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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“Mdm Speaker, this list is illustrative and by no means exhaustive. It illustrates how we share the fruits of our success with all Singaporeans by providing more for those with less. Our strategy is to have multiple lines of assistance to help fellow Singaporeans with differing needs. These range from broad-based subsidies that benefit many, to targeted assistance for smaller groups who need additional help. The eligibility criteria vary, depending on the target group of beneficiaries and the purpose of assistance. For essential needs, such as housing and healthcare, or developmental areas, such as early childhood development, education and training, our subsidies generally cover a wider group of Singaporeans, with greater levels of support and subsidies provided for the lower income. The eligibility criteria are developed according to the groups we help. For example, our childcare subsidies cover up to the 67th percentile of households with preschool children while the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) card caters to the lower- and middle-income households earning up to a per capita income (PCI) of $1,800. There are also programmes that support a smaller group of low-income Singaporeans who need extra support. Examples include ComCare, which provides both short- and longer-term assistance to families in need. Similarly, the income criteria for these schemes reflect the low-income and needy groups that we help. However, there is flexibility within the help system to cater to those who may not meet the criteria but who are genuinely in need. On the other hand, Workfare has a different objective. Workfare is designed to mitigate wage inequality, rather than to meet certain basic needs.”
“Mdm Speaker, this Government cares for all Singaporeans. Our priority is to uplift as many Singaporeans as possible for them to enjoy quality lives by having a stable home, meaningful jobs, quality healthcare and good education opportunities to fulfil their potential – not just for oneself but to also contribute to society where possible. New technology and global competition have posed new challenges and widened the income difference in many societies. We, too, face similar challenges where our low- and middle-income families find it challenging to keep pace. For this reason, we must complement efforts to uplift all Singaporeans by ensuring that we share the fruits of our nation's success with those who are less fortunate and those who may not be able to keep pace. Page: 28 While we are committed to help our low- and middle-income families keep pace with the rest, we also recognise that the more successful ones have a duty to share with the rest. This must be our social compact to stay united and cohesive. Ms Foo Mee Har asked about the eligibility criteria for our different help schemes. Mdm Speaker, may I have your permission to distribute a set of table and chart on the key schemes we currently have to share the fruits of our nation's success with Singaporeans across the board?”
“It is meted out only as a last resort after counselling and alternative disciplinary methods have repeatedly failed. There are clear procedures in place for meting out caning, to safeguard the safety and longer-term mental and physical well-being of the child. The punishment is usually followed up with counselling to help the offenders/students learn from their mistakes, accept the consequences and learn that they must take responsibility for and control their actions. Foreign children with a Singapore parent can currently apply to be educated in local or international schools and access healthcare services. They, however, do not enjoy the same level of healthcare and education subsidies as citizen children. Families in such circumstances can take steps to apply for Singapore citizenship for the child or formalise parental rights so as to secure care arrangements in the best interests of the child.”
“The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as below 18 years of age. Under the Children and Young Persons Act, a child or young person is a person aged below 16 years. Notwithstanding the different legal age definitions, Singapore is committed to protecting and rehabilitating children and young persons, including those above 16 years old. There are legislative provisions to protect older youth. For example, the Penal Code provides protection against commercial sexual exploitation for all persons below 18 years of age and the Women's Charter provides protection for girls and women who are or may be sexually exploited. For older youth who commit an offence, there are services and programmes in place that take a restorative instead of a punitive approach. These include court diversionary measures that redirect first-time young offenders up to 19 years who commit minor offences to voluntary rehabilitation programmes, and alternative sentencing options, such as Probation and Community Service Page: 189 orders. Although the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Singapore is seven, children below 12 years of age will not be considered to have committed an offence if they are judged to be of insufficient maturity to understand the consequences of their conduct.11 The main priority for very young offenders is to provide early intervention to prevent their behaviour from escalating to serious delinquency. Rehabilitation options are available in both the community and in residential settings, depending on the needs of each child. Corporal punishment in correctional institutions and in schools is sparingly used and for very serious offences only.”
“The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) regularly receives a range of complaints of child mismanagement. Prior to the formation of ECDA, these were directed to MSF and MOE. All complaints were investigated. The vast majority were found to be cases of miscommunication, misunderstandings or lapses, not wilful negligence or harm. Between 2011 and 2012, there was an average of seven cases per year showing evidence of child mismanagement by teachers. There was no upward trend. Action was taken against the pre-schools and early childhood teachers in question. The numbers show that the vast majority of operators and teachers are mindful of their responsibilities and discharge their duties diligently. Many considerations go into whether we should install CCTVs in all childcare centres. CCTVs can be useful to screen visitors for security reasons, Page: 188 or serve as verification when the facts of an incident are disputed. However, we should take care to ensure trust and partnership between teachers and parents. Regardless of the presence of CCTVs, the values and professional conduct of all caregivers, including parents and teachers, are of utmost importance to the proper supervision and holistic development of our children. ECDA will continue to review how standards and practices in our pre-school system can be further strengthened in areas, such as regulation, teacher training and support, physical design of centres and deployment of technology.”
