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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“We will continue to do more together with our tripartite partners to reach out through our various network including Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), Singapore Business Federation (SBF) as well as the Association for Small and Medium Enterprises to reach out to companies and employers to put in place re-employment practices as well as a framework for training and upgrading for our mature workers. PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCAST PROGRAMMES 16. Mr Calvin Cheng asked the Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts in view of the Auditor-General's Report for FY08/09 (a) what specific steps are being taken by Media Development Authority (MDA) to ensure proper oversight of MediaCorp in using MDA funds for Public Service Broadcast (PSB) programmes; and (b) what other performance measures can be adopted to ensure that MediaCorp’s PSB programming meets the standards required by MDA. 17. Mr Calvin Cheng asked the Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts in view of the current Public Service Broadcast requirements and MediaCorp being a profit-driven enterprise with a small market size of Singapore, what else is being done to increase the number and quality of local productions on local television. The Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew): Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would like to take the next two Questions together. In FY 2008, the Media Development Authority’s Public Service Broadcast, or PSB funding, provided for about 2,000 hours of local content being produced and telecast across our seven free-to-air channels. This was an increase of 10%, or about 200 hours, more than local production here in 2007.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, employment of older workers is a very important issue and Members will know we have announced in this House before that we are going to introduce re-employment legislation by 2012, that will require employers to offer re-employment opportunities for all workers who reach the age of 62. This is one important step towards enhancing the employment of older workers. If older workers were to be employed effectively, the employers must continue to provide training and upgrading for these older workers so that their skills can remain relevant to the industries that we are moving into. From the Government's point of view, we will continue to work with our tripartite partners, through our tripartite workgroups, on the implementation of re-employment to reach out to companies even ahead of the introduction of the re-employment legislation; to encourage companies to be early adopters of these re-employment practices. We will also provide funding and help through our Advantage! scheme to help companies adopt these practices, including providing training for older workers before they reach retirement. We also provide counselling, help and support for these older workers so that they are able to adjust to post retirement, re-employment jobs. Because under re-employment, they may not be doing the same job. They may be doing something quite different from what they used to do and therefore training and preparation is part and parcel of the preparation for this re-employment.”
“Forty-two percent of these older workers felt that they were able to deliver better service, higher than the average of 38% across all ages. Older workers also indicated that training had enabled them to retain their job or to obtain a permanent job. A case in point is Ms Chandriga d/o Krishnasamy. Ms Chandriga, a mature worker, was working as a part-time security officer earning about $300 a month when she registered with the Central CDC in January 2009. As she had an interest in cooking, the CDC supported her training in Workplace Skills courses under the Employability Skills System (ESS) followed by the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) in Food Production conducted by At-Sunrice. Ms Chandriga completed the course in May 2009 and is now employed full-time in a Japanese restaurant, earning about $1,200 per month. She is a good example of how age is never a barrier to learning new skills and moving into better jobs. I would encourage companies to support the training of all their workers regardless of age. This is an important strategy for us to continue to enhance our productivity and competitiveness.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, mature workers over the age of 40 years old comprised more than half the 80,000 local workers who underwent Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) training in 2008. The gender distribution of trainees was fairly equal with females taking up slightly more than half the training places. About two-thirds of the trainees possessed secondary and below education, while the remaining one-third had post-secondary education. About two-thirds of the trainees were Chinese, Malays made up one-fifth, with the rest of the trainees Indians and other races. Employers have shown support in the training of mature workers. Approximately half of the workers sent for training by employers were mature workers. Take for example Robinsons' group, a well-known retailer and a strong believer in people development through training. Robinsons has been very supportive of the Retail WSQ programme. As an in-house approved training organisation (ATO), they have developed two Retail WSQ modules called "The Service Ambassador" and made it compulsory for all frontline operations staff to attend. Apart from this, Robinsons also organised the Retail WSQ programme Certificate in Retail Operations conducted by the Singapore Institute for Retail Studies (SIRS). In all, Robinsons had taken up 938 training places in year 2009, of which, about half, 408 were taken up by mature workers. The Adult Training Survey conducted in 2008 by my Ministry showed that older workers had benefited from training in different ways. For example, 60% of employed workers aged 50-64 who underwent training over the 12 months ending June 2008 reported that the training had enabled them to be more productive at work, comparable to the average of 58% for all workers who underwent training.”
“Miss Penny Low asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) whether he will give an update on the budget and preparations for Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG); (b) how can ordinary citizens take part in making this an extraordinary event for Singapore; and (c) whether there is a plan to include the marginalised sector in the making of YOG 2010.”
“The MediShield scheme currently already covers 93% of the resident population of working age between 21 and 65. The scheme will cover their inpatient medical needs not only in employment but also in-between employment and after retirement. We encourage employers to make additional contribution to their employees' Medisave Account to provide them with more portable medical benefits. In 2008, 286 private sector companies made additional contributions to their employee’s Medisave Accounts, totalling about $8 million. Employees can make use of the additional contributions in their Medisave Accounts to help defray their medical cost or enhance their insurance coverage by purchasing Medisave-approved Integrated Shield plans. In 2008, about half of the population covered under MediShield had purchased an integrated Shield plan. The tripartite partners will continue to encourage employers to enhance the employees' Medisave savings where practical. However, we recognise that some employers and employees/unions may have concerns about replacing their existing employer-provided medical benefits with direct additional contributions to the Medisave Accounts to enhance their Medisave savings. Hence, the decision is best left to the employers in consultation with unions and employees, taking into account the needs and circumstances of the companies. Column No : 1409 YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES (Budget and preparations) 32.”
