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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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 8 of 18.
“Madam, it is widely accepted that the health of a person affects his morale and ability to perform at work, regardless of age. At the same time, it is also true that Singaporean workers spend a large chunk of our waking hours at work. This means that the health of a worker affects and is affected by the workplace. The importance of workplace safety and health, therefore, cannot be over-emphasised as they will materially affect the employment and employability of workers for better or for worse. 3.15 pm This is even more so with an ageing local workforce and the need to help workers extend their effective working years and for companies to be able to Page: 94 continue to tap on these workers' experience and value. One key aspect is to minimise the loss of employability due to substandard workplace health and safety conditions, and to promote positive impact on health through workplace initiatives. In addition to general workplace health promotion, there is also scope for focused health initiatives in specific occupations with a concentration of older workers, for example, in cleaning, taxi-driving, parts of retail, in security and parts of manufacturing. Prolonged standing, sitting, lifting and repeated use of certain joints are typical aspects of work that erode the health and employability of workers, if not consciously counteracted by both workers and their companies. I would like to ask MOM to update on how it is working with MOH and HPB to integrate and better target workplace health programmes to the older worker population in general and at occupations with a concentration of older workers in particular. Progressive Employment Practices My second cut is on progressive employment practices.”
“What is being done to help companies acquire such know-how and to nudge them towards making concrete efforts to acquire such know-how and then implement them? In this process, is there a sufficient pool of age-related job and process re-design consultants for them to tap on and how can we better help grow this pool for them? Employment Rate of Older Workers”
“With tighter management of imported manpower, tapping the source of older workers cannot be over-emphasised. At the same time, the labour market is very tight and employers are experiencing difficulty in filling vacancies. Furthermore, the citizen population is ageing, and many older workers value the opportunity to continue to contribute at work and to earn a fair wage. Against this background, it is clear that both economically and socially, pervasive adoption of age-friendly human resource, operational process and job design practices will be critical to help both employers and older workers find a win-win path forward. One clear hurdle is the cost of making these adjustments and improvements. In this regard, PIC grants help. At the same time, there is also the WorkPro programme which was designed to help spur the creation and improvement of age-friendly and flexible workplaces. I would like to ask MOM Page: 71 for an update of WorkPro's progress since its launch at last year's Budget session. Money aside, I believe a potentially even bigger hurdle is the lack of know-how. Without sufficient know-how, companies are likely to carry on doing things the same way, whether from a productivity standpoint or from an age-friendliness standpoint, that is, knowing how to design things to be more age-friendly. They will then just seek ways to lower cost instead of finding ways to unleash value and that would not be a sustainable approach in our realities. I, therefore, ask for MOM's assessment of the state of know-how of companies in designing and implementing age-friendly measures, both from the human resource as well as operational standpoints.”
“Thank you, Madam. Last year, I pushed for the Re-employment Age ceiling to be further revised from 65 years old to 67 years old in view of the ageing population of our workforce, the tight labour market, as well as for the self-esteem and dignity of our older workers. The Re-employment law was enacted in January 2011 and it became effective from January 2012. It has been two years of implementation since. And the outcomes – the employment rate of older workers aged 55 to 64 continues to improve, as shared by the Acting Minister earlier. The employment rate of those above 65 years old has also increased. And we can all see that the tight ongoing labour market conditions Page: 70 are favourable. Another point to note is that workers who reached 62 years old in January 2012 will turn 65 years old in January 2015. 2.15 pm I am glad that the tripartite partners have agreed to put this on the agenda to discuss and to learn from the on-going implementation experience and to see what measures need to be put in place to get ready for the next step. I would like to ask MOM whether there is a timeframe to aim at in making this move, as I believe that many older workers are looking forward to it. Such an indication would also help employers in their planning and in acquiring the know-how in good time. Enabling Age-friendly Workplaces Madam, my second cut is on enabling age-friendly workplaces. There are four manpower taps: school-leavers, labour productivity gains, retaining and prolonging the work lifespan of older workers and encouraging women to go back to work, and as well as imported manpower. With prolonged low fertility, the pool of school-leavers will remain limited. Labour productivity improvement has been lacklustre in recent years.”