“MSF does not have data on the questions raised. Persons who die alone without any family members reside in different settings. For those residing in facilities run by voluntary welfare organisations, Government-run homes or hospitals, arrangements on the funeral rites are usually made by the respective organisations. As for those living alone in their own homes, the arrangements and expenses are mostly taken care of by the community, sometimes with assistance from the Government. We have seen many kind neighbours, grassroots leaders, funeral homes and members of the public assisting with and making donations towards such arrangements. They may also approach the Social Service Offices or Community Development Councils if they require assistance or help with the funeral expenses.”
“Since 2011, all parents applying for maintenance are required to undergo conciliation. If conciliation is unsuccessful, the parent can proceed to file a claim for a Maintenance Order against their children at the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents. In making its decision, the Tribunal takes into consideration the financial needs and resources of both parent and child. If the Tribunal is satisfied that the parent had abandoned, abused or neglected the child, it may dismiss the application or reduce the quantum of maintenance ordered. The maintenance payments ordered by the Tribunal between 2011 and August 2013 ranged from $100 to $1,200 a month, with more than 90% receiving $600 or below. The average was about $300 per month. The year-to-year variation during the period was not significant. About 85% of those ordered to pay maintenance came from households who earned less than $2,500 per capita income.”
“Since Singapore's accession to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in December 2010, 30 out of the 90 Contracting States have declared their acceptance of Singapore’s accession and entered into a Convention relationship with Singapore. Since the enactment of the International Child Abduction Act in Singapore, the Singapore Central Authority (SCA) has handled four cases where the child was wrongfully removed from Singapore and one case where the child was wrongfully retained in Singapore. Most applicants and their children were of foreign nationalities. Countries involved include France, Germany, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the United States of America. The cases were addressed within an average of about 2.5 months, in accordance with the Convention's objectives, namely, to secure the prompt return of children wrongfully removed to or retained in any Contracting State, and protecting the best interests of children. The SCA also received requests from citizens of countries which were either not signatories to the Hague Convention or have yet to declare their acceptance of Singapore's accession to the Convention. For such requests, the SCA assisted by providing information on the legal process in Singapore, counselling services for those who required emotional support, and seeking information from the overseas central authorities on other options available for their citizens. As a fairly new Contracting State, Singapore will continue to engage and learn from other jurisdictions on the best practices with regard to fulfilling the international obligations under the Convention. Page: 183 Page: 184 Page: 185 Page: 186”
“Permits for the private jackpot clubs are regulated by MHA under the Private Lotteries Act. Thirteen out of 73 private jackpot clubs have voluntarily adopted the Responsible Gambling Code of Practice introduced by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) in 2007. These 13 clubs operate about 35% of all jackpot machines in such clubs. SPF's permit conditions for the clubs do not disallow the Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) system inside the jackpot rooms. We do not have data on the number or percentage of clubs with the EFTPOS system. The Government and the NCPG are committed to raise the standard of responsible gambling and to minimise problem gambling in Singapore. MSF and MHA are working together to review the regulatory framework and social safeguards for non-casino gambling, including the permit conditions, and minimum age for gambling at private jackpot clubs and other gambling venues. In addition, a Responsible Gambling Forum, comprising gambling industry and community leaders, has been established in April this year to enhance responsible gambling practices across all forms of gambling. It will take stock of existing responsible gambling measures, and discuss what more can be done to protect gamblers, especially the vulnerable. Page: 148”
“MSF continues to have efforts to promote marriages and to strengthen families. For example, our Social Development Network (SDN) reaches out to singles to provide them with information on dating resources, promotions and events. It also works with accredited dating agencies and community organisations to nurture a vibrant dating scene for singles. To strengthen marriages, MSF funds marriage preparation programmes conducted by trained counsellors. Each year, more than 500 couples would benefit from these programmes, which cover topics such as communication skills, conflict resolution and planning for a family. MSF also works with community partners such as the National Family Council, family service providers, educators and religious groups, to support couples at different stages of their marriage. For example, couples facing marital difficulties can approach Family Service Centres or relevant Voluntary Welfare Organisations for counselling and other support. We also work with businesses to create a family friendly environment. To date, more than 5,800 businesses have pledged to be family friendly, with more than 450 attaining the accredited Businesses for Families mark for attaining specific standards. Going forward, we will do even more to promote and strengthen families. In April this year, we launched the FamilyMatters! Initiative to give a greater push to family education and promotion efforts. We will tap on everyday touch points such as workplaces, schools and convenient locations within the community to heighten awareness and knowledge on topics such as marriage, work-life harmony and parenting. Page: 147”
“The work of social workers can be demanding and emotionally draining. To support them, the Ministry and the National Council of Social Service have implemented a range of measures for their development and self-care. In 2008, we introduced the Sabbatical Leave Scheme. Under the scheme, social workers who have served at least five years in the social service sector can apply for up to 10 weeks of paid leave to recharge and refresh themselves. It also provides social workers with funding to engage in professional development. Over the past five years, about 60 social workers have benefited from the Sabbatical Leave Scheme with funding amounting to about $1.3 million.”