“According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Manpower in 2008, about 1.3% of the establishments have put in place telecommuting arrangements to allow their employees to work from home. The extent of such arrangements varies across different industries depending on the work nature of the industries. For example, up to 7.4% of the establishments in the Information and Communication sector offer telecommuting arrangements. However, telecommuting is only one form of flexible work arrangements. About 28% of establishments in the private sector have implemented various forms of flexible work arrangements such as part-time employment, staggered working hours, flexi-time, or telecommuting from home. This is an improvement from about 24% in 2006. The Ministry will continue to encourage employers to adopt flexible work arrangements. Employers can apply for the Work-Life Works! Fund (WoW! Fund) to introduce work-life measures at the workplace, or tap on the Flexi-Works! Scheme to recruit new workers on part-time or flexible work arrangements. APPENDICES”
“On the Member’s suggestion to exclude overtime pay in assessing the eligibility for Workfare, whether a worker’s pay is in the form of basic salary, overtime pay or bonus, they are all income that helps to support the worker and his family. Given that the aim of Workfare is to help low-wage workers by supplementing their incomes, it is fair to consider all forms of income earned by the worker. The Workfare scheme has also been designed such that the combined Workfare payment and income is always higher, the more the worker earns. For example, a 65 year-old worker who earns $1,000 a month will have a total average income of $1,200 per month after adding Workfare. If he earns $200 a month in overtime, his Workfare will fall to $120 per month, but his total monthly income still goes up to $1,320. If he has overtime of $600, he will not get any Workfare, but his income of $1,600 will still be higher than earning $1,200 with overtime and Workfare, and $1,000 with no overtime but with Workfare. Column No : 1247 TRANSPORT OPERATORS (Compliance with new quality standards) 22. Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Transport with the introduction of shorter waiting times for bus services during peak hours (a) how will the Ministry ensure that transport operators comply with the new timetable; (b) how often will the Ministry be making spot checks to ensure compliance with the new Quality of Service standards; and (c) how many infringements were there in the past 12 months based on the previous Quality of Service standards.”
“The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme was introduced in 2007 to encourage older low-wage workers to work and improve their retirement adequacy. For work done in 2007, 311,000 low-wage workers benefited from Workfare totalling $305 million. This works out to an average of $982 per worker. For work done in 2008, so far 328,000 low-wage workers have received Workfare benefits totalling $386 million, including $55 million in the Workfare Special Payment announced as part of this year’s Resilience Package. This works out to an average of $1,176 per worker. To ensure employers contribute CPF for their workers, the CPF Board has been stepping up its enforcement efforts against errant employers. For example, the CPF Board has identified certain industries as being more prone to non-contribution, and has proactively conducted audit inspections. Between January 2007 and January 2009, these audits have led to more than 57,000 informal workers being converted to formal employment, enabling them to receive CPF contributions regularly. About 10,000 of these employees meet the conditions for Workfare, and have since received Workfare benefits. It is difficult to estimate the number of informal workers who have not received Workfare due to non-contribution of CPF due to the informal nature of their work. However, the CPF Board’s data show that in addition to the 310,000 recipients for work done in 2007, there are about 24,000 self-employed persons and informal workers who have registered with the CPF Board, but have not fulfilled their Medisave liabilities to receive Workfare.”
“Mr Sin Boon Ann asked the Minister for Health what are the steps taken by the Government to ensure that our nursing homes meet the necessary standards for the aged sick and the elderly who reside in these homes to live in relative comfort and dignity.”
“The Ministry of Manpower is committed to safeguarding the well-being of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore. As part of our Work Permit conditions, employers are responsible for providing adequate rest for their FDWs. Employers who fail to comply with this requirement can be fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed up to six months. They will also be barred from hiring another FDW. In addition, the employment agency accreditation bodies (AEAS and CaseTrust) have introduced a standard employment contract for FDWs since 2006. The standard contract requires employers to stipulate the number of rest days per month. Zero is not an option. Should the FDWs agree to work during their rest days, employers are required to pay their FDWs with an agreed amount of compensation. Employers cannot remove the rest day clause unilaterally. Given the unique nature of domestic work, some households that have, for example, disabled family members who require constant attention may find it difficult to release the foreign domestic worker (FDW) for a prescribed period every month. There are also FDWs who prefer to receive additional pay in lieu of having a rest day. Therefore, allowing households the flexibility to work out an employment arrangement with their FDWs, including paying their FDWs for not taking their rest days, is a more sensible approach. As a result of our education and enforcement efforts, together with other measures to enhance the protection of FDWs, most FDWs are happy working in Singapore according to a 2006 'Survey with Foreign Domestic Workers and Employers' conducted by MCYS. Reported cases of abuse have remained low. There is therefore no need at this point for MOM to legislate a mandatory rest day. NURSING HOMES FOR AGED SICK AND ELDERLY 39.”
“Nonetheless, to build up CPF savings over the longer term, we must continue to up the employability of our workers, raise our productivity and sharpen our competitiveness so that we can create good jobs for our workers and keep them employed. FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS (One rest day per month) 37. Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Manpower if he will consider legislating one rest day per month for all foreign domestic workers, thereby eliminating the possibility of employers removing the day-off clauses in employment contracts.”
“Faced with the global economic downturn, some companies have to introduce shorter work weeks, pay cuts and even retrenchments to stay competitive. These measures will affect the salaries of workers and their CPF contributions. The total gross CPF contributions in the fourth quarter of 2008 were 2.1% lower than the same period in 2007, despite a 4.5% increase in the number of active members. For the first and second quarters of 2009, the contributions dropped further by 0.4% and 0.9 % respectively, year-on-year. The Resilience Package introduced by the Government has helped to save jobs and shore up CPF contributions. In particular, the Government avoided cutting the employers’ CPF contribution rate by introducing the Jobs Credit scheme, which is equivalent to a 9% CPF cut. If the Government had cut CPF contribution rates by 9% instead, CPF contributions could have dropped by about 25%. Besides Jobs Credit, other initiatives such as SPUR and the Tripartite Guidelines on Managing Excess Manpower have helped workers stay employed and therefore able to continue contributing to their CPF savings. A recent survey conducted by MOM showed that around three in four companies which had earlier planned to lay off workers reported they would postpone or reduce the number of affected workers, as a result of the measures introduced by the Government. Our measures to save jobs have mitigated the impact of the downturn on CPF contributions. Without them, CPF contributions would have been even more severely affected by the downturn, as was seen in the previous recession.”
“Sir, in general, we agree with the Member's comments. I think it is important for our tripartite partners to work together. NTUC, MOM, WDA will provide the necessary training for local workers. At the same time, we want to work with the employers to ensure that when employers recruit foreign workers, they must ensure that these foreign workers have the necessary skills to perform the work that they are required to do. It is also important for us to continue to work on productivity improvement so that we will be able to achieve sustainable growth in the long term. For this reason, we have set up a multi-Ministry workgroup focusing on ways to improve productivity, sector by sector. This workgroup is being chaired by my Minister of State, Mr Lee Yi Shyan and they are looking into what measures we can introduce to help companies and industries upgrade their productivity so that we can achieve long-term sustainable growth that will benefit Singaporeans. MIGRANT WORKERS IN THE DOWNTURN 11. Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Manpower (a) if he will give an update on the situation of migrant workers during this downturn; (b) how many migrant workers have filed complaints of no work, unpaid salaries, poor accommodation and poor treatment; (c) how were they assisted; and (d) how many companies are prosecuted for violations of the relevant laws.”
