Claire Chiang See Ngoh
Singapore
“I am anxious to move this motion on the Chinese challenge in this House because I feel that we cannot dismiss China any longer. If we can hurry up and ride on this economic train to China, we are closer to taking that small little bite in the huge economic pie and find the new pathways of livelihood and business route for Singaporeans.”
“This Bill has kick-started a central focus on safeguarding the welfare of children and responsibility of the family, which in a resource-scarce Singapore state and in view of our declining fertility rate matched against a rapidly ageing population, are significant social pillars in shaping our sustainability.”
“Sir, can I clarify three questions? I am still not convinced why this Bill cannot cover all women and all births. I am not satisfied with the answer. The Minister also said that this Bill precisely is not just about numbers. I wish he would clarify a little more on this statement.”
“I hope this is only the beginning of a process in shaping a child development and family policy in a gradual and comprehensive manner. In that defining process, I hope the governing principles are based on upholding the worth of the child and valuing the contribution of the mother, and that it is not a numbers exercise, whether in expecti…”
“Sir, I am sure those mothers who have more than four children want their children because they are loved and because they want the children. Who is to decide then whether those children are loved and wanted? And if the mothers say they are willing to have the fourth child, would the state not support her?”
“Streaming at an early age has been controversial for many years, but it has always been a sacred cow of the Education Ministry. If we are to start from first principles now and examine every aspect of our education system, I urge that we re-examine streaming and, at the very least, modify it substantially.”
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“I was told that women in the high level jobs did not seem to get promoted in their career, and this is one of the greatest barriers why women do not want to go back to work part-time. And for those who have stayed part-time they feel demoralised at work. Would the Minister comment on this?”
“Sir, the next topic I would like to bring up on this cut is the pupil-teacher ratio, a topic of interest to my colleague, Mr Chiam as well. The Ministry has maintained through all these years that pupil/teacher ratio is not the key determinant of the effectiveness in teaching. This is probably true in the range of the ratio that we are confined to. I am more interested in the effectiveness of teaching in primary one, in particular, in the first few chaotic weeks of the new school year. Many teachers told me that they spend more time maintaining discipline and keeping order in class than teaching the new pupils. I wonder whether the Ministry will consider having teachers' assistants in primary one classes to help the teachers, perhaps the trainee teachers in NIE could be mobilised to help in this particular area.”
“For many years until recently, not many young people were attracted into the teaching career. As a result, Sir, if we look at the age profile of teachers, we will find two things: basically a U-shape curve. There is a group closer to the age of retirement and there is another group who has just joined the teaching career after graduating from NIE. So this presents some concerns and some opportunities. Let me describe the concerns. It seems to me that within a very few years most of our experienced teachers would have reached retirement age. With their retirement, the core of teachers would have become a relatively young one that impact with the loss of experience on the ability of schools to educate our young and to inculcate correct values. Another aspect of challenge faced by some of the older teachers is the need to learn about computers and to incorporate IT into their teaching. For some, the challenge is indeed a great hurdle. I believe some of the older teachers do not even have the basic keyboard skills. Furthermore, the teachers are also concerned about the loss of authority and stature in front of the students when the students and pupils are probably more computer literate and network-savvy than they are. I have spoken to a few teachers and some of them would prefer to continue their old ways of instructions and leave the new innovation in teaching to their younger colleagues. If this is indeed their desire, could the Ministry accommodate these teachers? The opportunity is that with the retirement of these senior teachers, the Ministry would probably be able to push the use of computers more extensively in teaching and administration.”
“The result was a colourful one, every ethnic group spoke a splatter of phrases in different dialects and languages. The third point is the critical role of Malay in forging regional ties. Sir, we are surrounded by a Malay-speaking world. The usefulness of learning Malay to facilitate cross-cultural communication and promote regional closeness cannot be ignored. We do not need to compel every school to adopt the Malay Language policy, but some encouragement is in order to help nurture some cohorts of Singaporeans who can serve as bridges, networkers as well as broker on behalf of Singapore in its commercial, political and diplomatic development in the region. Language is the key ingredient that sparks the emotions of connections between people. In view of the pressing political developments around us, the ability to use the Malay language as a medium of communication, a tool in defining friendships and mobilising resources will become increasingly important. Dr Wang Kai Yuen: Sir, the men and women who teach our children are key to our education system. On their shoulders are placed the heavy responsibility of transmitting their knowledge and inculcating values. Only the committed and dedicated will choose teaching as a career. They deserve our highest respect. Because of our system and because of our need to produce high academic results, the teacher's life is a stressful one. Fortunately, in recent years, compensation packages for teachers have been approved. While this is definitely welcomed, many teachers still find administrative workload on the heavy side. Would the Ministry explore work flow improvement process through the use of information technology to provide relief in this area? Next, I would like to touch upon the age profile of teachers.”
“Sir, I put in a cut about Promoting Malay Language in our Schools and in my position it is not about mother tongue, it is really a cut on promoting Malay language in schools. Therefore, it is really about the other tongue. The Minister has earlier asked me to put in more suggestions for enriching the school curriculum. So this is my seventh suggestion. The Minister has replied to me in the last sitting that if any school wishes to include Malay as an optional and non-examinable subject in their school curriculum, they are welcome to do so. He cautioned me not to set unrealistic targets as learning two languages is already difficult enough. I would like to make three points here. In the early 60s before the independence of Singapore, we all learnt Malay, Chinese and English at primary level. What I remember is Malay was taught as a conversational language without our Malay teacher forcing us to read, write and take tests on it. It was relaxed and entertaining and I did not remember the resistance to it, which explains why perhaps more Singaporeans in the age cohort of 45-50 today all speak some Malay. It is therefore the method of teaching and the climate of learning developed by the teacher which has the effect of our responsiveness to the language. The second point about learning to speak Malay is an inter-personal one. A language is a great facility in drawing different nationalities closer. In the neighbourhood which I stayed in, at Race Course Road, which parallels Serangoon Road, the multicultural mix of Malays, different Chinese dialect groups and Indians in a relatively low-income, low-educated neighbourhood, the Malay language was the mode of communication between these different groups.”
