Chen Show Mao
Singapore
“Sir, a year before the Minister of Health declared War on Diabetes, four years ago, the International Diabetes Foundation reported that Singapore had the second highest proportion of diabetics among developed nations. Our children and young people were increasingly overweight.”
“Sir, zero waste is an effort that members of the public as consumers can be engaged in to great effect. All of us can take action to reduce, reuse, recycle and refuse waste. Twenty-nineteen was designated by the Ministry as the Year towards zero waste to rally Singaporeans to care for our environment and treasure our resources.”
“Sir, informal or unpaid care-givers enable other Singaporeans to carry out the economic activities that are figured in our GDP while their own care-giving is not. As of now, the burden of informal eldercare-giving falls disproportionately on unmarried women.”
“Sir, the COVID-19 outbreak will likely give a critical lift to the growth of technological applications that seem ripe for wider adoption now and in all likelihood will remain more widely-adopted post-COVID-19, for example, video conferencing.”
“Sir, support our older workers to improve their productivity helps provide our older workers with the choice of working longer if they wish, representing an opportunity to stay economically active, socially engaged at work and better provide for themselves in future retirement and, of course, work to the best of their ability.”
“Sir, the Ministry has taken a step towards buttressing the retirement adequacy of freelance workers in our economy with Contribute-As-You-Earn (CAYE) model for MediSave, whereby contribution is made as and when a service fee is earned.”
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“Mr Lee Kuan Yew had said often that Singapore is bigger than himself. In this light, I do not consider myself a son of Lee Kuan Yew. Others may─”
“Madam, I am a Singaporean but Lee Kuan Yew is not my father. Nor do I consider Lee Kuan Yew my father. I have a question about the Ministerial Committee. I understand it was set up to look into the public interest aspects of the house. But what little we heard about what it concerns itself with was what Mr Lee Kuan Yew's wishes were, relating to the house. Are not these the proper subjects of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's will? I understand probate was granted − and should not this matter? For the will is a private matter, as the Prime Minister said just now relating to the seventh version of the will. What are the public interest aspects of this will?”
“Madam, last year, the Minister declared War on Diabetes to great fanfare, as befitting the importance of the campaign. Our children and young people are increasingly overweight. One in three Singaporeans has a lifetime risk of developing diabetes, with serious and costly consequences. Could the Minister give us a report of the progress from the front? On sugary processed food, would the Government consider requiring warnings on containers of sugary processed food, such as cans and packets of candies, soft drinks and so on? This could be similar to requiring warnings on tobacco packaging in order to discourage smoking, which is another risk factor for diabetes. Smokers are 30%-40% more likely to develop diabetes. Similarly, would the Government consider requiring retailers to display signs that encourage shoppers to choose low-sugar options, or school canteens and hawker centres to display signs warning about the dangers of diabetes and encouraging low-sugar options? Would the Minister consider working with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to apply existing incentives to support local food manufacturers to release low-sugar snacks and drinks? The Industry Transformation Map (ITM) for food processing is more advanced than most other ITMs and seems well-placed to develop and promote low-sugar products on an industry basis. Update on Our Battle against Diabetes”
“Madam, the importance of Government-led demand to our small and medium enterprises has been very much rehearsed in these COS proceedings for other Ministries. Through the Government procurement experience, SMEs get to build not only their track record, but also the capabilities they need to be competitive at home and outside Singapore in the internationalisation drive. Could we complement these efforts and facilitate these outcomes by refinements or enhancements to our Government procurement practice, subject, of course, to alignment with international standards and obligations and the underlying principles of fairness, transparency and value for money. Could the scope of work be more finely delineated, for example, by specific types of requirements so that different SMEs may take on different parts of the work? This could help them enter into collaborations and form consortiums to bid for higher value contracts in the future. Could SMEs which have niche technologies relevant to the work be engaged through research partnerships with the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) or other agencies? Madam, our SMEs contribute half of our gross domestic product (GDP) and employ 70% of our workforce and have won the substantial majority of Government tenders under our open procurement system in recent years, both by number and the value of contracts. However, due to their large numbers and variety, it is estimated that less than 5% of our SMEs secure Government projects. Last year, the first Government procurement fair was held, in part, to encourage SMEs to participate in the Government procurement process. Could we look into possible enhancements and refinements to the process that could help even more of them to do so? Innovation and SMEs”
“As learning languages is best done when young, could the Ministry look into making the conversational third language programme part of the syllabus to deepen the conversational language skills of our primary school students, and we do this starting with our national language and our official languages perhaps included as part of the regular curriculum for every student, that is, compulsory and during school hours, but without the pressure of examinations? Preserving our Mother Tongues and Culture”
“Sir, the importance to our country and to our economy of regional cooperation and trade, and the importance to our people and our enterprises of internationalisation and regionalisation have been much rehearsed in these COS proceedings for other Ministries. Could we complement these efforts and facilitate these outcomes with an increased focus on regional language proficiency in our school curricula? There are other good reasons, in many ways more important reasons, for doing so. First, education. Research has found several benefits of multilingual education in children, including cognitive and intellectual skills. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has consistently championed multilingual education in schools. Second, to protect and preserve our own multiculturalism. We should promote the learning of our own national language and our other official languages. It promotes national integration, and it is our good fortune that our national language and other official languages happen to be among the most widely spoken in Asia and the world. We currently have third language programmes at the secondary school level like the Malay Special Programme (MSP) for learning Malay, and Chinese Special Programme (CSP) for Chinese; and we have conversational third language programmes for Malay and Chinese at the primary school level as enrichment, but not as part of the regular curriculum.”
