Halimah Yacob
Singapore
“Thank you. I think that is certainly a very good idea and that is what we want to do and wish to do, to have the integration of the facilities. As the Member said, it is to encourage inter-generational bonding and support. In fact, we have already started one in Mr Seah Kian Peng's constituency.”
“I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the clarification, and for his information, I have written twice to LTA. The answers have been negative. My question is, what is the alternative because the purpose of the overhead pedestrian bridge is for people to cross over but the elderly has difficulty crossing over?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am really happy to hear about the immense investment in helping households cope with the rising cost of energy. There will continue to be households that, despite these assistance measures, will face difficulty in paying for their electricity bills.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister: if the problem in Japan is not resolved within the next few months, what measures will be in place to assist sectors that are affected, notably, sectors like electronics?”
“Madam, I have two concise clarifications. My first concise clarification is to ask the Minister about the very low unemployment rate. Given this very low unemployment rate, does MOM have strategies in place to help people who want to find jobs, not just those who are already displaced but those who are currently employed?”
“Madam, on behalf of the House, I would like to thank the Minister, the Minister of State and the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the very comprehensive and detailed responses given. This year, the Ministry of Manpower did not have the highest number of cuts. That honour went to the Ministry of National Development.”
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“The PUB officers arrived and because the monsoon drain is very wide and very deep, they called in their contractors. And while they were trying to catch the snake, there was a heavy downpour. Later on, I received a call from the resident again at 6.00 pm, and she said, "MP, thank you very much. The PUB officers and the contractors have left and they are very happy." I said, "Well, good, did they catch the snake?" She said, "No, the snake has crawled up the monsoon drain and had gone to the other side of the drain and into the forested state land." So, she has to call the state land authority. Ministers may tell me that there is such thing as "no wrong door" policy, but the devil is in the implementation details. I would like to see every civil servant to re-examine what they are doing now, how to be more efficient, more productive and how to work across Ministries seamlessly to achieve higher productivity. Our civil servants are very good in formulating policies. If they can understand the implementation challenges at the ground and attempt to overcome the obstacles together to achieve the desired end results, that will be the success of this productivity drive. I am very intrigued by Mr Low's mathematical formula yesterday. He mentioned that there is "x" number of foreign workers in Singapore and if we were to increase "y" dollars in the levy, then Singapore Government will be "z" dollars richer. However, if we were to look at this problem sum, it does not say that "x" (the number of foreign workers) is constant. In fact, why are we driving productivity? It is to reduce the number of foreign workers. Maybe this will make a very good PSLE Mathematics examination question.”
“I feel that our agencies are working in individual "silos", and they demarcate their turf very clearly. Just to give Members an example. Recently, quite a number of my residents feed back to me that there are a lot of bicycles parking indiscriminately around Khatib MRT station. So, I gave the feedback to LTA to see whether there is anything that they can do. And LTA told me that it is SMRT which manages the train station, so it referred me to SMRT. Fair enough, and I talked to SMRT. They told me that they can only do something that is within their boundary. For those bicycles that are chained to the trees, you go and talk to NPark; for those bicycles that are chained to the roadside barricade, you go and talk to LTA; and for those bicycles that are chained to the lamp-post on a state land next to the station, you go and talk to SLA. Is this productive? Do we need to mobilise four Government agencies to tackle one problem? I can give Members another example. Not too long ago, in the morning while I was driving to go to work, I received a phone call from my resident. I can sense that she was very panic. She told me that there was a big python at the back of her house. So I told her, "Calm down, I will get the Police to attend to you." So, I called up the Police. The police officer was kind enough, arrived at her house very early, very fast, very promptly, but the police officer told her, "This snake does not cause immediate danger. I will not do anything." While they negotiated about whether it was an immediate danger or not – you know what happened – the snake crawled into a big monsoon drain behind the house. So, the Police said that that monsoon drain belongs to PUB, and asked her to please call PUB. The resident called me, and I called PUB.”
“Next, the omission of tax incentives and grants for companies and personal income tax cut in this year’s Budget is a let-down for many business owners and individuals this year. Considering that our economy is on the mend, I feel that businesses should be given more resources to jumpstart investments and innovative projects to move their companies out of the dark waters. By contrast, the US administration is pushing for tax cuts on jobs, wages and investments for small businesses to increase employment rates and stimulate economic recovery. Big companies typically achieve big success stories and relatively smaller failures due to extensive resources and finances at hand. While I comprehend the rationale for the move to encourage mergers and acquisitions among small companies, I am concerned that this may lead to monopoly in the domestic market and, thus, eroding business diversity and competitiveness. Will the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) allowance be better placed in human resource development and tax cuts for the small businesses? In conclusion, Budget 2010 paints a promising outlook of Singapore as a progressive globally attractive business hub that would bring in more foreign revenue while creating increased and better-paying employment opportunities for Singaporeans. I believe the Minister can refine areas in the Budget 2010 so that Singaporeans can indeed see more things are being done to enhance their quality of life as the economy improves. Government agencies should lead by example. Productivity should begin with Government agencies. Generally, there are some improvements on the attitude and service of civil servants, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.”
