Gan Kim Yong
Singapore
“Consumer complaints relating to the secondary resale market for tickets to major events and concerts have generally remained low. Nonetheless, to protect the public from scams on secondary ticket resale platforms, the Police have imposed Code of Practice requirements under the Online Criminal Harms Act to require designated online service…”
“Singapore does not condone the use of forced labour. We criminalise forced labour in Singapore under various laws. Relevant Government Ministries and agencies, such as the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Home Affairs and Singapore Police Force, play their part in investigating complaints of suspected breaches in domestic laws that relat…”
“The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) discontinued the PayNow nickname feature as scammers had been exploiting the use of nicknames to impersonate legitimate entities and trusted individuals.”
“As of end-2025, around 6,900 private residential buildings have registered their solar installations with SP Group for the export of excess solar-generated electricity to the grid. The installed solar capacity of these residential buildings is 115.3 megawatt-peak (MWp), or around 5.5% of all current installed solar capacity in Singapore.”
“The one-year pilot extension of liquor trading hours has seen strong interest from businesses. As of 31 May 2026, the Police have approved 88 applications for the extension of liquor trading hours from public entertainment outlets in these areas.”
“The Government does not make projections of domestic or regional demand for renewable diesel or sustainable aviation fuel. Demand depends on commercial considerations, evolving market conditions and regulatory developments across different jurisdictions.”
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“Given the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in some of our Southeast Asian neighbours, they have implemented social and mobility restrictions to limit the spread of the virus. The Singapore Government is closely monitoring the impact of these restrictions on our imports of essential supplies. Thus far, the flow of goods and supplies from our neighbouring countries remains stable. Overall merchandise trade between Singapore and our Southeast Asian neighbours also continues to grow. In the second quarter of 2021, total merchandise trade between Singapore and Southeast Asian countries was S$68.9 billion, an increase of 30.3% compared to the same period last year. While the implementation of social and mobility restrictions will likely weigh on the economic recovery of our neighbours, the overall GDP growth forecast for the region remains positive. Domestically, Singapore’s economic recovery remains on track. Based on advance estimates, GDP expanded by 14.3% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2021, albeit from a low base. GDP is likely to continue to recover gradually over the course of the year in tandem with the economic recovery globally and in the region. For the full year, MTI expects GDP growth to come in at between 4% and 6%, compared to the 5.4% contraction in 2020.”
“MTI does not capture the consumer price index (CPI) of specific food sources. However, the CPI of leafy and fruit vegetables, which Malaysia is a source for, rose by less than 1% in June 2021. This small increase was likely contributed by increased business costs due to Malaysia’s recent Enhanced Movement Control Orders (EMCO) across the country, as well as seasonal weather that reduced crop supply. To mitigate the impact of such supply fluctuations, Singapore has been diversifying our import sources of vegetables and produce to keep prices stable. The Government also continues to assist Singapore families in various ways. For example, MSF’s Social Service Offices (SSOs) provide ComCare assistance to low-income households to support their daily living expenses such as food, clothing, transportation and communications. From time to time, the Government also introduces one-off support measures to help Singaporeans with their household expenses during periods of economic uncertainty, such as the Budget 2020 Grocery Vouchers Scheme.”
“We have been working with MOF to roll out support packages to help them tide over this difficult and challenging phase, and the Minister for Finance and I met them and tried to understand their concerns and to also reassure them that we are aware of their challenges and we will do what we can to help and support them. I must also say that the reason that they usually face the brunt of our measures is because as Minister Wong pointed out earlier, they are front-facing. And there is a lot of interaction in restaurants and F&B outlets. The most critical difference is that their activities are mask-off, as customers have to remove their masks when they eat and drink. Therefore, it is one of the very high-risk settings and we have to be extra careful and exercise additional caution. Unfortunately, when we have to tighten our measures to protect the community, we will need the F&B sector to work with us.”
“Thank you. I thought I spent half an hour explaining why we need to revert to Phase Two (Heightened Alert). Let me try again. When we introduced the "two-five rule" we were prepared to go ahead with it, until we found that there was a significant number of transmissions within the community and the vaccination rate of our seniors was still relatively low. Therefore, the risk profile was significantly different from when we first started planning for the "two-five rule" framework. Therefore, we had to make a very painful decision. I must share with you that we deliberated at length on this issue. Of course, one option was to proceed with it, come hell or high water. But the risk was that you may see a significant number of seniors being infected and because they would still be unvaccinated, they would still be at risk of severe outcome and even mortality. You may think that, well, that is okay, then just do not allow the unvaccinated to go to the restaurants. But you must also remember that those who go to the restaurants and are vaccinated may still be infected and bring the virus back home to the families where there are seniors who are unvaccinated. Therefore, it was important for us to weigh the pros and cons between proceeding with the two-five rule, or to make a painful decision to reverse the decision and give ourselves more time to allow the vaccination rate to improve, both the general vaccination rate as well as the seniors' vaccination rate. We fully appreciate the challenges the F&B sector is facing and is still facing today until we are able to restore dining-in.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, I just wanted to add a point to what Minister Lawrence Wong had explained on the testing strategy. As time goes on, the testing system will also evolve. For example, in time to come, if you have gotten a negative test result, you may be able to attend multiple events and multiple premises. So, it is not just one event to one test. So, we just have to bear that in mind.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Let me first address the question on economic reopening. It is still on track and the key is to look at the progress in our vaccination programme, which, as Minister for Health has explained just now, is picking up momentum. But it is important for us to focus a lot more on the vaccination of our senior population which is of a greater concern to all of us. As soon as we are able to reach our vaccination rate of 80% and above around September or October, we will be able to move in a bigger way to reopen the economy. But I also want to point out that we are not likely to have a big bang reopening because it is important for us, as Minister Ong and I have mentioned earlier, to continue to monitor the number of severe cases. If we do have many serious cases, we will have a problem with the capacity of our healthcare system which will then result in a higher mortality rate. So, we need to continue to keep an eye on our number of serious cases and at the same time, make sure that our vaccination rate is high. Then, we will be able to progressively, step-by-step, reopen our economy or open up our borders to allow for travel in and out of Singapore. And as I have mentioned in my speech, these details are still being worked out and we will share more details later on. I will ask Minister Lawrence Wong to talk about testing because this relates to the national policy on testing.”