“I would like to ask whether we could do more to help ensure that we do not leave groups of Singaporeans behind in the drive to digitise Government services and build a Smart Nation. One recent example is the difficulties that some seniors still face in trying to use SingPass and activating two-factor authentication (2FA). Seniors without mobile phones need to apply for the OneKey token. In many cases, the only practical option for seniors who are unable to apply for the OneKey token online is to visit one of the two OneKey offices in Alexandra and Tanjong Pagar. This is the case, notwithstanding the onsite assistance available at the 25 Citizen Connect Centres in Singapore who can help with applying for SingPass but not OneKey tokens. The process may prove cumbersome particularly for several groups of people, such as seniors who are not tech-savvy, those with low levels of education, those who are not conversant in English, those who do not own mobile phones and those who may have difficulties getting around. This calls to mind the bigger issues of the growing risk of losing access to essential Government services for groups of Singaporeans in the face of digitalisation. Let us try to make our pioneering Smart Nation even more inclusive. Libraries and E-services”
“Madam, many calls have been made in this House over the past year for the proper protection of freelancers who operate in the rising gig economy. I wish to echo their concerns and reiterate the importance. Currently, employment-related laws in Singapore, such as the EA, the CPF Act and WICA, outline the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers, including contributions towards housing, retirement and medical benefits. Unlike an employee, a freelancer performing work under a contract for service currently falls outside the scope of many provisions of our employment-related laws. Last month, Minister Lim Swee Say told the House that his Ministry is looking into results of a new survey commissioned to enable the Government to better understand the profiles of freelancers in Singapore. This initiative is welcomed. I hope it will lead to the Government looking into extending to freelancers more of the protection currently afforded employees under our employment-related laws. Perhaps, also to consider risk-pooling mechanisms yielding protection for freelancers in the event of work injury. Madam, let us embrace the rise of the gig economy and protect our freelance workers who work in it. Support for Freelance Workers”
“Perhaps, Job Redesign for Older Workers can be set out among the suite of initiatives for improving productivity in any given industry. We know productivity is one of the four pillars supporting the growth and competitiveness plans of any given ITM. Another way to envision Job Redesign for Older Workers as a key component of ITMs may be to think of it as a third horizontal, along with promoting ICT adoption and skills development, which can help to support the ITMs and produce improvements across the economy in the face of an ageing workforce. Welfare of Conservancy Workers 2.15 pm”
“Madam, we are living longer. It makes sense to help our older workers stay active in the workplace for longer if they so choose. When we make it possible for older workers to remain active in the workforce as they wish, we help them contribute to their own economic and social well-being. In addition, their fellow workers and society in general also benefit from the full utilisation of their human capital. Employers can help their older workers become more effective workers in their jobs by redesigning the workplace, work processes and even the job itself. Last year saw several Government initiatives in the area. WorkPro was enhanced in making grants to help companies implement age management practices and redesign workplaces and processes for older workers. Also last year, a programme was launched to offer an array of courses for companies and individuals on age management at the workplace − a programme administered by the Singapore Institute of Management (UniSIM), in collaboration with MOM and others. In addition, a Job Redesign Toolkit for companies developed by MOM, SNEF and NTUC was launched. These Government initiatives focus on efforts for Job Redesign for Older Workers at the enterprise level and they are welcomed. Could the Ministry look into making these efforts also at the industry level? This is because while workplaces and processes may be particular to a company, different companies in the same industry share a great deal in common. Perhaps, resources could be pooled by companies in the industry to develop best practices, to modify tools and equipment for use off-the-shelf by older workers throughout the industry. Perhaps, Job Redesign for Older Workers could be identified as a key component of each ITM currently being developed across the economy.”
“Sir, over the past year and more, commercial rental for industry, office and shops has declined. Yet, a significant number of SMEs continue to cite the need for Government assistance relating to business rental. After this year's Budget was delivered, the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) said it was disappointed with the inadequate short-term support to lower business costs, including "the absence of measures on rental rebates for businesses in general." Why is that? Quite apart from the fact that no assistance is too much assistance as far as prospective recipients are concerned, it seems that businesses facing challenging times may find even falling business rental a substantial burden. And for SMEs in some sectors more than others, business rental makes up a significant part of their operating costs. Could the Ministry consider whether targeted assistance, for example, rental rebates directed at qualifying SMEs or startups in certain sectors may be feasible, say, to stimulate retail-oriented SMEs, startups or microbusinesses, so as to bring added diversity and vibrancy to our heartlands? There are good reasons for this: to help SMEs relieve some of the pressure they feel and better take on the challenges of restructuring and drive innovation. 5.30 pm Business Rental Costs”
“Instead, the Bill says, "The Minister may prescribe the manner in which the abandonment of the counting of votes, the restart of polling, or the counting of votes is to be carried out". Does this mean the Minister would have the discretion to decide whether all electors allotted to the affected polling station would vote again upon the restart of polls, or limit the re-vote to only the electors allotted to the lost or destroyed ballot box? And if the Minister indeed has that discretion, is that not too much discretion, especially in a close election?”
“In other words, why not limit as much as we can the electoral impact of any lost or destroyed ballot boxes? In the last Presidential Elections of 2011, the difference between the ballots cast for President Tony Tan and Dr Tan Cheng Bock was just some 7,000 votes. It is not unreasonable to expect that fewer than 4,000 electors allotted to an affected polling station and another 4,000 electors registered to vote overseas, would trigger a re-vote at the polling station in a close election under the proposed amendments. Why give leverage to persons who tamper with the ballot boxes seeking to influence the results of our Presidential Elections? Why amplify their powers to do so in close elections? The restart of polling. How about the manner in which the polling would be restarted once it has been determined that the affected number of votes is material? Currently, in a different context, our laws provide that polling may be abandoned and restarted on another day in our Presidential or Parliamentary Elections in the case of riot or open violence, storm, flood, fire, fire, health hazard or some other difficulties in the physical conduct of voting. In such cases, our laws provide that the abandonment and the restart of polling must be carried out in the prescribed manner and among other things, only those electors who "have not already voted", shall be entitled to vote when the polling restarts. In contrast, in the Bill before us today, it is not clear to me if electors who have voted at the polling station and whose ballots remain available for counting because they are not in the lost or destroyed ballot box, whether they would also vote again when polling restarts in this case.”
