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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“Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Minister said the ERP charges are based on the physical capacity of the roads. I fully support the Minister's point that we should go on public transport. But with the widening of the CTE and because the ERP charges are increasing at a very fast rate, will the residents in the Northeast corridor have some relief in terms of lower ERP charges, in view of the bigger capacity of the CTE roads?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether he would elaborate on the current practice of internal audits by Ministries on statutory boards and also, in view of this case, whether there would be any increased measures in terms of the regime for internal audit. External audit is really looking at financial matters while internal audit will help each of the statutory boards look into the processes and also the independency of individual officers versus the process itself. So I would like to ask the Minister whether he has actually looked into the internal audit regime for statutory boards.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am very concerned about what the Minister has said that he would not know the impact of the market in one year's time, following the repeated measures that he introduced in the real estate market. I am very sure that the Minister, based on the statistics that he has, would be able to know or at least understand the upper limit of the reaction of the market and the parameters that he has set. We just want to understand the Minister's prediction based on those parameters. Would he continue to introduce measures to curb real estate prices, and will they be reduced or increased further?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, just one supplementary question. I would like to ask the Minister whether he would consider extending home visits for medical care because we are encouraging the elderly to stay within the same residential area. Would the Minister consider asking the community hospitals to develop this arm to support the elderly within the same residential area?”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister has not answered the point on the cooling-off period which I have suggested. Could the Minister comment on that? Mr Mah Bow Tan: I am sorry. Yes, we will look into the cooling-off period, but this will not be under the CEA regime. This will be part of the HDB's sales procedure. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Mah Bow Tan]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. ADJOURNMENT MOTION”
“As the property value is high and such transactions have serious impact on the clients' financial outlay, I would like to urge the Minister to consider a "cooling off" period for the transaction. Perhaps a three-day no-hassle, free return-of-cheque policy for both the sellers and buyers should be adopted. In conclusion, for the thousands of dollars that estate agents and salespersons earn in a property transaction, the public has a right to expect some professional standards in their conduct and delivery. I support the Bill. 4.48 pm”
“As we strive to improve our service sector, let us not forget that estate agents and salespersons, too, provide a service, and it is their duty to make property sale transactions hassle-free and pleasant. Although the Bill has made it mandatory for estate agents and salespersons to receive certification for knowledge on policies and property transactions, I would like to urge that they also upgrade themselves in terms of service and etiquette. Property agencies must exercise more prudence when assessing and hiring salespersons and there should also be a ratio for the number of salespersons that the estate agent can employ. This is to ensure that there is adequacy of supervision and transfer of knowledge and experience. As with most jobs, estate agents or salespersons should also be required to undergo continual training to ensure that they are kept up-to-date, like stockbrokers, insurance agents and others. I would like to urge the Minister to review the current regime of the Common Examination for House Agents (CEHA). Many clients complained that this test has not adequately trained the estate agents and salespersons for property transactions. To ensure that the estate agents are knowledgeable about all the housing policies, especially since there have been many changes recently, MND and HDB should play an active role in guiding them to understand the new policies, and assessing their ability to apply the knowledge. The knowledge includes mortgage loans, like what the Minister has just said, and Government grants, which are indeed complex issues that change over time. The final crux for the estate agent is the completed sales transaction for the property.”
“Many Town Council staff and residents of HDB estates are frustrated with their advertisements at the lift lobbies and common areas. As the pastings of the advertisements on the common properties have damaged the paintings of the buildings, I would consider them as vandalism. I would urge that the new Bill reflects as such and gives the Council the mandate to get the information of the estate agents from the telecommunication companies in Singapore. There is also no guide on the suspension of real estate agents for malpractices. I would like to recommend that a demerit points system be awarded and then a suspension period guide follows. This would differentiate between minor and major malpractices and better management of resources of the Council. If each malpractice has to be investigated and a disciplinary committee set up to investigate, the resources needed would be large. On the other side of the coin, I find that the appointment of inspectors and the powers given to the inspectors are too extreme measures against the estate agents. If there is any fraud and these are commercial transactions, we should leave this to the Commercial Affairs Department to deal with the matter as they already have these powers of inspection. Nationally, it would be more efficient not to have this set of inspectors to carry out such works. The Minister may wish to go under the Bill to have the estate agents or salespersons to provide the documentation required for investigation. Properly certified estates agents are professionals and they should be encouraged to behave ethically and with proper conduct.”
