Heng Chee How
Singapore
“And in the case of overseas training, then there will be specific link-ups into the systems of our overseas partners, for example, if there is a need to further send the injured NSman to the local hospitals for more specialised treatment, that, too, was all planned in as well in terms of the protocols.”
“In addition to conducting regular exchanges with their professional counterparts, SAF personnel in our overseas training detachments participate actively in local community life and contribute back to the local communities, thus contributing to the strengthening of bilateral ties.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank Mr Giam for his question. The NS allowance, the nature of it, it is in a form of honorarium and for that, CPF is not payable. However, I just wanted to emphasise two points. One, within the NS journey, they are actually eligible for NS HOME Awards, which are paid out in the course of the NSmen's journey.”
“Mr Chairman, as we look forward, MINDEF/SAF’s commitment to NS and to our NSmen remains steadfast. We will continue to enhance the NS experience, maximise the contributions of our NSmen, and strengthen recognition for their service.”
“Mr Speaker, we have shown care for our older workers as a Government, as tripartite partners, not only in words but in deeds. As a result, we have made very substantial progress for our older workers, often bucking global trends. The environment we must deal with will be increasingly challenging.”
“Ultimately, fighting age discrimination is not only a legal matter nor is it just a moral imperative. It is also an economic necessity that will help sustain long-term prosperity for all.”
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“Adopting an opaque use-and-throw attitude in personnel management is not only callous but actually works against the interests of shareholders because of negative consequences of uncertainty on morale and productivity. I therefore ask the Minister to give an assessment of the efforts in wage restructuring so far, and what plans his Ministry has to move employers more quickly onto this.”
“These would be the concerns on the workers' side, and these aspects would indeed have to be properly addressed, as companies customise and implement flexible wage systems for themselves. What I find much harder to accept or understand is the resistance from companies. Some say that they do not see the need, maybe still banking on the Government to come to their rescue with a CPF cut, if the need arises. Others say that they do not know how to do it. Yet others say that putting in a flexible wage system is itself a complexity and rigidity that they can do without. For those who basically say that without clearly specifying a flexible system, they would enjoy the greatest flexibility of all because they can do as they please but when the time to cut pay and heads comes, they must be prodded to play it fair and be more responsible as corporate citizens. Workers are not machines. While they understand that in this age of global competition there is no longer any point in talking about iron rice bowls, they do expect that the companies they work with deal with them fairly and with integrity. They are not against co-sharing risks and rewards with their companies in a more uncertain environment. But they will surely resent being taken for a fool, and be at the receiving end of "head-you-win, tail-I-lose" arrangements.”
“Sir, employers often remind us that the cost of doing business in Singapore is high compared to various other countries. Many are also quick to add that wage cost is a significant proportion of that business cost. It must be so, because so many companies resorted to retrenching workers to cut costs during the downturn. Notwithstanding signs of an economic recovery, future conditions are more likely to be unpredictable rather than plain sailing. Hence, the need to manage all cost categories and, from the workers' perspective, to save jobs, must surely be a perennial business requirement rather than an option. Against this background, I would have thought that as flexible wages could help companies align their wage cost to demand conditions more smoothly, the idea would be embraced immediately and without reservation. But far from it. Many still resist. If resistance had come only from workers, at least that would be understandable and can be addressed. For workers who have been used to more fixed wages, wages that do not vary, say, on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis, to the performance of their companies, then, indeed, moving to more flexible arrangements would raise concerns. These concerns would include: how would I know that the company would not take me for a ride? Is there openness in information sharing? What are the performance indicators, and what difference can I make to them through my work? Is the appraisal process fair and transparent? And in exchange for the flexibility, what exactly is the upside to me in all these? Do I earn more when the company does well? Is that clear? Do I reduce my risk of retrenchment?”
“I say this because the overall environment has become more uncertain. It is precisely in recognition of this increased uncertainty that instruments, such as flexible wage systems and portable medical benefits, have to be put in place. In such an environment, much more emphasis has to be placed on company-level decision making and consultation, because adjustments must happen and be made at company, rather than economy-wide level. Trust and a viable working relationship are the glue and lubricant that allow for quick and frequent adaptation. Without strength in these critical areas, companies and their unions and workers will find it harder to make quick enough adjustments to fast-changing circumstances. And, if they are not able to adapt quickly enough, then bottlenecks will form, and our ability to maintain industrial peace will be progressively undermined. Ultimately, we will suffer as a country and as a people. Conversely, if we are able to build strength in these critical areas, our economy will enjoy a degree of resilience and flexibility that can be an enduring competitive advantage. I would, therefore, like to ask the Minister what plans his Ministry has to further the cause of industrial peace in Singapore.”
“Sir, Singapore has done well in fostering industrial peace over the years. This has added to our attractiveness to investments and has helped to create the overall conditions that promoted job growth and retention. Compared to many other countries where industrial disruption makes regular news, I am sure that investors and companies appreciate the constructive and productive labour-management relations that prevailed at enterprise level and the strong tripartite ties at the national level. I must say that such industrial peace and harmony cannot, and must not, be taken for granted. The fact that Singapore has not experienced a strike for many years now is not the result of repression of labour rights, nor does it mean that there are no problems or issues between employees and employers at the company level. What has happened is that the overall relationship and the structure of problem-solving have enabled unions and employers to deal with and resolve problems at the earliest possible opportunity. As a result, most issues are effectively tackled to mutual satisfaction at the company level and do not even show up in the MOM statistics by way of conciliation and arbitration. That said, the conciliation and arbitration processes themselves further add to the effectiveness of fair problem resolution. This overall structure has held up well over the years, and has allowed Singapore to avoid the detrimental effects of industrial disruption. The end result is one of high employment, rising living standards for Singaporeans and a stable conducive operating environment for businesses. Sir, going forward, I see that more must be done to foster trust and relationship between labour and management at the company level.”
