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.”
The complete record
Every one of 862 lines we hold for Heng Chee How, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 18 of 18.
“When we decide on the budget, we do not just vote money for the Government Ministries and Departments to continue operating as they are. When we ask questions on the budget, we do not ask them just to make a display or to give a semblance of scrutiny, or to create work and stress for those who have to answer. Sir, the budget is the means to carry out the intent of this House. It is the ship that sails us to our desired destination in the future. And if we build a ship that is structurally weak, or that lands us in a different place from that which we want to head, then we will be in trouble. Speaking of ships, I am reminded of the story of the Titanic - not the love story that came to our cinema screens, but the real disaster that killed more than 1,500 people on the high seas. The Titanic was touted as an "unsinkable ship" in its design. It had 15 airtight buoyancy compartments that were supposed to be impervious to piercing. Furthermore, its designers calculated that even if four of the 15 compartments did puncture, it would still have enough buoyancy to stay afloat. Added to that was sophisticated communications equipment of the time, and additional safety provisions such as some lifeboats. Hence, the maiden trans-Atlantic voyage of the Titanic was supposed to be nothing but pure fun and enjoyment for all those on board. For what could go wrong? But the Titanic, as we all know, sank after hitting an iceberg. Was it an unfortunate accident that could not have been avoided? Records showed that the ship received at least six warnings of icebergs before the hit. The warnings were not taken seriously. Maybe people were more caught up in the revelry and game of one-upmanship to see who could get better seats at the ship's theatre.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in this debate. After the Budget Statement was made on 3rd May, there has been much discussion in society. And as expected, the most discussed areas were the GST increase and its offset package, and the cuts to corporate and personal income tax. Some individuals say that they will not benefit from the tax cuts because they were already not paying any income tax. Some business people lament that the corporate tax cuts will not help them if their business is bad and there is no profit to be taxed, and therefore no tax to be saved. On the GST increase, we hear fears about it triggering inflation and profiteering, driving up the cost of living. And turning to the offset package, some pointed out that it might not be enough to offset the tax in their case. One person at a dialogue asked, "Even if it is enough to offset for five years, what happens after five years?" And another pointed out that since the offset package cost almost the same as the expected increased GST collection, why not save the effort and do the tax cuts? Sir, Singaporeans are indeed paying great attention to how these measures are affecting them individually or as businesses. This is understandable and to be expected. It is in fact a good sign that Singaporeans are concerned about the impact of policies and have done the calculations and are voicing their reactions and concerns. The challenge before us now is how, having listened to those reactions, do we connect those views with our process here in this Budget debate, to yield the best outcome for Singapore and Singaporeans? Sir, although the budget session is an annual exercise, it is by no means a routine or a mere ritual.”
“As recruitment is devolved to individual Ministries and statutory boards, I do not have information on the number of candidates with criminal records who have been employed in the Public Service. But I believe the numbers are increasing. My Ministry is considering amendments to the Registration of Criminals Act so that those convicted of minor offences will have their criminal records rendered spent or expunged after a certain period if they do not re-offend. This will further help ex-offenders find jobs in both the public and private sectors, as the record would no longer feature in the assessment of an individual's suitability for the job.”
“Mr Sin Boon Ann's precinct has done that quite successfully together with his grassroots leaders. Prof. Chin also considered it and I think one of his car parks in Woodlands has such cameras. Sir, where appropriate, especially if the crime is localised, and security cameras will help deter criminals, that should be considered. EMPLOYMENT IN THE CIVIL SERVICE (Applications by former incarcerated individuals) 12. Dr Mohamad Maliki bin Osman asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many formerly incarcerated individuals have applied for civil service jobs and how many were successful in their applications; (b) what were the factors that limited their opportunities to gain employment with the civil service; and (c) whether there are plans to "declassify" some formerly incarcerated individuals to enhance their employment potential by the civil service. Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, previously, persons with criminal records would only be employed in the Civil Service with the approval of the Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Division of the Prime Minister's Office. The Ministry of Home Affairs persuaded PSD to give, since August 2000, Ministries the discretion to selectively employ them, initially for two years on a temporary basis, and thereafter permanently if they perform to expectations like everybody else. For such jobs where the specific criminal record is not a veto factor, it however should neither tilt the balance in favour nor against the candidate. Sir, the Ministry of Home Affairs, through the Prisons Department, has been working with various Government agencies to promote the employment of ex-prisoners through referrals.”