“What is reasonable would have to depend on the residents' ability to bargain and many would not be able to do so. It would help the residents if a guide on the fees could be prescribed by the Council. Presently, some salespersons work together to squeeze higher commissions from their clients. Under section 43, it is mentioned that the Council may prescribe or issue and publish codes of practice, ethics and conduct for estate agents or sales persons – the key word is "may". In fact, I was disappointed that there is no schedule attached with this new Bill stating the codes of practice, ethics and conduct for estate agents and salespersons. Many of the current practices, ethics and conduct of the estate agents are deplorable. These practices are the fundamental changes that this new Bill hopes to achieve. I urge the Minister to draw up these codes of practices, ethics and conduct on priority when the Bill is passed. Next, the Bill has also not looked into the misinformation of the advertisements by estate agents. The property details and conditions are different from the information on the advertisement. This group of estate agents put up misleading advertisements, claiming to have very good property for sale, only to direct a client to something inferior when you call up, or worse, when the clients turn up for the open-house and find that the condition is not as stated. Just like how advertisements in Singapore are being regulated by the MDA for unethical content and false claims, I would recommend a committee to be set up to look into and regulate property advertisements published in the newspapers. There is another issue on the advertisements by estate agents.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I commend the Minister for setting up a statutory board to regulate the real estate industry, which is growing each day, and for taking a tougher stance on rogue property agents and salespersons. I fully support this Bill that will hopefully open a new chapter for the practitioners in the real estate industry, and save innocent property buyers and sellers from unwittingly falling prey to any unethical practices. A property transaction is a complicated process. Few people who have no cause to deal with property on a regular basis would hardly be familiar with it. Besides, the rules are regularly changed. As a result, most people pay hefty commissions to salespersons to handle all the work. Unfortunately, some unethical agents take advantage of the ignorance and trust of these buyers and sellers through a variety of malpractices. Special mention of the new Bill is the elimination of the role of estate agents who play double roles for the buyer and the seller in the one same transaction. Presently, they represent both the buyers and sellers and receive commissions from both sides. I am glad for the change. Second, is the restriction on estate agents of having both the licence of an estate agent and a moneylender. This clear separation of role is most important as many are more keen on the moneylending activities, as the payout will stretch over a longer period than the real estate work. However, there are some areas which the new Bill has not considered. I would like the Minister to look into these. First, there is no guideline on the payment of commission for the salespersons by the sellers and the buyers. Our parliamentary colleague, Mr Ang Mong Seng has just mentioned this point and he stated his recommended rates as well.”
“Sir, I just want to say that if we apply the proceeds for the flat that had been sold many years ago, say, in 2006, there may be very little proceeds left – maybe 10% only. Flat sellers really cannot afford for us to ask them to pay 50% of the proceeds that were realised four years ago. Can the Minister take into account sales proceeds after March 2010 when we implemented the policy, instead of considering sales proceeds before the policy was implemented?”
“Sir, I understand the policy. In fact, during the Budget debate, I supported the policy and the amendment. But my point is: should it apply retrospectively? It should apply after the policy is implemented.”
“Sir, the Minister has not responded to my request to implement the policy allowing the use of 50% of cash proceeds from the sale of a flat to after March 2010, rather than going backwards.”
“It should not distract its staff and resources from its core functions. There are many issues which need to be resolved on the home ground. HDB should channel its spare energy by focusing on promoting social graces and values amongst flat dwellers in highrise buildings, research and address issues like why flat dwellers are indiscriminately throwing food and other stuff out of the kitchen windows and soiling other's laundries. HDB can also conduct research on the lifestyles of the residents and, if need be, redesign the flats to address these problems. Look at the demand for more carparks. We have been appealing to the Ministry to look at that. We are getting more and more requests at the MPS. Another feedback that we are receiving with increasing frequency from residents is noise from neighbours. Can we look at the concrete slab between flats and between the floors? Should we not use cell-blocks for slabs in between floors to reduce noise from passing through solid concrete? Japan is using this new technology. HDB should now concentrate on issues faced by residents in high-rise living. These are ongoing and changing. As the only public housing authority in Singapore, its responsibility to Singaporeans is heavy. *Cols. 839-840. 6.05 pm”
“I think this policy should apply only to flats sold after the policy took effect in March this year so that people can do their financial planning accordingly. Otherwise you are just laying a snare to trap them, forcing them to turn to the loan sharks. ( In English ): Lastly, let us understand what HDB sets out to do. I quote briefly from the HDB website, the three key missions – one, "providing affordable, quality homes for Singaporeans"; two, "ensuring vibrant towns"; and, three, "focusing on the community". In this Bill, HDB is also seeking to go into sharing its expertise in public housing development outside of Singapore. It also wants to develop, sell and acquire intellectual property rights on a commercial basis. It was not long ago that the Ministry, after paying much retrenchment benefits, hived off Surbana and PWD, which has now become CPG, which is in the business of providing advice on technical and consultancy services, and on the development, upkeep and maintenance of housing estates. There is also newly launched Singbridge International. Earlier, we had the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE). This is not HDB's core function. Surbana, I believe, was set up to fulfil this role of going overseas. Moreover, does HDB have adequate manpower resources to place such staff overseas? Most clients would want the consultants to be based there for a few years, and not travel there from time to time. Yes, HDB can share, teach or franchise its technical operations and other policy expertise and systems to organisations like Surbana, Singbridge and SCE, for them to do the work. HDB should, therefore, be better placed, to concentrate on what it is set up to do for Singaporeans – focus on building good and competitively-priced homes.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] I fully support the Minister for invoking the Certificate of Urgency to quickly plug the loophole in our current law and to prevent illegal moneylenders from filing caveats on HDB flats. I do hope this urgent Bill will be passed, because I do not want to see people losing the only shelter they have for their spouses, children and even parents by mortgaging their flats to illegal moneylenders. We must make sure that those illegal moneylenders do not walk away unpunished after they have exploited the borrower. At the same time, we must also ponder why these people resort to borrowing from illegal moneylenders. This is, of course, not HDB’s problem alone. Mr Deputy Speaker, I hope HDB can step into the home owner’s shoes when formulating and implementing new policies. A case in point is the introduction of a new rule early this year whereby people who buy a second flat after selling the existing one can only use his remaining CPF and 50% of the cash proceeds from the sale. While I support this policy, many HDB owners and I are puzzled by its implementation timeline. Under the new policy, a person who sold his flat, for example, four years ago in 2006 and now wants to buy a new one will be required to use only 50% of cash proceeds from the last sale to pay for his new flat. This is unfair. When someone makes a sale four years ago, he or she did not expect to fork out 50% from the proceeds to pay for his new flat. He may already have spent the money on medical expenses, children’s education and other expenses. He may not even have 10% of the proceeds left.”
