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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“Madam, the spalling concrete within the flat itself, currently, the repair method is poor. It will resurface after two or three years. The warranty given by the contractor, or even the HDB contractor which residents engage, does not last long enough, and the residents have to pay and pay for the repair again. Could MND look into doing research into the repair methods of spalling concrete, so that it can last longer - maybe five years?”
“This will help those who require cash to maintain their health and lifestyle as they grow older. I am going to make a bold suggestion. We have the reverse mortgage of NTUC Income. The take-up rate is low and the understanding is also not there. Can the HDB, besides providing mortgage loan, now provide reverse mortgage loan for our senior citizens who need to cash out? *Cols. 2627-2628.”
“What measures do we have in place to ensure that there is enough land for public housing, and ensure that it continues to be affordable for those who need it? Will there be a change in the present policy to provide public housing up to 90% of our population? Will there be a shift in the policy in view of the diverse population having very different needs? Would we move to the private sector to provide the top 50th percentile of our population income level? Or will the Ministry review its policy of affordability to take into account the bottom 20th percentile of the population income level instead of the standard measurement at the 30th percentile income level? Presently, in view of the economic and property cycle, the housing authority is unable to fine-tune the supply to meet the demands for each sector of the population. For example, presently, there are limited 2- and 3-room flats for residents who wish to downgrade, especially elderly residents and smaller families. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Sir, I hope that the HDB will review its policy to also provide subsidised loans to second-time buyers who wish to downgrade to a smaller unit. The flat buyers should be given the flexibility to decide whether to upgrade to a bigger unit or downgrade to a smaller flat. In view of changing housing needs, HDB should constantly try to revise and improve its policy and processes to ensure that the housing needs of the nation are largely met. Therefore, I urge that the HDB consider exercising greater flexibility in its policy, so as to ensure that HDB is in tune with changing preferences. (In English): Another issue concerns the elderly. How can they unlock the value of their property?”
“Sir, I fully agree with the Minister's explanation that we must plan forward for growth, if not we stay stagnant. However, Singapore is our homeland. We would like to urge the Ministry to carefully take into consideration the concerns of Singaporeans in detailing the planning parameters for our limited urban land. I would also like to urge the Ministry to let our people be involved and have the answers in the drafting of the planning parameters and make the process transparent, eg, to answer some of these questions. What do we mean when we say we aim to have an "endearing home, a global city"? And what are the global standards we set to ensure that our quality of life is comfortable to our people? Do we have in mind which country or city we hope to emulate for the population parameter of 6.5 million? How much space can we afford to provide for each resident and each family? And what is the green lung space that each citizen could have? Do we build more Sentosa Coves where our precious seafronts are taken up for premium housing instead of for the general public? I feel that we must keep in mind the fact that the housing needs of our citizens are changing in a more diverse manner. With the improvement of overall education standard and change in socio-economic status, there is an increase in the number of singles, single parents and smaller families. We must also not forget the numbers of foreigners that are streaming in each year. With the diverse categories of people, each with their own different housing needs, the Ministry must draw up a long-term plan to manage the competing demands of the housing needs of residents.”
“For en-bloc sales, I just want to ask the Minister, why is the interest on CPF refund not considered as income loss in relation to the en-bloc sales and compensation itself.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I concur with the hon. Member, Dr Teo Ho Pin, who has explained the strict criteria for eligibility of legal aid. I, too, would like to call on the Government to make the same review of the means test be revisited, as the ceiling on annual disposable income and disposable capital is too low. To justify this request, I know of a lawyer who does community work. She charges about $3,500 for clear-cut divorce cases. Once it involves a child or a house, the legal fee rises to about $8,000. So how can a person earning below $833 per month be able to afford such fees? Sir, in relation to this, I would like to ask the Ministry of Law what is the number of cases handled by the Legal Aid Bureau in the past three years and what is the ratio of successful cases handled versus those that were turned away because they could not meet the income criterion.”
“In this light, I hope that the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports will adopt more policies to further encourage pro-family ideology. These concepts will then become part of our lives, and we can integrate this knowledge and apply them in the society. Last but not least, we hope to see this tradition being passed down from generation to generation. Hence, we must take care of our parents so that they will enjoy quality life in old age. We hope that life will be more meaningful to them, and there will be love, dynamism and unity in our society. *Cols. 1755-1756. 2.58 pm”
“But what is more touching is the measure to encourage family cohesion as well as to look after the elderly citizens and their family problems. As the Prime Minister said in his New Year message, we have to promote and enhance family cohesion to establish a strong family bonding. The mutual support given will have a positive impact on the whole society. We encourage families to live together with their parents, so that the children can look after their parents. Whatever happens, they must understand that the incentives given by the Government for taking care of the elderly are only an encouragement. Looking after our parents is the responsibility of every family. Let me reiterate this point. Looking after our elderly parents is the responsibility of each and every one of us. When I meet the people, there are always some senior citizens appealing for my help to apply for rental flats. This is so because they feel that their children, their daughters-in-law and their sons-in-law do not wish to live with them. It saddens me to see this. I have lost sleep over these families. We would like to encourage all children to look after their parents and live together with their parents. When they were young, the parents looked after them, and have everything to give. But now our parents are old, it is our turn to repay their loving kindness, and to look after them so that they can enjoy a good time in old age. Also, there is greater warmth in the family. Therefore, it is important that we have pro-family measures in place, to be filial to our parents and to respect our parents, so that from generation to generation, our future offspring and our children in future generations will bear this sense of gratitude.”