“I would like to ask the Minister, what plans and programmes his Ministry has to step up the momentum of skills upgrading of workers in anticipation of growing needs in this recovering economy, and what steps will his Ministry be taking to forestall the negative consequences that free-rider tendencies among companies in this area would bring about. The Chairman: Dr Wang Kai Yuen is not here. Mr Nithiah Nandan. Skills Development Fund”
“When we look at developments during previous upturns from recession, we often hear companies complaining, rather early in those upturns, that they face critical shortages of skilled manpower. They argue that those shortages would then push up wage cost, and sometimes it happens, because companies compete with one another for the limited pool of skilled manpower and poach from one another, thus driving up wage costs. And the next move would be for those companies to raise concerns about cost competitiveness and call for a further relaxation of conditions, to allow them to bring in more foreign manpower. I think all that sounds familiar. This sequence of events may yet repeat itself in this upturn. But it is not as inevitable as it sounds. Because, if companies and industries can take a broader and longer-term view, and invest in the retraining and upgrading of workforce capability, they will enlarge the pool of local skilled manpower. This enlarged pool will then feed the growing needs for a longer period without exerting immediate wage cost pressure owing to a shortage arising. More Singaporean workers will, in the process, also improve their skills and employability, and more will be able to take on the upgraded jobs. This is surely the more sensible and responsible way to move. It is akin to going to a potluck party where each diner contributes a dish and gets to enjoy the full spread that results. It fails when companies think short-term, mistakenly believing that they can free-load on the training investments made by other companies. When every company thinks that way, then everyone stands to lose.”
“Madam, I am glad that the Government has decided to augment contributions to the Skills Development Fund (SDF) by raising the Skills Development Levy salary ceiling from $1,500 to $1,800 with effect from 1st January 2004. With the levy rates staying at 1% of the relevant payroll, this will increase the SDF's income by $22 million per year. With more money going into the SDF, more worker training can then be supported. Indeed, the need to raise the income of the SDF came about because of the increased claims on the SDF, which I believe reflects increased training activities on the part of companies making the claims, as well as greater willingness of workers to undergo retraining. This, to me, is actually a good problem to tackle, compared to what it would be if the opposite were to be the case. Some companies may see the increased salary ceiling as an increased expense. I would urge such companies to instead think of it as an investment provision. Indeed, companies that know how to make full use of the SDF to support their training needs can actually claim more than they individually pay into the Fund. Traditionally, bigger companies have made more use of this source of funding than smaller ones. However, going ahead, I think it will become increasingly important for all companies, regardless of size, to embrace workers' skills training and upgrading fully and regularly. In my earlier cut on jobs for Singaporeans, I spoke of the structural shifts driven by changing technology and competition that compel companies to upgrade or perish. This pressure will only intensify and not recede. So, companies and industry bodies should adjust to the realities and be more proactive in training and retraining.”
“Getting back to the 2% level of unemployment that Singaporeans have become accustomed to in the years prior to 1997 will be a challenge. I would therefore like to ask the Minister what plans would his Ministry have to maximise the employment and re-employment opportunities for Singaporeans in this recovering economy. I would also like to ask the Minister how his Ministry intends to tackle the structural shifts that I noted earlier, and thereby secure more good jobs for Singaporeans.”
“Although these figures are still low compared to those in some advanced economies, it still reflects an underlying trend and structural shift in the make-up of our workforce, as companies move towards maintaining a smaller core of employees, and pursuing flexibility through outsourcing and employing supplementary manpower on a needs basis. This trend implies that even as hiring picks up with the economic recovery, the kinds of jobs that Singaporeans seeking work will find will be different from the ones that have been restructured away. The terms and conditions of such work will also be different from the traditional full-time permanent jobs. There will be implications on how then to help Singaporeans holding such jobs meet their long-term basic needs in retirement, training and healthcare. The third observation that I would like to make is that, according to the Labour Market Report 2003: "For the second consecutive year, professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) ..." among them, 16.7 were retrenched per 1,000 of such personnel employed, and this group "... overtook production and related workers ... to post the highest incidence of retrenchment. The PMETs accounted for the largest group of locals retrenched in 2003 compared to all other groups." Beyond cyclical resons, I believe this result points to the underlying trend of delayering. Again, I do not think that this trend will disappear or be reversed when the economy picks up. Madam, in the light of these structural shifts, I believe that even as the economy recovers and the need for suitably-skilled manpower grows, we may yet encounter sticky unemployment of perhaps 3% or 4% of the workforce.”
“Madam, yesterday's release of strong February export figures adds confidence that the Singapore economy is en route to recovery. This is certainly to be welcomed, and I am sure that many Singaporeans, especially the unemployed ones, will look forward to this recovery and hope that the threat of retrenchment will recede while the prospect of employment will improve. But I want to sound a note of caution here. We cannot assume that economic recovery, even when it is really sustained, will automatically solve all employment challenges for Singaporeans. According to statistics available on the MOM's website, the resident long-term unemployment rate, defined as a proportion of the labour force who have been unemployed for at least 25 weeks, has climbed steadily from 0.4% or about 5,700 in 1997, to 1.4% or 25,100 persons in 2003. Yes, part of this increase in the long-term unemployed can be accounted for by cyclical reasons, namely, the difficult demand conditions faced by the economy over the past five years. But I think there are also structural reasons behind the increase. Fast changing technology, the consequent demand for better-skilled manpower and the overall transformation of the economy towards knowledge-based and higher-value work have come together to render re-employment for some displaced workers very difficult. The threat of growing structural unemployment is therefore real, and will not go away simply because our economy is picking up. I also note that the percentages of workers in temporary employment and part-time work have risen from 1.7% and 3.3% respectively in 1997 to 4% and 5.7% respectively in 2003.”