“I understand that the Singapore Cancer Society has a counselling scheme where students caught smoking by the Police can be referred – I repeat the words "can be referred" – to them for counselling. This is not sufficient. I urge the relevant Ministries to work together and consider incorporating smoking cessation and personal anti-smoking counselling programmes in schools or in the polyclinics and make it compulsory for the school students who are caught smoking to undergo such personalised counselling programmes since they are proven to be effective. Mr Speaker, I support the amendment of the Bill. 4.06 pm”
“" I also agree that parents too have a part to play, and I am sure many are strictly enforcing the rules at home. A trial research designed by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle in 2009 on phone counselling found that it was effective in helping teens to quit smoking. These smokers from various high schools in Washington State received personalised smoking cessation counselling. It combined motivational interviewing with cognitive behavioural skills training. The smokers were taught to recognise the importance of quitting based on their own values, to anticipate and cope with stress and other factors that led them picking up smoking. It offered plans for stopping and eventually saw these plans through. Consistently, an earlier research published in 2001 by the John Hopkins Medical Institution and the Baltimore City Health Department has highlighted that personalised counselling will help smokers recognise the need to quit on their own accord. Activities included building camaraderie among the smokers, self-identification of personal smoking habits and perceived barriers to quitting. It also focused on developing strategies for quitting, and prevention of relapse and dealing with withdrawal symptoms. According to the research, this programme not only had a measurable impact on the smoking habits of participants but was also more effective in promoting quit attempts and in achieving smoking cessation as compared to exposing them to just simply educational materials. Consecutively-held personalised counselling sessions provided by trained counsellors will help to address and curtail smoking among young adults and students.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, let me first of all express on behalf of my constituents a warm welcome to the Minister after his successful recovery from his recent operation. Today, I also rise in full support of the Bill before this House. I concur with the Minister when he underscored the dangers that tobacco poses to our young. Nicotine is highly addictive and we should strenuously reduce its accessibility in all forms before it causes irreparable damage to our people, particularly our young and impressionistic students. In going about my daily tasks, I often chance upon young students, in their teens, taking an illegal puff at multi-storey car parks, taking refuge at the walls of staircase landings, thinking that they are able to hide from public view. They are teens in secondary school. Sometimes they are in uniform and other times, in casual wear. These teens get pass our strict laws against cigarette sale to minors by approaching adults for a cigarette or asking them to purchase on their behalf. I propose that schools take up the challenge and set up anti-smoking advocates to reach out to them. We should try and win over those who have taken up smoking. At the same time, we should build a so-called firewall and ring-fence the non-smokers from being influenced. Schools can organise activities and get the students to talk about the hazards of smoking. Introducing harsher penalties and more law enforcers are not enduring solutions. These youths may simply go "underground". In fact, by putting an age limit, it has an opposite psychological effect on the teens. To be able to buy cigarettes is regarded as a coming of age, "I have come of age to be able to buy cigarette on my own.”
“Thank you, Sir. I would like to ask Senior Minister of State Iswaran to buy Senior Minister of State Grace Fu a good cup of coffee. I agree with him that if there is no budget hotel in a residential area, there is really no issue of hourly rates. Although the Senior Minister of State Grace Fu has said that budget hotels can co-exist in residential areas, it is not so in the real situation. Hotels should only be built in hotel-designated use areas in the Masterplan. So I would like the Senior Minister of State Iswaran, please buy her a cup of coffee and resolve this issue on the ground.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have met up with the two owner-operators of the hotels. They gave the reasons that they wanted the two budget hotels to serve two purposes. One, is for regional offices to board their staff who are in Singapore for training, so that they have a place for the staff to stay. The second reason is to allow the local residents who have visiting relatives a place to stay. With these two main objectives, I wonder why the Ministry of Trade and Industry would allow the hourly rate for these hotels. Because with these two purposes, you do not need the hourly rate. Based on their two objectives, could the Minister consider removing the hourly-rate licence for these two hotels?”
“Last supplementary question, Sir. Thank you. Sir, the Senior Minister of State has not answered my question, whether she has taken into account the residential units. It was not mentioned that she has taken these into account before granting the permit. I think it is important. The other thing is, she has not answered my question on the design factor.”