“The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) conducts a survey on gambling participation among Singapore residents every three years. In 2011, the probable problem and pathological gambling rate among Singapore residents was around 2% to 3%, similar to the rate in 2008. Those in this group could be at different stages. Some are experiencing the effects of problem gambling, some have sought help and protection, while some are recovering and putting their lives back in order. Our rate is generally lower than other Asian jurisdictions such as Hong Kong and Macau, and similar to national studies in Australia and the United States. A perennial concern in many countries, including Singapore, is getting those with gambling problems and their families to seek help. Many do not come forward due to reasons, such as denial or fear of being stigmatised. Seen in this context, it is good that more gamblers are stepping forward to seek help at the National Addictions Management Service at the Institute of Mental Health – from 217 new cases in FY2009 to 356 new cases in FY2012. Those having problems can also consider other help services, such as the Thye Hua Kwan Problem Gambling Recovery Centre and other Voluntary Welfare Organisations. They can also call the NCPG helpline (1800-6-668-668) for a start. MSF will also continue to monitor and strengthen safeguards to address problem gambling where necessary. We will also continue to increase efforts to raise awareness of problem gambling, destigmatise and encourage help-seeking behaviour and enhance counselling and help services to problem gamblers and their families.”
“The Casino Control (Responsible Gambling) Regulations were promulgated and came into effect on 31 May this year. Under the Regulations, a casino operator must submit its responsible gambling programme to the authorities for prior approval. We have approved the responsible gambling programmes submitted by the casino operators earlier this month. Some of the measures which the operators had committed to include a dedicated committee to oversee responsible gambling efforts, a pre-commitment facility for patrons to limit their gambling expenditures, responsible gambling ambassadors to provide patrons with information and assist those who display signs of anxiety or distress, and systematic and regular training for their employees. The casino operators are expected to implement their approved programmes by 1 January 2014. Their programmes will be evaluated annually against jurisdictions, casinos and international responsible gambling bodies with good practices in this area. We will also conduct regular audits to ensure that the responsible gambling programme at each casino is implemented effectively. Disciplinary action may be taken if the operators do not comply with the requirements.”
“During the haze episode in June 2013, 1 million N95 masks were distributed through grassroots organisations to some 200,000 needy households with a per-capita income of less than $900. These households were verified through their membership in the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) Blue scheme or a simple self-declaration of income when they visited the Community Clubs/Centres for collection. Those who had pre-existing diseases and had difficulty getting masks could also approach the grassroots organisations for assistance. The People's Association grassroots network played a crucial role in identifying vulnerable groups and distributing the masks to them. Rather than using a poverty line as a single measure of need among at-risk or in-risk families, we have broader definitions of groups of Singaporeans we seek to help, clear criteria to help us identify them, and appropriate assistance schemes to help them. Page: 108 We conduct regular reviews to ensure that ComCare assistance remains relevant to the low-income and vulnerable. For example, the Public Assistance Scheme has been made more tailored to actual needs. Apart from a monthly allowance and free medical treatment, elderly recipients with additional needs can receive support for recurring medical consumables such as adult diapers or health supplements, as well as assistive equipment such as commodes and wheelchairs.”
“Different countries tailor their methods to identify and assist their needy according to their circumstance. Even amongst developed countries, New Zealand and Canada do not subscribe to official poverty lines. In Singapore, we use broad definitions for the groups we seek to help, have clear criteria to identify and assess those in need, and tailored schemes to assist them. A poverty line does not fully reflect the severity and complexity of the issues faced by poor families, which could include ill health, lack of housing or weak family relationships. If we use a single poverty line to assess the family, we also risk a "cliff effect", where those below the poverty line receive all forms of assistance, while other genuinely needy citizens outside the poverty line are Page: 107 excluded. Our assessment process is rigorous but also flexible to cater to the genuinely needy. Singaporeans who do not meet scheme criteria but who still deserve help, can receive assistance.”
“One of the requirements under the law for any person who desires to be a candidate at a parliamentary or presidential election, is to submit to the Returning Officer on Nomination Day a Political Donation Certificate (PDC) issued by the Registrar of Political Donations. The PDC certifies that the person has complied with the requirements under the Political Donations Act by sending a donation report and declaration in the prescribed forms to the Registrar of Political Donations. In response to media queries during the by-election for Hougang Constituency in 2012, ELD released the names of individuals who had received the PDCs. This however led to some complaints received from persons who felt that since ELD is not legally bound to divulge such specific information, it should not do so but leave it to the judgement of the candidate and/or his party to decide when and how they choose to do so. In view of this, ELD reviewed its position on the matter. As there is no legal requirement for it to do so, ELD will not release the names of individuals who have applied for or received the PDCs. ELD will leave it to individual applicants to decide whether to and when to make public that they have applied for or received a certificate. This position was adopted for the by-election for Punggol Page: 100 East Constituency in 2013, and in response to media queries, ELD only released the total number of applications and total number of PDCs issued. This position will continue to apply to all future parliamentary elections.”
“The Baby Bonus scheme was launched in 2001. To date, 280,000 CDAs have been opened for Singaporean children. The earlier cohorts, for children born between 2001 and 2005, had six years to open the CDAs. The take-up rate was 97%. In other words, 2,600 children, or 3%, did not open a CDA. A change was made so that parents from the 2006 cohort onwards would have a longer period of time, that is, 12 years, to open the CDAs. The take-up rate for these subsequent cohorts thus far is 93%. About 14,000 children from these cohorts have yet to open a CDA. We are confident that the take-up rate will increase further as parents tend to wait a number of years before opening the CDAs. There are various reasons why some parents do not open a CDA at all. Some may not have, or think that they do not have enough money to set aside in the CDA. Others are unaware of the scheme, its benefits or the procedure for opening an account. My Ministry will continue to extend our outreach to families who have yet to open their CDAs. For example, we recently conducted an outreach exercise Page: 99 to low-income families. I am heartened that 40% of those we reached have since signed up for the CDA. We will also work through touch points such as Community Development Councils, Social Service Offices and Family Service Centres, to raise greater awareness and to encourage more families to open CDAs for their children.”
