Eric Chua
Singapore
“Chairman, thank you for your indulgence. I would like to set right a couple of points in my speech earlier before Members seek clarifications. Firstly, I mentioned that enhancements we provide additional financial relief for 3,600 PwDs accessing our residential and community disabilities services. The number should be 3,800.”
“Sir, I thank the Member for her very passionate interventions over the past years as well. First, on job redesign. Under the existing Open Door Programme, there is a Job Redesign Grant that can already be applied for, so that is one potential avenue that we can point to.”
“And I behove all Members of the Chamber to also support these home-based businesses, because many of them, for instance, Bakes by Ben and his mum. They are making a living.”
“We must treat it as solvable. We cannot eliminate temptation, but we should not normalise harm. If technology has industrialised temptation, then our response must be to industrialise resilience: thoughtfully, proportionately, with care. Let us not hesitate simply because the subject is uncomfortable.”
“Sir, I thank the Member for his clarifications. On the provisions of information in vernacular languages on the website, I think that is something that we can potentially explore and look at.”
“I am also grateful for the IJT members across the private and public sectors – lawyers, policy-makers, law enforcement officers, social service professionals, healthcare experts, community partners and caregiver representatives. Sir, to be sure, we face both challenges and disruptions, but also tremendous opportunities.”
The complete record
Every one of 432 lines we hold for Eric Chua, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 9.
“SportSG will also support them to connect them with Corporate Partners who can help to co-fund these projects. Finally, football. I thank Miss Cheng Li Hui, Mr Darryl David, Mr Abdul Samad and Mr Faisal Manap for their passion in Singapore football. Allow me to provide an update on the progress on "Unleash the Roar!", our national project to uplift Singapore football. This year, we started 10 School Football Academies (SFAs) in secondary schools. We want to provide a nurturing environment for students to hone their football skills while supporting them academically. Almost 400 students have enrolled in our SFAs. Our ambition is to grow them to full capacity over the next few years with a total of 16 SFAs for boys across all secondary levels. And we also plan to establish SFAs for girls as well. A key factor in the SFAs' success is quality coaching. To give our students the best training environment, each SFA will feature a dedicated Head Coach, assistant coaches and zonal specialist coaches. To go far, we must work with the right partners. We are working with LaLiga to bring in nine Head Coaches who have experience developing young, high-performance footballers to lead our SFAs. These coaches will join us in April. We are also partnering Borussia Dortmund, a top professional football club in the Bundesliga, famed for its focus on youth talent development. We are also grooming our local coaches. We have begun recruiting local assistant coaches. Five have started coaching since mid-January, and we will onboard 12 more by April. To ensure high-quality football coaching, more than 300 coaches and MOE teachers have also been trained to adopt our National Football Curriculum. "Unleash the Roar!" is a project committed to levelling up Singapore football for the long haul.”
“Funding support for major games is also planned in advance and accounted for within the NSA's multi-year sports plan. We also continually invest resources to enhance the Singapore Sport Institute (SSI) and the National Youth Sport Institute (NYSI). Today, both have quality infrastructure to provide sports science and medicine support to our national athletes. Whether it is access to funding, sports science or medicine, the support rendered to each athlete is customised based on individual needs, and specific demands of their sport. On National Service, the priority of full-time National Servicemen is their military duties. We are working with MINDEF to support our Team Singapore athletes to address their sports training needs while fulfilling military duties. Provisions like short-term deferment, leave and time-off to train and compete are available, subject to the SAF's operational needs. Corporates and Singaporeans can also contribute to our athletes' journeys. Mr Xie Yao Quan asked about the One Team Singapore Fund (OTSF) and efforts to encourage a spirit of giving to sports. Mr Darryl David asked about efforts to rally Singaporeans to support Team Singapore. As previously announced by the Finance Minister, we are extending the $50 million OTSF Matching Grant for an additional five years until FY2026 and to cover more areas of high-performance sports support. The OTSF offers one-to-one matching for donations and has matched almost $15 million since its inception in 2017. Your donations and matching grant will benefit our athletes. We will also establish Team Singapore Cares, a platform for Team Singapore athletes to serve and give back. Team Singapore athletes will be able to tap on the Active Citizen Grant to spearhead initiatives.”
“Under the Safe Coach Programme that is being rolled out, all sports participants in member organisations, including administrators and volunteers will be bound by the Safe Sport Unified Code. Mr Mark Chay also asked about the Coaching Competency Framework that CoachSG is developing with Leeds Beckett University. This will inform our formal coach education curriculum. When recognised as part of the sport sector Industry Transformation Map, coaches can use the framework to compare the competencies and remuneration of coaching against jobs in adjacent sectors, thereby promoting greater occupational mobility. With established recommended rates, coaches will be remunerated fairly and it is our hope that the coaching profession will become more attractive. On recognising our coaches, today there are various awards, such as the Coach of the Year Award by the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) and SDSC, as well as CoachSG's Singapore Coach Medallion. I thank Mr Mark Chay on his interest on various issues and welcome him to continue working closely with us. Chairman, 2022 will be yet another busy year for our Team Singapore athletes, as they represent Singapore at the Hanoi SEA Games, the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the Surakarta ASEAN Para Games and the Hangzhou Asian and Asian Para Games. Keeping in top form will be of utmost importance and Mr Mark Chay will be reassured to know that we are supporting our athletes as best as we can. Our support for national athletes is comprehensive and takes both financial and non-financial forms. Each year, the Government spends more than $70 million in high-performance sports, over and above the $90 million on sports infrastructure.”
“Today, CoachSG runs curated coaching courses under the Special Olympics Singapore and Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC). About 2,800 coaches, educators, volunteers, staff and students have been trained in inclusive sports programmes. To equip more coaches with disability sports coaching competencies, CoachSG will incorporate this into the National Registry of Coaches' (NROC) SG-Coach Level Two curriculum this year. In summary, the DSMP has benefited more than 18,000 persons with disabilities to date. We will continue to do this and more. This year, SportSG will introduce 10 sports programmes under the new Para Sport Academy, starting with Cerebral Palsy Football, Para-canoe and Athletics. The Para Sport Academy will drive the integration of disability and mainstream sports in our ActiveSG Academies and Clubs. They will also provide aspiring para-athletes a clear pathway from recreational participation to high-performance sports. We hope that the Para Sport Academy will be an enabling platform through which more persons with disabilities can build their self-confidence and reach their fullest potential. It is also our ambition to grow a new generation of para-athletes who will go on to represent Singapore. To better ensure that the Para Sport Academy serves the needs of para-athletes, SportSG has established an advisory panel comprising prominent members of the disability sports community. With their extensive experience in and contributions to para sports, the panel will be well-placed to co-design and grow the Para Sport Academy. 6.45 pm Mr Mark Chay spoke about raising coaching standards and recognising coaches. On raising coaching standards and regulations, SportSG is working on creating a larger national registry to include coaches and fitness instructors.”