“We will continue to work hard to pursue projects that help companies grow and create good jobs and meaningful careers for Singaporeans. Before I end, I would like to thank Singaporeans, our businesses and our workers for walking this journey with us for the last 18 months. It has been tremendously difficult for many of you and we are deeply appreciative of the commitment and grit that you have shown. We are so close to reaching the end of the tunnel. We will soon achieve a high vaccination coverage which will allow us to move decisively to a COVID-19-resilient state. I want to appeal to everyone to not lose heart and work together to press on in our journey. [Applause.]”
“We will continue to push for higher vaccination coverage and if the incidence of severe illness from COVID-19 remains low despite clusters emerging from time to time, we will eventually be able to arrive at a truly endemic state. Practically all social and workplace restrictions can be lifted, although some critical measures, such as mask-wearing and precautions for large events may remain. This means that domestically, infected cases will create much less disruption than they do today and our businesses can largely return to normal operations. For the majority of cases, businesses will not have to shut down their premises for deep cleaning and we need not commit huge resources towards contact tracing. Instead, infected individuals with mild symptoms may be able to recover from home and close contacts will likely just be required to monitor their health without the need for quarantine or self-isolation. This is similar to how we treat influenza cases today. Globally, Singapore will likely be one of the highest vaccinated countries in the world. We will be able to regain strong air and maritime connectivity to a large number of countries, while ensuring that our healthcare system is well-functioning and not over-stretched by COVID-19 cases. This will make us one of the best places to work and live in the region and across the world. Businesses have in fact continued to show confidence in our strong fundamentals during the pandemic. Despite the challenging environment, investors committed S$17.2 billion in investment in 2020, the highest in 12 years. More recently, we also attracted significant investments from major biomedical and electronics companies, such as Sanofi in April, BioNTech in May and GlobalFoundries in June. But we cannot take this for granted.”
“I know of several employers who have made bulk purchases of testing kits, so their staff can easily access them if needed. This is a good idea and I encourage more employers to do the same. And third, continue allowing flexible work arrangements and putting in place business continuity plans to strengthen operational resilience. We are also looking at relaxing our border restrictions safely. As a small and open economy, we simply do not have the luxury of closing ourselves off to the world. Many parts of our economy require a steady flow of people in and out of Singapore, be it workers or visitors. As a business hub, many of our executives have to travel to manage and grow their regional businesses. Our tourism and MICE industry, as well as our air hub status, also critically depend on international connectivity. We should also not forget the international community based here. Many have not been able to return home to visit their families since the start of the pandemic. This is because if they go home, they may not be able to return to Singapore. There are also Singaporeans whose loved ones are stranded overseas. This has not been easy for many of them. Therefore, as our vaccination coverage increases and the majority of residents here are protected against COVID-19, we will also progressively facilitate international travel with countries that have managed COVID-19 well and allow fully vaccinated persons to travel and to do business more freely. This is a critical move that will allow us to reassert Singapore's position as a business, travel and talent hub. We are working this out carefully and engaging our partner countries and will provide more details when ready.”
“We will begin to adjust our Safe Management Measures in stages, while keeping an eye on the number of serious cases. For example, restrictions on social gatherings will ease and we can expect larger dining-in group sizes and lower requirements and higher capacity for various events. We will take a differentiated approach: vaccinated individuals will be able to engage in a wider range of social activities and in larger groups, while those who are unvaccinated will only be able to do so with a negative Pre-Event Test (PET) result. With this, F&B, retail and other businesses that provide in-person services, such as gyms and beauty services, will see a return in demand. Sectors, such as tourism, cruise and MICE will also get some relief as capacity limits are progressively raised, although foreign tourists will still take some time to return. Workplace restrictions will also be eased and progressively, more workers can go back to office. Businesses will be able to conduct important face-to-face meetings or hold workplace events that are important for networking or team-bonding. Businesses can do several things to prepare for reopening. First, encourage and facilitate all medically-eligible employees, especially those involved in high-touch point activities, to get vaccinated and deploy those who cannot be vaccinated to lower-risk settings. Second, integrate the use of ART self-tests into your work processes, especially for businesses that provide high touchpoint services or which tap on a pool of workers that frequently change. Encourage employees to self-isolate and get themselves tested if they are not feeling well or if they suspect they may have been exposed to COVID-19. Doing so can help detect cases early and limit the extent of disruption to your business.”
“The AfA on medtech product development is another good example of our new partnerships. Recognising the increasing prevalence of infectious and chronic diseases, it identified in-vitro diagnostics as a key sub-sector that we can grow. We will continue to work closely with industry and partner businesses in this endeavour to give them the support they need to raise their productivity, innovate and grow beyond our shores. We will also help workers to be ready for the challenges in the new normal. As businesses transform to remain competitive and seize new opportunities, workers will also need to learn new knowledge and acquire new skills. The need for workers to upgrade and upskill is more urgent than ever. The Government is committed to walking this journey with our workers, every step of the way. We introduced the SkillsFuture Movement in 2015 and intensified our efforts through the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package since the pandemic started. We will work with MOM and the unions to encourage and support workers to tap on these schemes to stay relevant in their current jobs or retrain to enter new jobs. I also call on employers to continue working with the Government and the tripartite partners to upgrade and redesign jobs and invest in workforce training. Even as we plan ahead, we know that businesses are naturally concerned about what an endemic state means for their daily operations and the adjustments they may need to make as we get there. Let me sketch out the path forward and give businesses a sense of what to expect to help them plan ahead. Some of the details are still being finalised and we will share them in future. As our vaccination coverage increases, we will be in a much stronger position to ease our COVID-19 measures safely and confidently.”