“Madam, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill last November effected changes to the Constitution relating to our Elected Presidency. This Bill proposes to put in place nuts and bolts to give effect to these changes and to improve election procedures. Today, I ask about election procedures. Clause 15 of the Bill proposes to abandon the counting of ballots cast at a polling station if one of the ballot boxes is lost or destroyed in transit from the polling station to a counting centre, and to restart the polling, if necessary. In this connection, I would like the Minister to confirm if the smallest unit to which electors are allotted in our Presidential Election is the ballot box, a unit smaller than the polling station. If so, I would like to make the following points on election procedures. On the abandonment of counting, the Bill provides that in the event a ballot box is lost or destroyed in transit, the counting of all the votes cast at the affected polling station, including the votes cast that were not in the lost or destroyed ballot box, would be abandoned. The voting for the affected polling station would be restarted if the difference in the vote count of the two leading Presidential candidates, without counting the votes cast at the affected polling station, is less than the sum of: (a) the total number of electors allotted to the affected polling station and entitled to vote in the election; and (b) the total number of overseas electors entitled to vote in the election. If electors are allotted to the level of ballot boxes, should we not provide that any re-vote would take place only if the total number of electors affected by the lost or destroyed ballot box, rather than the entire polling station, proved material?”
“If that is the case, without an existing identifiable and specific thing to fix, then it behoves us to be even more humble about the possibility of unintended consequences of keeping out credible presidential candidates by what is proposed here today. Even just looking at the custodial functions of the President, why are we seeking to restrict further the number of men and women who could be President by eliminating the non-executive chairmen of eligible companies from consideration, where both the chairmen and the chief executive officers used to qualify under the current rules? If we were to look at the constitutional functions to be performed by the President, including the custodial functions currently required, can we not say that they are in many ways more like those of a non-executive chairman than an executive officer?”
“They reduce the number of men and women who could be President at a time when we understand that good men and women for the job are so hard to find. We focus on the benefits of selecting our President from a smaller pool of eligible candidates with the requisite "merit" – the merit that we feel we are able to define – but there are also costs to our society of thereby excluding, by our definition, other candidates with qualities that may be harder to approximate. Other qualities of a good President, which are no less important than this financial savvy that the eligibility criteria try to fathom. Page: 112 In this House, just these two days, we have heard that the President should also be of good character, honest, selfless, willing to serve, independent, "able to think for himself", and should have integrity, judgement and courage. Sir, these are human qualities, not angelic ones. With the proposed tightened eligibility criteria, how many of our former Presidents – Yusof Ishak, Benjamin Sheares, Devan Nair, Wee Kim Wee – would have been found ineligible to serve, even if they were ready and eager to do so, and in the eyes of vast numbers of Singaporeans, be qualified to do so? How many other Singaporeans? Why are we seeking to restrict further the number of men and women who could be President? Has any of our Elected Presidents – Ong Teng Cheong, SR Nathan and Tony Tan – behaved so untowardly that we feel corrective action is needed to limit the number of eligible candidates from, say, qualifying companies with paid-in capital of at least $100 million, to those with shareholders' equity of at least $500 million? We are told that the Elected Presidency system is working well and by these proposed amendments what we hope to do is anticipate problems before they appear.”
“Sir, the Office of the Presidency in these days of increasing diversity amongst our people can have an even bigger unifying role to play. A few years ago, I said in this House, "How do we find as much common ground as possible? I believe it will be best done through strengthening institutions that are non-partisan and capable of commanding the respect and allegiance of all Singaporeans, in spite of their political differences. Make these institutions inclusive and focus on our common objectives. The office of the Presidency, for example", I said. Indeed, President Tony Tan, in his swearing-in ceremony, said, "I will strive to strengthen our common bonds and our core values that underpin our society. Whatever your political views, I will strive to the best of my abilities to represent you". Do the proposed amendments before us strengthen the Presidency in this important unifying role? Does an enforced reservation of Presidential Elections to particular groups of Singaporeans defined along racial lines best help the Elected President play a unifying role? We believe that Singaporeans, when called upon, will rise to the occasion to choose their Head of State based on the person's character and achievements, regardless of race, language or religion. Does a tightened, narrower set of eligibility criteria help the Elected President unify a broader group of Singaporeans? Tightened eligibility criteria have been advanced as a proxy for the suitability and competency of the candidate for President. We are told that more stringent criteria are necessary for a President to perform his or her custodial functions in our bigger and more expansive times. But these tightened eligibility criteria have their own costs.”
“I call on the Government to establish an inter-Ministerial working committee to develop HIA requirements and review the current state of heritage protection, in consultation with civil society groups like the Singapore Heritage Society, Nature Society and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Singapore.”
