Child Protection Service or is under one of our programmes, we would always want all the stakeholders to come together to look at the case again to see how we can do better, especially when the child suffers an injury. We would want to see how we can protect the child and prevent this from happening again. On the second question about the separation of the child from their family, indeed, we agree with the Member that it is always very difficult and painful for us to have to take a child away from the family. That is why when we look at the cases and do the case conference for each and every individual case, we do what we call a triage system whereby we have the three levels of care arrangement. The first level of care arrangement is, as far as possible, for the child to continue to stay with the immediate family or one of his kin.”
“Mdm Speaker, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) takes a serious view of each referred case that raises concerns over a child's safety. We conduct investigations to assess the risks posed to the child's safety, the needs of the child and family, and work out an appropriate intervention plan for the family. Depending on the circumstances of the case, the child may be able to remain in the parents' care, with safety plans and support services in place or, if an alternative care arrangement is necessary, we will first explore kinship care, followed by foster care and, as a last resort, placement in a residential home. Each year, of all cases referred to MSF for investigation, about 10% or fewer than 20 cases involved parents or caregivers with mental illness and violent behaviour. Not all cases are referred or known to the Ministry. There are potentially vulnerable cases in the community which we would like to extend support to. This is where we hope the community can play a part to help us to reach out to these families. We can all stay vigilant and alert the authorities if we come across any children in vulnerable circumstances. Families facing stress can also seek help early by visiting the nearest Family Service Centre or Social Service Office. As the issues can be complex, we need the collaboration of different stakeholders and professionals to provide multi-dimensional support for these families.”
“For the 2001 to 2005 birth cohorts, parents had six years to open and save in the Child Development Accounts (CDAs). About 3% or 2,600 of the children do not have CDAs. For the 2006-20135 birth cohorts, so far, 5% or 11,600 of the children do not have CDAs. As parents now have 12 years to open CDAs, we expect this percentage to fall over time. Similarly, we expect the percentage of parents who save to the CDA co-savings cap to increase over time. The approved uses for CDA funds were expanded in 2012. Parents may choose to use the funds to pay for educational and healthcare expenses within the 12 years, or save for post-Secondary education6. As there is a longer period and more approved uses, we expect the utilisation for the 2006-2013 birth cohorts to increase over time. MSF does not track the longitudinal household income changes of the families who open CDA accounts. We are thus unable to provide the proportion by household income of those who have yet to open their CDA accounts or those who have reached the maximum co-savings cap for the 2006-2013 birth cohorts.”
“Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club contribute their surplus to community and charitable causes through the Singapore Totalisator Board. Details of these contributions can be found on its website.”
“Under the Casino Control (Responsible Gambling) Regulations, the casino operators are required to implement a Responsible Gambling Programme that meets minimum standards. This has taken effect from 1 January 2014. The programme covers areas, such as pre-commitment or voluntary loss limit, operator-imposed casino exclusion, patron education and employee training on responsible gambling and intervention for problem gambling. The authority conducts regular inspections and audits to ensure that the programme at each casino is implemented effectively. Disciplinary action may be taken if the operators do not comply with the requirements. To date, no such action has been taken. Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club are adoptees of the Responsible Gambling Code of Practice introduced by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG). Both operators have in place responsible gambling measures, such as self-exclusion, employee training and patron education, that meet industry standards. Singapore Pools has also achieved Level 4 Certification – the highest tier – of the World Lottery Association Responsible Gaming Framework Certification Programme. MSF will continue to work closely with the operators through the Responsible Gambling Forum, to raise responsible gambling standards across the gambling industry. The casino operators, as part of their corporate social responsibility, continue to contribute towards local community and social causes. Some of the voluntary organisations which have benefited from their contributions include the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Metta School, the Singapore Association for the Deaf, self-help groups and the Community Chest.”
