Christopher de Souza
Singapore
“I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. My supplementary question arises out of our deployment of our Multi-Role Tankers Transport. I think our airmen and soldiers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and MINDEF should be commended. It was a complex high-altitude mission, and it was successful.”
“Much obliged, Sir. My supplementary questions draw from the fact that the situation displays: one, how Singapore has agency; and two, how Singapore can use the situation as a catalyst.”
“It cannot be allowed to be the master. It does not moralise. Thus, as we embrace AI, we must do so with discernment. We should use it to the extent that it facilitates decision-making, but it cannot be allowed to usurp our decision-making. Innovation cannot come at the expense of trespassing on some existing IP rights.”
“In relation to the study on the drug trafficking and the death penalty. In fact, in response to that, I think there is a very good statistic that we should elaborate on in this House and also out there in education that 15 grams of diamorphine feeds 180 drug abuses for one week.”
“The Singapore Land Authority plays an important role in unlocking the value of state land for community use. As a sportsman, I have personally seen with immense joy how underutilised spaces, such as areas under flyovers, can be transformed into safe and vibrant places for sport and recreation, whether for pickleball, futsal, badminton, te…”
“To propel our status as a hub, Singapore will need infrastructure, such as exhibition facilities, to showcase mediation capabilities, breakout rooms, bilateral mediation hearing rooms as well as printers, laptops and screens for settlement agreements to be typed out.”
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“Given that these workers could have immediate and pressing needs, Workfare in the form of partial cash and partial Medisave would be more useful. I am aware that the policy behind Workfare is to encourage the target group to work, and to work consistently. This is a policy that I fully support. However, I appeal to the Government to consider changing the eligibility criteria for Workfare for this group of workers. Instead of linking it to whether they make Medisave contributions, perhaps the workers could instead provide some form of proof that they have been working consistently. I would also appeal to the Government to consider giving them a portion of Workfare in cash, instead of it being directed wholly to their Medisave accounts. This would be similar to how the low-wage employees are going to receive a portion of their Workfare in cash. Some finetuning of the Workfare scheme in the name of compassion would not jeopardise the policy of encouraging this group to work. Instead, it would give these workers and their families a much needed helping hand. Sir, I would like to make the second and third points of my speech in Malay. (In Malay): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] The next topic is on the CPF Ordinary Account Interest Rates. I believe that all employees welcome the increase in employers’ CPF contribution rate by 1.5 percentage point to 14.5%, starting from July. One percentage point will go into the Ordinary Account and the remaining 0.5 percentage point will go into the Medisave Account. Unfortunately, for the CPF account holders, the interest rate for the Ordinary Account did not change, that is, 2.5% per annum.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, for a number of years now, we have been observing the impact of the widening income gap. Even as the luxury private property sector picks up pace, the benefits do not seem to trickle down as quickly and a substantial number of needy Singaporeans need help to catch up. The Government is right to focus on growing our economy. This increases the economic pie for everyone. Our economy grew by a healthy 7.9% last year. A record number of new jobs were created, unemployment went down and workers enjoyed good wage increases. So it is timely and appropriate that this Budget is more focused on helping the most vulnerable segment of our population - the older workers and low-income earners. Workfare Income Supplement and Medisave The first point I would like to touch on in this speech is Workfare Income Supplement, or WIS. Sometimes it is hard to accept that in a bustling, prosperous city like Singapore, there are people, some self-employed or contract workers, who earn so little that they can barely make ends meet, let alone save for tomorrow. I have my reservations about requiring the self-employed and informal workers to make contributions to their Medisave accounts before they are eligible to receive Workfare. While any contribution from the Government is greatly welcome, the fact is that some of these workers are so cash-tight, they have immense difficulties making Medisave contributions. So it is more likely that they will not contribute to their Medisave and, thus, miss out on WIS benefits, which is a real pity. This would prevent them from graduating out of the lower-income group. I also have concerns about the policy of contributing the entire amount of Workfare for the self-employed and informal workers into their Medisave accounts.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether his Ministry has taken into consideration the fact that there will be some who will not be able to pay this small percentage to Medisave, and what is the percentage who will fall through the net.”
“My point is that if it is $100 per month, you are well-to-do enough to contribute the $100 per month. Then, if you are contributing less than $100 per month, it would take you years to accumulate $3,500, which is the average. In that sense, it cannot be deemed as an under-saving. It should be further liberalised.”
“It relates to the first on the Minister's point about under-saving. If somebody had $100 per month contribution to Medisave, he would have to wait three years to accumulate $3,500. Therefore, does the Minister not think that that can be taken into consideration in liberalising Medisave for terminal illness patients?”
“In light of the reply, will the Minister consider allowing patients who are suffering from terminal illness to use this $3,500 average more liberally, for example, for payment for peripherals related to hospitalisation? Secondly, on the Minister's point of under-saving, I think it needs to be appreciated that when a patient contributes $100 per month to Medisave, it would have taken him three years to save $3,500. So how can this be taken into consideration in liberalising its use amongst terminal patients?”
