Chee Hong Tat
Singapore
“The National Parks Board (NParks) resumed crow shooting operations in March 2026 across nine districts, including Yishun. These sites were prioritised based on several factors, including the volume and severity of public feedback on crow-related issues, as well as the technical feasibility of conducting shooting operations safely at each…”
“To drive sustainable construction and reduce reliance on conventional diesel generators, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has required the use of battery energy storage systems (BESS) or synchronised generator set systems at Build-to-Order construction worksites for all building tenders called since February 2025.”
“The Housing and Development Board (HDB) tracks resident feedback on maintenance-related issues, including spalling concrete and structural cracks within HDB flats. Such issues are much less common in younger flats, compared to older flats above 30 years old.”
“The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) provides resources on its website to guide building owners and Management Corporations Strata Title (MCSTs) on lift modernisation.”
“Private retail developments sold through the Government Land Sales Programme are intended to complement the commercial offerings in public developments undertaken by agencies, such as the Housing and Development Board.”
“The National Parks Board (NParks) is reviewing both the Animals and Birds Act and the Code of Animal Welfare (COAW). The former will include pet sector businesses and the latter will include and start with pet groomers.”
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“Mr Deputy Speaker, the introduction of fee benchmarks is part of a larger strategy to keep healthcare costs affordable and sustainable as we prepare for an ageing population in Singapore. This is a shared responsibility and requires a collective effort from all stakeholders. We, as individuals, have to take good care of our health and make informed choices when we seek treatment. Healthcare professionals play a key role in providing quality care that is appropriate to patients' needs and charge reasonable fees for their services. The Government and healthcare institutions need to continue to improve productivity and look for ways to deliver greater value for patients. Employers and insurers can help to manage increases in healthcare costs by encouraging prudent use of healthcare services by their employees and policyholders. Sir, the Singapore Medical Association (SMA) first introduced its guidelines on fees (GOF) in 1987. It withdrew the GOF in 2007 after it was informed by the Competition Commission of Singapore of anti-competitive concerns. There was no significant change in the average annual healthcare inflation rate in the decade preceding and following the 2007 withdrawal of SMA's GOF, which were 2.4% and 2.6% respectively. Recent policy measures, such as the Pioneer Generation package, MediShield Life subsidies and the Community Health Assist Scheme, have helped to reduce the healthcare inflation rate to about 1.2% between 2013 and 2016. Over the past years, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has been publishing historical transacted hospital bill sizes and operation fees for common medical procedures to enhance transparency of healthcare charges. The introduction of fee benchmarks will take this further by providing all stakeholders a useful reference.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I had only asked the Member if he had any interest to declare. Can I also ask Mr Perera if Henkel, a key manufacturer of adhesives for cigarettes is a client of Spire Group of which Mr Perera is the Chief Executive Officer?”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Member for his confirmation. I would like to seek a second point of clarification with Mr Perera and this pertains to the debate earlier on the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Amendment) Bill. During the debate, Mr Perera, in his speech, supported the use of e-cigarettes, which is also what tobacco companies have advocated. I would like to seek clarification from Mr Perera that I understand that he is the CEO of Spire Group, which is a research and consulting company. I wanted to ask and confirm if the Member has any interest that he wishes to declare.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank the hon Member for his clarification. But I do need to further confirm one point with him, which is that his email to Mediacorp was dated 20 February. Mediacorp, in their reply to Mr Perera, said that they had already fixed the problem of the truncated clip on 18 February. So, in other words, it was not a result of Mr Perera's email to them. They had confirmed with Mr Perera in their reply they had already fixed the truncated clip on 18 February when he emailed to them on 20 February. May I please seek confirmation from Mr Perera that what I described is factually accurate?”
“Thank you, Sir. Sir, earlier during the supplementary question and answer time for Parliamentary Question (PQ) No 22, Mr Perera mentioned that there was an example of how he had emailed to Mediacorp regarding a footage of a parliamentary debate and he felt that some parts were left out. [Please refer to "Video Recordings of Parliamentary Proceedings", Official Report, 7 November 2017, Vol 94, Issue No 54, Oral Answers to Questions section.] I have checked the facts of the correspondence between Mr Perera and Mediacorp. Based on what I understand, Mr Perera wrote to Mediacorp on 20 February this year and he made reference to a footage of the debate during the Second Reading of the Presidential Elections (Amendment) Bill on 6 February. Mediacorp replied to Mr Perera on the same day, 20 February, to explain that a technical error had led to a truncation of the clip and Mediacorp had fixed it on 18 February, two days before Mr Perera wrote to them. So, this was what they wrote in their email reply to Mr Perera. I just wanted to confirm with Mr Perera whether what I described is factually accurate because, based on what I understand and as I explained to him and the House earlier today, the policy is not to leave out any parts of the debate; the footage will show the full debate. What Mediacorp will do is that they would rearrange the footages by speaker to make it more convenient for viewers to choose which footage they want to view. So, that is the first point of clarification that I would like to seek from Mr Perera. Maybe I will let Mr Perera reply to the first point.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Sir, may I have your permission to seek two points of clarifications with Mr Leon Perera?”
“Mr Speaker, I want to reiterate the point that what I said by "editing", I think my definition of editing may be different from what Mr Perera was alluding to. When I said "editing", what I meant was Channel NewsAsia would take the footages and they would sort them out based on the person who asked the question, the person who answered, so as to make it more convenient for viewers to search and to access these footages. The editing that is done is not to remove certain parts of what was said. It is shown as per what was said in Parliament and what is reflected in Hansard, on the microsite and on the video footages of Facebook page and so on and so forth. It is important, Mr Speaker, that when we discuss such issues, we have to recognise, is there a problem that we need to solve? And if no problem exists, I think one should not go around looking for imaginary problems to tackle. That is like having a hammer and then wanting to knock everything around you as though they are nails. [Please refer to "Clarification by Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information", Official Report, 7 November 2017, Vol 94, Issue No 54.]”