“I am pleased to note the emphasis on increasing the efficiency of the construction industry with automation and mechanisation. However, automation and mechanisation alone is insufficient. A well-skilled management equipped with the expertise and leadership skills to lead the company to design and utilise the new technology is also very crucial towards improving productivity. The Minister mentioned a commitment of $1.1 billion a year over the next five years in the form of tax benefits, grants and training subsidies to raise productivity levels. Productivity certainly does not mean working longer hours. I remember when I first graduated as a young engineer, I worked in this company and there was this structural designer by the name of Mr Lim. He did not have a degree; in fact, he was not even a diploma holder. He would come to office at 8.30 am and leave at 5.30 pm sharp, and yet when it came to looking for team members for new projects, everybody wanted Mr Lim to be in their team. Why? Because he was very efficient, very productive and finished work on time. Mr Speaker, Sir, I propose that training subsidies also be set aside for the staff at all levels – at the management and executive levels – to equip them with soft skills and awareness to utilise the new technology to the fullest potential. The Minister said that by raising productivity growth by 2% to 3% in the next 10 years, real income will also increase consequently by one-third. I seek clarification on how higher productivity translates to higher wages to workers, especially the lower-wage workers. How to ensure that employers share the fruits of higher productivity with their workers?”
“Do we have a specific blueprint, benchmark and objective? Do we expect every single company to take decisive reform measures? Will this give the businesses a feeling of uncertainty? *Cols. 2803-2804. (In English ): Mr Speaker, Sir, the reaction to this year's Budget by businesses is very varied, depends on who I talk to, unlike last year's Budget where almost everyone gave their thumbs up. For those established SMEs with strong cashflow to invest in technology and venture overseas, they welcome the Productivity and Innovation Credit and they see it as an encouraging incentive. However, for many smaller SMEs, they worry about increased business cost as a result of levy increase and they may be forced out of business. They may not be able to afford incurring negative figures in their accounts over an investment that does not show immediate tangible benefits. The costs of engaging consultants and expertise, yearly maintenance costs, the software and the hardware required to run the technology have to be incorporated on top of the R&D costs. To make up for the shortfall of funds, these companies may impose higher charges to consumers. Will this have a negative spill-over effect – for example, on the price of HDB flats? I have checked with a few contractors, for sure the increased employment costs will translate into higher construction costs. Is HDB going to absorb this increase in cost so that public housing remains affordable? Our construction industry supplies the building blocks of our nation. A high-quality construction sector means safe and conducive environment for business transactions to be conducted, houses to live in, places to work, shop and play.”
“(In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Not all sectors can provide Singaporeans with attractive jobs. Many local workers shun sectors such as construction and marine industry. This has been a predicament for a long time for us. Foreign workers are the main source of manpower for companies in these sectors, therefore we must achieve a balance to avoid the increased levy negatively impacting their competitiveness. Without foreign workers, will we be able to build world-class infrastructure such as airports and ports? Will we become the leading floating oil rig manufacturer? One of the solutions is to implement different levies in different industries. I suggest those industries not popular with locals, especially export industries earning foreign exchange for Singapore, be exempted from foreign worker levy. This way they will not lose their competitiveness due to our own policy. As hiring cost raised in July, are we forcing some SMEs out of business? Is it a better way to maintain the current balance? We want those companies doing local business only to be able to survive. For those who wish to expand overseas, the Government should cultivate and fund them. Government should also develop downstream industries at the same time. Take the construction industry as an example. Government can cultivate developers, engineers, contractors and material suppliers. This will help more Singapore companies to go overseas. We need a few success stories to showcase the benefits of innovation and increasing productivity. This is powerful persuasion for other companies to join the rank. I would like to ask the Minister: is there any difference between this round of productivity drive and the previous ones?”
“But I feel that I have to highlight the problem with the conclusion because many people, including in this House, simply assume that the UBS figures are true but which are actually not reflective of the actual situation here. Sir, in conclusion, we have been able to get out of this recession quickly because of our strong tripartite relationship where workers and unions worked together with companies to cut costs and save jobs. I am confident that with its clear focus on increasing productivity to boost wages, particularly the very clear goal that the Budget has set of increasing wages by 30% over 10 years which I have not seen in any other Budgets at all, and if we all work together, we will be able to make the transition to an innovation-driven, higher productivity economy that is also inclusive and benefits everyone. Sir, with that, I support the Budget. 1.40 pm Er Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio) (In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] Firstly, I would like to congratulate the Finance Minister for the far-sighted Budget 2010. Since the economy is growing, although at a slower rate, it is essential that we profit from the wave of recovery to put our economy ahead of the others. Helping local firms to increase their competitiveness will enhance the economic growth of the country and the corporate sector. The effort to encourage life-long learning and providing incentives for the elderly to upgrade their skills will help us achieve our short-term goals, that is, to increase productivity between 2% and 3% for the next decade, therefore overcoming the issue of an ageing population and a widening income gap. I support the new initiatives and the enhanced initiatives. However, I am disappointed with this year’s Budget. *Cols. 2801-2802.”
“In the UBS figures, PMETs comprised only 9% of the workforce. This may be true for many third world cities, bearing in mind the comparison is even not accurate because we are a country and not a city. Most of their comparisons are predominately amongst cities. It is true for third world cities but PMET jobs, in fact, account for 52% of Singapore resident workforce. In fact, using the data published in the report on Labour Force, the median hourly wage in Singapore is estimated at about $14.00 per hour or about 30% higher than the figure used in the UBS study. The UBS comparison, Sir, also excluded CPF contributions in calculating net wages. However, the majority of Singaporeans use their CPF savings to pay for their homes. In fact, the use of CPF for home payments amounts to 20% of the income of the average HDB home owner. After taking into account the use of CPF for home payments, Singaporeans therefore have significantly more to spend out of their incomes on other goods and services. The UBS study excludes social security contributions for other cities as well, but social security contributions in those cities cannot be withdrawn for housing. Sir, the UBS figures also assumed a Western-European consumption basket in calculating its price levels. It means including items like veal, steak, frozen pizza and even wine which are expensive but are not normally part of the average Singaporeans' consumption basket. It also includes items such as dinner in a good restaurant and tickets to an evening performance in classical theatre. Sir, I cite this study not to criticise the UBS study. Any comparison involving so many cities, many of which without official data, will have drawbacks and difficulties.”
