Gan Siow Huang
Singapore
“So, it is both regulatory codes and also review of existing regulations for us to move both new buildings and existing buildings toward higher adoption of solar as well as other environment sustainability measures. On the third question on strengthening our local ecosystem, that is a really good question.”
“Mr Speaker, BCA had conducted a public consultation to review various aspects of the Building Strata Management Act, and this includes the proposal to lower the resolution requirement for third-parties solar ownership models. They are exploring a reduction from 75% to possibly 50%.”
“This year, the Government has set aside $800 million under the Decarbonisation Grand Challenge, to support research and innovation in low-carbon technologies. This includes energy storage systems and grid modernisation.”
“I want to thank Mr Azhar Othman on his comments. I fully agree that data centres, they are energy guzzlers. In fact, data centres are also actively looking for alternative solutions that are more sustainable. Electricity imports, hopefully, if we can get that coming, using renewable energy sources.”
“Speaker, I would like to respond to Mr Fadli Fawzi's earlier question on petrol prices at the petrol stations. Singapore has a competitive and open economy, and prices naturally would fluctuate in response to various factors, including changes in global supply and global demand.”
“It is actually premature for us to give any meaningful and useful advice to companies that may potentially be affected by the Section 301 investigations. We are following up with the US authorities to try to better understand the reasons as well as the coverage of these Section 301 investigations.”
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“Again, the AEAS option already extends to Myanmar and, soon, to India as well. We hope that employers will keep an open mind and opt for this scheme if they need the MDWs to come in urgently. 12.29 pm”
“I thank the Member for the questions. On the number of MDWs who are waiting to enter Singapore for the next three months, there are several thousands. But I think the more important point is how we are able to gradually increase the entry of MDWs while protecting public health in Singapore. As I have said earlier on, we are committed to continue to look at increasing the entry approval quota, together with our MTF colleagues, so that we can clear as many MDWs to come in as possible for the next three months. For those employers who are unable to wait, who have very urgent needs for the MDWs to enter and are unable to get a slot on ICA's SafeTravel Portal for the next 60 days, they might want to consider the AEAS option, the commercial option. I was just looking at the information this morning, there are still slots available. In fact, MDWs overseas who have the documentation ready can be onboarded very quickly, within a week or two and can definitely arrive in Singapore within the month. On the question about the different countries, I think we all know that the common countries that MDWs come from are Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and India. Indonesia and Philippines, because of the demand, many of the households in Singapore prefer MDWs from these two countries. So, naturally, there are more MDWs that are waiting to enter Singapore from these two countries. Fortunately, for the past few months, the bulk of the 900 per month who entered Singapore were from Indonesia as well as the Philippines. For Myanmar and India, we also know flights were affected by the Not-to-land (NTL) that was determined by MTF. This NTL has been lifted recently. So, we are also hopeful that employers will be able to bring in the MDWs from Myanmar and India for the next few months.”
“As at end of October 2021, the AEAS initiative has facilitated the entry of more than 1,000 MDWs from the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar. Given feedback from employment agencies, AEAS will also be expanding the scheme to India. The fees charged vary across employment agencies, service providers and home countries of the MDWs. Households in financial difficulty can apply for a waiver of costs of local COVID-19 tests and local SHN dedicated facility accommodation for newly-arrived MDWs in Singapore. While there has been a limited number of MDWs entering Singapore over the past months, the number of MDW transfers has remained stable. The average monthly salary of transfer MDW was $630 last year and has increased to $660 as of September 2021; so, about a monthly increase of $30. The past months have been challenging for families waiting for the entry and arrival of the MDWs. We thank families for their patience. We will continuously review the entry approval quotas, together with the Multi-Ministry Task Force (MTF), with the view to fulfil the needs of families as quickly as possible.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recognises that there are still many families waiting for approval of their migrant domestic workers (MDWs) to enter Singapore. To manage COVID-19 importation risk, entry approvals for MDWs were tightened since May 2021, resulting in the number of MDWs entering Singapore being reduced from an average of 3,400 per month from January to April this year to 900 per month from May to October. As the regional COVID-19 situation improves, MOM is able to give more entry approvals. From 15 October 2021 onwards, we have opened up new applications for the entry of fully-vaccinated MDWs for entry from 1 November and after. More MDWs will be able to enter Singapore in the coming months if the COVID-19 situation continues to stabilise locally and regionally. Due to the high demand for entry, we will continue to prioritise families with caregiving needs for the entry approvals. We will also facilitate the entry of MDWs of households with healthcare workers so that the healthcare workers can better focus on their frontline work. For those employers who are not successful, they may wish to access the application portal by ICA in subsequent weeks as entry slots are periodically made available. With more entry approvals in the coming months, the demand for transfer MDWs is expected to ease. Households that require MDWs urgently may wish to consider the commercial programme by Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) or AEAS. MDWs who already possess documentation overseas can be on boarded onto the programme within a week and there are slots available. AEAS and its partner employment agencies will adjust the programme according to demand to compliment the entry of MDWs through the mainstream channel.”
“Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would like to take Question Nos 13 to 16 by Mr Ang Wei Neng, Dr Wan Rizal, Ms Mariam Jaafar and Mr Dennis Tan together.”