“And I worry for the 200,000 housewives and 400,000 people under 20 who are not covered by MediShield, as disclosed by the Health Minister, if the medical cost escalates. Private or public? Already, our sometimes over-taxed hospitals are now setting up "private clinics" to get a share of medical tourism and turning Singapore into a medical hub. How will this tap on the strained resources that we currently have to serve Singaporeans? Is this in line with the Finance Ministry's guidelines on public service for Singaporeans? What criteria will they use to justify these "private" businesses which are run on the premises of public buildings? So, what is next? Privatisation? No, this does not always work, as we can see in the case of our transport services. I know we should not let these concerns turn us into a community of analogue citizens living in a digital age. By all means, let us get ready for the future and for globalisation. However, it will do well for the architects of these policies to carefully check the foundations and the load factors before we start laying the bricks one on top of the other and fundamentally check if we even have enough bricks for these developments. At this juncture, Mr Speaker, Sir, I will address my next concern in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Speaker, Sir, Budget 2007 has been generous and has Singaporeans at heart. Although the GST rate will be increased by two percentage points, Singaporeans will be compensated with a substantial offset package. This will help to reduce the impact of the GST increase. It is important that we look after the weaker group and make sure that they do not fall behind. I am grateful that the Government does its best to look after all Singaporeans.”
“" Now this is an innocent remark, but it says a lot about what is happening around us as well as the inner feelings of the people who are used to niche areas where they are so used to call their own. Gearing up IRCC - Inter-racial and Religious Confidence Circle In our society, we have always been brought up with the principle of multi-racialism, that is, Chinese, Malay, Indian and others. A time will come when the "Others" will have to take a new addition and call it "Others plus plus". There will then come a time when our understanding of multi-racialism is put to a test. Our IRCC will not be equipped to manage the "Others plus plus" factor. We need to gear up our IRCC or similar groups to face these new challenges. In fact, Prof. Joel Cohen, the visiting American population expert raised the question when he was invited to speak at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He had asked how would Singaporeans react and what would be the effect on the multi-racial fabric of our society. Do we have the answers? Demands on public service Then not only one Ministry, for example, MCYS, but many Government Ministries may find themselves being put to the test. They may, for example, need to put up international signs at their public service areas to guide these foreigners, like airports do. I understand at least one private hospital has subscribed to CableVision Arab Service, and employed interpreters because they are getting an influx of people from there. Therefore, we need to also gear up all our public services from schools to Government hospitals and polyclinics to cope with perhaps an expected rise in full-fee paying students and non-subsidised patients and so forth.”
“So, I hope the Finance Ministry did participate in the discussion before the parameter used in the Concept Pan was reviewed and look into ways to mitigate the would-be increase of the limited land prices. Social impact on Singapore society Next, with the parameter earmarked at 6.5 million people, what is the impact on our society? Given our low fertility rate, obviously foreigners are the ones who will be filling the vacuum. This means we will have to continue to attract foreigners to churn our economic growth engines. The arguments for this policy are good. We do not have the people and the talents, so we attract them to come and work and live here. Just as we do not have the natural resources, so we import them, like our sand. I hope our financial planners in their pursuit of growing the wealth and prosperity for our nation also take a multi-disciplinary approach and think about the social and political implications on the fabric of our society. I know I am not alone in raising this concern. I note that a post-65er journalist in the Straits Times wrote a column on this issue and in some way pre-empted my thoughts. Before I proceed, I must stress that I am not against foreigners working here. I welcome them. I know many of them and it is good that we have them on our shores. But what I am concerned is how will the presence of large numbers of foreigners, with different cultural practices, values and upbringing, impact on our people and our cultural values. I am a very grassroots person. I work the ground and I listen to the people. As it is, I hear people talking about: "Do you realise that the Kwan Imm Temple is now beginning to be overwhelmed by Chinese nationals? Soon it will no longer be a gathering point for Singaporean worshippers.”
“Worse, 43% believe that the Government cares more about foreign talent than Singaporeans. This, of course, is not true as borne out by Budget 2007 and other Government policies. But let us look quickly at this Concept Plan, which maps out the vision for Singapore for the next 40-50 years in terms of strategic directions for land use and transportation. It was reviewed in 2001 applying a long-term population parameter of 5.5 million as a basis for land use and transportation. At that time, our population was 3.9 million. This time, at a recent mid-term review by the Ministry of National Development, URA and various Government agencies, the Concept Plan, taking into account recent population trends and the strong economic prospects in future, revised the long-term population parameter to 6.5 million people. Today, our population is close to 4.5 million. I know that this is not a target population figure but a parameter used for strategic planning purposes. However, with this new parameter, it will invariably impact on the land use and land prices. There will be competing demands between land use for social, business and infrastructure projects, and this will cause a rise in the price of land. Eventually, the Gordion impact will be felt across the whole economy. My other point is that unless our Treasury is able to take counter balancing measures, we are going to see some great impact on capital expenditure. Each Government Ministry will come knocking on the door of the Finance Ministry to ask for a higher budget for development projects. Invariably, not all the cost will be absorbed by the Government, but the public will have to shoulder a part of the higher cost, and this possibly through higher taxes again.”