“Thank you, Mr Chairman. I have three clarifications. It has been two years since Tampines became a cycling town. Now the whole of Singapore has become a cycling nation. The basic infrastructure cannot ensure that the pavements can accommodate two users, there is no education, no enforcement. The rest of the estates are facing increasing pressure by our residents on the safety of pedestrians. I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, how long does it take to undertake the study? We need enforcement for the rest of the estates. Second clarification: in Lorong Ah Soo, I have about 100 blocks along the Lorong Ah Soo stretch. Presently, Lorong Ah Soo estate is only served by trunk services. The bus arrivals are bunched together and very infrequent, and the buses are always crowded. I am just asking for a simple feeder service to go to either Serangoon central or bus interchanges or the Hougang bus interchange. Can the Ministry look into it? Thirdly, in the private estates, there are many condominiums being built up because the intensified land use of the private estate lands. I understand that for small condominium developments, there is no need for a traffic-impact study. But if the estate's road is very narrow and if there are many condominiums being built up, the private estate roads are heavily used as well. So I would like Minister to comment on that.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, LTA may deny this, however, as a member of the public, not stating on pavements and at bus-stops that no cycling is allowed and with no enforcement action, you have implied agreement. These places are crowded places and we have the very young and old using these facilities. Can we not have signs to forbid cyclists at these places that LTA enforce directly? The man in blue should be left to take care of drunkard drivers, loansharks, robberies and at our borders. If LTA cannot enforce this, then introduce the relevant Bills and Acts to ensure that LTA has a proper management of its own facilities. On the issue of an accident between a cyclist and pedestrian, the onus should be on the cyclist at these places as they are not allowed. Once there is an accident reported, the cyclist should be taken to task by LTA – a fine regime – and not allow the Police to refer them to the Subordinate Courts.”
“I sincerely hope that the Minister has good news for divorced women of a quicker and surer process of receiving alimony from their financially-capable ex-spouses, including the publicity of irresponsible ex-spouses, when they shirk their responsibilities and still going for re-marriage, as suggested by the Minister in Parliament before. We must not let these men get away with their responsibilities on the ex-spouses and families. In conclusion, "love is blind". As a woman, I would like to appeal for all women – take charge of your love life. If a man has shirked his responsibility to his former spouse and children, there is every likelihood for him to do so again. Parental involvement in a child's life”
“Sir, the Government consistently seeks to foster a pro-family environment in Singapore through a broad range of measures that make the idea of marriage and child rearing more endearing and affordable. Yet the problem of rising divorce rates has not been given sufficient attention from the Government. 4.00 pm According to the Singapore Department of Statistics, the increase is about 10% over the five years from 2003 to 2008. Why is there an increase? Is this because of a great underlying problem where young couples rush to get married without understanding their responsibilities? Is the Ministry planning an in-depth study, perhaps with relevant non-govenmental organisations (NGOs), and come up with some recommendations to seek a long-term solution to this problem? We may take references from what other countries are doing to curb their divorce rates. In Korea, where almost one out of two couples files for divorce, the Government is intervening with plans to institutionalise counselling programmes for separating couples. In Jakarta, it is mandatory for couples to attend a pre-marriage course if they wish for their union to be recognised under Indonesian laws. For cases where a break-up of marriage is inevitable, are we providing enough support for such families, especially for the children and the parent who has the custody? Is there a one-stop body that can help single parents get emotional, social and financial guidance? What support can the Ministry offer to such parents? How long is the wait to get help from Legal Aid?”
“I just want to say that I do value the opportunity and exchange that we had, as the Minister did give me a different perspective of the matters that we discussed yesterday. But on the modular subject, framework in secondary school, can the Minister give us his thoughts on that?”
“00 am, the roads are clearer, as I am on the road at that period of time, because my son's school starts at 8.00 am and my daughter's at 7.30 am. Sports and studies go hand-in-hand. A healthy and active lifestyle help students focus better on their studies. Skills that cannot be taught in a classroom, such as social and management skills, are often developed through sports and CCA. The schools are going for excellence in sports. This is the wrong trend. Being a member of FAS, the sports associations have the means to promote sports excellence, and we should allow them to do so. The sports associations should do their part for mass sports and allow each youth to take a sport and play. Although the Minister has said yesterday that he would sincerely look into it, I continue with this because I want to make an emphasis on this as well. Presently, the schools are selecting students from sports CCA and allow them based on their interest, and not their ability. The Ministry should put more resources into allowing our youths to take up just one sport, and this is the time that they need to sweat out their energy and need the exercise to build up their body frame as well. And once in love with the sport, they will live for the sport, like many of our soccer friends in this House.”