“Needy families requiring financial assistance for day-to-day expenses can approach the Social Service Offices (SSOs) to apply for ComCare assistance. Since last year, we have expanded the network of SSOs island-wide to improve access for needy residents in their respective towns. There are currently 14 SSOs and this will increase to 23 by the middle of next year. In addition, credit co-operatives may provide unsecured loans to their members who are earning regular income and have the ability to repay the loans. Those who wish to start or expand their microbusinesses can also consider the MicroCredit Business Scheme which was set up by Tote Board and currently administered by SE Hub Ltd and POSB Bank.”
“And from the experience of how we manage the terrestrial gambling issue, we have never shied away from evolving our social safeguards according to needs and we must continue to do so even on the cyber front. And the role of the Government and the NCPG is to continue to work closely with our community stakeholders on the upstream, midstream and downstream measures. The day that we are complacent about this challenge, the day that we pass this Bill and think that we have solved all the problems will be the day we go down the slippery slope. Let me conclude. This is an evolving challenge. It is a difficult challenge. We need to stay vigilant to stay ahead of the threat and the challenges. We need to stay ahead and be prepared to strengthen our safeguards as necessary proactively and creatively. And we need concerted efforts by all – individuals, families and society – to keep our eyes on this issue. And we need to make sure that our measures are multi-pronged – upstream, midstream and downstream.”
“Parents and friends need to help look out for each other to look out for signs of trouble so that we can alert the person to seek help where necessary. Very important and very often, in an Asian context, people do not feel that they want to interfere in someone Page: 99 else's affairs. But we have to overcome that and to encourage the problem gambler to seek help. But most importantly, family members and friends should not feed the habit. I have come across cases of those who try to help a person who already has a problem gambling habit out of goodwill, by trying to lend him some money to try one more time, thinking that this habit will go away. It would not. At the societal level, the most important thing is never to be complacent. We need to keep abreast of the evolving threats. We need to keep abreast of the technological changes and the methods which the operators might be pushing onto our society. For operators who are in this country, if they do not abide by the rules and regulations that we have set out to the letter of the law or to the spirit of the law, we know what to do with them. This is why it is incumbent upon us as a society to work together such that even if there is one local operator who is exempted from this, we make sure that we hold them to the high standards and account for their behaviour. Because if you do business locally and you do not abide by the spirit of the law, not just the letter of the law, then I think we know what to do with you. At the same time, I must say this. We must never think that this Bill is the be all and end all. The technology will change. The methods will change and we must be prepared to evolve our social safeguards according to the needs.”
“But for those who fall, we have the National Addictions Management Service (NAMS), we have the Thye Hwa Kwan Problem Gambling Recovery Centre and Family Service Centres to provide counselling services to help these people get back on their feet again. But I must say this. Rehabilitation is not just about a point in time. Rehabilitation is a long journey for many and for all who have walked through this path. Rehabilitation and constant support to stay away from gambling is a long journey that requires the help of not just the counsellors but also their families and their loved ones who are walking the journey with the problem of pathological gamblers. And this is how we intend to continue to strengthen our social safeguards. Let me now touch on the responsibilities that Er Lee Bee Wah had mentioned. Indeed, we need the individual to be responsible. We need the family members to play a part and we need society to play its part as well. For the individual, we agree that it is the first and also the final line of defence. The individual must know the harm which problem gambling brings to himself and his loved ones. He must know his own limits; he must know his own weaknesses and his own vulnerabilities. Only so will he be able to set limits for himself to prevent himself from succumbing. And this is why the cyber-wellness programme is so important, not just only to our youth but also to our people who have gone out of the school system. But beyond the individual, their friends and families play an important part. Er Lee Bee Wah talked about parents setting a positive example. Yes, it is true. Parents need to set a positive example.”