“Then, there are the administrative duties - consent forms for extra lessons, consent forms for CCAs, budgeting for one's own CCA, claims, accounts. In addition, there is discipline and counselling to see to. Some teachers, on top of all these, go the extra mile to meet up personally with parents to discuss their children's concerns. And there is the daily marking which I am told takes up 50% of the teacher's working time. I salute them for their selfless effort but I also think they deserve to be given a more manageable load. They must be given the space and time to remember why they became teachers. While I am fully behind the recent initiative of the Education Ministry, I respectfully suggest that we also give teachers the breathing space they need to ensure that their occupation remains a vocation and not just a job. We need to ensure that the "W" in GROW stays. In conclusion, I would like to thank you, Mr Speaker, for this opportunity to address my learned colleagues on the issues of immigration, reputation, youth and education. With this, I support the motion. 5.08 pm”
“It has got something to do with being part of a team, competing, wanting to win but also knowing how to lose. It is invaluable stuff and helps in whatever you do in life." As a P65 MP and as an avid sportsman, I would like to mention my support for the introduction of indoor sports halls in schools, recently announced by MOE. This would increase the benefiting schools' sports facilities by 50%. This means increasing the chances of students integrating with each other outside class but within the safety of the school. It also gives students of different races the wonderful opportunity of participating in team sports with each other. So many more Singaporeans could benefit from these indoor sports halls. May I suggest that these halls be made accessible to residents living in the same neighbourhood as the school especially on weekends? This would create a more lively and sporting neighbourhood with the school at the heart of it all. While we preserve at (a) improving our children's education; and (b) making concerted efforts to ensure that each child receives a good education, as evidenced by MOE's recent launch of the Committee on Reducing Attrition, we must also not overburden our teachers. The recent GROW package for teachers aims at increasing "G" (growth), "R" (recognition), "O" (opportunities) and "W" (well-being), the "W" is as important as the "G", "R", "O". There are many of my friends who became teachers. We are in the same age group, about 30 years old. They work very, very hard. They have to plan their lessons, set assessments. These include year-end examinations, preliminary examinations and mid-year examinations. They often teach two subjects and have an additional CCA to take charge of.”
“We have gained much by working hard as a nation and garnered for ourselves a reputation of diligence and honesty. Let us not let the world replace this reputation with the casino label. We are much more than that. To use my learned colleague, Mr Alvin Yeo's analogy of the casino having a minority floor space of the integrated resort, let us not then allow it, that is, the casino, to overstep its influence and usurp our national reputation. We need to continuously expose our advancing strengths in education and the blossoming arts platform must continue to take centrestage. We need to continue aggressively market ourselves as a growing financial centre and an international arbitration, business and legal centre where business can be sought, negotiated and concluded in a politically stable environment. Glitz and glamour have their place but they must not replace the foundations this country has been built on. Mr Speaker, Sir, I turn to my third and last issue and one which is close to my heart - youth and education. As a P65 citizen and MP, I have gained much from the education I received in Singapore. There is a Japanese proverb, which means, better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher. As with many in this Chamber, I remain indebted to my teachers who taught me subjects in the classroom but also taught me about the subjects of life outside of it. To this end, I would like to mention my full support of the Education Ministry's initiative towards out-of-classroom holistic education. The intrinsic value of such an approach is best encapsulated by our Education Minister's quote in a recent September interview with the Straits Times. The quote reads, "Sports helped me more in life than anything else I did in school or university.”
“Sir, I wish now to move from immigration to the second issue of my speech – Singapore’s direction. The dragon-boat rowers are important, but as important are the ones who hold the boat’s rudder. The rudder charts the boat’s direction in the same way the Government steers the nation to a course. Direction is as important as the muscles churning the momentum. We survived the tumultuous 60s and 70s and consolidated our assets and key economic pillars in the 80s and 90s. It is now upon us in the early 21st century to chart the direction in which we want our Singapore boat to travel in. How we chart our course will affect our children and our children’s children. Let us not, therefore, be known only as a casino-town. While the integrated resort promises to be more than just a casino, we must be cautious in how we portray ourselves to both the international traveller and the world. Over the years, Singapore has cultivated a rock solid reputation of being a steady financial centre where the rule of law can be wholly sought as an efficient form of redress where citizens work hard. Further away from home, our overseas Singaporeans are known to international law and investment banking firms as honest, diligent and reliable employees. Universities the world over have high expectations of Singaporean students. As for me, there was already an expectation in my university that Singaporean students would do well and it was a reputation we all felt proud to live up to. As a nation, and I know I speak for my residents, we feel proud that reading how well SIA, the Changi Airport and PSA fared on the annual global and regional rankings. Sir, this hard-earned reputation must not be usurped by the glitz and glamour exuded by casinos.”