“But, I do also agree that even with all these training and upgrading for our local workers, there will still continue to be a need for foreign workers to supplement our local workforce. As the economy picks up momentum, we will need to ensure that the labour market remains flexible and responsive to the needs of the economy.”
“I am not sure what the question is but let me try to respond to the concern. We have not tightened the overall quota system for our foreign worker framework. However, as I mentioned during the COS debate, we are raising the quality requirement for foreign workers who enter Singapore, particularly for the S-Pass as well as for the skilled workers because they enjoy lower levies. We want to ensure that foreign worker quality will continue to improve. This is because over the long term, we must ensure the overall quality of our workforce in Singapore will be raised gradually. For the local workforce, we will provide them with CET training. The Government has invested heavily in training and upgrading for our workers here. But for foreign workers, we want to also improve their quality and one way of doing so is to continue to tighten the requirement in terms of quality – their qualifications, their working experience as well as the types of jobs they are working in. So, over the last few years, we have gradually tightened that requirement. And we will continue to do so to ensure the quality of our workforce will improve over time. Of course, I understand that there will be industries that will be affected. Some of them will find it more difficult to find high quality foreign workers to replace the foreign workers they already have. I think the key, as I have mentioned in my reply, is to work with our agencies, WDA, NTUC and so on. We will find ways to help industries identify suitable workers. If there is training gap or if there is a skills gap, we will provide the necessary training to prepare them better for the job.”
“We need foreign manpower to augment our local workforce and enable our economy to grow beyond what our indigenous workforce alone can support. Nevertheless, we need to strike a delicate balance between the needs of businesses and employment opportunities for local workers so that they can benefit from the economic growth. This is achieved through our foreign manpower policies, including the foreign worker quota and levy system. The labour market is still soft and is likely to remain so for the rest of the year given the cautious outlook. It would be unwise to relax our foreign manpower policies at this moment. I would encourage companies with manpower needs to tap on the pool of locals, including those fresh out of schools. The Workforce Development Agency’s career centres and the National Trades Union Congress’ Employment and Employability Institute will help employers identify suitable candidates and provide the relevant training if necessary.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Manpower closely monitors the overall economic outlook and the employment landscape through regular surveys to identify manpower trends and job opportunities in the various sectors. For example, we regularly conduct the Labour Force Survey to monitor the labour market and to review and formulate policies on the workforce and related matters. We also engage companies to gain a better understanding of their business prospects and their needs. We meet up with the various chambers of commerce in a series of dialogues throughout the year, which provide a platform for the tripartite partners to discuss manpower issues and other concerns. In fact, we conducted a briefing for the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry – in which Mr Teo is President – in June this year on the Tripartite Guidelines for Managing Excess Manpower, the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience and the changes to the Employment Act. In addition, MOM works closely with the economic agencies to assess the short-term and long-term manpower demand and skills required by the various industries. MOM will then work with our tripartite partners and relevant agencies to develop the skills in demand through pre-employment training (PET) for our students as well as through continuing education and training (CET) for our local workers. We have been successful in getting more locals to take up the good jobs we created. Today, more than half of our local workers are in PMET jobs, compared to just 41% 10 years ago. However, during periods of strong growth such as in 2007 and 2008 when total employment grew by more than 200,000 a year, we will not have enough local workers to take up all the jobs created.”
“It is better that we focus our resources to help displaced PMETs upgrade, refresh their skills and find new opportunities. APPENDICES”
“Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo asked the Minister for Manpower (a) if he will provide an update on the employment trend for PMETs in the past 12 months, in view of the current economic situation; (b) what is the unemployment rate for PMETs and the average period that PMETs are unemployed; and (c) whether there has been an impact on salary levels/compensation for PMETs when they are re-employed. Mr Gan Kim Yong: Reflecting the improving educational profile of the population and demand for higher-skilled workers, the share of PMETs in the resident workforce rose to 51% in 2008, up from 41% a decade ago. As at June 2008, the unemployment rate for PMETs stood at 2.5%. This is substantially lower than the total resident unemployment rate, and reflects the higher employability of PMETs. The median duration of unemployment was eight weeks. As economic conditions worsened, there has been a broad-based increase in unemployment affecting all age and education groups. Due to the greater share of PMETs in the resident labour force, PMETs formed the largest group among residents made redundant in 2008 (49%) and also in Q1 2009 (54%). The unemployment rates for Degree and Polytechnic Diploma holders, many of whom were PMETS, were 3.0% and 4.1% respectively in March 2009, up from 1.8% and 2.3% a year ago. Nevertheless, their rates were still lower than the total resident unemployment rate. Key findings on the employment and unemployment of residents by occupation for 2009 will be released in the mid-year Labour Force survey to be published in end-November 2009. Salary upon re-employment depends very much on the nature of the work and the value of the job. Such information requires longitudinal studies that will need much time, effort and resources, and are not conducted routinely by MOM.”
“MOM and WDA have been working closely with the Community Development Councils (CDCs), the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), and self-help groups (SHGs) to better reach out and assist Singaporeans on their employment and training needs. The Career Centres at the CDCs and NTUC’s e2i provide a comprehensive suite of services to help unemployed Singaporeans find jobs. For job seekers who are not job ready, career centre officers would counsel them to attend training in employability skills, so that they are able to take on suitable jobs. For those who are job ready, the career centres offer a variety of help to match them with suitable employers, including one-to-one job referrals to specific companies, targeted walk-in interviews with specific companies, and sector-based job placement exercises. This helps to address the varying needs of job seekers and employers. In addition, since August 2006, the SHGs, with the support of WDA, have been running a CareerLink Plus (CLP) Programme which provides targeted assistance to the long-term unemployed. Under CLP’s case-management approach, job seekers are referred from the SHGs to the Careerlink Plus Centre for intensive counselling by dedicated Case Management officers who also provide after care services to help them adjust and stay in their jobs. In the first six months of 2009, the CLP centre served over 1,420 job seekers and placed 376 into jobs. Cumulatively since August 2006, the centre has served nearly 7,880 job seekers and placed over 2,100 into jobs*. *Cumulative figures are summations of annual figures since Aug 2006 and may include double counting as some job seekers sought assistance more than once. EMPLOYMENT TREND FOR PMETS (Update) 13.”