“The present system would tend to categorise the students on these subjects cluster and do not allow flexibility to recognise the talent and ability of our students. Finally, the present streaming of students in secondary schools have much psychological impact on the youths. The Normal stream is not normal, according to how the students and parents feel. They feel that they are inferior to their academic-better fellow schoolmates. And why do we have a system that makes our youths feel inferior at a young tender age? Have we done a survey of the youths in this stream and ask them of their self-worth, and also interview the parents? I sincerely hope that the Ministry could review the existing education system framework for our youths in the secondary schools. Secondary school hours and youth support Sir, as a knowledge-based economy, Singapore's future is largely shaped by our education system. Most secondary schools currently start at 7.30 am, a time considered "cruel" to start school by Oxford University Neuroscientist, Prof. Russell Foster, and I quote: "Whilst students usually require up to eight hours of sleep, teens require one hour more than that". This starting time will also be closer to that of most parents so that they can leave home together with their children. Their school session may also end later which will leave the students with less idle time to spend on their own. Too much unsupervised time may, unfortunately, cause some students to be enrobed in matters like online gambling, teen sex, gambling activities, loansharks, which have been making headlines in the past months. Hence, a later start in school will result in a later end after school. If the concern is transport, I can assure Members that between 7.30 am and 8.”
“Sir, for students in secondary schools, I would like the Ministry to seriously consider introducing a modular system in secondary schools and change the streaming of students according to the subjects cluster. We have done so for polytechnics and universities. Can we review it for secondary schools? The main advantage is that we can better recognise the talent of each student and for students to take the subject levels suitable to their capability. Recently, I met this girl at a function and asked her about school and later touched on her best subject in school. She told me that her best subject is the Chinese language, but this is not offered at a higher level for her Normal stream. The other advantage is to allow the students to be able to mix around with fellow youths of different talents and to acknowledge the fact that one can be better in some subjects and some are better in others. Students now gather themselves within their streams of Normal and Express. They do not have the opportunity to argue and discuss matters at different perspectives. Let me illustrate. I recognise and acknowledge the difference in strength and logical thinking and argument as compared to Minister Ng Eng Hen. We had a discussion in the Members' Room yesterday. I cannot find any answer to his argument. However, I value the opportunity and the exchange as he gave me a different perspective of the matters discussed. My point is – we would not be able to be in the same social circle but the Parliament setting allows us to have that discussion. Students may take subject modules tailored to their interest and strength. With a greater choice of the subject modules that they like, they would learn better.”
“Sir, this is a very short clarification. The Minister has yet to respond to my Budget suggestion on Town Councils asking for the Productivity and Innovation Credit. Can the Minister let us know whether she is agreeable to extending this credit scheme to the Town Councils?”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, in limited land resources, there is always competing use and market price should be allowed to determine the use unless the use is critical. The highest and best use price should be imputed. For bus interchanges, the interchange is essential but the bus parking is not. Here, I would like to declare my interest as the company I work in do tender for the integrated developments at these neighbourhood centres. What is the cost of the space for the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for the use of the prime land for bus parking in a neighbourhood centre? The market cost based on the last tender in Clementi Central is an average of about $1,800 per square foot. That is the average cost for the built-up area that is including the upper levels of the shopping centres. If it is solely on the ground, the average cost is about twice the pricing and that is $3,800 per square foot. If proper costing is not imputed by the Ministry of Finance for the use of public service such as bus parking, the highest and best use of the land will not happen and the bus interchange will get bigger and bigger. And this is already happening as I understand that the LTA has specified bigger area for bus parking for the Bedok North site, ie, more bus bays than the Clementi site. And with such a requirement, it will occupy the whole ground floor of the future retail complex and all shoppers know ground floor is the best place for any retailer. Can the Ministry let us know the value it imputed for the bus interchanges? Property tax on HDB flats”
“Is the Ministry of Health able to share some of this health information with the community care centres to be eventually set up in the heartlands so that proper intervention can be done? I would like the Ministry to consider a hotline for the public to call for help when it is obvious that a mentally-ill person needs help. The first sign is when they become a nuisance and do not cause harm yet to themselves. We need a special group to handle these mentally ill or mentally challenged. Many do not open the doors of their flat upon visits and HDB, Town Councils and Police officers are helpless and unable to have access to them as they are not dangerous. And last of all, the other area that we need to address is the caregiver stress, especially for the mentally ill.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, most of us are fortunate not to have to care for a child who is mentally challenged. But for those who face this challenge, I would like to bring up their plight. The stigma that follows the parents of children with mental deficiencies often hold them back from reaching out to their communities for help. The Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS) has been a great source of support for both the child and the caregivers. I truly admire the passion that is driving the people in MINDS. Can we learn from this establishment and provide such establishment for the mentally ill? Presently, we are doing very little for the mentally ill at home. What can we do for them? Can we have more day care or drop in centres for them to be able to socialise so that we could at least give them some quality of life and to give some reprieve for their caregivers? How about training courses for them to upgrade their skills or hone them into some living skills to enhance their quality of life? We need more financial assistance for these families too. Many of them are not in the tax paying bracket and do not enjoy the higher tax relief introduced in this Budget. We need to act more swiftly because as one ages, dementia does set in. To care for the elderly is challenging and to care for the dementia elderly is even more strenuous. What is the Ministry doing to prepare for this group of people? Where can the caregivers turn to for help as the normal elderly care centre is unable to cope with the dementia elderly? What is the price for treatment and care giving? Are there sufficient care facilities and manpower? Many of these residents do not and could not explain their medical conditions themselves.”