“Has he been excluded from the terrestrial casino? Today, we cannot even do that. Tomorrow, we have every intention to do that. There should be no difference. If you are excluded from the terrestrial casino because of self-harm or because of third party exclusion, there should be no reason for us to grant you the ability to join the remote gambling scene. Indeed, there are best practices elsewhere from Norway that suggest that you can impose expenditure limits. You can impose bank transfer limits. You can impose conditions that there is no betting on credit. Mr Ang Wei Neng asked if we should implement a player's card. Actually, for remote gambling, we can achieve all the things that we want even without a player's card because we can monitor closely the habits of the gamblers and to pick up the people who may need help. Page: 98 So, we have every intention to look carefully at what other people do and to seriously look at the safeguards before we even consider granting any exemption. And it is incumbent on whoever who wants an exemption to prove to us that they have the necessary safeguards in place before we entertain their request. Having said that, having all the upstream measures, the midstream measures, we accept and we acknowledge that despite our best efforts, some will fall. And this is where we need to strengthen our system to make sure that help is available to those who fall. We have already brought in place a system for self-exclusion for people to understand their own limits and to put in exclusion for themselves if they are afraid of breaching their limits. We have also brought in place Third Party Exclusions and all these will be similarly applied to the remote gambling scene.”
“If we do not know at all, either because they substituted their habits through other means or if they go underground, then it is also very difficult or, if not, impossible for us to monitor and render help where necessary. Arguably, even for the terrestrial casino operators now, we have some ability to monitor those who go there and that ability allows us to translate it into help for those who need help. The question is not whether we can ban it or not ban it. The question is not so much as to whether we want to ban it or not want to ban it. The question is, which is the best way for us to manage this very difficult problem where we know that some people will have such a habit. How can we detect them? How can we render help and as far as possible protect their families from falling into harm's way. That is the real challenge. So, what are some of the social safeguards that we can envisage for these exempt operators? From MSF's perspective, it is much better than what the situation we are in today. Today, anybody, literally anybody, can open an account without much prior checks. Tomorrow, if anybody desires to be exempted, we are able to set in place the hurdles required for them to cross before we even consider them. And like what was suggested by Mr Ang Wei Neng, we can look at some of the measures that other people have implemented. The Norwegian example is one. How can we set criteria that protect our people? For example, before someone gets a membership with the exempt operators, can we verify the age? Can we make a request that he shows and demonstrates that he has not brought financial harm to his family? Does he have the means to engage in this habit? We can also check from our terrestrial casino controlled measures.”
“The question is, does this send a message that we are inadvertently accepting it or encouraging it? I think the answer is no. We know that, for practical reasons, it may not be possible for us to block every site, but we are determined to block all sites unless there is a specific exemption. This is our determination to send a strong signal that we do not encourage remote gambling in our system. The question that many Members have spoken passionately about is: will this exemption regime work? Will it open a slippery slope for people to go into what they might think as a sanctioned way for them to gamble? It is a difficult topic. Many of you have spoken of the fear that if we ban it totally, it will create a substitution effect whereby they go to other means to gamble. Yes, those concerns are valid. Some of you have spoken up about how it would be driven underground. Yes, again, those are valid concerns. Some of you asked: can it work for a determined gambler? Would he be able to use technology to bypass the controls? Again, we know that for a very determined person, he may be able to do so. But we are still nevertheless determined to do what we can to block the advertisement and also the promotion of such activities in our system. Then, there is this thing that we need to ask ourselves. As some of you have mentioned, we know that this issue will not go away and that some people will fall to temptation. Our issue from the social safeguard perspective is what is the best way for us to manage this issue? How can we best help our people should they fall and to help them to get out of the Page: 97 situation that they are in? If we know that, there is at least a way for us to help them.”