“Lastly, the implementation of the revised criteria into NUS and NTU will shift the emphasis from a purely academic criteria to one which encourages total development of the individual. This direction, I hope, will moderate the school of thought that believes in getting distinctions as the "be all and end all" of all students. I hope the Government's continued emphasis on merit and scholarships will be looked into. While we want to nurture the creme de la creme of the nation, this should not be over emphasised at the expense of the majority who are non-scholars. I am glad to hear that MOE was looking into developing niche areas like sports as a desirable outcome in student development. By broadening the school curriculum to include interesting bits that are non-academic in nature, we reap the benefit of discovering and strengthening the diversity of talents in our student population.”
“Story-telling as an art form is a new teaching method that should be encouraged and it is best done by an interesting and educated elderly person. (3) Writing neighbourhood stories. As part of nation-building programmes, students should be encouraged to write stories about their homes and neighbourhood, including the CDCs and other social institutions within the vicinity that they live in. This exercise offers enriching essay writing materials and it helps to plug our students to the real life of Singapore. The Joo Chiat story published by Joo Chiat CCC was a case in point. If students were invited to participate in the project, I am sure they would have enjoyed that thoroughly and it would be a good bonding process between students and their neighbourhood. (4) Student mix in overseas field trips. I have read a number of reports by students who have been abroad with their schools to do community work. The experiences that they have accumulated were invaluable and I hope the Ministry will expand the subsidies to include more students from the neighbourhood schools to go on such trips. It would probably be a good experiment to mix a SAP school and a neighbourhood school in such a field trip to achieve social integration at some level among students from different backgrounds. (5) Community service. I have asked for more community service for students in other sittings. So I shall not belabour the point here. I hope the Ministry will review this in a concerted manner with the National Council of Social Service and neighbourhood community agencies to render the experience a fruitful community bonding process so that students will experience the growth of a community and how they can contribute.”
“Sir, I have six suggestions for making secondary school life a little more interesting for the total development of students. These came from teachers and students whom I had conversations with. I notice in the gallery there are some young minds. I hope they listen to this closely. These suggestions are not about Internet and technology or technopreneurship. It is more about nurturing the self, connecting the self with community, about developing emotional intelligence and multiple intelligences. Sir, the ages of 13-16 are the most restless, rebellious and uncertain. Students in this age cohort do not need more structures and conformity in their learning experience. They need diversity, creativity and application of their talents and interactive relationship to enjoy the learning process. These suggestions are: (1) Regularise internship programmes in secondary schools. Students are getting bored with simply staying in schools. They are restless and want to get connected with the reality of work. Can we encourage a tie-up between schools and private as well as public sectors which provide internship programmes for secondary 3 and 4 students so that they learn the values of work, leadership and organisation of management by shadowing a manager and observing board meetings, etc. We could credit the hours spent with an organisation as part of character development component or as an extra-curricular credit. I had the opportunity to experiment this with Raffles Girls Secondary School and with Nanyang Girls School. It had proven to be mutually satisfying. (2) Develop mentoring programmes. Students love to hear stories and old people love to tell them. Could we encourage old persons, not necessarily teachers, to speak to students or work with them on specific programmes?”
“Not only is their disabled community being encouraged to function in the open market, large ventures are encouraged to contract them to be part of the production teams. One example is the operation of big printing presses. The persons with disabilities do the less physical demanding jobs of desktop publishing, mailing, and so on, while the able workers do the physically more demanding ones. This way the workshop can provide the full range of service to the customers from desktop publishing to printing and mailing service, like in any commercial printing company. Through training and close supervision, out of work and during work, the flourishing of commercial ventures in Japan involving persons with disabilities has proven one vital point: that the disabled are not unable and they are economically productive if they are given a chance and adequate support. We need employers to open up more jobs with some levels of incentives from Government. We need MOM to provide an employment bulletin for jobs posted by employers who are really willing to recruit the disabled. We need to strengthen the assessment and referral procedures of Bizlink and other VWOs.”
“This initiative may well succeed in incentivising companies to offer jobs and individuals with disability to seek jobs. Sir, let me turn to the employment issue. Could Bizlink serve as a labour contractor responsible for placing groups of workers in a work context and be responsible for ferrying them to and from work and helping them adjust to the work environment? The advantage of placing more than one worker is self-evident. The disabled person feels supported. Or could the role of contracting employment for the disabled in groups be left to individual organisations so that they can find the appropriate employment placement for those under their charge? Because they would know what their clients could do and tasked with this job they will find the work contracts that are suitable to the work and skills levels of their clients and they could conduct orientation and support programmes at work to give employers their fair return and help workers feel useful. In Japan, the Labour Department actually adopts an integration model by setting a quota of 1.8% of employment of persons with disabilities for companies with more than 300 regular employees. If such companies failed to comply, a levy of 50,000 yen is imposed on the companies. On the other hand, employers who recruit more, above the quota, will be paid a grant of 25,000 yen per person per month for the number of disabled persons employed in excess of the quota. This is a very enlightened labour policy, as it encourages companies to open up more jobs for people who are disabled. Sir, the Japanese integration and rehabilitation model has a lot to teach us.”
“Sir, we have about 12,400 people with disabilities who are currently receiving services from the VWOs. One main concern that this group faces is that of employment opportunity. It is within our national interests that we build an environment for persons with disabilities to optimally function as independents. For me, employment is the key pillar in empowerment. We have a centralised employment centre, Bizlink that provides vocational assessment, placement, training, counselling/follow up for disabled people. In 1996, only 272 placements were made, but since then, the employment situation became increasingly difficult for the disabled community due to the economic crisis. Our Government does not enforce employment legislation for the disabled. However, various incentives are provided to encourage organisations to hire people with disability. Allow me to raise two promotional schemes because I feel they have not been publicised enough. First, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore permits employers to claim a tax deduction of up to $100,000 when they modify their business and premises to help their disabled workers. Second, the Singapore Chinese Chamber Foundation reimburses the salaries of each disabled worker employed by the private sector for the first one and the half months. It provides a transport and meal allowance of $5 a day for the first two weeks of employment, channelling the money through the Ministry of Community Development. Sir, could we ask the Government to be generous and complement the role of the Chinese Chamber by matching the reimbursement amount to the disabled community and the companies that employ them on the basis of co-sharing principle?”
