Cynthia Phua
Singapore
“Sir, I am very glad that the Minister has elaborated on the diversification of our food sources. On the ground, our senior citizens are saying that the 10-cent increase in a cup of coffee is affecting their daily needs.”
“Where are the weak links that should be tightened? How does his Ministry intend to tackle the problem and whether it is engaging in any dialogue with different concerned groups in the community, for example, VWOs?”
“Mr Chairman, the Minister mentioned about the cross-agency effort on youth. He mentioned three Ministries – MOE, MHA and MCYS. I would like to ask for one more, ie, MINDEF, because for male youths, if they are delinquents, they would have left school and be enlisted earlier, and they could get help from MINDEF.”
“Many parents are working when the children are in secondary school. As a result, teenage students are left at home in the afternoon without proper guidance.”
“In the community, we came across many new cases where family could not manage to persuade the patient to have early treatment, resulting in nuisances being caused to the neighbourhood and the patient himself who suffers the mental illness.”
“What has been the outcome pertaining to our ongoing efforts to bring back our Singaporean medical students and some of the young doctors working overseas? What are the Minister's views on the newly introduced scholarship for medical students studying overseas?”
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“Sir, I am very glad that the Minister has elaborated on the diversification of our food sources. On the ground, our senior citizens are saying that the 10-cent increase in a cup of coffee is affecting their daily needs. I would like to ask the Minister and maybe the RPWG Committee if they find the justification for increases at the coffeeshops reasonable.”
“Mr Chairman, the Minister mentioned about the cross-agency effort on youth. He mentioned three Ministries – MOE, MHA and MCYS. I would like to ask for one more, ie, MINDEF, because for male youths, if they are delinquents, they would have left school and be enlisted earlier, and they could get help from MINDEF.”
“Where are the weak links that should be tightened? How does his Ministry intend to tackle the problem and whether it is engaging in any dialogue with different concerned groups in the community, for example, VWOs? I hope the Minister can share with the House what are some of the upcoming programmes, particularly those aimed at reducing youth crime. We are a small country. Every person counts. Everyone is important and special. And with joint commitment, I am confident that more than ever, Singapore will continue to nurture morally right and productive citizens. Helping the disabled, needy and elderly”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, all of us – parents, schools, local communities and the Government – have a stake and shared responsibility to guide our young. It is painful to read of 14-year-olds engaging in prostitution or some even younger ones engaging in pre-marital sex. Worse is, some are involved in more serious crimes like gangsterism, street fights, doing the bidding of loansharks or abusing drugs and alcohol. I hope the Minister would spare no effort to get his Ministry to work with the other Ministries and VWOs, especially with schools, to address the question of juvenile delinquency and youth crime. The recent youth gangsters on the street are warning signs that we must work harder on our youth. Their academic achievements imposed both by our education system and by us, as parents, are putting much pressures on our children. Only by working together can we identify gaps and come up with new approaches to deal with these new challenges. The Ministry of Education is one key Ministry that MCYS must engage as most of our youths are in the education institutes. I fully agree with the Minister for Education which said yesterday that the parents are ultimately responsible for their children. This role of responsibility cannot be surrogated. However, all our schools must play not only the main role of education but the supporting role of character building. The Minister for Education only hold the teachers and principals responsible for the education outcomes. I am afraid the Minister for MCYS would have a lot of persuasion to do. In this regard, could the Minister share with the House whether there is any study made to better understand the changing social landscape surrounding our families and its impact on young people?”
“I would like to ask the Minister about secondary school hours. Because youth crime is increasing, is MOE reviewing the hours of our secondary schools, so that we can keep our secondary school children in school, with less time spent outside?”
“Many parents are working when the children are in secondary school. As a result, teenage students are left at home in the afternoon without proper guidance. As all the secondary schools now operate single sessions, can the Minister look into the possibility of extending the school hours, incorporating CCAs, tuition or extra classes for the weaker students in the afternoon and let the children leave for home at about 5.00 pm on a daily basis? Integrated programme schools”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I would like to focus on a specific section of CCAs – sports. We should strongly encourage students to take up sports because it will assist immensely in developing tenacity and strength of character among youths. They learnt the meaning of perseverance and endurance, and develop a spirit of competitiveness and also humility and to lose with grace. These life skills will stay with them long after any equation, formula or hypothesis. In this Parliament, I have been appealing for MOE to encourage and put in resources for our children to have sports as CCA. I thought MOE has indeed made some changes and it is getting more students into sports on a larger scale. However recently, I was alarmed again when my daughter, who is now in Pre-University, was told that there was no recreation CCA for Tennis, and that only about 12 players were needed through selection for competitive team. Sports should be an integral part of school life. I would like to call for sports CCA to be made compulsory for all children from primary to tertiary levels. I hope the Minister can share with the House, the number of school children who has sports CCA in primary school. What is being done to encourage participation in sports among students in schools? We often hear from schools that there are not enough teachers or sport facilities to cater to all who want to take up sports. Do we have enough resources to have every child take up sports as CCA? I firmly believe that a child who has taken up a sport CCA in his primary school, will continue with sports in the secondary school and then into adult life. In addition, with youth crime on the rise, can the Minister look into the schedule of the school hours for the secondary school?”
“So, I do not really think that this health credit is necessary. Neither do I think it will be effective for the example that the Member gave. For example, let us say, if a person found that he actually needed cancer treatment, that may be tens of thousand of dollars. How much credit are you going to give? $5, $15, $20 for a screening. So, how much credits can you accumulate in order to handle a major heart bypass, for example? So, have confidence in 3Ms. As Health Minister, I do receive appeals from patients who get into trouble once in a while. But almost all the time when I look into the details, who are the ones who got into trouble? They are outside of 3Ms. They never buy MediShield, they never save in Medisave because they are self-employed, like taxi drivers or hawkers, that is when they get into trouble. I think our answer to Singaporeans must be, please, 3Ms is fantastic, stay in it. Please make sure you are in 3Ms. So, all workers have no problem because they are compelled to save, but they must subscribe to MediShield. Just two days ago, I was reading Shin Min and Tan Kin Lian was quoted by Shin Min as saying that in Singapore, for the bulk of people who go to B2 and C wards, if they have MediShield, for those who stay after retirement for another 25 years, even if they are very unlucky to be sick for 10 years, his calculation was that $30,000 is enough. Or if you want to be very safe, try $40,000. And that is more or less the Medisave Minimum Sum that we have computed. A majority of Singaporeans with Medisave are now able to achieve that saving level. And more will be able to save that too.”