“All early childhood teachers are trained in the proper management of child behaviour. This is a basic requirement of both pre- and in-service training. Skills covered include using positive reinforcement to manage children's misbehaviour, role modelling and encouraging expected behaviour. Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) encourages pre-school teachers to seek guidance from senior teachers or supervisors, and to work collaboratively with parents on children's developmental needs. Pre-schools are also encouraged to provide additional support, such as referrals to trained counsellors and mentoring arrangements, for their teachers. ECDA will continue to review how standards and practices in our pre-school system can be further strengthened in areas, such as regulation, teacher training and support, physical design of centres and deployment of technology. Page: 111”
“All eligible children enrolled in childcare centres continue to receive the child and infant care subsidy, even if their parents are undergoing divorce proceedings. In most cases, the main applicant for the subsidy is the mother, as the mother's working status is factored in the computation of the basic subsidy amount and eligibility for the additional subsidy. In cases where the parents are divorced, the parent who is granted custody of the child may apply as a single parent for the subsidy. The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) will assess the application based on that parent's working status and income, and adjust the subsidy where necessary. For example, if the father is given custody of the child and applies for the subsidy, the father will be the main applicant Page: 110 and will be eligible for all subsidies based solely on his working status and income. We recognise that divorce proceedings may take time to resolve. Therefore, the parent granted interim custody of the child can inform ECDA that he or she is supporting the child alone and the subsidy amount will be re-assessed accordingly. We also provide further financial assistance in cases where additional help is needed to help the child attend pre-school. Parents who require assistance can approach their childcare centre or ECDA for help with their application or queries.”
“The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) engages Ministries and Statutory Boards, including those in new buildings, to facilitate the setting up of workplace childcare centres. It also provides development grants, as well as furnishing and equipment grants, for the development of the centres. Today, about half of our Ministries and Statutory Boards have childcare centres located within their premises. In assessing the feasibility of childcare centres in their buildings, organisations consider factors, such as demand from employees, availability of suitable space and premises and existing childcare services in the vicinity. ECDA will continue to promote the development of workplace childcare centres, in both Government and commercial buildings, to meet the needs of working parents.”
“So, in conclusion, Mdm Speaker, there is much more that we would like to do for the needy, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special needs. We are very keenly aware that we are not dealing with statistics, we are dealing with people's lives and Page: 80 we must always act in the best interests of the child, be it in the case of marital conflict, divorce proceedings or fights over a child's custody. But we cannot do this alone. We cannot rely on policies and institutions alone. We need everybody to join hands and open our hearts and open perhaps our homes to some of these children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Most importantly, we need quality and quantity manpower and this is where we would like to put in much more effort to attract Singaporeans to come and join us. Finally, we cannot just manage today's problem. We also have to build capacities for tomorrow's challenges and this is an area where MSF is working hard on, using the data we have now to forecast the needs that we will need in about five to 10 years' time. Some of these challenges will include the children from cross-cultural marriages and this will be a topic that we will delve into in future. Thank you, Mdm Speaker.”
“I shared just now that a typical social service worker may spend up to 40% of his or her time doing administrative work, trying to fill up the forms and trying to write up the case notes. If we are able to get this system up, essentially, we are almost able to double the capacity of our social service professionals with the existing number. The second thing that this Social Service IT Masterplan does is that it will help us to share the data across different agencies, which means that somebody living at Bedok, if they move to Jurong, the case file can be transferred like the medical records, to the Family Service Centre that is operating out from Jurong, without having the need for the family in distress to redo all his administration again. The last thing that this IT system seeks to do is to allow us to use data to drive current and forward planning and we aim to have all the VWOs on board. There is a lot of data out there that we can harness to plan for our future social services. For example, in the current rollout of the Social Service Office, as we roll out the number of centres across the entire island, we are using the exact data that we have to site it where we need it most.”
“Now, beyond relying on the grassroots organisations and the SSOs, we are also expanding the capacity of our Family Service Centres. We intend to increase the number of Family Service Centres from the current 40 to 50 in about two to three years' time. Beyond the Family Service Centres who are providing care for the complex cases, we also have specialist centres like TRANS and PAVE – these are centres that provide specialist help to families in need, for example, for cases of spousal abuse or elderly neglect. As a last resort, we will have national institutions to house some of these children who might be in distress. But we really want this to be a last resort. From the research done by other countries, the best environment for children is still to live in the community, if possible, to live in a homely environment; which is why we are trying to enlarge the Foster Parent Scheme so that children from distress families can have a proper home environment to Page: 79 grow up in, in the community rather than spending their time in and out of institutions that are run by the Government agencies. So, this is what we want to do better to integrate our whole social service chain – the five rings of our social service chain that starts from the grassroots organisation to the Social Service Offices, to the Family Service Centres, specialist centres and to the institutions. The last aspect of our integration is the integration of the backroom. This is where we are paying a lot of attention to the development of our social service IT Masterplan. The IT Masterplan provides a few important roles for the social service sector. The first is that it frees up the capacity for our social service professionals to focus their work on touching lives at the front end.”