“45 pm In London, at Islington, where such a networking experiment was tried, participants were able to exchange information as mundane as gardening tips, recommend a plumber or electrician, find a baby-sitter or exchange notes on shops and restaurants. These bits and pieces of everyday life created the vibrancy of a shared and a caring community and allowed more communication among residents which could not have happened otherwise. The company, Microsoft Corp, which sponsored this experiment called this their first "cyberstreet community project". Maybe this is something CDCs could spearhead to help make Singaporeans, young and old, Internet literate and connected. I believe technology must be made simple and broadly applied to promote some level of social cohesion.”
“An even more concrete suggestion is to regularise an on-going workgroup for people to meet and discuss community concerns and solutions. Such regular face-to-face interactions are more effective in generating the social capital that encourages civic engagement. CDCs can serve as strong bridges, but without effective networkers, they cannot become effective community builders. Without professionalising the personnel by equipping them with a range of skills in building community, the goals of S21 which CDCs are tasked to execute at the community level will be harder to realise. I hope this weekend's gathering on the 19th for the nine CDC leaders will identify the kind of leadership attributes needed for CDCs. The clarion call made by Mr Eddie Teo could serve as a lead for more discussions. His call was to ask the civil servants to open up, share information, be responsible to constructive ideas and tolerant of differences. This same message must be adopted by the voluntary sector as well as by community leaders and social workers. My second point is about making CDCs a "virtual neighbourhood". We could kick off a pilot project by CDCs sponsoring old computers for a limited number of participating households in one constituency. We can request the help of polytechnic students to design an easy-to-use Internet training programme to promote Internet literacy. It is my wish to see simple computers and even simpler programmes that older persons could learn to use to create this virtual neighbourhood. Eventually, an on-line service connected to the CDC will serve as the coordinating centre to answer all queries, respond to assistance calls and make the necessary referrals. This is where volunteers and students could be mobilised to manage this on-line service. 12.”
“Undoubtedly, it is going to be a very complex decoupling and re-emerging process where the promises of civil society and that of civic society can somewhat be negotiated. It will take time, and it takes a lot of trust. The experiences on the ground so far have yielded a mixed satisfaction level and mixed successes. Although the perceptions have improved since 1997, a thorny issue persists, among others, in the relational aspects of cooperation between the older grassroots leaders and younger professional social service operators, between the CDC management and the community agencies. The groups are divided by age, social class, experiences, differences in skills, attitudes and interests. If these differences are not managed, people's agencies will just shut themselves out. It is difficult enough to accept CDCs as non-Government, because they are led by politicians, but it can be less "bureaucratic" or jeng-hu or "government", so to speak, by adopting flexible, open, fair and accountable inter-personal skills to interact with a more demanding, questioning citizenry, one which seeks more information and is not likely to merely follow instructions. Sir, I propose that the National Community Leadership Training Institute (NCLTI) take the lead in organising workshops for the grassroots organisations within each CDC. It would be useful to include key partners in other sectors as well, like the Police, social service agencies, polyclinics, residents' committees and so on. We would need very good facilitators to get this going. I believe that when people work and learn together, the greater are the chances of building rapport with one another and making sense of the meaning of "community".”
“Sir I would like to speak on two points. One is on the identity and role of CDCs. I have followed with great interest the development of CDCs since its launch in 1997. Since then, the CDCs have committed 500 over projects, found jobs for many residents and served almost like a "local government" for 300,000 people. I strongly welcome the strategic move to take over some of the responsibilities so far carried out by MCD. I have long argued for the need to work small, stay targeted and relevant to smaller population bases, which have different demographic characteristics and distinct socio-economic needs. The Mayors and the MPs in each ward would know best what the people want, how they wish their environment to be organised and whom they can mobilise to kick-start community projects. There is no better way to create a sense of ownership and responsibility among residents. In so far as the CDC defines itself as a bridge between the people and the public sector, it must then see itself as a capacity-building agency within the people sector, and not as a Government instrument designed for exerting more control over the community. Is CDC prepared to accept the active, egalitarian participation of citizens who are free to debate, contest and challenge issues that affect them? Or is it prepared to only encourage individuals and groups to rise from the grassroots to undertake self-help projects already defined by the CDC management? The distinction community leaders made between the role of an activist within a civil society movement and that of an agent in creating a civic society will impact in numerous fashions the way we organise projects, communicate and share responsibility.”
“What sort of guidelines have been drawn up to identify the continuum of social services to meet the range of needs faced by young people, dysfunctional families, disadvantaged families and the rest of it? I would also urge the Ministry then to review the funding principles. The 90:10 formula in capital funding is a good one because it is co-sharing of responsibilities. But could the Ministry not review the 50:50 percentage operating funding instead and amend it to 70:30 or even 80:20 so that VWOs are less stressed by having to seek for funds to run their operations? Because their job is really to service the clients, to look at therapy programmes and to reach out to all the disadvantaged families. Their job is not to raise funds. If the Ministry could re-consider these principles, it would be very helpful.”
“Sir, I echo the call by Dr Vasoo and Mr Ong for more funding for the VWOs. May I just use one case study as a concrete example to show what are some of the difficulties faced by the VWOs in the area of funding. Let me use the example of Bukit Ho Swee Social Service Centre. It was in existence since 1969 and in their 30 years of service, they have taken up the challenge of establishing separate facilities for the family and youth services. They wanted to appeal for more funds to start up another family service centre to cater to expanding needs and more youth activities. The move for them was not an expansion for expansion sake, but was a much needed response to curb juvenile delinquency and to increase family functioning among the disadvantaged low-income community. In my view, I know that it was a very good initiative, especially when we are aware and from what I said earlier, that teenage crime has been on the rise since 1990. Street corner gang activities were widespread and if this phenomenon is not arrested, many young people would either be victims of senseless violence or ended up in penal institutions. These youths come from multiple-problem families and they need various kinds of methods to reach them. Because they are trapped in a culture of poverty and delinquency, their needs are varied. The activities and the plan will have to be of a wide range and the attention given to them is intense and extensive, but resources are scarce. This group had appealed for funding but the Ministry has declined. My question is: what criteria should be used by the Ministry to fund or not to fund?”