“In addition to WeConnect that Minister of State Alvin Tan mentioned earlier, SportCares has launched a mentoring programme to support 100 disadvantaged young people over the next two years. Second, we will support our youths through internships, scholarships and bursaries. From July, SportCares will offer industry attachments within SportSG and industry partners. SportCares has also committed $400,000 towards the SportCares Scholarship. Up to 20 SportCares youths will be supported to pursue either a NITEC, tertiary or undergraduate course in a locally recognised institution. Up to 1,400 children, youths and persons with disabilities (PwDs) from low-income backgrounds will benefit from the SportCares Bursary Scheme, which covers the fees to any ActiveSG Academies and Clubs programme for at least a season of 10 weeks. Mr Darryl David, Ms Rahayu Mahzam and Miss Cheng Li Hui asked about efforts to provide more inclusive opportunities through sports. In my MSF speech earlier, I spoke about the Enabling Masterplan 2030 and our whole-of-society efforts to make Singapore more inclusive. To that end, disability sports play an important role. Since the launch of the Disability Sports Masterplan (DSMP) in 2016, we have made good progress. We widened the base of disability sports participation. The number of PwDs participating in sports has grown from one in three in 2016 to one in two today. We will make our sports facilities more accessible and will make all ActiveSG Gyms inclusive by 2026. We have also promoted inclusion through sharing sporting experiences. Mr Mark Chay raised the importance of empowering coaches to better support PwDs. Ms Rahayu Mahzam asked if expertise in this area is sufficiently widespread.”
“Second, in every town, the SG Cares Volunteer Centres (VCs) and SG Cares Community Networks are fostering collaborations with partners, such as schools, corporates, ground-up movements and Social Service Agencies (SSAs), to channel volunteers to areas of need. Third, we will continue to enhance our charities' capabilities. As shared by the Finance Minister, we will extend the Charities Capability Fund from FY2022 to FY2026. Charities and Institutions of a Public Character will continue to receive funding support to strengthen their governance and management capabilities. Lastly, we have made volunteering even more accessible through the SSAs and SG Cares VCs, which have pivoted to virtual volunteering opportunities, such as online storytelling and exercise sessions, that engage diverse age groups. Mr Xie Yao Quan rightly pointed out that sports have the power to uplift underserved communities and change lives. Indeed, sports are a powerful force for good and a great social leveller. SportSG's SportCares will partner MSF's ComLink to offer programmes like its flagship "Saturday Night Lights", a structured football programme, to families with children and youths living in rental housing. This will be launched to all 21 ComLink towns, but starting with five this year. We hope to reach out to 28,000 children and youths across about 300 public rental housing blocks by 2027. Sports also play a critical developmental role for youths. It shapes character, teaches resilience and teamwork and builds communities. SportCares will launch two initiatives. First, a mentorship programme. I agree with Ms Rahayu Mahzam. Having mentored ITE students myself for many years, I strongly believe that every youth has potential, regardless of what their starting point in life is.”
“Chairman, COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work and play. These past two-plus years, we have had to fight the pandemic together, yet acutely apart. This long fight has been draining. But like other crises we have weathered before, we can overcome COVID-19. But to do so, we must strengthen the sense of "us". I will now outline how MCCY will build a more caring, inclusive and united society through volunteerism and sports. Ms Hany Soh and Prof Koh Lian Pin asked about efforts to build a more sustainable sports ecosystem. We are doing so in three ways. First, we are greening our sport infrastructure like the upcoming Punggol Regional Sport Centre in 2024 and the Kallang Alive Precinct into a sports and recreational Green Mark District. Second, we are partnering the sports industry to reduce, recondition and recycle sports equipment. SportSG will ensure that all its supported events attain green certification by 2023. Third, we will rally our National Sports Associations (NSAs), Team Nila volunteers and ActiveSG Sport Centres to amplify our sustainability efforts. We have brought community gardens like the one Ms Hany Soh described to other ActiveSG Sport Centres to cultivate community ties through green initiatives. Mr Mohd Fahmi Bin Aliman and Miss Cheng Li Hui asked about opportunities for Singaporeans to volunteer and to care for others. Through the SG Cares movement, MCCY will work with community partners to make volunteerism our way of life. First, SG Cares is partnering professional bodies, such as the Law Society Pro Bono Services, to champion skills-based volunteerism. We aim to grow regular volunteers and deepen our culture of care and service to the community within these professional bodies.”
“Thank you, Mdm Chairman. I also want to thank the Member for his three clarifications. First, on expanding beyond the existing pool that we have identified to include those from self-help groups, schools, FAS and whatnot, I am mindful that we already have 14,000 families identified for this year and the next. We do want to focus on them. I would say that let us focus on these 14,000 families because a bespoke and customised approach has to be had for each of these families. So, I do not think it is something that we want to take lightly. And once we are on a steady state with the existing 14,000 families, we will want to move on to as many other families that we can assist as possible. So, that is for first question. For the second question, the answer is we will take a look at that and we will, gradually, progressively, evolve what we can provide in the technology and in the app. The third question relates to the co-location of the different institutions, SSOs, FSCs and all that. We have piloted that at Kreta Ayer and Bukit Merah and we have co-located the SSO and FST. [Please refer to "Clarification by Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for Social and Family Development", Official Report, 10 March 2022, Vol 95, Issue No 58, Correction by Written Statement section.] We have also co-located SSO and AIC in Bedok and also in Tampines Hub. So, these are some examples. As we evolve the delivery of social services, we can look at how we can actually co-locate some of our services as well.”
“Thanks, Mdm Chairman. Likewise, I want to thank Ms Denise Phua for her passion in this area of work, which I think is really infectious whenever she is at the EMP meetings where she brings with her great ideas as well. I want to keep this short. We will not shun away from our responsibilities on this. That is why the Disability Office, Social Policy and Services Group (SPSG) in MSF, is there, and that is why we will continually look at these issues in totality and not just look at them from our own vantage point, but to also look at them together with our partners in the community, the social service agencies. Which is why, in today's EMP 2030 Steering Committee, we have a whole range of representations from both the people, private and public sectors. I am co-chairing that with Mr Gan Seow Kee, Vice-Chairman of SBF, and I think that is a good example of how we hope to really make a difference in this disability space for good and in a sustained fashion. And in this latest EMP, one of the bold moves that we are making – and I am letting the cat out of the bag a little bit here – is to really fix some tangible goals for ourselves as to where we want to get to in the next few years leading up to 2030, where the endpoint of the Enabling Masterplan is. It is an endpoint, but it is, to me, just a checkpoint. Because what happens after 2030? It is the fourth, but, definitely, not the last masterplan that we will have. We will have to keep working at these issues because some of these things that we want to change in society pertain to mindsets, culture, how we maybe even react to persons with disabilities in our midst. So, there is a lot of work for us to do together and I want to give the Member the assurance that we will be keeping at this for the long haul.”
“I thank the Member for his clarification. On the first question of whether the staff ratio for the adult disability care facilities is on par with the SPED schools, I do not have the numbers for the staff ratios for SPED schools on hand at the moment. So, I cannot give a fair comparison across these two types of facilities. On the second point about closing the gaps, I do think that what we are doing is journeying with our persons with disabilities and, as I mentioned earlier, what we have done is to, over time, where necessary, increase funding. For instance, I mentioned increased funding for our day activity centres by some 20% or $3 million last year and we have also increased funding for our adult disability homes by about 25% most recently as well. Our intention is really to make sure that we cater for the right amount as well as the right type of services that our persons with disabilities need within the community. In terms of closing the gap, that is definitely what we hope to do. That is why in the iterations of the three Enabling Masterplan (EMP) since 2007, we have been keeping at it. We have been working on the fourth edition. As Members know now, the results and findings of which will be made known in the later part of this year. I hope that Members can look out for the announcements that we make under EMP 2030. 1.00 pm”
“You cannot get to Rome in one evening but we can most certainly do that if we adopt a whole-of-society approach – where the community, our social service agencies and the Government come together. Then, I think we have a fair chance at success for this programme.”
