Desmond Lee
Singapore
“The Leadership, Enrichment, Achievement, Participation and Service (LEAPS) 2.0 is a framework for recognising student participation and achievement in secondary school co-curricular programmes.”
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) is mindful of the impact that rising temperatures may have on our students, teachers and officials taking part in the National School Games. Matches are scheduled only after students have had the time to train and become progressively more heat acclimatised.”
“As shared in Parliament in March 2026, the proportion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools has remained stable, at around 7% of the overall student population. This stability is observed across both primary and secondary schools.”
“The Ministry recruits and assesses applicants based on merit and suitability for the teaching profession, regardless of gender. We look for individuals with a passion for teaching, a belief in the potential of every child, and who possess the values and character to make a positive difference in students' lives.”
“Over the past five years, an average of 750 teachers resigned from the Education Service annually, representing a resignation rate of around 2%.”
“MOE has also progressively strengthened open access within the Primary 1 Registration Framework through Phase 2C, which is open to students regardless of whether they have prior connections to the school. MOE had increased the number of reserved Phase 2C places from zero to 20 in 2014; and from 20 to 40 in 2022.”
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“The number of working residents aged 21 to 64 living in a household with at least one member aged 65 and above and at least one member aged below 13, and whether they employ a foreign domestic worker in the household, is in Table 1 below. In 2018, the Ministry of Health (MOH) led a cross-agency review on caregiver support and conducted focus group discussions with more than 200 caregivers and stakeholders, including those caring for both the young and the elderly. Similar to other caregivers, they would appreciate more support in the form of more respite care options, greater workplace flexibility to help them cope with having to care for multiple family members, and more assistance to help them navigate and access various care services. For families that employed foreign domestic workers to alleviate the caregiving burden, some were concerned with whether the foreign domestic workers would be able to cope when care needs of their family members increase. To better support caregivers of seniors, MOH announced the Caregiver Support Action Plan in February 2019, which includes measures related to improving care navigation, financial support and the provision of respite services. Our childcare subsidies also take into account household size, such that larger families with more than two dependants in the household may receive more subsidies. The Ministry of Social and Family Development is further reviewing preschool subsidies. The Ministry of Manpower will also be expanding the Work-Life Grant from $30 million to $100 million to encourage more companies to introduce and sustain the use of flexible work arrangements.”
“The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) takes a serious view of child mismanagement in preschools. ECDA will investigate every reported case by conducting unannounced centre visits, interviews and verification of records. For serious cases, such as where there appears to be clear intent to harm the child, the case will be referred to the Police for criminal investigation. Depending on the nature of the offence, the perpetrator may be prosecuted under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA) or other laws. Over the past three years, there was an average of 15 reported cases of alleged child mismanagement in Anchor Operator and Partner Operator centres annually. Of these, over 60% were unsubstantiated. For the other cases, ECDA had issued warning letters to teachers for acts, such as spanking or neglecting of children. These were found to be isolated incidents. ECDA had also issued warning letters to selected centres and shortened their licence tenure for not having adequate measures in place to support teachers' classroom management. In this period, no teachers were convicted of an offence under CYPA or any other law for child mismanagement.”
“The median number of days of Government Paid Paternity Leave (GPPL) and Shared Parental Leave (SPL) taken by fathers who took at least one day of GPPL or SPL in the last five years is shown in Table 1 below. In 2013, we introduced one week of GPPL and one week of SPL. To better support families, in 2015 the Government encouraged companies to offer eligible fathers a second week of GPPL. In 2017, it was made mandatory for companies to offer the second week of GPPL. SPL was also increased from one to four weeks.”
“Student Care Centres (SCCs)1 that administer the Student Care Fee Assistance scheme are registered with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). These SCCs are prohibited from employing individuals who have been convicted, warned or are being investigated for offences involving dishonesty or moral turpitude. SCC staff are required to declare whether they have criminal records, have been charged in a Court or are being investigated by the Police, in Singapore and/or other countries. Registered SCCs are also required to meet stipulated standards in areas of supervision, physical environment, operating hours, safety, health and hygiene, and provide a structured daily programme. MSF conducts audits on registered SCCs to ensure compliance with the above requirements.”
“Low-income families can apply for ComCare childcare subsidies if they are unable to afford childcare fees after receiving the Basic and Additional Subsidies provided by the Early Childhood Development Agency. From 2016 to 2018, there were applications for an average of 4,440 children yearly for ComCare childcare subsidies, of which 86% were approved on average. The Ministry of Social and Family Development does not track the demographic profile of these applicants or the reasons for all rejected applications. Some applicants did not qualify for the assistance because their household income exceeded the income criteria, or because they had not yet applied for Basic and Additional subsidies before applying for ComCare childcare subsidies.”
“Children born in 2006 were eligible for up to $6,000 in Government co-matching in the Child Development Account (CDA) if they are the second child, and up to $12,000 if they are the third or fourth child. In addition, the 2006 birth cohort was a transitional cohort where parents could choose to either close the CDA at the end of the year their child turned six, or extend the CDA till the end of the year their child turned 12. Parents who chose the latter also had the flexibility to close the CDA at any time when the child was between seven and 12. For those whose CDAs were closed at the end of 2018, the year in which the 2006 birth cohort turned 12, the average and median amounts remaining in the CDA were about $3,300 and $500 respectively. Sixty-four percent of these accounts maximised the Government co-matching in the CDA. When the CDA is closed, the balance is transferred to the child's Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA). Today, parents can already continue saving in the PSEA to enjoy Government co-matching if they have not saved up to the co-savings caps in the CDA.”
“As a result, problem gambling is estimated to only affect slightly under 1% of the resident population. Having said that, every family that suffers harm because of problem gambling is one case too many. Therefore, we will continue our efforts to address problem gambling by putting in place even more upstream and preventive measures. For online gambling offered by Singapore Pools, we have already taken steps by requiring punters to set limits on their expenditure, and we will review how to improve this. For casino gambling, with effect from 4 April this year, the casino entry levies for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents have been raised by 50%, from $100 to $150 for the daily levy, and from $2,000 to $3,000 for the annual levy. We will also be working with the Integrated Resorts (IRs) to implement technology measures to provide patrons with information to allow them to make informed decisions on their bets and better control their gambling expenditure. We will also work with the IRs to strengthen training for casino gaming staff to identify persons at-risk of gambling problem and offer help to such patrons. This is an additional measure.”