“In 2008, total employment in manufacturing grew by 19,500. The growth came largely in the earlier part of the year. Although some companies had cut their headcount, others were still growing and expanding. Given the tight labour market then with record local employment rate of 77.0%, manufacturing companies which were still growing had to recruit foreign manpower to meet their needs. However, as the economic downturn deepened, both foreign and local employment in manufacturing fell towards the end of the year. Job losses in the manufacturing sector were more than offset by jobs created in other sectors as overall local employment grew by 64,700 in 2008. The introduction of schemes such as the Jobs Credit and Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) launched in December 2008, have helped companies save jobs for local workers and upgrade their skills during the recession. Workers from manufacturing companies account for nearly half of all trainees committed to SPUR training. UNEMPLOYED RESIDENTS 12. Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Manpower what steps is the Government taking to reach out to long-term unemployed residents to increase their employability or to assist them in their job search.”
“WDA had been working with the Singapore Taxi Academy (STA) and the taxi companies over the past two years to train new taxi drivers who are entering the sector, through the Taxi Vocational Licence course. About 2,900 taxi drivers were trained under this programme funded by WDA. WDA is also working closely with the STA to develop customised programmes to improve the language and service skills of taxi drivers. These programmes will also receive 90% course fee subsidy under SPUR. FAKE DEGREES 41. Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Education (a) what steps have been taken to stop Brookes Business School from continuing with peddling fake degrees after the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology reported to the Ministry in 2007 about them; and (b) what was done to alert the public so as to contain the damage.”
“Most Government-funded Continuing Education and Training (CET) programmes were previously only employer-based. However, over the past few years, MOM and WDA have opened up more avenues for individuals including self-employed to directly access Government-subsidised CET programmes, so workers need not be sponsored by an employer in order to go for training. Today, an individual can walk into any of the 45 CET Centres to enrol in a wide range of Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) training courses, all of which receive up to 90% course fee subsidy. Likewise, many SPUR programmes at the CET Centres, Polytechnics and ITEs are open to individuals, including workers unable to get company sponsorship for their training, as well as the unemployed and self-employed. As of end Jun 09, there were about 49,000 individuals who had signed up for SPUR training on their own, or close to one-third of the total committed training numbers under SPUR, have done so. I encourage more Singaporeans to follow the example of these individuals. There are already several generic SPUR courses relevant to taxi drivers and tour guides. For example, they can hone their service skills through WSQ Service Excellence training or improve their English language skills through Employment Skills Systems (ESS) training at CET Centres. Tour guides can sign up for the WSQ Tourist Guide Course, which is a pre-requisite for their tourist guide licence. They can also attend other professional development courses, including WSQ Tourism courses at the Certificate, Advanced Certificate and Diploma levels available at the Tourism Management Institute of Singapore (TMIS). All these courses are under SPUR and eligible for 90% subsidy of the course fees. To date, close to 240 tour guides have attended these courses.”
“The Ministry of Manpower regularly publishes employment figures based on resident population which captures Singapore citizens (SCs) and permanent residents (PRs) as a single group. Many other countries do not publish employment statistics disaggregated by residential status in their regular labour market update. Due to the resources required, the Ministry does not routinely track employment data disaggregated by Singapore citizens and permanent residents. Nevertheless, MOM publishes occasional papers from time to time on employment statistics with such a breakdown. In February last year, MOM released an occasional study which disaggregated employment data by Singapore citizens, permanent residents and foreigners. SPUR SCHEME (Extension to taxi operators and tour guides) 38. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower if he will consider extending the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) scheme to taxi operators and tour guides who are self-employed.”
“Foreign domestic workers (FDW) coming to Singapore are tested for their basic ability to adapt to their working and living environment in Singapore, examined for their medical fitness and screened for any adverse records including crimes and misdemeanors. Firstly, FDWs are required to pass an entry test before they are allowed to start work, to ensure that they can understand basic safety instructions and have basic numeracy and literacy skills to perform household tasks, and adapt to life in Singapore. This is not a test to evaluate the FDW’s mental health. However, if the FDW is able to better adapt to living and working in Singapore, the mental stress on her will be reduced. Secondly, FDWs must also be certified medically fit by a registered medical practitioner in Singapore. The medical examination includes tests for infectious diseases and general fitness. The examining doctor will also assess the mental state of the foreign domestic worker. Finally, FDWs who have a prior record of criminal conviction in Singapore or found to have criminal records elsewhere would be barred from employment in Singapore. HDB RENTAL FLATS (Arrears) 32. Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will consider (a) allowing tenants of HDB rental flats more time to pay their rental when they fall into arrears due to economic hardship; (b) allowing existing tenants to retain their rental flats when one of the co-tenants or occupiers has passed away; and (c) the number of dependants of the tenant of a HDB rental flat before adjusting the rental for tenants whose income has exceeded $800.”
“This includes 21 construction workers and five marine workers who were deployed as drivers in contravention of work permit conditions. MOM will continue its enforcement efforts against errant employers. FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS 29. Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what are the Ministry's considerations when screening a foreign domestic worker for employment; (b) whether a foreign domestic worker will be barred from future employment if she has a record of criminal conviction in Singapore or elsewhere; and (c) how does the Ministry screen the state of mental health of a foreign domestic worker before allowing her to work in Singapore.”