“My worry goes beyond the schools; my worries go to the young who have since left school and who have now acquired their own financial means to enter this market if they so lack the discipline and fall into temptation. But education cannot stop just at the individual level. Education must also reach out to family members and friends because that is our next line of defence. Family members and friends play an important role to try to pick up danger signs should someone fall into temptation or succumb to the evils of gambling. Education must also encompass information on where people can seek help should some loved ones fall into the trap of being a problem Page: 96 gambler or a pathological gambler. Likewise, for upstream measures, this is the reason why the Bill imposes very strict measures on the issues of advertisement and promotion. If we do not stop this and if we allow this, then whatever efforts we do in the school will be negated. And this is the reason for the strong measures within the Bill to outlaw advertisement and outreach to the targeted audience, especially the Singapore audience. What about midstream mitigation? Many Members have also mentioned that today, we impose very stringent responsible gambling measures on the two casino operators and also on Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club. We will expect ourselves to do no less for the remote gambling sphere. If anything, the remote gambling sphere is more difficult because there is a lack of a human interface. In the terrestrial casino, there is a human interface but in the remote gambling sphere, there may not be a human interface. We would want to strengthen our social safeguards by making sure that we block all the sites unless otherwise exempted.”
“The dangers of lack of self-discipline and the dangers of temptation will always be there. While I agree with many Members that we need to start young and we need to start in the school, I will go further and say that this cannot stop at the school. If anything, I am more comforted by the fact that we have structured programmes and structured channels of outreach in the schools. We must never think that just because we have done a good job in the schools, the problem will never emerge in the lifetime of the individual ever again. If anything, we have to be even more concerned with the fact that once a person leaves school, we do not have the same structured platforms and channels to reach out to them to continue to reinforce this message of the dangers of gambling in general and remote gambling in particular. And as Mr Pritam Singh has said, indeed, the methods of outreach have to be different, which is why many of the NGOs have started exploring counselling beyond face-to-face counselling. It goes to counselling on the web, on the Internet platform and we will have to continue to innovate, to find new channels to reach out to those people who use the Internet for remote gambling. Similarly, NCPG is working with Fei Yue Community Services and Touch Community Services to draw up new programmes to reach out to our students in the school. Many of these programmes start from the basis of having good cyber-wellness programmes, good cyber habits so that they do not fall prey to those unscrupulous operators who try to use social games to try to groom our young to take on the habit of gambling when they become older. Yes, I agree that we need to do much in the schools and we will do so, but we cannot stop at the schools.”
“The nature of gambling in general and remote gambling in particular is that it is a constantly evolving challenging. It is an evergreen challenge that we will have to tackle today, tomorrow and forever. Our only hope is to make sure that in order to stay safe, we have to stay alert to the challenges that emerge every day and to stay abreast of the technological changes and the evolving challenges. From the social safeguard perspective, let me say that we cannot solve this problem with any one measure alone. We need a multi-pronged approach to manage the issue of problem and pathological gambling. We need upstream preventive measures, we need midstream mitigation measures and we need downstream remedial measures. And, as Er Dr Lee Bee Wah said, we need the individual to take responsibility, we need their family and friends to play a part, and we need the society to come together to keep our eyes on this challenge. Let me start with upstream preventive measures. Many Members have spoken about the need to educate our young upfront. And indeed, it is so. Education is the first line of defence to help our own people understand the dangers of gambling and remote gambling in particular. Remote gambling is a very difficult issue because it can start from some seemingly harmless social games. We have no intention to deny Singaporeans from enjoying their social Page: 95 games but we have serious issues if the social games are designed to groom the young to take on a gambling habit whereby they start learning and appreciating how to buy and sell credits and eventually how to monetise some of these credits. This process of grooming is insidious and we have seen this in many other countries. So, this is what we have to be very careful about.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me cover some of the social safeguards before Minister Iswaran wraps up the debate on the Remote Gambling Bill. First, let me thank all the Members for supporting the Bill and also more importantly, sharing your concerns with regard to the Bill. I understand and I appreciate that for quite a few of you, this has been a very difficult topic as per any debate on the issue of managing gambling in Singapore. Remote gambling is particularly challenging for us, as many Members had pointed out. Page: 94 All of us understand that with the advent of technology, today, for a determined gambler, he literally has the casino in his pocket. The question is: how do we go forth to manage this problem – not to solve but to manage it. Because if we can solve it, we would have wanted to do so. Similarly, how can we find the most effective ways to safeguard our society from the harms of gambling in general and remote gambling in particular? [Deputy Speaker (Mr Charles Chong) in the Chair] I would also like to thank all the Members for their various suggestions on how we can move forward with the Bill and how to strengthen the social safeguards and the control measures with respect to this difficult issue. We will certainly look into many of the suggestions and we have every intention to look at them seriously to see how we can manage this difficult issue. Let me first of all be very clear that, personally, I am under no illusion, no illusion whatsoever, that this Bill by itself alone will eradicate gambling in general or remote gambling in particular. I am also under no illusion that this Bill, as it stands, will address all current and future issues if it stays static.”