“Sir, local heritage is becoming increasingly important as Singapore matures and our national identity develops. Our heritage is key to understanding who we are and where we came from. In the past few years we have seen several public debates over heritage and what we should preserve. We have also seen several archaeological excavations, for example, in Fort Canning, St Andrew's Cathedral, Adam Park, Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, the site of the National Gallery Singapore and most recently, Empress Place. These excavations are signs of our interests in our past and the Government's efforts to support heritage awareness. Sir, we can do more. Strengthen the existing legal framework over heritage impact assessments, or HIAs, and over artefacts from archaeological excavations. Currently, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Planning Act does make it mandatory for persons seeking to develop land to carry out HIAs. Without these assessments, we would not know if such development would put historically significant buildings, structures or artefacts at risk. We should make HIAs mandatory. These are assessments that will help URA or the Minister make better informed decisions over development. Another crucial gap in the legal framework is the issue of ownership of artefacts that are discovered in the course of archaeological excavations. The law is currently unclear on who owns the artefacts, the landowner or the state, with different implications for their protection.”
“Recent studies show that asset and cash transfers to the poor are more effective when the recipients receive two years of counselling and training to use the assets and cash in ways that will help them to graduate from poverty. In the Singapore context, it could be to enrol in skills training, so that the person could land a decent job or to leverage existing skills to start micro-businesses. The Mentoring Programme would also encourage recipients to persevere and break out of the poverty cycle. We should not be so judgemental as to tell the recipients what they should consume with their cash assistance, but the little mentoring advice and encouragement will go a long way, especially with the needy who find themselves socially isolated. This Mentoring Programme need not and should not be as intense as the handholding for the Fresh Start Housing Scheme, but the underlying principle is the same. The ComCare Annual Report should also show the number graduating from ComCare through the Mentoring Programme, not just the number of beneficiaries, so that we can be confident our fellow Singaporeans are being uplifted out of poverty. A "Yellow Ribbon" Approach to Poverty”
“Sir, my experience with families in financial need seems to suggest that quite a number of them would have benefited from financial assessment and counselling at the time of selling their HDB flats. I would like to suggest that the Government look into instituting at some point in the selling process, mandatory checks to ensure that certain groups of sellers, say, those aged 55 or above, Page: 89 are fully aware of the specific respective amounts of proceeds that will be used to pay off outstanding mortgage loans, HDB resale levy, required CPF refunds and all the restrictions relating to the transfer and use of monies in and out of their CPF accounts, including the Retirement Account, and to provide them with related financial counselling if assessment so warrants. ComCare Graduation Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong (Non-Constituency Member): Chairman, Sir, the Ministry's ComCare Annual Report reported that the number of recipients of ComCare Short-To-Medium-Term Assistance increased from over 11,000 beneficiaries in Financial Year 2012 to over 27,000 beneficiaries in Financial Year 2014. I believe this is due to the expansion of the eligibility for Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance in 2012 and 2014 and also the greater outreach effort by the SSOs. It is good that ComCare is reaching more Singaporeans in need. Nevertheless, all else being equal, the effectiveness of Government's efforts to help Singaporeans in need should be reflected in a decline of the number eligible for assistance. We should be worried if the number of beneficiaries continues to climb when the eligibility criteria stay the same. I would like to propose the Ministry set up a Mentoring Programme for the recipients of ComCare Short-to-Medium Term Assistance.”
“Madam, many Singaporeans provide regular care to family members or friends who are disabled, elderly or physically or mentally ill. Our dependence on this group of Singaporeans is real, substantial and often unacknowledged. In many ways, informal or unpaid caregivers enable other Singaporeans to carry out the economic activities reckoned in our GDP, while their own caregiving is not. As of now, the burden of informal caregiving falls disproportionately on women. As noted in this House before, it is well-documented that caregivers often suffer declines in their own financial circumstances and mental and physical health. If they work, their performances suffer, too. Often, these caregivers pass up opportunities, stay at home and can find themselves with little support and resources for their own retirement or care. In recent years, we are starting to acknowledge and provide assistance to these informal caregivers, with several Members of this House having spoken on the issue. I hope the Government will look into CPF top-ups for full-time informal caregivers in low-income households to reduce the pressure of being under-employed and under-prepared for retirement, as a result of taking on their informal caregiving responsibilities. Other examples of a much-needed acknowledgement and support for caregivers could include the leave for caregivers that several Members of this House have called for, or greater support for working informal caregivers when they exercise their rights to ask for flexible work arrangements. Less-advantaged Children”
“I have heard quite a lot of feedback from my residents. They told me that they had applied many times. However, every application ended up in disappointment. So, can the Ministry build more 2-room flats for singles so that they can get their flats faster? What is the current building plan for this category? Mdm Chair, in Chinese, please. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Ten years ago when I first came to Nee Soon South, residents would always ask me when I was walking around in the constituency, "MP, when are you going to help renovate my lift?" Now, 10 years later, as I walk around in the constituency, residents will always say to me: "Aiyo, I am getting old. My house is run-down and the toilet is falling apart. When are you going to help me renovate my toilet?" What they are referring to is the Home Improvement Programme (HIP). Every day, my residents hope that HIP can be accelerated to benefit them as well. Hence, I hope that the authorities can do more and do faster.”
“But still, as parents, they wish to offer better protection to their children from future property price inflation, a concern that may now be holding them back from taking up the LBS. Helping Low-income and Vulnerable Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Madam, all of us want to have a roof over our heads. I am sure our Government remains committed to aiding low-income and vulnerable households to achieve this. Some families cannot afford to own their flat due to some difficulties. So, they have to take a public rental flat. I would like to ask for faster allocation of rental flats for those with young children or aged parents. Some families may have previously owned a flat, but due to some difficulties, they sold it and ended up in public rental housing. 3.45 pm I think for those who pick themselves up, work hard and are determined to give security to themselves and their family, the Fresh Start Housing Scheme, which provides another housing grant, will certainly make their dream of owning their home a reality. I sympathise a lot with divorcees with children. Having to go through divorce is already very painful. What more, if they have to shift out of their matrimonial home? Without a roof over their head, they will have difficulty deciding which school to send their children to. Single parents are particularly stressed in such situations because they are often the sole breadwinner and caregiver of their children. Can special priority be given to those divorcees with children or those in the process of going through a divorce to get a flat? Administrative red tape only contributes further to their predicament. Are we able to expedite the approval process? Last but not least, it is those who applied for new BTO flats under the singles scheme.”