“I would like to seek the Minister's direction on what more we can do for these educated 40s, who are neither here nor there, to stay competitive and employable in our lead towards KBE. What concrete help can we extend to them to tap their productivity? Can we also launch a sector driven SRP for the professionals and mainstream occupational groups to see how they can reskill and redeploy the talents in the new economy? If they were to get a MBA course, Sir, where do they get the money and how do they pay for the mortgages, and what does the family live on? It would only add financial stress to the family. I seek the Minister's comments on these matters. The Chairman: We have got one minute more. I think we can stop here. Thereupon, Mr Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.”
“Sir, I am addressing employment and challenges of a group of older people on the other end of the spectrum. These are not the over 40s who have secondary education, in the unskilled or semi-skilled category. They are the over-40s who have post-secondary or even higher educational qualifications in the professional and management categories who are also not spared from the trauma of unemployment. Using the web page in MOM again under the section on job sought and vacancies available in December 1999, there were more people in this category looking for suitable placement than there are jobs. In fact, during the economic downturn, those retrenched had turned to taxi-driving and various other means of livelihood not quite befitting their qualifications but they tried their best to make ends meet in order to support a growing family. Indeed, for companies not in the manufacturing sector, which were and are still restructuring, streamlining and downsizing to survive, the layer of personnel they would first retrench is the middle management workers because they are the ones who constitute higher operation cost and their retrenchment actually makes a significant shift in the company's bottomline. This middle management layer are those usually in the 40s, who cannot benefit from the SDF programme. May I just add that, unlike previous years, when the social service centres were frequented by women help seekers, they are currently responding to increasing number of men on the helpline and in face-to-face counselling. The highest worry is the loss of jobs which clearly affected their self-esteem. This has a triggering effect on family dynamics and equilibrium.”
“Sir, I believe there is a role for human beings to play this job matching function and I would urge the Government to provide adequate funds to each CDC so that this can be done efficiently. And I urge all the CDCs or Town Councils to provide the leadership in driving this. I would also recommend setting up a telephone Jobline in each CDC so that all nine CDCs are in close touch with their specific community needs. Unlike the National CDC Helpline, the CDC Jobline approach is localised, focused and efficient. The Mayors and the respective MPs and grassroots leaders are the best consultants for identifying job and people's needs. It is clearly revitalising a kampung gotong royong spirit. In all this talk about the new economy and job redesign, I have come across the 4Rs adopted by MOM - the redeployment of displaced workers, renewal of workforce, realignment of employment practices, revitalisation of employment recreation. These concepts, Sir, may be true and well at the broader national level. What I recommend may well be a concrete way to help bridge the gap between national strategies and the real dilemma of the older and less educated workforce.”
“Is the mechanism being set up to track the people and companies on the web or is it merely a bulletin page for reference and people are left on their own to seek employment? 4.00 pm At a broader level, we know that the factories in Singapore hire an overwhelming number of workers from nearby township. In this respect, I think the CDC can play an important role to match their employment needs with the older lesser educated workers who find the CDCs less threatening than MOM's Employment Service Department. I was told that there were exhibition fairs and keen employers but those who needed jobs did not turn up. I think the following can be done by each of the nine CDCs. Hire one or several full time job placement officers who will actively liaise with employers within the CDC to counsel workers as to retraining opportunities as well as job opportunities and finally to play the very important human role of matching employer and employee for workers who are threatened and intimidated by a high-tech world. Over time, I could see the development of new jobs within the CDC for the role of a worker-manager who is linked up to multinational employment agency to identify new jobs and using a job database to facilitate the matching process. He or she could represent the job applicants to the companies to arrange for different work schedules by redesigning job programmes in such a way that benefit employers and workers. Sir, this is not an easy process, but a flexible and dynamic one which I believe can help in redesigning our job landscape for women workers who look for part-time or flexi-time work, older people who look for maybe just two to three hours of work to keep connected, for people with special needs like those who are wheelchair bound and so on.”
“Sir, in Singapore's drive towards a knowledge-based economy, there will inevitably be structural unemployment. The Minister has charted the key directions just a while ago which is a long view and it is a laudable one. However, I think there are concrete steps to further help the current older and lesser educated workers who may not even know how to look for jobs in the classified advertisements of newspapers, much less through the Internet. I accessed the MOM's webpage and under the section of unemployment assistance for job seekers and employers, there were a total of 2,005 job seekers compared to 1,187 job vacancies posted by employers in December 1999. Compared to the national figure of unemployment, which was reported to be 79,900 last September, the capture rate by the web was dismal. That tells me that the web is not a very effective way in reaching job seekers. And if we look at the figures closely on the web, the occupational groups of cleaners, labourers and related workers are the largest group of job seekers. This means that there are more people than jobs available. On the other hand, the job vacancies for production craftsmen, machine operators, assemblers and related workers, there are more jobs than there are people wanting to fill them. As these two groups belong to the lower income group, I am concerned whether these trends reflected broadly the employment opportunities in our society. If so, then I would imagine that what MOM has to do is to train the excess cleaners and labourers to take up jobs as production craftsmen, machine operators, assemblers and related workers. Who would play this coordinating role?”
“23 pm, an e-mail from a Mr Daniel Tan Chee Kiang (Corporate Communications Division) indicated to her that they had accessed the eCitizen Centre hyperlink and invited her to try it one more time. He thanked her again for bringing this matter to his attention. In the words of my staff, "this is the kind of interactive communication we need for Singapore, well done Home Affairs!". Sir, I urge the Ministries to assess and update their websites regularly. There are inconsistencies. There are still incomplete information. For example, MCD has a Shop Front retailing books, but when it comes to payment and the procedure of application, there is no information, no procedures being set, and no indication of postage or courier charges, etc. Judging from the responses of my three staff, I observed that this information is important to them. But my three staff also asked one basic question: what if you do not have a computer, how do you access this information? An even more fundamental one, the one that Mr Ravindran just mentioned, is what if you cannot read and write English? I hope the Ministry will look into these issues and fully exploit the Internet as a form of raising public education, making information user-friendly and accessible for promoting mutual understanding between Government and the people sector.”