“Thank you, Mdm Chairman. I want to thank the Member for his clarification on ComLink and I also want to thank the Member for attributing the adjective "success" with ComLink at this point. But I do think it is a little bit premature. We started ComLink with four sites in 2019 – Jalan Kukoh, Boon Lay, Kembangan-Chai Chee as well as Marsiling. So, we have piloted that at four sites. We thought the model worked well and that is why we are going into a two-phased approach: 11 towns last year, as well as 10 towns this year. What we are trying to achieve through ComLink is our promise in our Social Compact: to help our low-income families. This is really going for the long haul because if you look at the broad objectives of stability, self-reliance and social mobility we are talking about – and mostly, on social mobility – we are talking about long-term outcomes. Through ComLink, we are tracking various outcomes, indicators, not just in terms of immediate process indicators, but also perception. Finally, and most importantly, in my own opinion, outcome indicators – where do the families end up? I want to stress the fact that, actually, time or speed might not be of the essence in this scenario. Because we are talking about having a very customised, very bespoke approach to going to each family, understanding them, both their challenges that they face, as well as the aspirations and dreams that they have; and then helping them to take away, remove or sidestep some of these challenges while, at the same time, working towards their longer-term goals, their aspirations. I do not think it is something that can be achieved overnight.”
“We will continue to work with the community to build resilient individuals, strong families and a caring society. Families serve as a beacon of light in our lives. It is an inspiring light that pushes us to greater heights. It is a guiding light that always leads us back if we ever take the wrong path. But it is also a comforting light that provides us with refuge whenever the going gets tough and where we need to look towards to share our joys and anxieties. Our families also serve as compasses that help us navigate through life. Families shape our values, beliefs and a sense of purpose. Through the storms of life, we need only reach into our pockets for our compass to help us all find our true north. So, in this Year of Celebrating SG Families, let us all aim to become a bright beacon of light and a trusty compass for our families, just as they are for us. [Applause.]”
“The costs and duration are higher for more complex Court orders, which, typically, involve adults and elderly who lose capacity without making an LPA. Thus, I urge all Singaporeans to have your LPAs registered, to provide peace of mind to yourselves and to your loved ones. We will continue to work with community partners to facilitate access to pro-bono or low-cost services. Madam, in Mandarin, please. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Families are the bedrock of our society. When our youths face challenges, families will always be a refuge to comfort them. Families are the source of purpose and strength to guide our youths back to the right path and bounce back. With families' love and care, I believe that our youths can grow into resilient individuals, fulfil their potential and, ultimately, contribute back to society. The mental well-being of our youths is an important priority. While parents will always remain a core pillar of support, the Government will continue working closely with our partners to complement family support. We will transform the YMWBN into a national network to develop whole-of-society partnerships to support the mental well-being of all in Singapore. Youths who leave formal education early also merit special attention. Last year, we announced a pilot mentoring programme for students who leave ITE prematurely. We hope that this programme will empower them to achieve their aspirations with a positive mindset. We aim to support 100 youths over the two-year pilot. MSF will continue to work with the community to strengthen our families. (In English): To conclude, Madam, MSF has spoken about the suite of policies and programmes to support families with different needs.”
“As Ms Denise Phua has mentioned, the Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) is an important life planning tool should one lose mental capacity. As of 2021, about 130,000 Singapore Citizens, or about 4% of all eligible adult citizens, have registered their LPAs. To promote greater awareness of pre-planning tools, such as LPA and Advance Care Planning, MSF and MOH will conduct a joint awareness campaign later this year. We will also launch the new Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) Online system, which allows citizens to digitally make an LPA in a simple, convenient and secure manner. The fee waiver for LPA applications will also run right through March 2023. On deputyship, there were 2,794 Court orders appointing deputies in the past five years, with the number growing at about 25% annually. To simplify the application process, the Family Justice Courts have enabled applicants to apply for general orders through the Simplified Track on the Integrated Family Application Management System since 2019. This, typically, covers powers to consent to medical and dental treatment, care arrangements, manage bank or CPF accounts and insurance, set up Special Needs Trust Company accounts, and employment contracts. MSF also offers the Assisted Deputyship Application Programme (ADAP) for persons with disabilities who do not have mental capacity and who are enrolled in various Special Education schools, Day Activity Centres and Sheltered Workshops. ADAP applicants are provided with mental capacity assessment reports at no cost to the applicant and guidance for applying via the Simplified Track. The Simplified Track costs $40 in Court filing fees and are usually granted within four to six weeks.”
“As Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary has mentioned, the task force will be conducting a public consultation on these ideas and we look forward to developing a national strategy and action plan together with all Singaporeans. Another group of youths who may need special attention are those who leave the formal education system early. Like Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong and Mr Seah Kian Peng, we believe in the tremendous value of mentoring for these youths. Co-designed with MOE and ITE, and in partnership with Trybe Limited, our Career Advice and Mentoring Programme (CAMP) will expand networks of positive relationships for youths who leave ITE prematurely and empower them to achieve their aspirations. Under CAMP, mentors are matched with mentees based on the mentees' industries of interest and will guide their mentees in exploring their interests and broadening their exposure to opportunities. Since its launch in January this year, 14 mentors and 10 youths have come on board and more are expected to join in the coming months. Over the two years' pilot, we aim to support 100 youths. One of the mentors who have stepped forward is Lawrence Tharekheshwaren Supramany, an ITE alumnus with over 4.5 years of experience in the automotive industry. In his youth, Lawrence was involved in a riot. However, he turned his life around with the support of his community, notably from his pastor, who provided guidance and tutoring. Having personally experienced the transformative effect of a mentor in his life, Lawrence intends to inspire other youths as a CAMP mentor. MSF will track the outcomes of the CAMP youths, such as placement in education, training or employment and assess the suitability of scaling up CAMP beyond the pilot phase.”
“We also want to give all our youths the opportunity to succeed in life. For those with difficult backgrounds and challenges, it is even more important that we support them. The family plays a central role in guiding youths down the right path, particularly during adolescence, and being an anchor through the transition into adulthood. MSF is committed to helping families to do this better. We recognise that mental well-being is an important point not just for youths, but for everyone. As part of the Interagency Taskforce on Mental Health and Well-being, MSF is working together with various Ministries and agencies across multiple sectors to strengthen mental well-being in Singapore. We will increase accessibility to a continuum of services across our healthcare institutions, schools and community agencies, so that everyone can receive the appropriate level of care and support. We also want to make sure that these services are well-integrated, so that it is easier to navigate the mental health ecosystem. National Council of Social Service (NCSS) will expand the Beyond The Label campaign to involve more partners and the public in encouraging early help-seeking and greater acceptance of persons with mental health conditions. As Minister of State Gan Siow Huang has previously mentioned, NCSS and MOM are studying ways to strengthen support for persons with mental health conditions before and during employment and for their colleagues, so as to create a more inclusive work environment. These are all complex issues that can only be solved through a whole-of-society effort.”