“Sir, we hear regularly of the trauma that residents face as they are harassed by loan sharks. In many of these cases, the loan sharks harass those families because certain members of the family have taken loans from them and have not paid up on time and so on. At the same time, I also hear regularly of families whose members did not borrow from loan sharks, and those families include instances where they had purchased flats from other households, and then the loan sharks may be actually pursuing people who had borrowed from them but who had been members of the previous household, the one which had sold the flat to them. I also notice that there had been instances where it seems that different loan sharks pursue and harass these families, suggesting that the borrowers, after they had sold the flat, had continued to use the old identity card in order to take up new loans with different loan sharks, therefore, causing more harm and harassment for innocent parties. In this connection, I applaud the stepped up efforts of the police in curbing loan sharking and in arresting the loan sharks. At the same time, I would like to ask the Minister whether more efforts are being done to track down these borrowers and, in particular, those who had borrowed using identity cards that have not been updated, and whether besides constituting an offence under the National Registration Act for not changing the address on time, there are other offences such people may have committed and therefore other penalties would then apply. Auxiliary Police Force”
“Sir, building on the comments from the two colleagues who spoke before me, I also note with concern the rise in the figures for youth crime. I think it is important that we try to guide our youths on to the right path, so that they do not develop into adult criminals. In this connection, I would like to ask the Minister whether there has been any correlation between the increase in youth crime and the growing attendance of our young people at entertainment venues, and also whether or not there is a correlation between the increase in youth crime and the increased use of drugs by young people. I say this because, even as our society frees up, I think we have to strike a very good balance between allowing for more fun and not wanting to jeopardise the future of our young people, but at the same time maintaining the overall discipline of our society.”
“How should we look at the new ways of dealing with youth crime, rather than looking at the usual ways of informing school children and so on? This does not seem to have been effective.”
“In this regard, I wonder whether the public education efforts have to go beyond just telling them to be wary, not to wear expensive jewellery or how they should move around in the lifts, and whether we could actually guide them with some kind of personal alarms, like for women who have alarms that can let off a siren or whatever, and whether better design features can be built into the apartments, corridors and lifts. I think the increasing aging of our population means that this is going to be a very serious problem in time to come. I am just wondering whether we could redouble our efforts in looking into this area. Youth Crime Assoc. Prof. Chin Tet Yung: Madam, the current crime statistics show that there has been an alarming rise in youth crimes. What is significant in the offences that have been committed are shoplifting and rioting. It seems that an increasing number of youths these days are engaging in theft to keep up with the times. They want to be seen to be cool and fashionable. At the same time, there are apparently more street gangs and rioting is up. Many law-abiding citizens have reported to Town Councils, the Police and MPs that there are groups gathering around in void decks and so on. This is a particularly unsatisfactory state of affairs. I understand that there is an inter-Ministerial task force looking into how youth crime can be tackled. And they have actually gone all the way down to cooperation from schools and other institutions. But it seems that the results are not there to be seen, because we do not seem to be able to control this rise in youth crime. Have there been any new strategies that the task force has come up with? We do not seem to be able to nip the problem in the bud.”
“Madam, last year, I brought up the question of crime against the elderly and asked whether or not perpetrators of such crime should be subjected to heavier punishment when the victims are the elderly. I said that because I wanted to push for some kind of deterrence, so that they do not home in on this vulnerable group. With the population aging in Singapore, the number and percentage of the elderly will increase over time. That is a fact. I think we do have to do more to better protect this group, or to do more to deter criminals from picking on the elderly as an easy target. I continue to see reports of crimes against the elderly, whether they be cheating or robbery type of crimes. Many of the victims, as we read in the news reports, are not very well educated. Therefore, whilst we can continue with our crime prevention education and reach out and try to explain to our elderly how they can better protect themselves by taking sensible measures in terms of crime prevention, I think there is also a realistic limit to these efforts. Therefore, it remains for us to find additional ways of sending a clear signal to criminals who pick on the elderly as their victims in order that they may be deterred from this. And I urge the Ministry to consider such measures seriously. Assoc. Prof. Ngiam Tee Liang (Nominated Member): Madam, I share the sentiments of Mayor Heng. I just like to reinforce the point that there is an increase in vicious assaults against older persons or senior citizens when they are victims of crime.”
“Madam, I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply, and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $235,632,780 for Head N ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $50,000,200 for Head N ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head P - Ministry of Home Affairs”
“For example, we have increased our staff in our four overseas missions in China in recent years to meet the increased workload arising from visa applications and consular services to Singaporeans there. MFA currently has a total of 41 overseas missions - embassies, high commissions, permanent representative missions and consulates in 27 countries. In order to maximise our coverage, 10 of our Heads of Missions are also accredited to 15 other countries. Further, as behoves a small country, we have, perhaps in a more innovative way, appointed 24 non-resident ambassadors in 36 countries and 25 honorary consuls in 25 cities to extend our presence. Altogether, MFA has representation in 79 countries. Also, to support the Government's regionalisation policy, we have opened consulates in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1997 and Pekan Baru, Indonesia in 2001. Our Consulate-General was opened in 1999 in San Francisco to provide consular and other services to Singaporeans in the west coast states of the US and to strengthen business and educational ties with these states. We are also reviewing our consular representation in India, given the growing bilateral trade and visitors from India. Again, to maximise resources, our overseas missions also provide office space to offices from other Government agencies. For example, IE Singapore has offices stationed at 15 of our overseas missions to better service Singapore enterprises overseas.”
“Madam, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head N of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code NA 1500. From the exchanges that we have heard earlier, it is quite clear that the world has major concerns in the area of politics, economics, as well as security. As a small country, any changes in these areas would have a major impact on Singapore. Accordingly, it is important for us to manage these well and I can see that the role of successful diplomacy in the conduct of foreign affairs will become increasingly important in helping Singapore deal effectively with all these challenges. As part of the machinery to help the Ministry of Foreign Affairs execute its objectives and intent, our network of foreign missions would have to play their role. In this connection, I would like the comment from the Minister, and his assessment, as to whether the resources that we allocate to our missions overseas, in terms of infrastructure, system support, manpower and overall capabilities, would be sufficient in allowing them to deal with the growing volume as well as the complexity of tasks that would be required of them to support the overall aims and plans of our nation. Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: Madam, I want to thank Mr Heng Chee How for his pertinent comments. To begin with, when it comes to the issue of overseas missions, we must recognise that our resources are limited. But what is important is that we make the best use of them to achieve our purposes. Thus, MFA regularly reviews the operations and workload of our overseas mission to ensure that they are operating effectively in promoting and safeguarding Singapore's national interest and in providing consular services to Singaporeans overseas.”