“Madam, I believe the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) has an important role to play in providing for the retirement adequacy of our seniors. Since last year, the Ministry has enhanced the scheme in various ways to improve the take-up rate. I welcome these efforts. Today, I wish to reiterate an earlier call for LBS to be enhanced to give the children of the deceased the option to buy back the portion of the lease that has been sold, provided, of course, that they qualify to own an HDB flat. And significantly, to allow them to buy this back at the price of the unit, valued at the time the LBS was executed by their parents. I believe this will help address the concern on the part of elderly parents that their children will not be able to inherit the flat from them and hence, would not enjoy that financial benefit to help them cope with the higher property prices in the future. These seniors worry that property in the future may be unaffordable to their children, especially those who do not currently own flats. They wish to pass on to their children, as much as possible, the value that has accrued to their flats over the years, less, of course, the amount of financial support that the seniors expect to receive from the lease buy out. This could well result in their children acquiring their property at below market rates in the future, but this is no different from parents passing on their property to their children – an accepted principle. All that changes here is that those seniors who are in need will get another option to monetise their flats now, while their children may be unable or even unwilling to provide for them in full.”
“Madam, I would like to call on the Government to look into encouraging the increased use of price-adjustment or escalation clauses in Government procurement. These clauses provide that should some key costs in Government contracts rise significantly from the time of tender to the time of performance or over a long period of performance, then the contract price will escalate in accordance with some pre-agreed formula, typically with reference to an index. This would protect the contractor from having to assume the risk of sharp increases in key costs. This will also benefit the Government in that their contractors will be under less pressure to over-budget when they bid for a contract and build into their bids their estimates for future cost increases. Escalation clauses need not be used only to protect the contractors when the costs go up. They can also be used to favour the Government when key costs drop, say, commodity or oil prices. They can provide that in such cases, the contract price to be paid by the Government will decrease accordingly. In this way, escalation clauses remove some financial risks for Government contractors and may enable or allow SMEs to punch above their weight in more public tenders. To me, this would be in keeping with the spirit of this year's Budget, in the various forms of financing and tax incentives proposed to support the scale-ups of our SMEs.”
“Yes, Sir. Some use of resources, time and effort in making discretionary assessments in exceptional cases would be well-spent.”
“Sir, come July, the first Silver Support Scheme payouts will be made to some 140,000 Singaporeans above the age of 65. The payouts are meant to provide a modest but meaningful supplement to their retirement incomes in support of the bottom 20% to 30% of Singaporean seniors. I welcome this support. I would like to reiterate our earlier calls for Silver Support payments to be made monthly instead of quarterly. With monthly payouts and a more consistent liquidity that they provide, the elderly will be better able to manage their day-to-day expenses. Would behavioural economics suggest that making the payouts monthly could even nurture the seniors to use more of the payouts to pay for those significant living expenses that are incurred monthly, such as utility bills and others? If they were to do so, it will help them better manage their limited cash flow. I hope the Minister will also consider adjusting the amounts of future payouts for inflation, perhaps at the start of every term of Government, to ensure that the support our needy seniors receive keeps up with the rising cost of living. As Members have said in many different ways, I hope that a degree of flexibility can be built into the eligibility considerations of the payout scheme involving the three criteria of lifetime wages, housing types and household support. I appreciate that clear-cut rules and a high degree of administrative efficiency may be required to deliver Silver Support to needy seniors in large enough numbers. However, balanced against that consideration is, of course, our hope that specific needy seniors who deserve support do not fall through the cracks of rigid eligibility criteria. Some use of resources —”
“Madam, the great harm done to our bodies by the unchecked consumption of refined sugar and other types of sugar is increasingly clear. Research has also shown that eating habits and food preferences are acquired when young and are more difficult to change after adolescence. Our schools, therefore, have an important role to play to help foster healthy eating habits and food preferences in young Singaporeans. I wish to commend MOE and the Health Promotion Board (HPB) for their efforts in the area, resulting in the "Healthy Meals in Schools" programme in 2016. I would like to learn about other proposed efforts in the area and look forward to the testing of innovative policy solutions in this area, perhaps developed in partnership with the private and people sectors. I hope these will enable the Ministry and HPB to further cut down the amount of sugar allowed in the food and drinks sold in our schools, be they juice, carbonated, or other types of drinks, for the further Page: 21 promotion of health among our school children. Partnership with Parents and Community”
“Madam, schools widely have encouraged the active participation in various CCAs in order to promote a more well-rounded and holistic education. We believe CCAs inculcate values, such as perseverance, and help students develop transferable skills in organising, planning, self-discipline and other areas. CCAs also foster integration and deepen the students' sense of belonging and responsibility towards the community. However, CCAs may have increasingly become more exclusive in two respects: the cost of taking part in them and the push for deliverable results. There are stories of students turned away from certain CCAs because the students have no reasonable prospects of winning trophies for lack of prior training or natural ability. In fact, it appears that the further students progress in their education, the more difficult they find it to participate in CCAs and sports or in the performing arts. This is even more so if the CCA is known to be a niche CCA that the school is supposedly good at, where, presumably, you have more teachers and fellow students with much to share. There are also stories of schools that have closed down popular CCAs because they have been unable to deliver quantifiable results. I would like to call on the Ministry to look into how CCA participation may be broadened and made less exclusive. CCA participation, I feel, should importantly be based on students' keen interest to take part, in addition to their demonstrated competency. Allowing students to follow their interest will keep them motivated to remain in the CCAs for the long term and reap the rich educational benefits that CCAs in schools have to offer.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his answer and his advice to wait and see on the declining trend in business rental. He mentioned that JTC has only 18% of the industrial space for rent and, therefore, does not have much influence over the rent of industrial space. I would like to ask the Minister of State whether JTC would consider increasing that percentage through the provision of additional, new, low-cost industrial space. 7.30 pm”