“ComLink achieves these objectives through its three key pillars. First, we proactively reach out to families upstream to understand their needs, strengths and aspirations. We have reached out to more than 6,800 ComLink families so far. We then provide targeted and coordinated case support and then journey with each ComLink family to address their issues before they become more deep-seated. Together with the family, a customised action plan addressing the families' issues step-by-step is assembled. A pair of befrienders provide even closer support. Befrienders journey with families through their ups and downs and help to keep families' sights on their long-term aspirations, dreams and goals. Together, they work with the SSO coordinators to address issues that each of these families might face. For our support to be effective, all stakeholders must work together. This is where ComLink's third pillar comes in, where the Government brings together different community partners, corporates and volunteers to provide support for families, based on collective knowledge about a community's needs and strengths. Together, we have introduced some 74 ComLink programmes to date, including enrichment programmes, to provide children with holistic development, sports programmes to engage youths and support groups for parents. This complements the schemes and services that Government agencies are providing and, through such customised support, we can then have a stab at a transformative effect and set up families for success. Mr Mohd Fahmi Bin Aliman will be glad to know that we are fully on track to scale up ComLink over the next few years. We launched ComLink for 11 towns in 2021 and will kickstart efforts for the remaining 10 ComLink towns in the coming months.”
“As Ms Denise Phua has mentioned, the efforts of these groups have gone a long way in tackling food insecurity in Singapore but there are some overlaps and some gaps in the demand and supply of food support. MSF has been actively engaging food support organisations and community partners to coordinate food support. We convened the Charity Food Workgroup in 2019 to co-create a more responsive and coordinated food support ecosystem with different stakeholders. 12.30 pm In February this year, we soft-launched the FoodConnect directory and database. This platform allows families and social service agencies to search for food support organisations based on their location and dietary requirements, so that families can receive food which meets their needs. This allows us to move towards a more data-driven and choice-led food landscape where families can choose their preferred type of food support. But we also want to go beyond addressing immediate needs and look at families' longer-term needs. This is where Community Link, or ComLink, comes in. Dr Shahira Abdullah asked about ComLink's objectives and our strategy to help families to attain them. In the short term, ComLink focuses on helping families with children and youths living in rental housing to achieve stability, where their basic needs, such as day-to-day living expenses and whether their children are attending school regularly, are addressed. In the medium term, we support families towards self-reliance, such as to obtain a stable job and to sustain that employment. Stability and self-reliance then serve as building blocks towards the longer-term goal of social mobility, where the family achieves real income growth and the children and youths are able to achieve better life outcomes.”
“The second project is Community Circles, where a small group of friends, neighbours, or volunteers forms a "circle" of support around caregivers, to provide practical and emotional support. These projects have initiated an ecosystem of community and peer support that reaches out to caregivers. We will evaluate the outcomes from the pilots and facilitate collaborations, so that more networks can be established to support caregivers. Minister Masagos Zulkifli and Minister Desmond Lee highlighted how MSF has been working to strengthen our social safety net and the delivery of social services so that low-income households requiring assistance can get comprehensive, coordinated and convenient help. Mr Leon Perera will be happy to know that we have been tackling food security and unhealthy eating as part of this broader effort. We have helped low-income households to defray the cost of purchases at supermarkets, hawker centres and heartland merchants. This includes grocery vouchers for eligible households in 2020 and Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers in 2021 and as part of the Household Support Package (HSP) in Budget 2022. We also provide comprehensive support to households on ComCare schemes, which can include cash assistance for basic living expenses, such as food. ComCare cash assistance rates, which are regularly reviewed, take into account food-related expenditures based on the Health Promotion Board's nutritional guidelines to ensure that families can meet their nutritional needs. The community also plays a big part in tackling food insecurity. Many charities and community groups have stepped forward to offer food support – dried rations, cooked meals, grocery vouchers – to families facing food needs.”
“One of the ways is through piloting regional Enabling Services Hubs (ESH) and Enabling Business Hubs (EBH). The Enabling Services Hubs (ESHs), co-funded by the Tote Board, provide persons with disabilities above 18 with a greater range of options for flexible social and learning activities. Each ESH will identify and reach out to persons with disabilities and their caregivers in their region, understand their needs and link them to relevant support. Those at risk will be further supported by community befrienders. It will also provide on-site services such as continual learning programmes and social inclusion activities, for persons with disabilities and respite care for caregivers. While the ESHs serve those with care needs, the EBHs support work-capable persons with disabilities who require customised and longer-term support to work. We will share more information on these pilots later this year. Ms Rahayu Mahzam and Ms Yeo Wan Ling raised an important point about doing more as a community to support caregivers. Last year, NCSS, SG Enable and community partners formed the SG Together Alliance for Action (AfA) for Caregivers of Persons with Disabilities to co-develop a self-sustaining community support model for caregivers. We started with two pilot sites in Boon Lay and Kampong Glam and the AfA has begun to support the implementation of two projects. Project 3i is a caregiver-led initiative to provide social and emotional support for caregivers that is integrative, individualised and intentional. It will connect caregivers to form community networks and support caregivers through peer mentorship and professional support.”
“This will allow our DACs to hire more care staff and to increase the quality of care for clients. We are similarly reviewing the Sheltered Workshop programme. We have also kept assistive technology devices affordable for persons with disabilities and seniors through the Assistive Technology Fund (ATF) and the Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund, which Mr Pritam Singh raised. From April 2019 to December 2021, the ATF benefited close to 7,000 persons, with 66% of beneficiaries from households with a per capita income of $800 or less. Permanent Residents are also eligible for the ATF, with differentiated subsidy rates in line with our position to provide more subsidies to citizens. From April 2019 to December 2021, about one out of 60 ATF beneficiaries were PRs who are seniors. The most common claims included mobility devices like motorised and manual wheelchairs, hearing aids and daily living aids. We recently increased the ATF subsidy for Singaporeans with per capita household income of between $801 and $2,000 and expanded the range of items that seniors can be subsidised for to include medical devices like oxygen concentrators and suction pumps. More can be done to support persons with disabilities. I am co-chairing a cross-sector committee with Mr Gan Seow Kee, vice chairperson of the Singapore Business Federation, to develop our next edition of the Enabling Masterplan, or EMP2030. EMP2030 will set meaningful longer-term goals to foster a more caring and inclusive Singapore, which will continually be monitored to ensure that we are on track on our objectives. Today, there is a gap in services for adult persons with disabilities who do not attend any regular disability service after graduating from Special Education schools. We aim to gradually close this gap.”
“Mdm Chairman, my colleagues have shared how families are the bedrock of our society. In a supportive family environment, we can better navigate life's many challenges. But some families, including families with persons with disabilities, lower-income families and youths-at-risk face complex stressors and unique challenges. It is our responsibility as a society to journey with these families, share their burden and help them regain confidence to pursue their dreams and aspirations. I will share concrete steps that MSF is taking with our partners to support these families. Persons with disabilities face unique challenges. Family members who are caregivers to persons with disabilities often make silent sacrifices and experience caregiver stress. We recognise these difficulties and have provided greater support to these families over the years. Ms Denise Phua, Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song and Mr Mark Chay asked about the current support for persons with disabilities and the progress of the Enabling Masterplan. We have provided greater support in several ways. For example, 1,700 new job and training opportunities were created last year. This includes opportunities from the new Place-and-Train and Attach-and-Train programmes, which we will extend to December this year. The Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) has supported over 2,900 persons with disabilities between September 2020 and August 2021, which MOM will extend to September 2022 this year as well. We also extended the School-to-Work Transition Programme in January last year and launched the Enabling Mark in October 2020 to recognise inclusive employers, amongst others. In October 2021, we increased funding for Day Activity Centres (DACs) by $3 million, or 20%.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his supplementary question. Yes, operationally, SG Enable is already working very closely with Workforce Singapore (WSG) and e2i. Whenever WSG and e2i receive the call for help from persons with disabilities, they do refer cases to SG Enable. At the strategy level, we also have a WSG representative on the board of SG Enable; and ODP is actually funded by WSG. So, there is definitely a close working relationship between WSG, e2i and SG Enable. We will seek to build on this foundation that we have.”