“But for other children who come from Page: 78 low-income family background and who may not speak English as their natural language, we have the Focused Language Assistance in Reading Programme to be rolled out in various pre-schools to help them level up their literacy and reading skills before they reach Primary school. The fourth aspect of integration is what I call the integration of our five-ring social service chain. I call this the five-ring social service chain because it encompasses the communities, the SSOs, the FSCs, the specialist centres and institutions as a last resort. Let me go through each of them in detail. First, the local community and the grassroots organisations. These are especially important for us to build that community to care for those families who live in the community and who have special needs. One of the reasons why we have been able to reduce the people not attending pre-school from 5% many years back to less than 1% now is because of the active participation of the grassroots leaders to go and seek out the children who are not attending pre-school, provide them with the help and make the effort to let them join pre-schools and even sponsor some of their needs as well. The second ring of our five-ring social service chain has to do with our forward deployment of Social Service Officers into the communities, enhanced with the local planning teams. The role of these local planning teams is to integrate the efforts across the various Government agencies so that we can provide the consolidated package of help to the families in need. And this will include help from HDB on housing needs, MOE for financial assistance in the schools, social assistance from MSF and other agencies.”
“For example, I am very happy to see that agencies like the CDAC have started programmes to help families in need and they cater time for these families in need to attend those programmes because many of them are working and the time slots when they can attend such programmes may not be the conventional ones that we are used to. Nothing can replace the role of parents and their immediate families. And for many of the examples that the Member has mentioned, indeed, we want to provide more help for the parents of these children to be able to take care of their own families, to have a stable environment so that their children can benefit from that stable environment and progress in their education. Because without proper education and healthcare, they will be disadvantaged in time to come and a vicious cycle will set in. The third aspect of integration is exactly the integration across time. We want to do much more in terms of upfront prevention and upfront intervention. For example, in the pre-school sector, we have various initiatives to make sure that we target our help to those students in need as early as possible. This includes having the Pre-school Opportunity Fund that helps VWOs to improve the programmes that they are able to roll out to some of these children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We also have the Integrated Childcare Programme that provides children with mild learning disability, focused attention. Currently, we have 17 centres with more than 100 places around the island. For children who need more, we have the Developmental Support Programme. Currently, we have this rolled out in 239 centres offering almost 1,000 places. For children with even more severe needs, we have the EIPIC Programme with 17 centres and over 2,000 places.”
“Let me share more about the principles of efficacy through integration, and efficiency through integration, which are what Dr Lily Neo has mentioned. There are five aspects of our integration that we would like to talk about in the design of our social service system to help those with the least. The first is the integration of programming. We want to provide holistic and multi-dimensional help, as alluded to by Dr Lily Neo. We know that many of these needs are, indeed, multi-dimensional – they do not just require financial help – very often they require help in healthcare, housing, employment, social-emotional support and family support. We know that such complex problems will require multiple agencies to come together and this is one of the reasons why we have implemented the Social Service Office across the entire island to make sure that we link up different Government agencies to provide the help as a package to the families in need. We acknowledge that we can do more and we want to do more. We are working with various agencies now to roll out a Vulnerable Family Pilot Page: 77 Programme towards the later part of this year, whereby we can pool different agencies' resources together to focus the help on those families who are most in need. The second aspect of integration has to do with the integration of the different stakeholders' roles. And we agree fully with Dr Lily Neo that the role of the community is as important in the support of these families in need. This is the reason why MSF has started the Family Matters! initiative which encompasses Family Matters at work, in school, community and business. We want Family Life Education to permeate every aspect of society. We also want our VWOs to reach out upstream to the families most in need.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me first thank Dr Lily Neo for speaking on behalf of Page: 76 our children, especially those with special needs and from the disadvantaged backgrounds. MSF agrees with many of the points made by Dr Lily Neo. Let me in the next few minutes share with this House the principles in the design of our social service system in order to meet some of the aspirations stated by Dr Lily Neo. These three key principles that we always abide by are equity, efficacy and efficiency. Let me start by sharing on the design principles of equity. Our belief is that we must provide more for those with less. We do not want to apply universal subsidy because we have found this to be wasteful and not targeted. I will give some examples of how we target our help to those with the least. These include Public Assistance, but specifically, for children and for children with special needs, we have a tiered subsidy framework to help the children from disadvantaged backgrounds more. For example, in our childcare subsidy, we have targeted our help to the bottom two-thirds of our entire population base while everyone in the population enjoy a baseline subsidy. At the lowest end of the curve, a family earning about $1,000 or so, can send their child to a childcare centre at $3 per month, and, very often, many VWO hosts would even raise this amount of money to help out the families with the least. On the other hand, we have also made sure that for every child that is sent to a childcare centre, the family would not need to pay more than 10% of their household income for a mass market option, which is why we are working very hard to expand the mass market option childcare centres available to children from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me thank Mr Seah Kian Peng for his supplementary question. Yes, indeed, we do make a projection on the needs, especially with our ageing population, the number of social workers and social work associates that we will need. So, we do have a projection. And I would say that it is particularly challenging not just for the baseline social workers but actually for what we call the specialists, those that specialise in, for example, family violence, spousal abuse. So, we need social workers not just to have the Page: 48 requisite numbers. We also need a certain critical mass of social workers with the requisite depth and skills to handle the more complex cases going forward. On the suggestion of allowing the social service sector to have non-traditional sources of manpower, indeed, actually, that is already ongoing. Some of our Family Service Centres (FSCs), indeed, do recruit from overseas. But we understand that it is not so easy to recruit a person from overseas to work in the social service sector in our own domestic social service sector because, culturally, there are differences. Language-wise, there are also differences. Even to recruit youngsters to work in the social service sector, sometimes, our youngsters also do not have the necessary dialect skills to communicate with our elders. These are some of the challenges. So, while we have a broad-based approach towards expanding the pipeline to recruit more people into the sector, what we also need are also niche capabilities in some of these specific areas where more attention is required.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me clarify. What I said was that the median was 8%, not the average. But having said that, it is not one specific target for the entire social service sector because there are different tiers of social service sector professionals and their pay gap has differences in the magnitude. So, for different sectors, for different tiers, we will set different targets. Our aim is to progressively close the gap between what they will command on an alternative career construct in a comparable industry.”