“If Mr Perera feels that there are certain examples that have been left out, maybe the Member can give me some specific examples and we will certainly look into those.”
“Mr Speaker, I think Mr Perera may have forgotten the discussion that we had during the Committee of Supply. Mr Pritam Singh asked about these issues and I have explained at that time to Mr Pritam Singh and others that the reason why we do not have a live feed is because this is not in great demand. At the moment, the Parliament footages are shown on television under Parliament Highlights and within a few hours will be put on the CNA microsite. The arrangement has worked well so far. It has provided the footages online; used to be one month and it has been extended to six months. Just to recap what we discussed at the Committee of Supply. The people who watched a major Parliamentary speech like the Budget speech, the number of people who watched it live was only about 10%, compared to what was shown on free-to-air television on the news that evening. Less than 1% of the viewers watched the Budget live using web streaming. Mr Perera has also mentioned that the copyright belongs to Mediacorp. That is not true. What I said in my reply earlier was that the copyright belongs to the Government and the Government then commissioned Mediacorp, as Singapore's national broadcaster, to cover the Parliament sittings and to show the footages on various platforms, including free-to-air television, Channel NewsAsia's Parliament microsite and Channel NewsAsia's Facebook page. Mr Perera also mentioned that the footages have been – I think he used the word "edited" – and he mentioned that not everything is shown. I wish to clarify that is not true. I have also explained this during the Committee of Supply that the footages are all put up. They are edited to show, to arrange and to sort them out based on the speakers and the reply given.”
“This is why the Diabetes Risk Assessment (DRA) tool was launched on 1 September 2017 to raise awareness of the risk factors for diabetes and to encourage younger adults aged 18 to 39 to assess their current risk for undiagnosed diabetes. Similar tools have been implemented in countries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. Those who are assessed to be at higher risk will be advised to go for diabetes screening and follow-up consultations with doctors. Since its launch on 1 September, about 44,000 users aged 18 to 39 have used the DRA. Around one-fifth of them, or about 8,500, were found to be at higher risk. We believe DRA is a useful tool to enhance the effectiveness of our screening efforts, but we would need to collect more data over time to analyse its impact and effectiveness.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, nutrition has been a key component of our fight against diabetes. Good nutrition involves having a healthy and balanced diet that is lower in sugar, saturated fat and calories, and higher in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. It also includes other lifestyle changes, such as exercise and weight management. To support Singaporeans to make better dietary choices, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has been working with industry partners to increase the availability of healthier food choices. This includes healthier food products under the Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS) programme, the Healthier Dining Programme and the Healthier Ingredient Development Scheme. To support the War against diabetes, the low glycemic index claim under the HCS programme was recently expanded from the cereals category to include convenience meals and the legumes, nuts and seeds categories. The aim is to encourage more food innovation to widen the HCS range. Just recently, Parliamentary Secretary Amrin Amin and I were at Singapore Polytechnic to look at some of the new products that the industry has developed, including the use of resistant starch, beta glucan, to help lower the glycemic index of staple foods like noodles. Besides a healthier diet, prevention and management of diabetes also involve adopting an active lifestyle, going for appropriate health screening and follow-up. The national screening programme Screen For Life run by HPB aims to improve early detection and appropriate intervention of chronic diseases, including diabetes. While the current recommendation is for those above 40 years old to go for diabetes screening once every three years, we recognise that age is not the only risk factor for diabetes.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Dr Tan Wu Meng for his supplementary question. Indeed, the services that we provide across the different parts of the healthcare system are something that we need to better coordinate from a cluster point of view. We have what we call Regional Health Systems which start from even before primary care. It starts from health promotion and keeping people healthy. So, that is right at the beginning, upstream. Primary care, the acute care in hospital, the step-down care, community hospitals, home care, community care, long-term care, so, that whole spectrum is coordinated through our Regional Health Systems and now we have three clusters. That is why I mentioned earlier that we will work through our clusters to reach out to not just the public healthcare institutions, but also our partners in the private sector and in the community.”
“Singaporeans have access to outpatient services at different institutions, including polyclinics, national centres and hospitals within our public healthcare system. The Ministry of Health (MOH) does not have data on the median and 90th percentile number of outpatient appointments per patient stratified by age. There are patients, including the elderly, with multiple medical conditions who make multiple visits to more than one institution over a period of time. Our public healthcare institutions have put in place systems to allow patients to schedule their outpatient appointments together where possible because we understand this will be more convenient for patients. For example, patients can do their blood tests and X-rays during the same visit. Our hospitals have also started to consolidate Specialist Outpatient Clinic appointments from different specialties so that patients need to make fewer visits. At Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National University Hospital, for example, some patients have their care consolidated under one doctor. At the Singapore General Hospital, diabetic patients visiting the Diabetes and Metabolic Centre can make appointments for related specialties and services, such as podiatry, eye, orthopaedic surgery, on the same day. As I have mentioned earlier, this is with the intent of bringing about greater convenience and better care for our patients. Mr Speaker, Sir, I agree with Dr Tan Wu Meng that more unified or harmonised appointment systems will benefit patients. We will be piloting more of such systems across institutions within our healthcare clusters to facilitate better appointment, rationalisation and reconciliation. MOH will also study the next step of harmonising appointments across our three healthcare clusters.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 18 and 19 together?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Mr Chong for his clarification. I do not know which brand of kaya he is referring to. I myself like kaya. But because it is quite sweet, I try not to eat too much of it. I think that is one way of making a healthier choice, which is to consume less of it. When we spread the kaya on the bread, do not spread it so thickly. That will be one way of helping to lower the amount of sugar that we consume. I am not familiar with the brand that Mr Chong mentioned. But sometimes, the reason why certain types of healthier food cost more on a per unit basis is because there is lack of scale. So, when we produce it and there are inadequate economies of scale, the merchant finds it difficult to price it at a very competitive level. We see this happening with healthier cooking oils, with wholemeal bread. During the initial phase when the healthier products are being introduced, it will have to go through this phase where consumers are getting used to it, and the demand is not quite picking up during the initial phase. So, during this period, the lack of scale then leads to prices being higher on a per unit basis. I do not know if this is the reason for the particular brand of kaya that Mr Chong spoke about, but this is a general observation that we see for different types of food products. With scale, the merchants are able to lower their per unit cost and this can then be passed through to consumers, in terms of lower prices.”