“Second, similarly increase the supply of HDB commercial space and lower the rentals for HDB commercial properties, which have increased substantially over the past 20 years, in order to stimulate retail-oriented businesses in the SME and startup sector and bring added diversity and vibrancy to our heartlands. This would be a welcome investment to nurture the SME sector. The extent by which HDB commercial rentals should be lowered can be calibrated based on available Budget surpluses and other considerations. Sir, in keeping with the spirit of innovation, if nothing else, I hope the Minister will consider seriously these suggestions and, perhaps, test out the solutions in connection with the development of the JID or other special entrepreneurial zones made available to local SMEs through SPRING's schemes to promote start-ups. Potential Adjustments to Rental Prices”
“Sir, commercial and industrial rentals are a perennial issue for Singapore SMEs and have been for quite some time. In 2013, it was reported that a survey conducted by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore found over eight-tenths of respondents wanted measures to reduce rental costs as their number one wish-list items for businesses. Recently, the economy appears to have hit a bad patch. SBF, in their position paper for a Vibrant Singapore, mentioned that even with increased supply and slowing demand for rental premises, rents are still a concern for many businesses. This likely reflects their experience with higher annual increases over the longer term. Over the longer term, access to low-rent premises has diminished, following the corporatisation of JTC assets as well as the commercial pricing of Housing and Development Board (HDB) rentals. Commercial and industrial rentals have risen substantially over the years. These now are significant expense items that breed insecurity for many small businesses. We call on the Government to not only keep commercial and industrial rental increases near or below inflation but also keep their absolute amounts manageable as part of the more serious effort to nurture SMEs as the third pillar. This may require actions to, first, take a long-term view of reducing business rentals and have JTC pick up, in part, their former approach of building lower-cost industrial and commercial property before many of their many properties were privatised. Based on indications of strong demand for existing low-cost facilities, like incubators, this will go a long way towards stimulating the startup and SME sector.”
“I hope that the Government can study the heritage frameworks that other countries employ and share with Singaporeans their best practices, so that we may learn from others and hopefully have our own framework in place. I believe there are lessons to be learnt when Singaporeans raised significant concerns regarding heritage issues such as with the demolition of the former National Library or the redevelopment of parts of the Bukit Brown Cemetery. I believe that implementing a heritage impact assessment framework will mitigate such concerns in the future and should be the next step forward to conserve our country's heritage and history. Re-imagine Old Neighbourhoods/Communities”
“Mdm Chairman, this year, being the 50th since the founding of the Republic of Singapore, it is a time for reflection on our history and our heritage. The Government has expended efforts over the years to preserve our country's built heritage. For example, the establishment of the National Heritage Board in 1993, and the policy of preserving the facades of historical buildings. URA has also published a set of Page: 29 conservation guidelines for our built heritage. At the same time, members of civil society, such as the Singapore Heritage Society, have played an important educational and advocacy role in the conservation of our country's history and heritage. In 2013, the National Heritage Board set up a new division called the Impact Assessment and Mitigation Division. As reported in the press, Mr Alvin Tan, group director of policy, said that the job of the new division was to conduct impact assessments of redevelopment works on heritage sites and structures and work with the necessary stakeholders to establish mitigation measures. Given the increasing importance of conserving our heritage, I wish to ask the Minister for an update on the work of this Division, and whether more specifics of its work can be made publicly available, perhaps periodically in an annual report. I would also like to ask what the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are for the Division. For example, will the Division be leading the way to formalise and publicise a heritage impact assessment framework across different agencies? A number of countries have heritage impact assessment frameworks in place, such as Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.”
“While EIAs have the potential to slow down plans for development, Madam, they would be an important safeguard for our environment. Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA)”
“Madam, the call to make Environment Impact Assessments (EIAs) an integral part of any major development project in Singapore is not a new one. Many Singaporeans have, in the past, made such appeals, including inside this House. The Government has acknowledged the importance of EIAs in general terms and also stated that we should not have EIAs for every single development, that EIAs do take up time and resources and, as such, we should apply them selectively to projects that may most adversely affect our environment. Could the Government provide more specific guidelines relating to when EIAs will be required for development projects, perhaps for projects of a certain type, above a certain size, in certain zones, and how the assessments and public consultations would be carried out? Could these be specified and formalised in a published framework or in legislation? If we take reference from the EIA legislation of some other countries, we can find that the scope of projects that require EIAs is often defined in the law. If we have an EIA law, it does not mean that all projects must have EIAs, but that when EIAs are required would be defined and known to the public, along with guidance on how they would be conducted and so on. To be balanced against the time and resources of conducting EIAs, of course, would be the cost – both present and future, and tangible and intangible – of potentially damaging or losing vital components of our natural and other heritage. If an EIA finds a development project to be potentially harmful to our environment, it does not mean that the project has to be stopped altogether. It does mean that if the project was to proceed, we would have to take concrete measures to mitigate or avoid the negative impact to the environment.”