“Sir, Singapore is a small compact society. We live tightly packed together and invariably there will be disputes that arise between neighbours. Traditionally, grassroots organisations, grassroots leaders, Government agencies like the HDB and Town Councils, do their part to try to help the neighbours to resolve their disputes. They are not always successful and, therefore, I fully support the development of mediation as a channel to assist in dispute resolutions, as opposed to letting our society move more and more towards litigation as the way to solve problems. I would like to find out from the Minister what is the result of mediation as an approach in our mediation centres so far. What is the percentage of cases mediated that has actually resulted in resolution? I ask this because, to the extent that not all mediation succeeds even when mandated by the court, there could be some of the more difficult ones that take up a disproportionate amount of resources on the part of Government agencies. For example, they just go round and round without any resolution and the matter just gets worse and worse on the ground. In this connection, I support the idea of examining the role of our mediation centres to see whether or not it might be possible, in cases where they are protracted, and for which neither party is prepared to come to a consensus on the resolution, for some form of arbitration to take place, so that we can bring the matter to a close.”
“We must now move with equal resolve and speed to tackle the twin challenges of low birth rates and a rapidly aging population, and thereby secure a better future for Singaporeans. Sir, I support the motion.”
“As Singapore's drive to becoming an education hub takes shape, there should be more opportunities for us to do this. Australia, for example, is able to benefit by augmenting its talent pool through tapping on its large body of foreign students. The road from permanent residency to citizenship will certainly not be a straightforward one. We should review holistically the slate of benefits accruing to citizens versus permanent residents, and ensure that there is a significant difference. This is to give a stronger incentive to eligible permanent residents to seek our citizenship at an earlier rather than later time. Anchoring Singaporeans Just as we must try all means to minimise the attrition on births and induct valuable immigrants, we must continue to do our utmost to retain the hearts of Singaporeans in their country and its future, wherever they may work. Indeed, the Prime Minister spent a good part of this National Day rally speech last year driving home this point. Being pragmatic, I think, is as in-born a Singaporean trait as you can find one. So I believe that in the overall scheme of things, it ultimately boils down to how we make this place a land of opportunity where talent and effort unite to make hopes and dreams come true, and this is the very subject of this and previous Budgets. Let us move ahead Sir, Singapore has overcome many obstacles in our journey from third world to the first. At every turn of the road, we encountered new challenges and tough choices. Each time, we tackled the problems head-on with sound logic, always planning ahead, placing the long-term interests of our people first and adapting with the times. That was how we forged ahead and succeeded.”
“In the overall calculations, there will be trade-offs. Nuclear families make these questions even more pertinent because there is a loss of inter-generational bonding, mutual help and economies of scale that the larger family group can supply. So there is a double whammy with growing needs for both childcare and eldercare. My point here is that we will have to further step up our actions with regard to enhancing the employability of older workers and addressing eldercare needs, as part of our total efforts to get better results at the birth end. And by providing concrete ways forward on the issue of enhancing the employability of older workers, eldercare and fostering intergenerational bonding and mutual support, we will help lower the overall pressure on the middle generation, and that might further increase the chances of their having more children. Top-up through immigration Sir, notwithstanding actions to increase and save births, I believe that it would still be a very uphill task to achieve replacement rate in the immediate future. For this reason, I think it would be necessary for Government to consider additional ways to increase immigration. Of course, we are not interested in just bringing in the numbers. All along, the policy of the Government has been to be careful and selective about granting permanent residency and citizenship, allowing only for those who can and will add value to our society, and also being very clear that if you are not desirable, then we do not want you here. I support such a prudent stance. However, we should examine further to see if there are ways of integrating our processes more closely to induce more potentially eligible foreigners, such as those who study and work here, to take up permanent residency.”
“And even as some Singaporeans abort their pregnancies, there are others who are not able to conceive and who would want to adopt children. According to a Sunday Times' article on 7th March, it says and I quote, "There is no ballpark figure of how many people are in the queue at adoption agencies. But in the last four years, Singaporeans have adopted an average of 700 children a year. In this regard, we can study how adoption processes can be adjusted or reconfigured to facilitate adoption and matching, especially amongst Singaporeans. As for the many childless couples who have sought to adopt children from outside Singapore, I also note from media reports that in respect of adoptions from China, two voluntary welfare organisations have been appointed to manage the processes and pilot new processes, and I hope that this pilot will provide useful learning points on how these processes can be made both more responsive and robust at the same time. The sandwiched class Sir, as we home in on the measures directed at births, we must also recognise that couples make decisions about childbearing, taking into account a wide variety of factors. One of those factors is the pressure felt by the sandwiched class - people who have to support both their parents' generation and also their children. This pressure has physical, financial and emotional dimensions. It is accentuated by a low birth rate, because each succeeding generation has fewer working adults to support a larger number of elderly, while concurrently having to face the rising cost and stress of bringing up the next generation. Younger couples may therefore ask themselves whether there will be enough money, and enough people, to responsibly support such care to the generation before them and the generation after them.”