“Mr Speaker, based on the Gambling Participation Survey (GPS) conducted by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), every three years, the probable problem and pathological gambling rate of Singapore residents in 2017 was 0.9%. In 2011, it was 2.6%. Our casino safeguards are among the most stringent in the world. We take a preventive approach by disallowing the most financially vulnerable people from entering the casinos. For example, undischarged bankrupts, those who are receiving financial aid from the Government, such as ComCare Social Assistance or legal aid, and those living in Housing and Development Board rental flats who have six months or more of rental arrears, are automatically excluded. This means that they are barred from entering the casinos, fruit machine rooms in private clubs and from betting online with Singapore Pools. NCPG also has powers under the Casino Control Act to limit the number of visits an individual can make to the casino each month. Under the Third Party Visit Limit regime, NCPG can do so when it notices individuals visiting the casino frequently and gambling beyond their means. In addition, if the individual has incurred debt due to gambling, NCPG may even bar the person from entering the casino by issuing a Third Party Exclusion Order, that is, the person cannot enter the casino at all. Many locals have also chosen under the Self-Exclusion Scheme to voluntarily exclude themselves from the casinos or fruit machine rooms in private clubs, or from opening an online account with Singapore Pools. The objective of the existing social safeguards is to try to minimise the negative impact of gambling by targeting the problem gamblers and the financially vulnerable.”
“I thank the Member for his observations. Certainly, NParks will relook at the way in which we explain the usage of the lanes and the Park Connector Network (PCN) to ensure that both pedestrians and users of bicycles and other mobility devices have a seamless understanding when they move on to PCNs from the shared lanes that are under LTA along our pedestrian walkways. Some, of course, are shared; some are separated. The clarity needs to go out in terms of public education, also in the signage. Also, the markings need to be tweaked. So, we will continue to review this.”
“Sir, the EIA review has been ongoing for some time. It requires us to look at the entire process to understand the experience of the last few EIAs and we will endeavour to put something out this year.”
“There are voluntary welfare organisations that are running programmes as pilots to provide night caregiving support. We will look at their experience and study this further.”
“Mr Speaker, to cater to the needs of working parents, childcare centres are required to operate full-day services from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm on weekdays, and from 7.00 am to 2.00 pm on Saturdays. Childcare centres have the discretion to extend their services beyond standard operating hours, taking into consideration demand and resources. Currently, around 50 childcare centres operate beyond 7.00 pm on weekdays. The current arrangement meets the needs of most parents. But for those working shifts or on weekends, many of them arrange for other caregivers, such as grandparents and relatives, to help out. However, some families may face difficulties in making alternate caregiving arrangements. We will assess the need and demand for night-time childcare and the possibility of offering such programmes, particularly in areas where low-income families reside. The Member may also have heard us describe in the course of announcing the rollout of ComLink in the four areas where rental flats are, as a pilot. That will also look into programming that meets the needs of the residents in rental housing, who are mostly low-income households. These include certain kinds of caregiving that they may require. So, we look at requirements based on locality as well.”
“But of course, it is usually more convenient for drivers to park near homes, especially given the hours that they operate. Unfortunately, while we plan carefully to ensure sufficient heavy vehicle lots at a national level, it is not always possible to fully meet local demand, especially near heavily built-up residential areas. These are in relation to site constraints, concerns of safety, noise and other disamenities. We encourage drivers to look into private heavy vehicle lot options as well as alternatives in neighbouring areas. But we also encourage employers to take responsibility and help their drivers find the right spaces to park their company vehicles. But we will certainly work with Er Dr Lee Bee Wah to look at the requirements in Nee Soon. I would like to thank Mr Gan Thiam Poh and Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap for their suggestions to optimise car park use. Some car parks already allow day and night season parking. Since private cars, heavy vehicles and commercial vehicles tend to need parking at different times, available space is often already used optimally. Separately, agencies have also allowed parking lots that do not have traffic and site constraints to double up as heavy vehicle spaces for short time periods. But we continue to look out for other car parks which can be further optimised to support dual use and will continue to explore the ideas that the Members have raised. We have come far together, but we have more to do to build a thriving and dynamic city, develop comfortable homes and neighbourhoods, and protect our natural and built environment. We look forward to the continued support of all our Members.”
“This former fire station is strategically located at the intersection of the Rail Corridor and the Coast-to-Coast Trail which we announced quite recently, too. And we envision it to be a base for visitors to explore the nature and heritage attractions in the area, including Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Dairy Farm Nature Park and the Former Ford Factory. It will also be home to a new Visitor Centre for the nature parks in the area, and will host other nature, heritage and recreational uses and we will announce more details later this year. Finally, we will reinforce social resilience in the places that Singaporeans call home. We continue to ensure that our residential communities are served well by high-quality social and community facilities. This means ensuring that community facilities are right-sited and sized appropriately to support cohesive and multi-generational neighbourhoods. For example, the future Punggol Town Hub will feature a public library, community centre, hawker centre and health services, all co-located for one-stop, convenient access for residents. It will also have a cycling path that connects to the larger Punggol cycling network around it. The mix of amenities was carefully planned so as to meet the needs of the current demographic of residents and, as Punggol evolves, so, too, will the offerings at Punggol Town Hub. 6.45 pm Let me briefly address the remaining cuts. Er Dr Lee Bee Wah made a request to increase heavy vehicle parking options in Yishun. Public heavy vehicle parking is popular as it tends to be cheaper and closer to residential areas, and that is where the tension arises. These residents were concerned about heavy vehicles entering residential built-up areas.”