“For the mentally-ill hotline, I do not know yet, but it is something that I am pushing. Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan: I just like to follow up on the Minister's response to my health credit proposal. I think we should not see it as a bribe to get people to take proactive actions towards prolonging their health. The concern I have is that one of the reasons the low-income individuals do not go for health screening is because they are so afraid that they will find something and that they cannot afford the treatment subsequently. So, they take a very fatalistic approach to life, and they would rather not know because knowing causes them problems. A health credit scheme like this would give them a lifeline: come for health screening, let us detect your illness early, especially cancer. The health credit will help us subsidise or help them pay for early treatment which will be a win-win situation for the individual as well as the family and the State. Mr Khaw Boon Wan: My answer will be this: have confidence in 3Ms. Really, I mean it sincerely. 3Ms will ensure that no Singaporean would be denied any kind of medical treatment. So, if you are screened and you have cancer or whatever, and if you are poor, you will be looked after. Do not worry about that. I was reading the Straits Times which has a section on "Mind Your Body", the latest issue of which is two or three days ago. There was an article by a consultant oncologist in the National Cancer Centre. He made a similar point. He has been a cancer consultant for 10 years now, and he has never seen a patient who has difficulty despite 3Ms. 3Ms is the way to go. So long as you understand it and you navigate it through, there is never an issue of not being able to afford any kind of treatment.”
“Madam, I would like to clarify with the Minister on two points. The first one is on the polyclinics. Is he going to extend, in terms of medical IT, to allow for distant consultation? I just met a resident who is diabetic, has high blood pressure and eye problem. She is also a recovered cancer patient. So, she has to go to three different places: Singapore General Hospital, the Cancer Centre as well as the polyclinic for the follow-up consultations. But these are just follow-up checks. Could she go to the polyclinic and maybe have a distant consultation with the relevant specialised doctors? The second issue is the mental patients again. Currently, in the community, we are really finding it very difficult to bring the patients to IMH to seek treatment and they are not known patients to IMH. So, when can the hotline or the mobile squad be ready to take such patients? Mr Khaw Boon Wan: On the greater use of technology, this is something we strongly believe in. We have tried various things: tele-radiology, tele-opthalmology, tele-stroke, because tele-medicine certainly has a great scope for further exploitation, and we will push along this line. But for the specific example that Mdm Cynthia Phua mentioned about tele-consultation, we do that to a certain degree. Tele-opthalmology belongs to that category, but you must have enough volumes, because it is not just a technology, you must have a specialist at the end of the line who is there to do the consultation, even though not in front of the patient. So, that has to be organised. For opthalmology, I think there are sufficient cases to do so. For the specific example that she mentioned, I am not so sure whether there are enough cases. But, in terms of priorities, this is the priority which we will always push.”
“In the community, we came across many new cases where family could not manage to persuade the patient to have early treatment, resulting in nuisances being caused to the neighbourhood and the patient himself who suffers the mental illness. The present law does not allow the Ministry to do direct intervention of bringing new mental patient for treatment. As a result, the community suffers. Recently, it took me a while to persuade the Police to help the Residents’ Committee members, with the support of the family, to bring a resident who had been causing stress to his fellow block of residents to IMH for treatment. Basically, he switched on the radio at full blast 24 hours of the day. The hotline mobile team of IMH will only respond if the person is a known patient of IMH. I would like to urge the Ministry to look into the need to amend the necessary law and allow the Ministry personnel for direct intervention to bring new mental patients for treatment; if not, the community would be even more disturbed and stressed.”
“Madam, mental healthcare has always been costly and medical treatment has to be given on a long-term basis. Low and mid-range income groups who are caring for mentally-ill family members would need financial assistance to cope with the long-term medical care, especially when the family members are not working. Many a time, within the family, there are many mental patients as well. Last October, we raised this issue in Parliament. I wish to take this opportunity to request for more funds to be allocated to management of their welfare. We need to address the needs of the patients who are recovering from mental illness or whose illness is under control. We really need more day care and rehabilitative facilities at the community and the number and sufficiency would entail the Ministry to do an in-depth study for these mental patients. Alternatively, could the Minister set aside funding to support VWOs who provide such services and to help them set up such centres? Funding will need to go into training volunteers and subsidising these facilities for needy families. I look forward to the Minister’s support for more of these day care centres. The real issue on the ground and the community is that many do not know the condition of mental illness. More education and engagement of the families and the community need to be done. Just recently, there is an article by the Straits Times on the good work done by a psychiatrist from Australia. He mentioned that if the mental patient can be detected early and given the right treatment, they would be able to recover. However in our society, mental illness is still being stigmatised and many people may know but refuse to do treatment early. The Ministry needs to work with the schools and universities for early detection.”
“What has been the outcome pertaining to our ongoing efforts to bring back our Singaporean medical students and some of the young doctors working overseas? What are the Minister's views on the newly introduced scholarship for medical students studying overseas? Will this create a significant increase in the number of doctors that we can bring back in the next five, 10, 20 years? Also on one other area of concern is the distribution of manpower. Of course, staff will tend to join more glamorous and popular specialties. Are we doing more to attract healthcare staff to the disciplines which are less popular, such as rehabilitation, pathology and renal medicine, and so on. Healthcare manpower projections and planning are crucial and we have to start planning from now. Primary care partnership scheme”
“Early detection can arrest the development of many chronic ailments, and will save lives in the case of critical diseases like cancer. Currently, the take-up rates for many early detection procedures, like the mammogram, is below optimum level. To encourage Singaporeans to step forward and take proactive action to promote long-term well-being, may I suggest that the MOH starts a health credit scheme. Each time, a Singaporean takes part in a health screening exercise at the polyclinics or other locations specified by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) or MOH, he get credits that are entered into his record. The cumulated credits can be used to offset healthcare costs invoked when he sees a doctor, makes purchases at the pharmacy, or even for hospitalisation. I hope that this incentive will encourage Singaporeans to make health screening a norm and part of their annual rituals. Manpower in healthcare Assoc. Prof. Fatimah Lateef: Mr Chairman, the demands in our healthcare sector is growing annually. With the increasing patient load, rapidly ageing population and increasing expectations of our populace, we have no choice but to increase the number of staff in all healthcare sectors and disciplines. Graduating only 250 doctors a year, we need to employ double this number of foreign doctors. We are also in need of more nurses, and especially allied health personnel. Our doctor to patient ratio is not optimal as in some other developed countries. With the good NUS doctors, and now the third medical school, the numbers that are going to be added will be very small initially. The numbers will have an impact on quality of care, waiting times, satisfaction rates and other measurable KPIs. What is MOH's plan to enhance healthcare manpower?”