“They were particularly pleased about the Back-to-Work programme. I wish I will not lose my staff because of this information. The website of Education was evidently the most thoroughly prepared, including information on the current system, a section on PRIME, Programme for Rebuilding and Improving Existing Schools and on Planning Ahead about educational choices. For parents, these segments are invaluable information. My staff drew my attention to the section on FAQ (frequently asked questions) and found them reassuring. They do not feel they are the only ignorant parents or kiasu ones. She also liked the segment on Episodes from the Singapore Story, particularly the photographs, etc. The second thing they look for is an interactive format. Here, the Ministry of Home Affairs, apart from being comprehensive and informative, must be singled out for its colourful layout and interactive format. One regret was that, unless you have CD-ROM, you cannot access the eCitizen Corner. So there is a suggestion for setting up a chat room for young people to express their fears about school bullies or gangsters to policemen who can then serve as on-line mentors or befrienders. Can the various Ministries consider setting up a chat forum, like the one in Ministry of the Environment, particularly for the young? The third thing they look for is fast response. One staff in posting her suggestion to MHA at 11.22 am that morning had an immediate screen response that said: "Thank you for your feedback. We will seriously consider your comments and will get back to you if necessary. Have a nice day." She was pleased by that and she exclaimed, "Hey, they got my message!". To her delight, that afternoon, at 4.”
“Sir, I raise this issue in the context of our current obsession with the spread and scope of information technology. Technology must be used to help Singaporeans access information, understand and use it appropriately. How do our Ministries fare in these functions? Sir, in June 1998, a researcher analysed for me the webpages of the Ministries of Health, Manpower, Home Affairs and Community Development. On the whole, she felt that the webpages were not interactive, information was inadequate, sketchy and not updated, particularly press releases and speeches in each Ministry. Yesterday, I had three of my staff spend a whole morning surfing these same Ministries and one more, the Ministry of Education. It was a morning well spent and it benefited the staff because they learned so much more about the Government and society. Their reactions were positive, indicating a vast improvement from the observations made in 1998. Judging from their responses to the various websites, they look for three things. First, is clear information which is comprehensive and useful. For example, one staff in her 30s, single, was drawn to a list of assistance schemes and range of services the Ministry of Community Development offers. The website of Ministry of Health, to another staff, a mother of two, was comprehensive, thoroughly educational and user-friendly. She made special mention of two reports. First, the National Health Survey 1998, and second, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim's report on employment and employability. She benefited from both reports personally. As an older person, she is drawn to the setting up of Silver Manpower Centres in housing estates. The website of MOM was an exciting one for two of my staff because of the long list of employment agencies posted on the web.”
“This is apart from talking about funding the production of the commercial. The potential of using television as an education tool, an instrument for raising social awareness and the bonding process for the community must be apprised within the overall objective of building community understanding by matching services and people's needs in the social service sector. This is just one more suggestion.”
“I was also informed that the Ministry paid the rates which apply across the board. Sir, one of our concerns in doing social work is how do we reach out to the public with our messages, how do we inform Singaporeans what voluntary welfare organisations are doing. The situation resulted in a frustrating vicious cycle of mismatch. Good social service programmes are available but they do not reach the kind of people who most need them. Could I propose that TCS allocate some slots of air-time for community services to publicise their activities at a much subsidised rate as part of a national commitment to public education? I know MCD had in previous years committed resources to producing many good commercials, like the series on the elderly people last year. Sir, I am requesting for financial support for similar initiatives to emerge from the people sector to complement the work of the Government. There are many ways television air-time could be maximised by VWOs. They can extend their reach by using good visuals during commercial slots in prime programmes to present their services, spread their messages, recruit volunteers and publicise their programmes. All these will only add to public awareness in an extremely cost effective manner. From what I gather, if I were to buy into a programme, let us say, Growing Up which has a loading of 6.5 times, it costs me $6,500 for a 30-second commercial spot. Rates for buying into the fringe programmes are much less. But if we add up, all this is still too much for VWOs. In order to achieve the reach and frequency, we need a mix of prime and fringe programmes. So I would urge the Ministry to really consider special rates for VWOs. By lowering these charges, more sponsors will be attracted to fund the commercial.”
“Sir, first, I declare that I am a member of the Advisory Council on TCS on Chinese Programmes. It is in that capacity in the last two years that I realised how many Singaporeans watched television and how important it can be as an educational tool for families and children. For example, 900,000 Singaporeans watched the last episode of Stepping Out, a 30-chapter drama documentary serial on the successes and failures of Singapore migrants. I remember clearly what Mr Wijeysingha, the former Principal of Raffles Institution, once said, that television is not a bad thing. As long as adults are watching these programmes with their children, there is less fear of the negative impact of some of the programmes because parents can take the opportunity to moderate the influence by discussion and guidance. It is therefore an important task for the Ministry to continually review, support and strengthen not just the entertainment element, but the educational value of television. More resources could be committed to importing and developing good programmes locally and internationally. I support the call by Mr Chew Heng Ching and Mr Yeo Guat Kwang earlier. That leads me to raise another aspect of television as public education. I was most impressed by the latest commercial series put up by the Ministry of Defence. It was their "Total Defence" campaign which ran over two weeks, using five different versions of 15-second TV commercials. The messages were captured in a powerful visual that educates and communicates to the public about the role in defending Singapore. I congratulate the Ministry of Defence for this series of brilliant commercial. And I was told that the campaign cost $200,000 for a total number of 96 spots in prime time as well as fringe time programmes.”
“I hope the Minister for Community Development and his team will continue to heed the appeals from the community and Members of this House during the debate on the estimates and champion our causes before the Minister for Finance.”