“Even when the latter have already grown up and have their own families, parents will still worry for them. Even if the children do not have the financial means to support their elderly parents, parents will still worry for them. Some seniors are afraid that property will be unaffordable to their children in future and against which the extended HDB lease, not the shortened one, offers better protection. Allaying this fear may lead to greater take-up of LBS by those who need it. Some may argue that this is conferring an unfair advantage on the children as they can acquire property at below-market rates in future. But this is no different from parents passing on their property to their children, an accepted principle. All that changes here is that those seniors who are in need will get another option to monetise their flats while at the same time offering better protection to their children from future property price inflation. It is totally understandable that parents have this concern for their children. Shorter Leases for HDB Flats”
“But this is really no different from parents passing on their property to children – an accepted principle. All that changes here is that those seniors who are in need now will get another option to monetise their flats while at the same time offering better protection to their children from future property price inflation – a concern which may now be holding them back. Page: 118 (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Madam, Budget 2015 includes key measures to improve retirement adequacy. The Lease Buy-Back Scheme (LBS) is one of the key means by which seniors can unlock the value inherent in their homes, particularly if they wish to age in place. However, take-up remains low, in spite of recent enhancements. One of the barriers holding back seniors from taking up this scheme is concern on their part that their children would not be able to inherit the flat from them and, hence, would not enjoy the financial benefit to help them cope with potentially higher property prices in the future. There are references in the academic literature to this bequest motive as being one reason for the low take-up of LBS. The Minister for National Development has also cited this as one reason why the take-up of LBS is low. Madam, we have all met seniors who have expressed such a concern. I would like to suggest a way in which LBS can be tweaked to reduce this impediment. My suggestion is that the LBS could be modified to give the children of the deceased the option to buy back the portion of the lease that has been sold to HDB, provided, of course, that they qualify to own an HDB flat. And they could be allowed to buy this back at the price of the unit valued at the time the LBS was executed by their parents. Parents will always worry for their children.”
“Madam, Budget 2015 includes key measures to improve retirement adequacy. The Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) is one of the key means by which seniors can unlock the value inherent in their homes, particularly if they wish to age in place. However, take-up remains low in spite of recent enhancements. One of the barriers holding back seniors from taking up this Scheme is concern on their part that their children would not be able to inherit the flat from them and, hence, would not enjoy the financial benefit to help them cope with potentially higher property prices in the future. There are references in the academic literature to this bequest motive as being one reason for the low take-up of LBS. The Minister for National Development has also cited this as one reason why the take-up is low. Madam, we have all met seniors who have expressed such a concern. I would like to suggest a way in which LBS can be tweaked to reduce this impediment. My suggestion is that the LBS could be modified to give the children of the deceased the option to buy back the portion of the lease that has been sold to HDB, provided, of course, that they qualify to own an HDB flat. They could be allowed to buy these back at the price of the unit valued at the time the LBS was executed by their parents. This privilege could be extended only to children of the deceased. Its purpose would be to counter the fear of some seniors that property would be unaffordable for their children in the future and against which the extended HDB lease, not the shortened one, offers better protection. Allaying this fear may lead to greater take-up of the LBS by those who need it. Some may argue that this is conferring an unfair advantage on the children as they can acquire property at below market rates in the future.”
“The Scheme aims to help the bottom 20% of our seniors and the Government will take into consideration their housing type, lifelong income and family support in assessing their eligibility. Those who are eligible will be included automatically in the Scheme. We suggest that the Government make monthly payouts instead of quarterly payouts so that needy seniors will be able to use the subsidy to help meet their periodic expenditures for basic needs. We also hope that the Government will exercise flexibility in determining eligibility for the Scheme based on a mix of the three enumerated factors so that those in need will receive the support they require. 3.32 pm”
“(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance in his Budget Statement said that the Government would enhance retirement savings and income through changes in the CPF system and the Silver Support Scheme. Page: 77 As to the CPF system that was termed one of the four pillars of our social security system, we have the following suggestions. The Workers' Party proposes that the CPF Payout Eligibility Age be delinked from Retirement Age. This was raised by the Workers' Party Member for Hougang, Mr Png Eng Huat, in Parliament last year. We recommend delinking the two ages as we hope more Singaporeans will, through their allocation of their lifetime savings, including their CPF savings, be able to have more choices relating to their work before the statutory retirement age. They would be better able to consider switching to a job with lower compensation – perhaps one with lighter workload, or one that is more personally meaningful. The Workers' Party proposes lowering the CPF Payout Eligibility Age to 60 and allowing deferral of the commencement of payouts to an older age, with a concomitant increase in the size of payouts of several percentage points a year, till age 70. Mdm Speaker, the Silver Support Scheme reflects the value of a more inclusive society. It is right to help our needy seniors: it reflects our caring for one another, it strengthens our social cohesion and it advances the traditional virtue among our different peoples of respect for our elders. Under the Silver Support Scheme, the Government will distribute $300 to $750 every three months to low-income Singaporeans over 65 years old.”