“We recognise that it is not easy for businesses to juggle everyday challenges during the pandemic and the need to change and transform for the future. We need focused efforts. This is why we set up the Emerging Stronger Task force, or EST, at the height of the crisis in May last year, to look at how Singapore should refresh and re-imagine our economic strategies going forward. The EST formed nine Alliances for Action, or AfAs, as a new model of public-private partnership to allow our businesses to move quickly and bounce back stronger. Some of the AfAs have delivered promising results. For example, the AfA on Safe and Innovative Visitor Experiences enabled us to testbed several ideas for safe MICE events, which provided some relief for the MICE sector while also elevating its international profile. The AfA on Supply Chain Digitalisation saw the growing demand for supply chain transparency and resilience and created SGTraDex, which stands for Singapore Trade Data Exchange. As a digital infrastructure, SGTraDex allows businesses to share data with each other in a trusted and safe manner, thereby allowing them to optimise their supply chain flows through Singapore. With more trades coming through Singapore, our position as a key node in the global supply chain is further strengthened. For sectors that are doing well despite the pandemic, the Government's focus is to add wind to their sails, to help them create new products, forge new partnerships and break into new markets. These include the financial, ICT, biomedical manufacturing and electronics sectors. In particular, the biomedical manufacturing sector expanded significantly by almost 25% last year, while the electronics sector grew around 12.5%.”
“Since the start of this pandemic, MTI has worked closely with the industry and other Government agencies to help businesses cope. We delivered eight Budgets over one and a half years including the Supplementary Supply Bill that we will be debating later, to marshal resources to support businesses and protect jobs. We introduced several schemes, such as the Jobs Support Scheme, Jobs Growth Incentive, rental relief and tax rebates. We ensured that firms that ran into cashflow problems could gain access to credit by enhancing our enterprise financing schemes and working with the banks to put in place a moratorium on loan repayment. Together, these efforts have helped avert massive business failures, a much deeper recession and higher unemployment. Businesses and workers have told us that while these support measures have been critical and helpful, they can only serve as temporary pain relief. They would much prefer to resume their business fully and for the economy to grow again. Many are therefore transforming their businesses to seek out new opportunities and prepare for the recovery. I think this is the right attitude to have. Even as we manage the short-term impact of the pandemic, we should not lose sight of the future. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on almost every single economy in the world, but those which can respond well and take the opportunity to adapt and transform quickly will emerge stronger and move ahead of others. To ensure that we do not get left behind once the dust settles, we must turn this once-in-a-generation crisis into a once-in-a-generation opportunity, to transform our businesses, develop new areas of growth and strengthen our connections to the global economy.”
“Minister Wong and I met the F&B and Retailers' Trade Associations last week. We appreciated their feedback, which helped MTI and MOF design the support packages for them as well as other affected businesses. At the same time, I am heartened to see that many businesses have adapted their operations in response to the challenges. Food establishments and retail shops have leveraged online platforms and gyms have turned to virtual classes or moved some of their classes outdoors. Nevertheless, we know that these efforts are insufficient to fully compensate for the loss of income from their usual business model. The aviation, tourism and MICE sectors have also been severely impacted due to travel restrictions. With Changi Airport's passenger load at only around 3% of pre-COVID-19 levels – 3%, not 30% – demand in these sectors have plummeted. Some firms have pivoted to adjacent areas. For example, Singapore Airlines is now using some of its passenger planes to operate cargo flights to take advantage of the increase in cargo traffic, while operators in the tourism sector have come up with new and creative products to attract local visitors as foreign tourists have dried up. The Singapore Rediscover Vouchers would have helped them somewhat. The construction, marine and process sectors are also under tremendous pressure. They have had to make difficult but necessary worksite adjustments to protect workers' health and safety. At the same time, they have had to deal with labour shortages. As a result, many have faced project cancellations and delays or shied away from taking on new projects. We fully understand the challenges and uncertainties that our businesses and their workers are going through.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Minister Ong Ye Kung has given Members an update on the COVID-19 situation. Let me now share with Members our journey out of Phase Two (Heightened Alert) and towards a COVID-19-resilient state, from the point of view of businesses. About a month ago, the MTF Co-Chairs wrote a commentary, outlining a future where Singapore can live normally with COVID-19. The virus is likely to become endemic eventually, like influenza, with the vast majority of us protected against the severe outcome of the virus, as long as we are fully vaccinated. We are not there yet and we need to press on with vaccination, especially among the elderly. As we journeyed towards this destination, we were never under the illusion that it would be straightforward and we expected to face a few bumps along the way. The KTV and Jurong Fishery Port clusters are cases in point. Like Minister Ong, I received many questions on whether our decision to return to Phase Two (Heightened Alert) signals a reversal of our plan to transition to a COVID-19-endemic state. The answer is a clear no. We are determined to get to our destination of being a COVID-19-resilient Singapore. But our journey must take into consideration public health realities. Sometimes, we may need to take a detour if we see hazards ahead. This way, we can ensure that we will get to our final destination safely, even though it may take a little longer. The last one and a half years has been a very difficult ride for our businesses. This is particularly so for sectors that are more affected by the tightening of Safe Management Measures, such as F&B, retail, sports and gyms and performance arts. I know that the impact on them must be very severe.”
“In line with its usual practice, the Department of Statistics (DOS) had reviewed the categories of data published in the Census of Population 2020 Statistical Release to ensure that they remain relevant and meaningful, taking into account factors such as the relative size and share of the categories while balancing against the need to preserve the continuity and comparability of the published categories over time. In the case of the detailed breakdown of ethnic groups of the Indian resident population, the number of categories in the Census 2020 Statistical Release has been consolidated to reflect the top four detailed ethnic groups by size. For the Indian ethnic groups that are combined under "Others", each group was significantly smaller and comprised fewer than 10,000 Indian residents and contributed to less than 3% of the Indian resident population in 2020. In the case of "Other Ethnic Groups", the detailed ethnic groups have been updated to reflect the largest ethnic groups outside of the Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnic groups in 2020. The ethnic groups combined under "Others" constituted relatively smaller shares. Based on the Census of Population 2020, there were a total of 3,006,769 Chinese residents in Singapore, an increase from 2,793,980 in 2010. In line with the overall increase, all 10 sub-categories of Chinese residents by detailed ethnic groups presented in the Census of Population 2020 Statistical Release, including the residual "Other Chinese" category, saw an increase in their respective population sizes. The "Other Chinese" category includes Chinese residents of detailed ethnic groups that were generally small in size, such as Kwongsai, Chawan, Shantung, Luichew and Wenchow.”