“After all, Sir, economic growth at 5.4% a year only means progress if we use more of the money to allow families to lead the kind of lives which they have reason to value. I agree with the Minister that MCD, like any other Ministry, must get the most out of their allotted resources by managing them well in order to achieve the desired outcome. However, community programmes that deal with dysfunctional families and youths, including eldercare programmes and counselling programmes for the abused, rape victims and violent perpetrators do not yield easily tangible and immediate outcome, and they are not easily audited and measured. This is not to say that the Ministry must not attempt to do so, but the exercise requires a tremendous amount of human and research resources. Our habitual pragmatic scrutiny of outputs and tangible outcome very often make us fail to respond with open mindedness and accept a level of "untidiness" in the community sector. Because of this nature of complexity, all the more we need to commit energy, resources, skills and time to level up services and involve community participation in developing an audit blue-print to set best practices and performance indicators. The easy part in project planning is spelling out the social objectives. It is less certain that we are able to agree on clear indicators that are understood and shared by different Ministries and the people sector. Sir, this has to be an evolving process and we need more resources to set the right directions. Last year, I noted the decrease in budgeted development for MCD by 15.4%. This year, I am pleased to note that the development expenditure of MCD registers a 98.6% increase over FY 1999 and many community projects are in the planning.”
“Without the many helping hands from the community and the private sector, this budget allocation to MCD cannot cater to the needs of the disadvantaged families, the young, the old, the vulnerable like the disabled and the intellectually challenged. We have many loving and willing hearts, Sir, but the community donors and volunteers are stretched. The same fund-raisers are chasing the few generous donors and the needs are forever expanding, with more and newer services required to attend to the emerging needs of a complex society. Can the Government please look into its funding principles for social and community services in particular, and respond generously to future recommendations put forward by various community agencies, not only those working on the ageing population. There is indeed a feeling that not enough is done for restoring family wellness, not enough is committed to youth activities and interests, even less is provided for the disadvantaged and dysfunctional families with multiple social problems. As to developing research competence to help us identify new concepts and methods in organising the community, our resources and effort leave much to be desired. The Minister will ask how much is enough and caution me that giving more to one Ministry will mean less for another equally worthy programme, that I must always assess what counts and what matters in the overall scheme of development. But I urge the Government to look at people's needs, not at cost allocation alone. I believe that investment on social fundamentals in matters related to the family and the community is a process of enhancement intrinsically important in themselves, while serving as a significant supplement to a market mechanism which leaves many struggling behind in the development race.”
“Is the Government prepared to pick up these companies when they fail, or is the Government going to let them vanish, sticking by the cardinal law of the survival of the fittest and ablest? Sir, many companies do not belong to this category. Hence, we need the Government to play a stronger, supportive role. I would like to turn to the social and community sector. While observing that the overall expenditure priorities for the social and community services account for 39.6% of the total expenditure, or an allocation of $11.5 billion, it is education, public housing, health and environment which receive a larger chunk of the allocation. These are well-deserved investment, Sir. MCD, on the other hand, receives only 5% of the sector allocation followed by MITA receiving 3%. Although the allocation of $610 million to MCD registered a substantial increase of 38% over the last year, and within the MCD, the Elderly Development Programme benefitting an increased allocation by 55% to $12.3 million, the feeling in the community is that the Government could do more. Within the perspective of the family and community services being seen as central heartware institutions to create the level of cohesiveness for Singapore to function as a competitive economy, $610 million spent on operations, People's Association Programme and delivering social services and sports facilities to a population of 3.8 million which averages a per capita annual expenditure of $160 per head, totalling a monthly $13 per head, are clearly not over generous. I would like to know how we fare compared with other countries, if the Minister could provide the figures. Furthermore, our ageing population will need specialised care services and personnel which are expensive to develop and sustain.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in 1998, we experienced the full impact of the regional crisis and economic growth had slowed sharply to 1.5%. In 1999, the Minister in his Budget Statement cautioned another difficult year ahead. In the end, we registered a remarkable turnaround and achieved that overall growth of 5.4%. I would like to register my gratitude to the Minister and the Government for having so ably steered Singapore out of the Asian economic crisis. Sir, the general response to the Budget 2000 is "Nothing dramatic". The dominant sentiment is this: if the business measures adopted in the 1999 Budget had yielded such a remarkable V-shaped recovery, what are the reasons for not continuing with the measures for another 12 months to allow those sectors already rebounded to reap an even higher level of growth while giving more time for weaker sectors, like the construction, financial services and businesses to get out of their recession? The decision to stop these incentives and rebates which are particularly significant to these weak sectors seems difficult to understand when we weigh it against an unexpected budget surplus of $3.2 billion in FY99, a forecast of economic growth between 4.6% and 6.5% and a budget surplus of $2.5 billion in FY2000. We need some very good explanations. While many would agree with the Government that we need to live within our means and accumulating surpluses in order to deal with sudden downturns again, many would query how the Government balances the gains by taking back the goodies and the possible losses to the private sector which needs continuing fiscal support for just another 12 months. If these firms cannot make it for FY2000, what are the implications for employment and family well-being?”
“Sir, does the Minister mean that students can have an optional Malay language class at primary school level? He was talking about Malay language in secondary school. I am asking for the introduction of the language at primary level. Can schools be allowed to do that? And can they be allowed to recruit their own teachers? RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Sir, I have said that schools, which have the resources and where there is a demand, can consider organising language classes as an optional enrichment programme for their pupils who are able to cope with the additional learning load. I think it will be quite a demand for primary school students, in my view. SELF-HELP GROUPS (Benchmarks) 6. Mr Gerard Ee asked the Minister for Community Development (a) whether there is a need to assist self-help groups to set benchmarks and to increase their effectiveness in dealing with social issues; (b) how effective they have been in helping to deal with juvenile problems; and (c) what are the statistics of juveniles being admitted to institutions.”
“Would the Minister then make a public statement in the press to allay all the rumours that are going around on this matter, please?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, prevention is better than cure. I heard the Minister of State say about cost effectiveness. Could he elaborate what we can do more to balance this issue of cost implications and the issue of protection of children as young as 31/2 years old? What could we do more?”
“Sir, does the Minister see the Environment Council playing a collaborative role in designing and implementing some of these measures that the Ministry is looking into?”