“Sir, this report has been making its round on the Internet with many people taking its figures at face value. If the UBS figures are to be believed, the average Singaporean experienced a 8% drop in gross wages, from $11.85 per hour to $10.85 per hour between 2006 and 2009. I found this very puzzling as it goes against most other evidence, not just in the official statistics but also from what we actually know on the ground amongst our workers. We had significant increase in wages over that period. The median wage per hour of our workers rose by around 20% over that period 2006-2009. This is in spite of the effects of the recession last year which reduced wages. After taking inflation into account, real wages still grew by 10% over three years. How did the UBS figures end up with a 8% decline from 2006 and 2009 in the average wage per worker in Singapore, whereas the data collected by the Labour Force Survey indicates a 20% increase? I suspect that this has to do with the limited sample of firms that the UBS study looked at. The study, in fact, acknowledges the uncertainty of its wage data. It knows that its figures do not represent statistical averages as collection of data was limited to just a few companies for each profession and city. There were unfortunately also other problems with these figures. As the UBS study involved surveying 73 cities with very different workforces and consumption habits, the study had to make some simplifying assumptions. Unfortunately, some of these assumptions lead to a significant under-estimation of average Singapore wages as well as their purchasing power. In trying to come up with the average wage level across 73 cities, the study gives much lower weight to PMET jobs – that is a reality for Singapore.”
“A good example of productivity in the use of land is Energizer batteries. Using the same land space, it managed to increase output from one million alkaline batteries per worker per year in the 1990s to two million alkaline batteries per worker per year today. Last year, when they brought in their new line producing lithium batteries, and Singapore is the only plant in the world outside the United States producing this battery, it further increased and enhanced the productivity in its land use. Sir, we have seen progressive improvements in our workers' wages over the years. For example, our security officers used to earn between $800 and $1,000 previously. But now, after the Job Recreation Programme (JRP), they are paid about $1,500. Another example is our landscape industry where previously, the workers earned only $850 but are today paid $1,400. These are tangible improvements in wages and living standards and show that our growth has benefited workers. Budget 2010 has further laid the foundation for a stronger future growth in wages through productivity and this augurs well for our workers. Sir, I would like to touch on one point that was raised by MP Mr Inderjit Singh in his speech yesterday where he cited a UBS study to say that the average Singapore worker has lower purchasing power than in many other cities. I think this is somewhat also related to the point raised by Ms Sylvia Lim. The study ranked Singapore only 50th out of 73 cities in terms of purchasing power of the average Singaporean worker around the same level of Kuala Lumpur. He added that in terms of gross wage levels, Singapore's ranking was 40th, lower than Dubai and Asian cities like Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei.”
“As we move ahead, we should make access to training more portable and worker-centric, regardless of employer support so that workers can access training at any point of time in their life journey on their own and enhance their employability. This brings me to my fourth point, Sir. Last night, during my house visit, I met a 43-year-old PMET housewife who left her job six years ago to raise her children. She now wants to re-enter the workforce. And she related to me her frustration in getting a full-time job, despite her vast experience in managing big projects, and asked whether there are any training programmes to help her upgrade her skills, being more marketable and land a job. Unfortunately, I have to tell her that I do not think there are any suitable ones at the moment. If we want to achieve inclusive growth and reduce dependence on foreign workers, we need to seriously look at how to tap the potential of women, like my resident, as a valuable resource that could meet our manpower needs. The latest Labour Force Survey shows that there are about 60,000 economically inactive women aged 30 and above who want to return to work over the next two years. About 40% of our economically inactive women in their 30-39 age group are diploma or degree holders. I hope that this will also be one area of focus of the Council and, certainly, we would be very happy to work with the Council in order to look at schemes to help women who want to return to work. Fifth, Sir, I urge companies not to focus only on labour productivity but on total factor productivity. If workers are very productive but the productivity in other areas such as the use of land, raw materials, energy or processes is weak, then the overall productivity level will not go up.”
“As a result, the workers are demoralised and I doubt very much that this company will improve its productivity in a sustainable manner. Such examples will make workers lose faith in productivity improvements. Workers are not robots and boosting productivity does not mean that people cannot fall sick or take time-off to have babies or nurture their young children. Demoralised workers cannot be productive workers. If we want to see real productivity gains, we must have good managers who can create superior systems and motivate workers. Even if we have highly skilled workers, if we have poor managers, workers will not be able to perform up to their optimal levels. The third area, Sir, that I wish to touch on is the need for greater support for our low wage workers, especially our contract workers. There are now 200,000 workers employed on short-term contracts and judging from the trend, the number is likely to increase. They have become the itinerant workers of modern times, peddling their labour across so many different employers for short periods of work. Our productivity improvement efforts will not succeed if we do not address their concerns and it will certainly not be inclusive as most employers are not keen to train people who services their need for only one or two months. To overcome this, I suggest that the WTS be paid directly to contract workers so that they can acquire better skills even if no employer wants to send them for training. Our contract workers usually hold more than one job, so there will be a real loss of income if they have to go for training on their own time and have to pay for their own fees.”