“Meanwhile, NParks' extensive Friends of the Park communities continue to see people from all walks of life and all interests coming together with a common love for nature and open spaces. Mr Dennis Tan highlighted concerns about the safe use of our park connectors and showed us a photograph of that. NParks has installed more safety features to enhance the safe use of PCNs. Additional lighting, speed regulating strips and advisory signs have been put up. NParks has also installed advisory signs at high usage parks and park connectors to remind users to stay on track and give way. And NParks conducts outreach programmes to promote the safe use of park connectors, including lane usage and appropriate speed limits. And NParks is working together with LTA on joint enforcement efforts. But the Friends of the PCN have also been contributing to our efforts. Chaired by avid cyclist and nature lover Mr Woon Tai Woon, the Friends of PCN have led the charge on ground-up initiatives, reaching out to PCN users to promote safe riding, like helping with track painting and public signage, encouraging safe riding etiquette through the "Share the Track" programme and, most recently, creating a video promoting the responsible use of PMDs. We will also activate more community nodes for citizens to enjoy. In 2017, we announced the start of trail enhancement works along the Rail Corridor. The continuous green trail stretches 24 km from the north to the south of Singapore and is used by many as a place to cycle and trek. Today, I am happy to share that we have plans to develop the former Bukit Timah Fire Station (BTFS) into an additional recreational node along the Rail Corridor.”
“If we have reason to believe that a project may significantly impact the environment, then the developer will be asked by technical agencies to conduct a further environmental study. We would like to assure the Member that studies are undertaken in an independent and objective manner by specialists who have every interest to maintain their professional standing. The study reports are also carefully assessed by the technical agencies, such as NParks, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, Maritime Port Authority and NEA, to ensure their adequacy. In addition, to reiterate my previous answer to Members’ questions in this House, we will make the findings of such EIAs publicly available, unless specific considerations require otherwise. That said, our review of the EIA framework is ongoing. MND and the technical agencies are studying how best to strengthen our policies and processes to ensure the framework remains robust for the future. This brings me to my third and final area of focus. Our green spaces not only contribute to our climate resilience, they also bring people together and are an important part of our social resilience. Singaporeans have reason to be proud of our distinctive greenery and rich biodiversity. Our common spaces allow us to interact with one another and bond with our family and friends. More and more citizens are stepping forward to care for our green spaces. We are, indeed, fortunate to have over 45,000 volunteers who work closely with us to protect and enhance our greenery and nature areas. For example, our community gardeners tend to more than 1,400 Community-in-Bloom gardens across the island. Our Biodiversity Beach Patrol volunteers help monitor key stretches of our beaches.”
“This is a reality we live with every day, and our planners are always seized with these challenges. So, we have to continue to be judicious about how we use land to meet our needs as a city and as a country, while ensuring that we safeguard land for the aspirations of our children and our future generations. In this regard, any decision to clear land and forest cover is not taken lightly. If we do, it is a decision we make after very careful deliberation and inter-agency discussion, taking into account Singaporeans’ needs and the many tradeoffs involved. As was in the case of Tengah, which was needed to provide homes over the next two decades for 42,000 families and jobs for more than 20,000 people as the town develops progressively. These are not just difficult tradeoffs in the present day between greenery and biodiversity on the one hand, and housing and jobs on the other, but tradeoffs between the present and the future, between land use for today's needs and keeping land for our children and grandchildren and generations not yet born. At the same time, in response to Mr Louis Ng's question, we work to ensure that when development does take place, proposals are thoroughly examined for any potential environmental impacts, among other issues. Our EIA framework covers all Nature Reserves, Nature Areas, other sensitive natural areas, as well as marine and coastal areas. Those who propose development close to these areas are required to consult our technical agencies on their plans together with URA and MND. And these technical agencies include NParks. We take a prudent approach to this consultation.”
“It will restore and enhance more habitats, for example, restoring mangroves at Sungei Buloh and Pulau Ubin, and repopulating corals at Sisters Island Marine Park. We will implement more species recovery plans and have started this for 50 species of native plants and 10 species of native animals. What Members see in the video is the Neptune’s Cup Sponge, which is one of the species being carefully rehabilitated in Singapore waters. It was thought to be globally extinct since 1908. But it was rediscovered in Singapore in 2011, the first known rediscovery of this species in the world. So, you see this work of NParks officers relocating it to afford it better protection from the elements. Another species in our recovery programme is the Harlequin Butterfly. It is rare and little is known about its biology. But NParks has been studying it closely in the field and has been relocating it to new sites to establish more populations. Today, there is a healthy new population at Pasir Ris Park, and work is underway to introduce more at East Coast Park. Members also pointed out that development should not come at the expense of greenery. We would like to assure Mr Louis Ng, Mr Chong Kee Hiong, Mr Ong Teng Koon and Mr Pritam Singh that maintaining and enhancing our greenery will continue to be a key pillar of our urban planning strategy. In our post-Independence years, this was what set us apart from other cities with similar growth strategies. Indeed, as Minister Heng Swee Keat said in his Budget round-up speech, greening is part of our identity. But our small size as a city-state means that our land and resources are scarce and finite, and the tensions and tradeoffs for us when it comes to land use are magnified many times, compared to larger countries.”
“First, at the design level, our colleagues at the National Parks Board (NParks) have put in a lot of thought to embed climate resilience features into our urban green spaces. At one-north Park, specially chosen wildflowers and grasses help to filter storm water runoff naturally. These plants then also serve as a habitat for various species of butterflies, birds and aquatic wildlife, bringing them into the city. Our Nature Ways, such as the one shown here in Tampines, replicate the tiered structure of a tropical forest with native trees and shrubs. So, these are not just streetscape but are grown in a particular way to replicate some natural structures. They provide important ecosystem services to people and facilitate ecological connectivity for some species. Second, on the planning level, we work with our community partners to protect and strengthen our Nature Reserves and Nature Areas. We currently have six Nature Parks adjacent to our Nature Reserves to provide over 250 hectares of protective green buffers. By 2020, we will add two more Nature Parks at Rifle Range and Thomson to increase our green buffers to over 370 hectares. Over the next 10 years, we will do more to regenerate forests in our Nature Parks as well as Nature Reserves. As part of our Forest Restoration Action Plan, NParks will plant an additional 250,000 native trees and shrubs to restore our secondary forests. Third, underpinning all this work are our continued efforts to conserve our native flora and fauna. NParks will continue to plant more trees. In the past five years, NParks has planted an average of 50,000 trees a year, twice what it used to plant in the past.”
