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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“When neighbour noise disputes occur, grassroots leaders and frontline agencies, like the Housing and Development Board, would engage the parties involved and their surrounding neighbours to better understand the situation and likely sources of noise. Their aim is to bring the neighbours together, to understand each other's perspectives and find a mutually acceptable solution. Most neighbour noise disputes are resolved this way and many of the remaining disputes are resolved after neighbours attend mediation at the Community Mediation Centre. This approach preserves long-term goodwill among neighbours. A small number of neighbour noise disputes include cases where an individual deliberately makes excessive noise to cause suffering to neighbours and when prior mediation attempts have not been successful. Where the Community Relations Unit (CRU) is being piloted, frontline agencies triage and escalate such severe cases to the CRU for intervention. The CRU can deploy noise sensors to confirm the source and severity of the noise nuisance, after initial investigations narrow down the unit the noise might be coming from. If the Director-General of CRU is satisfied that an individual is causing unreasonable interference to his neighbour, he can order the nuisance-maker to cease and desist. This is modelled on what countries, like the United Kingdom and Australia, have done. We are planning to expand the CRU pilot to more towns.”
“Based on households surveyed in the Household Expenditure Survey, the median value of owner-occupied residential property owned by resident households by household income deciles is in the table below, as follows: The Government does not collect information on the value of residential property owned by non-resident households.”
“The pedestrianisation of Orchard Road between Buyong Road and Handy Road is in its design phase and the completion timeline will be announced when ready.”
“The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has been studying innovative solutions to help mitigate heat in all HDB estates, including at public rental blocks. This includes the use of cool coatings to reflect solar heat and reduce surface heat absorption. Following the successful pilot in Tampines, cool coating will be implemented for residential blocks across all HDB towns. For existing estates, HDB will work closely with Town Councils to apply cool coatings during Repairs & Redecoration (R&R) works by 2030. There are currently no plans for HDB to install or subsidise air-conditioning in public rental flats. Most tenants rely on fans for cooling, which are more affordable in terms of the upfront cost, subsequent servicing and repairs and electricity bills. Lower-income households eligible for financial assistance may approach their Social Service Office if they need help coping with rising heat.”
“The current monthly household income ceilings for subsidised flats sold by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and executive condominium units sold by property developers are $14,000 and $16,000 respectively. This Government will continue to ensure that public housing remains affordable and accessible for Singaporeans. I had indicated in August 2025 that the Ministry of National Development and HDB are reviewing the income ceilings, and we will provide an update when ready.”
“The Accessibility Fund has supported accessibility improvements in 161 buildings as of December 2025. Of these, 20 were condominiums and apartments. Over the past five years, the average utilisation of the Fund was about $0.5 million annually. In line with Age Well SG, there is an ongoing review to enhance the Accessibility Fund to better support seniors living in private residential developments.”
“The Housing and Development Board (HDB) conducts regular surveys to track the prices of common dishes and drinks offered in HDB coffee shops. HDB does not directly regulate food prices. Instead, HDB strives to provide adequate supply of coffee shops in every HDB town, complementing the network of hawker centres, to offer a range of cooked food options for residents. HDB requires budget meals to be a full meal option. We recently made some changes to the budget meal initiative to provide enhanced funding support for participating operators who choose to offer budget meals in their eating houses. Part of the changes include requiring the operator to provide three meal options: (i) an economy rice option consisting of rice with one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, (ii) a halal meal option and (iii) a breakfast item. Beyond these guidelines, it is not feasible to impose nutritional requirements on budget meals, just as we do not impose such requirements on hawker stalls in general.”
“Agencies have been studying the potential rejuvenation plans for the Changi Point area, with the aim to enhance it into a recreational node with new leisure, hospitality and lifestyle experiences. Ideas from the Charmingly Changi Ideas Competition are being incorporated where possible, taking into account the unique attributes of the area. Agencies will share more information on plans for the Changi Point area when ready.”
“Private residential properties are subject to an occupancy cap of six unrelated persons. This is to prevent the property from having too many tenants, which will cause disamenities to other residents in the neighbourhood. From 22 January 2024 till 31 December 2026, the Urban Redevelopment Authority has relaxed the occupancy cap for larger properties of at least 90 square per metre, to allow up to eight unrelated persons. This temporary relaxation was introduced to meet robust rental demand while maintaining the amenity of residential neighbourhoods. There are currently no plans to further increase the occupancy cap. While a property with larger floor area could physically accommodate more tenants, having too many tenants in one rental property will cause disamenities to other residents in the vicinity.”