“At the same time, as we move to the endemic phase, we hope that we can also try to alleviate some of the stress that both the preschools as well as families are facing, and that is why we will take Member's first suggestion on board as well.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member Ms Hany Soh for her additional questions. On the first question on additional support in terms of ART kits, I think that is something we can take back and explore. Last year, sometime around September, we had done the same. We issued some kits to the preschools, children, to alleviate the stress on the families of having to test regularly for the children. On the second question on disruption of manpower, as I had mentioned in my main reply, it is a balance we want to strike between maintaining the preschools' operations viz a viz getting the children tested. We understand that manpower can be a stretch, especially at this time when we have quite a number of preschool staff and teachers who might be down with COVID-19, who might be on medical leave. We want to be able to empower the preschools, give them some flexibility. So, as I had mentioned in my reply earlier, we do allow them some degree of flexibility as compared to before. In the earlier phases of fighting the pandemic, our SMMs and restrictions had been quite tight. Now, we have allowed for deployment across classes. We have also allowed for, in some cases, for example, where manpower is very scarce – as I mentioned, mother tongue language teachers – for them to be deployed across preschools, subject to SMMs. So, we are striking a right balance and we are mindful of the constraints that preschools face, we are mindful of the stress that preschools have to handle and deal with as well. But as much as possible, at this phase of the pandemic, we want our preschools to remain open as much as possible so that social impact arising from preschool closures are kept to the minimum.”
“The related issue is that of in-game loot boxes or "virtual goodie bags with random rewards" as The Straits Times called it. The odds for some of these loot boxes are sometimes as low as 0.00005% – and that is four zeros behind the decimal point, for the record. Of course, this means that prizes are extremely coveted. But what is concerning is how addictive loot boxes can become. Experts have warned that the allure of these loot boxes lie exactly in the excitement of not knowing what one is going to get, much like what Forrest Gump says in the box of chocolates. This stimulates the production of dopamine, a mood-lifting biochemical typically produced when we exercise, get sufficient sleep or meditate. But this keeps the gamer coming back for more. I have talked about my concerns on sexually explicit materials and gaming. But there remain many other issues that needs working through – cyberbullying, misinformation and disinformation, extremism – amongst many others. I stress again for the record here that I am not making a case against the Internet or gaming or any online platforms. But, while I had scratched the surface in terms of these online deals we need to tackle, what is the Ministry's strategy in mobilising resources, channelling societies attention to developing issues? And what are the conversations we need to have as a society? What roles can families and parents play? How can we all do our part to make the online world – which actually can be a constructive space for networking, knowledge sharing and content creation – one that is safer for everyone? Protect Vulnerable from Online Harm”
“WE CARE Community Services, a community-based addiction recovery centre reported an increase in the number of people seeking help for compulsive sexual behaviour, including excessive online pornography consumption. From 50 cases in 2019, WE CARE handled 100 cases in 2020. That is a 100% increase. Seventy cases were new and many were youths in their 20s. In many cases, first encounters with sexually explicit materials online start off quite innocuously as a curious conversation between peers or a chance encounter with a sexually explicit site due to random pop-up advertisements. But in Asian societies like ours, where parents tend to avoid awkward conversations on such sensitive topics, young impressionable minds are often left on their own to make sense of the material that they come into contact with. While many do not find themselves mired in addiction, the fact remains, some do. Especially when the consumption of sexually explicit material serves as a stress management mechanism. The question then is: do we know this often invisible issue well enough to design appropriate interventions? Second, gaming. Gaming itself is not necessarily a bad activity. It can be a good source of entertainment, stress relief or even character building. But things can go south with a small group of gamers when excessive online gaming interferes with one's routines. Relationships with family and friends can become strained and when gaming becomes a compulsion, one becomes restless and irritable when access to gaming is curbed. We all reeled in shock here in Singapore when we learnt that a teenager with a gaming addiction killed his father, partly because the father had limited his access to his games.”
“Sir, Singaporeans are one of the most digitally connected people in the world and we start young. According to a survey in 2019, Singaporean children get their first Internet-enabled device at the tender age of eight. That is two years younger than the global average and is amongst the youngest worldwide. And we seem to love our devices. On average, Singaporeans own 3.3 connected devices per person. Amongst us, 91% own a smartphone, sometimes two, and our broadband Internet speed is amongst the highest in Asia. Couple these trends that have been gathering pace since the 1990s with changes in our lifestyle due to the pandemic in the past two years – work-from-home, home-based learning arrangements, safe management measures, all those have meant that the human connection that each of us yearn for could often only be achieved through technology-mediated means. Simply put, we cannot live without being digitally connected today. Technology can either be a boon or a bane through social networking sites, people all over the world can reconnect with long-lost friends, share tips on niche hobbies and rally like-minded individuals passionate about various social causes. In the same vein, however, these platforms have also allowed terrorist cells from remote corners of the world to link up. Much, therefore, depends on factors, such as the purpose that technologies are harnessed for and the motivations of individual tech users, amongst others. While most people use the Internet and social networking sites for gainful posted purposes, for work, learning and leisure, some, inadvertently fall prey to ills that lurk in our online spaces. First, sexually explicit materials.”
“Chairman, Singapore is a small state. In the global order, small states have little intrinsic relevance. In the face of regional and global geopolitical developments, small states are often price takers. In many ways, 24 February this year will go down in the history books as the day history repeats itself. As curtains to the full-on military conflict in Ukraine were raised, what George Bernard Shaw said that "We learn from history that we learn nothing from history" takes on fresh relevance. Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has delivered a Ministerial Statement on Monday explaining our response and sanctions on Russia. I fully agree with the Minister when he says that this crisis is of existential concern to small states like Singapore. International law and principles enshrined in the UN Charter must be upheld. We should avoid getting ourselves caught up in geopolitical games. Internally, we must be united and, at the same time, always stand ready to stand for our interests and our sovereignty. Like many Singaporeans, I watch the daily developments in Ukraine with much unease. While the conflict in Ukraine remains somewhat a distant theatre of operations, what can we do to be sure that Singapore and Singaporeans really pick up and internalise relevant lessons because those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it? Our Relations with Southeast Asia”
“They have a study that has recently been conducted, I think, end of last year. MSF is also exploring working with members of academia to assess the rough sleepers situation and takes stock en masse how the situation has been. But anecdotally, as well as in terms of actual numbers that we have observed, both in terms of admission to S3Ps or TSes, we get the sense that in the course of the pandemic in the past two years, what has happened is that more of rough sleepers that were previously not amenable to working with Government agencies, social workers, community partners, to really try to come to some form of stable long-term housing, more of them have come on board to say that, "Look, I am willing to work with you to achieve stable long-term housing". So, our assessment is that in the past two years, because of the pandemic, we have actually managed to match more rough sleepers to either short-term or longer-term housing.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Member, Mr Seah, for his question. Again, drawing experience from the several night walks that I have been on in the past year and a half, I have noticed exactly the same phenomenon that the Member has raised. The fact that, sometimes alongside rough sleepers, there would be their friends who actually have homes to go back to. There would also be rough sleepers who actually have families to go back to, but for various reasons – it could be disputes, it could be the fact that they just want to be with their friends on the streets, it could well be that their families are living in a place that is further away and where they are rough sleeping is: number one, to be closer to their friends; and number two, perhaps closer to where they work at that particular point in time. So, for these various reasons, I think that Member has rightly pointed out that there is a small group of them that have homes to go back to, but choose not to do so for various reasons, some of which that I have stated. MSF does not actively track the macro number of such profiles that are out there in the community and I would want to stress that the macro numbers in this case might not be so useful in our work in extending assistance to each of them. Because the assistance that each of these rough sleepers require is bespoke. It needs to be customised to the rough sleeper's specific instance. So, in this case, I would very much prefer to focus on the individual rough sleeper as opposed to be investing a lot of resources to find out the macro numbers. But one macro number that we are quite interested to know is also a count of the rough sleeping population that we have in Singapore. I think the academia – NUS – has done a study in the past.”