“But if your certificate issuer is at any time uncomfortable to make that assessment, the certificate issuer has the right and the responsibility to step back from that, rather than to just certify it blindly. I do not think most of the certificate issuers or all of the certificate issuers just do it as if they do not bother with the procedures. I trust that the certificate issuers, being professionals in their own right, must do their duties professionally. On the last question about the OPG, the OPG will investigate and trigger actions as and when we require, because we will monitor the cases that are put before us and also those that have registered with us.”
“Madam, on the Member's three supplementary questions, the option is still there and I do not think it is cumbersome if a person requests for someone to be informed. It can just be written down and the donor, understanding his or her own rights, responsibilities and roles, can actually request for that. I do not think that it has been removed. But I must also remind Ms Lim that prior to this, if we just trace back the last one year, we have had nine letters at least to the Forum Page, and many others, asking us to simplify the process because the bulk of the Singaporeans – the vast majority of the Singaporeans – will be able to do with Form 1. For the minority that requires additional instructions, Form 2 is always available. That is how we have designed the system to allow a simple form to cater to the vast majority that do not have complex arrangements. For people who require additional arrangements, there is always Form 2 available. As Ms Lim has said, it is not very cumbersome to do Form 2, if they have additional requirements. On the second issue about the comparison with other countries, when we designed the whole process, actually, the Singapore's system of LPA is by far much more onerous than that of other countries. In some other countries, including the examples that Ms Lim has mentioned, I am not so sure that everybody abides by the same. We have examples whereby there are countries which would just ask somebody who may not even be a professional to Page: 43 certify that. We are personally not satisfied with that, which is why we have controlled the number of people who can be certificate issuers to make sure that only professionals who understand the law are able to make that assessment. The Member is right – it is not onerous to do that.”
“The Public Guardian can act either on whistle-bowling when someone makes a complaint or if the Public Guardian has reasonable grounds to suspect that a donee is not acting in the best interest of the donor. In a recent case that has caught the attention of many Singaporeans, the Public Guardian has done three things on its own. One, it has come to his attention that the donee may not have acted in the best interest of the donor. It triggered off an investigation with the Commercial Affairs Department. Two, the Public Guardian has asked for a board of visitors to visit the person concerned to ensure that the well-being of the person is kept. Finally, in a dispute like this, the Public Guardian has, last week, put before the Court two requests: one, to set aside the rights of the donee to act on behalf of the donor in that particular case to safeguard her interests; two, to make an independent assessment whether the donor has the capability and the mental capacity to act in her own interest as of now.”
“Or is the system not working?" If the person is not doing the job and we add additional layers to make sure that the person does his job, I think we should be very careful. Does that encourage the person to do his job better? When many people are responsible for something, it usually means nobody is responsible for anything. So, I would rather have a system where I assign very clear responsibility – if you collect the professional fees, you are expected to do a good job to certify whether the person is acting independently and has the best capacity of mind. I can Page: 41 appreciate that sometimes a second pair of eyes does help. But we must always be careful not to overly burden the system so that you generate a dissipation of the responsibility and, in the end, no one is fully responsible. And this is the reason why there is a difference between the administrative fee that was waived by MSF – $50 previously – versus the professional fees that are being charged by the certificate issuer, which is not waived. On the fourth question, should we take more care when it comes to vulnerable groups, especially the lonely? Yes, definitely. There will be a growing population of older people in Singapore in time to come and we can expect that many of these vulnerable lonely elderly will require more help. I have, in this year's Committee of Supply debates, announced that we are looking at strengthening some of the rules and regulations on how we can better safeguard the interests of our vulnerable lonely elderly. Maybe we do not need it now, but we will certainly need it in time to come. The last supplementary question that Ms Lim asked was what the Public Guardian's role was.”