“MOM has stepped up enforcement efforts on the use of phantom workers through island-wide on-site checks and intelligence operations. In addition, MOM has put in place measures to flag out unusual company profiles that may indicate the existence of phantom workers. These measures have proved successful in surfacing suspicious employers and practices that circumvent our controls. Since January 2009, MOM has prosecuted 26 employers for falsely declaring the number of local workers employed so as to inflate their foreign worker entitlement. In addition to prosecution action, we also debar offending employers from hiring foreign workers for a period of time. Even as we take action against these unscrupulous employers, MOM also helps the foreign workers who are affected. In instances where the foreign workers have outstanding employment issues, MOM will resolve these before facilitating their repatriation. In appropriate cases, MOM also facilitates the change of employment for the affected workers. Since January 2009, MOM has repatriated about 980 workers and facilitated more than 300 to find alternative employers here. MOM will continue to crack down on errant employers who hire 'phantom' workers to inflate their foreign worker entitlement. MOM urges employers who hire 'phantom' workers to immediately stop doing so and employ genuine local workers or cancel the work permits of their existing foreign workers to ensure compliance with foreign worker quotas. Enforcement is being stepped up on other fronts too, for example, the illegal deployment of foreign workers. From January to June 2009, 157 foreign workers were found to have been illegally deployed by their employers.”
“This is provided for by clause 11 (c) of the Bill. To date, there has not been any complaint from members on the wrongful payment as a result of undiscovered subsequent marriages. However, it is important to clarify the Board's liabilities in this regard. This amendment aims to do so. Mr Speaker, Sir, CPF helps our people save for their old age. Over the years, our CPF policies have evolved to better address our changing needs and they will continue to evolve. CPF LIFE is our unique response to address the challenges of our ageing population. It marks an important milestone in the evolution of the CPF and I thank this House for giving its support for the Bill. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Gan Kim Yong]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. ADJOURNMENT Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn to a date to be fixed." – [Mr Mah Bow Tan]. Adjourned accordingly at Eight Minutes to Four o'clock pm to a date to be fixed. WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER NOT ANSWERED BY 3.00 PM DEATH OF FIRST WARRANT OFFICER TAN POH ENG (Update) 12. Dr Fatimah Lateef asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence (a) what are the necessary precautions and safety considerations that Commandos are put through before they are allowed to parachute jump; (b) what kind of insurance coverage is provided to them for accidental death or injuries; and (c) whether he will provide an update on the incident leading to the death of First Warrant Officer Tan Poh Eng and the findings of the Commission of Inquiry.”
“I agree with Mdm Halimah that we need to step up our efforts on outreach and member education. It is important to help CPF members make informed decisions on the choice of plans and whether to opt in. Beginning September, there will be a media campaign to publicise that CPF LIFE will now be available for opt-in. Individualised mail packages with CPF LIFE brochures will be sent to every eligible Singaporean. There will also be a series of roadshows in collaboration with grassroots organisations, in addition to the monthly talks on CPF for members reaching the age of 55. More information on CPF LIFE can be found on CPF Board's website. Finally, Mdm Halimah asked about clause 11 (c) which discharges CPF Board of liabilities where it pays monies to a nominee without being aware of a subsequent valid marriage which has the effect of revoking the nomination. I would like to assure Members that the CPF Board conducts rigorous checks and investigations, where practicable, before making payment. For every case, the Board checks with the Registry of Marriages or Registry of Muslim Marriages, but the Board will not be able to uncover marriages outside Singapore or customary marriages in Singapore, prior to the enactment of the Women's Charter in 1961. The Board also checks with the deceased family for marriage information where possible. In addition, each nominee is required to declare in its application to the Board that the deceased did not contract a marriage after the nomination date. These checks and safeguards are in place to minimise the risks of wrongful payment. In the unlikely event of a wrong payment, it shall not affect any recourse the rightful claimant may have against the recipient to recover the monies paid by the Board.”
“To clarify, members can already make lump-sum voluntary contributions to their family members' CPF accounts or apply to make regular voluntary contributions through GIRO. We will continue to explore other ways to facilitate top-ups. Eligible members can also choose to monetise their flats under the Lease Buyback Scheme, in order to participate in CPF LIFE. Mdm Halimah asked for some figures. About 25,000 elderly households could potentially qualify for the Lease Buyback Scheme. Since the launch of the scheme in March this year, HDB has received more than 300 applications. Many who qualify may have adequate financial means and so do not need to tap on the scheme. But, nonetheless, access to such a scheme would give them peace of mind. Mdm Halimah was also concerned about the impact of inflation on members' retirement adequacy. The NLIC discussed the indexation of LIFE monthly income to inflation but did not recommend it. We have also debated this during the Committee of Supply debate in 2008 and decided against it. As the CPF LIFE is a self-funding scheme, inflation indexation will mean higher premiums or significantly lower incomes in the initial period to provide for higher incomes in future. Nevertheless, the impact of inflation on members will be mitigated to some extent, given that the long-term return of the fund should reflect inflation trends. In addition, a member's property is another very important part of his retirement savings. About 85% of active CPF members turning 55 own homes and 70% of CPF members pledge their property as part of the minimum sum. With inflation, the value of their homes is likely to go up, both in selling price as well as rental value, thus helping to mitigate the effects of inflation on members.”
“Through Workfare, for example, the Government provides an income supplement to older low-wage workers of which a portion is credited into the recipient's CPF to shore up retirement savings. We are also encouraging workers to continue working past the age of 55, to build up their savings. Workfare gives older low-wage workers an added incentive to do so. For members with low CPF savings, who want to participate in the LIFE scheme, the Government will help them to do so. Members with less than $20,000 in their retirement accounts will receive a pro-rated L-Bonus upon opting in to the scheme. They will enjoy the full L-Bonus if they top up their retirement account savings to at least $20,000. Family members and even friends and employers can also help as we have liberalised the Minimum Sum topping up scheme. About 17,000 top-ups were made in 2008. Since 1st April 2009, a CPF member below age 55 can now also make top-ups using his CPF savings as long as he has net balances in excess of the prevailing Minimum Sum. From 1st August 2009, we will also remove the age restriction where CPF top-ups to parents and grandparents can only be made to those aged 55 and above. We estimate that the number of additional potential givers who can make top-ups under this new rule is around 18,000. I urge members to top up their family members' CPF accounts, whether it is using CPF or cash. Top-ups can help CPF members receive a higher monthly income, enjoy the L-Bonus, the 1% extra interest for the first $60,000 balance and possibly higher D-Bonus and V-Bonuses as well. Assoc. Prof. Straughan also suggested a voluntary scheme that allows regular top-ups from a member's spouse or children via the GIRO system.”