“Sir, productivity has not improved in the past several years. This is worrying as Singapore's competitors are not standing still but are improving. Even if we have a lead to begin with, then it would be narrowed. Productivity is critical to our long-term standard of living and improved wages. In the initial period of foreign manpower tightening, I believe that the response from many companies was to clamour for a return to the status quo of easy access. When that did not happen, companies basically responded in two ways. For those who knew what to do, they rolled up their sleeves and started in earnest to adapt and change. And I believe that many of these are probably now claiming PIC grants. But money itself is not a sufficient solution. For those who do not know what to do, they see themselves in an increasing state of quiet desperation, and some close shop and die. It is clear that while curtailing over-reliance on foreign manpower is a necessary step toward encouraging productivity improvement, it is not a sufficient measure. Just because firms do not have easy access to foreign labour does not mean that they naturally know what to do. Processes, job designs, technology, skills, mindsets, culture, must change. I, therefore, ask for MTI's assessment of the state of know-how of our companies, big and small, in terms of conceiving and implementing productivity improvement measures. What is being done to help companies Page: 127 acquire know-how in this area, especially for companies that are finding it a struggle, and what more can be done to encourage them to, indeed, take concrete efforts to do so? Also, is there a sufficient pool of productivity improvement consultants in Singapore that they can draw upon? If not, how could such a pool be built up?”
“How will MHA ensure that there are enough riot troops in headcount terms, SOC and divisional resources together, to keep pace with population changes, so that deployment would not be stretched too thin and the security forces are able to dominate the ground quickly when called upon? Biometric Data Security”
“Madam, Singapore's total population has grown over the years. At the same time, the mix of the population has also become more cosmopolitan. This growth in population density and complexity increases the likelihood that friction would occur as groups and people, so to speak, rub each other the wrong way, whether intentionally or otherwise. Page: 52 To deal with this challenge, it is right that measures be put in place to emphasise and catalyse continued racial and religious harmony, as well as increase mutual understanding and integration between locals and migrant communities. While we pursue these proactive and preventive steps, we must at the same time plan for the worst, which is the scenario where larger scale public disturbances occur. The recent Little India riot is an example of that. However, I am not referring specifically to that particular riot as the Commission of Inquiry (COI) is ongoing. What I am concerned about is whether the Police riot control function, in terms of sheer manpower, as well as equipment and access planning, given the more congested roads, for example, has kept pace with population urbanisation trends over the years. Sometimes, when things appear to be calm, emergency resources may be less emphasised. Some may think of such "standby" resources as somewhat of a dead weight. However, when emergencies occur, we may then find the resources insufficient or quickly over-stretched and not sustainable. A proper balance has to be struck between the two, taking into account the assessments of threat and the likelihood of multiple concurrent needs. Madam, I want to help make sure that our troops on the ground get the support and resources they need to do a good job.”
“I urge the Government to examine this area more closely and see how such support can be further developed to take into account the recurrent nature of certain significant costs faced by our seniors. That would then reinforce our social safety net for our seniors and add to ongoing efforts to partner our seniors to "live well and with greater peace of mind". Mdm Speaker, I support the Budget. 1.17 pm”
“Can the Government think of a way to overcome the worry of seniors that they outlive the remaining lease under the Lease Buyback Scheme so that seniors across more flat types can get cash from their housing investment, and at the same time know that they can age in place with peace of mind? For workers on Workfare Income Supplement support who are no longer offered employment past the prevailing re-employment age ceiling, and not because they do not want to work, can the Government consider a different kind of basic support to help them cope with the cost of living, which will go on, Page: 37 whether or not they have that re-employment offered to them? Can the Government consider making permanent the GST Senior Bonus Voucher, remove the complexity of different Annual Property Value tiers of disbursement and review the amount and disbursement intervals periodically so as to regularly support all seniors, and enable them all to cope better? These are examples that come to mind. Obviously, they are not exhaustive. I hope to just throw this into the pool in order to generate more ideas all round and we can build a better system that way to honour, care for, protect and progress our seniors. Mdm Speaker, I continue to firmly believe in the importance of self-help and family support, even as I say that we should improve what the Budget can do to help our seniors. Because I firmly also believe that we must ensure continued fiscal prudence and sustainability. At the same time, l believe that there are still various ways to tweak and enhance existing schemes and programmes, as well as to consider new ones to further strengthen the confidence and resilience of our senior population.”
“The special one-off Senior Bonus GST Voucher in this year's Budget doubled the amount that older, lower- and middle-income seniors will receive compared to the normal GST voucher and will help them in coping with the cost of living. All these additional help and support rendered to seniors are much appreciated. At the same time, I note that the needs that these measures help address are also not one-off occurrences but are part and parcel of living in Singapore. In terms of understanding needs, I find the Chinese saying "衣食住行医教" very useful. In other words, what you wear, what you use, what you eat, your shelter, transport, medical and education – these are big categories of expenditure that people think about. I find this categorisation very useful. I suggest that the Government make a list of the various senior-centric cash and cash-equivalent grants and subsidies it is giving. Perhaps, divide them into healthcare-related and non-healthcare related. Healthcare to seniors is a big worry because of the fear of very big bills. But that does not happen all the time. In comparison, the other categories tend to incur expenditures that are more recurrent and related to cost of living generally. For the recurrent category, I suggest that the Government consider which of the grants and subsidies can be made permanent and/or enhanced. For example: Can the Government consider buying the public transport fare cards for seniors above a certain age to be defined who apply for them, and in this way, accord them the privilege and help them save money for other uses?”