“The Connect@Singapore initiative is part of Singapore’s initiatives to allow a limited number of business and official travellers to enter Singapore for short-term stays of up to 14 days and to conduct business activities safely. For the entire duration of their stay, travellers will be housed in Appointed Facilities (AF), undergo regular testing and strictly observe all prevailing Safe Management Measures (SMMs). An open call for applications to set up the AF was conducted. The Government assessed all proposals based on the effectiveness of their measures to ensure tight adherence to SMMs and segregation of travellers from the local community. Connect@Changi, which was developed by a Singapore consortium comprising The Ascott Limited, Changi Airport Group, Sheares Healthcare Group Private Limited, Constellar Venues Private Limited1, Surbana Jurong Private Limited and Temasek Holdings Private Limited, was selected as the first AF under the Connect@Singapore initiative. As the Connect@Changi AF is a commercially operated facility, it does not receive Government funding and the information on costs, revenue, utilisation and so on as requested by the Member rests with the commercial operator and the Government is unable to provide it.”
“This will allow us to continue to assess the implications and benefits of evolving nuclear energy technologies and regional nuclear energy developments for Singapore, and enhance our operational preparedness. Our future energy mix will depend on technological advancements which can help us tap on various energy sources. Any decision to deploy new energy technologies will need to be considered against the technology’s safety and reliability, affordability and environmental sustainability. This must be complemented by efforts to enhance energy efficiency across all sectors and consumers. The Government will work hand-in-hand with our workforce, researchers, industries and consumers, to achieve our vision of a cleaner, more efficient and secure energy future for Singapore.”
“Singapore is keeping our options open to various low-carbon energy solutions for the long term. Our strategy is to harness: (a) natural gas, which is the cleanest burning fuel; (b) solar energy; (c) regional power grids; and (d) low-carbon solutions such as hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage. These energy sources and technologies are likely to be the most viable in the coming decades. The Government is also monitoring the development of technologies that may let us tap on geothermal, wind, tidal and nuclear energy, which are currently assessed to be less suitable for deployment in Singapore. Regarding nuclear energy, the Government conducted a pre-feasibility study in 2012 which concluded that available nuclear energy technologies then were not yet suitable for deployment in Singapore. Today, advanced nuclear plant technologies and designs, such as Small Modular Reactors, Generation IV and fusion reactors, are being developed globally and have the potential to be much safer than many of the plants that are in operation now. However, most of these technologies are still undergoing research and development, and have not begun commercial operations. Singapore will continue to monitor the progress of safe nuclear energy technologies and keep our energy options open. We will also continue to strengthen our capabilities to understand nuclear science and technology. We will do so by supporting research in relevant areas of nuclear science and engineering, and training a pool of scientists and experts through education programmes in local and overseas universities.”
“The Government keeps a close watch on the prices of essential goods and has investigated businesses suspected of profiteering during the pandemic. For example, MTI investigated a number of retailers that had jacked up the prices of masks last year. So far, incidents of profiteering are not widespread. We are continuing to work closely with companies and suppliers to ensure that there is ample supply of essential goods. The best safeguard against profiteering is competition. The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) will investigate any price surge resulting from anti-competitive behaviour by businesses. We encourage consumers to report such cases to us.”
“MTI expects CPI-All Items inflation to average between 1% and 2% this year, following the 0.2% decline in consumer prices last year. Consumer price increases in Singapore are likely to be relatively moderate, although global inflationary pressures are likely to remain elevated in the near term, due to higher oil prices and higher inflation in some of our major trading partners including the US. As this year’s projected inflation rate largely reflects normalising prices amidst an uncertain global and domestic economic recovery, MTI does not expect it to have an adverse impact on the Singapore economy. The Government will continue to monitor inflation trends in the Singapore economy closely and help Singaporeans cope with cost of living pressures.”
“In the long term, vaccination rates will improve and COVID-19 is likely to become endemic. The region’s underlying economic fundamentals remain strong and compelling, notwithstanding the impact of the pandemic. The economic prospects of Southeast Asia remain positive. The IMF has forecast that the region’s overall GDP would grow by more than 5% year-on-year from 2022 to 20251. This is buoyed by Southeast Asia’s young and dynamic population, and growing middle class, which makes the region one of the fastest growing consumer markets in the world. Consumers are also increasingly moving online, with almost 70% of the region’s population transacting online,2 making Southeast Asia an attractive market for the digital economy. Singapore will continue to pursue closer economic integration with Southeast Asia.”
“If the COVID-19 vaccination rates of many Southeast Asian countries remain low, they may affect Singapore in two ways. First, it leaves our neighbouring countries susceptible to recurring waves of COVID-19 infections, which may require governments to implement social and mobility restrictions in order to control the public health situation. Such measures usually impede their domestic economic activity. Second, low vaccination rates will likely slow down the pace of border reopening and the resumption of travel, not just for business but also tourism, another important driver of economic growth for the region. Both of these will affect Singapore's economic recovery, given our economic integration with our neighbours and the importance of regional travel to our hub status. Nevertheless, the IMF has projected that the overall GDP growth rate of Southeast Asia in 2021 would be 4.9%, with the projected growth rates of individual countries ranging between 2.6% and 6.9%. While the projected 2021 GDP growth rates of some of our Southeast Asian neighbours had earlier been revised downwards due to their domestic COVID-19 situations, the impact on the Singapore economy is expected to be moderate. In particular, merchandise trade between Singapore and our neighbours is expected to remain healthy in tandem with the global and regional economic recoveries. Even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, total merchandise trade between Singapore and Southeast Asian countries in 2020 was $239.6 billion, which was a slight decrease of 7.7% year-on-year. In the first quarter of 2021, total merchandise trade between Singapore and Southeast Asian countries was $69.3 billion, which was an increase of 6.3% compared to the same period last year.”