“The Housing and Development Board (HDB) actively monitors households' rental payments for signs of financial difficulty and follows up closely on any public feedback on the household. HDB also collaborates closely with other agencies, like the Family Service Centres and Social Services Offices, on case referrals, management and resolution. When potential signs of distress are identified, including during house visits and interactions with tenants, HDB works closely with relevant organisations to provide the appropriate support to the households.”
“The Service and Conservancy Charges Operating Grant is an annual grant provided by the Ministry of National Development (MND) to Town Councils to help with the costs of estate maintenance, meet their operating needs and reduce residents' cost burden. The grant is disbursed annually for 4-room and smaller flats, with higher grants given for the smaller flat types. The shortfall in the grant was discovered by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) during an internal review. The conversion of the reports from hardcopy to digital format in recent years has facilitated more comprehensive checks on the grant computation process, which led to the identification of the underpayments. To prevent future discrepancies, HDB has strengthened the grant computation process by introducing additional checks to reconcile records and verify the accuracy of the grant amounts. MND has advised Town Councils to consult their auditors on whether it is necessary to retrospectively adjust their financial and handover statements to reflect the underpayment of the grant. For instance, as the underpayments differ across Town Councils, their auditors will have advise whether, in their professional judgement, the amounts concerned are deemed to be material.”
“While there are occasional complaints on closed-circuit television installation, these form a very small percentage of neighbour dispute cases. Should such disputes arise, we encourage residents to discuss the issue amicably with their neighbours and, if necessary, seek help from grassroots leaders through their nearest community club or from their Management Corporation Strata Title if they live in a condominium. They may also apply for mediation at the Community Mediation Centre or file a claim before the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals as a last resort.”
“The Ministry of National Development responded to a similar Parliamentary Question at the Sitting in September 2025. [Please refer to "Assessing Relevance of 2,000 kg Weight Limit for Season Parking of Commercial Vehicles", Official Report, 26 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 6, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.] The agencies are reviewing how the structure of our car parks can be enhanced to allow electric commercial vehicles, which are heavier because of their batteries. The study is still ongoing.”
“The Home Improvement Programme (HIP) is to address safety and common maintenance issues that arise due to wear and tear in older flats. Acoustic insulation or soundproofing improvement is not part of the HIP's scope.”
“Of the 8,500 privately-owned Housing and Development Board (HDB) shops, less than 1% are owned by foreign individuals. There is no requirement for owners, whether they are locals or foreigners, to inform HDB when they sublet their shops. The objective of the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) is to moderate demand for residential property. There are currently no plans to impose ABSD on commercial properties, including non-residential HDB shop units.”
“The 15-month wait-out period for private property owners was introduced as a temporary measure to moderate the demand for Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flats and help prioritise access to affordable public housing for Singaporeans with more urgent housing needs, such as first-time home buyers. Prior to the implementation of the 15-month wait-out period in September 2022, the number of private residential property owners buying HDB resale flats had doubled in 2021 and the first three quarters of 2022, as compared to 2019 and 2020. Compared to other resale buyers, a higher proportion of buyers who were current and former private residential property owners paid Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) and incurred higher COV amounts. Seniors purchasing 4-room or smaller flats are exempted from the 15-month wait-out period today. HDB also considers appeals from households facing extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis. Since 2022, HDB has acceded to about one in four of such appeals. We will continue to monitor the resale market and when conditions allow, we intend to remove the 15-month wait-out period requirement.”
“The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) actively monitors rental listings on online platforms. Depending on the severity of the case, URA takes a range of enforcement actions against illegal short-term rentals in private residential properties, including Court prosecution for egregious cases. Since 2017, URA has investigated about 3,600 cases of illegal short-term rentals and prosecuted 35 offenders in Court.”
“The National Parks Board keeps track of the conservation status of bird species, including locations of verified sightings, via expert contributions through the Singapore Red Data Book and data submitted by the public. Based on the 2024 edition of the Singapore Red Data Book, Nature Society Singapore reported sightings of 52 threatened bird species in the area between Buangkok East Drive and Lorong Halus Wetland, which is north of where plans have been announced to site a bus depot to improve public transport services for residents.”
