Ellen Lee
Singapore
“Madam, I have one supplementary question for the Minister. Given the increasingly heavy responsibilities that our Regular servicewomen have played alongside their male counterparts, will the same opportunities be made available for servicewomen to be appointed the Chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Chief of Defence Force, and eve…”
“Singaporeans are savvy in utilising technology to solve problems at work and good at using multimedia to make new friends, show concern for society, entertain themselves and share life experiences. Perhaps, we should use our creativity and think of ways to resolve community disputes without resorting to the use of law.”
“Sir, with more Singaporeans living longer than their parents, being healthy and able to work beyond retirement age becomes a common concern for adults with family commitments.”
“Madam, although much has been done to empower senior citizens to age graciously, there are still many who choose to conform to long-held norms, such as living quietly and modestly at home, reading, exercising and socialising little and focusing their attention on family and children.”
“Madam, with a rapidly ageing population and more people leading a longer life, care for the elderly is inevitable. However, ageing couples who have two or fewer children or no child at all are confronted with the prospect of there being no one to take care of them and their daily needs, especially when they are sick, feeble and weak.”
“Madam, the Community Mental Health Plan had a three-pronged focus: increasing awareness, expanding early intervention capabilities and integrating care with the community care. Could MOH provide an update on progress made so far?”
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“I urge the Government to seriously consider making adoption leave mandatory, if not for the whole 24 days, then at least for 14 days as a start, and also to grant the fathers some leave as well so that, together, the family can truly experience the joy of parenthood. I am glad to know that the Government has actually provided for four weeks of paid maternity leave for adoption cases and I would urge the private sector employers to do likewise as well. Sir, adoption leave is intended for married employees, widowed, divorced or those who have fewer than four other living children. In considering the mandatory adoption leave, I would suggest that, for the single females who never married for various reasons but would want to adopt a child to form their own family to enjoy the benefits as well for the same reasons that I have stated. Sir, with that, I support the Bill. 6.46 pm”
“To adopt a child for parents who are unable to conceive, it is a very important decision. They must have thought through this very thoroughly and have made all sorts of considerations before they decide to adopt, and they have to pay a big price for it because, once a child comes to the family, the child will also need some time to build up bonding with their adopted parents so that they can actually enjoy the fun of being members of a family. If after spending a lot of time and money and the parents could not enjoy such paid leave to be with the child, it is very regrettable. I hope that the Government will consider making it mandatory so that, by law, employers should provide such paid leave to the employees. (In English): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will now continue in English, on what other countries have done in this respect. Sir, we are aware that more and more societies have adopted pro-adoption policies in view of declining birth rates in most developed countries. For example, in Norway, the total amount of parental and adoption leave has been increased from 52 to 53 weeks at 80% of full pay, or from 42 to 43 weeks at full pay. In the UK, under the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002, an employee, regardless of gender, enjoys ordinary adoption leave period of 26 weeks. In the USA, the federal government allows leave and work scheduling flexibilities for employees who adopt children. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, each parent is also entitled to use a total of up to 12 weeks of leave without pay for adoption and care of a newly-adopted child. Sir, as we can see from these overseas examples, there is an ever-growing trend in these societies to seek a balance between work and family commitments.”
“Sir, making the leave mandatory would be a step forward in our modern and mature state with low fertility rates and consistent with the Government's drive towards a pro-family environment in Singapore. Sir, allow me at this stage to say a few words in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I fully support the initiative by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports to provide female employees desiring to adopt a child to be given paid leave. This will send a strong signal that the Government supports parents to adopt children when they cannot give birth to their own children, so that they can fulfil the dream of having a full family. Such a move can send a very strong signal, ie, that the adopted child will enjoy a certain status, particularly when we realise that an adopted child may sometimes not enjoy the kind of esteem as natural children. *Cols. 1105-1106. Although we have such a legislation, I feel that, unfortunately, the Government should not leave the discretion of granting paid leave to the employers. In other words, the employers can decide whether or not to award such paid leave to the employee because, generally, the employers may not think that the adopted child would be as good as their own children. They can say they are only adopting other people's children, so there is no necessity for the employee to be given this paid leave to look after the child. I feel that the Government should make it compulsory. Unless it is mandatory, the employee will never enjoy such paid leave, except for a small minority of companies which are very rational and sympathetic in granting such paid leave to their employees.”
“Unlike mandatory maternity leave, adoption leave in this case is not compulsory and largely dependent on the organisation the female employee works in, ie, whether the organisation adopts pro-family policies. Sir, many married employees choose to consider child adoption as their option primarily because they are unable to conceive after years of trying, and the decision whether to adopt is also not an easy one to make, and the consensus between spouses and their families is even harder to reach. The employees often expend much effort to try to adopt a child. In most cases, it does not come easy and, sometimes, it takes years before the adoption is finalised. When the adopted baby finally arrives at the adopted family's home, it is understandable that these employees, particularly the mothers, who are filled with joy, just like how first-time parents feel after the wives' delivery, would need much uninterrupted time to reorganise their lives. Sir, it is reasonable to expect these employees' desires to want to be with their newly-adopted infants for the purpose of bonding and taking care of this new family member. Like any newborn babies, these adopted infants too need lots of assurance and love when they first arrive at the adopted family's home. Therefore, it is logical for these employees, particularly the female employees, to want to spend time with the adopted child for reassurance, especially the initial crucial months. Unfortunately, and realistically speaking, these female employees know that it is difficult to get the employers to agree because, to the employers, it is but an adoption of somebody else's child.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, clause 12A of the Children Development Co-Savings (Amendment) Bill states that the Government would reimburse any employer who has granted a married, widowed or divorced female employee paid leave of up to 24 days in connection with her adoption of a child below six months of age. Sir, I applaud the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports for initiating paid adoption leave, as this is an official recognition that women who adopt children are helping to contribute more citizens to Singapore. These women are responding to the Government's procreation and pro-family policies in a different way, and their efforts should be saluted. This Ministry initiative will also send a strong signal that adopted children are treasured. It would go a long way to remove a stigma long associated with adopted children that they are second-class children within their own family as they are not born in it but adopted. However, I note that the proposed adoption leave could only be taken if the woman's employer agrees. I feel that leaving the discretion to the employer is as good as not having the leave in the first place, as I fear that many employers would never agree. I would therefore urge the Government to consider making the 24 days' adoption leave mandatory and, at the same time, consider granting leave to the male employee as well because parenting is a joint responsibility of the husband as well as the wife. The current amendments grant any female employee, married, widowed or divorced, adoption leave only if she proactively seeks and obtains her employer's agreement. Should the employer disagree and disapprove of the request, the female employee will not be able to enjoy this benefit.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am sure many people would be grateful to the Minister for wanting to speak to the Ministry of Finance to waive the GST. I think they will be even more grateful to the Minister if he could also request MOM not to impose any administrative charge when Medisave is being used. The other thing is that, just to follow up on my colleague, Ms Lee Bee Wah's question, I have come across a resident who had to undergo MRI scan but, unfortunately, he could not use Medisave, as a result of which he had to give up that treatment. Perhaps this is something that could be looked into as well.”