“I would also like to highlight that this essential service needs to be accessible to the community and near to transport hubs as our people are getting older. The other concern on the ground is the opening hours. Many of the rehabilitative and follow-up cases would not be able to go to the polyclinics during office hours and, in general, they would prefer the Saturdays. However polyclinics operate for half a day on Saturdays and the ground is asking for longer hours on the weekends. On medical IT, there are two areas of interest: one is the data collection and sharing and the other are the use of medical IT for distant consultation and diagnosis. With the integrated medical information system, this would enable the polyclinics to extend its services to the heartland. For example, to tap on Minister Mr Lim Boon Heng's strategy of the Wellness Programme for the elderly, we could get retired nurses to take blood pressure and do basic sugar level tests at the Residents' Committee Centres. Records could be keyed into this integrated medical information system. This would reduce the need to visit the polyclinics. Finally, with the fibre network coming into the community, the transmission of data will be at super speed. The use of medical IT for distant consultation and diagnosis is very possible and can be done easily. 4.15 pm Promote pro-health behaviour Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan (Nominated Member): Sir, as life expectancy improves, it is critical that we promote healthy lifestyles so that we can prolong the periods of good health in our golden years. A key component to sustained good health is the embrace of regular health screening for early detection of ailments.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, presently polyclinics are an essential service in the community especially for the elderly, a daily service that is visited by many residents. In view of this essential service, the polyclinics are always very busy and crowded and see the whole spectrum of citizens, from infants to the common flu to the follow-up of chronic diseases of the elderly. We know we need more polyclinics simply by the virtue of the increasing population and our increasing elderly population. It is time for the Ministry to review the roles and responsibilities of the polyclinics in the community. What are its KPIs – baby care, geriatric care, step-down care of the hospitals or walk-in care for the public? The needs are many and varied. Who are the target customers of the polyclinics? What income levels are polyclinics serving which population segments? How about our foreign workers? They do need care too. Is it part of the polyclinics' role to serve this community as well? In view of the range of needs and the target customers, it will be a challenge for the Health Ministry to ensure that the community or the target customers the polyclinics set to serve are being served well and at affordable rates for the medical care. I am not sure of the Health Ministry's planning parameters for the number of polyclinics in the community in relation to population. Could the Minister let us know the Ministry's direction on the roles and responsibilities of polyclinics? Who are the target customers of the polyclinics and its plan on the expansion of the polyclinics in the community? Next, just to highlight the concern on the grounds. The long queues and the waiting time: what are the measures the polyclinics are taking to cut down the waiting time?”
“This should be a separate queue as the immune systems of senior citizens are significantly weaker than that of the young and the standard medication and treatment does not apply across the board. Lastly, can we look into the subsidy for the elderly for day-care services and nursing homes for families since we have allowed levy subsidy of maid for such home care? In view of the increasing elderly, we need to have more people knowing how to care for our elderly from the doctors, qualified nurses to step-down care nursing assistants and basic health care personnel. What are the plans of the Ministry to increase this pool of expertise? In addition, at the community level, some regular checks like monitoring tests, for example, the high blood pressure test and the sugar level test, can be done by certified medical personnel who are trained to do this work. In such cases, the residents do not need to travel far and this can be done near their homes. Alternatively, if we have a good medical IT system, long-distance consultation could also be done since all our flats are going to be wired by a new fibre network. The data transmission is very fast. This will allow our limited number of medical officers to reach out to more patients in the community. Elderly care”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, geriatric illnesses span over a large variety of ailments of varying intensities. As such, I believe that we should offer more options to cater to the healthcare needs of senior citizens. There is a need to have more Government-subsidised home support services available for senior citizens living alone or with their family members. Mobility issues and physical weakness are common reasons for senior citizens to avoid seeking medical help. For some senior citizens, their limbs are so weak that just stepping out of their house is an onerous task that inflicts great amount of pain on them. The Government must encourage the availability of more doctors and medical personnel to do home visits to treat and care for these senior citizens. We should provide support for these families to encourage them. Hence, education and relief-care support for caregivers need to be building up over time. If we are able to have a pool of relief caregivers, this would allow the caregivers to be able to walk away for a while and come back with renewed energy. This brings us to the day-care centres and nursing homes in the community. The concerns of the community are that do we have enough day care-centres and nursing homes. If there is a shortage, how bad are we? Recently, we have a boost in the number of child-care centres and they were created within a short period of time. We know the numbers of elderly coming over the next 10 years. What are the planning parameters and the Ministry's estimation and its strategies on day-care and nursing homes in the community. With the elderly, do we need a geriatric care unit in the community, for example, at each of the polyclinic?”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) is a very good programme to help keep our blocks of flats in a habitable condition. We have the first precinct in Aljunied GRC polled in November 2010, and it has achieved a strong support of 91.1% for HIP. This new programme not only upgrades the toilets but also repairs all the spalling concrete in the flat. It is a popular programme. The state of the ceilings of some of the older flats in the older precincts in Aljunied GRC is bad; not only the toilet area but also the condition of the kitchen, the bedroom and the living room are all having spalling concrete. If the HIP programme is not able to be accelerated, I would like to suggest that the Ministry take up this programme of repairing spalling concrete separately, so that there is no fear that the spalling concrete will drop onto the residents' heads. As for back windows of flats, many have changed them a few years back on the advice of HDB. However, the windows, over time, will deteriorate. As there is the risk of killer litter, would the Ministry consider including this as an optional item in HIP to allow the residents to take the opportunity to change the back windows? The other concern of the residents is that the 10 days that the residents have to stay at home to allow for the water proofing and upgrading of the toilets. Many are unable to take leave to stay at home for the stretch of 10 days. The Ministry may wish to look into breaking the essential work into two phases.”
“Mr Chairman, I would like to clarify with the Minister whether the Wellness Programme applies to the private residential estates as well.”