“The Housing and Development Board is working with Sport Singapore (SportSG) to consider the conversion of under-utilised capacity in multi-storey car parks (MSCPs) into community sports facilities and will keep the Member's request in mind, as SportSG progressively develops the Sport-in-Precinct facilities in various communities. As the MSCPs are specifically built for vehicle parking, conversion into sports facilities is subject to detailed evaluation, such as demand for parking spaces over time, potential disamenities to residents and safety considerations.”
“The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care requires property agents to ensure that all materials that advertise or promote a property accurately describe the property. In line with this, agents should provide sufficient disclaimers to inform consumers of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to alter or enhance images or videos, to avoid misleading them. CEA is reviewing its regulatory guidelines to provide clarity to the real estate agency industry on the use of AI in property advertisements. This review aims to balance consumer protection with support for industry innovation and development.”
“To mitigate vehicular-wildlife collisions, the National Parks Board has announced earlier this year that it would extend exclusion fences to nine additional locations in Singapore, including major roads along areas such as the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. These locations were identified to be higher-risk areas based on past incidents. Developed in consultation with wildlife groups and academic experts, the exclusion fences also serve to guide wildlife towards alternative crossings, such as the Eco-Link @ BKE and existing culverts. This makes it safer for wildlife to move between green spaces.”
“Agencies, such as the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Singapore Civil Defence Force and Housing and Development Board (HDB), work closely to monitor Active Mobility Device (AMD) ownership, charging and usage patterns in Singapore. We also study new operating models and regulatory developments on AMD charging and parking in other jurisdictions. As different jurisdictions have different contexts and circumstances, we should carefully assess if the overseas practices are applicable here in Singapore. Taking the example of AMD charging facilities in public areas, there will be trade-offs for residents, such as having less space for other uses in HDB multi-storey car parks and void decks. The key factor to improving safety is to prevent AMD-related fires in the first place, instead of where the device is charged. It is more effective to ensure AMDs in Singapore meet prescribed technical and safety requirements. If the devices are non-compliant, shifting the charging and parking to public areas would still lead to fire incidents that pose safety risks to residents. AMD users should only purchase compliant devices, refrain from modifying their devices and adopt safe-charging practices. This is the main safeguard against fire risks from AMDs. The Ministry of Transport and LTA thus take a strict enforcement approach towards the import, sale and use of non-compliant AMDs and are looking to strengthen regulations on the online sale of AMDs later this year.”
“Under the Sentosa Development Corporation's Greater Sentosa Master Plan, Pulau Brani will be developed into a leisure and tourism destination. There are currently no plans for public housing on Pulau Brani.”
“The Housing and Development Board (HDB) is conducting a study to evaluate the effectiveness of half-height netting solutions in preventing pigeon nesting at the air-conditioner ledges of HDB blocks. The study will complement the National Parks Board's islandwide pigeon management efforts. HDB is carrying out a trial on 35 units with two typical types of air-conditioner ledges. This would allow HDB to assess the effectiveness and robustness of the solution, before deciding if it can be scaled up to other parts of Singapore. HDB had selected the flats in Punggol and Toa Payoh for the trial after considering feedback from the Town Councils and residents regarding pigeon nesting at air-conditioner ledges. After the trial is completed, HDB will share its findings with all Town Councils.”
“The National Parks Board had concluded its review in June this year and is progressively updating the name of its boardwalk to "Berlayar" Creek, including on its maps and signage.”
“There are currently 120 Build-To-Order projects under construction. Of these, 12 projects were launched with waiting times exceeding five years. Ulu Pandan Banks and River Peaks I and II have the longest waiting times of close to six years. Waiting times for each project are made known to potential applicants at launch. Waiting times vary based on each project's unique attributes. Reasons for longer waiting times include requirements for more stringent environmental management and monitoring measures and challenging ground conditions which lead to more time required for piling and underground service works. To reduce waiting times, the Housing Development Board is leveraging technology and artificial intelligence across three key areas: first, greater standardisation and modularisation to streamline construction processes; second, adoption of robotics and automation, such as painting robots; and third, use of digital platforms to streamline design and construction workflows. Through these efforts, close to 70% of flats launched over the past three years had waiting times of four years or less.”
“This question was addressed in the Ministry of National Development's reply to the question asked by Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong on 25 September 2025. [Please refer to "Measures to Stop Active Mobility Users on Park Connector Networks from Blasting Music When Close To Housing Estates", Official Report, 25 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 5, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.]”