“I think the same logic applies for rough sleepers, no two rough sleepers face the same difficulties back at home or back at their household or their families. And sometimes, when we construe rough sleeping or homelessness as purely a single dimensional problem of housing, I think that is where we need the public mindset to slightly shift. I think we can do a little bit more in this respect. But I assure the Member that HDB, as well as MSF and many other agencies and community partners work hand in glove to make sure that each of our rough sleepers get the customised and understanding assistance that they need.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Member for his supplementary question. I think in the past one and a half to two years since I have joined MSF, I have been privileged to be on several night walks with our community partners and social service agencies on the ground. What happens on each of these night walks is that there would be MSF officers that would be tagging along the community partners, groups like those coming from the Homeless Hearts of Singapore, from the Catholic Welfare Services and together with the MSF officers is also a team of multi-agency officers as well. And one of the agencies that support the MSF officers on the ground would also be the HDB officers. What these means is that actually, when we encounter a rough sleeper, be it someone who is known or new to us, we will be able to very quickly pull out whatever information we may already know about this person and then make quick arrangements for this particular individual rough sleeper that we are talking about. What I am trying to illustrate is the fact that actually, the coordination between HDB, as well as MSF, community partners and many other agencies is right there, right from the start as we first come into contact with any rough sleeper. And that assistance that is provided by HDB, as well as by the Government agencies and community partners, goes through and we journey with them, with each of the rough sleeper along the way. What probably could be better communicated to members of the public is also the fact that for rough sleepers, each of their situation is quite unique. In my past life as a lifesaver, when I was going through training, I was always told that no two emergency incidents are the same.”
“I thank the Member for his supplementary question. On the point about quickening the pace of our support that is given to low-income families with special needs individuals in the household, SNTC has moved quite a bit in that direction. Hence, the set-up of GOAL in October last year. Since GOAL was set up, we have also seen a groundswell of donations coming in and we are very happy with what has been achieved through this scheme. The scheme, as I said, was set up in October last year and is still in its infancy stage. So, I would think we should give SNTC some time, to let this scheme grow and mature. Over time, at the appropriate juncture, we can then take stock and perform the gaps analysis that the Member has mentioned to see what else we can do for low- as well as middle-income families in this area.”
“The LPA is an important pre-planning tool in ensuring peace of mind not only for ourselves but also for our family members and loved ones as they will know our wishes and can carry them out if we were to lose mental capacity. With that, I thank all Members for your valuable inputs and support of this Bill. Mdm Deputy Speaker, I beg to move. 6.20 pm”
“Mr Louis Chua asked if there is an aspirational target for the number of LPAs that we want to achieve. The truth is that the LPA take-up rate has been rising quite rapidly. From just 346 registered LPAs in 2010, we now have more than 20,000 LPAs registered just in the first six months of this year alone. My point is that we are moving in the right direction. So, targets aside, what we ought to do is to facilitate the LPA-making process and the launch of OPGO is yet another step to this end. Finally, Mr Leon Perera asked if MSF would explore supported decision-making. Firstly, as has been pointed out, donors should choose donees whom they trust and that includes trusting them to know their interests and wishes. The current MCA also requires donees to take all practicable steps to help the donor to make a decision before treating him as being unable to do so. Family members who are the vast majority of donees are also well-placed to support their donors in making their decisions as much as possible. For unrelated professional donors, they are required to draft a care plan and check in regularly with the donor to ensure that their wishes are respected to the fullest extent. Madam, this Bill represents a significant step forward in balancing the convenience of making an electronic LPA while ensuring that necessary safeguards are in place. Citizens and third parties alike will also have more confidence in transacting with the most up-to-date electronic LPAs. Digitalisation of the LPA and other transactions with the Office of the Public Guardian is especially timely, given the pandemic, which limits face-to-face interactions.”
“Ms Denise Phua would be pleased to learn that MSF has been working closely with other Ministries and community partners to raise awareness on pre-planning. As mentioned, we work with the Silver Generation Ambassadors to reach out to seniors and their care-givers. While we have halted temporarily our physical roadshows due to the pandemic, OPG has continued to engage hospitals, banks, Senior Activity Centres and so on, to conduct virtual talks on LPA for their staff and clients. But we can do more to widen our outreach in a sustained manner. There are plans for a pre-planning campaign which will leverage digital and ground channels to reach out to all Singaporeans. I am also heartened by Mr Patrick Tay's sharing about the live webinar and economical pre-planning packages he had embarked on for his Pioneer constituency and hope that other Members would consider similar efforts in their constituencies. I am glad that Mr Melvin Yong and Mr Seah Kian Peng had pointed out the taboo amongst seniors regarding LPAs and the misconceptions that some younger Singaporeans hold about pre-planning. I understand that the conversation about losing mental capacity can be difficult to broach. But it is better to be prepared than to leave matters unclear for our families should we lose mental capacity. Fortunately, more young Singaporeans are grasping the importance of pre-planning. Since 2010, we have about 30,000 donors below the age of 50. The full breakdown of the donors and donees by age is available on OPG's website. We will continue to educate Singaporeans and stakeholders to address these misconceptions and promote pre-planning before considering more drastic measures like default LPAs.”
“We are working to automatically approve search requests submitted in OPGO by pre-approved agencies, such as hospitals. This will ensure healthcare professionals and providers can retrieve search results in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Miss Cheryl Chan, Ms Hany Soh and Mr Patrick Tay have raised some concerns on the costs of making an LPA. Let me address them. First, there will be no additional costs incurred when making an LPA electronically. We have extended the LPA Form 1 application fee waiver for Singaporeans to 31 March 2023. I, therefore, urge all Singaporeans to take advantage of the waiver and OPGO to make your LPA. Second, regarding Ms Soh’s query on whether we will waive the fees permanently, we will review this and share more when we are ready. Third, Mr Patrick Tay asked if the Certificate Issuer fees may be waived, subsidised or benchmarked. OPG does not prescribe the fees charged as LPA certification is a professional service. However, the top 10 most visited Certificate Issuers are published on OPG’s website. As at January this year, the majority of the top 10 most visited doctors charged $50 or less, especially for senior citizens. For those needing financial assistance, the OPG website lists not-for-profit providers offering subsidised LPA certification services. They include Life Point's LPA One-Stop Services, Potter's Place Community Services Society and Mount Alvernia Outreach Medical Clinic @ Enabling Village. I fully agree with Ms Denise Phua, Mr Don Wee, Mr Louis Chua, Mr Melvin Yong, Mr Seah Kian Peng and Mr Xie Yao Quan's call for more Singaporeans to make their LPA. In my opening speech, I have outlined how digitalisation would ease this LPA-making process.”