“More courses for me at the community centres, wellness centre, National Library. I also want to go on Internet. Can go to the university? No chance when I was young. Can Government subsidise some of these courses? Buddy and network. Some of our friends are young – 65 and educated. They can explain to me lots of things. Tell me about my medical condition, tell me about the Government ang pow. Can we have more buddies for the elderly in the estate? Encourage and train more buddies for the elderly." The dream list goes on. With the increase in the Elder Fund, some of these wishes can be fulfilled, but, most importantly, we must understand the elderly needs and ready to take on an increasingly elderly population. Caring for the elderly”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, the Minister has certainly put in much thought and funds for the care of senior citizens in this year's Budget. Many senior citizens are already living longer lives with advancement in healthcare. But as they live longer, it is important that they must also enjoy some quality in their lifestyle and enjoy mobility. I would approach the cut with the elderly and residents' perspective and wishes. "Medical. Although, I would not have enough savings in my Medisave but I have MediShield – money no worry, if I am hospitalised. But outpatient medicine is taken everyday. Lucky, children are good and I have got some savings – can still pay. But high inflation, medicine must be kept low. If not, got to ask for more money from children and take from savings. Hope Government could look into the cost of medicine for chronic diseases for the elderly. Accessibility to medical care. I have high blood pressure, diabetic and my eye is not good. I need to go to the polyclinic and also to the National Eye Centre for check-up regularly. Hope the Government provide more comprehensive and integrated medical care at the polyclinic for the elderly. Go to doctor. Children busy – say must take leave – limited leave days only. How about Government granting leave to take care of an old lady? Social. Children busy – have their own work. I am lonely, do not want to watch TV all the time. Active ageing is the word. My estate is good – wellness centre, Neighbourhood Link. But wellness centre so far away – only one per Division. Can Government build more wellness centres near my flat? Alternatively, expand RC or CC Centre for elderly. Education. Do not think I am old. I want to know more about the world.”
“I would like MCYS to consider making kindergarten and childcare fees free of charge for children from low-income families drawing below $1,700 per month, so that they can begin their education from the same starting point as the other children from more affluent families. If they have a good foundation, they will most likely do well in their studies and break away from the poverty cycle in future. Madam Deputy Speaker, with that I support the Budget. 4.59 pm”
“And with wider participation from private sectors, our planners can be more sensitive to the required changes and can quickly anticipate a change of the land use, especially with any population movement. Our building programme can then be carried out more smoothly and be in sync with the rise and fall in demand for houses, offices and even hotels and shopping centres. One other area of concern in land use and management is the determination of the cost of public infrastructure. Some of the infrastructures are dictated by the Government for the private developers to develop, such as the integrated bus interchanges in HDB town centres. In such development projects, the cost of the land has been tendered by the private developer but it is used for the public infrastructure, and this market land cost must be comprehensively accounted for as a cost of public infrastructure. And once the total cost is properly accounted for, the opportunity cost of each infrastructure can then be assessed against its demand and competition of land use from the various needs. Caring for the children. I was elated for our families with young children. The Child Development Credit for younger children and the enhancements to the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme and Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare will be of great assistance to them. We have taken a giant leap by increasing the income ceiling to $3,500. Many of the housewives in this income bracket had previously found no incentive in looking for a job. The raised income ceiling would enable families to put the children in childcare centres and the women can then re-enter the workforce.”
“The installation of these creative and innovation centres, based on industry, will be the vitamin supplements for this productivity growth and for this continued effort in productivity. Land use. In recent years, our population has increased significantly. We are at five million strong, going on to six million. We need homes, schools, hospitals and facilities to accommodate this surge of one million in population. Do we have sufficient space to build more homes and relevant supporting facilities? In such a high density area, we need to have very strong planning capability so that we are able to build, if not in tandem with the rise in population, at least be as close to it as possible. In Singapore, 95% of people own homes and 90% of these people are living in public housing. We continue to have a supply crunch of office space and then of housing. Many a time the Government had to hurriedly intervene. We should learn the lessons from here. We should be like car drivers, constantly looking at the rear view mirror to see what is behind us as we drive ahead to the future. There will then be lesser need for the Government to intervene and introduce measures to temper rising property prices too often. I urge the Government to have a more coordinated and centralised planning centre for land use planning and also management. In view of a high density of land use, any change in land use, whether it is plot ratio or change of views, will affect a great number of people. We need to consult and obtain feedback from more people and sectors, not just representatives from the various Ministries but also from the private sector, including industrial, manufacturing, commercial and retail sectors.”
“Although Deputy Prime Minister Teo has listed the pro-SME initiatives but they are appealing for creativity and research development centres to be set up for the various industries and seeded by the Government and led by bigger firms. With expertise and resources made available, all enterprises would get a leg up on innovative ideas and creative solutions. For example, the construction industry experienced much improvement when HDB took the lead in prefabrication. Recently, HDB’s research centre studied the practicability of using LED lighting and as such the PAP Town Councils were able to tap onto their findings and obtain a bulk contract based on the results of the study. Taking into Deputy Prime Minister's idea on industrial-made strategies, another area in the construction industry where productivity can be improved is the installation of dry fit partition walls, which was also mentioned by the Deputy Prime Minister. The initiative has been taken by a few developers but they are in the private sector. With the reduction of foreign work force, we have to review the impact on the wet wall programme because HDB, being the main developer for public housing, is building volumes of HDB flats. If HDB could take a lead in the industry to look into dry fit walls, which have already been proven to provide sound and fire-safe installation and in protecting residents' privacy and keeping them safe. If HDB could take a lead, the productivity of the construction industry will definitely improve. In conclusion, on productivity, I would like the relevant agencies to continue to work harder to reach out to the Small and Medium Enterprises. I would take the Deputy Prime Minister's suggestion of the brisk-walking concept further.”