“To maintain the competitiveness of our semiconductor sector, we will continue to forge strong partnerships between companies, research institutes and our universities; strengthen our capabilities in targeted specialty segments; and strive to be the location of choice for companies to establish best-in-class operations. We are investing resources into semiconductor research under RIE2025. EDB is also working closely with our Institutes of Higher Learning and the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association to ensure we have up-to-date training programmes and that we continue to train jobseekers – including mid-careerists who may not have prior experience in the sector – to fill the new, high-quality jobs in the industry.”
“Singapore has a globally competitive semiconductor industry. Ten of the 15 largest semiconductor companies, such as GlobalFoundries, Micron and Infineon, have research and development and/or manufacturing operations in Singapore. These companies have invested here because of our skilled talent, excellent global connectivity, ease of doing business and well developed semiconductor research and manufacturing ecosystem. The long-term prospects of the industry are bright. Demand for Integrated Circuits (IC) is expected to remain strong as growth drivers such as the adoption of electric vehicles, 5G technology, cloud and Internet-of-Things (IOT) gain momentum. Singapore is well positioned to seize these opportunities. Our semiconductor manufacturing facilities are working at full steam to meet the strong demand and keep supply chains intact. Some are also considering expansion plans. For example, GlobalFoundries recently announced that it would be investing more than S$5 billion to build a new wafer fabrication facility here. Such investments create good jobs for our people, allow us to build up the capabilities of our companies, generate strong spinoffs to other sectors such as precision engineering and sustain the virtuous cycle that keeps our semiconductor sector vibrant. The semiconductor manufacturing industry employs over 33,000 people and accounted for almost 7% of our GDP last year. Over 1,600 companies, including many SMEs, are suppliers to semiconductor firms here. It is also one of the largest contributors to Business Expenditure on R&D (BERD) and our wider research ecosystem.”
“The questions will be addressed by the Ministerial Statements to be delivered by Minister Ong Ye Kung and Minister Tan See Leng on 6 July 2021. [Please refer to "Free Trade Agreements and Foreign Manpower", Official Report, 6 July 2021, Volume 95, Issue No 32, Ministerial Statement section.]”
“EMA will study the suitability of deploying new technologies, including artificial intelligence, when they become available and feasible for deployment.”
“Weather conditions such as direct sunlight and heavy rain may accelerate the deterioration of electrical equipment. To address these risks, the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (EMA) regulates electrical installations in Singapore via the Electricity (Electrical Installations) Regulations. Under these regulations, both indoor and outdoor electrical installations must meet the technical requirements specified in Singapore’s Code of Practice for electrical installations (known as SS638:2018). These include minimum protection standards for electrical installations against direct sunlight and rain water, so that they can operate safely in a range of local weather conditions. EMA requires electrical installations to be inspected and certified fit for operation by a licensed electrical worker (LEW) at least once a year, with electrical installations in higher-risk settings or premises subject to more regular inspection and certification. For example, electrical installations at construction sites must be inspected monthly, while those in HDB estates and public areas must be inspected at least once every six months. These requirements can be found at the following website: https://www.ema.gov.sg/cmsmedia/Handbook/Handbook_for_Application_of_Electrical_Installation_Licence.pdf. EMA will review the frequency of inspections from time to time as needed, depending on various factors such as industry feedback on changes in safety risk of the electrical installations. EMA is also actively exploring ways to leverage technology to enhance the safety and reliability of the electricity system, including monitoring the real-time operating conditions of the electricity grid.”
“Last week, 130 countries and jurisdictions, including Singapore, agreed to reform international taxation rules under the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) 2.0 Project. Details on the final parameters, design and implementation will need to be discussed at the OECD in the coming months. Therefore, there remains significant uncertainty in terms of the possible impact on the technology sector and on Singapore. When the details have been finalised, all jurisdictions will need to adjust their tax regimes to be compliant with the new rules, or cede tax revenue to other jurisdictions. Any adjustments to Singapore’s tax system will aim to minimise the compliance burden for businesses and ensure that Singapore continues to be an attractive place for these global technology companies to do business. We are closely monitoring these international developments and engaging industry stakeholders to better scope our response. Singapore’s competitiveness goes beyond our taxation rates. Our key fundamentals remain strong. We have built a vibrant technology hub with deep capabilities, secure infrastructure, strong intellectual property protection regime and dense ecosystem of local and global enterprises. We will push on with our efforts to enhance the technology ecosystem, through initiatives such as reskilling and upskilling the local workforce in emerging tech skills, welcoming experienced global tech talent and investing in research and development to strengthen the innovation capabilities of our enterprises. We are therefore confident that even as the window for tax competition narrows, global technology companies will continue to find Singapore a compelling place to do business.”
“From 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2021, 52 trade associations and chambers have received LEAD funding for a total of 112 projects. A total of $55,301,993.28 was disbursed under the LEAD programme over the same period.”
“This year, Minister Grace Fu will be co-facilitating informal ministerial discussions on Article 6 leading up to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties. In addition to contributing towards achievement of our Nationally Determined Contributions, the success of carbon markets will lead to overall mitigation in global emissions and generate demand for associated services at a global scale. These efforts, coupled with Singapore’s robust legislative, commodities trading and financial services foundation, will put us in a good position to grow an internationally trusted carbon services and trading hub, and help companies seize new growth opportunities in the green economy.”