“Through its iron-clad guarantees of super-enhanced Specialist Outpatient Clinic (SOC) subsidies, lifelong annual Medisave top-ups and lifelong, inclusive and affordable MediShield Life coverage, the Government has addressed the financial concerns of Singaporeans who are 65 years or older this year about healthcare affordability. Indirectly, this also alleviates the fears of their family members and helps the whole family conserve money for other uses. The financial peace of mind that the Pioneer Generation package accords is not only in the promised subsidies, but also in the upfront $8 billion ring-fenced commitment by Government. This places Singapore in a special class of countries which are not only willing to commit decisively and very substantially on a long-term basis, but actually has the resources to ensure that the promises are real and fully backed. For this, we must thank decades of prudent stewardship of national resources that made this possible. Going forward, I see two additional areas that we should pay attention to. The first is to accord the post-Pioneer Generation and employers with greater clarity over long-term CPF savings rates. NTUC has urged tripartite partners to come together to further discuss the updating of the 2003 set of long-term CPF rates. This is necessary as the current rates have been surpassed in many instances. As this subject has been widely covered in the media very recently, I Page: 36 will not elaborate further on it today. The second area is that of helping seniors in areas beyond healthcare expenditure. This year's Budget already contains examples in this area. For example, the new discounted fare card for seniors will help older workers who have to travel frequently to lower their transport expenditure.”
“I have, therefore, pushed for workplace health to go beyond generalities to also focus on occupations and industries with a concentration of older workers, to protect them against premature loss of employability and employment. I now move on to the second critical piece of the jigsaw, which is on how to provide better assurances of the adequacy of retirement resources to meet the essential healthcare and living expenses while continuing to actively Page: 35 monitor and manage those rising costs that affect seniors most. Survey after survey of seniors reveal the same thing: that seniors are most worried about healthcare cost. This stems from two main reasons, I believe. First, many from the current generation of seniors did not have the chance to earn high wages in their younger days. It was a different economy and skills base was also different then. Second, they know that the bulk of lifetime healthcare cost will be incurred around the final decade of life. This, together with seeing the reality of healthcare cost rises over the years, leads to anxiety over the adequacy of personal resources to cope and the potential financial burden this could then become for their next generation. While the 3M system of Medisave, MediShield and MediFund has served Singaporeans well over the decades, seniors remained concerned. In this regard, the Pioneer Generation Package announced in this Budget takes this bull by the horns and I applaud it. The Pioneer Generation package builds on the Government's longstanding commitment to Singaporeans that no citizen will be denied necessary medical treatment on account of poverty.”
“If I succeed in this, older workers will have the opportunity to earn income for yet another two more years at least. I am glad that the tripartite partners have now agreed to work on this issue, and I would continue to advocate for it to bear fruit as soon as possible. As the aim is to enhance earned income sustainably, this is why besides enabling longer work lives, the Labour Movement has also pushed hard for the adoption of the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) across all sectors and workforce segments, and that includes tapping the full potential of the older workforce, as well as strengthening the CPF savings of older workers for Medisave and retirement through increased employer contributions. I am grateful for the tripartite support for these positions, and, in particular, want to thank the Government for the additional CPF contributions that it mandated in this year's Budget for all workers in Medisave and, especially for older workers, in their Retirement or Special accounts. Another aspect to strengthen the Protection of older workers is through helping to upkeep their health and to make work more age-friendly. Programmes like WorkPro can offer incentives toward such outcomes. At the same time, workplace health initiatives are also very important. For example, there are occupations that expose their workers to prolonged standing or sitting, or to repeated joint use. Over a long period, it hurts the health of workers as they age and will harm their employability. We must drill down and zoom into initiatives that can help large groups of them maintain a level of health that will enable them and allow them to carry on contributing.”