“We must maintain and increase our productivity rate if we are to stay abreast of a very competitive global market. Rising costs of production without corresponding increase in productivity will only send our economy down the slippery road. However, I would like to raise the many concerns by the Small and Medium Enterprises. Many have expressed that while they welcome the increase of $2 billion in National Productivity and they appreciate the Productivity and Innovation Credit, time is their concern. Innovation and productivity take time to materialise. In the meantime, the foreign worker levy would have increased and this would further burden them and add to the inflation. They hope that time can be allowed for them to adjust to the foreign worker levy hike and have asked that the increase can be in smaller instalments. I am glad of the forward-looking of most Small and Medium Enterprises. With less reliance on foreign workers, the enterprises will look for creative solutions. I would like to give an example from the ground. A few years back, we did not allow foreign workers to wash cars at the petrol stations and many petrol stations installed automatic car washers. There were complaints of the quality of the brushes and instead of doing more research on the brushes – and because MOM allowed foreign workers – many quickly employed teams of foreign workers to hand wash cars. And, now, you see every petrol station has empty spaces because the automatic car washer has been taken out and teams of foreign workers/car washers are there now. Many small and medium enterprises are also worried about not having time and capacity to look into measures to increase productivity.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, I would like to thank the Finance Minister and my GRC colleague, Second Minister for Finance, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua for delivering a Budget that brought only smiles to the face of the majority of Singaporeans. It is, as far as my memory can recall, one of the best if not the best Budget Statement made in this House. I say this not because there are many giveaways. I say this because this Budget showcases this Government at its best in balancing the needs of the people and its responsibility to the nation as a whole. The Budget is targeted at the core group of Singaporeans who are most in need of assistance because of rising inflation – the low income and the middle income. The Government has shown itself as a government run by a team of very responsible leaders who will not hesitate to opt for prudence and not extravagance when it involves spending from our reserves, even when it is a General Election year. I salute its decision to return $4 billion to our reserves so that we can look ahead with greater confidence. We have made many bold initiatives in this Budget, such as relinquishing our heavy reliance on foreign workers and pushing for productivity. We have expanded financial help to middle-income families to help them cope with bringing up children and the elderly. The Growth Dividends will come in useful for families to cope with inflation. In particular, I greatly support the Government’s plans for the Silver Community Trust and the Elder Fund. I believe that these will expand our infrastructure and expert care to provide more comprehensive care for the elderly in the community. Innovation and creative centres. I note that the Budget focuses on an important element that will propel our engines of growth – productivity.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask if the Minister takes into account the subletting rent of the stalls in determining the market rent. And does the Minister know there is a difference between the NEA market rent and the subletting rent? Thirdly, if the Minister is aware that there is such a difference, is he aware if this difference is affecting the operating costs of the food stall operator? Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Mr Speaker, Sir, I assume the Member is referring to legal subletting. Subletting rental is again subjected to market forces and for the person who is prepared to take the stall to decide. As I mentioned in my reply, for any stall that is to be rented out at market rate, it is given to a valuer to assess for us. He will take all the available information into account. As to whether or not he takes into account the prevailing subletting rentals, this is best left to the professional valuer to decide. Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan (Nominated Member): Supplementary question, Sir. Under what conditions will the Ministry allow for subletting? I think we should not allow an individual to profit. If you rent the stall from the Ministry, then you should run the stall and not use it as leverage for higher profits, through subletting. Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Subletting is not allowed for subsidised stalls. 2.47 pm”
“Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) if he would provide an assessment on whether existing laws are effective in tackling high-rise litter; (b) whether the current law limits the effectiveness of enforcement by requiring enforcement officers to identify the offenders in person and if the Ministry will consider changing the law to hold the household responsible; and (c) whether the Ministry would consider using surveillance tools to make enforcement more effective as manpower is limited and cannot be committed over long periods of time. The Minister of State, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan) (for the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources): Mr Speaker, Sir, with your permission, I would like to take Question Nos. 3 and 4 together.”
“Yes, Mr Speaker. Does the Minister not agree that the difference in rental will definitely be passed on to the consumers in the food prices? Sorry, Mr Speaker. Second question: since the Ministry monitors the rental rates, can the Minister give us an indication of the rate of increase for the last three years? Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: I can, again, answer the second question first. Just to give the Member some data: for the tenancy details for the second half of last year, about 230-odd stalls came up for renewal. Out of that, 51% of the stalls whose tenancies were renewed had their rentals reduced while 19% remained the same. So, by and large, rentals have not really changed for the last round of tenancy renewals for the second half of last year. To the Member’s first question as to whether food prices will go up because of the rental – again, this is something in which you have to consider the multitude of factors affecting it. Factors affecting food prices are not only to rentals but also cost of utilities, and other things which will have an impact, for example, in terms of the type of food the particular hawker would want to sell. So, I leave it to the market to decide. And if supposing the price is too high for the patrons, they might go to another stall. So, they have to make their own calculations. HIGH-RISE LITTERING 3. Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) if he would provide an update on the fight against high-rise littering; (b) how many complaints were received and how many summons were issued for such offences in the last three years; and (c) whether stronger measures are needed to further reduce high-rise littering. 4.”
“Once the stall is given up, it is either tendered out or rented out at market rent. This is not something that is new. As I mentioned in my reply, we have been doing so progressively. This is why only half of the 6,000-odd hawker centres are all subsidised. Will it have an impact on the food prices? As I mentioned in my reply, food prices are affected by many different factors. Currently, electricity prices have gone up and, obviously, the market will adjust. I do not think it is possible for us to pre-determine ahead of time. Our role is really to ensure that there is a proper mix, that our hawker centres continue to be vibrant. On the Member’s first question as to whether or not we monitor, the answer is we do. As I mentioned in my reply, subletting is a private arrangement. It is what the market can bear. If the person who decides to rent the sublet stall at $5,500, he or she must have made his own computations based upon what is available in the vicinity. We will not be able to intervene at this point in time. As and when the renewal for the tenancy is up, then we can basically moderate. But at the end of the day, I think it is best for us to leave to the hawker stallholders to decide on the best arrangement given the dynamics of the set of factors around the hawker centres.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like some clarification from the Minister. Currently, there are three types of rentals in the cooked food centres in Singapore: (i) subsidised rental, (ii) market rental, and (iii) subletting rental that the National Environment Agency (NEA) would not know about as this last rate is agreed upon between those that had already tendered market stalls and their sublet tenants. In Kovan, for example, the market was recently upgraded. The subletting rental is $5,500 per stall. This is compared to the subsidised rental by NEA of $350. Sir, the discrepancy is very large. In such a case, the food prices will definitely be increased. Can the Minister explain why the Ministry is not monitoring the subletting rates as well as the market rental? My second question relates to subsidised rental in the markets. As the Minister said earlier, 50% of the hawker stalls enjoy subsidised rental. The reason for this subsidy is that they were the original tenants. Can I ask the Minister: over the next five to 10 years, the number of such subsidised stalls will be reduced, as the current hawker stallholders will be older and may give up their stalls. In view of this trend, we can expect the subsidised rental to revert to the market rental. How severe will this be? How will it affect the food prices? Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, on the second question, the hon. Member is right. As and when the subsidised rental owners are prepared to give up their stalls, these will then be given out to the market. At which point, really depends on when they exit the trade, whether this is within five or 10 years, as mentioned by the hon. Member, is not clear. We really do not have the numbers but the hon. Member is right.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister two supplementary questions. Can the Minister let us know how prevalent are pornographic websites on the Internet? That is, after surfing the Net for three hours or after a week of Internet usage, what are the chances of such sites appearing? Secondly, how frequently has MDA, say over the last one year, been able to detect pornographic sites? RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew: Sir, the first question is how prevalent are such sites and how easy is it for a user to stumble onto such sites. It is really difficult to give the Member a direct answer to this. Our belief is that either people are sent the links to these sites or they search the links out themselves. My belief is that accidental access is more a rare than a common occurrence. The second point is that MDA does scan the Internet. The 100 sites that I mentioned consist not only of pornographic sites but also those inciting hatred, terrorism, and so on. There are tens of thousands of such pornographic sites and more of them are being discovered every day. Where necessary, MDA will include these sites, especially the more prominent ones, on the symbolic list of 100 sites in order to remind the public periodically that there is material on the Internet not just pornographic but other material that is not wholesome and not edifying.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether the current Family Court Judges have any access to the children before the divorce proceedings. If so, then I rest my appeal. If not, then I would like to appeal again that the younger children get some access to counselling. If the Court Judges do not have access to the children, they will not be in the position to assess whether the children need counselling or not.”