“Of those who were employed, about one in 10 were on-boarded as trainees under the SGUnited Traineeships Programme. This is similar to the overall employment rate for Class of 2020 graduates across all IHL courses, as well as those who graduated in 2019, before the onset of COVID-19. The Government will continue to monitor the graduate employment situation closely as the economy recovers and prepare our graduates well in starting their first careers. 12.30 pm”
“Mr Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many economic activities. The hospitality, aviation and aerospace sectors have been particularly impacted. The Government has been working closely with the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and the industry to support graduates entering the workforce since last year, including around 5,000 graduates from full-time courses related to hospitality, aviation and aerospace from the IHLs who graduated between December 2020 and September 2021. The SGUnited Traineeships Programme was introduced last year to provide fresh graduates with industry experience and the opportunity to convert their training to a full-time job. Over 10,200 graduates have benefited from this, including some from the hospitality, aviation and aerospace courses. MOM and Workforce Singapore (WSG) have extended this programme until March 2022. Graduates also receive career guidance and assistance through the IHL Career Centres, WSG's Career Connect Centres and NTUC's e2i career centres. Graduates from harder-hit sectors, such as hospitality, aviation and aerospace, who wish to explore new opportunities in adjacent sectors can also access career fairs organised by the IHLs as well. Graduates from the Class of 2020 and 2021 can also tap on the free Continuing Education and Training modules offered by the IHLs to enhance their skills while they seek employment. These courses will be available until March 2022. These measures have helped cushion the impact of a challenging job market. About nine in 10 graduates from courses related to hospitality, aviation and aerospace who entered the labour market in 2020 were employed within six months after their final examinations or one year after completion of full-time National Service.”
“I thank the Member for the suggestions. I think these are good suggestions, which we will take into consideration. Currently, for employment agencies, although it is not mandated for them to check in on the foreign domestic workers, we do know of some employment agencies that take the extra step in checking with the employers as well as the foreign domestic workers on the state of well-being, whether they are getting along well and whether there are adjustment issues. We think this is a good practice and there is scope for us look at institutionalising it, so that there is one more touchpoint for foreign domestic workers to raise concerns if they do encounter problems in the first few months of their employment, especially for those who are working in Singapore for the first time. As to checking on the mental health and providing counselling or support, I think this is certainly an area that we will be interested to pursue. 10.30 am”
“So, really, the answer is in improving communication, clarifying the roles of both the employer as well as to domestic worker. And thirdly, investigation to make sure we get to the root of the problem. But ultimately, for the sake of the employer as well as the foreign domestic worker, we want to make sure that they have a good relationship with each other and are able to get along well.”
“The Member Mr Lim Biow Chuan has raised a very good point. Just as there are cases of employers mistreating foreign domestic workers, MOM also receives reports and complaints from employers about foreign domestic workers who are of poor conduct, poor performance, and sometimes, mistreating the people who they are supposed to help to take care of. What MOM does is really, we will have our investigating officers to look into the facts of the case. Usually, it involves a series of interviews with both employers and employees, and we look at evidence to draw a conclusion on what could have caused the problem. Very often, it actually has to do with miscommunication. Very often also, it is because of poor understanding of what employers are expected to do, what the foreign domestic workers are expected to do. That is when we will also step in to clarify with both parties. I think it is absolutely important that we try to improve the match between the employer and the foreign domestic worker. Some employers may have certain special requirements or may have standards that are higher than the others. Some foreign domestic workers may have more capacity than others when it comes to work. We also recognise that our foreign domestic workers come from different countries with different cultural practices and norms, and skills and readiness to work. What we want to do is to make sure that foreign domestic workers who are deployed to the households are able to fit well. If there is poor fit, either from the perspective of the foreign domestic worker or from the employer, I think it is best that we try to adjust to redeploy the foreign domestic worker to other households, instead of forcefully and prolonging the problem for both parties.”
“We are working with the medical fraternity to look at how to make it more objective for the doctors to detect and to report suspected cases of abuse. Currently, it is in the form where doctors are required to report if they detect signs of distress or abuse. To my knowledge, I think the main issue now is that it may not be so easy and discernible for doctors to detect abuse cases. It does require some objectivity in this review and that is exactly what we are doing with the medical fraternity. The second point about screening of employers, we do take note of employers of foreign domestic workers where past complaints were lodged against them. We also take note of employers who frequently change their foreign domestic workers. There is also feedback that we sometimes we receive on employers, feedback given to us by public members or neighbours. So, these are things that we take into account when we assess the suitability of employers for hiring foreign domestic workers. The third, for foreign domestic workers who currently do not have a day off or have mobile phones, we do reach out to them, principally, through the one-on-one interviews that CDE conducts with domestic workers in their native language. These interviews have been very useful in helping us to detect signs of distress early in the foreign domestic workers. We also rely on public members, neighbours, the community-at-large to help sport cases of mistreatment of foreign domestic workers. Going forward, we will want to look at other ways to strengthen the touch points that will allow us to detect cases of abuse early. I have covered some of them earlier on.”
“In Parliament last week, various Members, including Mr Desmond Choo, Ms Carrie Tan and Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked about measures to prevent foreign domestic workers' abuse. While most employers make an effort to build good relationships with their foreign domestic workers, some treat them unreasonably. To strengthen support for foreign domestic workers and reduce the incidence of abuse, MOM is reviewing measures in three areas. First, making greater use of existing touch points with foreign domestic workers. Employment agents should have an interest to make sure that the foreign domestic workers that they place settle in well, especially those who are working in Singapore for the first time. One-on-one interviews, also for the newly arrived foreign domestic workers, when they start with new employers, will also be enhanced. We are also looking at mandatory off days for foreign domestic workers to be able to interact with the community and to seek help should they need to. Second, in terms of the reporting by doctors, we will work with the medical fraternity to better identify signs of abuse or distress. Third, our partner organisations like CDE and Forward Assurance and Support Team, or FAST, can also expand their outreach and engagement, to strengthen the network of support to foreign domestic workers. MOM will provide an update on the review in due course. As echoed by Members of this House and Singaporeans, abuse of foreign domestic workers must not be tolerated. We will work together with the stakeholders to strengthen support for foreign domestic workers and build a culture of respect for them, in our homes and in the community.”