“CPF LIFE members can rest assured that they will receive payouts for as long as they live. Mdm Halimah raised concerns regarding the affordability of CPF LIFE premiums. Let me clarify that Life premiums do not affect affordability. LIFE premiums refer to the portion of the members' retirement account savings that will be used for the annuity component of CPF LIFE for the plan that they chose. In determining the LIFE premiums, the Minister is, in effect, determining the proportion of retirement account savings that will be used to participate in the annuity. How much a member receives as a monthly income depends on the member's total retirement account savings. I would also like to assure Members that we will keep the cost of administration low, which is one reason why CPF Board will be the single administrator of the Scheme. This is a key principle in designing CPF LIFE, as recommended by the National Longevity Insurance Committee (NLIC). Mdm Halimah and Assoc. Prof. Straughan asked how we are helping CPF members who do not have sufficient savings to participate in CPF LIFE. We estimate that around 70% of the active CPF members turning age 55 in 2013, will have at least $40,000 in retirement account savings. About 84% will have at least $20,000. However, let me clarify that there is no minimum balance required to participate in CPF LIFE. All members, regardless of their CPF balances, can opt in to the scheme. CPF LIFE is meant to address the retirement needs of most members. However, members with very low balances may not be in a position to maximise their benefits from CPF LIFE. There are various schemes to help these members.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Mdm Ho, Mdm Halimah and Assoc. Prof. Straughan for their support. Let me clarify some of the concerns that they raised. Mdm Ho Geok Choo said that the age at which the Scheme applies should not be frequently changed. First, let me assure Members that all CPF members born in 1958 or later, will be automatically included in CPF LIFE if they have at least $40,000 cash in their retirement account when they turned 55. As I have explained earlier, a portion of the members' retirement account savings will be used to participate in an annuity scheme. It is the age at which this annuity kicks in that will be prescribed by the Minister. This age defines the four CPF LIFE plans offered to the members. However, in making their choices, members only need to consider the level of monthly income and bequest amount. The age at which the annuity kicks in is secondary. All CPF LIFE plans will provide members with a monthly income starting from the drawdown age for as long as they live. Mdm Halimah Yacob and Mdm Ho suggested that the payments of CPF LIFE monthly income should be guaranteed. Mdm Ho also sought clarifications on the variability of the LIFE premium and monthly income and whether the monthly income would depend on investment performance. Let me reiterate that CPF LIFE should be self-funded and sustainable. Therefore, guaranteeing the level of monthly income is not feasible. Rather, CPF LIFE monthly income will be adjusted regularly, taking into account interest rates and mortality experience, to ensure the solvency of the Lifelong Income Fund. In other words, the Minister cannot make changes at will but must base his decisions on sound actuarial principles to ensure that fund solvency will not be compromised.”
“These schemes will help enable Singaporeans to look forward to and celebrate the prospect of greater longevity. The amendments in the Bill will, among others, allow the introduction of these schemes. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed. 3.12 pm”
“Today, upon a member's death, CPF Board will conduct checks with the Registry of Marriages and the Registry of Muslim Marriages to validate members' nominations before acting on the nomination. However, despite reasonable efforts to verify that the nomination is still valid, there remains a possibility that there exists a marriage that has the effect of revoking the nomination. For example, a member could be legally married outside Singapore or had a customary marriage before the enactment of the Women's Charter in 1961. The Board will not be aware of such a marriage if it has not been duly informed. Hence, we will amend section 25 of the Act to clarify that where the Board has exercised due diligence, but the deceased's CPF savings were wrongly paid under an invalidated nomination, the Board is discharged of any liability. However, this amendment does not prevent an interested party to recover the deceased's CPF savings from the nominee who received the money as a result of the error. Third, to clarify the agency service role of the CPF Board. Sir, CPF Board has been involved in the administration of several national schemes including the disbursement of monies under the GST Offset Package and computation of employer subsidies under the Jobs Credit Scheme. As these agency projects are not directly related to the CPF, we are amending section 76(1) of the Act to make it clear that the Board may engage in such activities if it is in the public interest to do so. Lastly, the Bill also makes a few clarifications and refinements to the CPF Act to avoid ambiguity and to align with current practices. Sir, CPF LIFE and Lease Buyback are two major innovations that the Government has introduced to prepare Singaporeans for an ageing population.”
“The Mental Capacity Act allows the court to make, amend or revoke wills on behalf of a mentally incapacitated person based on the principle that the court's decision shall be made in the person's best interests. However, the court cannot, at present, affect a CPF nomination. Section 77 of the CPF Act will be amended to align the position of CPF nominations to that of wills under the MCA. The MCA will be amended to allow the court to make or revoke CPF nominations of mentally incapacitated persons. Correspondingly, the rules dealing with CPF nominations will also be amended to allow the courts to do this. We believe that the "best interest" principle embedded in the MCA will facilitate the appropriate distribution of a mentally incapacitated Member's CPF monies upon his death. Streamlining the administration of the CPF Act Finally, this Bill clarifies and streamlines the administration of the CPF Act in a few areas. First, to allow CPF Board to make payment without the need for a Court order for small balances. Currently, when a nominee passes away before receiving the CPF monies which are due to him, CPF Board pays out the monies to the person authorised by the court to administer his estate according to a Court order. Section 25 will be amended to give CPF Board the discretion to make payment to a proper claimant of a deceased nominee without the need for a Court order when balances are small. This figure will be set at $9,000 initially. This minimises inconveniences, expedites payments and saves legal costs for the nominee's beneficiaries in claiming CPF monies. Second, to clarify the extent of the Board's responsibility in cases where the Board is unaware that a nomination is no longer valid because of a subsequent marriage.”
“To help low-income elderly households living in smaller flats to unlock their housing wealth, the Ministry of National Development launched the Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) in March this year. Under LBS, HDB will buy back the tail-end of the lease of the flat, leaving the members with a shorter 30-year lease. Part of the proceeds is then used to participate in CPF LIFE. This ensures that the member continues to enjoy a roof over their heads as well as financial security in old age. To facilitate the use of the proceeds of a LBS transaction to participate in CPF LIFE directly, we are amending section 15 of the Act. Allow top-ups to parents and grand-parents below 55 The third area of change is in the CPF Topping-Up rules. Sir, many Members in this House have spoken of the need to encourage family support in addressing the challenges of Singapore's ageing population and in securing the retirement adequacy of CPF members. My Ministry has been liberalising the rules of the Minimum Sum Topping-Up Scheme since 2005. We are amending section 18 of the Act to give effect to the announcement I had made in February this year. This will allow members to use their CPF savings to top up the CPF accounts of their parents and grandparents who are below 55 years old. With this amendment, CPF Board will be able to offer this additional facility from August 2009. Align treatment of mentally incapacitated members in the CPF Act with that in the Mental Capacity Act 2008 The fourth area of change concerns CPF members who are mentally incapacitated. Sir, in 2008, the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) was passed.”