“Other things that they have found include adding, for example, a little bit of chicken stock, or a small amount of healthy oil to the rice will also help to lower the glycemic index. How we eat the food also makes a difference. Before we begin our meal, if we consume some proteins, for example, clear chicken stock or a glass of unsweetened soya bean milk before we eat our main meal, these will also help to lower the glycemic index of the meal. Or eating it with vegetables, not just the rice alone, and with protein. So, there are many, many different ways that we can educate consumers and give them more information to help them to make healthier choices.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am not familiar with which product Mr Chong is referring to, but based on the information that we have, there is a range of different healthier products, including house brands, that are offered by supermarkets that need not cost a lot more and, sometimes, can be very competitive, compared to the other brands that are available in the market. So, this is one way of helping consumers to be able to have options, including healthier options, to help them to make healthier F&B choices. But Mr Speaker, I want to go back to what I mentioned in my main reply earlier that, eating healthily, there are many different ways of doing so. For example, it is about choosing the amount we eat, deciding on how much we want to eat, eating in moderation. It is also about how we prepare the food, such as if we steam, compared to deep fry. If we use less oil, less salt, less sugar, less sauces, all these are steps which we can take to prepare healthier food options. We are also working with our research institutes to look at how the food is prepared as it can also make a difference to the glycemic index. This is a way of measuring, after we have consumed the food, how quickly our blood sugar level will rise. For food with lower glycemic index, there will be a smaller increase in the blood sugar level. What the studies have found is that if we prepare our food, for example, if we cook the rice, leave it to cool and reheat it later, the amount of resistant starch in the rice will go up, and this helps to lower the glycemic index. So, for the same type of rice, the same amount of rice, we can actually lower the glycemic index by preparing it in a different way.”
“On artificial sweeteners, there is consensus amongst international health authorities and medical professionals that such sweeteners can be used as part of a balanced diet to help a gradual shift away from high sugar food and beverages. However, the sale of artificially sweetened food and beverage (F&B) is not allowed in schools in Singapore as we want to prevent children from developing a habit of consuming sweet-tasting food and drinks from a young age. This complements our healthy meals programme in schools which promotes the drinking of plain water. There is now a growing variety of healthier sugars available for product formulation, such as those derived from natural sources like beetroot. They do not increase blood sugar levels as much as conventional sugars like sucrose and fructose. The Ministry of Health (MOH) is working with the F&B industry to explore the use of these natural sweeteners as part of their product innovation. We will continue our efforts to raise public awareness and foster a supportive environment for consumers to make healthier F&B choices, and to keep Singaporeans healthy and active.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) introduced the Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS) to help consumers identify healthier food products. Ingredients and food products labelled with the HCS logo − this is the red pyramid − have been well-received by consumers. In a 2015 survey by HPB, 70% of Singaporeans recognise the HCS logo and have used it to make healthier food choices. The market share of HCS products has also increased from 15% in 2012 to 18% in 2016. There are currently about 3,500 food products with the HCS logo, spanning 70 food and drinks categories. There are ways to eat healthily without buying expensive food. For example, we can eat in moderation and we can choose foods with less oil and salt, or drinks with less sugar or, even better, no sugar. The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Foodfare sells its pre-packaged drinks with the HCS logo at $0.10 cheaper to encourage more consumers to choose these healthier options. HPB has developed lower-cost healthier recipes which are shared with the community through partners, such as the Diabetic Society of Singapore, TOUCH Community Services and NTUC SilverACE. HPB has also introduced the Healthier Ingredient Development Scheme (HIDS) and the Healthier Dining Programme (HDP) to support industry players to provide healthier ingredients and products to increase the supply and variety of healthier food options for consumers. Since December 2016, HDP has been extended to hawker centres and coffee shops, where lower-calorie meals are tagged with a "lower in calories" label. HPB has also implemented various public education initiatives, such as the calorie literacy initiative My Healthy Plate and the Eat Drink Shop Healthy Campaign, to reward consumers when they choose healthier options.”
“Madam, I thank Er Dr Lee Bee Wah for her supplementary question. As I had mentioned in my earlier reply to the Member, for patients who require further financial assistance, they can approach our medical social workers in the public healthcare institutions. We will look at each case and see how best we can help. In cases where a patient's MediSave is inadequate, the patient can first look at whether the children's MediSave can be tapped on. I believe that family support is important. So, that would be the first area that we can tap on. But if the children's MediSave accounts are also inadequate and the patient requires more assistance, they can approach medical social workers at our public healthcare institutions. We will see, for each case, how best to assist them. 11.41 am”
“Mdm Speaker, between 2014 and 2016, there was an average of about 550,000 Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) blue cardholders. Each year, about 2% of them use the maximum subsidies for the treatment of chronic conditions. Besides CHAS, the Ministry supports chronic disease patients who seek care and treatment at general practitioners (GPs) in other ways. For example, patients can use up to $400 per year per MediSave account under the Chronic Disease Management Programme to defray their cash payment for the treatment of 19 chronic conditions. Through initiatives, such as the Family Medicine Clinics and upcoming Primary Care Networks, we are also providing support to selected GPs to deliver more effective chronic disease management for patients.”
“Madam, I thank Er Dr Lee Bee Wah for her supplementary questions. The best way to deal with such cases would be for the Member to write in to MOH and we will take a look on a case-by-case basis at the circumstances of the situation that her resident is facing. As for the Member's second point with regard to the limit for those who are aged above 65, I think that was why we introduced Flexi-MediSave. It is because we recognised that when people age and if they have sufficient balances in their MediSave, this is something which we want to help them with, to defray their out-of-pocket expenses. This limit is something which we can review from time to time to ensure the affordability of our healthcare services for Singaporeans.”