“As announced under the Singapore Green Plan 2030, Singapore aims to be a leading carbon services and trading hub, as part of our efforts to capture new business opportunities and create new jobs in the green economy. To achieve this, we are doing the following. First, we are working with the private sector to develop a trusted and robust market for carbon credits. As part of the efforts under the Emerging Stronger Taskforce Alliance for Action on Sustainability, DBS Bank, Singapore Exchange, Standard Chartered Bank and Temasek will be setting up Climate Impact X, or the CIX, a global exchange and marketplace for high-quality carbon credits. The CIX will connect an ecosystem of partners, leveraging satellite monitoring, machine learning and blockchain to enhance transparency, integrity and quality of carbon credits. Second, we are building carbon services and trading capabilities in Singapore. Government agencies are anchoring service providers that provide sustainability-related advisory, carbon project development, carbon trading, and assurance services to financial institutions and companies. Enterprise Singapore is also developing the Enterprise Sustainability Programme to help our companies strengthen their awareness and understanding of sustainability issues, including decarbonisation, which could increase demand for carbon services as enterprises take steps to improve sustainability of their operations. Third, we are collaborating with international partners to promote cross-border credit transactions. Singapore is actively involved in the Article 6 negotiations of the Paris Agreement that govern international carbon markets.”
“In the last 10 years, about 600 MNC groups were awarded economic expansion-related tax incentives. This is less than 10% of about 7,000 MNC groups with a presence in Singapore today. The Pioneer Certificate Incentive is granted to companies that locate “pioneering” activities that are not carried out in Singapore at the time. As these frontier investments are assessed to bring significant direct and indirect economic returns to Singapore over time, their qualifying activities are exempted from tax so as to attract them here. The Development and Expansion Incentive, on the other hand, encourages companies to develop capabilities and/or expand their activities in Singapore. The concessionary tax rate for this incentive is either 5% or 10%, depending on the size of economic investments these companies commit to bringing into Singapore. Other economic expansion incentives include the Investment Allowance and Approved Royalty incentives. These are given to encourage companies to carry out projects with economic, technical or other merits, for example to encourage companies to use productive equipment, and to support projects with broader economic spillovers. Every company’s effective tax rate depends on several factors, including tax incentives as well as other measures such as corporate tax rebates. As each company’s situation varies, so too will their effective tax rates across industries and time.”
“We can pursue these opportunities successfully only if we keep our fundamentals strong, and our economy competitive. We must acknowledge our natural disadvantages as a small, resource-scarce economy. But our growth prospects need not be limited by our size and we can grow beyond these limitations, as evidenced by our pipeline of investments even during the pandemic. However, we cannot take our growth for granted, as other economies are fast raising their game. An endemic COVID-19 situation will bring fresh opportunities to rebuild our competitive strengths and to develop new strengths. We hope to partner businesses and workers over the next few years in seizing these opportunities and emerge stronger together.”
“In an endemic COVID-19 environment, the virus will survive in our community, similar to common diseases like flu and chicken pox. With effective vaccination, testing and treatment regimes in place, fewer people will need hospitalisation or medication. Economic activity will progressively normalise as we reopen the domestic economy and our borders. But the virus may continue to mutate, periodically leading to new variants and outbreaks. We have put in place measures to respond quickly to outbreaks, if necessary. We have been working closely with the industry to enable us to seize opportunities when economic activity resumes, building on the momentum of our Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) and recommendations from the Emerging Stronger Taskforce (EST). For example, we will position Singapore as a critical node in the growing digital economy, by strengthening our connectivity in the digital economy through a network of Digital Economy Agreements (DEAs), platforms like Business sans Borders, and supporting more businesses to digitalise. As part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, we will also help our enterprises and workforce to harness sustainability as a competitive advantage, and develop innovative solutions for the green economy. For example, we aim to grow Singapore into a carbon trading and services hub, and a green financing hub. COVID-19 has also surfaced new economic opportunities. For example, the increased focus on health and wellness could open up new opportunities in the biopharmaceutical sector, while the desire to build more robust supply chains could create new demand for our logistics companies. There are also new areas of opportunity in agri-tech, as we strive to strengthen our food resilience.”
“We also want to encourage companies to invest in productivity and upgrading, so that they can continue to be cost-effective, and there are many schemes that we have offered. I cannot detail all of them here; I am sure Members are aware there are a lot of support schemes to encourage and support companies to become more productive. Particularly, for tech companies, we have a lot of incentives and support for investment in research and development. This will anchor a knowledge-based economy, an innovation-driven economy, in Singapore. We have to do all of these in order to keep Singapore competitive. We must remember that BEPS 2.0 is one of many threats that could affect our competitiveness and we cannot remain static. There is a Chinese saying: 逆水行舟, 不进则退. In business, it is the same. If we stop at where we are and hope that we will continue to thrive and to be vibrant, we will be in trouble. We have to constantly be on the move, look out for opportunities, continue to restructure, reorganise and reposition ourselves for new opportunities that will come our way.”
“I thank the Member for the two important questions. Yes, indeed, US firms play a very important role in Singapore's economy. They provide significant employment and good employment to Singaporean workers. But it is not just the US firms. I think BEPS 2.0 is going to affect all countries and, therefore, it is important for us to take a holistic approach, look at the entire business environment. We are doing quite a few things to ensure that we remain competitive. Mr Saktiandi asked whether there is a risk of firms moving out of Singapore. The risk exists and they exist today even. Companies will do their calculations and they do that almost yearly to decide whether they are going to continue to be in Singapore, to continue to invest more in Singapore or to move somewhere else. That is why we cannot take it for granted, as I mentioned, and as the Finance Minister also underscored. We need to continue to ensure that our business environment remains effective and competitive. What are the things that MTI is looking at doing? First, we have to continue to invest in our infrastructure, to ensure that we provide a very efficient infrastructure to allow our companies to operate here in a very cost-effective way. Secondly, we need to extend our connectivity. I have entered into several Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and we continue to sign FTAs. We are looking at the various new opportunities for us to enter into new trade agreements including in areas such as renewable energy, green and digital economy. Over the last few weeks since I took on the job, I have been talking to our counterparts in other countries almost on a daily basis to develop new connections, to allow our companies to expand beyond the confines and the limitation of our physical size.”