“Sir, will the Minister consider extending the practice of emergency exercises in respect of terrorism to include more direct participation by members of the public and also by the IRCCs? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Members who have constituencies which have experienced the Exercise Community Spirit exercises will know that, for example, last year in May, we conducted an exercise at Holland Village on a simulated aircraft crash. The point is these exercises must be realistic. So, in so far as terrorism is one of the threats that we face, certainly I think our agencies should consider conducting some of these exercises. But, in any case, the point is that I would urge Singaporeans to actively participate in all the exercises that we conduct, including, for example, public shelter exercises and also the public warning system exercise. I think this is one area where Singaporeans can do more, to know, for example, the three signals that we have formulated together with SCDF - the message alert, the alarm and the all-clear signals. Mdm Cynthia Phua (Aljunied): Can I ask the Minister whether he will consider the use of security cameras in areas like the car park or community parks, as well as at the Kranji Reservoir where security is a concern? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: The point is we must be open to all devices that can help keep our neighbourbood safe. In fact, the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme has worked very well. About 96% of our neighbourhoods and precincts are covered already in Singapore. So I take this opportunity to urge the remaining 4% to come on board. In fact, we have debated this previously as to whether or not to use security cameras, and some precincts have done that.”
“We have to be nimble to adapt to the changes and swift to seize opportunities and avoid disaster. It will be difficult, but we will not be cowed. Singapore has succeeded despite the odds through the indomitable spirit and grit of our leadership and our people. And I am sure that we will again rise to the occasion. Sir, on that note, I support the motion.”
“We must undertake a myriad of activities regularly to nurture a sense of common identity, common space, common good and common destiny. This can only come about through broadening the mutual understanding and mutual respect among the different communities, and the strengthening of national education. By different communities, I refer not only to the obvious ones of race and religion but also the less obvious ones, such as income strata and educational levels. We must do our best to help different segments of society reach out to the others, to get the more able to help the less fortunate, the strong to uplift the weak. We must carefully consider the enhanced roles that community, clan, religious and voluntary organisations should play. We must not forget the place and responsibility for good corporate citizenship. We should also review the components of our social safety net to ensure that they are able to help citizens in a timely manner amid turbulence, and yet continue to motivate a strong work ethic and self-responsibility. At the same time, despite our best efforts, there will be those who will not place national solidarity above other considerations. I urge continuous vigilance against those who seek to undermine the basis for peaceful coexistence of all in multi-racial Singapore. We must always bear in mind that we are not undertaking this task in isolation. We are doing so in the context of a globalised world in which forces tuck at primordial instincts. This is not an abstract, academic exercise but one that ultimately determines our viability as a society and nation. Mr Speaker, Sir, the world that we have to navigate in has become much more complex and treacherous.”
“Sir, experience on the ground has shown that when left on their own, displaced workers tend to look for, or wait for a new job that is very similar to the one that they have lost. This is their way of operating within familiar territory, hoping at the same time that relevant experience will help fetch a better pay. Yet, as the economy restructures, the need to change lines of work, to retool for a completely new industry will become part and parcel of the job search process. The need to facilitate the crossing of a proportion of the workforce from one job to another, from one sector to another, will become a standard feature of our landscape. This capability to work with displaced employees at the technical, emotional and practical levels to bring about acceptance and adaptation does not happen on its own but must be developed. And I hope that the relevant Ministries can look into this suggestion and see how we can add to the further development of such capability, building on current efforts, such as those championed by the Manpower Ministry and the trade union movement. This is a capability, whether performed by the public or private sectors, which the country will need on an ongoing basis from now on. Sir, the third area of focus that I want to highlight is the promotion of social cohesion. Singapore suffers from severe inherent constraints of land and population. We have very little to play with, and we enjoy very little margin of error indeed. Our people are literally our only resource. If our social cohesion erodes, our country cannot remain strong, regardless of our systems and technology. Our unity is our own hope, and disunity will be our ruin. This fact must spur us to do all we can to promote social cohesion.”