“While it is good to be able to enjoy better subsidies and incentives, we must also remember that we are ultimately the ones who decide the kind of life and family environment we live in now and in the future, and we ourselves must be responsible for the consequences of our own choices. Reducing infant mortality further? Sir, I also look at different ways in which we can increase the net supply of babies. I look at the infant mortality rate. In 1960, it was 34.8 per thousand births. Over the decades, reflecting improved economic circumstances and healthcare, that has been greatly brought down. According to MOH statistics, it is now below three per 1,000 births, and it is amongst the lowest in the world and it is on par with the most advanced countries. So, infant mortality rate reduction will not yield us many more births in this regard. Fewer abortions? But there is another area that we should examine, and that is abortion. According to the Ministry of Health's Annual Report 2001, total abortions in Singapore totalled around 13,800 each year from 1997 to 2000. I do not have the figures beyond the 2001 report. But assuming that they have been around the same these past few years, then it is a large loss of births in relation to total births of only 37,000 last year. For every three babies born, one other baby is aborted. Sir, I recognise that abortions are done for many different reasons, ranging from medical, social to economic. But, perhaps, not every abortion is unavoidable. By examining the factors behind the abortions in even greater detail than we have done so far, we might yet be able to bring down that number. And if we can reduce these abortions by a third, or maybe even a fifth, it would make a significant difference. More adoptions?”
“From the Government's standpoint, initiatives should be targeted at encouraging increase over the "natural" outcome - net increases - rather than huge deadweight costs. There is no simple solution. If it were so simple, it would have been solved already. And these are delicate balances to strike, and I can appreciate that. If a workable compromise can be achieved, then we can, hopefully, stem the decline of our birth rate. But at the same time, if the balance is struck wrongly, it could be a huge waste of money and it could have adverse effects on business and employment. I therefore do not envy the job of the Minister in this regard. In considering the various measures, I do urge the Government to give priority to items that are within its more direct control, such as infant care and childcare subsidies. In the so many measures that are being talked about, not every one of them is easy to get a settlement on. But those that we can make an earlier decision, I think we should. And therefore in this way, there is no need to hold up all things just because some things cannot be resolved readily. At the same time, I urge employers to take a longer term view to these efforts. To the extent that the efforts succeed, you would have better assurance of a larger pool of workers in the future. Hence, you can look upon this exercise as one of investing in your company's own future labour supply, rather than just an immediate increase in cost. To my fellow Singaporeans, I appeal to you to also look beyond the immediate to your own longer term needs.”
“Who will pay for the taxes or foot the bill for such care? Sir, these are not idle questions for some distant generation to answer. Many of us might still be around in 2020 or even 2030. It is therefore in our own best interests that we begin to turn the tide now sooner rather than later. More babies The most direct approach is, of course, to encourage Singaporeans to have more babies. I say it is direct, but it is not simple. From the feedback I got from union leaders, grassroots leaders and some of the ideas being talked about, such as longer maternity leave for mothers, higher subsidies for infant care and childcare, flexible family-friendly work arrangements, should all be helpful. By enabling more time for the mother to bond with the child and by lowering the cost of care for the household, it will lower barriers to child-bearing and rearing. So, the direction is the right one. The question is over cost-effectiveness and who should bear which part of the cost. Clearly, employees would want any additional maternity leave to be paid leave. They would also like to see significant increases in infant care subsidies so that the net cash outlay on their part is roughly similar to the current net cash outlay for childcare and the gap can be substantially narrowed. Equally clearly, employers will see any such move as imposing an additional cost and operational burden, because they see it as having to cope with an employee's longer absence as well as having to employ a substitute in the meantime. From the perspective of Singaporean couples who have children, they would want to avail themselves fully of any new initiative.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in the debate. The Budget statements these past few years have focused on tackling the economic challenges, easing the pain of transition and setting the stage of sustained growth for the future. With the economy now on the mend, let us press on with these efforts and not slacken in our efforts to transform our economy and systems and to invest heavily in skills upgrading and employability of our workers. Only then would we prepare and position ourselves well in an uncertain future. This year's Budget Statement appropriately addresses another key fundamental, which is that while we seek to create a bright future, we also need to make sure that there will be enough Singaporeans to inherit and populate that future. Last year, only 37,000 Singaporean babies were born. The overall birth rate was only 1.37, much lower than the replacement rate of 2.1. If this goes on unchecked, then we will eventually disappear from the face of the earth. But even before we truly decimate ourselves, I think there are other serious implications that will befall our society and which we will have to face. For example, with fewer babies born each year, will there be enough Singaporeans to defend our country, notwithstanding our aggressive use of technology in the SAF? And with fewer babies born each year, will there be enough skilled workers to attract investments and anchor jobs here? If the birth rate drops with time, then the rate of population aging will increase. At present, some 7% or 8% of our population is above the age of 65. We project that it will become around 20% by the year 2030. If the birth rate keeps dropping, then our society will become elderly-heavy even faster. Then how will we support and take care of the elderly?”
“Sir, as we set about implementing these difficult but necessary moves to energise our economy and job market, I urge everyone to keep our eyes firmly focused on achieving the common good and creating our shared destiny. And as we do, we will keep the trust and the respect of our workers and our citizens.”
“Here, I want to thank the Prime Minister for supporting the stand taken by NTUC in asking that companies that are doing well be fair to their workers and share the gains with their workers. NTUC cooperatives will continue to play their social role and help hold down the cost of living. On the part of the Central Singapore CDC, besides the usual assistance schemes, I will also set aside additional funding to reinforce the accounts of the Community Resilience Fund at constituency level so that our MPs on the ground can offer help more responsively as required. But most of all, I urge immediate and clear action from employers. Do not waste the opportunity and become complacent just because the CPF savings have bought some time and offered some reprieve. Show our workers that you have concrete plans, and are taking active, systematic and resolute action to improve the odds. I know that in these days of intense competition, employers have to watch their monthly and quarterly bottom lines like a hawk. But I want to remind employers that the best companies that triumph in the end are the ones who not only know how to make big money, but who also know how to treat their people right while making big money. Those who think that rewarding loyalty is out of date will pay a price for it when the market turns. The March issue of Fortune magazine featured a list of the world's "Top 50 Most Admired and Successful Companies" as compiled by the Hay Group. Among the characteristics of the winners is their encouragement of teamwork, loyalty and collaboration. Smart employers do not pay lip service to people development and loyalty. Workers are not stupid. They know whether their employers are treating them as valuable members of the company or as disposables. And they will reciprocate.”