“I know that the teaching methods are better and they can get better results. I do not know if there is anything wrong with our schools' programme which result in our students becoming dependent on tuition classes. In fact, tuition has become such a thriving business in Singapore that it has become a multi-million dollar industry. So those who can afford to pay high fees get the better tutors and better results. And students from needy families who cannot afford expensive tuition have to fend for themselves. Ironically, these are the children who need help most. We can often see these secondary school students performing odd jobs here and there instead of spending time with their school books. One of the reasons for this is that some of them have to help out to supplement their family income or pay for their own tuition fees or their own school pocket expenses and lifestyles. In this cycle, if they cannot cope with their studies, they will just give up their studies and then drop out. I hope the Ministry could extend the post-secondary top-up to include the upper secondary school students, and look into the increasing need of tuition classes to pass examinations. Also, are our schools teaching and guiding the students enough? Impact of new Concept Plan on economy One other issue I want to raise relates to the employment of our financial resources to deliver our plan to turn our country into "An Endearing Home" and "A Distinctive Global City" and its impact on our society. Occasionally, we hear gripes about how foreigners are said to be better off than Singaporeans. In fact, a Sunday Times' survey in January 2007 found that 65% of respondents believe foreigners enjoy all the privileges of living in Singapore, but none of the responsibilities.”
“With this commitment, the Government would assist to put more into their savings and reinforce the family's ability to meet the demands of the future. This reinforcement of work is timely, as we are seeing some disturbing trend at the meet-the-people sessions where some residents readily asked for cash supplement outright. However, when asked to fill in the application forms, many refused to put in their real financial situation and supporting documents, and this resulted in a lot of our Community Development Councils' rejections. Often, grassroots leaders would turn around and say that this same person who was given some cash last week was seen carrying many more plastic bags of groceries than the grassroots leaders themselves in the run-up to the Lunar New Year. This is where I feel the grassroots, social and community organisations in the community will have to pay closer scrutiny to those who come to them to seek assistance. Grassroots leaders will have to be properly equipped with the skills to differentiate the true hardship cases from the opportunists. Education Talking about the needy brings me to my next topic - education. I am very pleased that we are enhancing subsidies for KiFAS, childcare and top-up for Post-Secondary Education Account. Education is the way out for those who are in the lower-income group. I think the Government should give more financial support for the needy students who are in secondary school as well. Let me explain. Tuition fees are very high now and can cost more than $200 a month easily. While there are self-help groups like Mendaki, CDAC and other institutions running tuition classes, many students still have to go to private schools where some of these subjects are not taught.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I join the chorus of hon. Members in congratulating the Second Finance Minister for presenting a Budget which brings about many structural changes in the way we manage our fiscal policies which will go a long way in reinforcing and strengthening our economic and social structure. As the Prime Minister had promised before the Budget was unveiled, even with an upward revision in GST, the Government has put in place many measures to cushion the impact of these taxes and protect the interests of the individuals and households across society. The concerns of the lower income have been allayed with a long list of pay-outs and top-ups that are lined up to benefit them directly, not to mention the indirect benefits for them through schemes such as top-ups for post-secondary education, public transport fund and funding for self-help groups and voluntary welfare organisations. The middle income, or the sandwich group, is also taken care of, as they too will benefit through reduction in maid levy, road tax and the slew of benefits like property tax rebates and bonuses for the elderly, the national servicemen and GST credits. Thus, in every family and every household, they will enjoy multiple benefits. Through a clever adjustment of CPF policies, companies are incentivised to offer jobs to older workers and, at the same time, lower-wage workers are able to take home more pay with the Workfare Income Supplement running alongside. But in case anyone gets the idea that our Government is softening its stance on welfarism, the answer is "No". Instead, what it has done is to reinforce its current policy to encourage our residents to work and to save for the family and future.”
“Sir, I would like to ask MOS whether we have a section on gerontology in the polyclinics now. If not, are there plans to set up, because a lot of our residents are now going to polyclinics for such help? My second question is: what are the three top common ailments among the elderly? The third question is: how is the physiotherapy department coping with the demand now? If there is a shortage of these physiotherapists, what are the plans to address this problem?”
“We really need to strike a right balance when making policies so that the needs of the people and the state are adequately addressed. Sir, I support the motion. *Cols. 907-910. 3.42 pm”
“I hope that the Ministry of National Development will have more innovative ideas and breakthroughs so that they could build more flats for our senior citizens and also allow our lower income people the choice of the flat that they can afford. (In English): Mr Speaker, Sir, I now come to the FIFA World Cup 2006. I know that this event is over. But it is really concerning paid broadcast media and sports. There are many major sporting events that will be coming on-stream. The European Cup and the Beijing Olympics are just two. I hope the Government will do something about live broadcasts so that we do not repeat the debacle during the World Cup 2006. Except for the opening match and the final matches for the first, second and third placings, it is regrettable that our national television failed to broadcast this once-in-four-year event to our people on the free channels. I was in Cairns, Australia, when the FIFA soccer matches were going on. I could tune in any time of the day. When I was back in Singapore, I had withdrawal symptoms and really had to insist that my husband subscribe to the paid channels. But how many Singaporeans can afford that? Sir, the national television stations of other countries, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and even Kosovo, were able to provide the matches to their public for free. We want to make our country a sporting nation. We know soccer has a pull among the local people and it is one of the best platforms for bonding the masses. Yet we threw away this opportunity. Do we have to again be so commercialised in our considerations, even at the expense of bonding the people together? Sir, the points I have made on transport and public housing are but some of the issues tossed up by the heartlanders and others in Aljunied GRC.”