“Today, typically, a social worker may spend up to 40% or 50% of their time doing administrative work, meaning that they have to write the case files and transfer some of the data. We are trying to simplify this by investing in a comprehensive social service IT Masterplan which will come online, hopefully, by 2016. This will allow the social service professionals to share data at the same time to make the case management that much easier, very much akin to what we have for the healthcare system.”
“Mdm Speaker, I thank Dr Chia Shi-Lu for the supplementary questions and some of the suggestions. Indeed, let me explain that to attract enough people to meet the needs of the social service sector, we adopt a multi-pronged approach. On the one hand, we try to increase the pipeline for the trained social workers and because these are usually degree holders, there is a finite number that we know we can realistically recruit from the market. The second prong of our approach is to increase the pipeline of the social work associates. They may not go through a course with the same academic rigour as the social workers per se, but they have sufficient training to allow them to complement the work of the trained social workers. That is the second prong. The third prong of our approach has to do with the fact that we are going to up the training of the many social service assistants, staff that are now currently being deployed at the social service offices. Previously, they undergo some training but we are going to intensify the training so that they can do more of the social service work, at least as the first line to do the triage, before we refer the more complex cases to the social workers. In this way, we can do a triage of the complexity of the cases where the more straightforward uni-dimensional cases can be handled maybe by some of the social work associates or some of the better-trained social service staff. Then, for the more complex cases, we can hand it over to the professional social Page: 47 workers. There is another prong of work that we are doing in order to lighten the workload of the social service professionals and this is the backend system behind the scene.”
“So, we will continue to work on this and, indeed, we will communicate to everyone that it is not just the social workers that we are talking about when we talk about social service professionals, we are also talking about the therapists, counsellors and so forth.”
“Mdm Speaker, I thank Ms Denise Phua for her supplementary question. The answer is, yes. Indeed, when we talk about the social service professionals, we do not just include the social workers but we also include the other social service professionals like therapists, counsellors and early childhood intervention professionals. So, indeed, we take it as a collective package. Let me just explain a bit about this benchmarking exercise. Since one or two years back, we have started a regular benchmarking exercise. We asked ourselves, for the people who join the social service sector, what would their equivalent pay be if they had opted for a similar job in another industry or in the other Government agencies? For example, medical social workers, who are also part of our social workers community, would be used as one of the benchmarks. Then there are other Government civil servants whom we also can use as part of the benchmark. So, we do collect these data and we use an independent agency to set this benchmark for us to set realistic salary benchmarks for our social service professionals. Ever since our effort last year, we are quite confident that, for the new entrants, we have closed the gap a bit. There is still a bit more to go but, in the next phase, we are actually going to look at the mid-career entrants and also the more senior social service professionals because we find that the gap between what they would command if they had chosen an equivalent job Page: 46 elsewhere, there is still a bigger gap than the entrants.”
“We will review funding norms for VWOs periodically, and make adjustments as necessary, to keep pace with salary benchmarks. Beyond salaries, we will also continue to work with employers on professional development of social service professionals. The Social Service Institute will serve as the focal point for learning and manpower development in the sector. It will provide more robust training and varied learning Page: 45 opportunities. A new one-stop Career Centre for the sector has also been set up within the Institute to better engage potential entrants and uplift the image of social service professionals.”
“Mdm Speaker, MSF and the National Council of Social Service have and will continue to initiate and support efforts in attraction, development and retention for all social service professionals, including social workers. We have expanded talent pipelines to bring more people into the profession. There are now more scholarships and sponsorships for both young students as well as mid-career entrants to pursue a career in the social service sector. We continue to work with Institutes of Higher Learning to review and expand cohort sizes where necessary. We are also reaching out to overseas Singaporean students to profile career opportunities in the social service sector. We have also started redesigning jobs for more efficient and effective manpower deployment. For example, we have established the position of Social Work Associates who will work alongside and support social workers. Demand for the diploma course for Social Work Associates has been strong and subsequent cohorts have been expanded. Paying competitive wages is an important factor to attracting and retaining good people. MSF provides salary benchmarks for key professions in the social service sector, not just for social workers but also for therapists, psychologists, teachers for early childhood intervention programme and management staff. These are pegged to equivalent jobs in the market and factored into MSF's funding to voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs). Just last year, MSF increased funding to VWOs by $10 million. The organisations were provided with pay guidelines and HR consultancy services to help them implement effective remuneration systems. More than 85% of our funded VWOs have since raised salaries of their professionals by a median of 8%.”