“And of those companies who responded, 71% said that they could see no gains flowing from the US-Singapore FTA. The business community's response to the latest Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement is not any more reassuring. A veteran businessman was quoted in a Channel NewsAsia report dated 26th August as saying, "This is a weakness in our system. Businessmen leave it to the Government to decide everything. They should be pushing for what they want. Some of them do not even know what they want." Sir, I am saying this not because of any other purpose than to say that this CPF cut gives us the savings so that we could improve our competitiveness, so that our economy can rebound. Workers hope for this to happen. But in order for this to happen, employers must play their part and go and get that business. Otherwise, it is a wasted opportunity and it is a high price that workers would have paid in vain. And we must not let such a thing happen to sink our hopes. Sir, we are in a no-holds-barred global and regional fight. We have to remove our gloves because our competitors are coming at us with bare knuckles, if not knuckle-dusters. If we lose, we will have to accept much lower conditions of living. We therefore have no choice but fight. So, I support these CPF changes, even as I feel the pain together with all workers. On the side of the NTUC, we will support constructive efforts to improve the competitiveness of companies because we want to save jobs and to attract the creation of new and better jobs for Singaporeans. And we will do so on the basis of fair play for workers.”
“But overall, workers want to know if their swallowing this bitter pill will really help to spur economic recovery and improve job security. Sir, just as companies and shareholders expect a good return on their invested funds, Singapore workers are also looking at these CPF cuts as a kind of investment in their collective security and prospects. They do not want this opportunity created by the CPF savings to be squandered by companies merely enjoying a pause in the pressure. They want to know, or at least have as good a sense as possible what the likely yields are going to be, and how these yields are going to be achieved by the companies. They have expectations of the employers. Workers want to know what are employers going to do to get more business because clearly, companies cannot be profitable in the long run just by cutting workers' wages. Secondly, they want to know what employers are going to do to restructure costs. Restructuring is not the same as merely cutting. It means finding new ways to organise cost drivers so that they are more responsive to changes in competitive landscape and market demand conditions. In this, they want to see more leadership and useful ideas coming out from the employers. Workers have also asked if employers are alert to new opportunities. Because being alert to new opportunities and being able to seize these opportunities is a critical quality for success. For instance, how many employers have plans to make use of the US-Singapore FTA and other FTAs that Singapore had signed to improve their business? According to a report in the Straits Times on 4th July, a certain chamber of commerce in Singapore did a survey among its membership.”
“Yet others wonder how they are going to cope with the cost of living, because Singapore is a city, and being a small city-state, there is really no way to go into the countryside for a lower cost of living. Therefore, for lower-income people, I think they will find it harder to cope, and they keep hearing that companies must make good profits for their shareholders. There are also workers who fed back that payroll is not the only cost to business, but they have the impression that payroll is often targeted for cost-cutting. And they want to know what has the Government done about other fees and charges under its control, and what more it is going to do to reduce its cost burden on the economy. Workers feel that as the environment becomes more uncertain and volatile, people have to find ways of upgrading and downgrading more flexibly alongside their financial fortunes. So they ask that our policies, for example, in housing and medical services change faster to accommodate this reality. There may be a larger proportion of people who need rental housing, instead of bought housing. I think earlier, this House has gone into quite a bit of questions and answers on that point. Some others also feel that it would be good to make it easier for people, whose fortunes have waned, to downgrade to a lower class ward more easily within our hospital system. For those impacted by the across-the-board CPF rate cut, the lowering of the contribution ceiling and the consequential increase in taxable income, and that belongs to the upper-middle and higher income group, their feedback has been that they hope for some consideration to minimise the impact.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for this opportunity to join in the debate. After PM spoke about more changes to the CPF at this year's National Day Rally, there has been much discussion and speculation on the ground as to the details. I have met with various groups of union leaders from different industries, and listened to their feedback. Clearly, the fear of job loss is topmost on workers' minds, as the economy continues to be weak. Many have been retrenched, or know of people who have been retrenched. Many have seen business being lost to lower-cost competitors. They know that if the situation does not turn around soon, more jobs will be at risk. And they themselves could be next in line to be axed. Hence, workers really hope that the Government would find ways to boost prospects soon, and relieve their anxieties. Union leaders understand the big picture. We know that unless jobs are saved, there will be no income for the workers and without an income, high CPF rates are purely academic. So the priority is to save jobs, and to foster an attractive environment to create new jobs. Lowering business costs is an important part of serving this purpose and we accept that lowering the CPF will form part of such a package. That said, no worker likes a pay cut, no matter how necessary or helpful it may be because it just goes against the grain to part with one's money this way, and they have their practical concerns and worries. And I would like to reflect these concerns. Some said that they may run into immediate problems with their housing mortgage payments, and they want to know how they can get help. Others wonder if they will be able to save enough for their retirement years after these cuts and caps.”
“Sir, as part of the effort to make it easier for Singaporeans to respond and help in this national effort, can I request the Government to consider using easier telephone numbers, eg, for the Ministry of Health's and the special ambulance's helpline numbers?”
“This pro-Singapore, pro-Singaporean message is a crucial reminder to help focus the attention and understanding of our people on our national interest and on the common interest of all Singaporeans. Sir, there is a saying that if life throws you a lemon, then make lemonade with it. Singapore did not wish for this war to happen, but it has. And I hope that we can therefore make use of the circumstances nevertheless to strengthen our unity and resilience. Beyond the current circumstances, I urge MCDS to consider joint leadership seminars for the leaders of the various racial groups because this will provide more opportunities in a structured form for the leaders of the different races to meet, to learn from one another, especially to get to know one another better. The strengthened personal ties will go a long way towards enhancing unity and problem solving. Sir, I urge MCDS to therefore ensure that, in these increasingly volatile times, sufficient emphasis and resources continue to be given to the strengthening of racial and religious harmony.”