“The thing was removed with the feedback from the few thousand cases that we had handled in the past and they said that actually, they could still inform their family members if they wished to do so. I must say here, at this point in time, that not everyone wants to inform certain family members of their decision and that is the dilemma. We leave it to the best judgement of the individuals to inform the persons that they want to inform. The current arrangement allows them to do that. If anyone has any special arrangements beyond Form 1, they can put into Form 2 the additional instructions given to the OPG. So, it is still allowed. But I must say that we must not make the assumption that we know who the person, the donor, should inform because the donor has his or her own considerations as to whom he or she may wish or not wish to inform. Question two is already answered: should we bring back the safeguard? Actually, the safeguard is in place. Form 1 today caters to the bulk of the people. More than 90% of the people will be able to use Form 1 and it will fulfil most of their needs. For the minority of cases who want to have an additional layer of safeguard, that can be specified in Form 2. So, that allows people to do what they wish to do. Third question: what about the certificate issuer? Whether we have one certificate issuer consulting with another certificate issuer, what has not changed is that I expect the certificate issuer to do his or her job professionally. They are psychiatrists; they are practising lawyers and they are doctors who are accredited with the Public Guardian. So, I have always been very careful ever since I was young. When something has gone wrong, I would ask, "Is the person not doing his job and therefore should I punish the person?”
“Mdm Speaker, let me provide a bit of context to all of Ms Lim's questions. As I have spoken at the beginning, we have two sets of things now. In the past, we only had one and, that is, if someone loses his mental capacity, he goes to Court or the relative goes to Court and try and get a deputyship to act. That is always onerous and sometimes costly. I personally have cases that come to me at my Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS), where the relatives of the family could not act in a timely fashion because they did not have LPA and there were no rights for the family members or the relatives to act in a timely manner, like even renting out a property to collect rent in order to pay for the nursing home charges. With that, we have come to the LPA, which is a facilitative arrangement to Page: 40 help family members avoid all these legal complications so that they can quickly act in the best interest of the person who has lost his mental capacity. So, for the first question, it is always important to remember this at the back of our mind, because I can always understand and appreciate that when something happens, there is always a desire for us to add more new rules to it. But in adding the rules, we have to find a balance between facilitating the majority of the cases and having a framework that can handle the exceptional cases. And I will explain why our current framework allows the majority of the cases to be handled easily and facilitates decision-making and, at the same time, allows us to catch some of these exceptional cases. Ms Lim's first question is why did we remove that additional step.”
“We need the collective cooperation of everyone involved in order to fully realise the intent and potential of the legislation.”
“After obtaining agreement of their donees for the appointment, the donor is required to see a certificate issuer as an independent check. The role of the certificate issuer is to certify that the donor understands the purpose of the LPA and is not under undue pressure. Page: 38 Three categories of persons can be certificate issuers – practising lawyers, psychiatrists and medical practitioners accredited by the Public Guardian. All three parties – the donor, donee and certificate issuer – are to also have read and understood the prescribed information on the LPA form. Next, the LPA needs to be registered to take legal effect. When an application is submitted to the Office of Public Guardian, various checks are done to ensure compliance to the requirements. These include accuracy checks on the information in the form such as ensuring that if two donees are appointed, it is specified in the form whether they are to act jointly or jointly and severally; and that the signatures of the donor in different parts of the form are consistent. The Act further provides safeguards to ensure that the best interests of the individual are protected if he or she loses mental capacity. Should a donee not act in the best interests of the donor, the legislation provides for whistle-blowing so that the Public Guardian can investigate and take up an application to court to remove the donee. Everyone has a role to play and a responsibility to uphold within the LPA framework – the donor in his choice of donee; the certificate issuer in ascertaining the donor's understanding; the donee in acting in the best interest of the donor; and the OPG in its registry and investigative functions.”