“Excavated materials (EM) generated by the construction industry from excavation and construction works are typically sent through staging grounds on the mainland to reclamation sites across Singapore, to be reused as reclamation infill. The Government has worked with the industry to provide sufficient capacity to meet anticipated EM disposal needs. For example, we recently commenced a new reclamation project at Northern Tuas Basin, which further increases our capacity for EM disposal. We will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with the industry to assess if further measures are required for disposal of EM.”
“The Building Construction Authority and Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS) have not received any feedback regarding Original Equipment Manufacturer vendors' non-adherence to voluntary commitments since 2019. If there are complaints lodged by third-party lift contractors regarding non-adherence to the commitments, CCS will investigate and take necessary action.”
“This question was addressed in the Ministry of National Development's replies to the questions asked by Mr Christopher de Souza, Mr David Hoe, Dr Charlene Chen, and Mr Alex Yeo on 22 September 2025, and the question asked by Mr Gabriel Lam on 15 October 2025. [Please refer to "Review of Penalty Framework for Animal Cruelty and Abuse Offences", Official Report, 22 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 2, Written Answers to Questions section; and "Measures to Manage High-risk Individuals Exhibiting Violence towards Animals", Official Report, 15 October 2025, Vol 96, Issue 8, Written Answers to Questions section.]”
“The Member may refer to the Ministry of National Development's (MND's) written reply to the question asked by Mr Yip Hon Weng on 24 September 2025 regarding the regulations of the Home-Based Business Scheme. [Please refer to "Defining Criteria and Management Regulations for Home-based Businesses", Official Report, 24 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 4, Written Answers to Questions section.] Regulations for home-based businesses and brick-and-mortar retailers are proportionate to the scale and externalities of the activities involved. Unlike brick-and-mortar retailers, home-based businesses are required to keep their activities small-scale and are not permitted to put up signages or hire persons outside the household.”
“As part of the National Parks Board's (NParks') maintenance regime, nature trails are inspected at least once a week. NParks also carries out additional inspections after prolonged periods of heavy rainfall or reports of trail-related issues. Following the inspections, NParks may temporarily close trails to ensure public safety and facilitate maintenance works, as necessary. The duration of trail closure will vary depending on the extensiveness and complexity of works needed.”
“Sir, I believe I did not say those remarks in Parliament. That was, as I mentioned, a closed-door session organised by DBS. And I also explained why I formed the impression, based on what Mr Louis Chua said earlier. So, I may have misunderstood what Mr Chua said, but I read out what Mr Chua said. Because he put the two side by side, I had the impression that that was what he was advocating. But as I said, if that is not the case – I think that is the important point – if that is not the case, if the Workers' Party’s position is the same as ours, that is, we should not be asking Temasek, GIC to be pump-priming the market, to mandate them to invest in local equities as a way of pump-priming, then, we are on the same page. And I hope that clarifies. Thank you.”
“Sir, earlier, Mr Kenneth Tiong asked if I could clarify that remark that he mentioned. I believe it was a DBS closed-door dialogue. I would like to refer to the following excerpts from Hansard, referring to what Mr Louis Chua said at the Committee of Supply earlier this year. This is what Mr Chua said: “On the launch of the $5 billion Equity Market Development Programme, addressing demand issues, it is a case of better than nothing. As we all know, the Government has long held that directing GIC to invest in locally listed firms is not the solution to improve the attractiveness of the local equity market, and its mandate specifically includes the Singapore market. This is unlike Malaysia's Employees' Provident Fund, EPF, which is the largest investor in its domestic market, supporting Malaysian companies, capital needs and the economy as a whole”. Unquote. Sir, I had that impression about the remarks that Mr Chua made. But after hearing what Mr Tiong clarified earlier, that the Workers' Party is also of the same view that we should not be pump-priming the market by asking GIC and Temasek, to mandate them to invest in local equities, then, I think we are on the same page. So, I would like to thank Mr Tiong for the clarification. Thank you, Sir.”
“The National Parks Board (NParks) takes a holistic approach to managing Heritage Trees, assessing them holistically based on factors such as public safety, health condition, girth size as well as cultural, historical and social value. NParks inspects Heritage Trees on a half-yearly basis. Where necessary, NParks also carries out detailed inspections using diagnostic equipment and adopts technology for continuous monitoring.”
“The Ministry of National Development and the Housing and Development Board will engage Singaporeans on the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme framework and policy parameters, to take in further views and feedback. We will share more details when ready.”