“The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) adopts a three-pronged approach to protect foreign domestic workers against abuses. First, we educate employers on their responsibilities of care towards their foreign domestic workers through the Employers' Orientation Programme (EOP) such as the provision of adequate food and rest, and acceptable accommodation for their foreign domestic workers. Employers are also reminded that the acts of mistreatment and abuse, including threats and physical punishment, are not tolerated and there are heavy penalties for offenders. Similarly, during the Settling-In Programme (SIP), all newly-arrived foreign domestic workers are educated on their rights and channels to seek help should they encounter any well-being issues. For example, foreign domestic workers can call the Police if they are abused, or the hotlines set up by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) or the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) if they have employment difficulties or other well-being issues. Second, we work with CDE to conduct interviews with first-time foreign domestic workers in their native language, within the first few months of their employment. It is a form of check-in with the workers to ensure that they have settled well in their jobs. It also helps us detect problems and cases of abuse early. In addition, since 2017, doctors are asked in the six-monthly medical examination form to report to the Police or MOM immediately if they spot signs of abuse during the mandatory six-monthly medical examination. Third, as a strong deterrent, the Penal Code was enhanced in 2020 to double the punishment against individuals who abuse vulnerable victims, including foreign domestic workers.”
“We just reviewed the penalty framework in 2020 and we will continue to review it further if necessary. Thus far, we have not seen any repeat of discriminatory practices from the companies that were penalised.”
“I thank the hon Member Mr Leon Perera for the supplementary questions. I will take the three questions together. On whether MOM tracks perceptions of discrimination, we do track public perception of fair employment practices through regular opinion polls, and also, more detailed surveys of employment practices over time. Notwithstanding the progress made by employers over the years, MOM did observe an increase in the percentage of local jobseekers who perceived discrimination during the job search process between 2014 and 2018. MOM will continue to conduct regular surveys so that we have a good pulse of public opinion on this matter. On whether there were companies that were not amenable to the warnings and pressure from MOM because they did not hire foreign workers, for cases of discriminatory dismissal, as an example, the employer can also be ordered by the Employment Claims Tribunals to compensate the employees. In addition, if the firm is an employment agency, demerit points could be imposed. If sufficient demerit points are accumulated, the licence could be suspended or revoked. We also take companies to task for false declarations of fair hiring practices. In the past, we have sought legal action against such companies. On whether we will publish statistics regularly on companies in breach of fair hiring practices, we will consider doing so if we think it helps in clarifying public opinion of the situation on the ground as well as in shaping employers' behaviour, to correct their behaviour towards fair employment practices.”
“Over the past three years, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) handled an average of 400 discrimination cases annually, including those arising from proactive checks by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on discriminatory hiring practices. In about 50 cases each year, the employers were found to be in breach of the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices and had their work pass privileges suspended. About 60% of such cases involved nationality-based discrimination, and about one-third involved gender and age discrimination, split about equally between the two. The remaining cases involved other types of discrimination such as race, marital status or family responsibilities. Apart from suspending work pass privileges, MOM also issues warnings to employers for less severe breaches, such as lapses in their HR practices which resulted in miscommunication and discrimination in the recruitment process. In these cases, TAFEP will step in and advise the employers on the required rectifications. MOM issued an average of 40 warnings annually. MOM takes a serious view of discrimination at the workplace. Over the past three years, there has not been a repeat offender.”
“Looking beyond the pandemic, we expect to build on the groundwork and evolve these programmes into Career Transition Programmes. This will strengthen our slate of offerings to our mid-career workers in their steady state. We constantly seek to ensure that our training programmes deliver outcomes. I thank Mr Sharael Taha for his suggestions. Our course fee subsidies are tiered, with the highest tier tied to those with work-related outcomes. Given the tight fiscal environment, we are also mindful about how we resource the Next Bound of SkillsFuture. First, we are continually reviewing existing schemes, to focus our funding on training that delivers strong employment outcomes. Second, when the Enhanced Training Support Package ends this year, we will revise the absentee payroll funding to a more sustainable rate. This complements the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit that will continue beyond 2021. Lastly, in line with the SkillsFuture message for individuals to pursue their own training pathway and take up industry-relevant modular courses, we will phase out the SkillsFuture Qualification Award which is tied to completion of full qualifications. We will implement these changes from 1 January 2022 onwards. I am heartened by the tenacity demonstrated by Singaporeans in the past year, from our workers to employers. As we set our sights on economic recovery, we will continue to support Singaporeans in their lifelong learning journey towards skills mastery. Through SkillsFuture, we will enable Singaporeans to strive for their goals, and emerge stronger together.”
“IES has set a strong example of how industry associations can take the lead in building new skills-based pathways. I hope to see more associations drive such change in their respective domains. Complementing the focus on enterprises is our effort to encourage individuals to take ownership of their skills development. Mr Yip Hon Weng asked for the latest statistics concerning SkillsFuture Credit usage. More than 188,000 Singaporeans utilised their SkillsFuture Credit in 2020, up from about 156,000 Singaporeans in 2019. The number of claims also increased by about 30% from 2019 to 2020. We will continue to provide personalised guidance, in the form of SkillsFuture Advice workshops and seminars and Skills and Training Advisory at job fairs and community events, many of which are actually organised by the CDCs. I thank Ms Denise Phua for highlighting the lifelong learning needs of persons with disabilities (PwDs). For this group, besides the common course offerings, they can also choose from 30 SkillsFuture courses customised for them, covering areas such as ICT, food and beverage and customer service. We will continue looking at how to strengthen the training eco-system to support their needs. Under the Next Bound of SkillsFuture, we will also focus on helping mid-career workers transition to new and emerging employment opportunities. To this end, we have been ramping up our provision of training programmes and strengthening the partnership between SSG and WSG to improve employment outcomes of Train-and-Place programmes. From July to December 2020, we launched over 300 programmes, including SGUnited Skills and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training programmes which I mentioned earlier on.”