“Mr Murali Pillai and Mr Xie Yao Quan emphasised the importance of a holistic pre-planning package. We wholeheartedly agree. My Ministry has been working closely with MOH to encourage citizens to pre-plan and to make their LPAs and Advance Care Plans together. The Advance Care Plan allows a person to consider their care preferences and communicate their wishes to their "healthcare spokesperson", who can speak on their behalf in the future. Ideally, the donee will take on the role of the healthcare spokesperson so that he or she may not only communicate but also make the decisions. Ms Hany Soh and Mr Yip Hon Weng would be pleased to know that the My Legacy portal already has an LPA-ACP tool which guides users to complete both forms. We are working with the My Legacy team to allow for system interfaces between OPGO and My Legacy, such that online LPA applications can be made on My Legacy, too. This will enable Singaporeans to consider making an LPA as they plan for other end-of-life matters. OPGO will also encourage donors to nominate their donees as their "healthcare spokespersons". I also thank Mr Xie Yao Quan and Mr Yip Hon Weng for their suggestions to integrate the LPA into relevant healthcare protocols and Government processes, such as CPF nomination reviews. In the same spirit, Ms Denise Phua had asked if the Certificate Issuer pool could be expanded to other professionals. My Ministry will review this feasibility. Currently, Singaporeans may refer to OPG’s website for the list of more than 7,000 Certificate Issuers. OPGO will also include a search function enabling donors to locate the Certificate Issuers by location. Mr Yip Hon Weng asked if the electronic LPAs would be automatically updated on the National Electronic Health Records system.”
“On Mr Gan’s suggestion to explore insurance for donors and donees to protect against the risk of legal suits, we will take this feedback onboard but we are mindful that this may incur higher costs for both donors and donees. Mr Gan Thiam Poh also raised another query regarding simplified dispute resolution options for disputing donors, donees and family members. Sometimes, despite the best of intentions, conflicts may arise because of a communication breakdown or misunderstanding. It may not be easy but I would encourage all disputing parties to talk through their differences. OPG may also refer these cases to mediation, family conferencing or counselling. Ms Sylvia Lim asked what might constitute "good reasons" where remote witnessing may be required. These include cases where the person has contracted a highly contagious disease such that a Certificate Issuer may not visit in person. Under such exceptional circumstances, prior application by the donor is needed for the Public Guardian to assess the merits of the case and to ensure sufficient safeguards are in place for remote witnessing. OPG will seek inputs from the various stakeholders on the safeguards and ensure that all the operational details are worked through before we implement this. Finally, let me move on to the last theme regarding Members’ suggestions for future developments in the mental capacity space. Ms Denise Phua, Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Don Wee asked if there are plans to further simplify and expedite the deputyship process. Many cases have benefited from the time and cost savings arising from the simplified deputyship application track. But I agree that more can be done. We note the Members’ suggestions and will continue to explore ways to improve the process.”
“With more than 95% of donees being trusted family members who are chosen by donors themselves, we agree with Ms Sylvia Lim that multiple doneeships are not uncommon. For instance, a daughter may be appointed as donee for her father, mother and husband. The Certificate Issuer will also have certified that the donor is not under undue pressure or fraud to appoint a particular person as donee. The Public Guardian will exercise her discretion judiciously when disclosing the donees’ information in the exceptional cases where fraud or undue pressure is suspected. Mr Murali Pillai also proposed that the Public Guardian be allowed to disclose other relevant information which is material to the donor’s decision when appointing the donee, for example, if the donee has prior criminal convictions. I thank Mr Murali for his suggestion and will consider this for future amendments. Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked if there is any recourse for mismanagement or breach of trust committed by the donee which does not require going to the Court. It is important that donors appoint donees whom they trust. But in the rare case where a donee abuses his or her powers, the Public Guardian is empowered to investigate the case and may apply to the Court under the existing section 17 of the MCA to revoke the LPA. Application to the Court is necessary as the Court plays the role as the finder of facts to determine whether mismanagement or breach of trust has occurred. That said, the concerned party need only report the case to the Public Guardian. The Public Guardian can then take the case to Court, if necessary.”
“We must respect the donor’s wishes should he or she knowingly appoints a donee with multiple doneeships or declines to attend an interview with the Public Guardian, a possible scenario that Ms Sylvia Lim raised. Nonetheless, should the Public Guardian have evidence of fraud or undue pressure, she may seek the Court’s directions under existing section 17 of the MCA on whether the LPA should be registered. For Mr Melvin Yong’s and Ms Sylvia Lim’s information, the Public Guardian would interview the donor to assess if the donor had voluntarily made the LPA. If necessary, the Public Guardian may rely on her existing powers to obtain further information to determine the issue. This approach would similarly be taken for cases that Miss Cheryl Chan has raised, for example, when the donor is already experiencing an early onset of dementia. Mr Louis Ng asked if the Public Guardian could interview persons other than the donor. The Public Guardian may exercise her investigative powers under the existing section 32 of the MCA to interview any person who has the relevant information relating to a donor who has lost mental capacity. As the number of doneeship appointments is confidential, we need to be careful on how much is shared and with whom. Thus, under the new section 31A of the MCA, we have enabled the Public Guardian to disclose this information to the donor only so that he or she may make an informed decision. Mr Don Wee suggested additional measures to screen potential donees. For example, Mr Seah Kian Peng asked to require the Public Guardian to disclose multiple doneeships in all cases. I wish to clarify that the intent of the amendment is to cover select cases where there are reasonable grounds to doubt the integrity of the LPA-making process.”
“Transacting parties may refuse to accept the donee’s authority if the donee does not comply. Clause 7 of the Bill will amend section 13(10) of the MCA to also enable transacting parties to require donees to produce such a certificate for transactions involving the donor’s personal welfare. I am not inclined towards a Statutory Declaration as this requires donees to seek a Commissioner for Oaths, which incurs more costs. We must not unnecessarily penalise the majority of cases that do not involve fraud. The OPGO process will also address some of the Members’ concerns, namely, the donee will need to declare on OPGO that the donor has lost mental capacity before transacting using the LPA. OPG will also continue to remind stakeholders to conduct their due diligence checks and verify that the maker of the medical report is a doctor with a valid licence. Miss Cheryl Chan, Mr Melvin Yong, Mr Shawn Huang, Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Yip Hon Weng asked about the amendment to allow the Public Guardian to disclose to the donor certain information concerning the donees. They wish to clarify the process and how OPG could detect such occurrences. OPG has a register of LPAs. The system will alert the Public Guardian if any prospective donee has been appointed as donee in multiple LPAs. The Public Guardian will assess the flagged case and interview the donor, if necessary. Potential red flags, as Mr Don Wee noted, may include cases where the donee is unrelated to any of the donors. The Public Guardian may also receive whistle-blowing complaints on the proposed donee. Mr Louis Ng raised an important point on whether the Public Guardian would intervene, regardless of the donor’s stated wishes. A key principle in the MCA is to respect the decision of a person with mental capacity.”
“Ms Ng Ling Ling and Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim also asked to consider at least one meeting between donors, donees and Certificate Issuers or between Certificate Issuer and donees. I seek Members’ understanding that we are aiming to strike a right balance between safeguards and convenience. There is, currently, no requirement for donees to be present when the donor visits the Certificate Issuer. It may be difficult for donors and donees to arrange a common time and space, given our work and family commitments. This is especially so if the donees are overseas at the time of the donor’s execution of the LPA. We wish to retain this convenience so that the LPA-making process is as accessible as possible. Furthermore, the donor should choose a person he trusts to make decisions on his or her behalf. Should there be any doubts on the donee’s mental capacity, the donor would not have appointed him or her. If more than one donee is appointed, any other concerned donee may also object to the registration of the LPA during the mandatory three-week waiting period. Mr Zhulkarnain asked to consider additional protection measures before a donee may use the LPA to transact. Miss Cheryl Chan had suggested for the Public Guardian to authenticate the medical report so that transacting parties are assured of its validity. Mr Leon Perera and Mr Yip Hon Weng proposed that all donees should notify OPG of their intention to exercise their authority, especially for major decisions, before doing so. And these are all good suggestions. Today, the MCA already allows a third party to require a donee to produce a certificate from a registered medical practitioner, stating that the donor’s lack of capacity is likely to be permanent, for matters involving a donor’s property.”