“This will help secure their Place in society. I will elaborate on the third area during the COS for MOH under the topic of "Active Ageing", and so I will not be touching on this today. Mdm Speaker, through a variety of efforts in these three areas, we pursue the ideal of Valuing every older employee at work and every Senior in society. In a similar vein, my fellow Labour Members will elaborate in their Budget debate speeches on how different segments of the workforce could and should be valued, protected and progressed. It was against this backdrop of wanting to increase lifetime earnings that I advocated for the early implementation of legislated re-employment beyond the statutory retirement age of 62. I am happy that the tripartite partners agreed on this and Parliament passed the re-employment law in January 2011 to mandate re-employment from 62 to 65 years old. That law took effect from January 2012. At its most basic, this has enabled entire cohorts of seniors to continue to earn income for at least three more years. The employment rate of workers in the 55 to 64 age bracket and even in the 65 to 69 age bracket have further improved since 2012, both because of a tight Page: 34 labour market and also because older workers have proven their worth at work. With life expectancy continuing to rise, I firmly believe that the re-employment age ceiling need not and cannot stagnate at 65. This was why I pushed last year for the re-employment age ceiling to be further raised in the next step from 65 to 67 once tripartite efforts have been focused on consolidating the strengths of the legislated re-employment experience and come to terms with the measures that need to be put in place to enable that movement from 65 to 67.”
“Mdm Speaker, thank you very much for allowing me to join this debate. In 2006, shortly after I joined MOH, I was asked in an interview what I thought people wanted from healthcare. I said that people wanted to "live long, live well and have peace of mind". I said that in the context of increasing longevity of our population. It is not a bad thing to have more years to live, provided those are years with quality and not years plagued with anxiety and debilitation. As for peace of mind, it is not only the individual's physical well- Page: 33 being but also whether he is confident that he has adequate provision for his healthcare expenditure and the impact of healthcare cost on his own as well as his family's finances that count. How do we go about achieving that goal? In the Labour Movement, we have developed what is called the "4P" approach which I will use to describe my thinking. The "4P"s are: Protection, Progression, Placement and Privileges. As applied to the subject at hand, I believe there should be three key pieces to work on. First, increase lifetime earnings through increasing the effective number of years a person is able to work and the wages he can sustainably earn in the course of his working life. And if we think about it, then that offers greater Protection and gives Progression. Second, provide better assurances of the adequacy of retirement resources to meet essential healthcare and living expenses while continuing to actively monitor and manage those rising costs that affect seniors most. That is the way to honour the seniors and grant them that Privilege. Third, improve the opportunities and programmes for strengthening the physical, social and emotional dimensions of people's lives, especially as they age and then enter retirement.”
“Mdm Chair, the coming three years are a critical period for the economy to transform and for companies to also transform themselves to raise productivity. In the light of that, the Wage Credit Scheme was introduced to assist the companies because of the tight labour market and the cost of transformation. They would get a subsidy of up to 40% of the increase in total wage for workers earning up to $4,000. The key thing is not to use the coming three years with this money just as a wage subsidy for three years, but to ensure that the companies transform themselves so that future springs of income for the workers would look even brighter. In this regard, for the unionised sector, we would certainly be working through the unions and the unionised companies to ensure that the spirit of the WCS is properly implemented. For the non-unionised sector, I am not so sure. I think there will be a need for much clearer guidance. In the light of this, I would suggest that tripartite guidelines be drawn up so as to guide everybody because time is of the essence and we do not want to come back a year later only to find out that people do not know what to do and not much was done because of a lack of clarity. I would also suggest that in the coming meeting of the National Wages Council, that a reminder be sent in its report to urge all companies and unions and workers to look at the proper spirit of this WCS and to combine their efforts to make it work in a timely manner. Workmen Injury Compensation Claims”
“And this serves the needs of both companies who are facing a labour crunch now as well as to meet the aspirations of our older workers to continue to contribute. I urge the Ministry to consider this and I will be grateful if the Ministry could comment on my suggestion today.”
“Madam, the way I look at it, the manpower strategy to support this economic transformation will come in three parts. One part will deal with the tightening of foreign manpower, another part to improve the productivity and, then, the third part would be to activate the less used segments of our local population to be in the workforce. Within that, the older workforce is very important. Why? Because many of them are already working and ageing together with the company, so they know the work of the company and they are adding value as it is. With the passing of the re-employment law last year, we are already seeing increased improvement in the employment rate for older workers. Yet, at the same time, when we look at the introduction of the re-employment law, it is not something that you could just pass in this House and then it becomes law and then it works automatically. There is a lot of planning; there is a lot of experimentation and learning-by-doing to be done and much coordination to be achieved amongst the tripartite partners. It was for this reason that I called, over the past few months, including in this House on a number of occasions, for the Ministry to look at further extending the top limit age for re-employment Page: 108 beyond the current 65 to 67, as would be allowed for under current law. And I believe that if we start this process of discussion amongst the tripartite partners earlier rather than later, that will actually put us in a better state to correctly extend and make full use of the expertise and experience of this group of valuable workers, namely, the older workers within our workforce.”