“Sir, the war in Iraq has started. Its ramifications will be seen and felt around the world in the coming days. Singapore may also be affected. We certainly hope that the conflict will be short and the suffering minimised through humanitarian efforts. For Singapore, what should our priorities be in this situation? Clearly, we have to concentrate on tackling matters that are within our influence because our goals must be to act in our national interest. Economically, we have to watch carefully the impact of the war and potential disruption to trade and production. The bottom line is the impact on our ability to attract investments, export our goods and services so that there will be jobs for Singaporeans. On security, we have to up our antenna, guard against potential terrorism and sabotage, take decisive action to forestall and neutralise any such threat so that all who live in, work in and visit Singapore will continue to have confidence to do this. Because this again is crucial to our livelihood. On the social front, Sir, we must step up all efforts that promote and strengthen our racial and religious harmony. For multi-racial and multi-religious Singapore, racial and religious harmony is not a nice-to-have quality. It is the very glue that holds the various parts together, allowing for not only tolerance and give and take, but also mutual respect and mutual support. Under no circumstances must we let our racial harmony be undermined or strained, or else all Singaporeans will pay a heavy price for it. Sir, this is the time for Singaporeans of all races and religions, especially for leaders of all groups that represent them, to stand together and clearly articulate the message of unity above all.”
“Madam, current HDB rules allow only households with income of not more than $800 a month - which I think is roughly the bottom 10% or so of households - to rent flats from it. For the segment of the population just above that level, the next cheapest option for them would be to buy an entry level 4-room HDB flat. An estimate of the proportion of average monthly household income, including the employer's CPF contribution, spent servicing a typical 4-room mortgage for this segment can be large, ranging somewhere between 15% and 34% by one estimate. This results in pressure, not only felt by the worker, but also in his expectation on nominal wages that he would seek from his company. It also raises the reservation wage for those unemployed within this group. Yet, as we know, the global wage for persons in this group would be low. Therefore, this is a cost issue that we should help address in order to aid the process of tackling structural unemployment. 4.30 pm Aside from help with housing purchase subsidies, the option of providing affordable rental public housing for a larger segment of the lower middle income population should also be considered. Besides reducing the household expenditure for this segment and while acknowledging the importance of the home ownership programme, it is beneficial, in my view, to allow for greater flexibility at the lower middle end of the market, in view of a more uncertain future economic environment. To execute such a move, related administrative policies defining eligibility for housing rental, such as the $800 income ceiling, various forms of debarment rules, as well as assistance that can be offered in facilitating these kinds of moves and transfers, would have got to be reviewed. I hope that MND can consider these suggestions.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for such positive responses. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $145,372,980 for Head S ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $53,845,600 for Head S ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head T -”
“The Economic Review Committee has given its support to the portable medical benefit scheme and I thoroughly welcome that. It advocated that for a start, at least, that it be left to negotiations between companies and the unions and there are also further studies to be done with respect to the portable medical benefit scheme which was earlier proposed, as well as a transferable medical insurance option. Whilst all these further studies are going on, I would like to share my views as to how I would like to see a portable medical benefit system taking shape for Singapore and Singaporeans. I would like it to be a national system covering all workers because that is the best way to ensure that, as a worker moves between jobs, there is true portability from employer to employer. I would like it to be compulsory because that would ensure that we have the biggest possible base, and that would keep the premiums payable to the minimum for everybody. I would like it to be basic, so as not to push the premiums up because of these additional features. I would also like to see that the premium of the insurance under such a scheme be pre-funded so as to equalise the premium across the system, and in this way, remove one more hurdle from the employers having to look at older workers as being more expensive to them in terms of medical cost. Sir, I say all these because I am really keen to see the portable medical benefit system implemented as soon as possible in Singapore, because of the increasing churn in our labour market. Every day of delay exposes our older workers to greater risk.”
“Then, there could be areas of status needs, such as home care, housekeeping, errand running. And there would be informal sector activities, including home-based work. To open up opportunities in these areas to such workers require new and different ways of organising them because these workers are individually unlikely to know how to organise themselves. Sir, in this regard, I hope that more encouragement can be given to efforts to organise them for full-time, part-time and contract work, and in this way, to render them competitive as a group with, say, foreign labour.”
“Sir, as Singapore's economy restructures, workers with higher skills and enterprising attitudes would be more able to stay employed or to move on to new employment should they be displaced. But the key challenge socially is to help the lower skilled workers, many of whom are older workers as well, to earn a living, because there is a segment among such workers who would not be able to upgrade fast enough or adapt fast enough in tandem with the requirements of economic development. So, even if we have the lower skilled or semi-skilled type jobs coming in with the new investments, there is a segment that might find it quite difficult to access those kinds of jobs. In this connection, I hope that concerted efforts can be put into identifying and highlighting suitable job areas and opportunities and on creating areas of work suitable for them. To my mind, one good area to look at is in the non-export sector, on the services side, where the areas of work tend to be more labour-intensive. When I say labour-intensive here, I do not mean that you have many headcount within the company, but rather that in the content of work, it is labour-intensive. I would like to suggest some areas for consideration. I consider the life cycle area, such as those relating to birth, and that would include infant care as well as childcare, eldercare, healthcare or even services relating to death. Those are necessary services that any society and every society would need all the time and certain areas within that would offer prospects. Recurrent everyday needs in the areas, say, retail, food, housing, transport, again, there might be certain areas within that that can be designed for workers in this category to take on; public needs, such as public cleanliness, hygiene, public health, security.”
“So, this is a capability that we have to grow, and I urge the agency to put this as a priority. My request is in terms of the timeframe for setting up of this agency. I understand that, currently, we are looking at 6-9 months from today. I hope that it could be speeded up.”