“Innovations developed here have the potential to be useful in other dense, tropical cities. The team that developed IEM recognises this. They are currently in talks with the industry to see how IEM can be adapted for commercial use. I hear that they are even looking to bring it overseas. We will continue to support promising research under the Cities of Tomorrow programme, which builds on the success of the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge. The projects we have funded are diverse. But all of them aim to develop practical solutions to the multifaceted challenges that exist in our built environment. For example, in construction technology, we are investing in innovations, such as 3D printing, to build faster, safer and more cost-effectively. In facilities management, we are studying how robots and data analytics can make the job of inspecting building facades safer and more efficiently. Ultimately, these innovations aim to improve the lives of people and ensure that our city meets the demands not just of today but of tomorrow. Let me now move on to climate resilience. Various Members have spoken about the importance of being responsive to the threats and effects of climate change. We fully agree. It is especially critical for small, low-lying states like us to act decisively to protect ourselves. We have conducted studies to examine the risks and impacts of sea level rise and invested in clean-tech solutions, so as to move towards becoming a more low-carbon society. Minister Lawrence Wong will speak more about this tomorrow. Today, I will speak about an important response to climate change – protecting the diversity and resilience of our natural and urban ecosystems. This is a comprehensive effort that requires planning at different levels.”
“Thank you. Sir, I will speak on three areas that MND will continue to strengthen in the coming years. First, our infrastructure resilience; second, climate resilience; and third, social resilience. Let me begin with strengthening our infrastructure resilience. We often take infrastructure resilience to mean how strong and durable our existing structures are, and how well we maintain them. This certainly is important as our buildings start to age. But resilience is also about designing and building better to meet tomorrow's challenges, so that our buildings can accommodate higher-density living, changing lifestyle needs and also withstand tougher weather conditions. This means adopting innovative solutions in design and construction. That is why MND continues to invest heavily in research and development in the urban and infrastructure sector. One example is HDB. In recent years, it partnered the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to develop the Integrated Environmental Modeller (IEM). IEM is a 3D modelling software that predicts how environmental conditions interact with our town plans. The software can, for example, try to simulate how wind flows through different urban features and open spaces, and where solar heat is more likely to build up. This helps our town planners take some of the guesswork out of designing a more liveable and sustainable estate. They can plan better for open spaces to enjoy good ventilation, and plant trees and greenery in the right places to help bring down ambient temperatures. Singapore can be a thought leader in producing innovative urban solutions like IEM. We are both compact and well-connected, which is an ideal living testbed for new ideas.”
“Maybe before I respond to Ms Tin Pei Ling, I also want to make a clarification in response to Mr Seah Kian Peng. It is not three but four SSOs that are open on Saturdays, half-day. But, again, I reiterate that the key is we will look into this in terms of better service outreach while certainly making arrangements to accommodate the needs of our clients if they are unable to meet us during office hours. In response to Ms Tin Pei Ling's query, the Member is right that with technology and data and with the proper linkages, we will be able to do a couple of things. One is to make sure that, in relation to specific applications, say, for ComCare and other forms of support by clients and beneficiaries, we should be able to have a more accurate triangulation to determine means. Second, it should be more convenient and less of a hassle for clients to have to keep churning out documents, especially if we can get them from other agencies. So, these are the two things. Third is that this is work in progress. This is a piece of work that we need to undertake with a number of the agencies. As for CKS and PDD, I will let my colleague respond.”
“I do not have the figures, but if Members look at the bottom 20% of the SES, that would be a group we would first be very concerned in ensuring that we support better, particularly if they face complex challenges. So, what I described yesterday and today is in seeing how we can weave a closer social safety net and having better social health integration in the community. In terms of ComLink which I articulated yesterday, for the four centres that we will open in the course of the next two years, we hope to reach out to 14,000 families in rental housing with young children, and work with them proactively. In terms of resources, I am very appreciative of Members who have in this House openly sought more resources for MOM and MSF from the Finance Ministry in order for us to better strengthen this network. But we cannot work on our own. We work very closely with our partners, our VWOs, those in the FSCs, child protection agencies, adult protection, family violence, as well as divorce support, and community groups, including the grassroots. This last-mile connection on the ground is not something that any single agency can do on its own.”
“I take the Member's point. We have three SSOs that are open on Saturdays. If Members look at the attendance at SSOs, most of our clients turn up on weekdays. And for those who have difficulty meeting our officers during office hours, they make arrangements with our officers at our FSCs to meet outside office hours. So, we accommodate them, including those who can go to our SSOs that are open on weekends. Otherwise, we make arrangements.”
“There have been no studies in between. But we look at our indicators where we stand and want to make sure that we invest heavily for our children to have the best start in life.”
“Just to supplement my colleague's response, the Lien Foundation report benchmarked early childhood in Singapore with that in a number of other countries. There were, amongst others, three major criteria: one was accessibility, another was affordability and also quality, precisely the three indicators on which we are pushing very hard in Singapore. On accessibility, I understand we did not rank well because we did not legally mandate that every child go to preschool even though our preschool attendance rate is very high, even for those with lower socio-economic status (SES). For those with the lower SES, with KidSTART and with preschool outreach – going door to door for each family – we endeavour to try to raise the low SES participation rate in preschool. So, we did not rank well because there was no legal mandate for it. In some countries they are legally mandated. But let us look at the results, look at the attendance rates. On quality, again, I am told we scored not so well in that study in terms of teacher-child ratio, that means, how many children there are for each teacher. Wages, which, again, has been going up quite steadily since 2012, outpacing the general market in terms of wage increments. Preschool teacher training, again, there is the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) and the coming together of three institutes, so, great emphasis on quality, both pre-employment as well as the professional development that we have put in place for teachers, principals, as well as educarers. And looking at the linkage between preschools and primary schools, which again now, we have strong interface because both MOE and MSF, looking after ECDA, look at the interface as well. So, we take the report to heart. It has been many years since.”