“Mdm Speaker, from 2014 to 2016, the Ministry of Health (MOH) received an average of about 200 appeals each year for usage of MediSave beyond the withdrawal limits. These appeals are considered on a case-by-case basis and about half of them were approved. Factors taken into consideration in reviewing these appeals include whether there are special circumstances, such as more complex treatment than expected due to unforeseen complications, or the family facing difficulties due to exceptional circumstances like unemployment or retrenchment. MediSave withdrawal limits are set to be sufficient for the vast majority of subsidised healthcare expenses, after Government subsidies and MediShield Life payouts are taken into account. In recent years, we have enhanced our subsidies for drugs and outpatient care, as well as introduced new MediSave coverage for outpatient scans, and flexible MediSave use for those aged 65 and above. The introduction of MediShield Life in November 2015 also provided additional support for large hospital bills for all Singaporeans. From January to June 2016, MediShield Life and MediSave together were able to cover more than 90% of the post-subsidy bill for inpatient hospitalisation and day surgeries. Beyond Government subsidies, MediShield Life and MediSave, low-income Singaporeans who require further financial assistance can approach medical social workers at our public healthcare institutions to apply for MediFund. Madam, MOH will monitor the affordability of subsidised care and regularly review the MediSave withdrawal limits. We will also continue to consider appeals for usage of MediSave above the withdrawal limits.”
“One other priority for us is how can we help our older healthcare workers to continue working so that they can continue to contribute and serve the patients? Technology can come in as a very useful enabler. Lifting up patients, for example, from the bed to the wheelchair to go to the bathroom is a physically very demanding task. And as our healthcare workers get older, some of them will require some assistance. We can use hoists, machines and equipment that allow them to do the task competently, safely but also for them to be able to do this for longer periods so that they can continue to serve our patients for longer.”
“Madam, I would like to address Dr Chia Shi-Lu's question on productivity for the aged care sector. Madam, what I spoke about earlier in terms of productivity being a very important priority for MOH is not only for acute healthcare services. We also want to do this for primary care, step-down care and ILTC as well as for community care. This is something which we want to do throughout the entire healthcare system. For aged care, for example, there are a few things we have worked together with the providers. In areas, such as cleaning, how do we have equipment and technology that can allow them to do cleaning in a more efficient and more productive manner, one that will require less manpower? The manpower challenges they face are actually similar to the manpower challenges that are faced by our acute healthcare institutions. The second area is that we also want to see what we can do to multiply the impact that our healthcare workers can make. For example, in the area of physiotherapy, instead of one therapist attached to one patient, what they do now is that they have the equipment that can be programmed. You can choose the setting and it will record the performance of the user and that gets captured in the system and the therapist can then analyse to see whether the patient is keeping up with the programme, whether there is a need to make any adjustments. And one therapist can then look after several patients who are doing their exercises all at the same time. I think these are useful ways to try and see how we can multiply the impact of our healthcare workers. One other example I would like to share, Madam, is because we have an ageing healthcare workforce, in tandem with our ageing population.”
“We have formed the ElderShield Review Committee chaired by Mr Chaly Mah in October last year. The Committee has engaged different groups of stakeholders, such as caregivers, service providers, insurers and members of the public, through focus group discussions. The consultation process is still ongoing. In doing its review, the Committee is looking at ways to enhance the benefits and payout period, while balancing the need to keep premiums affordable for all Singaporeans. It will continue to consult widely to gather further views and feedback. Madam, ElderShield is an important risk-pooling scheme to prepare ourselves for an ageing society, as some of us will require extra help if we become seriously disabled when we grow old. To sum up, MOH will focus on three key shifts for the next few years: beyond healthcare to health, beyond hospital to community, and beyond quality to value. We will continue to grow a future-ready healthcare workforce and strengthen primary and community care. We will achieve these outcomes by working in partnership with communities, healthcare institutions, companies and unions. Our goal, Madam, is to help all Singaporeans achieve better health, better care and a better life. [Applause.]”
“At the national level, we currently have 232 palliative care beds and about 5,500 home palliative care places per year and we are on track to meet the target of 360 palliative care beds and 6,000 home palliative care places per year by 2020. The palliative care workforce has also increased by 50% from 2011 to 2016. With the added capacity, more Singaporeans with terminal illnesses can benefit from palliative care services. We are working with the Singapore Hospice Council to launch a quality improvement programme for palliative care providers, to maintain high quality standards as we increase our capacity in this sector. Madam, based on a 2014 survey by Lien Foundation, 77% of Singaporeans preferred to pass on at home. To further enhance home palliative care services, our RHSes will work with community providers and VWOs to pilot integrated home palliative care programmes. Under these programmes, patients can receive medical and nursing care at home, as well as assistance in their daily activities. Patients requiring short inpatient stays will be cared for in community hospitals, before they return home. I agree with Dr Tan Wu Meng on the need to support children with life-limiting illnesses. It is a difficult time for families which are facing this situation. From 1 August 2017, MOH will extend subsidies to paediatrics home palliative care to provide the families of these children with more financial support. This follows earlier measures by MOH, such as removal of the MediSave withdrawal limit in 2015 for patients on home palliative care for cancer and end-stage organ failure. We also introduced subsidies and MediSave coverage for day hospice care in 2016. Madam, I thank Dr Chia Shi-Lu, Dr Lily Neo and Mr Louis Ng for their comments on ElderShield.”