“After the training, the company upgraded the operators to become technical operators and process technicians which helped advance their careers from production to technical, with a pay increase of between 10% to 20%. Such positive examples have a self reinforcing effect as workers could see the benefit of training and will motivate them to go on acquiring more new skills. Sir, the second area which I hope that the new council will focus on is upgrading the knowledge and capabilities of our managers, an equally important ingredient, in order to boost productivity. We cannot have a superior workforce contributing to an outstanding performance, if we have poor or incompetent managers, incapable of leading their workers towards higher productivity, except through threats and wielding the stick. It is important that manager send the right message about productivity. Merely increasing targets and telling workers to work faster and longer hours will not do the trick. Merely transferring responsibility to the workers for a fall in output will also not do the trick. This is what one company did. This company wanted to improve its performance through a high performance culture system of work, which is nothing wrong by itself, but the way they implemented it was very poor. Under the system, workers are ranked under five performance bands. In order to make it painful for workers who cannot meet the performance standards, they decided to increase the penalty, as a result of which the number of workers who are exposed to terminations if they did not improve within a short time frame tripled. What is worse, even workers on long-term sick leave or maternity leave were considered as poor performers.”
“One negative by-product of having too many foreign workers is that instead of raising their benchmarks higher to create an outstanding work environment to attract and retain workers, employers lower their benchmarks to the level of foreign workers who come from countries where standards are lower and who are really captive workers as they cannot change employers, even if they are unhappy with their work environment. Sir, we also need to share more successful examples of workers who have benefited from training, as I do suspect that some amount of training fatigue is creeping in. Training must lead to better incomes and better career development path for workers. I often hear workers complaining that after they have gone for training, when they returned to work, they end up doing the same old monotonous work and do not see the prospects improving. Let me quote two examples where workers have benefited from training. The first is Jabil Circuits and Electronics company involved in assembly of high value added engineering products. Jabil sends selective senior operators for re-skilling which includes computer skills and language courses, so that they can take up jobs with higher responsibility in administration. Operators who have successfully completed the training and are deployed to the new jobs were paid increments. Another example is Energizer Batteries, which sent 32 employees to attend technical training in the US, ranging from a few weeks to six months to learn about the new higher value lithium batteries which they wanted to produce in Singapore and which command a higher market price compared to the alkaline batteries.”
“At the same time, as our policy of moderating foreign workers takes effect, there will be lesser workers available to take on the new jobs, companies will suffer and pressure to liberalise our foreign worker policy will start to mount again. One key area, Sir, which I hope that the NP and CET Council will focus more on is job re-creation. Our focus today has been largely on upgrading workers' skills so that they can add value to companies and become more employable. However, there is now greater urgency to upgrade and recreate jobs too so that Singaporeans are motivated to go for training and they also see a clear benefit in doing so, as they will be able to enjoy better pay and working conditions as well as a more challenging job for more inclusive growth. And changing the workers' mindset towards training alone is not sufficient if companies do not make the effort to upgrade the quality of jobs that they offer to workers in order to attract more Singaporeans. It is so easy, in my view, to complain that workers are choosy, do not want to work long hours or do shift work and do not want to do dirty or hot work, but good employers know that they also need to do their part to create a challenging environment for people to work and develop and see a future for themselves. The successes that we have achieved in some sectors where unions had worked closely with employers such as in the landscape industry shows that it is possible to make over jobs to attract more Singaporeans.”
“Sir, now that the stage has been set, the script written and the players identified, the only challenge for us is whether we will deliver a superior performance that will leave everyone gasping in awe or will we end up with a mediocre and forgettable performance, and that really depends on all of us as everyone has a role to play. On the union's part, we have already started working with companies in all sectors of the economy, for example, in the electronic sector, we are working with Gemalto, which produces smart cards, to reduce its lead time by one-quarter, so that they can double its productivity and bring down costs by a quarter. Under this initiative, operators are taught maintenance skills to enhance efficiency. The plant in Singapore is already the most productive, but this move will help them to keep the edge over their other plants and their competitors and workers will benefit from higher skills and better wages. I would like now to touch on some specific areas. I welcome the focus on building up a first class CET system. Our Government has been making heavy investments in pre-employment training, but our investment in in-employment training has been much smaller. Bearing in mind that we still have a few hundred workers with less than secondary education, the failure to address this gap in skills and capabilities would affect our efforts to restructure our economy and to boost productivity. As our economy shifts towards high value activities and inefficient industries are weeded out, workers without the skills and capabilities to do the new jobs will be displaced or left behind and we will face a serious structural unemployment problem.”
“Sir, Budget 2010 is an important one for workers. For the first time, we have a Budget that boldly and clearly sets a goal of one-third increase in real income in 10 years, if we are able to achieve the productivity growth of 2% to 3%. This is a strong commitment by the Government and establishes a clear linkage between productivity and a better life for Singaporeans. Singaporeans have a clear stake in this productivity drive and equally important are measures such as help for workers to upgrade skills, find new jobs and receive interim support through the enhanced WIS and the new WTS, so that the recent pain of economic restructuring will not fall on workers' shoulders alone, a major reason for hostility towards such productivity initiatives in many countries. Indeed, it is our credit that there is enough trust and confidence in the Government among our unions and workers that the debate has so far been on how to achieve this productivity growth rather than on why we need it and whether we are being too pro-business. The greatest dignity that we can give anyone is the dignity of having a job. That is why contrary to Ms Sylvia Lim's assertions, I believe that Budget 2010 will help to strengthen the position of Singaporeans, and it will have to address the needs of Singaporeans for better jobs and better incomes. And we also cannot discount the fact that although there may be a widening Gini coefficient, there are also tremendous social transfers that the Government has provided to those who need help. In particular, we heard in the last Parliament session that social transfers to Singaporeans during recession, in fact, increased tremendously in some cases for some of the schemes – more than a quarter, almost 30% to 40%.”