“We have been ramping this up to ensure that they remain in touch with industry developments. As they undergo such attachments, they could use their institutional knowledge to help bring technology solutions to enterprises and also help their host companies strengthen their training plans. So, it is a win-win situation. In addition, companies can benefit from consultancy services provided by the National Centre of Excellence for Workplace Learning or NACE, for short. NACE was established in 2018 to strengthen the capabilities of companies to deliver training at the workplace. Thus far, NACE has supported about 530 companies in building workplace-based learning capabilities. To support employers in pursuing enterprise and workforce transformation, we launched the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit in 2020. So far, about 3,400 eligible employers have sent their workers for SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit-supportable training programmes. SSG's skills frameworks serve as an important common reference point across training providers and employers, as they provide key information on career pathways, job roles, as well as existing and emerging skills required for the job roles in different sectors. I agree with Mr Patrick Tay that we need to encourage the adoption of the Skills Frameworks. That was why I was happy when the Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) established a National Engineering Career Progression Pathway, in alignment with the Skills FFramework. The scheme opens a non-academic route for engineering technicians and technologists to move towards the Chartered Engineer status, hence promoting employee recognition and career development based on technical skills and work experience.”
“SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) is working with training providers to assess how this can continue to be enhanced while ensuring that the learning outcomes are met. Ms Mariam Jaafar noted that while COVID-19 has limited opportunities for overseas exposure, leading global companies could be tapped to provide this in virtual formats for Singaporean workers and students. We agree and have been finding ways to do so. Some of our IHL students have been able to take on internships with overseas start-ups under the Global Innovation Alliance (Innovators Academy) programme via "remote internships". We will continue to explore how we can engage our partner companies and Queen Bees to expand such opportunities to more individuals. Even as we tackle the near-term challenges that the pandemic has brought about, it is important that we continue to keep an eye on the future that lies beyond. We are therefore pressing on with our plans for the Next Bound of SkillsFuture, which Mr Yip Hon Weng asked about. A key thrust of the Next Bound of SkillsFuture is enhancing the role of enterprises in developing their workforce. Ms Foo Mee Har has emphasised the importance of this and I fully agree. We continue to help employers invest in the skills development of their workers. We have onboarded 22 SkillsFuture Queen Bees and supported more than 400 enterprises, most of which are SMEs. The Queen Bee companies include private sector leading firms, such as IBM and Prudential. They form business communities with enterprises to address common skills needs and co-create solutions in their sectors. Ms Janet Ang asked how our IHL educators can strengthen support for our SMEs' training efforts. Today, our Polytechnic lecturers do industry attachments with companies, including SMEs.”
“30 pm The SGUnited Skills and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training programmes will be extended by an additional year to 31 March 2022. This will provide continued support for Singaporeans to learn and thrive, as our jobs and workplaces change, and as businesses transform. In the next phase, we will expand the capacity of in-demand courses courses with good hiring opportunities in sectors such as infocomm technology (ICT) and media, professional services, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. We will keep the duration of most courses to no more than six months, so that the trainees can transition to employment quickly, with the support of the training partners. While the pandemic has created a challenging operating environment, it also presents opportunities for employers to upskill their workers during the downtime, thereby getting them ready for new business processes. We have supported employers in sending their workers for training through the Enhanced Training Support Package (ETSP). The ETSP supports eight sectors that have been more severely affected by COVID-19. About 155,000 training places have been taken up in these sectors, benefiting more than 72,000 employees across 1,300 companies. ETSP has been particularly well-utilised by the tourism and aviation sectors. We will extend the ETSP to 31 December 2021. This will allow the firms to send more workers for industry-relevant training to help their workforce emerge stronger post-COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, a much larger proportion of training last year was delivered in a blended or online modality. Indeed, online training can provide greater convenience and reach.”
“Such opportunities are available at the diploma, post-diploma and degree levels, providing an applied learning pathway for our graduates to continue developing their skillsets in their chosen industry. To ensure continued availability of such opportunities during this period, we have introduced wage support to employers that are participating in Place-and-Train Work-Study programmes. To support more students who are graduating this year, we will extend this measure to 31 March 2022. The companies will receive wage support of 45%, on top of the wage support under the Jobs Growth Incentive. Ms Foo Mee Har highlighted the need to evolve our reskilling pathways to address job opportunities in the care, digital and green economy. This has been a key focus in our efforts to support mid-career Singaporeans whose livelihoods have been affected. We engaged key partners to provide training through the SGUnited Skills programmes and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways, a company training programme, to help jobseekers move into new jobs, particularly in the growth areas. For the healthcare sector, one such training partner is the HMI Institute of Health Sciences (HMI Institute). As part of the SGUnited Skills Programme, HMI Institute provides employment facilitation and career advisory services to its trainees. Since August 2020, HMI Institute has enrolled 360 individuals, many of whom are mid-careerists, contributing towards the much needed pipeline of manpower for our healthcare-related roles. Altogether, close to 10,000 other trainees have enrolled in SGUnited Skills and SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways – Company Training programmes, with the first courses having just completed in February. 5.”
“Mr Chairman, as a small country with no natural resources, Singapore’s most valuable assets are our people. Hence, developing our people is a national priority, starting from early childhood, to tertiary education for our youths, and continuing education and training (CET) for adults to support their careers and aspirations. Lifelong learning empowers each Singaporean to chart his or her own journey in life and gain fulfilment at work. The SkillsFuture movement was started in 2014 to take lifelong learning to the next level. It creates multiple pathways for our people to upskill and reskill, either to develop mastery in their skills, or pick up new skills to start a new career path. SkillsFuture supports Singaporeans to learn for life, for lifelong employability. One of the points highlighted in the Emerging Stronger Conversations is that lifelong learning is necessary to keep our workforce resilient. We have built a comprehensive eco-system of training support and skills pathways over the years. When COVID-19 struck, we were able to tap on the eco-system to support our graduating students and workers. We have taken great care to support fresh graduates from ITE, Polytechnics and Universities as they make the transition into working life. And in my MOM speech just now, I spoke about the SGUnited Traineeships. In addition, our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) have stepped up career facilitation assistance to the graduates, and provided free CET modules to help boost their employability. Many of our graduates have taken courses in areas, such as data analytics and finance. I agree with Mr Darryl David on the benefits of Work-Study Programmes. Our SkillsFuture Work-Study Programmes bridge fresh graduates’ transition into the workforce.”