“Madam, currently, all Singapore Citizen babies receive a $4,000 Government grant in their MediSave account and parents can draw from this grant to defray the cost of recommended vaccinations, including pneumococcal. There are also generous Government grants via the Baby Bonus cash gift and the Child Development Account which can be used for pneumococcal vaccination. Madam, I will now touch on palliative care. MOH has been increasing our support for this sector over the past years. Ms Joan Pereira asked how MOH is working with VWOs to improve public awareness, quality and accessibility of palliative care. This remains a priority for us. We will work with community providers to reach out to the public through different channels, including using art as one of the ways to reach out to Singaporeans. Alongside such efforts, MOH will work with the Singapore Hospice Council on a structured three-year initiative to promote public understanding of palliative care, including how we can better support caregivers during grief and bereavement. An important initiative is to help Singaporeans plan ahead for their care preferences through ACP, together with their loved ones and their care team. ACP is about respecting patient choice. We aim to reach out to 25,000 Singaporeans over the next four years. MOH will work with our community partners, RHSes and AIC to expand ACP in different care settings, such as specialist outpatient clinics and primary care. Another area is to increase the capacity, accessibility and quality of palliative care services. I recently visited Assisi Hospice again and they have a new building with 85 palliative beds, including five beds for paediatric palliative care. They are also increasing their home palliative care services to about 1,000 patients each year.”
“The fixed fee of $2 and $5 will cover both the initial screening and the first post-screening consultation, if the test results show that a consultation is required. We want to reduce the drop-off rate of someone who is tested positive but does not follow-up to see a doctor for post-screening consultation. Through these enhancements, we hope that more Singaporeans will go for screening, including those who face higher risks of getting diabetes. Early detection and intervention are important in preventing diabetes and managing the disease. Madam, Mr Low Thia Khiang asked about pneumococcal vaccination. This has also been raised by other Members in the past, most recently by Ms Cheng Li Hui in October 2016. Our vaccination subsidy policies are guided by recommendations from the Expert Committee on Immunisation (ECI). This is a committee which comprises specialists from public and private healthcare institutions in infectious diseases, microbiology, paediatrics and public health. ECI will assess a vaccine based on factors, such as the burden of the disease in Singapore, safety and efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of the vaccine. Vaccinations, such as measles and diphtheria, are subsidised to achieve sufficient population immunity to prevent community outbreaks. For pneumococcal disease, the risk of an outbreak is currently assessed to be low. Our incidence of serious invasive pneumococcal disease in Singapore is also lower than other countries, such as the US and Australia. Hence, the Committee has recommended a targeted approach for specific high-risk groups, such as children below five, seniors above 65 and individuals with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, asthma and heart diseases. They can use MediSave for pneumococcal vaccination.”
“In some countries, SIBs are used out of financial necessity due to insufficient public budget to support certain social programmes. Singapore is fortunate to be in a stronger fiscal position, thanks to our stable political system and the Government which has been planning long term and spending prudently within our means. We will continue to study different ways of funding and working with NGOs. Ultimately, regardless of the funding arrangement, what we need are collective action and strong partnerships among the Government, NGOs, industry players, communities and individuals to win the war on diabetes. 2.30 pm Another important area is to encourage early and regular health screening. For diabetes, the current arrangement is for Singaporeans aged 40 and above to go for screening every three years. Madam, age is only one factor. There are also other factors, such as family history, body mass index and so on. Learning from the experiences of other countries, such as the US, UK, Australia and Finland, MOH will roll out the Diabetes Risk Assessment (DRA) tool from September 1 this year. DRA is an evidence-based, self-administered questionnaire to assess an individual's diabetes risk. It will supplement our current screening efforts. From 1 September this year, we will also enhance Government subsidies for the Screen for Life programme to encourage more Singaporeans to go for screening and post-screening consultation at CHAS clinics. The fee for screening and the first post-screening consultation will be fixed at $5 for eligible Singaporeans and $2 for CHAS cardholders, both Blue and Orange. Pioneers will not have to pay. We will offer these services to them for free as a special benefit for our Pioneer Generation (PG).”
“Other countries have implemented a range of measures targeted at lowering SSB consumption to reduce obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes. The Diabetes Taskforce has obtained views from industry players and individuals on how to reduce sugar consumption in Singapore, including from pre-packaged SSBs. We studied the practices in other countries, which include regulatory measures like soda tax, warning labels for high-sugar drinks and advertising restrictions. Mr Chen Show Mao has also highlighted some of these examples. Madam, it is important to do further consultation with businesses and consumers before we decide on what to implement in Singapore. We will also continue to monitor the situation in other countries to assess the effectiveness of the measures that they have implemented in changing dietary preferences and consumer behaviours. Madam, I thank Mr Leon Perera for his suggestion on using SIBs to fund efforts by NGOs to tackle diabetes. NGOs and VWOs are important partners for MOH. In our War on Diabetes, we work with the Diabetic Society of Singapore (DSS) and Touch Community Services in areas, such as diabetes education, patient and caregiver support and disease management. We work with and support the work of NGOs in different ways, such as funding them to provide services, extending seed funding for them to experiment with new ideas and collaborating with them through our RHSes. For SIBs, some observers have noted the benefits, including those which Mr Perera highlighted. Others saw downsides, such as the complex negotiations among multiple parties, resulting in delays and high transaction costs and possible diversion of attention and resources away from important causes which are less measurable and harder to achieve outcomes.”
“Food manufacturing is one of Singapore's strengths, and our manufacturers are recognised worldwide for the quality and taste of their products. By working closely with the industry, I am confident we can further enhance the sector's value-add by developing healthier products which taste just as delicious and riding on the trusted Singapore brand to expand our markets overseas. I am encouraged to see more Singaporeans switching to healthier choices. The market share of HCS products has increased from 15% in 2012 to 18% in 2016. I believe this can grow further. Companies have also reformulated their products to reduce the amount of salt, oil and sugar so that they can qualify for HCS certification. For example, the median sugar level of pre-packaged beverages has decreased from 9.5% to 6.5% over the past decade. Today, there are over 2,500 HCS products available across 70 food categories, compared to just 300 products when HCS started in 2001. The sale of HCS products has been growing at 9% annually, compared to 2% to 3% for other food products. While Singaporeans are eating more healthily, we are still consuming too much sugar. This increases our risks of getting diabetes. On average, Singaporeans consume 12 teaspoons of sugar daily, more than the five teaspoons limit recommended by WHO. We also see a worrying trend of children and youths consuming more sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) than before. Compared to food, SSBs are easy to over-consume as they do not provide a sense of fullness. Many are also low in nutrients and are essentially "empty calories". In Singapore, SSBs contribute 60% of our total sugar intake, higher than many other countries. Two-thirds of this sugar come from pre-packaged SSBs, such as soft drinks and packet drinks.”