“Madam, the Lasting Power of Attorney, or LPA for short, is a legal instrument that allows individuals, called donors, to appoint other persons, called donees, to make decisions for them, should they lose their mental capacity in future. Let me provide a bit of context. Before the Mental Capacity Act was in force, there was no pre-planning instrument available. Families of those without mental capacity had no choice but to go through the Court process in order to make decisions to transact on their behalf. Such court applications can be onerous and costly. In contrast to the previous regime, the mental capacity legislation of today is one that is facilitative and underpins the roles and responsibilities of donors and donees. There are a few layers of safeguards in this entire process. Let me start, first, and that is education. It is important that Singaporeans understand the intent and the spirit of the LPA. As such, the most fundamental safeguard would be education on the LPA and the Act, for the donees and the donors to understand their roles, responsibilities and rights. To this end, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has conducted more than 600 talks on the subject and we will continue to spread the message. MSF will continue to educate Singaporeans and other stakeholders so that there is greater familiarity with the LPA framework, especially with regard to the rights, roles and responsibilities of the donors, donees and other parties concerned. Second, making an LPA is a very personal decision. Donors should consider who they wish to appoint as their donees carefully. The person should be someone whom the donor trusts and who knows the donor's interests, preferences and beliefs.”
“So, they are not going to go for a lot of examinations and tests on the academic side, but more on practical skills that can help them. And we are talking about educarers – we are not talking about the people who are teaching the languages, as those would need certain qualifications – with practical skill sets, and we hope that we can have these people.”
“Mdm Speaker, indeed, the issue is not the availability of childcare places but the number of people that we can recruit. For example, in Yishun, I think overall and nation-wide, in the last about five years, we have increased the number of places by three times. But the enrolment rate in Yishun is particularly high. Today, you are at about 88% to 89% enrolment, meaning the places are all filled up. The rest have to do with a bit of matching because of the differences in the level. Indeed, we are trying to expand the number of people that we can recruit. And let me assure the Member and all Members of this House – do not think that it is our intention to make the qualifications very academic; in fact, I do not think many of the qualifications and the courses are that academic. For most trainees, we recruit them on what we call a place-and-train basis, that is, we recruit them, they show the correct aptitude, they show the skill sets and can give assurance to the parents that they are able to take care of the children, then we do the modularised training and upgrade them along the way. That helps us to bring them quickly into the workforce, into the sector, and when we need to, upgrade them on some of the handling skills. I agree with the Member that many of our parents never went through this kind of courses but they brought us up all right, I hope so. So, what we are looking for are not academic qualifications. What we are looking for are people with the right skill sets that give assurance to the parents who leave their children with us. Some issues in terms of safety, Page: 23 hygiene – these are fundamental aspects of training. And at the same time, educarers must have the heart to want to care for the children.”
“So, we are Page: 22 doing all this and we will continue to welcome any ideas in order to supplement the manpower in this case.”
“Mdm Speaker, in response to the first supplementary question from Dr Intan, yes, indeed, the attrition rate is higher than what we would like it to be. We want to bring this down, which is why we are working closely with MOE and the ASPIRE Committee. The first thing we need to do better is to make sure that we counsel the people taking up early childhood care and development courses, that they must have a passion and they must be prepared to undertake the work in the sector. Like many other sectors in the Polytechnics or even in the ITE, there would be people who took up the courses but eventually did not take on the particular job there. I do not have the exact attrition rate but I know that it is much higher than what I would like it to be. I can get the numbers for the Member subsequently. So, this is what we want to do – to reduce the attrition from the pipeline. That is something that we need to work together with the operators and also do counselling. On her second question on the flexi scheme, as she called it, indeed, that is what we are working closely with the operators to do, not just for the women who are returning to work but also some of the people who have recently retired and are able to play a role in the sector. In fact, we are prepared to be very flexible to get the manpower into the sector. Recently, we started a scheme, which is to have a registry of all the people who have just left the sector or who have retired from the sector, for them to come back as part-timers to join us as and when they want. They not only provide a ready source of manpower, they also provide supplementary manpower for our own teachers in the sector to go for training. Without them, it will be very difficult for our teachers to upgrade themselves.”