“Mr Speaker, as the Finance Minister has mentioned, last week, about 130 countries and jurisdictions, including Singapore, agreed to reform international taxation rules under the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (or BEPS) 2.0 Project. Details on the final parameters, design and implementation will need to be discussed in the coming months. Therefore, there remains significant uncertainty in terms of the possible impact on Singapore and the sectors which will be most affected. When the details have been finalised, all jurisdictions will need to adjust their tax regimes to be compliant with the new rules, or cede tax revenue to other jurisdictions. We are closely monitoring developments and have been engaging industry stakeholders to understand their needs so that we can better formulate our response. As we adjust our tax system, we will aim to minimise the compliance burden for businesses and ensure that Singapore continues to be an attractive place for business. After all, Singapore’s competitiveness goes beyond our taxation rates. Key fundamentals such as our strategic location and international connectivity, excellent infrastructure, the rule of law and skilled workforce remain strong. However, we must not be complacent. We are, therefore, redoubling our efforts to enhance our competitiveness and improve our business environment, for example, through upgrading our Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs). We are confident that investors will continue to find Singapore a compelling place to do business, and our economy can continue to thrive in the new environment.”
“In October 2019, MOH introduced the Home Caregiving Grant (HCG). The HCG is a monthly $200 cash grant for eligible individuals with permanent moderate disability and the grant can be used flexibly for different care-giving expenses. To qualify for the HCG, the care recipient must meet the following criteria: (a) Singapore Citizen or a Singapore Permanent Resident with a parent, child or spouse who is a Singapore Citizen; (b) Always require some assistance with at least three Activities of Daily Living (ADLs); (c) For households with income, per capita household income of $2,800 or less, or for households with no income, living in a residence with Annual Value of $13,000 or less; and (d) Living in the community, that is, not residing in a residential long-term care institution, for example, nursing home. Care recipients living alone but who rely on persons residing separately from them for their care-giving needs will be eligible for the HCG if they fulfil all the criteria.”
“MOH does not collect data on Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). BDD is an infrequent diagnosis amongst the patients who present to hospitals. The two most common eating disorders seen at our public hospitals are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Available data provided by the psychiatric departments of public hospitals showed that, over the last five years from 2016 to 2020, an average of 300 patients per year received treatment for various eating disorders. The median patient age was 21, and nine in 10 are females. Currently, the psychiatry departments across all public hospitals are able to treat patients with eating disorders. Our public hospitals have been actively providing education materials and health education talks for healthcare workers and members of the public about these conditions. For example, SGH has published an e-book on their website titled “Treating Eating Disorders, a SGH experience”, KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) has published commentaries to raise awareness on eating disorders and collaborated with community service providers to educate and support care-givers of patients with eating disorders.”
“In addition, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) requires pre-schools that provide full-day services to provide 60 minutes of physical activity daily, with at least 30 minutes outdoors or 45 minutes thrice weekly outdoors or its equivalent. HPB has also worked with ECDA to extend vision screening to preschools, as well as organised eye care talks to equip parents with skills to inculcate good eye care habits among their children. In 2018, SNEC also established the Myopia Centre at Bedok to improve follow-up for adults and children with progressive myopia, including tailored treatment and education. These efforts introduced will take time for its full effects to be seen. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of our myopia prevention efforts and promote evidence-based interventions to delay onset and reduce the progression of myopia for children in Singapore.”
“Myopia can result in complications due to the eye condition and/or myopia correction, for example, contact lens wear. The Singapore National Eye Centre High Myopia Clinic was set up in 2018 to provide specialised care for patients with high myopia and has seen an average of about 800 patients yearly. Myopia starts and progresses through childhood and stabilises in the late teenage years. Therefore, early intervention of myopia is important. Studies have shown that preventive measures, such as increased outdoor time, can delay the onset of myopia and myopic progression in children and the development of high myopia in young adults1. It is estimated that increased outdoor time may reduce the prevalence of myopia by 13% in children and, consequently, a potential 12% reduction in high myopia prevalence amongst future cohorts of young adults. By reducing myopia progression rate to 50%, through the combined use of pharmacological, such as atropine eye drops, and optical therapies, the prevalence of high myopia could potentially be reduced further by up to 90%. Recognising that myopia prevention is important, the National Myopia Prevention Programme (NMPP) was launched in 2001 as a multi-pronged strategy driven by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) in partnership with MOE and Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC). The programme aims to delay the onset of myopia and reduce its progression in children through annual vision screening and education, including talks held in schools and webinars for parents on good eye care habits. Based on a study conducted in 12 Primary schools, the proportion of Primary school students with myopia and high myopia has fallen from 37.7% to 29.3%, and 2.3% to 1.4% respectively from 2004 to 2017.”
“Medical practitioners should maintain a high index of suspicion for potential abuse when they notice unexplained or non-accidental injuries on patients, including vulnerable persons, such as the young, the disabled, and Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs). Medical practitioners are legally obligated under section 424 of the Criminal Procedure Code to notify the Police immediately when they are aware of the commission of, or the intention of, any other person to commit abuse, unless there is a reasonable excuse not to do so. There is no legal requirement to obtain patient’s consent before lodging a Police report. To facilitate the Police’s investigations, medical practitioners are required to provide details in the Police notification form. including description of the injuries sustained, the circumstances of the sustained injuries and incident location, as reported by the patient and accompanying person. Depending on the facts and circumstances of the case, the Police may commence investigations into relevant offences.”
“The World Health Organization has declared that Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), commonly called e-cigarettes or vaporisers, are undoubtedly harmful to health and that they are not safer alternatives to regular cigarettes. In addition, there is evidence that ENDS can be a gateway for non-smokers to start using traditional cigarettes. To raise awareness of the negative health effects of vaping, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) developed a public education campaign in 2019 to create awareness and understanding on the health harms of ENDS. Targeted at youths aged 18 to 25 and parents with teenage children, the campaign highlighted the harmful contents within e-cigarettes. HPB also works closely with MOE and Institutes of Higher Learning to raise awareness among youths about the benefits of leading a tobacco-free lifestyle and encourage them to stay vape-free. This involves organising online learning activities on the harms of vaping, through gamification methods, for example, virtual escape rooms, to educate the youths. HPB also provides resources for self-directed learning and trains educators so that they are equipped to discuss the harms of vaping with their students. For the general public, information on the negative effects of vaping is also available on HealthHub (www.HealthHub.sg/vaping). The Health Sciences Authority also engages the media to remind the public that the sale, use, possession for sale, importation or distribution of electronic vaporisers are strictly prohibited in Singapore and strongly advises the public from engaging in such activities.”