“Could the services at GP clinics be reviewed to prepare them to take on some of these roles with the co-funding from the Ministry for the cost of geriatric care? Many of the elderly would not be able to walk to the one polyclinic in an estate. The journey is too long and the long waiting time. (vi) How can we manage costs so that the services for nursing, rehabilitation, therapy and medication stay affordable in the years ahead for our elderly? We need the Minister to show us the masterplan of how his Ministry is going to plan all these rehabilitation and care centres in our living environment to support the elderly. Mobile medical services”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, statistics have shown that the aged destitute has the highest number of Public Assistance recipients, consistently amounting to approximately 85%. Statistics have also shown that there is an approximate 1% increase in the total number of residents in old folks’ homes. In view of the rapid ageing population, this rate will definitely increase. There are many pressing questions of the care of the elderly that I would like to ask Minister to address, namely: (i) How are we to cope with the rapid demands from the ageing population? (ii) Will we be able to build more step down medical and rehabilitation care in the neighbourhood? How many of these step down medical and rehabilitation centres will be planned in relation to population? (iii) What will be the funding like? Are we proceeding with the "many helping hands" approach? Will we do it like the way kidney dialysis centres are located in the heartlands? What is the Ministry's basic funding model if the Ministry proceeds with the "many helping hands" approach? (iv) How are we going to train a pool of medically-trained personnel to take care of the elderly and volunteers who can provide the medical and nursing care for the elderly in the heartland? Presently the elderly homes do not have medical support. To give an example, until recently my family had to take care of our late father-in-law who passed away late last year. We had to fetch him to hospital; once he was dehydrated and got the basic drips, and we brought him back after his condition had stabilised. If there is some basic medical care in the community, there is no need to travel to and fro and more efficient use of the hospital care. (v) How are we to make outpatient geriatric care more available at the heartlands?”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister on a "smelly" issue, ie, the food waste in hawker centres. If you go down to all the bin centres, it is really indeed very smelly. Currently, the waste collection company and the system itself do not encourage the hawker stallholders to segregate their food waste. I would like the Minister to review this system because I would like to encourage the hawkers to do this food waste segregation so that in the long term, the food waste – because of technology – could be recyclable, and we can reduce the total waste overall. Can the Minister let us know of the Ministry's plan in terms of the segregation of food waste? Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, as the Member would know, there were some trial projects with some hawker centres with a local waste collection company where they collect food waste from various hawker centres, markets and food outlets. The trial has been quite successful and, as I mentioned in my reply, we are now looking at food waste as a potential source for us to reduce the amount of waste going to our landfill. Obviously, we cannot ignore the food waste that has been generated in our hawker centres and food outlets. The problem is, of course, because the centres are scattered all over the island, it is very difficult to do so. But we are not letting the challenge go away. We are exploring some ways and means in which we can do that. So I want to assure the Member that this has been looked at seriously by the NEA because, as I mentioned earlier, in order to achieve the 60% recycling target, this food waste stream has to be our target. So I would like to assure the Member that this is being studied by the NEA.”
“Sir, my clarification is regarding the issue of limited land resources. Currently, for building of multi-storey carparks, you have this planned under the Main Upgrading Programme (MUP). But because now the Main Upgrading Programme is no longer popular, you are doing away with it. So, currently, there is no programme to build multi-storey carparks in mature estates where there are a lot of surface carparks. This issue of insufficient car park lots is a daily problem currently faced by residents. Can we know the Ministry's long-term plan of providing carpark lots for our residents, especially in Aljunied GRC, where we are facing daily requests for additional lots? 1.30 pm”
“Thank you, Mr Chairman. I would like to, first of all, thank the Minister for the second loan for the downgraders; secondly, on the use of the cash proceeds to calculate the next loan. In fact, I could not finish my question, but it was one of my requests as well. Fifty percent seems to be very high, but I would like the Minister to review it, maybe after three months, to see whether it is too high. The other question is on the net proceeds – is it really net proceeds or the cash proceeds per se? Because you will have to pay for the legal fees as well as the administrative costs. I hope the Minister could take into account the net-net-net proceeds that are due to the purchaser. 7.00 pm The third point is that we used to have the fiance/fiancee housing scheme for young couples. We used to have interim flats for them. Not forgetting that we want more "tiger" babies, could the Minister consider continuing with the fiance/fiancee scheme so that young couples could have interim flats?”