“Sir, supplementary questions. Of course, since the Minister has indicated I should ask the question, my first question is why is there a problem on Mondays and Tuesdays. The second question is related to the perception on the ground that seems quite prevalent, that foreigners are depriving Singaporeans of beds and are crowding them out. Is this a true perception, particularly in the subsidised wards?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have two questions to ask the Minister. My first question is this. In most countries, the most significant impact on people's ability to pay for their medical bills is the out-of-pocket expenses. The Minister said that only 20% need to pay cash – what is the Minister's sense of whether this will increase in future, and whether this out-of-pocket component will have an impact on affordability, particularly now that the population is ageing and people have less income after retirement. Of course, we need to be concerned about those who are not working – the women who are staying at home. My second question is to ask the Minister whether the increase in bills, particularly for the lower-end wards, is something that is reasonable and would still make staying in hospitals affordable.”
“Sir, I have a few supplementary questions for the Minister. There have been views expressed that some of the shelters provided, for instance, like the Angsana Home, are not very conducive because they restrict movement and even make it difficult for the homeless to go out to work. How true is this complaint? Secondly, I would also like to ask the Minister whether shelters like the Angsana Home is suitable for the homeless with families, especially those with young children, in view of the way in which the shelter is organised. The third question I would like to ask the Minister is how easy is it really for the homeless to get rental homes or interim housing option, because there are also views expressed that it is actually very difficult to get the rental homes once they have lost their homes. My final question is to ask the Minister what is the impact of homelessness on the children. I think the worst is on the children because a lot of feedback I receive is that the children's education is badly affected. And if that is the case, there will be a cycle of poverty. We need to prevent that. What additional measures are put in place by MCYS to assist these children?”
“Sir, I would like to thank the Minister of State for a very comprehensive and detailed answer and, indeed, it is quite happy to hear that so much has been disbursed to assist Singaporeans because last year was truly a very difficult year for Singaporeans. We do not have much time. So I just ask one question, and that is, this year, although growth is projected to be between 4.5% and 6.5%, and there are more jobs created, families are still feeling from the aftermath effects of last year. So I hope that the Ministry will continue to exercise this kind of flexibility and extend assistance to families who are still in need.”
“I would like to ask the Minister one supplementary question. In the unionised sector, about 80% of the companies are already doing re-employment, but the figure is much lower in the non-unionised sector. They are obviously lagging behind. I would like to ask the Minister what measures and efforts will be put in place to make sure that the workers in the non-unionised companies are not at a disadvantage.”
“I thank the Minister for the clarification. I have three follow-up questions which I would like to ask the Minister. First, to what extent is the large pool of foreign workers found in some sectors, particularly in sectors with a higher rate of accidents, a contributing factor for these accidents? My second question is this. There is a tendency for the smaller companies, because of a lack of capacity, resources or cost, to have a higher rate of accidents. What additional programmes will be put in place to assist them? Third question: although the WSH Act is only four years old, does it indicate that there are some gaps in the Act that need further fine tuning.”
“I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State how many counsellors are there being deployed to assist the students who faced problems in ITEs. Secondly, could the Senior Minister of State also inform the House what is the student-lecturer ratio and class sizes, and whether that is also one area to look into, in view of the fact that ITE students sometimes do need more assistance?”
“Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State for the clarification but it seems to me that 18% dropout rate is indeed a very high rate. It is almost like two out of 10 students drop out of ITE. There had been measures implemented but I would like to ask for an assessment as to how effective are these measures in addressing this dropout rate problem and also whether MOE is considering other measures to do two things: one, to help these students to remain in school, at least to further reduce the attrition rate because helping to keep them in the ITE is better than trying to help them after they have left; and secondly, whether there are other measures to assist them once they have left ITE, in particular, apart from just getting them back into ITE, whether there are other programmes, eg, bridging programmes, so that they can acquire skills that they can use to enter the workforce. Because at the time that they dropped out, they were too young to make use of the adult training programmes that were available.”
“Are we satisfied that the mere 96 complaints filed with the SMC in 2009 is an accurate reflection of the state of satisfaction with our doctors, considering that the number of doctors and patients have increased substantially? While we may not be thinking of a Charter of Rights for patients that exists in some countries and we may not even be ready for it, I think that there is a greater scope to educate patients on their rights, particularly their right to seek redress for the pain, suffering and loss caused to them due to incompetence, neglect or abuse. This is also another area which I hope the Ministry as well as the SMC can play a bigger role. Sir, two other amendments which I strongly support are the establishment of the register of family physicians and the monitoring and supervision of foreign doctors practising here. There have been concerns expressed whether the Ministry has been too liberal in admitting foreign doctors and so these new amendments are helpful. But apart from the professional competence, there is also a need to ensure the foreign doctors also understand the diversity in languages and cultures that are prevalent in Singapore and that they are able to communicate effectively with patients, particularly in the public hospitals, as this is important in ensuring effective treatments. I hope that the Ministry would also look at such softer skills in the training of our foreign doctors. Finally, in conclusion, Sir, the amendments are indeed very progressive and will help to enhance public safety and confidence in our medical profession, and I think it would also help the doctors themselves. I support the amendments, Sir.”