“As an example, Gardens by the Bay offers senior citizens who are 60 years and above a 25% discount off the standard adult rate for entry into its two Cooled Conservatories, while Universal Studios Singapore (USS) and the Marine Life Park offer discounts for senior citizens on their 1-day, 2-day, and annual passes. The Night Safari gives a 50% discount off its admission fee for seniors who are 60 years and above. And we could go on – there are many places which offer such discounts; even supermarkets such as NTUC Fairprice, for example, offers a 2% discount for seniors on Tuesdays. The list goes on. These are meaningful things that society as a whole and businesses are seeing fit to offer. We will encourage more businesses to consider how best to do so. In conclusion, Mdm Chair, our efforts in promoting active ageing are yielding results, because so many of our seniors already live active and meaningful lives, and they are helping many others to do the same. So, I thank them for their leadership, for their example. I express once again our gratitude to our seniors for helping to build Singapore. We will certainly want to do our utmost to support them and work with them to have a healthy and enjoyable Page: 27 life. Role of the Family”
“There is also a phone application version of the portal which has been downloaded many thousands of times. Page: 26 Every year, there is the 50plus Expo – that is, Singapore's largest consumer and public education fair for seniors – which will be back by popular demand in March this year – which is this month – to further raise public awareness on active ageing. Many businesses have taken part in the Expo, and they found it meaningful and they give attractive discounts across different products and services to the seniors who visit the Expo. Since the first Expo that was held in 2008, visitor numbers have increased from 60,000 in 2008 to 87,000 last year. This is an increase of about 45%. Mr Chen Show Mao asked if we could increase concessions for seniors for public transport as well as entrance to attractions. Actually, these are already present. Today, seniors already enjoy public transport concessions at any time of the day. Their fares are pegged to the adult card fares with a discount of 25% and they only pay a flat fare for distances above 7.2 kilometres. They do not have to pay additional fare for distances beyond that. The Minister for Transport has asked the Fare Review Mechanism Committee (FRMC) to embark on a holistic review of the current concession schemes to various groups. The FRMC report is expected to be released later this year. 12.00 pm In terms of discounts and attractions, many attractions do offer discounts to senior citizens. The discounts benefit the seniors and at the same time, it is also good business for the attractions to invite more of our senior citizens to visit.”
“It provides platforms for seniors to get together with other like-minded persons to contribute their skills, networks, and experiences – their "assets" – in order to develop a hobby or to offer a service to the community and to others. For lifelong learning, the C3A – which was set up in 2007 to nurture and support ground-up initiatives that promote active ageing, particularly lifelong learning – has made further progress. For example, it has supported lifelong learning groups such as the Young-at-Heart (YAH!) Community College and the Fei Yue Active Ageing Academy, where seniors learn subjects such as gerontology, counselling and community work. Again, they make friends, enjoy themselves, learn something new and contribute to the rest of the society. C3A has also promoted intergenerational learning through the Intergenerational Learning Programme (ILP). ILP pairs senior learners with student "teachers" on subjects such as IT, social media and photography. Since 2011, the ILP has reached more than 700 seniors and students. The students have shared that they did not quite expect the participating seniors to be so lively, so they were pleasantly surprised and encouraged by this. On the part of the seniors, they said that the youths were very approachable, much more than they first thought, and they greatly enjoyed it. So, this is the importance of making sure that we continue to connect the generations. On public education as well as public awareness initiatives, the C3A launched an interactive online portal in October last year. This one-stop portal for active ageing opportunities has proven to be popular – more than 35,000 people have visited it, and the number of page views has reached more than 250,000.”
“It currently reaches out to 200,000 seniors and is on track to reach one in two citizens aged above 50 by the year 2015. The Programme is also very popular and spreads quickly – some people almost call it "contagious". The reason is because many of our seniors who participate in it enjoy it and also feel the benefit from it. Allow me to quote one example. Fifty-nine-year-old Mdm Ong was previously stricken with stiff legs and had difficulty bending her knees. She stayed at home most of the time and that did not help her health – she fell ill quite frequently. But she was motivated by the group of seniors practising qigong near where she lives, and so she decided to join them. After the physical activity and encouragement within the group, she now feels much better. She says that she can bend her knees much better now with much less pain, and therefore she is able to go out more and enjoys life more. In fact, she now leads a group of 30 seniors in practising qigong on weekdays. Beyond the health benefits, she also bonds with her Page: 25 qigong group over breakfast and shopping. We are happy that the Wellness Programme is spreading well. As of December last year, we had 766 brisk-walking clubs, 411 health qigong clubs, 112 tai chi clubs and 72 Dance-Fit clubs – all these set up by our seniors for our seniors. That is great. The combined membership of these groups now total more than 135,000 and is growing by the day. To promote volunteerism, the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) has introduced the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) initiative.”