“Should one of the members pass away, the surviving spouse would be able to continue to draw on the balance. The spouses are, therefore, required to nominate each other as the beneficiary and this nomination cannot be revoked as long as they remain married. However, unlike CMSS, CPF LIFE is an individualised scheme where a member's monthly income will cease upon his death, and the surviving spouse can only rely on his or her own CPF LIFE income. We will, therefore, terminate CMSS in 2013 when CPF LIFE is introduced. Those who are already in the CMSS may continue to remain in the Scheme. Maintaining relevance of the Minimum Sum Scheme Sir, even with the introduction of CPF LIFE, not all members will participate in the Scheme. Members with cash balances below $40,000 may decide not to opt in. They will remain on the Minimum Sum Scheme with a fixed drawdown period. When the Minimum Sum Scheme was introduced in 1987, the payout duration then was set at 20 years. This is because the average life expectancy at the drawdown age, which was 60 then, was 19 years. We have announced that the drawdown age will progressively be raised to 65 by 2013. One in two residents at age 65 today can expect to live beyond 20 years. Life expectancy is expected to increase even further by 2013. If left unchanged, the 20-year drawdown period in the Minimum Sum Scheme will become inadequate by 2013. There will, therefore, be a need to review the duration of the drawdown period to keep pace with the increasing life expectancy. Administration of Lease BuyBack Scheme Let me now move to the other changes in this Bill.”
“This annuity, together with the remaining cash in his Retirement Account, provides the member with a monthly account from his drawdown age for the rest of his life. The monies used to participate in the annuity will be held in a fund called the Lifelong Income Fund to be administered by the CPF Board. The proportion of RA savings to be used for the Fund will vary depending on the choice of the CPF LIFE Plans that they have chosen. Members only need to decide on the plan that suits his needs. To recap, four CPF LIFE Plans will be offered to members. These four plans offer a range of trade-offs between the level of LIFE monthly income and the bequest amount. The default plan is the LIFE Balanced Plan. It will provide members with a balance between a reasonable level of retirement income, and some bequest amount if they pass away early. LIFE premium and monthly income Sir, the actual monthly income that members receive will depend on factors including interest rates and actual mortality experience, which will be reviewed from time to time. The Minister for Manpower will determine the monthly income based on these factors and as advised by the CPF Board to maintain the solvency of the Lifelong Income Fund. Cessation of combined Minimum Sum Scheme Sir, with the introduction of CPF LIFE, the Combined Minimum Sum Scheme (CMSS) is no longer relevant. Let me explain. CMSS was a concession introduced together with the Minimum Sum Scheme in 1987. It allows couples aged 55 and above to jointly set aside only 1.5 times their Minimum Sum, and to withdraw the rest of their CPF savings. The rationale was that a couple living together would not require as much income as two single persons living alone.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, this Amendment Bill will enable CPF Board to introduce CPF LIFE. It also amends existing provisions to be consistent with the Lease Buyback Scheme; further refines the Minimum Sum Topping-Up Scheme; aligns the CPF Act with the Mental Capacity Act; and enables streamlining in the administration of the CPF. CPF LIFE I will first explain the amendments relating to the introduction of the Scheme to facilitate Lifelong Income For the Elderly (CPF LIFE). Members may recall that CPF LIFE was debated in this House in 2008. To empower the Board to administer the CPF LIFE scheme, a new Part IIIB of the Act will be created. I will briefly describe the main features of CPF LIFE. Eligibility The scheme will be introduced for CPF members turning 55 from 2013, ie, for those who are aged 51 or younger this year. Members who have at least $40,000 in their Retirement Account (RA) will be automatically included while members with lower cash balances will be allowed to opt in. For older members, ie, those who turn 55 before 2013, I had announced in February this year that starting September 2009, the Board will offer CPF LIFE to them on an opt-in basis when they reach 55. Members with severely impaired life spans are currently exempted from the Minimum Sum Scheme. Section 27K of the new Part IIIB will allow them to be similarly exempted from CPF LIFE. Participation in Lifelong Income Fund at age 55 Sections 27L and 27N of the new Part IIIB set out the funding mechanism of CPF LIFE. When a member reaches the age of 55, a portion of his Retirement Account savings will be used to participate in an annuity scheme.”
“We will continue to work with our tripartite partners to see how we can improve the effectiveness of all these programmes that we have put in place.”
“Sir, I think the outlook, as I said, remains uncertain. But I believe if we can work together with our tripartite partners, the unions, the employers' federation and also with the job seekers, we will be able to contain the problem, ie, to minimise the number of PMETs affected by retrenchments and to minimise the number of PMETs that remained unemployed. But PMETs generally have greater difficulties looking for new jobs, especially in a different industry because their skills, especially technical skills, are quite specialised. So it is important for us, as Mdm Halimah pointed out, to find ways to help them to switch career paths, especially from industries or specific sectors that are not growing, to sectors that have more opportunities today. We have quite a lot of conversion programmes – I mentioned . I also mentioned an example of a PMET who has successfully switched from an Operations Manager to the healthcare industry. These are some examples of successful conversions and we need to do more of these. I also mentioned earlier that the PMET programme has been enhanced over the last few months, in order to reach out and help them. But over the last few years, if you look back, most of the workers who were affected tended to come from the rank and file. This time round, the recession is likely to hit the PMETs more than previous recessions. By and large, if you look at the macro picture, the rank-and-file workers are also being affected, and therefore while we focus on helping the PMETs, we must not ignore the needs of the rank-and-file workers as well. I think we need to take a balanced approach. While we reach out to help the rank and file, we also have specialised programmes like PSP to reach out and help the PMETs.”