“As I said earlier in my speech, as a result of this tighter integration of support, when the agencies can fly through the challenges of these families, flying through different policies even on the ground, and how they interface and touch families. They will be able to identify where there are gaps, where there are kinks, where there are inconsistencies which on the ground we cannot see, and if the parent Ministries can then come together and see how best we can resolve them through policies, tweaks, schemes, adjustments or even new policies, we will certainly be prepared to look at them.”
“I thank the Member for her keen understanding of the challenges that single unwed mothers as well as women in the Muslim community face, specific to the cultural context. On the former, as I said earlier, schemes that benefit all children, all Singaporean children, apply across the board, regardless of the marital status of the parents. There are certain schemes which support and encourage marriage and parenthood, and these are schemes that we provide specifically for that purpose. That is the distinction. But having said that, we all recognise, all Members of this House recognise, that many of the single unwed mothers are not in the situation out of choice, but out of circumstance. They soldier on. They care for the child and they want the best for the child. And certainly, we, too, want to ensure that these children have every opportunity. So, a lot of the work that we do involves ensuring that we understand fully the challenges of some of these women. Stoic though they may be, they may need more support, and let us weave that support around them, each and every community, building that kind of support platform that I talked about earlier so that we can address them using a variety of schemes and programmes, both national, community-based and local. On the issue of Muslim wives who are second wives, there is family support that is provided to the entire family for the marriage and for parenthood, and for the children. And if these families, as a whole, face challenges, whether financial or social, again, let us have a good look at the situations of these families and see how we can address some of them.”
“Yes, indeed, this is one area that I am looking into with great interest. I recalled Mr Dennis Tan had asked me about childcare teachers and we know that the majority of preschool teacher enrolment each year is from mid-career transitions. So, we are now looking with interest at the landscape for the social sector. Many come from pre-employment training from polytechnics and our universities. But I am also seeing how we can further strengthen career transition for older workers with life experience who want to go into social work. There are many of them who do transit. There are graduate diplomas for some of these conversions. We want to see how this pipeline can be further strengthened, and part of the work of the tripartite task force is also to look at this. Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Chairman, I agree with the Member that CMS would bring great benefits to the parents as well as the operators. All childcare centres and kindergartens regulated by ECDA under the Early Childhood Development Centres Act will come on board CMS and we are likely going to roll out to all preschools later this year.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank the Member for his interest in the Tripartite Taskforce. This Tripartite Taskforce brings together representatives from the entire ecosystem, naqmely, those who train our social workers, both pre-employment as well as mid-career; those who employ and work with social workers in our VWOs and agencies; and of course, the Government departments as well. 12.45 pm This ensures that building on top of the skills framework that we put in place very recently for our social work professionals, we have an ecosystem where the tripartite partners understand the needs on the ground, including the new structures that we are setting up, the new kind of social safety nets that we are building, and the kinds of skillsets that our social workers will need to learn, both pre-employment and as part of continuing education, and pick up in order to be able to meet social needs. For example, if he senses that we need more social work intervention, say, in the geriatric field, and we will go on to work with our academic partners to see how the curriculum can be adjusted in order to cater to this growing need, for instance. So, as to when we can start to expect some recommendations to come out from the tripartite task force, let us give them a bit of time to meet. There have been some preliminary sessions, but allow them to meet and discuss, and they will then come up with recommendations on the various issues I have talked about – pathway, career, transition, curriculum and so on.”
“Sir, MSF will partner Singaporeans to build a caring and inclusive Singapore, where we can live with dignity, raise strong families and take pride in contributing to those around us. Singaporeans need not face life’s uncertainties alone, and help is available to better support and uplift these individuals and families. This is possible only with the strong partnership of individuals, families, the community, the social service sector and Government agencies. This is the essence of our social compact. Let us continue to strengthen the bonds that hold us together as we collectively build a better Singapore and a better social service sector for all Singaporeans.”
“MSF and the Ministry of Health (MOH) will continue to review how to strengthen and enhance the counselling process. Mr Faisal Manap asked about working elderly Singaporeans. According to the 2018 Comprehensive Labour Force Survey, 27% of residents aged 65 and above were employed. Among those who work, some do so for financial reasons, others do so to stay engaged, some for both. Retirement adequacy is a concern for the low-income elderly. We have assistance and support schemes to ensure our seniors age with assurance. We regularly review these schemes and introduce new ones when required. Much of this has been discussed yesterday at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) COS and more at the subsequent MOH COS, I presume. Broadly, seniors receive healthcare support through the Pioneer and upcoming Merdeka Generation Packages. The Silver Support Scheme and ComCare assistance provide further financial support. For seniors who continue working, they also receive employment support and assistance through the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS), which has just been enhanced, and the Special Employment Credit. And there are options for them to unlock value from their flats, such as the Silver Housing Bonus and Enhanced Lease Buyback Scheme. If they need someone to kind of guide them, support them and link them to the relevant agencies, our Silver Generation Ambassadors and our AIC officers on the ground will lend the support. Ultimately, helping our seniors age gracefully and with peace of mind is also about nurturing communities of care and support within their homes and community, from family members to volunteer befrienders.”
“Single-parent families face more difficulties. Mr Desmond Choo asked if we could extend benefits, such as tax reliefs, to single mothers. Single parents comprise divorced, widowed and unwed parents. Most single parents are divorced or widowed and enjoy the same benefits as married parents. Today, all Singaporean children receive Government benefits that support their growth and development. These include education and healthcare subsidies. Arising from our review in 2016, we extended 16 weeks of maternity leave and the Child Development Account benefits, including the $3,000 First Step grant, to unwed mothers and their children. Some benefits, such as the Baby Bonus Cash Gift, tax benefits and housing benefits are intended to encourage and support marriage and parenthood. Nevertheless, we will continue to see how we can better support single mothers and their children who face challenges. Assoc Prof Daniel Goh and Mr Christopher de Souza asked if more could be done to support pregnant mothers contemplating abortion in coming to an informed decision, with the option of giving up their children for adoption instead. The decision to terminate a pregnancy or carry a baby to term is deeply personal, and we must respect that. But it is important that an informed decision be made. 12.00 pm All women considering abortion are required to complete pre-abortion counselling, where a trained counsellor will share on the medical, psychosocial and emotional aspects of terminating pregnancy. She can only give her written consent to terminate pregnancy at least 48 hours after this session. Those who require further support will be referred to FSCs or appropriate helplines.”