“Mr Ang Wei Neng asked if the funding for active ageing programmes could be increased, given that health screening costs have increased over the past Page: 24 year. Just to give a bit of background, health screening is a core component of the Wellness Programme. In terms of the average health screening price, there is a range depending on who the provider is and what particular screening activities are contained within each package. But on average, it was $25 previously and it has gone up by $3 to an average of about $28. The reason is because screening has been improved in two ways. First, in terms of follow-up, instead of the People's Association staff calling up the seniors to remind them to go for follow-up, the health screening providers now call them up. And because the health providers are trained in this area, they are better able to explain to our seniors the importance of going for screening as well as other details. Therefore, they are better able to motivate our seniors to do the follow-up. Secondly, the seniors, under this arrangement, can now nominate their GP for follow-up check-ups, so they develop a closer relationship with the GP. This enhances the medical compliance and ultimately benefits the health of our seniors. The Wellness sites have mostly absorbed the increase; so in terms of the out-of-pocket outlay, it is still between $2 and $5 each time for our seniors. On the part of the Government, the Government will monitor the cost of health screening and review the funding provisions periodically, to ensure that the level of support remains appropriate. We will also review how to enhance synergy between health screening and other programmes to continue to get good value-for-money. The Wellness Programme has been rolled out to all constituencies.”
“Mdm Chair, our seniors have helped build Singapore. We must be grateful to them and it is only right that we work closely with them to lead healthy, socially connected and happy lives. In this context, I want to thank Mr Ang Wei Neng and Mr Ong Teng Koon for their questions on the effectiveness and the promotion of active ageing amongst our seniors. I think it is most timely. The Government has, in collaboration with key partners, such as People's Association (PA), the Council for Third Age (C3A), Singapore Sports Council (SSC) as well as the Health Promotion Board (HPB), to create an ecosystem to promote active ageing in Singapore. Within this ecosystem, there is a flagship programme – the backbone of it – that is the Wellness Programme, promoted in the community. This started in 2008. It encourages seniors to look after their physical health, stay active and be good neighbours and make friends with one another. That is on the social health aspect. The Wellness Programme promotes four main physical activities – they are brisk-walking, health qigong, tai chi and dancing. Social interaction is encouraged through ground-up interest groups, where seniors living within the same general area meet regularly to pursue their common interests. These interests also include hobbies in music, gardening, and many other areas. On the health front, the HPB has launched the General Practitioner (GP) Network at selected Wellness Centres. The GP network refers seniors who need medical follow-ups after health screening for physical activities and to join interest groups offered, for example, under the Wellness Programme. Health screening services have also been extended to all Wellness sites.”
“Madam, with a rapidly ageing population, I think there is a need to look closely and re-examine the intra-estate or intra-town travel. For a younger population having to walk perhaps 400 metres to 800 metres may not be a big thing. But for the elderly, who have grown old in the estate, having to walk that distance to the town centre or to the market to shop, and then having to lug the groceries back that distance is not the same. So, the physical distance may be the same but the feeling of having to make that walk is not the same anymore. As a result of that, it may lead to greater unwillingness to venture out despite efforts by the HDB, for example, to render the estate barrier-free. You can walk, but you cannot go very far. So, I believe there is also a place for the intra-estate transportation to be relooked, to facilitate the movement of the elderly especially towards the town centre. In this regard, I hope that MOT and LTA can work closely with other Ministries, such as MOH under the City for All Ages (CFAA) project, for example, to see how this could be piloted, and the lessons learnt can benefit the rest of Singapore, as we have to deal with the challenges of an ageing population. Fare Review Mechanism Committee”
“Mdm Chair, in agricultural societies, farm work gave farming families and farm workers the exercise that Page: 116 they need even as they earn a living. But with industrialisation and also post-industrial societies, much of the manual work has been taken out. Whereas people now still spend a lot of time at work, the amount of exercise that they get from work is not like last time in agricultural societies. When we look at the situation in Singapore and as we have discussed, the implications of an ageing population and an ageing local workforce and the need to strengthen the Singapore Core, then we recognise the importance of making sure that health promotion is a core part of what we do at work. In the community, there is already a more structured programme, such as the wellness programme, that reaches out to members of the community to enable those who are interested, especially those who are older, to take better care of their health and to stay connected and, in that way, enjoy a better quality of life and more years of health. With the population spending a large amount of time at work and the need to strengthen our Singapore Core, there is a reason for us to pay greater attention to further systematising our workplace health promotion programmes and to see how best to model that after the community wellness programme and customise it to workplace application so that we can keep the Singapore Core, not only numerically, but healthwise. Incentivising Health Maintenance”
“In other words, it is not necessarily spent on better eldercare or disability care. I believe that if it is a programme meant for ElderShield – the claim is to do with the elderly and meeting disability requirements – then I think more could be done so that the payout is also used to support better eldercare and disability care.”