“Two supplementary questions. Looking at the figures that were given to me in a written answer by the Minister yesterday, the teacher-student ratio in MOE kindergartens is 1:51. In the MCD childcare centres, it is 1:12. Is the Minister addressing this uneven ratio? What measures can be adopted to improve the quality of care? My second question is: MCD has announced a higher requirement for childcare personnel in October last year. Is this requirement applicable also to MOE kindergarten personnel? The Minister has said that she has just led a Steering Committee on teacher training programme and accreditation matters. Why are there two sets of guidelines? For the purpose of efficient management and consistency of standards in pre-school education, is it not possible to envisage setting up an agency with an over-arching authority to look into matters of child education so that all the childcare centres, whether it is under MOE or MCD, will have a consistent standard? Why set up an Inter-Ministry task force? Why not have one agency that is the over-arching body?”
“I seek an answer from the Minister on the status of the members in the Committee. What does he mean by "being deemed public servants"?”
“Fourth, if the objective of Community-Based Sentences is to allow the community to collaborate in the rehabilitation process of offenders, I hope that the Minister, in the next Budget debate, will also commit to more resources being given to the community for carrying out this work effectively. Sir, I would like now to raise one query on the composition of the Committee of Inquiry in Part IIA. Could the Minister clarify the meaning in new section 7B that every member of a Committee of Inquiry appointed shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code? Please elaborate and help us understand. Second, in the event that an institution is being inquired into or the family of an aggrieved prisoner should petition for their own representation to the Committee of Inquiry, is there a provision to ensure a balanced hearing of views? Sir, with these points which I hope the Minister can clarify, I support the Bill.”
“But this is only meaningful if the baseline has first been established on the cognitive and emotive orientations of the prisoner when he first arrived so that the final assessment before the release could measure the changes in him during incarceration. I hope, therefore, findings upon arrival in prison and before he leaves prison will be gathered and that these findings be weighed against the order made by the Director. The second condition is to prepare family members on the objectives and significance of the home detention order and what they must all do responsibly if the prisoner shows signs of recidivist behaviour. A study on the after-conduct of a cohort of probationers conducted by MCD in 1999 showed that the recidivism rate for the probationers from intact families is lower than those from non-intact families. That means, in families where the parents are still married and living together, the chance of re-offence by the probationers is reduced compared to those from non-intact families or broken families. As the family is significant in the rehabilitation of the offender, an assessment of the readiness of the family in receiving the prisoner home should be carried out by specialists on family therapy. Their findings should be weighed against the order made by the Director. Third is to mandate continuing counselling sessions for the prisoner under home detention. Rehabilitation is a long process and the chance of recidivism is less if the offenders continue to receive consistent and scheduled counselling sessions. I hope the Minister would consider mandating this.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker for the opportunity to speak. I would like to raise one main concern on the Bill under the section on home detention order in Part IVA. I heard Prof. Chin just a while ago and I agree that maybe "home detention" may not be a good term. If the Minister ever seeks to change the term, let me add to the confusion by suggesting two other terms. One is "home supported rehabilitation order". The other is "community-based rehabilitation order". Sir, I am in full support of the Community-Based Sentences but overcrowding, as MP, Ravindran suggested, is certainly not the issue and should not be the concern and the cause for why we are doing home detention. Literature has shown that offenders recover well and best in familiar surroundings and among loved ones. But I do agree with Mr Ravindran that there should be different sentences and different durations of home detention for various categories of offenders. He mentioned, for example, handicapped offenders, pregnant offenders, etc, and some flexibility to be given for different forms of sentences. I am all for that. Before a Director may, by order, release a prisoner who is eligible for home detention for a period not exceeding six months, I would like the Minister to clarify if the authorities will do the following four things. First, to carry out an intensive in-depth interview and assessment by experts before the release to ascertain the level of readiness of the prisoner in facing the real world again. I heard from the Minister just now that this will be provided and an assessment will be carried out objectively by external consultants and internal experts including senior officers.”
“I would like to inform the Minister that the President of the Singapore Nurses Association has not been admitted to the Board for the last five years and therefore, I would like him to look into this matter. The second point is whether he will please comment on the request for a Deputy Chair being a certified nurse if he thinks the Director of Medical Services should assume the position of Chairman. Dr Jennifer Lee (Nominated Member): If I may just add my voice to Dr Neo's and Ms Chiang's in the matter of the Chairperson for the Nursing Board. We have talked a lot about promoting nursing as a career and engendering pride in the profession and if, in fact, the Ministry would consider a registered nurse as Chair of the Board, it would be such a clear and much appreciated indication of the Ministry's faith and confidence in the leadership capabilities of the nursing profession.”
“In a recent address at a press conference reported in the papers on 19th November, Minister Lim Hng Kiang said that he would like to see family doctors adopt a lifelong training attitude and upgrade their skills by continuing medical education through a Masters or post-graduate diploma course. I am totally in support of his visionary call. I urge the Minister to also seriously consider continuing education within a specified number of hours to be mandatory in the nursing and midwife profession in order to uphold quality delivery services by attuning the practitioners to fast changing information and technology in the medical and nursing sciences. Due to the increasing diversity of nursing work, the development of new sophisticated concepts of care, and the nature of professional practice which increasingly demands the acceptance of responsibility and accountability, the role of nurses and midwives has expanded considerably. In response, the pressure for higher qualifications will be inevitable. I recommend that such a mandatory training provision be made under clause 44 to prescribe a certain number of hours per year for mandatory training. This initiative would develop a new confidence within the nurses and midwives community. I would also urge policy consideration being given by the Board on matters relating to remuneration and recognition packages attached to training depth and specialisation to ensure work and pay equity. I hope this piece of legislation will extend, not limit the practice of nurses; that it serves as a platform for policy formulations that enable nurses in fulfilling their potential in policy making and decision making at all healthcare levels.”