“For instance, is there a list that a member of the public can refer to on doctors who have been subject to disciplinary action so that they can make informed decisions on whether or not to seek their services? Take the recent case of the GP who pretended to be a plastic surgeon – could this have been avoided if his patients were able to check on a list which indicates that he was disciplined before for the same offence? Also, now that the range of orders which the SMC can make has been expanded under sections 37A and 49, to include a doctor voluntarily removing his name or agreeing to the imposition of conditions or restrictions on his practice because of performance difficulties, how would the public know and is it not important for the public to know this? Or if a doctor has been subject to periodically report on the status of his fitness to practise, should the public also not know about this? Finally, as I understand it, most of the cases brought before the SMC are referred to it by the authorities, particularly the Ministry of Health, and not by private individuals or patients. Could the Minister confirm whether this is indeed true and what are the reasons for this? Could one reason be because the public is not aware of the complaint procedure or is the complaint procedure too difficult or has the public become frustrated because of the long delays in hearing their cases? Who in Singapore is responsible for educating patients on their rights to seek redress? How user-friendly is the current system? What about patients who are not well educated or cannot understand English well, what measures are in place to assist them as the process of filing a complaint can be quite daunting?”
“The current SMC practice of publishing investigation outcomes only through press statements is very limited and does not give a clear picture of the reasons for the decisions taken. This is one area that I hope the Minister can review as justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done. Sir, the second concern that has widely surfaced is over the penalties imposed by the SMC. In the most recent case, a General Practitioner (GP) who pretended to be a plastic surgeon, not once but twice, was merely censured and fined $10,000. For his first offence, he was suspended for six months. In another case, a doctor who failed to conduct a Hepatitis B test on a patient before starting him on cancer treatment, which is a routine test, thus causing the patient’s death, was merely suspended for three months. Coupled with the fact that detailed explanations are not given, the public is left with the impression that the penalties are not commensurate with the gravity of the offence. This concern could be addressed if there is a transparent set of guidelines on penalties and this will certainly instil greater public confidence. I urge the Minister to seriously consider providing a penalty guide for the various offences. The current practice of imposing penalties based on precedents can be arbitrary and is unsatisfactory. If it is not MOH issuing the guidelines, at least it is SMC that should consider issuing the guidelines. The third area that we need to focus on is greater patient empowerment so that they could make more informed decisions when choosing doctors to treat them. Currently, other than medical qualifications and areas of specialties, patients may not know much about the doctor that they want to consult or are consulting.”
“Sir, whilst I applaud the Ministry for the progressive amendments designed to better protect public interest, I feel that there are several areas which were not addressed which could have helped us develop a more robust disciplinary regime. One area that can be improved is the need for greater transparency in the SMC’s proceedings. As the disciplinary proceedings conducted by the SMC is behind closed doors, the public is not aware of the reasons or basis for the SMC’s decisions. This is particularly important if their complaint is rejected and they are not told the reasons. It is in the interest of both the doctor and the patient to share the reasons so that there is no doubt or ambiguity that full consideration has been given to the complaint and all the pertinent factors. If a complaint is dismissed, for example, and reasons are given, then it would not lead to the kind of damaging speculation that we sometimes hear on whether the SMC is trying to protect its own kind. Sir, making public the reasons for the disciplinary actions against professionals is not new. There are already precedents. Singapore’s Legal Profession Act requires a copy of the entire record of the proceedings of the Disciplinary Tribunal, including its findings and outcome, to be made public. This means that the reasons for disciplinary actions against lawyers are open to public scrutiny. In Britain, their Fitness to Practices Panel, the disciplinary arm of their General Medical Council, publishes its findings against doctors. If patient confidentiality is the concern, surely the SMC can find ways to address this, such as by keeping out sensitive patient information details.”
“Sir, some doctors are concerned that the amendments would go against the principle of self-regulation, since non-doctors will be allowed to sit in the Disciplinary Tribunals and also to chair the Disciplinary Tribunals. In my view, Sir, self-regulation cannot exist as an ideal in isolation of the basic purpose for which it was allowed in the first place, which is, to protect and promote public interest. In other words, we cannot preserve self-regulation at all cost for the sake of self-regulation alone. If some tweaking is needed in the public interest, then it should be done. Indeed, Sir, if self-regulation had worked so well, we may not need any law at all. But we all know that the reality is otherwise. In any event, the amendments had taken into account doctors’ concerns, as the appointment of any legally qualified person, whether as Chairman or a committee member, is at the discretion of the SMC. This, to me, Sir, is a major concession. We have to bear in mind that the appointment of non-doctors to head disciplinary committees is not new and is already found in other countries such as Britain, Australia and the US. Sir, I agree with the Minister that the current situation is indeed unsatisfactory as there are long delays and this does not serve public interest when their claims cannot be pursued in the civil court because they have exceeded the limitation period. Hence, the various provisions aimed at expediting the disciplinary process are greatly welcomed. In cases where due to incompetence or neglect, a death or other serious mishap had occurred, the patient or aggrieved family members had already suffered a great deal and the interest of justice is certainly not served by delays which add to their anxiety, strain and loss.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill. Under the amendments, the law is now very clear. Its aim is to protect the health and safety of the public through mechanisms that ensure that doctors are competent, uphold the highest standards and maintain public confidence. As the practice of medicine becomes more complex, not only with the evolution of new diseases but also because of the rapid advancements in technology and the practice of medicine, the public needs a more effective protection regime. Although all doctors have vowed to uphold the Hippocratic Oath, the fact remains that increasingly medical services are also treated as commodities and, with some doctors, commercial decisions may override other considerations. There is no doubt, Sir, that many in the medical profession uphold the highest standards of professionalism and have the patients’ interests at heart. Such doctors have nothing to fear with the changes as they are not likely to have the Act invoked against them. The changes are meant to check the small number of errant doctors who because of incompetence, neglect or crass commercialism, compromise their patients' interests. The changes will help to instil greater confidence and comfort among the public and is beneficial to the profession as a whole. We must never forget, Sir, that the doctor-patient relationship is very different from other transactions simply because patients rely very heavily on their doctors’ advice, judgment and expertise, more so than in any other profession and the damage is also greater as any neglect or misconduct results not just in financial loss but, more importantly, harm to the health and lives of patients.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, two follow up questions. I would like to ask the Minister what is the Ministry's assessment of the inflation rate for this year, bearing in mind there are concerns over the continued high prices of food stuffs and other essentials. And whether the Ministry's earlier assessment of the inflation rate still remains or will inflation be higher than that? The second question I would like to ask is what is the Ministry's assessment of the contribution to our GDP of the two Integrated Resorts?”