“Also, Mr Speaker, pertaining to clause 6 on the new enforcement measures for defaulters; it will only work well if there is buy-in from all parties concerned whereby they also need to support Credit Bureau reporting. The Ministry would need to consider doing more targeted publicity together with the NGOs and VWOs working in this area to help create awareness on this area. Sir, I would also finally like to know what if the reverse occurs, that is, husbands have to claim maintenance from their wives. And in this day and age, I think you would agree with me it is not unlikely to happen. In 1996 when this Bill was last debated, it was put forth to the Select Committee to have this matter considered. The decision at that time was "the Committee notes that women have advanced over the years; however, the Committee also notes that there is still some disparity though a decreasing one between most men and women. As such, the Committee agrees that it may not be timely to introduce such a provision now." We have moved on, Sir, 14 years to be exact; can I ask the Minister if he feels we are ready now to include a clause for the men? I feel this is now necessary so that it can be invoked in the event it becomes necessary and relevant on a case by case consideration. I do not, however, Sir, support changing the name of this Bill from the Women's Charter to the Family Charter as has been suggested by some quarters. With the consideration to be given to the suggestions I have made, Sir, I support the Amendment Bill. *Cols. 2165-2166. 4.58 pm”
“Next, pertaining to the marriage preparation course in clause 3 which has by now been implemented for sometime especially by some religious groups but not on a compulsory basis, are there any longitudinal follow-up statistics currently to show co-relation between those who attend the courses and the number of years they stay married? On the contrary, how about those who do not attend the course? Are there statistics to show that there are more divorces amongst these couples? I feel it is important as it is clearly stated in this Bill, Sir, the purpose of this is to reduce the rate of divorces among the prescribed classes of persons and we certainly want to keep a close surveillance of these prescribed classes of persons. In regard to financial counselling where defaulters are required to attend compulsory counselling sessions, are there current figures to show how many defaulters on average we have annually? And what proportions subsequently comply? Certainly we need to look for more efficient ways to handle and track these cases down as making it compulsory is one step. I would also like to ask the Minister if he is able to update the House on the SCWO's (the Singapore Council of Woman Organisations) plan to commence maintenance support central which was to offer a one-stop assistance providing legal advice, financial and family counselling, Credit Bureau reporting, childcare needs, housing needs advice, and follow-up assistance. This appears to be a feasible suggestion as it would be helpful and time-saving for the single parent who has to look after children, negotiate time for various appointments pertaining to all the various issues they have to handle. Will the Ministry consider supporting this?”
“Sometimes, they do not even have a fixed shelter or home. It is often a major challenge to track down their ex-husbands. How do we correct this difficult and challenging problem? Should we start from the creation of awareness and emphasise on a sense of responsibility from a young age? Should it begin from a good moral upbringing and with parents setting good examples? We have seen many young ladies left in the lurch in this vicious cycle of dysfunctional families which would be passed on to the following generations. We have to stop this cycle now and take the necessary action. In my view, all sectors have to work with the Ministry and this includes the voluntary welfare organisations, non-Government organisations, community leaders, schools and mosques. We must stand united, work with one another and, together, prevent and break this unhealthy cycle. (In English): It is indeed timely for us to debate this Bill once again. The last amendment was in 1996, some 14 years ago. In clause 2 with reference to section 17, it is stated, "the Registrar shall not issue a marriage licence unless the party states in the statutory declaration whether he owes any arrears with respect to maintenance which is payable under a maintenance order". I support this enhancement to the Bill and hope the enforcement and implementation will be carried smoothly. Also, how will the information be communicated to the new spouse? Will it be at or before the marriage agreement? Or formalised at some other settings?”
“This would help both parties to realistically face integration into the Singapore lifestyle and the dependency of the Singapore spouse for the residency status of the non-Singaporean spouse. The non-Singapore spouse is extremely vulnerable when the children are young or should the Singaporean spouse suddenly passed away. I had one case in my MPS last year. In conclusion, last year I made a call for mandatory counselling for the children whose parents are undergoing a divorce. I would like to state again that the children are the most vulnerable and the most innocent victims. Please help them. The least we can do is to provide them with mandatory counselling. We need the court to protect them and allow them to address their anxieties, their sorrows and help them with the integration and adjustment to a home with a single parent. Many besides losing their family, also find themselves losing their neighbourhood friends, their classmates, their teachers and so forth because they have to be relocated from their original home. As an adult, not many of us are able to adjust to such major changes, let alone the children. I would like to once again appeal to the Ministry and the Minister to reconsider mandatory counselling at least for a start for children below the age of 12. 4.52 pm Assoc. Prof. Fatimah Lateef (In Malay): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Speaker, we are debating on a very important Bill. Within the Malay community, we see many women who are affected and left stranded with hardly any stable source of income even though they have several young children to fend for. Many of them have abundant arrears and bills that are left unpaid and usually these debts are incurred by their ex-husbands.”