“HPB works closely with industry players through the Healthier Dining Programme and HCS programme. With MOE's support, schools can only sell packaged drinks with lower sugar content of less than 6%. It is important to help our children adopt healthy habits from young. I applaud the People's Association for their initiative to cater healthier foods at grassroots events since December 2016. I have also done this for my constituency events and received positive feedback from my residents who appreciate our efforts to provide them with healthier meals and healthier snacks. Madam, I am pleased to announce that from 1 April 2017, the public sector will likewise adopt healthier catering guidelines for all events and training courses. We want to provide tasty healthier choices for our public officers and guests so that they can enjoy the food while staying healthy and active. I thank Mr Chen Show Mao for his suggestions on how we can promote healthy eating. HPB has been working on this important area over the last few years. To further encourage the use of healthier ingredients by the food industry, we will introduce the Healthier Ingredient Development Scheme (HIDS) from 1 July this year. HIDS will provide funding support for food manufacturers to innovate and develop tasty products with healthier ingredients, such as incorporating more whole grains and using healthier cooking oils. The aim is to go upstream in the food manufacturing process, to increase the proportion of whole grains and healthier oils served in restaurants, food courts and hawker centres. Through this scheme, consumers can benefit from a wider variety of healthier meals, to help prevent and manage diabetes.”
“Another technology solution is T-Rehab, where patients carry out physiotherapy exercises at home using wearable sensors, with their progress monitored remotely by physiotherapists. I encourage our healthcare institutions to work with startups like Jaga-Me and T-Rehab to support their innovations and use these new ideas to help transform our healthcare system. Not all the ideas will succeed. We must expect some to fail. The key is to have an environment where we can try new ideas and fail safely so that we can learn from these failures and continue to innovate by pushing the boundaries. Madam, a priority for MOH is to promote healthy living. This is also a key focus for the War on Diabetes. Mr Christopher de Souza has asked for an update. Let me start with what we have done to encourage physical activity. Minister Gan spoke about the National Steps Challenge. So far, nearly 500,000 Singaporeans of all ages have participated. For Season Two of the National Steps Challenge, participants have hit key milestones more quickly than Season One. One hundred and fifty thousand people clocked 10,000 steps or more on at least five days per week. Well done! To step up the momentum, HPB has been working with SportSG to scale up popular programmes like Sundays @ The Park, Sunrise in the City and Fitness@Work to increase the variety of activities. Next, on healthy eating. When it comes to preventing and managing diabetes, diet is a critical factor. While the decision and responsibility to eat healthily rest with the individual, MOH will continue to work with our partners to foster a supportive environment for Singaporeans to make healthy food choices. We have increased availability of healthier meals in restaurants, food courts and hawker centres.”
“I also want to acknowledge the strong support from Ms Thanaletchimi and our brothers and sisters from the Healthcare Services Employees’ Union (HSEU) and thank them for their valuable feedback and active participation in improving our healthcare system. MOH greatly appreciates our partnership with the union. By working together as trusted partners, we increase our chances of success and shorten the time we need to reach our goals. Madam, we need to look beyond the public healthcare sector, to work with private sector providers in both healthcare and non-healthcare-related industries like design, engineering and infocomm technologies. Earlier this year, I launched the Philips Health Continuum Space in Toa Payoh. The company is now focusing on health-related products as a core business, bringing together expertise from different fields, including design and engineering. The innovation facility is a living lab for healthcare professionals to collaborate, co-create and test out healthcare solutions. I am glad that Philips is interested to work with local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups to use this facility and also to test-bed their solutions in the community. Our startups are also providing innovative solutions to tackle healthcare-related challenges in Singapore. Ms Tin Pei Ling spoke about using digital technology to enhance eldercare. Home-grown company Jaga-Me offers "home care on demand" to give patients and their families access to professional home nursing and caregiving services. I met the founders. They are a group of young Singaporeans who are keen to make a difference in improving lives.”
“We will look at further measures to cut down the administrative load for our healthcare workers across the healthcare system, including doing away with unnecessary surveys and form-filling. Dr Tan also asked about the design of hospital wards and clinics. Tan Tock Seng Hospital has reduced walking distance for healthcare staff by nearly half through a remodeling of their wards. There is scope to further improve productivity through clever use of design and technology. This includes doing time-motion studies to monitor operational workflows and finding ways to optimise the processes and reduce inefficiencies. Technology is a key enabler in our efforts to improve productivity. Our strategy for technology is three-pronged: digitise, connect, analyse. First, our institutions need to digitise their information and processes to provide healthcare professionals the information they need for decision-making. Next, we are strengthening connections across IT systems to facilitate the exchange of information, especially across different clusters and institutions. This includes linkages with VWOs and private sector providers. Third, we are analysing the healthcare data collected to better predict care needs and utilisation patterns. For example, using data to identify and reach out to seniors who visit hospitals regularly to see how their healthcare needs can be better met through community and home care. Madam, while technology is an enabler, the most critical factor for improving productivity lies with our people. Our healthcare professionals are well-trained and dedicated, often going the extra mile to look after their patients. I would like to thank our healthcare workers for their service, sacrifices and care to go beyond.”