“Mdm Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 15, 16 and 17 together?”
“Mdm Speaker, let me say it once again. Spare boxes are not controlled items. The life span of a controlled item in this case, the box, Page: 18 starts from the moment before the polling starts, whereby in the presence of the election officials, the candidates and all their agents, they are shown the empty boxes. The life of the box starts once the box is sealed with the proper seal and then from that point onwards, it is known as a controlled item with the seal under the watch of the election officials all the way until the counting centre. The life of the ballot box ceases when the seal is broken and the ballot papers are emptied out and the box is certified to be totally empty. That will be the end of the life of the ballot box. As to whether we would include the unused boxes as controlled items, we will take this issue and study it with ELD. But I must emphasise again, unused boxes are not controlled items. The Member's question is whether ELD will include them as a controlled item, but these boxes are just like any other box. The most important thing, to ensure the integrity of the process, is that once it is sealed with all the necessary markers, it is a controlled item and from that point onwards, we must make sure that the box is always under the watch of the election officials and the agents, and at no point must there be a break in the chain of the controlled item.”
“Mdm Speaker, let me first clarify the difference between controlled items and non-controlled items. In this particular case, the empty disused boxes are non-controlled items. For the ELD, the priority is to ensure that all controlled items, for example, ballot papers are properly accounted for and this, we have done so over the course of the election. The other question is whether there had been any previous instances whereby non-controlled items were similarly found. We are unaware of this but following this incident, we have done a thorough check on all the counting centres and indeed, we found there were some non-controlled items that were not collected by the contractors, and we will tighten up this process even though they are non-controlled items.”
“The answer to the first question is no. They are not the same boxes and there are no other things that are similarly in that category. Page: 17 For the disposed items, or what we call, the non-controlled items would be collected by the contractor for subsequent disposal. This may include other writing materials that are non-controlled items. At no point in time is any controlled item being mixed or left unattended. The entire process is controlled and carefully watched from the beginning of the polls until the boxes are emptied out. Once the boxes are emptied out, the boxes cease to be called election boxes. They will be known as discarded boxes and the boxes that are used to store the materials for safe keeping at the Supreme Court is a different set of boxes.”
“The Government is committed to the progressive realisation of many obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. This includes creating an accessible and friendly-built environment. It is a priority under the Enabling Masterplan, which is a public-private-people sector effort that includes all relevant agencies. Accessibility for persons with disabilities has improved over the years. Ongoing efforts include the following: Page: 172 (a) providing ramps and decision tactile for the visually impaired, and removal of obstacles along walkways, with shelters along certain stretches; (b) facilitating road crossings, with lifts at identified pedestrian overhead bridges, having street level crossings where traffic conditions permit, and increasing the number of pedestrian crossings that provide more green-man crossing time; (c) upgrading our public transport system. The MRT system is barrier-free, and the bus system will be progressively so, with all buses wheelchair-accessible by 2020 and bus stops being upgraded; (d) incorporating Universal Design (UD) features to enhance user-friendliness amongst new HDB flats since July 2006; (e) implementing the $40-million Accessibility Fund to encourage upgrading of existing private buildings with basic accessibility features; and (f) reviewing the Accessibility Code to benefit more Singaporeans, such as the disabled, families and the elderly. We recognise that more can be done. MSF will continue to work with other Government agencies, businesses, voluntary welfare organisations, the disability community, as well as the public, to address the needs of persons with disabilities.”
“The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) is looking into different areas to enhance attraction, development and retention of early childhood educators. This will build on existing efforts. We provided more support for professional development and talent attraction by introducing new professional pathways and entry routes for Educarers in 2011. In 2012, we enhanced scholarships and teaching awards for diploma and degree courses in early childhood care and education. We also introduced a framework for continuing professional development and conduct ongoing training to help centre leaders use the framework to plan for the training needs of their staff. Page: 171 In the area of wages, ECDA is currently conducting a job evaluation and compensation study to better understand the HR and pay practices in the sector. This will help it determine what more should be done and how best to go about doing it. Other aspects are also being worked on. For example, we will further enhance scholarships and training awards for pre-service and in-service trainees, as well as mid-career entrants, so as to encourage more to join the sector. For better professional development and retention, ECDA will introduce initiatives to better support educators. This may include structured induction, mentoring and continuing professional development programmes. ECDA will continue to work with employers and unions, as they, too, have an important role to play. For example, we help pre-schools embrace good HR practices by providing them with a Good Employers Toolkit, which was developed together with employers and unions. This will help contribute towards better attraction and retention of educators.”
“The Government will continue to review our policies and programmes to promote strong family ties and support families in caring for our elderly members.”