“The health of the population has a direct impact on that population's spirit, morale and strength, therefore, its ability to have a better future. With a rapidly ageing population in Singapore, the upkeep of our health, individually and for the entire population, is even more important. Hence, I fully support the Health Minister's two-pronged approach, both to look after the healthcare cost as well as to promote health. I believe that the two need not be done in a separate or silo manner, but could be integrated. So, if you take the case of the ElderShield for example, as it is currently structured, it is a straight bet. That is at age 40, you enter ElderShield. At any subsequent point, if you are unable to perform, say three or more activities of daily living, that is beyond a certain level of disability, there is a cash payout for an X number of months according to the policy. Page: 85 I feel that it is not only about how much money it is being paid out under the policy. I think we can do more to use such kinds of insurance programmes to motivate the current kind of behaviours towards healthy living and active ageing. For example, I hear that in some other developed countries, such as in the US, places like Kaiser Permanente for example, they have programmes which integrate the wellness practices and participation in wellness programmes of insured persons together with the insurance programmes. In this way, through premium differentiation for example, they motivate the right kinds of behaviour amongst more of the insured, and there are other examples. I believe this is one area in which the eldercare programme could be reviewed. Secondly, when the money is paid out upon the claim, there is no question of how the money is being spent.”
“Mdm Chair, I agree with the hon Member Dr Teo Ho Pin that the ABC Waters project is a very worthwhile project, and it really beautifies the canals and make them into river-like features, so that the residents can enjoy their leisure at using the water. 11.30 am In Whampoa estate, there is the Whampoa River. It is actually a canal that runs through it. Some years back, the MEWR has identified it as one of the areas where ABC Waters project will be conducted. I understand that each year, some 20 to 25 projects are identified and each year I have been enquiring about the Whampoa River project. So, I would like to, once again, request for this because the residents very much would like to see the vibrancy of the estate enhanced by this very worthwhile project. Page: 20 Hawker Centres”
“Mdm Chair, Singapore has for many years now been known as a clean city, and it is something that as citizens we are very proud of. But in more recent years, some parts of Singapore have become dirtier. One of these areas has been the roadways or road sides. It is not uncommon nowadays to see plastic bags "crossing the roads", empty bottles, drink cans and discarded lunch boxes. In some of these roadways, they are not accessible to pedestrians. Clearly, that litter has been thrown from vehicles. I observe that nowadays, more and more vehicles have in-vehicle video cameras, and they are installed for various reasons. I would propose that NEA and DPC come up with an incentive scheme to rally the drivers of vehicles to submit the video camera footage as an evidence and information to the DPC and NEA, so that the identity of the vehicle owner can be established. From there, the identity of the litterbug can be established. The fines that are meted out to the litterbugs can then be used to recognise and reward those who provide the information. When litterbugs know that they Page: 15 could be captured on video camera by any number of cars behind them if they littered, there will then be a greater deterrent value. I hope in this way we can bring the entire population of the vehicle owners to work together, and keep our roadways free from litter. Dengue Outbreak”
“Mdm Chair, the Civil Service implemented re-employment in July 2011 ahead of the country. We started on 1 January 2012. Because of the size of the Civil Service, it has taken a formula-driven approach to implementing re-employment. There is a limited flexibility, but there are also automatic wage cuts. Re-employed workers are also re-emplaced on a different medical scheme from the Comprehensive Co-payment Scheme (CCS) to the Medisave cum Subsidised Outpatient (MSO) Scheme. The public sector union as well as union members within the public sector have made repeated calls upon the Government to review both these practices, and move away from automated wage adjustments downwards during re-employment. As has been shown in surveys in the private sector – both unionised and non-unionised companies – they do not do so automatically, but they look at the change in the job nature. With respect to medical schemes, if the re-employment had been substituted by an extension of the retirement age for example, then there would not have been a change in the medical scheme. A 62-plus-year-old civil servant would have continued on the CCS Scheme instead of being emplaced upon the MSO scheme, because it would not have been viewed as a fresh episode of employment. This would be a way of looking at how this longstanding employee can continue to be covered for his healthcare cost in a caring way within the Civil Service. So, we once again call upon the Civil Service to review this practice and allow the civil servants on re-employment to continue on the CCS scheme. Page: 74 Civil Servants Medical Benefits”