“In this sector, we will have to work very closely with the operators in managing the supply and the demand of child care because this sector is operated by a number of Anchor Operators and many more private operators. So, we have to talk to operators to make sure that they work with us to provide the career opportunities for the teachers to be recruited in the sector and to stay in the sector. Last but not least, for many of the places like Yishun, what we are seeing is that childcare places are available but the critical shortage is in the recruitment of the teachers. And we have seen some innovative ideas from some other estates whereby they recruit part-timers and women who are hoping to return to work after bringing up their children. And these are Page: 21 auxiliary manpower that we can quickly get in to staff the centres. So, the availability of childcare places is not necessarily the bottleneck for Yishun. It is the recruitment of the educarers that are required and we welcome suggestions on how we can strengthen this pipeline, especially in a very labour-tight market.”
“Some of the high demand areas, like Nee Soon South, Punggol and Woodlands, are where we have allowed the Anchor Operators to quickly expand capacity. The second set of things that we want to do better on the demand side is to make sure that we get the incentives right, so that we target the subsidies to those people and families who need help the most, so as to avoid a situation where people over-consume the services that they may not necessarily require. On the supply side, we are also doing four things to make sure that we increase the supply to meet the demand. First, we want to make sure that we strengthen the process of recruitment upstream. We are giving out more scholarships and more training awards, and these will strengthen the pipeline of people coming through to the sector. Second, what we are going to do is to review the career pathways and progression for people to find it attractive and professionally challenging to stay in the sector. Third, we want to make sure that in terms of retention of manpower, we will be able to stretch the career of the early childhood professionals so that we reduce the churn in the sector and also to reduce the training resources we need to pump into this sector. And the last thing is getting the sites right. So, we have placed a lot of emphasis on areas with a larger population of younger families, for example, Woodlands, Punggol, Pasir Ris, Sengkang and some parts of Yishun Town itself. In the eastern part of Yishun Town, we have a lot of new families coming on board. So, these are various things that we are doing to make sure that we better match the demand and the supply of childcare. Finally, if I may just share, the structure of the sector is a bit different from some other industries.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me reply to Er Dr Lee Bee Wah's questions. Indeed, we have a challenge now. And let me explain how ECDA and the Ministry try to work with the various operators to try to meet this challenge of the supply and demand issues in the childcare sector. On the demand side, we are doing two things to make sure that we have the places at the correct location. The first thing, as Members will know, is that we recently introduced a registration management system. This gives us a better fix of who are the people who are really in the queue or demand. And what we have discovered, very quickly, is that the real or actual demand is a fraction of what the queue may have represented in the past. For those operators who have come on board with us, they are able to deconflict the people who have either got a place somewhere else but never informed them and they should be out of the queue, or there are people who are queuing at multiple centres, sometimes more than 10 centres, and that messes up the projection demand. So, the first thing we want to do better is for the registration management system to get a better queue system in place, to know the actual demand. That will allow the operators to better site their operations to where it is required. So, that is the first thing – right Page: 20 numbers. The second thing that we want to do better is to make sure that the planning of places in each level is correct. Because while the total number of places is one thing that we are concerned with, we are also concerned with the number of places in each level – whether it is N1, N2, infant care, and so forth, so that there can be better matching. The third thing is a better siting of the location.”
“So, I would like to ask: what is the average waiting time and what more can be done, because every week I have been seeing residents asking for help. I wonder if this problem is unique to Nee Soon South or it is a nation-wide problem.”