“This helps our professionals to map out career progression pathways, and guides organisations in training and developing their talent in the social services. Mr Darryl David asked about further efforts on this front. How can we better support our social workers and social service professionals to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow? Building on the framework, we will set up a Social Service SkillsFuture Tripartite Taskforce to coordinate and drive skills development initiatives in the social service sector. The task force will comprise sector professionals. It will include academics, experts and policymakers. I counted four but I still call it "tripartite". They will explore further ways to build capabilities and strengthen professional practices. This includes reviewing the entry and training pathways for our social service professionals, ensuring relevance in curriculum, identifying improvements for professional practice, and working on joint projects to strengthen evidence-based practice. Mr Chairman, I have spoken about our plans to provide Comprehensive, Convenient and Coordinated help centred around our community networks across the island, and also our efforts to strengthen our social service networks in every town and community, and to also strengthen our social service sector and professionals. Doing this will take time. We must commit to this if we want to better support and uplift the vulnerable in our midst. And we will work together with the community to do better, go further and make a greater difference. But at the same time, we must continue to support and strengthen our families, as families are the bedrock of our society. So, now, let me address a couple of the cuts that Members have raised relating to family.”
“As Mr Seah Kian Peng pointed out, the demands on the sector are increasing and social needs are growing in complexity. So, we must grow and develop the sector to meet these emerging challenges and better support vulnerable groups. We will continue to provide resources, together with community partners like the Tote Board. Over the years, the Tote Board Social Service Fund (TBSSF) has supported various social service programmes benefiting vulnerable families, children and youths, the elderly, persons with disabilities and persons with mental health issues. For example, the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) for children with developmental needs, FSCs for low-income and vulnerable families, and school social work programmes for at-risk youths are just some examples of programmes that have made a big difference in improving lives. Sustained funding is crucial to ensure that vulnerable groups continue to receive the support they need. It also enables VWOs to focus on delivering services well, and expand and develop new programmes to serve growing areas of need. It will also place them in a better position to operate in a network environment of social support. I am happy to share that the Tote Board has committed $580 million to the TBSSF over the next four years. This is the largest tranche of funds put in since it was set up in 2006. This would benefit many VWOs who serve the community. Beyond funding support, we must also support and upskill our social service professionals and develop their competencies to meet growing and changing social needs. We launched the Skills Framework for Social Service in January this year.”
“MSF works closely with FSCs, HDB and other agencies to coordinate support for homeless persons. Transitional Shelters offer temporary accommodation and social support to homeless persons who need intensive support to access stable housing, while Welfare Homes provide long-term residential care for destitute persons who are unable to support themselves and lack family support. As Mr Seah Kian Peng and Assoc Prof Daniel Goh have pointed out, some individuals who sleep rough in public places may have homes, but do not, or are unable to go home for various reasons, such as conflict with family members, co-tenants and so on. They may also not be known to social service agencies or have declined Government assistance. Over the year, we have stepped up partnerships with community groups who are active in befriending and engaging persons who sleep in public places, so that we can better coordinate and strengthen our outreach to them. Better understand the precise circumstances they are in and then allow us to work with the relevant partners, both local community partners, VWOs and Government agencies to try to resolve this challenge that they face. Mr Chairman, what the House has heard earlier and, in fact, yesterday, in terms of ComLink and LCN work, was that the social services would play a bigger role together with ground Government agencies in a coordinated holistic approach to try to tackle some of the most difficult challenges that complex families face. By no means will this work be easy. But this work will be intensive, and our social workers and VWOs will need all the support that they can get. We cannot transform social service delivery or look forward to achieving this new social service landscape without our partners in the social service sector.”
“In fact, if you speak to youth work agencies, youth workers and youths-at-risk, including those who have emerged from a crisis, they will share with you that relationship is critical. If you ask them to work with one youth worker in one agency and, say, the programme is over, go to another programme in another place and have another youth worker, that relationship is just very hard to rebuild. And if you push them from pillar to post and, say, there are multiple people involved, it will be just very difficult to break through that barrier, that wall that they put up around themselves. So, this work of lengthening post-care builds on the work of the National Committee on Prevention, Rehabilitation and Recidivism (NCPR), and Mr Melvin Yong had asked for an update on this work. We will help our youths reintegrate more smoothly into the community and reduce reoffending. We are also strengthening statutory protection for children and young persons. Ms Sylvia Lim asked about the timeline of proposed changes to the age for protection under the Children and Young Persons Act. We are consulting stakeholders on the proposed amendments, some of which are substantive and we look forward to Ms Sylvia Lim's inputs as well. It is important to ensure that our partners are equipped to play their roles and that we do not unduly rush implementation. Our public consultations will run till mid-March, and we aim to table the amendment Bill in Parliament later this year or early next year. Sir, close partnerships between the Government and community are crucial to tackle another serious social challenge, that is, homelessness or rough sleeping. Both Mr Seah Kian Peng and Assoc Prof Daniel Goh asked about efforts to tackle emerging types of homelessness and different types of rough sleeping.”
“Upon discharge from our MSF Youth Homes, young people may reoffend for various reasons – mixing with bad company, difficult family circumstances and so on. But every young person matters, and we will do our utmost to help them overcome their challenges. Let me share Jervin’s story. Jervin is a young man currently serving National Service (NS). He was discharged from the Singapore Boy's Home last year and it is not easy to adjust back into the community after some time away. Jervin's case worker understood this acutely and went the extra mile. She checked in regularly on his progress for six months after his discharge, helped arrange his NS check-up for his enlistment and connected Jervin's family with the FSC for additional support. Jervin was also placed on the Bettr Barista Holistic Training Programme and received his professional barista certificate before he started NS. The social worker and I are both proud of Jervin, and we hope that he continues his good progress. To better support young people like him, after their discharge from MSF's Youth Homes, we have decided to lengthen post-care support from two months to one year. Post-care officers in the community will, therefore, have a longer runway to build rapport and a relationship and help link young people to community groups, such as schools, employers, interest groups and other local community partners, to help keep them meaningfully engaged and envelop them with positive support and positive influence. And if issues arise, they can help these young people manage and resolve them early. The nature and intensity of support will be tailored to the needs of these young people. Those with additional needs will be referred to partner agencies for support.”