“We encourage our foreign domestic workers to utilise public parks and spaces as well and adhere to the safe distancing measures imposed at these public places, instead of gathering on public walkways where there may be safety and accessibility concerns.”
“I thank Ms Yeo Wan Ling for reminding us that FDWs, like us, also need work-life harmony, and mental well-being is as important to them as it is to us. So, actually, MOM has a number of measures already to help our foreign domestic workers adjust in Singapore. These include educating them via the settling-in programme on matters, such as Singapore's social norms, their employment rights and stress management. In addition, MOM works with stakeholders, including NGOs, to provide recreational facilities and stress management courses. NGOs, like CDE under NTUC, and FAST, each maintains a 24-hour helpline for foreign domestic workers. CDE also partners mental health advocacy organisations, such as Silver Ribbon, to provide counselling services for foreign domestic workers who need someone to talk to. We recognise the importance of foreign domestic workers having opportunities to establish friendships, pursue recreational activities and deepen ties with the community. So, we work closely with partners, such as CDE and FAST, which I mentioned earlier on, to provide training, recreational spaces, social activities. In 2019, about 158,000 foreign domestic workers participated in courses, services and activities organised by various NGOs. The wide range of services and activities available include befriender programmes, affordable educational courses, counselling facilities, libraries and gyms. And there are many opportunities for foreign domestic workers to enhance their work-related skills or pick up new skills for their personal development. FAST is building a new clubhouse that will be 10 times larger than their current premises, with a capacity of 5,000 people and I am looking forward to opening it in the second half of the year.”
“The Government has strengthened areas of support for care-givers via the Care-givers Support Action Plan that was announced in 2019. Firstly, there is a range of home and community care options to help support the care and social needs of the elderly loved ones when care-givers have to go to work. There are also various respite care options in eldercare centres and nursing homes for care-givers who need help with caring for seniors for short periods of time, including during the weekends. Another example is the area of financial support. MOH has introduced a home-caring grant in October 2019 to help defray the costs of care-giving in the community. This grant provides a $200 payout per month to eligible individuals with permanent moderate disability that can be used to offset the cost of home and community care services – transport expenses to travel for medical appointments and cost of hiring a foreign domestic worker. Households that need financial assistance for their basic living expenses including the low-wage stay home care-givers can also approach Social Services Office which will look into ways to support them. To answer Ms Carrie Tan's question, actually it is a whole-of-Government. There are several Ministries working together to support care-givers, whether they are full-time care-givers or part-time care-givers. We have the MSF that looks at ComCare. We have MOH that looks at supplementing and providing alternative care-giver options. And we have MOM as well that looks at CPF support and retirement savings support for care-givers. So, I would not say that it is a single Ministry but rather, a whole-of-Government effort to support care-givers.”
“Regardless of gender, age, race or physical ability, we want to make sure that all Singaporeans are able to thrive at the workplace. The Government, employers, workers and the community, can all do our part to protect the vulnerable in our society. Let us work together and march towards a fairer and more cohesive society.”
“The Penal Code was enhanced in 2020 to double the maximum punishment against individuals who abuse vulnerable people, including foreign domestic workers. MOM has been reviewing measures to better support foreign domestic workers and strengthen safeguards against abuse in three areas. First, making greater use of existing touch points with foreign domestic workers. Employment agents should have an interest to ensure that the foreign domestic workers they place settle in well, especially those working in Singapore for the first time. One-on-one interviews after newly arrived foreign domestic workers start work with employers and mandatory off days would also give abused foreign domestic workers more opportunities to seek help. 1.15 pm Second, in terms of the reporting by doctors, we will work with the medical fraternity to better identify signs of abuse or distress. Third, our partner organisations like CDE and FAST can also expand their outreach and engagement, to strengthen the network of support to foreign domestic workers. These measures do not in any way, remove or reduce the responsibility of each employer to take care of his or her foreign domestic worker. Neither can they eliminate completely the risk of foreign domestic worker abuse. But we must do all we can to minimise its incidence, and build a culture of respect for foreign domestic workers, in our homes and in our community. MOM will provide an update in due course. Mr Chairman, please allow me to conclude in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Although we face many challenges, we will continue to work hard to build a fairer and more inclusive workplace for our workers.”
“More importantly, schemes like the Jobs Support Scheme, Jobs Growth Incentive and Professional Conversion Programme tilt the balance in favour of hiring locals. This is similar to how we take a progressive approach to reducing other forms of workplace discrimination. Specifically for seniors, job redesign and reskilling have also enabled us to increase their employment in Singapore. Despite the absence of an age discrimination law, Singapore's senior employment rate increased from 59% to 67.5% in the past decade. In contrast, countries like the UK and US have age discrimination laws but lower senior employment rates than in Singapore. In short, we will use a range of tools as well as legal and regulatory measures to keep our workplaces progressive, fair and inclusive. Mr Chairman, Singaporeans take pride in being a caring and kind society. We teach our children to take care of the vulnerable and disadvantaged. Many Singaporeans were outraged when we heard about what happened to Ms Piang Ngaih Don, a foreign domestic worker from Myanmar who was brutally abused by her employer and died tragically in 2016. This was an act of extreme evil. Let me state unequivocally to this House that our society has no place for cruelty to anyone. We must do our best to support vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children and foreign domestic workers. Foreign domestic workers play a key role in supporting our families, whether in household chores or care-giving. Most employers appreciate the help from their foreign domestic workers and build good relationships with them. However, some employers treat their foreign domestic workers unreasonably. In the worst cases, they inflict harm. Employers in Singapore must know that any abuse of foreign domestic workers will not be tolerated.”