“Mdm Chairman, I will focus on how MOH is partnering communities, healthcare institutions, unions and companies to implement the three shifts that Minister Gan spoke about so that we can develop a sustainable healthcare system for all Singaporeans. I agree with Dr Tan Wu Meng and Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef that we need to raise healthcare productivity through innovation and process improvements to deliver quality care and better value for our patients. Since April 2012, we have supported more than 200 ground-up projects under the Healthcare Productivity Roadmap. Let me give some examples of how we have improved productivity in the healthcare sector. Our public healthcare institutions did a successful pilot where selected patients with conditions like back pain can be directly referred by their polyclinic doctors for subsidised physiotherapy services, without having to go through a specialist. This improves patients' access to physiotherapy services and reduces unnecessary delays and referrals. It also allows the specialists to focus on other patients who require their services. MOH will work with our healthcare institutions to look at other areas where we can apply this approach to encourage right-siting and effective use of healthcare resources. Dr Tan Wu Meng is right that we need to reduce administrative work for healthcare professionals so that they can focus on patient care. With this in mind, NUH reviewed its processes for documenting patient information and replaced hardcopy forms with electronic ones. Patient information is now collected just once, then stored and pre-populated, enabling our nurses to spend 10% less time on documentation.”
“Chairman, just now when we were having our debate, we see students coming in and that is actually part of the education process as well, to expose our young people to what is going on in Parliament. That is also available for any member of the public who wants to come in and watch, not just "live" broadcast but "live". The information on the debate is there. It is on the microsite. I agree with Mr Kok that it is useful for people to understand what Parliament has discussed. It is a point which I also made in my speech. It is useful for people to understand the debate, the points that are being made, but this information is available on the online Hansard, the full set of information and all the videos, speeches, questions and answers are also available. So, I think it will fulfil the benefit that Mr Kok and Mr Pritam Singh mentioned, using the existing channels that we have.”
“The current data that we have collected, as I shared in my speech about the Budget Statement, showed that most people still prefer to view it through the TV during the news highlights. Not many want to view the Budget Statement "live" and even fewer view it "live" streaming.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank Mr Leon Perera for his questions. Maybe allow me to clarify. The Member may have misunderstood me. I did not mean to say that a person who is watching the "live" streaming or broadcast would not know what was going on. Because Mr Pritam Singh was talking about "live" streaming, and if you put "live" streaming on the Internet, somebody watching it would have to watch the whole proceedings. 7.15 pm Whereas if you were to organise it in the way the CNA microsite currently does, which is, they separate it, sort it by date, and then by name of the Member of Parliament, it is easier from the point of view of the public who is going in to view the clips that he or she wants to view. The search is easier. You do not have to sift through the whole proceedings to look for what you are interested in and just play those few minutes of the clip that you want to watch. So, that was what I meant in terms of the convenience for the viewer. To answer the Member's second point, we do recognise, as in my response to Mr Pritam Singh, that this issue has pros and cons. I think Mr Pritam Singh also agrees with me that there are pros and cons. Our assessment is that the current arrangement has sufficient avenues for the public to have access to the information, to the video clips, and these are put in a timely manner, that very night itself, the news highlights are up in three hours, all the videos are up by 8.00 am the next morning. Our sense is that, in terms of information availability and also convenience of viewing for the public, going in to look for what they are interested in, what they want to watch, the site is well-organised and well-sorted.”
“Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: To answer the Member's question, there is no one genre which is dominant, based on the pattern that we observed, and primarily because the library users are basically from a wide cross section or our community. We have the elderly and the young, we have the families. If Members notice carefully, in the last few years, we basically moved our library to be more thematic. If you want to read something on early childhood, for example, Jurong Library is the place to go. We have also created spaces so that we can attract certain segments of the population. Pasir Ris Library was redesigned to attract younger people. In fact, now, they are coming in and they are not only reading, they are learning together, they are co-creating content. In the Library that is about to open in Sengkang, we have a section called the "Tween" section. This is somewhere in between the teens and the young kids, where they come in, they want to read books of their choice, at the same time, they want to have a certain ambience. So, we cater to all segments of the society. The other thing that we observed, for example, is that our e-books are becoming very popular. It is very difficult for us to decide which genre because it depends on the number of e-books that we can acquire. We have to acquire these books from the people that produce them. You can see, if you go down to the e-books section, some of the books that are extremely popular are, for example, some of the current non-friction books which are hitting the New York list of bestsellers. There is no clear dominant genre, but we want to encourage reading, no matter what books that you like to read, and to read consistently and constantly.”
“I was checking with Minister Yaacob whether he wants me to answer all the questions. I will answer the first three questions and the Minister will answer the fourth one. If I may, I will start with the last question. Mr Kok asked about the survey. This is the Media and Consumers Experience Study that is done by IMDA. The numbers that I cited in my speech where I said the newspapers' ranking improved from sixth in 2014 to first in 2015, it is in the same study. So, they improved from sixth place to first place. Of the respondents in 2014, 74.8% said they were satisfied with newspapers' content and, in 2015, this number went up to 78.9%. I recognise this is just one dimension, one key performance indicator, one study, which is why we need to really look at what are the ways to further work with our media partners to help them to build capabilities and develop good content. That, ultimately, is what the people are looking for. Mr Kok also asked about the use of multiple languages. That is a very interesting idea which we will certainly discuss. It is found already in different productions but it is whether we can help to develop the content further and for such shows to be more commonly found. I think that is where the Member is coming from because it is actually already available in some productions. But I think the Member's question is whether we think this can be done further. We will certainly discuss with Mediacorp and also what I had mentioned in my speech, the independent producers. Because not everything has to be done by Mediacorp. A lot of good productions can be done by Mediacorp, by independent producers or collaborations between Mediacorp and the independent producers.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank Mr Pritam Singh for his questions. To the Member's first question, the answer is yes, there is no edit done to the video clips of speeches, except for those places where there are some pauses or when certain issues are very local issues. For the speeches, I think Mr Pritam Singh would probably know this, many of us would go to the site and use those videos for social media. It is something for everybody to see. The record is out there. As I said earlier in my speech, it is out there for up to six months of archival period. On the second question, I thank Mr Singh for acknowledging that there are pros and cons to "live" broadcasts. We do recognise the upside as well; it is not that this is a straightforward thing. But we look at what we have now and our sense is that it is meeting the needs of what Mr Singh had spoken about in his speech. The provision of the information is out there, timely and comprehensive, and organised in a manner which is easy for viewing. If you put up the whole "live" stream, someone who is viewing it has to sit from the beginning to the end. Whereas the way Mediacorp does it, they arrange it by date and then by the speakers. It is actually a lot easier for someone to find what he or she wants to look for in a convenient way. We believe that this format will fulfil the objectives and the benefits that Mr Singh spoke about. It is something which I think we will look at whether there are further ways that we can improve. The archival period, for example, as I mentioned in the past, used to be one month, and it was lengthened to six months. So, we welcome feedback and suggestions.”