“PMETs can approach the career centres at the Community Development Councils (CDCs) and NTUC's e2i, which work with WDA to assist them in meeting their employment and training needs. In the first six months since SPUR was launched, about 2,600 PMETs have been placed into jobs via various initiatives under SPUR, including efforts by the career centres at the CDCs and NTUC's e2i. There are still jobs available in various sectors such as education, childcare, tourism, F&B and public administration. My Ministry will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide more targeted help, should the situation warrant it.”
“To Mr Liang Eng Hwa's question, there are currently over 40 conversion programmes catering to PMETs under the PSP. These cover a wide range of sectors, such as aerospace, creative industries, early childhood education, healthcare, manufacturing, tourism and retail. These Professional Conversion Programmes (PCP) provide trainees with a monthly training stipend of about $1,000 per month. The trainees are required to work in the industry for a minimum service period thereafter. One example is 32-year old Ms Jeannie Elizabeth Koh who was working as an Operations Manager at Strategic Pte Ltd before she was retrenched in February 2009. She enrolled in the PCP for Registered Nurses with the National University Hospital as her sponsor and receives a monthly training allowance of $1,000. She is now in the first year of the two-year course at Nanyang Polytechnic and will start work at NUH when she completes the course. To make the course more attractive to people like Jeannie, it has been fast-tracked to two years and is fully subsidised by WDA and the sponsoring hospital. For PMETs who undertake SPUR courses other than PCPs, they still benefit from the generous 90% subsidy of the course fees. At the May Day Rally this year, the Prime Minister announced further assistance for PMETs affected by the downturn. Firstly, the absentee payroll cap under SPUR was increased from $6 to $10 per hour to support training for PMETs. Secondly, we launched the PSP traineeship scheme to provide retrenched PMETs with internship opportunities in sectors with good growth potential so as to equip them with relevant job experience and enhance their employability. As at end-May 2009, about 110 companies have committed to offering 1,200 traineeships under this scheme.”
“Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how many Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) were retrenched in the first quarter of 2009; (b) what measures are there in place to assist retrenched PMETs; (c) how many have participated in the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) programmes; and (d) how many have been placed in jobs. 6. Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will consider giving training allowances under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) scheme to PMETs who are badly hit in this economic downturn and incentivising them to re-skill and up-skill. Mr Gan Kim Yong: Sir, a total of 4,730 Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) were made redundant in the first quarter of 2009. To help PMETs through this difficult time, we have put in place a number of measures under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR). PMETs can enhance their skills and employment prospect by participating in the Professional Skills Programme (PSP) under SPUR where they can tap on skills upgrading courses which enable them to improve their skills and employability in a similar industry; skills conversion programmes which help them to switch career to a new profession; or tertiary upgrading through degree and post-graduate courses in selected areas, such as aerospace, chemicals, sustainable building design, social work, integrated circuit design and logistics and supply chain; and they can also tap on career and employability workshops to enhance their generic employment skills. Overall, as at end May 2009, about 36,000 PMETs have been trained or committed to training under PSP. Of these, about one-third are self-employed.”
“Mr Speaker, yes, indeed, within our Career Centres, we do study the profiles of our jobseekers. There will be some jobseekers who find it more difficult to find jobs for a variety of reasons. Skills mismatch is one; familiarity with a new sector is another. Some of them may have to switch to a new sector or industry that they are not familiar with. Our Career Centres are quite mindful of this and they have made the extra effort to identify those who are facing greater difficulty. We provide them with intensive counselling and we also make special efforts to work with the employers to help match them to their jobs. But for some of them, they may need a bit longer in order for them to find jobs which are suitable to themselves as well as matching the employers' needs. The answer to the Member's question is "yes", we are mindful of them and we have put in additional efforts to focus on helping this particular group. But we also want to caution against labelling them, because it is important for us not to give them the impression that they are the difficult group and therefore one might entrench the mindset that it is difficult for them to find jobs. So we would rather treat them more or less the same but we pay special attention and put in additional effort to help them find jobs. This way, employers will not have the stigma on this group of workers who may find it more difficult to find jobs. I think we want to treat them as equally as possible but put in additional efforts to help those who may have more difficulty in looking for jobs. RETRENCHED PMETS (Assistance measures) 5.”
“Sir, some of the companies are increasing their hiring. In fact, even during the last three months, during the depth of the recession, there were companies still hiring. But I would caution against premature optimism. It is important for us to continue to be vigilant and continue to work hard at creating jobs and preparing our workers, upgrading them, so that they are more employable. When these job opportunities are created and companies are beginning to hire, workers will then be ready to tap on these new job opportunities. The outlook remains uncertain, particularly this quarter as well as the next quarter. Whether the hiring will be sustained will depend a lot on their order books over the next two quarters. Although some sectors may be hiring, it is still not broad based. When I talked to the companies, anecdotally, most of them are unable to see far beyond the third or fourth quarter. So I think it is important for us to continue to press on with our various measures to upgrade our workers, prepare them and enhance their skills as well as employability. This will benefit us in the long term. And when the economy really recovers, when there are more job opportunities, these workers will then be ready to tap on these opportunities.”
“Of course, there is room for us to continue to improve, and we would certainly welcome feedback and suggestions from Members as well as the jobseekers.”
“In a nutshell, for PMETs who already started on a new business, generally, they will not be included in the unemployment statistics. Mdm Ho also asked how we can refine our job-matching services, especially for those PMETs who refuse to go for job interviews and whether we threaten them. Sir, the truth is that there are quite a lot of workers that we need to help, and we want to focus on workers who are prepared to be helped. We try our best to match them to jobs and arrange interviews for them. But if jobseekers are unwilling to go for interviews, it will take up a lot of our resources and it is better for us to focus on those who are willing to be helped. Therefore, we would like to remind jobseekers to cooperate with our career counsellors. When we arrange interviews for our jobseekers, we encourage them to go for these interviews. If they have problems managing the interviews, like the timing is not suitable because they have other commitments, we try our best to reschedule our interviews to suit their needs. Sometimes, we even organise interviews and job fairs within the training centres so that the potential employers can come to the training centres to meet up with our trainees while they are undergoing training, and they do not have to make separate arrangement for interview. So, there and then, in situ, right where they are trained, they have an opportunity to meet up with potential employers. This is how we facilitate job-matching at our Career Centres. We have tried very hard and we would appeal to our jobseekers to cooperate with us and help us to help themselves too. We will continue to look at ways to refine and improve our career counselling and career matching services at our Career Centres.”