“We are already seeing positive outcomes from the networking. Project Home Alone (PHA), for example, is an initiative that sprung up from the Hougang-Serangoon SG Cares Community Network session in September last year. The SSO at Hougang, the Ang Mo Kio-Hougang Grassroots and Xinmin Secondary School initiated an elderly befriending programme after they met during the session and it started last month. Secondary school students are befriending elderly residents living near the school, as well as in Thye Hua Kwan Nursing Home in Hougang. We hope to see many more of such partnerships. A strong network of support within the community is crucial for those who need more help. So, ComLink and the LCN pilot, which I announced yesterday, will complement and strengthen support for the vulnerable. Imagine each and every town having an LCN, agencies, all knowing one another – whether you are in the Government, people sector, whether you are a religious organisation, corporates who want to come on board, informal groups who want to play a part – but doing so in a coordinated way through the SSO which understands the landscape, able to galvanise the data. Each and every node in that town, with training, with kind of a relationship building, all aligned to say that, "Well, yes, I am doing my job. But in understanding my clients' needs, I understand the broader landscape of the challenges, and I will bring in my relevant partners to make sure we work together as far as possible." And within each of these community networks, you have your local LCN pilots, you have your ComLink, all working and plugging into the same motherboard. Sir, let me now move on to youth offenders. The community support which I spoke about earlier, is also important to break cycles of offending for young people.”
“45 am Just imagine a map, each and every town in Singapore covering the whole island. On this map, you can see many, many dots and each dot, from a planner's point of view, is a healthcare institution, a service centre, an SSO, a school, a polyclinic, all embedded in the town. Each of these agencies is like a node that we seek to connect through the SG Cares Community Network. These community networks seek to share and tap on the collective knowledge of the communities' needs, explore collaborations to make a greater impact, and to align and organise our efforts to better support individuals and families in need. Since May last year, we have started bringing together Government agencies, VWOs and community partners at the town level; not the headquarters, but on the ground, the people who are actually running the centres in the communities. The first round of networking, involving about 160 agencies and 200 officers per town, will be completed by July this year. The second round for some towns will start taking place from later this year. We will do this every year. As a follow-up, the SSOs will, in between each of these sessions, lead deep dives with relevant partners to tackle specific social issues, such as youth offending, disability, the needs of seniors in that specific locality. They will also create more opportunities for our ground officers to build professional people-to-people relationships with counterparts in other agencies and VWOs. So, when we talk about systems theory, we talk about silos, we talk about people guarding their turf. What better way to address this on the ground than to let officers meet one another and know that actually they are all aligned to the same purpose, the same families you are serving and let us work together.”
“At the same time, we need to better organise and coordinate all of this work, especially when so many agencies and VWOs may sometimes be involved in certain families' cases, so that families can achieve the best outcomes. We are, therefore, introducing a set of case coordination guidelines for agencies and case workers across the community. Agencies will discuss and coordinate around the needs of each family, with one agency maintaining overall oversight for each complex case. We call these Guidelines for Case Master Action Planning (Case-MAP). The Case-MAP will guide agencies and caseworkers from different organisations, both within and outside the Government, so that they share a common understanding of the entire family's needs and align their interventions accordingly. And if they identify barriers, gaps, roadblocks or inconsistencies in policies, criteria or operational implementation, these will be surfaced to the relevant Ministries through our SSOs to be looked into and resolved. About 200 agencies and 400 officers across seven towns are being trained in these guidelines, which we have started rolling out this month. The initiatives I have shared will strengthen our social service architecture and enhance the support which families with complex challenges receive. But going beyond systems, data and protocols, what we are really working towards is a strong, interpersonal network comprising our officers, social workers and partners across various agencies in every town embedded amongst our communities. Our fellow residents, VWOs and partners on the ground know the local community and their needs best and what local informal resources are also available to supplement formal support. 11.”
“We also observed that because agencies and VWOs are currently approached separately for specific issues, a family will approach HDB for housing-related concerns, approach SP Power Services for utilities issues, approach other departments for specific areas of needs, these agencies sometimes end up with a compartmentalised understanding on the family's challenges, rather than a holistic overview. To address this, we are improving information and data sharing across agencies. We have established protocols with HDB and MOE. Why? To enable ComCare clients to be automatically considered for reduced HDB rental rates and assessed concurrently for MOE's Financial Assistance Scheme for their school-going children. By the second half of this year, ComCare clients with young children will also be automatically assessed for childcare subsidy and financial assistance. This is work in progress and we will continue to expand these arrangements to more agencies. We are also using data and system interfaces to provide more coordinated and targeted assistance, especially if they can allow us to intervene early. I agree with Ms Tin Pei Ling that data can be used to tailor assistance to clients' needs. SSOs and Family Service Centres (FSCs), for example, use Social Service Net to share client information with consent, and we are looking at the possibility of more information linkups. Beyond systems and data sharing, there needs to be careful case coordination so that no Singaporean falls through the cracks. I assure Mr Darryl David that our SSO officers work closely with the family and other agencies to understand the family's circumstances and support them holistically. But we take his feedback and we will seek to do better.”