“If they are unable to get into the local universities and they want to go overseas for further studies, I would have to pay for all their overseas expenses. According to my own estimation, my income will not be increased substantially in the foreseeable future, and there is even a possibility that my income will be reduced, so by the age of 55, I may have to change my lifestyle. So, we need to look after the interests of our senior citizens. I know that the Minister had reiterated that his Ministry will provide the studio apartments for the elderly citizens, but I think we need to do more and better for them. Recently, I met an officer in charge of public housing in Hong Kong. He told me that the Hong Kong government is building apartments for its senior citizens. Anyone who has reached the age of 60 will be entitled to apply for these apartments. These apartments are comparable to our studio apartments for the elderly. A lot of Hong Kong senior citizens are living in these apartments provided by the government. But in Singapore, only 0.26% of our senior citizens are living in these studio apartments and now we have only 1,030 units. Should we not provide more such apartments for our senior citizens? Yesterday, the Prime Minister gave us the projection of our population profile by the year 2020. In a few years' time, we would have to feel the pressure of an ageing population when we have more and more people above the age of 65. Recently, in Bishan Street 11, a development known as Golden Jasmine was launched. There were 176 units altogether, but during the soft launch, more than a thousand applications were received. We have not been able to meet the demand. In five or 10 years' time, the demand will be even greater.”
“I would ask the Ministry of National Development to review this policy so that home owners would have an option of downgrading to a smaller flat with a HDB loan. Mr Lee Yi Shyan mentioned last week that we should provide more education and skills upgrading opportunities for our workers to enhance their employability. In other words, in our job, we have to meet with a lot of changes and the circumstances will change and our financial situation will also change. From the time we were married at 30 years old to the time we retire at 62, many things have changed in our life. One of the main policies of the Ministry of National Development is for everyone to own his own home, and it provides security for his old age. So, if this is your property, then you should be able to sell it and realise it for cash so that you do not become a burden to others. We should adjust our policy to take into consideration the affordability of the people and their changing circumstances. Undoubtedly, we have a Government that is ready to help the people to create wealth. But sometimes we should allow the people to exercise their own options and to choose the lifestyle that they would like to have, so that they do not have to worry so much about the cost of living. The Minister mentioned last Friday that senior citizens can sell their bigger flats to move to the studio apartments. But they should still be able to afford it before they can think of buying these studio apartments. I think it is fairer if we allow our people to sell their property so that they can get cash for their living expenses. They have such a need. So I think we should allow them to downgrade and still be entitled to a HDB loan. I have three children.”
“Would the transport companies be able to achieve the service standards as set out recently by LTA to improve overcrowding and long delays - loud calls from the commuters for a long, long time? Any private company would argue that the higher service standards you demand, the more it will cost the commuters. We do not want a situation where the cost goes up in view of the demand for higher service standards from the operators. Price affordability must still be the key factor. Mr Speaker, Sir, I will address my next concern in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk about our public housing policy. Our public housing policy seems to be affected by the public transport policy. Prices for public housing are rising all the time. The HDB has no objection to residents upgrading to bigger units, but when they have financial problems, not being able to pay for their instalments and utilities bills, and wanting to downgrade to smaller flats, HDB would not allow them to apply for concessionary loans, and it says each case will be considered on a case-by-case basis. When the resident applied for his flat, his affordability was based on his financial situation at that time. But over the years, circumstances could have changed. His financial position could be different. He could have been retrenched, downgraded to jobs with a lower income, or suffered from ill health. Anything can happen. Then, he finds that he can no longer afford the flat that he is occupying, as he is unable to service the loan that he had taken in his better days. He has no choice but to downgrade to a smaller unit. But he runs into difficulty with HDB when he is refused a concessionary loan.”
“Is it to serve the public or the shareholders? As there is a biblical saying, which I would like to borrow and rephrase it, you cannot serve two masters at the same time. If being a public-listed entity creates a conflict with its duty to serve the public, then we should even consider delisting this company, run it as a consumer cooperative, or the Government may also consider allowing more bus operators to run parallel services to give the push to draw the best out of these operators so that they can better serve everyone's interests. Sir, in the last few years of economic doldrums and structural unemployment, when people's salaries had been cut, we still had fare increases. I do not see under what situation there can be a case when the fare would not increase. Let me use an example of how a local cooperative handled the situation of an egg supply shortage. Here I would like to declare my interest as an employee of that local cooperative, ie, NTUC Fairprice. When there was a ban on the import of eggs from Malaysia due to avian flu, supply from Australia was sought immediately and the eggs were sold to consumers at the lowest price among all retailers. The cooperative could have increased prices by a few cents more for each egg as it is one of the main egg retailers. But it did not. Moreover, the cooperative was the first to reduce the price of eggs when the ban was lifted and normal supply resumed. Will a private transport company embrace the social mission and serve the public interest role? To wrap up this section, let me visit this question: Why are people not taking to public transport?”
“I urge the Transport Ministry to do away with the existing rules which have derailed the true spirit of competition. Do more for the commuters. Do more than just aesthetic changes. The ultimate goal should be how to get efficiency, not only in terms of operation, but in the context of creating savings for commuters. Each time, there is a route rationalisation exercise, the commuters are left at the losing end. They end up having a longer travel time and having to spend more on fares, as highlighted in an article in the Sunday Plus 20th July issue. Each year, commuters have to hold their breath as these bus operators seek for upward revision in fare prices. Sir, taking it in isolation, 1 to 3-cent fare hike last October is not a big issue. But when you take the accordion effect, then the rise becomes like a virus, embedded in the computer system and taking up the memory space and slowing down your computer time, this is serious. For the needy, $1 a month is $1 less food on the table. And, as if to show remorse for their actions, the operators come up with all sorts of schemes to try and mitigate their cases. Then why ask for a fare hike in the first place? Why must the poor go through the entire form filling and be subjected to scrutiny of their savings or earnings to get travel discount? These operations make profits but they said the money is not from the same operation. So do we deal with a transport company or a department rendering domestic services only, and that the account has to be isolated from its other operations overseas? Is it not because of the special opportunity granted locally that is given to them that they are able to source for their business overseas? Sir, what is the motivation behind the public transport service?”