“I believe that translation is something which will give us not just a better way of appreciating the different languages that we have, better way of understanding the different cultures that we have, but it is also an effective way to communicate with different groups of Singaporeans.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank Mr Vikram Nair for his question on translation. I did not have time to cover that in my speech during the earlier session. Translation is a very important area because we live in a multilingual society and we have got four official languages. To communicate effectively, we need to develop capabilities in effective translation. One of the things that the National Translation Committee, which I chair, does is to work closely with our partners, in particular, the schools and the education institutions as well as our media partners because these are areas where you have got resources and also to reach out to our young people. My belief is that we have got to start young to cultivate their interests, raise the awareness and also be able to develop the language skills. Let us take Malay translation. We have got strong collaboration with Berita Harian and also with MOE. We organised the workshop for the Malay language translation, competition and we got young people to participate, raise awareness and interest. From what I discussed with the young people, they want to see more of such activities and make it fun for them, to show translation not as a very technical subject, but something that is fun and relevant and they can see how it can be applied in their daily lives. We are also working closely with other communities. I recently announced the review of the Tamil translation. I must thank our resource panel, chaired by Mr A Palaniappan. They helped us develop a set of recommendations to further enhance the way we do Tamil translation in the Government. So, I think this is the approach that we will continue to take. Reaching out to the various communities, working with partners, raising standards, raising awareness.”
“We will continue to work with our media companies, including SPH and Mediacorp, and across different languages and platforms.”
“Sir, I will answer the third question from Mr Zaqy Mohamad. We have programmes that are in place to support programmes, such as TV programmes and PSP programmes, on Suria for the Malay community, and on Vasantham for the Tamil community. These additional resources that we have put in go into areas that include research, script development, content development, ultimately, to produce better quality local content that will resonate with the various groups of viewers. And what Suria and Vasantham do very well is also to follow up and bring the characters and shows from TV into real life. So, they do roadshows, they go into the heartlands, they engage their viewers using not just TV and radio, but bringing the stories, the characters face to face and interacting with the viewers. 7.00 pm This is something which I think can also extend to other channels. In fact, these are good practices that I hope we can do likewise for the other channels on Mediacorp. For SPH, it is the same. I think the challenges are faced by all the newspapers. They need to continue to invest in producing good content and also the outreach, and moving in tandem with changing consumer preferences, which is why a lot of people are now viewing their news online using digital sources. We also need to move online to be able to engage different groups of viewers. One key learning point that the online teams have shared with me is that you cannot do online by taking traditional content and formats and going digital. You have to think online and design it online to meet the digital group of viewers and readers. The way you present your articles, the format which you use, the content which you use, all these need to be thought through and designed for what is the online audience.”
“Through the National Reading Movement, we will continue to encourage Singaporeans to read in mother tongue languages. This is a worthwhile effort to strengthen bilingualism and develop Singapore's competitive edge.”
“I had the opportunity to participate in some of these reading sessions when I visited the library and was glad to see many parents showing keen interest in encouraging their children to read Chinese books, including books written by our local authors. I am very encouraged by this. NLB will launch "Raise a Reader" workshops this year for parents to learn more about the resources available at our libraries and how to choose appropriate books for their children. Besides children, NLB will also be expanding its collaboration with our media partners to encourage more adults to read in Chinese. Weekly news reading interest group attracted a good following since its launch in March 2016. This year, NLB and Lianhe Zaobao will launch a series of monthly talks. These sessions will cover a range of interesting topics from finance and health to local Chinese literature. Here, I would like to thank our media partners for supporting these initiatives, helping us to encourage more people to read widely. Reading together in the community can cultivate a deeper appreciation of our culture and heritage. This requires support from our community partners and the general public. We would like to thank our volunteers for running the library at Chinatown. We will also be building new libraries. Tampines Regional Library will reopen in August this year and Chou Sing Chu Foundation will be sponsoring the majority of the books in the Chinese Children's Collection. Mr Chou was the founder of Popular Holdings. As a passionate lover of Chinese culture, he had been a strong supporter. On behalf of NLB, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to the late Mr Chou and his family for their generous donation.”
“I believe these existing avenues have been useful in helping Singaporeans to understand what was discussed in this House and to inform their decisions on national policies and legislative changes. Several Members have asked about our plans to promote a reading culture in Singapore. Please allow me to conclude my speech in Mandarin to talk about our efforts to promote reading in Chinese. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech. ] The Government launched the National Reading Movement last year to encourage Singaporeans to read regularly, read widely and read together with the family. A key focus is to promote reading in mother tongue languages with the aim to strengthen the standard of bilingualism in Singapore. Mr Stanley Chia, the founder of an educational startup Cialfo, is a businessman who benefited from being bilingual. He told me that his Mandarin was not fluent in the past but, with more exposure and frequent use, his standard of Chinese has improved. This is especially helpful for his business in China. In the beginning, Stanley had a more limited vocabulary in Chinese. However, with persistent hard work and practice, he can now use fluent Mandarin to make speeches and conduct meetings, thereby building very good relationships with his clients. Good reading habit should start from young. NLB has rolled out Tiny Tots Reading Club to encourage young children to read in Chinese through many interesting activities. There are currently five such reading clubs for children. NLB will expand this to more libraries around Singapore.”