“Over time, we will expand to include more ground agencies as well as VWOs and community partners. Next, because the solution to families’ problems may rest with multiple agencies, one needs to make some adjustments before the other can give approval, families also need to travel to multiple touchpoints. And clients with complex problems are often asked to submit multiple documents or repeat their circumstances when they need help. We should not let this be a barrier to them seeking help. We have, therefore, established a single touchpoint where they can access multiple services. We will start with the SSOs. Some of our SSOs are already physically co-located with complementary services, such as employment assistance and family services. We are using technology as well to provide some of these services via video-conferencing links. You can see that on the screen – a Social Service Officer working with a client, addressing the assistance that the SSO can provide, but also linking the client through video conference to officers in other agencies so that there is direct face-to-face contact. And if the documents need to be shared, they can send it across. By the end this year, clients will be able to access financial, employment and housing services at all our 24 SSOs, either through physical co-location of services or videoconferencing links with HDB, WSG and NTUC's e2i career coaches. By the second quarter of this year, clients will be able to access legal advisory services through videoconferencing at Boon Lay, Taman Jurong and Queenstown SSOs. This is part of a pilot with the Legal Aid Bureau.”
“Thank you. Sir, the centre is a family with complex challenges, like the kind that I described earlier. They sometimes face issues beyond those that they are seeking help for. For example, if a family seeks help from the Housing and Development Board (HDB) because of HDB rental arrears, it could be because a breadwinner has lost his job and the family is in financial difficulty, hence, running into difficulties with arrears. We want to ensure that these families get the necessary information and referrals to the relevant agencies' services, regardless of which agency they first approach in the community. So, even if they approach only HDB in the first instance and it is in relation to arrears, when the officer speaks to the family and understands that actually because of this and that, although it is beyond his remit and he assesses them for assistance on arrears, what he ought to be doing is to refer the family to, say, Workforce Singapore (WSG) or the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC's) Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) to help the breadwinner with potential job matching and also to the Social Service Office (SSO) for financial assistance in the meantime. We want each frontline agency in the community to be a potential gateway for families with complex needs to receive assistance from other social services, including those in the community. By the end of this year, we will train 2,500 officers from various frontline agencies to identify a client's broader needs and link the client to the relevant agencies. They include our frontline colleagues from the People’s Association (PA), HDB, WSG, NTUC's e2i, Singapore Police Force, Singapore Prison Service, the Silver Generation Office and the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC).”
“The question is: how can we support such families with their existing needs and also ensure their next generation has a good start in life? At the Committee of Supply (COS) last year, I shared that MSF would be partnering and working with other agencies and community groups to transform and integrate our social services and strengthen that important last-mile support for families, especially those with very complex difficulties, so that help can be provided in a more comprehensive, convenient and coordinated manner. Ms Denise Phua and Mr Seah Kian Peng asked about our progress. At the Joint Segment on Opportunity yesterday, I described the Community Link (ComLink) that we will be setting up to support rental housing families and the Local Community Network (LCN) pilot to wrap around support for at-risk youths and their families. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has also articulated the Uplifting Pupils in Life and Inspiring Families Taskforce (UPLIFT) proposals to support students whose performance and absenteeism are worrying. All of these that we announced yesterday carry the DNA of integration and coordination, a different way of doing things in the social services. So, let me now give this House an update on our broader level work across the entire social sector. This is, in a way, an interim report card. Mr Chairman, in the course of the presentation, may I display some slides on the screens for Members' better understanding?”
“We have put in place trampolines to help people bounce back, in the words of Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and social safety nets for those who cannot care for themselves and who have little or no family support. But even as our broad-based policies and schemes and our targeted means-tested support continue to uplift many low-income families, we need to do more to better support families who are bogged down by complex and often interlocking challenges. For such families, the consuming nature of their difficulties, such as addiction, incarceration, family violence, illness, divorce, mental health problems and so on, and often a combination of a number of the aforementioned, may make it difficult for them to access available opportunities, benefit from schemes and programmes or respond effectively to help that is offered to them. I know of a four-generation family where a teenage girl was raised by her grandmother. She dropped out of school, had a son out of wedlock a few years ago when in lower secondary. The girl's son did not have any preschool education until recently when social services intervened. Why is this girl looked after by her grandmother? Because her mother has been in and out of prison for various offences – out for a while and now in for a long-term imprisonment for a serious crime. Her father remains uncontactable for some time now and refuses to take responsibility for the family. Unfortunately, her grandmother is showing signs of dementia. So, this is a family that faces very complex challenges which make it difficult for them to cope on their own despite many, many agencies and voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) coming in to assist in different areas.”
“Mr Chairman, I would like to thank Members for their thoughtful speeches yesterday evening. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) will focus on three priority areas. First, building a strong social compact, by strengthening family and community bonds and our collective resilience. Second, building a more inclusive society, to enable people of all abilities to achieve their fullest potential. My colleague, Minister of State Sam Tan, will share more later. Third, giving our children a good start in life through affordable, accessible and quality preschool. My colleague, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Faishal Ibrahim, will speak on this later. Sir, our social compact has evolved over the years. In the early days, there was a strong emphasis on self-reliance. Social assistance was minimal and community support was ground-up. As our economy developed, we experienced uneven income growth. We then introduced targeted social policies to give more support to those with less and placed stronger emphasis on collective responsibility and the need for many helping hands. As we face more challenges, such as an ageing population, shrinking family sizes and economic disruption and so on, individual and family efforts may sometimes not be enough. And so, over the last decade, we have shifted the balance decisively, with the Government and community shouldering a heavier responsibility. We now have broad-based transfers and subsidies that benefit the majority, as well as more targeted assistance for the low-income, vulnerable and those with specific needs.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2019/2020, and ask leave to sit again tomorrow.”
“Mr Chairman, may I seek your consent to move that progress be reported now and leave be asked to sit again tomorrow?”
“So, ComLink will build an understanding of the families living in the estate that they serve. It is a composite picture that we need to put together with all our partners. This also involves outreach to these families, starting with families with young children, understanding their situation, understanding, very importantly, what their dreams are for themselves and, in particular, for their children. That was what the Senior Minister of State Maliki Osman found in Project 4650 when Promoting Alternatives to Violence (PAVE) and many other community groups worked together, conferenced monthly, to understand the challenges and dreams of each and every one of the families they serve, until they see light at the end of the tunnel. It may take months, years or a very long time to happen. But that kind of support, integrated, interlocking, will make a difference. So, in terms of outreach, it will be proactive, it will reach out to these families and seek their participation and partnership along this journey.”