“Sir, even as Singapore has to grapple with the challenges of an uncertain economic landscape and rising unemployment, it is also important for us to focus on the ingredients that will be important for us in the future. One of the key ingredients is that of training and skills upgrading. In this context, I welcome the formation of an agency for continuing education and training. I would like to make four suggestions towards the planning of the scope of work of this agency and also to make one request. The suggestions are that in drawing up its scope of work, that priority be placed, first, on ways to further promote the funding of individual initiated training and skills upgrading. Second, to find better ways to understand how adults learn and, therefore, find better ways to help them learn and develop different methodologies for that. Third, to find better ways to stimulate the demand for training, both from companies and individuals. I know that, over the years, the number of companies sending their workers for training, as well as the number of individuals who have taken up training on their own, have both increased. However, there is a need to further promote the demand. It is always easier to put in the money to create the infrastructure, to create the training places, but it is always more challenging to overcome the different hurdles to get the demand up. I think this is an area for closer study and stimulation. Fourthly, in the area of job placement, job counselling as a capability is relatively lacking in Singapore, and this is the result of our many years of more than full employment. And it is different from the kind of social counselling that family service centres can provide.”
“Madam, I had intended to ask the Minister for an update on the Pedra Branca issue, so that all Singaporeans and Malaysians will know that, on the Singapore side, we are always very keen for a proper resolution of the matter. However, the Minister has already provided a reply in response to the same question posed by Dr Ong Chit Chung. I am therefore not moving my cut. The sum of $219,242,930 for Head N ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $78,987,300 for Head N ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head W -”
“Madam, the world has to contend with a whole host of different challenges. For instance, even as a possible war in Iraq looms, other countries, such as North Korea, are reported to have become active in their nuclear programmes. Whatever might be the purposes in acting in the manner that they have, they have compounded the complexities that the international community has to deal with. I would like to ask the Minister what is the position of Singapore vis-a-vis the nuclear stance of North Korea, and what measures are we taking, together with the international community, to safeguard our national interests in this case.”
“Sir, the elderly person is a relatively easier target for criminals in any society. This is partly because they are generally not physically as strong or as fast as younger persons. Their ability to put up a successful struggle or even to accurately identify the criminal would also tend to be less than that of younger persons. The less educated elderly are also easier targets for cheats. In a climate of economic uncertainty or economic downturn, their vulnerability would be increased. If we look at the Police crime figures for last year, crime against the elderly has also shown a significant increase, whether it was robbery or cheating. Sir, Singapore's population is rapidly aging. What this means is that the total number of elderly persons and the proportion of elderly persons in our population would both grow. I therefore think that we need to anticipate the implications of this trend and to take certain steps to address them so that our elderly can enjoy a good quality of life and not have to contend with a progressive loss of a sense of security and an increasing fear of crime. On this, I urge MHA to continue to emphasise all crime prevention education efforts for the elderly and their families. In addition, I also suggest that MHA consider different ways of increasing the deterrent factor to deter crimes against the elderly. For instance, we currently have laws that impose heavier penalties for aggravated forms of crimes or for crimes that particularly put fear into the victims. I urge that crimes against the elderly, especially violent property crimes, such as robbery, snatch theft and cheating be classified as an aggravated form of crime that attracts heavier penalties.”
“I therefore think that it is time that we stepped up total defence education and the practice of total defence because the circumstances are now upon us and we have to take things seriously. Not only the Defence Ministry, not only the Home Affairs Ministry, not only the Government, but our people, all of us. This is a window of opportunity because these circumstances do cause more people to take this message seriously. To do this, I urge MINDEF to engage, not only the usual channels like advertisements and exhibitions, but to engage the resources of the CDCs, the IRCCs, the grassroots organisations, the unions - all channels. Because these channels tap into different networks and they have different credibility with different segments of the population. Tap on this, think about how we can operationalise total defence better given this window of opportunity. I would also like MINDEF to think about how to tap on all the different languages - all the four language mediums - in order to do this, and not just place too heavy a weightage, for example, on English. Tap too on the Chinese, Malay, as well as the Tamil medium.”
“Sir, as I was thinking through what to say on this cut on total defence, I had written down that, given the realities that Singapore and Singaporeans have to confront and grapple with today, the message and importance of total defence stands out. And this is in contrast to the earlier years of total defence where nobody would quarrel with the need or comprehensiveness or far-sightedness of the approach but perhaps neither would many be taking it very seriously because the threat scenarios then were less acute. Sir, having listened to some of the views expressed by my parliamentary colleagues on the subject of defence and the need for defence, or even the possibility of scaling back defence in this situation, I think I have taken too much for granted. What I thought was self-evident, that we have to have strong defence, is not so self-evident after all. I think we have to be careful about this. We are Lion City. And as any lion or lioness that has to defend the interest of the pride would know, we have got to be fast, we have got to be good in order to defend our territory because the wildebeest, the gazelle, the buffaloes would not just walk into your mouth. Neither would other prides just leave your territory to you. And many a weak lion would lose its lunch to hyenas and sometimes, if you are sick, you end up as the hyena's lunch. That is a fact of life. Even if some of us find the imagery of a lion too aggressive, or too carnivorous, and hope that we can have something more vegetarian, I would say that the defence of Singapore must at least be that of a rhinoceros. We must never, never let it become that of a sloth, or worse still, a dodo.”
“Returning to the example of jobs, we must ask ourselves that when the Government pours in money on the supply side to create training places, what do we do? Do we do our part on the demand side by stepping forward and going for training and skills upgrading and therefore make ourselves eligible for the new and restructured jobs of our current employers and future employers? We must also ask ourselves what else are we doing to stay employable in the event that we are displaced. In the light of a more volatile environment, we must also ask ourselves how we can make better spending and investment decisions as individuals, especially on big ticket items, so that we will be as unencumbered as possible financially, even if we are displaced. Sir, informed individual choices and decisions, together with correct policy directions and speedy implementation, give us confidence for the future. This Budget promotes those outcomes. I support the Budget. Mr Speaker: Order. I propose to take the break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 2.50 pm. Sitting accordingly suspended at 2.27 pm until 2.50 pm. Sitting resumed at 2.50 pm [Mr Speaker in the Chair] ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Debate resumed.”