“The end result might be a tendency to "buy" the needed skilled manpower from the market rather than invest directly in training. And when that happens, and where there is a shortage of skilled manpower, a vicious cycle of increased cost, stunted company development and dislocation of obsolete manpower will form. From the nation's perspective, we have to see how best to help individuals initiate their own skills upgrading, complementary to how we help companies train their manpower, as that would enhance the employability of workers and, at the same time, help create a supply of needed skilled manpower for industries' use. Sir, beyond what the individual must be motivated or assisted to do, there is also the need to enhance the transition infrastructure. Here, I am thinking of such capabilities and industries such as counselling and job placement. In an economy that has seen almost continuous, strong and steady growth over 30 years, where unemployment has been effectively negative, there is no big need for well-developed transition infrastructure or expertise. Put simply, when jobs are chasing after people, there is little need for such assistance. The road ahead is very different. Intermittent periods of unemployment caused by the restructuring of companies and industries will become more common. And this will happen not only during recessions but even when the economy is registering good growth. Old jobs will go, never to come back. Those affected may be young or old, rank-and-file or executive. Not all of them will find new work easily. Some may be at real risk of becoming permanently dislocated or structurally unemployed.”
“And the earlier we get our entire workforce to understand the situation and its urgency, the earlier we start on the road to adjustment and adaptation. Second, we must emphasise the importance of resilience and resourcefulness in individual development. Traditional training has concentrated on technical skills. This was partly due to the strong focus on the manufacturing needs, and partly because technical skills tended to be easier to gauge and test. While competence in technical content must remain an important and integral part of training, support for training that improves individual confidence and flexibility must be increased. In a more uncertain environment, our people must not only be very good at scaling ladders, but they must also be quick to determine for themselves which are the right ladders to scale in the battlefield, given the overall mission. This adaptability is critical in maximising our capacity to seize opportunities and minimising the risk of premature or permanent dislocation. Third, we must enable more individual-initiated training to take place. Looking at the jobs that the EDB-induced investments create, we can say that some two-thirds to four-fifths of them require skilled manpower, increasingly of very specialised kinds. I think that mirrors the changing skill needs elsewhere in the economy. With growing demand for skilled manpower, can we therefore assume that companies will devote more resources to training their workers to meet their own needs? Sir, in my view, this may not necessarily be so. Why? Because many companies, especially SMEs, have traditionally not been able or not willing to send their workers for much training, while all companies will face rapidly shortening product cycles.”
“Sir, for more than 30 years, Singapore has succeeded against the odds through a combination of right policies and tight organisation. In that time, we have moved from being a cheap operational base to a high value-added location. I believe we have moved ourselves as far as that formula can take us. From here on, we will have to contend with many others who have much larger endowments of land, population and market, in an environment that is decidedly much more uncertain than before. And in such a setting, we must go beyond picking winning industries to creating an overall more conducive and vibrant business environment. Our hope must be that the life force in such an environment will generate innovation, possibilities and the growth of winners and winning industries, thereby creating more jobs and uplifting the living standard of Singaporeans. But my concentration today is on the individual. How is the individual Singaporean, regardless of age, to be developed so that he can fit well into such an environment, and thrive amid such change? Here, I would like to highlight three factors that I believe will drive successful outcome. First, the individual must have more understanding of the situation that he is getting into. Although this seems obvious enough, I think it cannot be presumed upon. For many years now, the message of training for employability has been highlighted. Yet, there remain large numbers of employees, including those at executive levels, who had not yet taken action. Perhaps many did not get the message. Maybe others did not believe that they would fall prey to restructuring. While the retrenchments during this ongoing recession may have punctured such illusions of security for many, more still needs to be done.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the motion of thanks to our President. In his Speech to this House, the President reminded all Singaporeans that "the world has changed." To me, this describes the crux of the challenge that we face. Sir, technology has bound all parts of our world more tightly together. In this sense, it has made our world smaller. In this smaller and more crowded world, all countries and peoples vie constantly with one another for resources, opportunities and results. Power and influence are also peddled on a global scale by all kinds of forces, some legitimate and others not. In this global stage, winners win big. Losers also lose big. Societies are therefore stressed by competition, and strained by the accentuated differences in outcomes and increased dislocation of people. Amid such whirling change, people seek relief, solace and expression in solidarity with others like themselves. Transnational and supranational forces of race, religion, class, business and even iconic worship have become stronger. While they may help bring comfort, hope and gain to their supporters, they can also affect and amplify underlying tensions and cracks in society, rendering the governing of nations ever more difficult. Sir, in my work as Mayor, as Member of Parliament and with the trade union movement, I see these trends and its forces being played out in the lives of ordinary people. I think that it is important for Singapore to put in effort in three areas in the context of the world that we now face, so that we can continue to be successful. And these are helping the individual develop and deal with change, the strengthening of adjustment infrastructure and the promotion of social cohesion.”