“We can have more legislation to enforce against bad behaviour at the workplace but if we take a legal approach to every aspect of employment relations, we will have an adversarial industrial climate. Not legislating does not mean we do not have higher aspirations for our workforce and workplaces. We have Tripartite Guidelines, Advisories and Standards, and these have worked well in advancing both employers and employees' interests while maintaining a positive and constructive relationship between both groups. Members may recall that before the Retirement and Re-employment Act was introduced, we also adopted a promotional approach. We will continue to review this bag of tools and introduce and upgrade the tools as necessary. Over the past three years, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) handled an average of 400 discrimination cases annually, including those arising from proactive checks by MOM. In about 50 cases each year, the employers were found to be in breach of the guidelines and had their work pass privileges suspended. Through the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF), we encourage fair employment practices that are open and merit-based. We hold employers to account for not considering the workforce in Singapore fairly. We proactively identify companies with suspicious workforce profiles, that is, companies that have an exceptionally high share of foreign professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) compared to their industry peers or a high concentration of a single foreign nationality source. We place them on our FCF Watchlist for closer scrutiny of their hiring practices even if they have not flouted any rules.”
“Although COVID-19 has significantly increased the proportion of people working from home, further study is needed to understand the impact of such arrangements on the work productivity and wellbeing of employees in the long term. Some employers may feel that work-from-home, if protracted, could hinder collaboration, productivity and the building of team spirit. Some employees may prefer to work in the office if their home environment is not conducive or for social interaction. The degree to which work-from-home can be proliferated will vary across occupations. We will look at the experiences of other jurisdictions such as the UK and Australia, which have introduced flexible work arrangement legislation. But we will need to work with our tripartite partners to ensure a holistic representation of employees and employers' interests as we decide on the steps for the longer term. We have recently formed an Alliance for Action for Work-Life Harmony to help companies instill workplace practices and resources to promote work-life harmony. In the long term, this will help companies better attract and retain talent. At its heart, a progressive workplace is one where everyone is treated fairly and empowered to perform at their best. There have been various calls by Members, including Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Louis Ng, to introduce additional legislation to tackle workplace discrimination and harassment. We have laws to raise employment standards and we update them regularly. For harassment, we have the Protection from Harassment Act and the Penal Code. These laws enable the Government to take action against harassers, including at the workplace.”
“Second, we supplement the retirement income of seniors who had low incomes during their working years through the Silver Support Scheme. Ms Carrie Tan also suggested for us to combine childcare and parent care leave to form a more holistic family care leave provision. While we agree that this might provide more flexibility to care-givers who have to take care of both children and their parents, we will have to consider the long-term implications of such a measure. COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of flexible work arrangements. Most companies implemented flexible work arrangements last year in view of safe management requirement for the workplace. Many successfully redesigned work processes and infrastructure to facilitate staggered work hours and work-from-home arrangements. In 2020, the proportion of employers that provided some form of flexible work arrangements rose to 93% and almost half of employers provided formal tele-working arrangements. Mr Louis Chua and Mr Louis Ng would like to see flexible work arrangements continuing post-COVID-19. The importance of flexible work arrangements was echoed in the recent Emerging Stronger Conversation series too. Particularly, on working from home, a survey conducted in July last year showed that four in five workers wished to continue to work from home for at least half the time, even after Government measures are lifted. Employers are aligned with this too. In a recent MOM online poll, more than three in five businesses indicated that they intend to continue to allow employees to work from home at least half the time post-COVID-19.”
“The labour force participation rate for women has been rising steadily from 68.4% in 2010 to 76.6% in 2020. Even COVID-19 could not stop us. It is perhaps a sign that more men are sharing in care-giving responsibilities at home and our workplaces have become more supportive of women. We are mindful, however, that in our Asian culture, women carry a disproportionate weight in care-giving duties. In 2020, 65% of women who were outside the labour force cited family responsibilities as the main reason as compared to only 8% of men. Our answer to this is not in asking men to stay at home and be full-time care-givers but to increase support for care-givers as a whole so that they can contribute to work and have an income. I share Ms Carrie Tan's views on the importance of supporting care-givers in the workforce. We acknowledge that care-giver leave helps them take care of their loved ones through short-term illnesses. However, it is also important to hear from care-givers what is most helpful to them. Our conversations with working care-givers showed that flexible work arrangements were more important and sustainable. We also support care-givers who would like to return to the workforce by providing career matching services from Workforce Singapore (WSG). Through providing a supportive environment for our working care-givers, we can empower them to fulfill career aspirations concurrently with family commitments. Lower wage care-givers who are working may also be eligible for the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme, which provides up to $4,000 in cash and CPF top-ups annually. We have also taken steps to help care-givers build their retirement nest egg. First, we encourage cash top-ups to CPF accounts of care-givers through tax incentives and Government matching grants.”
“Ms Jessica Tan, Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Ms Nadia Samdin will be pleased to know that we have made changes to facilitate trainees' transition into jobs. The maximum traineeship duration has been shortened from nine to six months. Companies will not be allowed to take on the same trainee for a second traineeship. We want to encourage host organisations to hire trainees who have performed well during the traineeship stint. These changes will take effect on 1 April 2021. 2021 is a year of celebrating Singaporean women. I wholeheartedly support this initiative and I would like to take this opportunity to update on the employment of women in Singapore. Our female employment rate has remained stable at 73% despite the impact of COVID-19. This speaks to the strength and resilience of our women amidst challenging labour market conditions and reflects our efforts in supporting female employment. Mr Louis Ng asked if the practice of declaring the last drawn salary contributed to the gender pay gap. He referred to a Boston University study on the impact of salary history on gender pay gap. The United States introduced a salary history ban in 2016. In Singapore, the adjusted gender pay gap is about 6%, which is lower than that in the United States. According to a 2018 study by Assoc Prof Jessica Pan from NUS, occupational segregation was a key contributor to the gender wage gap here. In Singapore, jobseekers do not have to comply with requests for their last drawn salary and employers cannot insist on it either. If a jobseeker chooses to provide salary information, employers should use it carefully. I share Ms Mariam Jaafar's and Ms Yeo Wan Ling's conviction that we should support women to stay active in the labour force.”