“What the Minister said is that new immigrants must also subscribe to our core values. But would the Minister consider it desirable or possible to also request that new immigrants or those who apply to be citizens to sit for a test? This is to ascertain whether they really know about our core values and how our society functions, which is something that is already commonplace in many countries.”
“Sir, one of the strategic objectives of APEC is to develop a balanced sustainable and inclusive growth. This is an important objective, considering that the impact of globalisation, widening income gaps and the perception that there is unbalanced distribution of wealth in the region. I would like to ask the Minister what are the specific measures that APEC has agreed upon in order to achieve this vision of balanced, sustainable and inclusive growth. My second question to the Minister is to ask Minister whether he agrees that, while non-binding decisions create a more open environment for discussion, at the same time, when it comes to results in terms of follow-up, there will be problems. So, how do you balance these?”
“Supplementary questions that I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State. On the second pillar to raise service excellence – are there any plans to make sure that service workers, migrant workers, must at least have a working knowledge of English? That is my first question. Second question is, are we looking at the experiences of other countries in the area of improving service productivity and what are the lessons that we can learn from them? My third question is the service sector has predominantly a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises. How do we help these small and medium-sized enterprises to move up in their service productivity because they traditionally hire a very small number of workers and very small amount of investment in service process improvements and so on? Thank you.”
“I think the statistics and figures are really heartening. It shows that the older workers are very willing to go for training and the companies that have sent them for the training are truly commendable and also it shows that they have benefited from it. What I would like to ask the Minister is despite this, older workers continue to raise concerns that they face obstacles in getting employment, therefore what more can we do in view of the fact that they are flexible and prepared to go for training. One of the common complaints raised by employers is they are inflexible, they are not prepared to go for training, they are not productive but the figures the Minister has cited show otherwise, what more can we do to remove the obstacles to employment of older workers?”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister to seriously consider making public the marital record as well as to grant access to the maintenance payments by former spouses to their ex-wives and their children, including the defaults. This is really important because, at least, it will help women to make informed decisions and to prevent grief not only for the first set of family members but also for the second and subsequent sets of family members.”
“It is a clarification, Sir. The first problem is that the private education institution may not be solvent, so to recover the refund may not be a feasible idea. Second point is, to take legal action is also very costly and time-consuming for students already struggling to pay for their fees and have made tremendous losses. Is there any other recourse that can be considered? I suggest that perhaps a part of their fees could be set aside in order to reimburse students for refunds ordered by the Council but I think that point has not been addressed.”
“No, it is not a new speech, Sir. I am just explaining why I am asking the follow-up question.”
“I thank the Senior Minister of State for his very comprehensive reply. Just one point, under section 63 of the Act, it is stated that if the Council orders a private education institution to refund fees to the students, the students can recover that fee as a civil debt from the Court. There are two problems with this. Firstly, it is –”
“In other words, in my view, do not give private education institutions the choice to covering their liability under an insurance scheme. In conclusion, Sir, the Private Education Bill is indeed a progressive legislation and I am in full support of the Bill. But in my view also, at the end of the day, the most important aspect of the Bill is to ensure its implementation and enforcement. 4.21 pm”
“Sixth, section 60(3) provides that a student or intending student who are affected by the irresponsible acts of the private education institutions, such as, ceasing a course before completion or failure to secure a renewal of its licence, can recover the amount specified in the direction to refund by the Council as a civil debt in a court of law. Instituting civil action is a recourse that is available even before this Bill but it is not practical because it is expensive and time consuming, whereas the students who are affected may not have the money or the time to pursue their claims through the courts. I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether MOE can consider other options such as requiring the private education institutions to set aside a sum of money in a fund that can be utilised only to refund affected students. Seventh, currently private education institutions can choose either to purchase an insurance policy or to deposit fees paid to them with an approved bank. Safeguarding fees should be a paramount concern in order to protect students as some of these programmes cost thousands of dollars. So, allowing schools to purchase an insurance provision scheme is unsatisfactory. Some of the private schools that ran into trouble had insurance coverage but they were grossly underinsured leaving the students with very nominal recovery. Also, when a private education institution collapses, the students' fees are not considered as secured debts. I would like to ask whether MOE could consider requiring the fees to be placed in an escrow account to be released progressively until the course of study is completed as a further safeguard for students.”