“I know in the Budget debate we were told that because of the large commitment of public funds, the Government would not want to see a duplication of services. I feel that it is precisely because of this large commitment of public funds, the public deserves a good competition from these companies so that they can get the best services. Next, these transport operators are not willing to overlap or cross each other's routes. Presently, the transport system for nearby estates is not only time consuming but also costly, especially when one crosses between the two transport operators, for example, between Upper Serangoon and Upper Paya Lebar estates. If you are in Upper Serangoon area and heading for Boundary Road, you would have to change buses as most of the buses would bring you to Serangoon or Hougang Central bus or train interchange, instead of to the Boundary Road area. There are too many transfers. For some, it means a six-bus or train rides daily. The cost of transportation is high as the transport fares are geared towards longer distance and from the same company. Can we then not have free feeder or shuttle bus services? At this juncture, let us see what competition can bring to the people. Look at the shopping malls. They are providing free shuttle bus services. If shopping centres can provide free shuttle bus services, why not our transport operators? I know "free" is a four-letter word. But it is also not a dirty word. I know our Government is sensitive to providing anything for free. However, these transport operators are not the Government. They are commercial private sector entities. If the shopping malls can do it, then why not the transport companies? The answer is lack of competition.”
“Many parents, including myself, are indeed grateful that the sacred cow of streaming had been slaughtered and not just sent to the veterinarian. For health, we have brought comfort to our residents with the review of the 3Ms, especially so for the coverage of MediShield and its payout. It is now not so frightening to be in a hospital, and residents will not need to suffer another shock when the bills are subsequently received. For this 11th Parliament, I sincerely hope to see more changes being made to the following areas of transport, housing and our paid broadcast media. Our public transport system. I sincerely hope that we could look deeper into our public transport system, especially with regard to the creation of a healthier competitive environment. I feel that not enough is done to look deeper into our public transport system though the Minister for Transport has somewhat cleverly deflected the rising tide of calls for action when he made public the review that his Ministry was going into. My issue is competition or, more rightly, the lack of it in our public transport. The strength of any business is its ability to survive competition. Competition challenges the whole organisation from the top management to the shop floor to be efficient and responsive to market needs. In Singapore, we have many examples of healthy competition which have benefited both the industry and consumers. Take McDonald's or KFC, they all compete on equal footing. There is no such thing as private turf, gated community, or safe haven. But in our public transport sector, the rules of engagement are somewhat different. There are special flight paths where each of the operators carves out one sector. This is not competition. This is not serving the best interest of the community.”
“For this group, efforts must be made to understand their needs, and the new package of social measures to be reviewed during the next Budget debate must be able to lift them from the tailspin of the intended increase of GST. I urge the Government to carefully review and weigh the impact of its package on the lower and middle-income group; also, that the delivery must be accurate, as the doctor making a surgical incision on a patient to give him long-term relief from his pain and suffering. This would enable them to catch the wind and stay on course. Better still, if they fly above the storming clouds and, at worst, be exposed to only minor short-term turbulence. If I may also make reference to a recent speech by PM Lee Hsien Loong when he addressed the 7th Asian-European Editors' Forum on 6th October. One of the points mentioned was the changing global environment and how political leaders must be able to respond creatively. Each country, including Singapore, would have to make changes in its own way, with its own balance, taking into account its unique circumstances. He also spoke of the opening up of our society to encourage frank debate and diverse views. Sir, I am pleased to hear PM's views and I hope it permeates down to the other policy makers. We should continually review old policies and make bold revisions if it is for the better of our society. In the last five years, much has been done in education, health and CPF. I am glad for that. I would like to congratulate two Ministers - Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Mr Khaw Boon Wan - for such great work done within the span of five years. In education, we have tackled important issues so that our children are happier in schools and outside schools, as they no longer belabour.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I stand among the ranks of those who have risen in support of the motion to thank the President for his Address at the Opening of the 11th Parliament. The President has presented the framework in which our Government will tackle the various challenges confronting us and I am pleased that, among other things, we will be committing more resources and efforts to help especially the elderly and the disabled, together with the low-income group. Sir, I am happy to hear also from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's address to this House yesterday, outlining the new social measures to help the lower and middle-income earners, in particular to include more help in education and more regular Workfare Bonuses within reach of the poor. I am sure the middle-income earners are also pleased, as they have always been in the sandwich group, that attention and care are given to this group as well. I fully support the idea that we must do as much as we can to help the lower-income move up the economic ladder, particularly through assistance in education rather than handouts. Nothing beats a good education and employment, if we want to help raise the household income and free a family from the malignant effects of abject poverty. The curative effects of education and regular work are far more effective in getting the intended results. However, I would like to voice my concern with regard to the proposed increase in GST tax. Our economy is just beginning to breathe a little easy and many workers in the lower wage group are beginning to enjoy the blue sky. There are some whose visions are still shrouded by hazy conditions. Many of these workers with monthly wages hovering at $1,500 and below are still trying to get a helicopter ride to safety.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to urge the Minister to be more specific to teach our children because, children being children, they need more education and emphasis in terms of the safety of the track, especially the open track itself. So, I would like to ask the Minister whether there is a specific programme for the schools and the school children to be educated.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the ground is very concerned about the real loss and not the paper loss. Can the Minister clarify, under the Stock Exchange of Thailand's rules and regulations, whether Shin Corporation need to sell the shares above the takeover holdings quantum or the company can continue to hold the 97%, because that will affect whether it is a real loss or a paper loss?”