“It only hopes to have more standard guidance on the disclosure requirement and under what circumstances: why do you disclose but I do not; why did I not have to disclose in the past but need to do so now? The Town Council is not against disclosure and is happy to comply and would welcome guidance on the relevant form of disclosure. The AGO report referred to 84 payments made to related parties within the year. Most of these payments – 96% of the total sum involved – were amounts payable under the relevant contracts. In other words, important terms, such as the payable rate, frequency of payment and mode of payment, had already been determined in the contracts signed earlier between the Town Council and the service providers. To appoint an external vendor as the managing agent means you outsource the management and administration functions. However, while management can be outsourced, supervision cannot be outsourced. The Chairman of the Town Council has reported that since September 2011, soon after the takeover of the Town Council, all cheques issued to the Managing Agent are required to be co-signed by the Chairman or Vice Chairmen, in addition to signatures of the Town Council's officers. In other words, all payments must be approved by the Chairman or the Vice Chairmen. None of the Secretary, the General Manager or any other Town Council officer is able to request for and approve the payment all on his or her own. The Chairman of the Town Council has reported that when the Chairman or Vice Chairmen approves the payments, it is based on certificates issued by architects or surveyors, computer reports or some other feedback. Thank you, Mdm Speaker, for allowing me to speak on this important topic. Page: 87”
“One consequence is, however, that transactions between the Town Council and its Managing Agent can become related-party transactions. The AG indicated in the report that related-party transactions are not against the law, but need to be disclosed. To whom should they be disclosed? A few examples are given. Back when the Town Council was discussing whether it should enter into a new contract with the Managing Agent, a written disclosure should have been provided to Town Councillors who were to make the decision, to notify them of the relationships between the parties of this related-party transaction. As the Chairman of the Town Council reported earlier: we accept the suggestion; it is good practice to provide such formal written disclosure. She also pointed out that the Town Councillors who were to approve the new contract were the same ones who approved the initial contract a year earlier: they were familiar with the Managing Agent – how it was established and its relationship with the Town Council after it was appointed. These were the same Town Councillors. We are now talking about contract renewal; the Town Councillors were familiar with the Managing Agent from when the contract was signed initially. It does not mean that the Town Council could not have provided written disclosure Page: 86 to the Town Councillors: we will continue to work hard in this respect. Second, to whom else should the disclosure be made? The related-party transactions should also be stated in the financial statements of the Town Council. As our Chairman reported, the Town Council is not against the disclosure.”
“(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Speaker, with regard to the AGO's report, AHPETC has given its formal written reply. In response, the AG has made further comments. Responses upon responses are recorded in the report. If you wish to have an accurate assessment of the matter, I hope you will find time to read the report and decide whether the Town Council has provided reasons or mere Page: 85 excuses. Now that the issues, responses and responses to the responses have all been published, I, nevertheless, wish to speak. This is because AHPETC residents have entrusted the Town Council to us and we have the responsibility to do our job well and be accountable to them. I would like to clarify a few points on related-party transactions and offer my views. A town council basically comprises a group of residents and their local Members of Parliament; they manage the common areas in HDB estates, such as the void decks and common corridors, and collect from the residents S&CC for the cleaning and maintenance of the common areas. This is somewhat similar to the functions of management committees of private condominiums and, like them, the majority of Town Councils in Singapore appoint external vendors to provide requisite services, such as cleaning and maintenance, as well as emergency lift services. Among these services, the most important is for the management of the Town Council. The company that provides such management services is called the Managing Agent of the Town Council. Once successfully appointed, the Managing Agent will typically appoint its senior management staff to accept the appointment by the town council as the Town Council's secretary, general manager and other key officers. This is also how we manage AHPETC.”
“Madam, I am an immigrant – I came to this country as a young immigrant. You have heard how we tried to explain that we are not an anti-immigrant party. Nor, I think, can our position on immigration and foreign workers be characterised as anti-immigrant, if we are being "constructive" about it. The speech that I gave dealt with how we can help older workers remain employed, help them keep working if they want to and help redesign workplaces or work processes so that more of them feel more productive at work and stay more productive at work. Because it is a point of emphasis for us: how to grow a Singaporean workforce so that we do not become overly reliant on immigrants and foreign workers.”
“Madam, I have worked, as you know, abroad for many years in my life. And I thank foreigners – foreign governments and foreign friends – for the opportunities that I was given to work in their countries. Of course, we have nothing against immigrants coming to Singapore. But we are talking about an orderly growth within limits. And, hopefully, we would have debated and agreed on it. And that is not inconsistent with what we have said on immigration and on foreign workers in Singapore. I would like to ask Mr Foo if that is what he had in mind by asking the question.”
“Madam, I believe our focus should be on the growing of a resident workforce. That includes the elderly workers whom we can help to participate more in our economy. When targets we set for the growth in our resident working population are not met, then I think at that time, the number of foreign workers may be increased so that we are on our path to growth as we have planned. The Workers' Party's position on this is clear. And that is, we will focus on the growth of the resident workforce and when that force is short, the population of foreign workers in Singapore may be increased. Page: 18”
“So, as other Members have suggested, support may take the form of leave for informal caregivers or the right to ask for flexible work arrangements or CPF top-ups. Not because we want to monetise the act of caring for their loved ones, but we need to help ease some of the financial strains that may arise from their taking on such informal caregiving arrangements. Many Members believe that providing more support to our informal caregivers is the right thing to do. And, Madam, as was said on the opening day of this debate, it is not so much what is said but what is done that will be the measure of our progress.”
“With some investment that help keep them close to their homes, we can leverage on our elders' long-standing ties in the community to teach our children traditional wisdoms and values and share stories and lessons. Our elderly can also be employed in schools to teach subjects in Social Studies and National Education, or be encouraged to volunteer to do so. So, let us continue to invest in Singaporeans even as they age and become elderly. But what forms will such investments take? It is a good thing that seniors themselves will participate in the national conversation about a nation for all ages. It is a good thing that they will express preferences for different active ageing activities and lifelong learning programmes. But whatever these preferences, perhaps, we could look into providing a pillar that will help support investments by our elderly in their human capital. Just like children who need to develop and working adults who need to upgrade their skills, our elderly, too, Page: 17 do need support and resources to continue growing, learning and developing. The second pillar. Informal caregivers also make it possible for our elderly to age in place, in their homes, in the community. These are friends and family. In 2010, it was estimated that approximately 8% of Singaporean adults provide regular care to family members or friends, providing on average 6.8 hours of care in a typical way. It appears to me that an important pillar to enable success to ageing would be support we provide to our informal caregivers. It is well-documented that caregivers often suffer declines in their own financial circumstances and their mental and physical health as a result of their caregiving role.”