“This of course requires the establishment of an effective inspection system with sufficient numbers of inspectors to carry out their tasks. The Act mentions about transferring the assets as well as the staff of the Private Education Division of the MOE to the Council. As the current role of this Division is only to register private schools and not to accredit or be responsible for the quality of the schools, it may not need that many staff. However, the new Council would certainly need a lot more resources to perform its expanded role, especially more manpower to carry out inspections and enforce the Act. I would therefore like to ask the Senior Minister of State for his comments on this. Fifth, section 46 contains a general prohibition against the issue or publication of any advertisements relating to a private education institution which is false or misleading in a material particular. Often in order to bait students, private schools indulge in gross exaggerations or excessively embellish the value of the course or programme that they offer. For example, are advertisements with claims such as "complete degree in one year" or "mastering English in three months" permissible or would it run foul of section 46? I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether there would be guidelines to ensure responsible advertising by private education institutions rather than leaving it to ad hoc supervision of these advertisements and the Council acting only when complaints are received?”
“I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State what are the plans to ensure better coordination and integration among the different agencies so that everyone has a common plan and gaps can be quickly identified and addressed as well as ensuring a holistic delivery of the services. Third, in the new regulatory oversight system, a distinction is made between schools that take in foreign students and those where the intake is confined to Singaporeans. Schools taking in foreign students face stricter rules and will have to secure a new EduTrust Certification mark which is compulsory and which replaces the current CaseTrust one. I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether it is necessary to have this two-tier system. My concern is that this will give the wrong signal that private schools catering to local students can have lower standards and quality. If cost of compliance with the EduTrust mark is the concern, then MOE should consider giving schools catering to locals more time to comply with the EduTrust mark rather then have a two-tier system. Also, are there any plans for the Government to help these small players upgrade and improve their standards such as governance and the quality of the teachers? We see efforts being made to improve the standards of trainers for adult education and also for the kindergarten teachers where concerted efforts are made to engage and guide the industry. Will similar efforts be made to assist the private education institutions? Fourth, the effectiveness of this Bill depends on how effectively the Council of Private Education can enforce the new regulatory framework considering that there are more than 1,000 private schools in Singapore.”
“Private education was one of the sectors identified by the Economic Review Committee with the potential to contribute more to our GDP. This prompted the EDB to set up the Education Excellence Framework in 2004 in order to attract 150,000 international students by 2015 although not all parts of the framework were implemented for whatever reasons. Apart from international students, Singaporeans place a premium on education and more are turning to the private education institutions to meet their needs, which accounts for the proliferation of so many foreign degrees offered today. But if we were to look at the private education industry today, there are many, many small players with very limited capital, resources and capacity to make the kind of quantum leap in standards and quality as well as innovation, which should be the ultimate aim of this Bill. This is also a point expressed under section 6(1)(b) of the Bill which has as one of its objectives "to encourage, promote and facilitate the development of the private education sector in Singapore". So, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether he could share with this House what are MOE’s plans to develop the private education sector to ensure an orderly and sustained growth and to achieve the target of 150,000 international students by 2015. Second, there is a need for better coordination and integration in the development and delivery of private education in Singapore. One gap in the current system is that there are so many different agencies involved in overseeing the growth of the education hub, such as MOE, Spring Singapore, EDB and STB, with each agency contributing to a specific area under its purview.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Private Education Bill. This Bill is long overdue and will help to fill a void in the current oversight of the private education sector which has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons in recent times. The Brookes Business School incident, where fake degrees were peddled with such impunity, is a blot on Singapore’s effort to develop into an education hub for the region. In introducing a new regulatory framework, it is hoped that the Private Education Bill will help to enhance the quality and standards of private education in Singapore. In education, quality is the key and if Singapore wants to compete with other countries, some of which offer foreign degrees to international students at lower costs, it has to make quality the most significant differentiating factor. Singapore could also learn from other countries that have done very well in attracting a good crop of international students, such as Australia which grew its student base from 100,000 in the 1990s to more than 500,000 today. This new regulatory framework also marks the end of the laissez faire, almost completely market based, approach in developing the private education industry which has been given sufficient time to self regulate and develop its own rules but obviously failed to live up to expectations. Let me now, Sir, raise a few specific issues and points for clarification. First, the point on plans to develop the private education sector. Sir, the private education sector is really big business and the potential for growth is huge with countries like China and India growing at a rapid pace and lacking the capacity to provide for the education needs of all their people.”
“Supplementary question, Sir. There are concerns that with the approaching winter months, there will be a resurgence of the H1N1-2009 flu. I would like to ask the Minister what steps are being taken to address this. Is this a matter of concern for us? What steps are we taking to address that concern? What additional measures will be put in place?”
“I would like to ask the Minister whether hospitals have seen a reduction in the number of patients who are not able to pay for big hospital bills because the payout has now been increased. Secondly, I would like to ask if the Minister could give us an estimate of the state of health of our MediShield funds now that the premiums have increased but payouts have also increased.”
“I would like to ask the Minister whether his Ministry can consider extending MediShield coverage to people suffering from mental illnesses because the cost of treating mental illnesses has increased for families and individuals. Such coverage would indeed be necessary.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive reply. The Minister of State mentioned that offending companies will be debarred from bringing in foreign workers. I would like to seek a clarification from him whether it is true that in instances where they have been debarred, there have been instances where such companies have set up a separate legal entity and continue to bring in foreign workers and continue with their irresponsible behaviour. If indeed there is such a situation, what measures have been taken to address it?”