“Thank you. Please consider having ready flats. Supply and affordability of HDB flats”
“That is clearly future supply and not current supply. Although in 1997, HDB has 31,000 excess flats. Now in 2010, there is zero or no ready flats available, except resale flats. HDB is really going to extreme measures for the supply of ready flats. I am pleading to HDB once again to build some ready flats for market demand. There are many buyers for ready flats in a year – those who want to get married and cannot wait for three to four years, those families that break up, growing families may need to shift due to the need for bigger space and to be closer to schools, aged parents, need extra bed space due to medical reasons. Even the Minister stressed the fiance and fiancee scheme. To get to know the other party, it takes at least three years, before you can say, "hey, we can consider getting together". The couple then applies for BTO, and wait another four years. It takes a total of eight years.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, supply and demand of affordable flats – these three words are critical words that I have chosen carefully and I will bring up my concerns that have made many MPs very frustrated at the MPS. Affordability is define by the dictionary as, "one is able to pay". However MND defined affordability as the amount of loan instalment for the flat as not exceeding the 30% of the household income of a family. The Minister replied to a PQ in January 2010, using an example of a family with income of $4,000, and the family can easily afford to buy a flat costing $333,000 – using his 30% definition of affordability. However, Minister assumes income is static over the loan period of 20 to 30 years. For young couples, one can expect the CPF income to increase. But for an upgrader, who is middle aged, one would expect the income to come down. Many would struggle to pay the loans when they are over 50 or 60 years, when health and income decline. Cash-over-valuation is part of the affordability ratio, but this is not taken into account. The other concern of affordability is location pricing. Here, HDB has priced its flats according to location. However, we are talking about public housing, basic housing for the people. We know some of these flats at convenient locations, where parents stay are not affordable at all. HDB should also review its floor pricing. Many young couples complained that these are their first flats they are buying and they want to select the best flat. Floor pricing should deviate enough to attract young people to buy, instead of penalising these young people for not selecting these flats. For supply of flats, HDB is only supplying flats in the future, using the BTO system. Flats are only available in three to four years, and not presently.”
“But if we do not change, then we may be losing more by missing all the opportunities to enable wholesome and quality living for our people. Thank you, Sir, for allowing me to participate in this debate. 6.42 pm”
“However, there are many foreign students in schools using our education system and before their children reach the age of National Service, they leave Singapore to return to their own countries. We must ensure that precious resources are not spent on such students. We should ensure that they are at least bonded or they do pay the market rate for our quality education system. Another area of concern is the food prices in the neighbourhood markets and hawker centres. Our land is limited. With open tender for this essential facility, the food prices will definitely increase as the developer needs to recover the high land cost for these new market and food centres. The tenants need to pay higher rental resulting in higher food costs. The new Sengkang Market and Hawker Centre's food prices are at least 50 cents more than the rest of the market and hawker centres. Another disturbing trend is the subletting or assignment of these market and hawker food stalls. This has also indirectly increased the rental of these stalls. Although we need to intensify the land use, certain essential facilities need to be catered for, for our heartlanders by the Ministries directly. I wish to appeal that the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources continue to be responsible for the setting up of market and hawker centres so that we could have fair prices of hawker food. These are ground concerns and they are disturbing. We need to take effort to address them so that the fiscal policy is not only seen as working for the country as a whole, but that lay people can see it benefiting them on the ground. Therefore, be it in education or healthcare sector or basic food, we have to be mindful of the risks in making changes.”
“Give these two Ministries far more resources for step-down care: the community hospitals, elderly homes with basic medical facilities, day-care centres for the elderly, the mentally challenged and the dementia elderly in the community. The top-up of the CPF Medisave accounts is really indeed much needed. I am particularly concerned about our youths. I have two youths at home. My concern is the increasing pressure of academic demands in schools. Now getting nine to 10 A1s in secondary school is becoming more common among the top percentages of students. Even getting 10 As would not qualify you for Raffles Junior College (RJC) as the JC has its own through-train students to tend to. Recently, a good friend's daughter has three points, wanted to go to RJC and appealed. She could not get in. Many who got in have negative points; even zero point does not get you a place. The earlier tagline of schools of "Teach Less and Learn More" is now changed to "Since Teach Less, you Learn More, Teach More and you can Learn even More". The teachers are teaching more, more remedials and students are asking for more tuition. I have asked my daughter to cut back on tuition who is now in Secondary 4. She just would not. She said she needs to strive for negative points for good colleges. We need more creative civil servants to tweak our school education systems quickly and fast. Many parents are still concerned over the many foreign students in our schools. We used to have ASEAN scholars and others who are bonded to the Singapore Government. Many scholarship students have also become citizens and respected leaders in their various fields too, including Cabinet Ministers.”
“Much of the cleaning of the common areas can be automated as well. The use of motion lights and LED lightings in our common areas could cut down on utility cost. However, we need these lightings to be robust and we need research and development (R&D) for such installations. Designs of street furniture, eg, seats comfortable for the elderly and creatively interactive children play areas, are among those that need to be looked into. In addition, we have the nationwide rollout of the fibre optics. There are many possibilities – the wireless hotspots at the estates, the wireless connection of the CCTVs, the wireless video communication channels are numerous possibilities. Aljunied Town Council has implemented the "iLink @ Aljunied GRC", an iPhone application to allow residents to give feedback on-the-go. I feel that there could be more such applications to increase staff productivity. We do obtain a Government grant for the maintenance and management of the estate. But these are basics and we hope that these can be enhanced to include incentives for design, innovation and automation. The Finance Minister responded to the needs of the majority of people, giving incentives for those who own houses, and lending help to those who have to support aged or handicapped family members. If I may say so, on behalf of the Ministry of Health and MCYS, and I wish to declare that I am a GPC member of both Ministries, I would like to suggest to the Minister for Finance to consider providing more support for the elderly and the families at the community level.”