“I just want to emphasise that MDA should work closely with MOE because these are young children and those going into the Internet are getting younger. I would like to ask MDA to work closely with MOE in educating our children.”
“And as human beings, at different stages in our life, our physical and mental capability will vary. Recently, we went to Japan, and we note that this definite review is done for their older workers at age 50. Next is the cost of healthcare for older workers. It is a fact that health insurance premium is higher when a worker is older. It is also a fact that it is expensive to insure a worker at an older age in view of his or her health condition. I have gone to great lengths, during the debate on the Prime Minister's Budget Statement, to ask the leaders of the tripartite relationship of the employer associations, the NTUC and the Government to resolve the question of the cost of healthcare for the older workers. Unless we walk the talk, we will still be talking about this in the next Budget in 2007. Where are we stalling? When can we begin this portable medical benefits scheme? Finally, we should be able to review the jobs within the job market as many of our older workers do not have specific skills. We can get employers and unions to agree that certain general jobs be reserved for older workers, eg, F&B work, kitchen helpers, storekeeping, support staff in libraries and childcare centres, and other backroom operations where the demands are not pressing. The older workers can be channelled to work in these areas. Those who have the qualifications, skills and ability to cope will, of course, take on more front-end jobs. Before I end, I am glad that the Minister has mentioned that it is important to develop the service culture under GEMS. Unfortunately, recently, when we encouraged our hawker stallholders to talk about GEMS, WDA is not as supportive of this matter itself.”
“Sir, finding employment for older workers, especially those who are not equipped with special skills, is a problem. The current trend among employers is to find ways and means to retrench older workers and push them back into the job market. For the next employer, it is a long and painful process to reassess the ability and performance of these retrenched older workers. We need to change this trend of shoving our older workers to the job market at age 40 to 50. While I am not advocating an iron rice bowl mentality, we need to encourage our employers to look into the redeployment of their workers at each stage of their employment career so that their skill sets stay relevant and they can contribute positively to the job market. We should make definite review at definite stages of a worker's employment. The review of the skill set of the employee can be from a helicopter view of the person or a review of the actual skill set needed for him or her to handle the work. Employers should plan and chart ahead of a person's career in the company. This review can be done when the employee is at the age of 30, 40, 50, and after which the review can possibly be done at shorter intervals as the employee becomes older. At each stage, the workers are encouraged to stay on at work. The main objective is to keep people working and to create the environment so that they can stay longer to get additional training. Secondly, this definite review would also be in line with the remuneration of an employee. He is paid for what he is doing and not based on his seniority. In this manner, companies are more willing to keep the older workers within the company. They would have to assess between reliability and agility.”
“Mr Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister what about the Inter-ministry Committee to relieve the congestion on the road itself. Basically, we still see a lot of congestion in the main road in front of all the schools, even for those which have undergone PRIME as well.”
“So rather than taking the approach that you cannot approach our waterways, we think the best way is to open up our waterways and educate Singaporeans to be responsible so that they can enjoy the water, dangle their feet in Bedok Reservoir, whatever the case may be but, meanwhile, do not litter our waterways.”
“Sir, there is an important waterway between Coney Island and Punggol end. There is a short stretch where it is covered by water. The island itself is really very good for recreation, except that it is in the boundary of Changi side rather than Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC per se. What I want to ask is if this stretch of water could be used for recreational purposes. Is the Ministry looking into it or could it be used as water catchment area as well? Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, our first priority is to exploit all our water bodies for the purpose of our water consumption. I am not sure which part is she talking about. Under the plan, that is part of the Seletar-Serangoon reservoir scheme, which we are now upgrading to turn it into a reservoir. This is part of the Masterplan I mentioned earlier to achieve basically our four National Taps to ensure that we maximise our water resources. But, along the way, after we have achieved our first basic objective, which is to provide drinking water for all Singaporeans and water for use in industry, we will explore other opportunities like beautifying the waterways and the areas around it. In this instance, as I have replied to Mr Yatiman, we work closely with our partners, NParks. So, as and when, we can actually open up the waterways for public recreational use, we will do so because this is the way, as I mentioned in my reply, we contribute to this uniquely global city that we have in Singapore. In fact, as we basically build up more reservoirs in Singapore, build up more of our areas to become catchment areas, the need for Singaporeans to be more careful about littering our waterways becomes all the more important.”
“On hawker centres, I appreciate her concern about extending the hours of operation and whether subletting is one way to go. She is aware that we have to be careful. If we do allow this, that means we will promote a second sector which could be illegal altogether and we do not want that to happen at our hawker centres. But having said that, there are instances whereby families have been able to re-assign it to a relative where they can extend their operating hours. We understand the concerns of some of our hawkers and NEA is now reviewing this on how best we can help our hawkers, especially those who are in need, to be able to operate longer hours, so that they can earn some extra income. 1.30 pm”
“Mr Chairman, just two points of clarification. I would like to thank the Minister and PUB for their support in working with the MPs and grassroots leaders of Aljunied GRCs in making our Bedok Reservoir a jewel in Aljunied GRC. However, I just want to appeal to the Minister to allow certain areas in the Bedok Reservoir for children or even adults like me, who love water, to be able to walk into the water or to dangle our feet in the water. Currently, the edge itself is very rough with rocks. The second question is on the hawker centres. Our hawker centres have matured, like what our Member of Parliament has said. Could the Minister look into the guidelines of the operating hours of these hawker centres? At the same time, we should consider allowing the stallholders to sublet their stalls. The reason is that we have already matured so much and a lot of them have actually assigned their stalls and they are paying market price for the stall itself. Can the Ministry allow some subletting so that the hawker stalls can operate longer hours? Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I am glad that Mdm Cynthia Phua sees the value in what we are doing at Bedok Reservoir. I will take her feedback and discuss this with the PUB. As I mentioned just now, we will be having an exhibition next year. These are some of the inputs that PUB would like to gather to better understand the needs of residents. She is the Member of Parliament in that area, so she understands the needs of her residents. We will take her feedback but, at the same time, she must also appreciate that we have to balance this with safety. If children are involved with water, we must balance all our objectives so that we achieve the desired outcome.”