“If a medical practitioner is uncertain about whether a fee payable to a TPA would be in compliance with the SMC ECEG, the medical practitioner should refrain from entering an arrangement to pay such a fee. In future, under the Healthcare Services Act, licensees using TPA services will be required to reflect TPA fees as a distinct category in the itemised bill given to their patients. This will further improve transparency and help patients make informed decisions. MOH will continue to study the landscape and practices of these TPA companies. We have a project team looking at impact-based regulations, including a review on the regulation of TPA. If there is evidence of patient risks, we will look further into how TPA should be regulated, including enhancing the above measures where appropriate.”
“MOH's primary concern is to ensure patient safety, welfare and continuity of care. As such, MOH focuses on regulating direct providers of healthcare services – which will impact patients directly. This includes the provision and advertisement of services that diagnose, assess or treat diseases or illnesses; provide nursing or rehabilitative care; or assess the health of individuals. This is a similar approach taken by regional and international healthcare service regulators. As TPA services do not involve direct patient care, these companies are not regulated under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act (PHMCA). However, there are guidelines issued under the PHMCA to ensure that patients are informed of every item charged for the clinic visit and when additional charges will be incurred. In addition, the Singapore Medical Council’s Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines (SMC ECEG) also provides guidance that medical practitioners contracting with TPAs should ensure they remain objective in their clinical judgement and provide the required standard of care. If TPAs are engaged, the fees charged by the medical practitioner must reflect the fair work done by TPAs in handling and processing the patients. The fees must also be transparent to the patient. The SMC ECEG specifically prohibits medical practitioners from paying TPAs, insurance entities or patient referral services (a) fees that are based primarily on the service the doctors provide or the fees doctors collect; (b) fees that are so high as to constitute "fee splitting" or "fee sharing"; or (c) fees which render doctors unable to provide the required standard of care. The onus is on the medical practitioner to ensure that the fees payable to the TPAs are in compliance with the SMC ECEG.”
“The donor selection criteria were also tightened to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission from donors, which may have led to a decrease in graft availability. However, urgent transplantation continued to be performed where medically appropriate. With the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, potential organ donors are screened and excluded should they have any respiratory symptoms, travel history or contact history with COVID-19 cases. Pre-transplant testing to rule out COVID-19 infection is also conducted for donors and recipients. Hospital staff are required to adhere to strict safe distancing, infection prevention and control measures, as well as to use appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when coordinating and conducting organ transplantation activities. MOH and the National Organ Transplant Unit (NOTU) will review the screening and testing criteria for donors and recipients regularly, with inputs from infectious diseases experts and evidence-based guidelines, to ensure safety for our transplant patients.”
“Blood and organ donations are essential services and had continued during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) showed that there were about 117,000 blood units collected in 2020, an increase of about 500 units from 20191. Even though there was a fall in the total number of donors who donated blood in 2020, this was made up by more frequent donations from the regular blood donors. There were also more new donors who donated for the first time in 2020. All blood donors must undergo medical screening to ensure the safety of blood supplied to patients. With the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, additional measures beyond medical screening have been introduced to further reduce the risk of donated blood carrying the SARS-COV2 virus responsible for COVID-19 infection. These measures include requiring all blood donors to undergo pre-screening for respiratory symptoms, travel history and contact history with COVID-19 cases. Blood donors are also reminded to inform the blood bank immediately if they feel unwell in the first two weeks after donation. To ensure the safety of donors, blood banks have also implemented safe management measures and increased the frequency of cleaning of blood banks. There were 294 deceased and living donor organ transplantations – kidney, liver, heart, cornea, lung and pancreas – carried out last year2. This number was much lower compared to the total of 488 transplants for these organs in 2019. This lower number could be attributed to the deferment of some of these surgeries to enable the hospitals to scale up their operations to manage the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“HSA regularly issues press releases to keep consumers informed of online sales of illegal health products and advises them on the risks of purchasing health products from dubious or unknown sources. HSA also worked with the Health Promotion Board (HPB) through its educational programmes to reach out to tertiary students from the local Polytechnics and Universities to highlight the risks of purchasing health products online. Additionally, MOH has launched the HealthWatch website in September 2019 to raise consumer awareness of false and illegal health products and services and to empower consumers to make safer and smarter healthcare decisions.”
“The sale and supply of health products are regulated by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) under the Health Products Act. The number of cases investigated for illegal online sales of adulterated health products had remained consistent, averaging around 70 cases per year from 2018 to 2020. The vast majority of these cases were for lifestyle-related health products, such as for weight or hair loss or sexual enhancement. Such sales are closely monitored by HSA as part of its enforcement efforts. Anyone caught selling adulterated or counterfeit health products online can be fined up to $100,000 and/or jailed for up to three years. These investigations have resulted in six persons being prosecuted for selling adulterated health products online. One person was sentenced to 18 weeks’ imprisonment while five others were issued with Court fines ranging between $1,000 and $15,000. HSA takes a multi-pronged approach in tackling illegal online sales. HSA monitors local websites and e-commerce platforms to detect illegal online sales of adulterated and counterfeit health products. HSA works proactively with the website administrators to remove any non-compliant postings relating to these illicit sales. HSA also issues warnings to these online sellers and takes legal actions against them if appropriate. As online sales extend beyond local platforms, HSA also works closely with overseas regulatory agencies and international counterparts, such as INTERPOL, to share information on illegal health products. Apart from enforcement efforts, HSA also engages consumers through various educational initiatives.”