“The past year has not been easy for employers, employees and jobseekers. One group that is new to our workforce and learning to navigate their entrance into it are our recent graduates. Miss Cheryl Chan and Mr Yip Hon Weng asked about the progress of our SGUnited Traineeships and its impact on our graduates. Not surprisingly, fewer graduates found permanent full-time employment last year. SGUnited Traineeships provided a viable alternative. I agree with Prof Hoon Hian Teck that our graduates on traineeship can gain industry-relevant experience and build their networks as pathways to future job opportunities. About nine in 10 graduates from our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) who entered the labour force last year found jobs or traineeships within six months of graduation. Among them, 5,400 were on traineeships. Most of these traineeships were in growth sectors such as financial services, information and communications, and professional services. The SGUnited Traineeships Programme will be extended by an additional year till 31 March 2022. This allows the programme to support the class of 2021 as well. We are making some adjustments to the SGUnited Traineeships. We will raise training allowances for ITE and Polytechnic graduates. This is to give an extra boost to our ITE and Polytechnic graduates, who are facing more difficulty in finding jobs. We hope that our recent graduates who have not been able to find jobs can seriously consider traineeships. To facilitate this, the training allowance for ITE graduates will increase by about 30%, up to a maximum of $1,800 and about 20% for Polytechnic graduates, up to a maximum of $2,100. The traineeships are available to graduates from the private education institutes as well.”
“I thank Mr Leon Perera for the supplementary question. We do allow self-employment amongst our LTVP and LTVP+ holders. However, to be classified as self-employed, they would need a valid LOC/PLOC and be hired by the same firm for which they are listed as director, partner, limited partner or sole proprietor in the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority's records.”
“Mr Speaker, Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) or Long-Term Visit Pass Plus (LTVP+) holders are the ones who are foreigners who are here in Singapore and we facilitate their stay here. Foreign spouses or unmarried children under 21 years old of Singapore Citizens (SC) or Permanent Residents (PR) who have LTVP or LTVP+ can work in Singapore if they are also issued with Letters of Consent (LOC) or Pre-approved Letters of Consent (PLOC). Other LTVP holders, such as parents of citizens and Permanent Residents can work in Singapore if they are also issued with a regular work pass. As at December 2020, there are 17,890 LTVP and LTVP+ holders who are part of our workforce. Of this, 190 or about 1% are self-employed. Collectively, the employed LTVP and LTVP+ constitute about 0.5% of our workforce.”
“Mr Speaker, PSP is entitled to take that position and a segment of Singaporeans will in fact support that position. And this is part and parcel of having diversity of views in the Chamber. But I thought that I should just register that the Government has a different view, which is that, this is a difficult balancing act. We are constantly working on it and that we will try our best to manage, do well to build a strong Singaporean Core in order to benefit Singaporeans for the long run.”
“If we start telling companies that they can invest but can only employ Singaporeans for the top jobs, we will end up chasing some of them away and thousands of good jobs for Singaporeans will be lost as well. And going by Mr Leong's logic, Singaporeans who are working overseas then, would not be given top jobs outside Singapore. In my maiden speech in Parliament, I spoke about strengthening the Singaporean Core and being very proud of Singapore as an open and multi-cultural society. We must do our best to equip our Singaporeans with the right skills and also the attributes to thrive in a vibrant and open economy. Singapore is a global city state. Global companies with a presence in Singapore require a diverse team of foreign and local talent. Mr Leong and PSP must know that.”
“Mr Speaker, I would like to make a clarification following hon Member Mr Leong Mun Wai's speech. Mr Leong Mun Wai, in his speech, suggested that foreigners are taking the helm of companies in Singapore at the expense of locals, and he suggested that there should be a levy on all EP holders. The Singapore Government reviews the EP qualifying criteria constantly. We just did that last year as well. We do that so that there is constant rebalancing of the foreign and local talent mix in Singapore, and the intent is to strengthen the Singaporean Core. A blanket levy on EP holders is a signal to foreign investors that we do not quite welcome them bringing in their own talent. I also recall that in his earlier speech during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President, he lamented that DBS was still without a Singaporean CEO, and even after hearing the clarification that the CEO of DBS is indeed Singaporean, even though not born in Singapore, he maintained his position. I cannot help, but come to the conclusion that Mr Leong and PSP do not believe that Singapore should be an open city connected to the world, having locals and foreigners complementing each other. And he wants Singapore to close up, for the top jobs to be given to Singaporeans only. Mr Speaker, we have seen in many other mature democracies where anti-foreigner sentiments are being played out and politicised and we also know that many countries are grappling with the challenges of globalisation. So are we. But we must try to strike a balance between globalisation and building our own identity in Singapore, welcoming foreign talent and building our own talent at the same time. And our future depends on it.”
“I thank hon Member Dr Wan Rizal for the supplementary question. Offhand, I do not have the information on whether the polytechnic graduates who opted for the traineeships are actually in sectors that are relevant to what they studied. But we do know that the Polytechnic graduates have a wide range of choices of traineeships. We do encourage them to take on traineeships in sectors that are relevant to them, but we also encourage them to keep their options open and be ready to consider other choices as well. 12.29 pm”
“Mr Speaker, the SGUnited Traineeships Programme was launched in June 2020 to provide recent graduates with traineeship opportunities across various sectors. As of end-December 2020, about 720 Polytechnic graduates had been placed into SGUnited Traineeships. Of these, 23, or about 3%, did not complete the programme. The Singapore Business Federation (SBF), our programme partner managing the SGUnited Traineeships Programme, surveys host organisations and trainees who have completed the programme, or left halfway. For those who did not complete the programme, the reasons were mainly because they had found full-time employment, or had undisclosed personal or medical reasons. The SGUnited Traineeships Programme provides meaningful opportunities to graduates to pick up skills in preparation for full-time jobs. I am encouraged to see that the majority of trainees continue to go through with their traineeships. For participants who need career assistance, they can approach Workforce Singapore (WSG) or NTUC’s e2i through physical touchpoints such as the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Centres, WSG’s Careers Connect and its mobile extension, Careers Connect On-the-Go, as well as NTUC-e2i’s career centres. They may also visit the MyCareersFuture portal to search for job opportunities that suit their skills and competencies.”