“Given a broadening in the scope of nursing aides at both community and hospital care, it may be useful that the Singapore Nursing Board establishes guidelines on a registration and accreditation scheme to identify, recognise and regulate a broad range of nursing roles and practices. Could the Bill include a section on Advisory Guidelines on registration of health care assistants other than "qualified nurses"? Do we need to sort out these terms like "para-nurses", "home nursing assistants", "nursing aides"? The other common term is health care worker or assistant. In view of these concerns which I gathered from the nursing community, I urge the Minister to review once again Part IV on "Offences", specially clauses 26 to 28. On the matter of accreditation as spelt out in clause 14, can the Minister clarify if correspondence courses obtained by already certified nurses from an allegedly good university which our Government also sends nurses to are recognised by the Ministry? I heard from the Singapore Nurses Association that the recognition was not given. Can we review and broaden the system of accreditation to include a larger number of approved institutions abroad and at home, and accept modes of learning from long distance correspondence course to part-time basis? The community already facing limited nursing power could thus benefit from continuing nursing support at the same time being managed by higher level competence learnt in the process. In the spirit of pursuit towards a knowledge-based economy and in promoting lifelong learning, I urge the Board in future deliberations on accreditation to cast a wider net to capture the motivations and skills of many individuals who due to personal and unique circumstances learn and upgrade in diverse ways. One last point.”
“However, in view of our aging demographic trends and the low number of nurses in training facing a high challenge in attrition rate over the years, the nursing profession will need a wider network of support from non-certified assistants to deliver home nursing services. Especially in community nursing, the definition of who is and who is not a "nurse" can sometimes be inexact. During the Budget debate this March, I called for the development of a network of para-professionals under the supervision of certified senior nurses through the Singapore Nurses Association. My call arises from the practical concern of an increasing need for taking care of the old. Although we can count on home carers, who would primarily be daughters and daughters-in-law, this may not be a sustainable solution. One reason is that women want to work outside the home, and the second reason is that they are not trained in the task of nursing. The kind of nursing services older persons need fall into a continuum from one end demanding very specialised care from "nurses specialists" to those at the middle level who simply need routine health care assistants to attend to bed sores, for example, and those on the other, who only want "nursing aides" to carry out basic physiotherapy routines to upkeep their body capabilities. When no accidents and death occur, the difficult task of "naming" escapes us. When a disaster does occur, how is the person who does not call himself or herself a nurse but carries out nursing tasks which result in maiming or killing the patient, judged or sentenced?”
“Part II, clause 6(1) is silent on this matter, whereas previously, the Director of Medical Services always assumed the position of the President. I noted yesterday that in the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore Bill, a provision was made in clause 31 that the Minister may appoint a Deputy Chairman. Can such a provision be also included in this Bill, if the idea of a Co-Chair is not acceptable? On the mechanism of appointment, can the Minister clarify what are the criteria for selection and will he accept nominations from the SNA, for example? I mean, can a mechanism be set up whereby professionals nominate their candidates for Board governance to ensure that at least one or two are admitted to articulate nursing needs in different medical settings? Could the Bill be specific in delineating the number of formal representations from different nursing sectors among the 14 committee members? This brings me to the definition of "nurse" and "nurses specialists". In Part IV, clause 26, the Act defines "qualified nurse" as a registered or enrolled nurse who holds a valid practising certificate authorising him to practise nursing. From what I observe, the word "nursing" is sometimes nebulously broad, referring to someone who has a certified and approved degree usually dressed in white uniform, in contrast to another who is para-professional who executes the nursing functions without having a degree or being in white uniform. The nurses in private clinics are one such example, as I was told. It is hence expedient, and I fully support the Ministry for its timely initiative in streamlining the definition in order to avoid abuses and mis-application.”
“The lack of such a provision for the President to be present and to present the views of the professional body is, in my regard, a lost opportunity for the governing Board in getting the relevant feedback from the practitioners in the field. What is the percentage of representation of nurses from the private sector on the Board? Should it be consistent with the 30% of nurses in private sector currently, meaning appointing at least three members out of 14 members in the committee? What about the 21% of foreign nurses in our total corps of 15,000 nurses? Should their interests be represented in this Board by a nominated Permanent Resident nurse? If their inclusion is not deemed necessary at a formal level, I hope the committees formed subsequently, as indicated in clause 10, will have representations from the private sector. Apart from meeting the condition of fair representation, by adopting a more inclusive membership policy, the Board helps to draw together the professional groups from the private and public sectors to a common understanding in matters relating to salary, competence, service standards, among others, in order to regulate nursing practices, benchmark service standards and avoid excessive disparities and inequities between nursing groups. Ultimately, it is in the interest of the public that we uphold the dignity and morale of the nursing community. Does the Minister, to again emphasise and stress Dr Neo's point earlier, see the appropriateness of appointing a highly qualified registered nurse as the Chairman, or at least assuming the position of a Co-Chair? The argument for this is plain enough that he or she being in the nursing profession for years, will have the competence to assess the needs of the sector.”
“Sir, the initiative to introduce new provisions relating to the establishment of the Singapore Nursing Board, practising certificates and the registration of nurse specialists is a timely move. As we adopt a "step-down" strategy of health care delivery from hospitals to the community, the need for clear regulations for managing good practices becomes critical. We need community nursing skills that focus beyond the epidemiological factors of illness and address the many life aspects of the persons who are ill. We also need nurses specialists for patients with special needs like cancer and mental illnesses. In the light of this expanding scope and expectations of the nursing role due to changing demographic trends and the diversity of demands arising from more educated patients, I am in full support of this Bill. Furthermore, I would urge the Board to immediately conceptualise a Nursing 21 national action plan to articulate the visions, goals and guidelines of nursing for the new millennium. To me, nurses form a significant resource that we must develop. The Bill, however, is silent on a number of issues which I feel could minimise the effectiveness of the Board in servicing the needs of the community. Allow me to highlight a few. On membership of the Board, in Part II, clause 3, I would like also to echo Dr Neo's call for the President of the Singapore Nurses Association (SNA) to be a committee member. The Association is the only professional body consisting of 3,000 nurses who could clearly articulate the interests and concerns of the profession as well as challenges faced by patients. It is also the most legitimate vehicle to process policy and professional matters relating to medical management.”
“Sir, with due respect, she has not told me what did the students do wrong. What was so wrong in what they have done in signing a petition of appreciation? What are the pitfalls that I have to warn them against? What are the problems?”