“In addition, the warrant of arrest should be made expediently. Presently, we know there are many outstanding warrants of arrest waiting to be served. Lastly, I would like to urge the Minister to consider restricting an errant husband who is in arrears of maintenance from travelling overseas, without the Court’s permission. In addition, I would like to urge HDB to check with the Credit Bureau in assessing the errant spouse application for public housing as well. For the preservation of families – in order to enhance and preserve marriages, I would like to propose that the marriage preparatory course be made compulsory for all marriages instead of only for minors and divorcees. If this cannot be implemented now then we should consider this for the future. Many couples spend at least six months to a year to prepare for their wedding ceremonies. I am very sure that they would not mind spending a weekend or two together attending this course to build a good foundation for their married life. MCYS could recognise the various religious organisations’ marriage preparation courses. Those who do not want to attend the courses by the religious groups can attend such courses in the Family Service Centres which MCYS is boosting its manpower and providing more resources. To encourage attendance at such courses, in the marriage application to the Registry of Marriages, the question should be asked if the intended couple has attended any marriage preparation course. I support the call by AWARE for the marriage preparation course be made mandatory for marriages with spouses who are non-Singapore citizens.”
“This leads me to the issuance of bank guarantee. There is no mention of top up after it has been used. Also is three months' duration sufficient? The length of the bank guarantee would need to be sufficient to last the whole legal process of the claim for maintenance fee. Based on my experience, six months is needed for even an efficient corporation to recover rent arrears, not to mention an ex-spouse with low education claiming for maintenance arrears. Reading section 71A again, the court has asked that the banker’s guarantee be handed to the claimant within one month from the date of the order. There is no mention of the consequences if there is a default of handing over of the banker’s guarantee. This effectively can mean no money again for the waiting family. To ensure the banker’s guarantee is in the hands of the claimant, upon receipt of the application for the claim of maintenance fee and if there is prima facie case of arrears, the court while waiting for the hearing should order the respondent to produce a three-month banker’s guarantee at the hearing itself. This way, once a Court judgment is passed, the banker’s guarantee can be handed over to the claimants during the hearing instead of the ex-wife having to wait for another month. Worse, if there is no payment, then another application has to be filed and she has to wait and attend another court hearing. I also urge the Minister to consider empowering the auxiliary police force to execute the arrest warrant for enforcement of maintenance orders, instead of relying only on the police force who have many other pressing responsibilities. The errant spouse could be made to bear the cost of engaging the auxiliary police. This will also help to expedite matters.”
“The less fortunate among them may end up taking up jobs that in their right mind they would never have done so, that is, to moonlight in a red light district. The children, too, are vulnerable. With the mother's focus on earning to support the family, the children are neglected. Their school work suffers. Even worse, they become delinquents and get involved in gangland activities. It is easy for us to say the legal process only takes a few months to settle. But translate that into a family environment, a few months are enough to wreck many lives. In my opinion, the amendments made here are an improvement but more can be done to shorten the legal process and also the assurances of getting the maintenance fees promptly. My concerns are: I have appealed before and would like to appeal once again for the extension of the legal process beyond the normal business hours. If we can keep the hours to 9.00 pm, this would also allow a woman who is working to turn up for a Court hearing outside her work hours. In addition, more cases can be dealt with and the waiting time is shortened. Also, I would like to appeal for a change in the legal procedure for non-attendance by the ex-husbands. If the ex-husband does not turn up for a Court hearing, judgment should be made against him and the necessary maintenance due to the ex-wife be given by a bank guarantee. The Court should not allow for a postponement or an adjournment of the hearing as it puts the ex-wife under even more stress and unfairness. Otherwise if an adjournment or postponement is given, the family would be denied the basic subsistence which they need urgently. The ex-spouse knowing that judgment would be made against him for non-appearance would then get the firm message that he has to be responsible for the children.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Bill. The amendments are certainly welcomed. It is sad to see the estranged wife with young children in tow, coming to the Meet-the-People Session to seek redress and at times a listening ear to their woes. I feel that the amendments in themselves will greatly improve the situation for an aggrieved wife to seek redress but the Ministry should look further into simplifying the legal process. The legal process still takes up a lot of time for a wife to have to go to and from the court or lawyer's office for various documentations and to make appearances in court. Often the wife has to work to support herself and her children. Going through the legal redress will sometimes result in a loss of income and even loss of jobs. Many of these women are not highly educated or holding normal office jobs. Often, they only have basic education and are working in factories or other establishments where absence from work may mean a deduction in wages and loss of jobs. Hence, for them, an appearance in court is not just a one-hour matter. Besides, they have to undergo the stress and the mental anxiety as often they do not have a clue of what is going on in the courtroom. Also, any delay in settling the divorce and maintenance will mean the wife has to worry about paying for their monthly bills. She has to ensure the children get a roof over their heads, food at meal time and bus fares to get to the school. The impact of such a situation has very wide implications. Women under such circumstances become very vulnerable, especially if they do not have family members to provide the emotional support.”