“The Workfare Incentive Schemes have encouraged many women folk to step out into the workforce despite the low wages these few years. I am particularly happy for this extension of scheme, ie, the Workfare Training Scheme. However, the concern is that payment of these payrolls and course fee, the process has to be efficient and effective as many of these employers are small companies and cash flow is tight. The process of claims has to be simplified as well. The additional concerns are that many of these workers are illiterate and we need to allow oral tests to certify them or the use of mother tongue. Before I proceed onto the concerns of the families in the heartland, as Chairman of Aljunied Town Council and I have also been managing property for a long time, sustainability of our environment is very crucial and enhancing our living environment is also part of the objective of this Budget. May I be so bold to ask that Town Councils be allowed to be included in the Productivity and Innovation Credit scheme for cash grants as we do not pay taxes and of course, I have to leave it to the Minister to decide and to set the limit for the cash grants. Allow me to present why Town Councils should be included in the scheme. There are many areas of innovation, design and automation that we could look into in the management and maintenance of the environment. One main area is the automation and segregation of food waste collection at our market and hawker centres and this will allow our bin compound to be much cleaner. In fact, currently, if you go to any bin compound near to the market, you really do not want to go near them. Studies have yet to be made on how to allow our residents to hang their clothes out of their homes more easily as many are getting along in age.”
“The progressive levy based on the number of workers employed would help our SMEs to curtail and manage the production cost from escalating while continuously looking into ways to improve their productivity. The progressive levy could be based on the size and turnover of the companies. For example, the first basic tier with X number of workers would be lower and the levy increases with the rise in the number of foreign workers employed. The Productivity and Innovation Credit has once again shown the Minister's creative mind in encouraging and invigorating Singapore's economy. This scheme would help companies who have good business track records and are paying corporate taxes to continuously strive to increase productivity and provide quality jobs. Even the start-ups and companies that are not paying taxes are able to enjoy cash grants for the conversion of the credits. I would like to urge the Minister to be flexible in the claims for such expenditure for innovation and automation and also to provide more support under SPRING for these SMEs. Many of the SMEs have shared that they have manpower constraints in supervising these innovation and automation projects and have to engage additional experienced consultants to help them. Many of these consultants may not be as capable as they claimed to be and eventually after completion of the projects when SPRING officers come to make their assessments, grants cannot be made as the work done is not sufficient. However, these SMEs have already paid for the consultant costs. The suggestion is that there should be more support from SPRING to assess these projects while the work is in progress and also provide an accredited list of consultants for the SMEs.”
“The creative and forceful measures of the Resilience Package notably the Jobs Credit and SPUR helped Singaporeans to keep their jobs and sustain their families. I do not see many families in disarray despite the world's worst recession. Even for the unemployed, their despair found relief after a short period. We were able to help many to find jobs after a few months and most are able to go for training – thanks to the training allowances. The most important is that you can still see the confidence of those who are unemployed and the job-seekers. Now we are calibrating our growth. We are talking about hundreds of new jobs; we are talking about slowing down the flow of foreign workers and we are talking about training and upgrading to raise productivity. Largely, I agree with the essential points in Budget 2010. However, there are a few areas of concerns or refinements that I seek of this Budget. Increasing the worker's levy. Presently, the quota in the levy are based on a broad classification of industries. Many of the small and medium enterprises are appealing to MOM for the classification of industries to be narrower for quotas for foreign workers. For example, in the manufacturing industry, some companies are in the light industries and others in the heavy industries. Those in heavy machinery or heavy manufacturing do need more foreign manpower because our Singaporeans are softer and they shun such jobs. Also, our population are greying as years pass by. My suggestion is that the increase in levy could be progressive instead of the straight off increase for all foreign workers.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, this year is the year of three anticipations. First, the opening of the IRs; second, the Budget and third, the General Election. The first, well, Resorts World created some euphoria but it did not really bring the house down. We will see how the opening of Sands IR on 27th April pans out. The second anticipation is the Finance Minister's Budget Statement for 2010. I sense that while there were some cheers among the people in the lower- and middle-income groups but the jubilation and celebration seem to be somewhat muted. Some say this is not an Election Budget, no "ang pow ". However, many resources in the Budget have been put into improving the quality of jobs. The fact is that the measures taken by the Finance Minister in the past year Budget 2009 were commendable. They have sustained our economy and avoided the jobless recovery. Let me share with you my experience on the ground. In 2003, after SARS, there was also the serious economic downturn and economic restructuring. Many businesses failed and many jobs were lost. I remembered I cried silently in bed twice as I shared my residents' pain and desperation, both times after the MPS. The residents who came to see me shared with me their sadness and frustrations and sought advice on means to look after their families as their businesses failed. They had to make drastic adjustments to their living standards to sustain their families. In 2009, although the world suffered its worst and most widespread recession in 60 years, many of our Singaporean families were spared. I did not have to go through the same agony that I experienced in 2003. We must compliment the leadership which has taken the most decisive action and swiftly instilled confidence.”