“This question was addressed in the Ministry of National Development's reply to the questions asked by Mr Kenneth Tiong and Mr Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik on 14 October 2025. [Please refer to "Criteria that Qualify for Intervention by Community Relations Unit and Unit's Effectiveness in Addressing Neighbourly Disputes", Official Report, 14 October 2025, Vol 96, Issue 7, Oral Answers to Questions section.]”
“After flats are returned under the Lease Buyback Scheme, the Housing and Development Board conducts sprucing works, which typically take up to six months depending on factors, such as the condition of the returned flat and extent of works required. These flats are then offered for sale as soon as possible under the next Sale of Balance Flats exercise.”
“Since the introduction of the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) in 2001, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has implemented LUP at over 5,000 HDB blocks that were built without direct lift access to every floor. Today, around 99% of all blocks have direct lift access on every floor. Over the years, HDB has piloted and adopted different design approaches and innovative solutions to bring direct lift access to more blocks through LUP. Some examples that have been successfully implemented include machine room-less lifts and bubble lifts. HDB continues to explore new ways to bring direct lift access to the remaining blocks, such as working with research institutes to test out new lift technologies. HDB will also be calling for proposals under the upcoming HDB Cool Ideas Enterprise in the first half of 2026. This is a platform that provides enterprises with funding support, mentorship and access to testbed facilities to co-develop solutions that improve the HDB living environment and residents' quality of life.”
“The Housing and Development Board plans and designs playgrounds in Build-To-Order projects for two groups of children – those aged two to five years old, and those aged five to 12 years old. Playgrounds for children aged two to five years are typically sited near preschools. In some areas, both types of playgrounds are co-located.”
“The OneMillionTrees movement was launched in April 2020 to involve the community in planting one million trees across Singapore between 2020 and 2030, to foster greater stewardship of our greenery and nature in Singaporeans. The movement contributes towards our larger vision of transforming Singapore into a City in Nature, through enhancing existing landscapes and habitats for flora and fauna, and strengthening ecological connectivity between our green spaces. The movement encompasses planting trees in streetscapes, parks and park connectors, nature reserves and nature parks as well as various community and institutional spaces. Trees planted under the movement are separate from existing greenery replacement measures to offset clearance due to development. These measures include replacement tree planting and increasing greenery and other natural elements in urban areas.”
“While the Community Relations Unit is being piloted in Tampines, grassroots leaders and frontline agencies continue to manage neighbour disputes across all towns. In addition, residents outside Tampines will still benefit from enhancements to the Community Disputes Management Framework. These include enhanced processes and powers of the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals, which the Ministry of Law is working to operationalise as soon as practicable.”
“The Government adopts an integrated planning and development process for public housing estates, where the Housing and Development Board works closely with agencies, such as the Land Transport Authority, Early Childhood and Development Agency and Ministry of Education, to plan and deliver new estates. For each Build-to-Order (BTO) project, including those that have shorter waiting times, agencies would typically start the planning process several years before the project is launched. To improve the experience for new residents moving into new large-scale BTO estates, the Ministry of National Development has set up an inter-agency BTO Coordination Committee. The Committee is reviewing the detailed planning parameters and delivery timelines for supporting infrastructure, services and amenities, and how to improve these elements for future large-scale BTO estates, especially for residents who move in during the earlier phases. Beyond the Committee's work, agencies will continue to coordinate closely on the delivery of all BTO projects, including the supporting infrastructure, services and amenities required by residents.”