“As our population ages and chronic ailments prevail, adequacy of healthcare provision and healthcare costs is of primary concern for all Singaporeans, particularly the older Singaporeans. Allied healthcare professionals are an indispensable and important group that supports the healthcare needs of Singapore. The Bill proposes setting up a single regulatory body – the Allied Health Professions Council – to oversee the conduct and the practice of allied healthcare professionals. I have three short queries for the Minister. First, Sir, may I ask the Minister the timeframe his Ministry has in mind for the regulatory framework to be set up and operational to cover all the allied health professionals. Second, my concern relates to the diversity of the professions this proposed Council is tasked to represent and oversee. Can the Minister provide details on how the Council members will be elected and the relationship of the Council to the respective professional organisations? For example, will the Presidents of each of these professional organisations be invited to the membership of the Council? Does the Minister see a parallel between this proposed Bill to regulate allied healthcare professionals and the regulation of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)? If so, what is the learning point we can take from the regulation of TCM? My final concern relates to cost. Sir, does the Minister anticipate that because of regulation, cost of seeking treatment from allied healthcare professionals will increase? Are there implications of regulation on reimbursements by insurance companies? 3.33 pm”
“I think my parliamentary colleague has mentioned that we must be very clear about this sub-specialisation for our patients. In addition, the Bill does not state how allied health professionals practising under the conditional registration category may qualify for full registration. Considering that the full registration category bears immense personal responsibility, it is important to make clear how applicants' abilities and knowledge will be assessed to gain access for an upgrade in registration. I also note that professionals under the temporary registration category are likely to be teachers, researchers and postgraduates who will concentrate most of their work and research in medical education institutions and departments, while interning in hospitals and clinics. In this case, I wish to inquire whether it would be their school or the place of internship that will be responsible for reviewing their performance and supervision. Lastly, I hope that the Allied Health Professions Council would not to be bogged down with all the nitty-gritty of registration and the various sub-committees or sub-specialisations but have the time to look at the distant horizon and draw up policies and guidelines to ensure that the community will enjoy the maximum benefit from the whole exercise of qualification and registration. Sir, I support the Bill. 3.30 pm Assoc. Prof. Paulin Tay Straughan: Mr Speaker, Sir, first, I would like to place on record my appreciation for the awesome work the Ministry of Health has done in meeting the healthcare needs of Singaporeans. I rise in strong support for this important Bill.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I extend my compliments to the Minister for Health for his continuous effort to keep our medical professionals up to speed with the changing demands in our society. His latest is the Allied Health Professions Bill. I am heartened to note that the Ministry is placing ample emphasis on identifying the qualifications and abilities of allied health practitioners. Allied health professionals are just as important to the nation’s health as doctors, for they are the ones who help patients get back to full health after a major treatment process. They also help ease the workload of doctors so that they can focus on the more critical issues in healthcare. Thus, allied professionals become more sought-after. It is, therefore, prudent that we ensure that the capability and qualifications of this group of people are up to the mark. I trust that the new measures announced in the Bill will help to address some patients' concerns. For far too long we have many who claim to be experts in dietary and would recommend all sorts of menu to maintain good health and to detoxify one’s body. So, too, we have some foot reflexologists who claim to be able to treat all kinds of ills, not to mention the tui na practitioners who sometimes claim to be able to cure most ailments. With the new method of categorisation of allied health professionals, we are now able to clearly identify whether someone is fully qualified or partially qualified, which would undoubtedly be useful in employment and assigning duties. However, in the field of allied health, there are already many different specialties and sub-specialties. We need to be careful in not creating too many sub-specialties and complicate life for the patients.”
“This is very important as, more often than not, in the context of an ageing population, medical costs is one of the key components in a claim. This is especially so for routine medical costs, such as for high blood pressure, diabetic medication and also occasional hospitalisation medical costs. And all these medical costs are common and come with ageing. Ironic though it may seem, but it is a reality that many parents do not know where to contact their adult children who have moved out or have set up their own families. Some only have their mobile phone numbers. To me, this is sometimes a tell-tale sign of the strength of the bond between the parents and the children. Many are not sure of their children’s whereabouts, let alone what or where they are working, or even their marital status. It is a sad scenario but it is a reality in today’s society. As we know, the telephone companies are not obliged to disclose the address of the owners of the telephone numbers. So, for the parents to serve a legal notice on their children is in itself a great challenge. Although the Tribunal is now able to get the information from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), the information, however, may not be updated by the children. If information of current telephone and hand phone numbers can be obtained from the telephone companies, this will assist the Family Court better. Let us monitor the effectiveness of this amendment and, if necessary, we would ask for a review of the Act again. I support the amendment Bill. 4.30 pm”
“While today’s Bill may give some clearing of the bottleneck in the problems that are confronting some families in the maintenance of their parents, I would like to urge the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) to do more to assist working parents to act responsibly as parents, give our children a good upbringing and imbue in them with strong and sound family values. Now that we have the passage of this Bill, I am pleased that the amendment provides an opportunity for the parents and children to meet under the aegis of a pre-tribunal mediation. This is a far better platform as a first step in bringing the parents and the children together to discuss and work out an amicable solution in the presence of a trained counsellor than it is for the parties to go before a more formal legal setting. The environment is more conducive to work out a compromise than in a formal legal setting. This mediation may induce the children to be more forthcoming to meet and hear out their parents’ claims. Although there is no mention of the number of mediation sessions, I would like to urge the Tribunal to allow the sessions to go on as long as there is progress towards a good outcome. I am extremely pleased to note that there are provisions for the conciliation officer. Many a time, family members have reached a stage where they are unable to talk to each other. With the gentle probing of a trained counsellor, issues can be put into perspective. Tempers and angry words across tables can be minimised. The power of listening can be emphasised. I also note that the Bill addresses the question of "medical costs" as another factor to be looked into in deciding whether a parent’s income and financial resources are sufficient to maintain him or her.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to commend the Working Committee led by fellow MP Mr Seah Kian Peng on the amendment Bill. I rise in support of the Bill. I am of the view that this Bill would address some of the concerns as we grapple with issues that arise from an ageing and fast-changing society. There are many challenges that a family unit has to contend with today. Whatever stresses that we face in our lives, the most "sacred relationship" is between parents and children. This love relationship is also the main reason for the many appeals that we have from our residents – appealing for schools, asking for additional resources for tuition fees, housing. And all these appeals are for the children. After visiting the Tribunal in Lengkok Bahru and witnessing four cases, I asked myself – what went wrong? Families who failed to imbue good traditional values when their children were young? Or, in some cases, have parents themselves failed in their obligations to care for their family? With many families having both parents working, did we, as parents, plant the biblical mustard seeds deep enough in good earth to set them to grow? In the long term, we must tackle this planting of seeds as one of the root causes of the problems we are facing today, that is, if the seeds are not planted deep enough, the children will grow up with a different set of values, and filial piety and respect for their elders are gone with the wind.”
“Speaker, Sir, two supplementary questions for Minister. I would like to thank the Minister for his detailed reply, especially for his care for the children in the disputes. But I would like to appeal again – one, is for the younger children to go for counselling. I would still like to appeal for mandatory counselling, although Minister has mentioned that it does not mean that mandatory counselling is helpful for the children. But I would like to appeal to the Minister to re-consider because these children, at a young age, would not be able to express their difficulties. So, with counselling, at least we can guide them to come out from their problems and how they face their separated parents. Secondly, on housing. Housing is essential to the child. The child has already lost his family and by moving out, he will lose his classmates and neighbourhood friends. To the child, when he moves out of his familiar place, he will be very lonely. I would like the Minister to work more with the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and also at the same time, to work with the Law Society, to ask the lawyers who are taking care of such matrimonial cases to centre on the children's welfare.”