“People are becoming more affluent and the rise of consumerism also gives rise to the burning of more fuel. Power plants are generating electricity due to higher electricity consumption. More people movement results in higher vehicular traffic. More garbage thrown means more waste for incineration. The pollution situation is going to get worse and worse, and we have to put in a lot of effort before it can get better. We may need to have an inter-Ministry panel to look into how we are going to cope and to put in place a plan to control pollution before it is too late. What is the Ministry's plan and effort on the control of air quality in our living environment? A pertinent question after the COS debate on transport makes me wonder whether our small island-state is able to sustain the 3% vehicle increase annually, in terms of the pollution impact to our environment. I know that LTA and NEA are already working closely, and on 1st October 2006, we will adopt the Euro IV emission standards for all diesel vehicles registered henceforth. My suggestion is that the MEWR should work closely on an inter-panel basis, to encourage and persuade, and also to ensure that our economic and social activities of all the other Ministries should not cause undue stress to our environment. I am of the opinion that NEA should also rope in the health officials to monitor the relationship between pollution and the rise in, say, cases of people falling ill from respiratory and other diseases. I think there is more to public and private relationship, and the Ministry has to look into inter-Ministry policies and guidelines on other economic activities as well. Climate Change”
“Sir, we have, over the years, promoted Singapore as a garden city, cleaned up our waterways and bright green bins proudly line what were once litter-filled street alleys. I just heard Dr Amy Khor say that some areas are filled with rubbish. The introduction of the Mass Rapid Transit trains contributed towards a cleaner mode of transport. Today, I understand that the main bulk of fine particles in our ambient atmosphere is from vehicles. These particles are in the form of elemental carbon and from fuel oil combustion in the form of sulphates. One of the main sources of suspended particles or particulate matter, commonly referred to as PM, affects the people's health. The big particulate matter is PM10 and the smaller one is PM2.5. Both PM10 and PM2.5 particles can cause health problems, in particular respiratory problems. Because PM2.5 travels deeper into the lungs and it is made up of things that are more toxic, like heavy metals and cancer causing organic compounds, PM2.5 can have worse health effects than the bigger PM10. In the US, it was found that PM2.5 was linked to some 95,000 cases of chronic and acute bronchitis. In Singapore, as I understand, we are able to meet the US EPA standards for PM10 but not for PM2.5, which is mainly emitted by diesel vehicles. What efforts are being done to ensure that we can meet the US EPA standards for PM2.5? With more pharmaceutical, chemical and petrochemical plants being set up in Singapore and with the growth of vehicular traffic and new criss-crossing flyovers, the amount of pollution will naturally rise. Singapore is becoming busier and busier with higher people density, from the residents to the ever rising transient tourist traffic.”
“Mr Chairman, I just want to make a clarification with MOS. We must allow individual Singaporeans to own and operate HDB shops directly. I think the concern is the concerted effort of the shopkeepers to advertise and promote their centres. If that is your concern, I think there is a way to do it, and that is by way of the amendment of the Town Councils Act. Under the new Buildings and Common Property(Maintenance and Management) Act itself, there is a provision for them to set up an advertisement and promotion fund separately for the promotion of the centre. But this could be done under the Town Councils Act itself. So I would like MOS to look at the possibility of amending the Town Councils Act.”
“Mr Chairman, can I just seek a clarification? I am very concerned about the cluster shops that are to be leased out in the future plans of MND because, currently, a lot of retail shops are being owned by REITs as they have the necessary funds. Would you limit REITs from tendering such neighbourhood shops? Or, would you allow only a single major tenant in that case, rather than to be owned by REITs per se?”
“Thank you for giving me this opportunity. The Minister has mentioned about 150 2-room flats for the next two years. Does it include studio apartments because I have actually asked for housing for the elderly? This is not mentioned at all. We need to give hope to our elderly as well.”
“Sir, the supply of 2-room flats is still my concern. Because what the Minister has quoted is that there will be only 100 units in the first year and, most probably, 90 units in the second year, because it will take about two years for them to be built. So, we are only talking about 200 flats. We have 84 MPs. If each MP has two cases a month, we are talking about 168 cases a month. Can the Minister tell us, for the next five years, what is the projection of the supply of 2-room flats?”
“I hope equal thought is given to the planning of flats for older people, as we do in the planning of new estates for our younger generation. At this point, I would like to appeal to the HDB to spend more time in the R&D for lifts for our four-storey walk-up flats and not to wait till MDN has fitted out all the higher blocks of flats. In conclusion, we can take pride of the strides that we have made for the early days of having to resettle squatters and providing opportunities for our people to upgrade. At present, most of our people, almost 90%, are housed in HDB flats. It is time to allow more choices of flats for our people. We must review our policies for housing, not only to encourage upgraders, but be open to allow our people to move to housing types suitable for their needs within their lifetime, even if it is to move to a 1-room, 2-room, rental or purchase flat.”