“An online article from The New Europe Review states: "When riots erupted on the outskirts of major French cities, though not in Marseille, in November 2005, many said that this unmasked the weakness of the one-law-for-all Republican model of integration." Soon after the May elections, I was at a citizenship certificate presentation ceremony at the Grassroots Club in Ang Mo Kio, and I was really happy to see some of my grassroots friends there. I asked what they were doing at the ceremony. They replied, "To welcome the new citizens and invite them to participate in the activities organised by the CCCs and RCs." I thought this was an excellent way of reaching out to our new fellow citizens so that they know early on that they have a group of friends and an array of activities to help them during their difficult move away from home. This must continue to be the way we do things in Singapore, ie, reach out to our new citizens so that they feel part of us. This prevents divides and prompts, to quote our President, "A more inclusive and warm Singapore for everyone". Our grassroots leaders and the residents who join in these welcoming initiatives must be commended for their spontaneous outreach. Mr Speaker, Sir, if I may, I will end this first point on immigration by drawing from the lessons of a great team sport - dragon-boat racing. Singapore is the dragon-boat. The steely rowers are our citizens. To break new waves, pick up momentum and chart new paths in the sea, we need to work together and plough our oars in unison. We must welcome new rowers, and each rower, whether old or new to the boat, must know that he is as equally treasured as the man next to him. The current rowers must know that they are not forgotten, for it takes all of us to row that Singapore dragon-boat.”
“So, I willingly concede that to ask the Government to draw up a written test or to create an aptitude test, in order to supply an accurate assessment of a man's potential loyalty, would be an illogical request. But having said that, there are already some concrete facts about citizenship matters which could, as a matter of policy, be made better known to Singaporeans, eg, the Government's stand that no Singaporean is entitled to dual citizenship. This policy requires the potential citizen to be earnest in his choice of Singaporean citizenship, since the immediate consequence is that he will have to forsake all other citizenships. To draw a parallel, and one which I am sure my wife would like me to draw, the policy is like marriage, where the parties vow to forsake all others. Another example is that the sons of new immigrants will, just like young Singaporean men, have to serve National Service upon reaching the liability age which, according to ICA's website, is 16-and-a-half years old. The communication to the citizens of these entrenched rules will help reinforce the fire-tested principle of equality among Singaporeans, whether new or old citizens. I now move on to the second point under the immigration issue. My point here is that the Government needs to work hand-in-hand with Singaporeans in a genuine effort to help our new immigrants to assimilate well into our Singapore society. Europe so clearly displays the need for governments to lead in constantly assimilating new immigrants of different cultures and societal interpretations into the general culture of the host country.”
“But there is a general sentiment among the grassroots leaders and residents of my constituency that such openness, while a reflection of good governmental foresight, must also come with an assurance that Singaporeans are still the top priority. There are common sentiments, such as: "The immigrant comes, we welcome him and his family with open arms, but will his sons do NS or will he leave for better pastures after some time?" In which case, Sir, are we merely a springboard nation? These are sentiments that need to be addressed. Again, I must emphasise, for it only seems fair to do so, that the logic of the policy is commonly accepted. The logic is construed this way: we need to welcome immigrants so that, (a) the job experience and network they bring create more jobs for existing fellow Singaporeans, and (b) the dwindling birthrates would be stemmed, which in turn helps avoid a heavily disproportionate elderly population. The logic shows that existing Singaporeans benefit both ways. More jobs would be created and an ageing population can be sustained with a growing number of younger workers. So the logic is watertight. However, it is an assurance that the citizens are wanting. The assurance is that the people whom we welcome will not use Singapore merely as a springboard to better offers overseas. In my view, the need for such an assurance among Singaporeans is legitimate. Mr Speaker, Sir, no one, neither sorcerer nor professor, can look into a man's heart to see if he will be loyal to his country. There is no pre-emptive test for loyalty, for it is one of those traits that can only be proven on hindsight.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Motion of Thanks to the President who has so graciously reminded us all of the need to be an adaptable nation. Sir, I would like to address three issues close to my heart, not least because they are also entrenched in the hearts of the grassroots leaders and the residents with whom I have met. Mr Speaker, Sir, it is obvious from having listened to my colleagues before me that there is a common sentiment in this Chamber that while we must remain adaptable, certain integral features of a nation must remain constant. I, therefore, turn now to the first issue, immigration. The penultimate and ultimate lines of the Singapore Armed Forces Pledge reads: "We will always support and defend the Constitution. We will preserve and protect the honour and independence of our country with our lives." For those of us who have recited this pledge on parade in front of our parents and friends, we all know that those last three words, viz, "with our lives", echoed in the grandstands. The echo reinforces the very belief with which we say them. The echo must continue in this Chamber. The President has rightly pointed out that we need to attract more immigrants. While I am fully behind the Government's initiative to attract, for the sake of our very own Singaporeans, immigrants who possess sought-after skills, we must also be careful to avoid the equation that quality equals loyalty. For that equation can only be tested over time. History shows us to be a largely immigrant society and, therefore, an absolute closure of our doors to immigrants would prove us hypocritical. Openness is key.”