“Indeed, we recognise that some seniors may have difficulties understanding why there is a change in payout or why they are no longer eligible. We do have letters in the four vernacular languages to explain to the seniors and we also have a hotline which the seniors can call to make direct enquiries. I do agree with hon Member Mr Lim Biow Chuan that our grassroots leaders also can play an active role in helping to do the translation and helping them clarify on the reasons for the changes in payouts.”
“Mr Speaker, the Silver Support Scheme helps seniors who had low incomes during their working years and now have less for their retirement. In total, the Government will disburse about $600 million in Silver Support payouts to almost 250,000 seniors in 2021. This is nearly double the $330 million paid out to 150,000 seniors in 2020. As part of scheme enhancements that were implemented this year, we introduced a new payout tier for seniors with higher household monthly income per person. Prior to 2021, seniors who experience an improvement in circumstances may no longer receive Silver Support. With the new payout tier, such seniors could continue to receive Silver Support payouts of a reduced quantum. All seniors who are eligible for Silver Support in any given year are automatically notified of their payout amounts by the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board in December of the preceding year. The letter and its accompanying infographic that explains the eligibility criteria are written in all four languages. Those with registered Singpass mobile numbers will also receive an SMS notification. We appreciate that some seniors may still need help to understand changes to their payouts. They may visit the Silver Support website to check their eligibility status. They may also call the CPF Board hotline to check their eligibility status and reasons for their changes in payouts. We will consider appeals on a case-by-case basis. We are also reviewing the feasibility of informing recipients of the specific reasons for the changes in their payout quantums.”
“Mr Speaker, the population of Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) in Singapore has remained largely stable at 250,000. From April 2020 to January 2021, MOM approved around 25,000 requests for Foreign Domestic Workers to enter Singapore. The Foreign Domestic Workers took on work with new employers or replaced Foreign Domestic Workers who had left employment and returned home. About 600 Singaporeans and Permanent Residents whose initial applications were not successful submitted appeals, and about 500 succeeded eventually to bring their Foreign Domestic Workers to Singapore. Appeals by Singaporeans and Permanent Residents for waiver of the Stay-Home Notice Dedicated Facility cost for their Foreign Domestic Workers are carefully reviewed. Taking into consideration household income and financial circumstances of the appellants, about 3,200 appeals were acceded to, constituting 13% of all entry approvals.”
“I thank the Member for the interesting proposal. Indeed, MOM together with our tripartite partners have been strongly advocating flexible work arrangements, not just for care-givers, but for all adults who may be able to achieve better work-life harmony and balance by having that flexibility of working from home, or having staggered work hours, or working part-time. Certainly, we want to continue to encourage employers to keep an open mind and seize the opportunity to look at expanding the scope of flexible work arrangements for all their employees, regardless of whether they are care-givers or not.”
“I thank Ms Carrie Tan for an interesting proposal. I think we will keep an open mind to all the various options available to improve support for care-givers. At the same time, I want to emphasise that we also promote strong family ties. For example, my mother is a full-time housewife and I see it as a responsibility for me to take care of her now that she is old and for me to be able to help to make sure she still lives comfortably, given that she has sacrificed so many years for us, the children.”
“I thank Ms Carrie Tan for the two questions. I think they are somewhat related. They are about recognising the sacrifices that care-givers have to make in order to take care of their loved ones at home. Indeed, we are also very concerned about the retirement preparedness and adequacy of care-givers who out of no choice, are unable to work. Hence, a lot of measures have been put in place to provide support to the care-givers to alleviate their roles at home and with the care-giving duties. At the same time, on the financial side, we have a few schemes to provide financial support. For example, the Silver Support Scheme has been around since 2016 and has been enhanced recently to provide top-ups, especially for those who do not have enough income through their lifetime, and also, for those who have less means to support themselves. We have also looked at matching the CPF contributions with the latest scheme so that those who have less CPF balance will be able to have top-ups to make their CPF balance higher than what is the current situation. CPF members are also able to get additional interest for the first $60,000 of the CPF balances. There is also another one percentage point extra interest for those who are 55 years and above, for the first $30,000 of the combined balances.”
“There is also a range of home and community care options to help support the care and social needs of the elderly, to support individuals with care-giving responsibilities while they are at work.”
“Ms Carrie Tan asked about individuals outside the labour force who cite care for their own children or care for elderly parents as the main reason for doing so. Data from the annual Comprehensive Labour Force Survey shows that in 2018, 144,100 or 4.3% of the resident population cited broader care-giving responsibilities as the main reason. Among these, 55,300 were providing care for own children. There was a slight reduction in 2019, to 133,500 and 52,900 respectively. Around nine in 10 residents who cited care-giving as their main reason were females, and about nine in 10 were in their 30s or over. Data collected prior to 2018 was not directly comparable due to different survey questions being asked. For those who cited care-giving for own children in 2018 and 2019, the median number of years since their last job was about four to five years. For those who cited care-giving for family members or relatives, the median number of years was eight. Overall, the resident female employment rate in Singapore is high and is rising. In 2019, the overall resident employment rate for females aged between 25 and 64 was at 73.3%, which is above the OECD average of 66.3%. This has improved from 70.5% in 2014. Support for care-givers has also been enhanced over the years. For families with young children, we have increased accessibility and affordability of pre-school services. Since 2012, we have doubled full-day pre-school capacity to more than 180,000 places today. We also recently enhanced means-tested pre-school subsidies so that more families pay less for pre-school. Separately, through the Caregiver Support Action Plan that was announced by MOH in 2019, we have strengthened support for care-givers of seniors.”