“Stringent security measures also prevent changes to the contents of the electronic LPAs without the donor or donee's knowledge when the document is signed with Singpass. If the LPA is compromised, the changes will be detected and the digital signature will be reflected as invalid, thereby disabling it from being used. Many Members have made suggestions for further safeguards to protect donors, donees and third parties. Ms Ng Ling Ling asked for MSF to reconsider the removal of a witness for the donees’ signature. We have assessed that the risks of doing so are very low. First, the donee must log on to OPGO using Singpass 2FA. With 2FA, the donee must first enter his Singpass ID and password and, thereafter, enter a One-Time Pin (OTP) sent via SMS or use Face Verification. Alternatively, the donee may log on to OPGO using the Singpass application. These provide an additional security layer to prove the donee’s identity. Second, OPGO will send notifications to a donee at various points while the LPA is being created. As the donee is kept informed in real time, he or she can alert OPG if someone is impersonating him or her. Third, Ms Hany Soh, Mr Melvin Yong, Mr Seah Kian Peng and Ms Yeo Wan Ling may be assured that even as we go digital, we have retained the most important safeguard for donors to execute the LPA in the presence of the Certificate Issuer. This ensures that the donor has the mental capacity to make his or her LPA, including that the donee appointed is the person intended by the donor. The class of professionals who may be Certificate Issuers are scoped to those whom we are confident possess the qualifications to certify that the donor understands the purpose and scope of the LPA.”
“Thus, in the unlikely event of a system outage, we expect OPGO to be restored and tested within a reasonable timeframe, possibly within a day, so that users can continue their LPA applications by the next day. Users will be informed of the disruption and may contact OPG's hotline for help. The Public Guardian will also check through all the LPAs submitted during the period of malfunction. Should there be any issues, Miss Cheryl Chan may be assured that the Public Guardian will rectify it as soon as possible and notify the donors and donees affected within seven days of its rectification. As these issues are likely to be easily rectified – for example, a person's NRIC being keyed in twice – donors and donees need not be too alarmed. If a donor or donee spots any discrepancies in the electronic LPA after OPGO has been restored, he or she can contact the Public Guardian to rectify it. I thank Ms Ng Ling Ling for her suggestion to expand the protection clauses within the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) to cater for scenarios arising from cyberattacks and cybersecurity breaches. We will work closely across the Government as we develop the system and the specific protection clauses required. I wish to reassure Members that we have taken steps to prevent unauthorised access and distribution of the electronic LPAs. The electronic LPA will only be accessible to the donors and donees after they log on to OPGO. Donors or donees may share the LPA with third parties by making the request in OPGO and providing the email address of the transacting party to receive the electronic LPA. OPG will send a password-protected LPA to the transacting party. Only parties authorised by the donors or donees may view the LPA.”
“Mr Louis Ng asked if MSF has incorporated lessons from the United Kingdom's online system for LPAs. I wish to clarify that the UK's service does not allow for the online registration of electronic LPAs. The LPA must still be printed and signed using wet ink signatures before submitting it to the UK OPG. What the UK's online service allows is the conversion of the hard copy registered LPAs into online summaries of the LPAs that can be shared with transacting parties. In contrast, OPGO digitalises the entire LPA process, including the online creation of digitally-signed LPAs. Given this, comparisons between OPGO and the UK's online system might not be apt but I take Mr Louis Ng's point on the need to ensure that the roll-out is smooth. We have conducted extensive stakeholder engagements and will involve them in User Acceptance Tests. OPG will also be training Certificate Issuers on the use of OPGO. Let me now address the third theme: cybersecurity. Cybersecurity risks are not new but they are especially pertinent in light of important documents like the LPA. I thank Mr Gan Thiam Poh, Ms Ng Ling Ling, Mr Shawn Huang and Mr Yip Hon Weng for raising their concerns. OPGO will be housed under the Government Commercial Cloud. Cybersecurity measures will be in place to protect against hacking and data compromise. For example, Personal Identifiable Information will be encrypted. To address unscheduled system outage, OPGO data would be backed up daily across multiple geographical locations or zones in Singapore. OPGO will run across these multiple zones to provide better infrastructure resilience and scalability for business operations.”
“Secondly, in the rare chance that there are errors in the electronic copy after the 90-day period, the Public Guardian may still rectify the error under the new section 15A of the MCA. Thirdly, the 90-day cut-off provides certainty in the LPA's status and allows confident transactions. Donees and third parties will also be protected if they had respectively acted in reliance on the electronic copy or had transacted in good faith without knowing of the relevant error. We do not wish to inconvenience most donors and donees to cater for an unlikely scenario. Miss Cheryl Chan made a few technical queries. First, on considerations for disclosing non-confidential information – this may be disclosed to Public Sector agencies or the public at large for reasons of public education or interest, for example, to correct any falsehoods regarding LPA statistics. Second, on whether access to confidential information contained in the LPA will be restricted – subsidiary legislations will be amended such that only donors, donees and transacting third parties authorised by the donor or donee may access this information. Others seeking access would need the Public Guardian's approval to search the LPA register. Third, on the next steps should a donee or donor object to the proposed rectification or update of the Public Guardian's register – under the new section 33A of the Act, which is inserted by clause 14 of the Bill, the Public Guardian must not proceed with the rectification or updating if the person objects unless the Public Guardian is satisfied that the objection is frivolous, vexatious or has been withdrawn. As rectifications would be based on information obtained from other Singapore Public Sector agencies, objections would be unlikely.”
“If a relevant error is reported to OPG, the electronic copy becomes the LPA either on the 91st day or on the day which the Public Guardian rectifies the relevant error, whichever is later. Mr Louis Ng also asked about the circumstances under which the Public Guardian will not rectify a notified error in the electronic copy of the LPA. Under the new section 11(14) of the MCA, which is inserted by clause 4 of the Bill, a "relevant error" refers to any disparity or inconsistency between the electronic copy and the LPA that has been registered. The Public Guardian will rectify every such error brought to her attention. To his question on whether transactions relying on an electronic copy containing a relevant error would still be valid, the answer is yes. The new section 16A of the MCA, which is inserted by clause 10 of the Bill, protects donees who have acted in reliance on the electronic copy without knowing of the relevant error and third parties who have transacted in good faith without knowing of the relevant error. I thank Mr Louis Ng for his careful scrutiny of the Bill's provisions and wish to clarify that the new section 10D, inserted by clause 3 of the Bill, addresses errors or omissions arising from a malfunction of OPGO when the transaction in question is performed via the system. The new section 10D is not intended to cover rectification of any relevant error arising from the process of converting hard copy LPAs to electronic copies. Mr Seah Kian Peng proposed to require express verification from the donors and donees before the electronic copy is treated as the LPA. We have made a considered decision not to do so. Let me explain. Firstly, the risk of such errors is very low as there is neither entry nor extraction of new data.”