“In 2022, the Urban Redevelopment Authority and Land Transport Authority issued guidelines to facilitate safe and efficient delivery pick-ups at commercial malls. The guidelines were developed by a tripartite committee comprising representatives from Government agencies, mall owners and facility managers, platform companies and the National Delivery Champions Association, based on feedback from multiple focus group discussions with delivery riders. They include setting aside delivery waiting bays for delivery personnel to park their motorcycles and active mobility devices, as well as providing a reasonable parking grace period of 15 to 20 minutes to enable the riders to pick up their deliveries.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank Mr Tiong for his apology. I accept it and I hope that we can, in future, have such discussions in a civilised and polite manner, a respectful manner. Thank you.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank Mr Tan for his clarification. Sir, we did put up a consultation paper entitled "Proposed Framework for Single Family Offices", whereby MAS will take a look, and we made some proposals, on how we can subject the SFOs to a licensing class exemption framework, which would require them to notify MAS of their presence and to comply with specific requirements, such as the SFO and its fund vehicle maintaining a Singapore bank account, thereby subjecting all SFOs to anti-money laundering controls. So, this is something which we will be sharing more details on the date of implementation and also, to look at what are the changes to the legislation that we will need. The point that Mr Tan mentioned earlier about doing the checks, we do that. And we do that at two levels, so the banks will, on their own, do some of these checks with the clients before they allow them to open accounts, and that is part of their due diligence checks. And for MAS, we will do another check if they are applying for tax exemption. So, that is on top of what the banks will check.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank Mr Chua for his question. It is kind of similar to what Mr Tiong asked earlier. I did explain the process of how we deal with STRs that are filed by the financial institutions. But please allow me to maybe reiterate some of the key points. So, the financial institutions filed STRs earlier. This was before the US made public that they are taking action against Chen Zhi and his associates. These STRs are part of what the authorities would take into account in assessing whether further investigation will be required and further action will be required. I think Mr Chua is familiar with how this works. He is from the financial services industry. STRs on their own may not equate to an offence being committed. It is just to highlight that could be what looks like a suspicious transaction. So, it is an early risk signal that will need to be looked into, but on its own, does not constitute an offence has been committed. So, the Police will need to look at that and consider other sources of relevant information, including working closely with their international counterparts. If you look at what is happening to the Prince Holdings case, it is not just in Singapore, where the authorities have taken action in recent weeks. I mentioned in my main reply that Hong Kong, Taiwan and the UK are also some of the other jurisdictions that have done the same. So, I think this is the nature of such operations. We need international collaboration. We need to share intelligence and information with our counterparts, and depending on how they structure their complex operations, we then work together to see how we can put a stop to it. It requires global cooperation.”
“It does not change the anti-money laundering checks that we submit the applicants to. They are still screened, they are still checked. They will continue to be required to open and maintain a bank account in Singapore, which means that the account will continue to be subject to the bank's customer due diligence and ongoing monitoring checks. That was my clarification with Mr Tiong earlier. It is not just at the point of application. It is ongoing check as well. So, this is something which I hope the WP, if you agree that we should not adopt a zero-risk approach, but a risk-proportional approach, then I think we need to strike that balance. We do want our financial services industry to remain competitive, our wealth management industry to remain competitive. I mentioned in my main reply that this sector supports at least 13,000 local jobs and may grow further. But at the same time, we do not want to do it in a manner which will compromise high standards and affect our reputation. That is the balance we want to strike.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank Ms Lim for her supplementary question. In the announcement that I made earlier this year, I made it clear – and this is in the public domain, on public record – that we want to look at how we can streamline some of the processes so that the waiting time is not too long, but at the same time, I emphasised this, we must maintain high standards. Why? Because Singapore is not competing on the basis of being the quickest, the one with the lowest standards, the easiest to set up an account. That is not our competitive advantage. Our competitive advantage is that we are a trusted financial centre. And if we want to achieve that, we need to maintain high standards. So, that is why I emphasised that any process change and any streamlining should not compromise our high standards. Having said that, the process changes that we are looking at are also not at odds with maintaining high standards. So, I want to assure Ms Lim that it is not to ask the financial institutions to skip steps or to not look out for certain suspicious reports in their due diligence checks. I think we must maintain high standards in that area. But it is really to clarify – so, what are we looking for, to avoid a lot of toing and froing, and second guessing? And it is also to look at how we can streamline the processes so that, through the use of technology, through the use of information sharing, we make it more efficient, so that we do not deter the genuine cases, but we block out and we do not admit the ones that are suspicious and have problems that will affect our high standards and reputation. It is a fine calibration, but I want to assure Ms Lim that what we recently announced is meant to simplify the requirements and improve operational efficiency.”
“So, if we accept that we do not want to have zero risk, and we accept that when we open the windows to let in sunlight and fresh air, that there will be some flies, I think less than 1% to me, does not mean that there are many, many flies in this house. And I also mentioned that when we detect those flies, we deal with them firmly. I think that is the key. Not to aim for zero, not to go for zero risk. But when we detect any cases of wrongdoing, when we detect any flies, we go for them. We take a firm enforcement approach. MAS will continue to review our rules and our procedures. I think Mr Tiong is mistaken that we only do the checks at the point of application and not on an ongoing basis. I mentioned earlier that the banks do file STRs, and we are also in the process of reviewing what our rules should be, so that we are able to maintain high standards, we are able to deter bad actors from wanting to come to Singapore and importantly, maintain our competitiveness as a financial centre.”