“In view of the restructuring of the economy, many found that they are out of job suddenly and they have to bite the bullet, and some even to suffer the ignominy of downgrading. Can the HDB be more flexible in its policy and give these flat owners a loan to downgrade? It is ironical that the HDB expects them to turn to the banks to borrow money. For one, many will now not qualify for a bank loan because their combined household incomes are lower, either because a member of the household has lost his/her job or is now doing lower-paid job or having irregular incomes. Their household income has thus fallen. I hope the HDB will respond with compassion. Will the HDB review its policy on granting housing loans to those who want to downgrade? In fact, many took up the second loan without knowing HDB's intention to cap the two loans in the first place. This policy has only been introduced to cap the upgraders but has serious implications on the downgraders. Moving on to the elderly, we now have more than half a million of our population above 50 years old. What is the HDB's projection on the need to provide senior citizen housing, specifically, what type of housing for senior citizens? Are we having elderly villages, studio apartments, 1-room, 2-room flats or multi-generation flats? What is the number of flats required in, say, five years, or long-term, say, 10 years, for our elderly? What are the specific features of these blocks of flats? What about recreational spaces as the current ones for 2-room studio apartments are very congested and they do not have many big courtyard areas? Do we have more outdoor spaces for gardening, physical fitness, in addition to recreational ones for arts and even for mahjong?”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I am pleased to note that the HDB will be building new 2-room flats to help those in the lower-income group to own their own property. This year's Budget has been sweetened by the news of the offer of an additional $20,000 grant in addition to existing housing grants. Can the Ministry provide more details on its building of the 2-room and 3-room flats - how many and where? I hope that the HDB, in its planning for the 2-room and 3-room apartments, does not build these flats in far-flung corners of the housing estates where the residents have to commute to get to the social amenities. If there are families which need help, these are the people who need it more than others. Help them by locating them closer to the markets, MRT stations and schools, so that they can save on transport costs. Will HDB consider to sprinkle the 2-room and 3-room blocks among the other bigger units so that there is a good mix near the town centre whenever opportunities permit? It will not be prudent to segregate the smaller flats in the periphery of HDB housing estates just because these buyers are paying less for their apartments. Finally, in order for the applicants to know what are their chances of securing a 2-room or 3-room flat, will the HDB ensure that the data on the availability of these flats are released and are readily available, as well as on the number of people queuing for the flats? Next, on loan for downgraders. I want to bring up the issue of helping the less fortunate people, especially to enable them to downgrade to a smaller flat. These are genuine cases of homeowners who are caught by circumstances beyond their control.”
“Can the Ministry look into this as well? 3.15 pm”
“How are our public transport companies' financial performance as compared to other transport companies in similar cities, given that the Government gives them the monopoly to run the public transport system with the provision of first-class infrastructure by the Government? And what other public transport performance benchmarks that other cities are using to ensure that the standard of their public transport system is performing satisfactorily? Sir, I would like the Ministry of Transport to look into the following areas of concern on the ground: When we decided to privatise our public transport system, the belief was that in doing so, it would give the operators greater flexibility to offer the best at the most competitive prices. Unfortunately, they are privatised. Routinely, these companies put up proposals to the Public Transport Council for fare revisions. It is almost a cyclical motion that every other year, they will be knocking on the door to ask for fare revisions. Knowing that oil prices will remain on the high side, these companies should look at how to meet these challenges and not taking the easier route of increasing fares. Take the example of our Government using our reserves for our people over the five years to offset some of their expenses. Why can we not use some of the reserves of the bus companies to reduce the fares for our people as well? The other area I am very concerned with is our vehicle population which is on the rise. We are increasing our vehicle population at 3% a year. Even in our main arterial roads, like the CTE and the PIE, there is a lot of congestion, especially at the Braddell Road exit. Although we are building a lot of underpasses as well as flyovers, we are still facing a lot of congestion.”
“Sir, the business of moving people rests on two main factors: it must be safe and reliable, and affordable and accessible. Our public transport has travelled a long distance from the early days of the Hock Lee and STC bus companies. Then, safety and reliability of services were a great challenge. Today, we have moved beyond that phase and we would like the Ministry to review and set out performance standards for our public transport at present and in the future. We need to assess the performance standards of our public transport system. Every time when there is a fare increase, the main attention is on whether the transport company is financially able to absorb the increase in the operating costs. Many users are not looking at other performance standards. For example, are our transport system operating efficiently and what is the utilisation rate of our public transport system? All these will work its way out into the fares eventually. The people do not know how well our public transport companies are performing. Are we maximising our infrastructure which the Government has built and provided over the years? The people need to know what are the benchmarks for our public transport system. Sir, these are the related questions. What is the utilisation rate of our public bus system and MRT system as compared to other cities in the world? How many people have we served in our peak hours? Have we reached our maximum capacity, or must we do more to encourage our people to use the public transport system so as to lower the fares, as in the case of the North East Line? What are our fares as compared to, say, Asian cities like Hong Kong and Taipei?”
“We must similarly adopt the same approach in solving the ground operation issues. History will measure and judge the distance that we have gone in building up a prosperous and harmonious community and in making Singapore our best home. Column No : 503 Column No : 503 TIME LIMIT FOR SPEECHES (Suspension of Standing Orders) With the consent of Mr Speaker and the general assent of Members present, Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That the proceedings on the item under discussion be exempted from the provisions of Standing Order No. 48(8) in respect of the reply to be made by the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance. - [Mr Mah Bow Tan]. Column No : 503 Column No : 503 ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Debate resumed. 1.15 pm”