“The number of abandonment cases referred to my Ministry has remained low over the past three years, totalling fewer than five. Figures of abandonment cases obtained from social service agencies and hospitals are also low, averaging less than 10 cases annually over the past three years. According to social workers who handle such cases, most of these children end up neglecting, abusing or abandoning their elderly parents due to reasons, such as caregiver burnout and poor family relationship. In managing such cases, the caseworker will counsel the family and link them to support services like home help or day care. In a minority of cases, the elderly may be placed in an alternative living arrangement. If the elderly was abandoned overseas, my Ministry works closely with MFA to bring them back and will work with the Page: 170 families to re-establish their care arrangements. For the most vulnerable elderly, laws are in place to protect their well-being. The Mental Capacity Act criminalises ill-treatment and abandonment of a mentally incapacitated person by his caregiver or nominated or Court-appointed decision-maker. Under the Maintenance of Parents Act, the elderly can also apply to the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents to obtain financial support from their children. There are also measures in place to support caregivers of elderly parents. Caregivers can approach the Agency for Integrated Care for information and referral on a range of community- and home-based support services for the elderly. To alleviate the cost of caring for the elderly at home, the Government also introduced measures, such as the Foreign Domestic Worker Grant last year.”
“Mdm Speaker, on the reasons for the declining numbers of the elderly who have their cases heard at the Tribunal, I can put it down to two main reasons. One is because, over the years, we have cleared the stock of people who may need such services ever since we implemented the rule. The other reason is really because mediation has, over time, taken the bulk off the load and, over time, I think there are more cases that have been successfully dealt with through the mediation route and that is our preferred route. And, of course, we will continue to extend our educational outreach not just to the elderly about their rights but also to the children on some of their responsibilities and obligations. So, I think, in an Asian context, very few families, as you would know, would like to have their dirty linen washed in public. Very often, I think many of them, if not most of them, would like their cases to be settled amicably through mediation rather than through a tribunal process.”
“Mdm Speaker, such cases are always very difficult and very troubling. Our first priority is always to help the families to re-establish their care arrangement for the elderly. For those who are able to care for their elderly, we hope that they will take on their responsibilities dutifully. For those who are already in trouble, we will find some other ways to support the elderly. As to whether naming these people will be the most effective way to help their family re-establish the ties, we will have to think through that very seriously. We should also take into account the considerations of the elderly. Many of them do want to try their best to reintegrate with their families, which is why it is always a very difficult decision for some of the elderly to even bring their children to court or to take legal actions to enforce the payment. Because I think for many of the elderly in such situations, they already feel very bad and sometimes quite shameful that their family has abandoned them. So, our first priority is really to take care of the welfare of the elderly and make sure that the elderly is taken care of and re-establish the care and long-term care arrangement for the families. And, of course, we urge every member of the community to do our part to take care of our elderly so that we do not have a Page: 21 situation whereby the elderly are either abandoned or neglected at the homes, even in Singapore.”
“Mdm Speaker, annually, about 300 elderly parents seek maintenance from their children. Most of these cases are resolved through Page: 20 mediation by the Commissioner for the Maintenance of Parents. The number of elderly parents taking legal action at the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents has remained relatively low, at 110 applications in 2011 and 84 applications in 2012. The default rate of maintenance orders is also low, at about 5% to 7% over the past three years. Elderly parents who have no means of support when there are payment defaults will be referred to social agencies for interim assistance while the default is being addressed through mediation or the court process. There were less than five cases of abandonment referred to my Ministry over the past three years. Social service agencies and hospitals have also reported an average of less than 10 cases annually. Nevertheless, we are closely monitoring the cases. Our priority is to ensure the elderly's welfare. Where required, the elderly may be placed in a shelter or welfare home while we work to reintegrate him or her back with the family. For cases where the elderly has been abandoned overseas, we will work with MFA to bring them back and work with the families to re-establish their care arrangements.”
“Mdm Speaker, the answer to the question is yes, certainly, because the services that we provide for many of these vulnerable families, indeed, need to be on a sustained basis. So, we certainly will need to relocate them and help them to continue to provide the services to the families in need, for whatever reasons that SLA or URA requires to repossess the land.”
“Mdm Speaker, I thank Mr Alex Yam for the question and comment. Yes, indeed, there is an existing rule that, as far as possible, we try to house the mothers together with their children. Currently, older boys and those found to be not suitable to be housed in the same shelter would be assisted to find alternative arrangements. But we do make arrangements for them to make sure that the families spend time together to rebuild their lives as much as possible.”
“Mdm Speaker, I thank Mr Christopher de Souza for the questions. Let me answer them in reverse order. The answer to the third question is yes, certainly, we would like to partner more VWOs and community organisations to help the families in need to reintegrate with the community. On the second question, again, the answer is yes, we would like to provide the support networks necessary which brings us to the first question. We will definitely allocate sufficient space for the families who require it but we also seek the community's support to integrate them back into the community.”
“All pre-schools are required to follow preventive and response measures on infectious disease according to MOH's Infection Control Guidelines for Schools and Child Care Centres10. Should an outbreak occur, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) works with MOH to determine if preschools have to be closed to control further spread of the disease. Preschools have previously been closed due to HFMD and SARS. We currently have about 1,500 preschools. A typical preschool would have about one to two hundred children. Over the past two years, an average of two preschools per month has been closed due to HFMD. Each closure is for a minimum period of 10 days to break the transmission of the disease and to protect other children from being infected. Preschools which are required to close are advised to work with parents to plan for alternative care arrangements. The arrangements are varied. Some parents may use their childcare leave to take care of their child, while others seek support from family members, friends or neighbours. Page: 156”