“The Labour Movement stands ready to actively review the scheme with the Government and to also actively promote the use of such funding with unionised companies so as to make work Page: 25 and the continued employment of older workers easier. Mdm Speaker, valuing every worker is what gives the worker a stake in the economic and social progress of this country, and valuing every worker is the litmus test of our resolve and commitment. In this transformation, we must make sure of that. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mdm Speaker, in the next three years, our economy must undergo a complete transformation. During the process, we must respect and value every worker. This is because, not only do the companies need to transform during the process, the workers also need to upgrade and work together with the company to achieve this aim. When we talk about valuing every worker, we definitely must not overlook our elderly workers because these elderly workers made many contributions towards nation-building, and also towards businesses. Therefore, in the next three years, the three suggestions that I have proposed will promote the employment of older workers and their health. In terms of healthcare costs, it will allay their concerns over medical bills. I hope the Government can help our businesses through various ways and schemes, and take good care of our elderly workers through job redesign. If we can do that, our transformation will be successful. 12.46 pm”
“Making work and the workplace more age-friendly is no longer just a good-to-have icing on the cake, but will now form a much more core purpose. The current ADVANTAGE! Scheme has gone through numerous tweaks over the years to encourage the employment, retention and re-employment of older workers. It currently funds efforts through its Capability Development Grant for SMEs and its Employability Enhancement Grant. According to Government figures released in February this year, the Advantage! Scheme has provided $57 million so far, to help some 3,500 companies recruit and retain employees aged 40 and above since 2005. Altogether, some 25,000 workers have benefited and out of that $57 million, some $24 million or 42% went towards redesigning jobs to make them more age-friendly, with each company on an average receiving $16,000 in grants. So, we can say that there has been outcome from the Scheme, but it is not sufficient and is not significant enough relative to the number of companies that we have who employ older workers, and relative to the pool of older workers we have and is growing. As this is the primary scheme to spur such older worker-centric initiatives, we must make sure that it can do the job of helping significant numbers of companies restructure and re-equip to employ and make good use of the growing pool of older workers as our population ages. I believe that the ADVANTAGE! Scheme needs a significant boost in how it incentivises job redesign for age friendliness, and on helping companies employ and retain older Singaporean workers.”
“Also, many companies and organisations terminate prior co-payment arrangements with their re-employed workers and re-start them on different arrangements that are generally more onerous to these workers, that is, the re-employed worker having to shoulder more of the cost burden at the point where he is getting older. The explanation commonly given is that the change of the type of co-payment arrangement arose from re-employment being a new episode of employment. In other words, you are a fresh employee even though the person has been working for that company for very many years. And because of this, this has led to calls on the part of workers to say, "In that case, then give me an extension of the retirement age instead of re-employment because if you do it that way, I am covered under the old arrangements." But as we recognised, re-employment has its advantages. It is more flexible than extending the statutory retirement age. Therefore, the simplest solution would be to allow re-employed workers to continue under their prior co- Page: 24 payment arrangements. Our unions are keen to work with the Government and companies to further lower this hurdle to employability and achieve a good outcome for all sides. Addressing this healthcare cost well will be a big step toward activating this resource fully for individual, industry and the national good and, perhaps, the public sector could set an example. Third, I draw attention to the ADVANTAGE! Scheme. Whether it is big companies or SMEs, finding effective ways to tap every viable local manpower resource will be crucial. Older workers are a valuable, tried and tested resource. This is especially pertinent now as foreign manpower inflow is going to be more tightly managed.”
“I made this call because of the tight labour market, the need to slow down the net inflow of foreign manpower, the need for companies to preserve experience and expertise, the improved health profiles of succeeding cohorts of older workers, and the requests from older workers to further facilitate their continued employment where they wish to do so and can continue to work. I call upon the Government to indicate a time frame to start this discussion. Second, I urge the Government to direct its policy and funding support toward workplace healthcare cost-sharing and insurance arrangements so as to render them more affordable and equitable to both workers and employers. Recently, the Government has reiterated its commitment to the older generation of Singaporeans that it will ensure that healthcare costs for them would be affordable. Older workers are part of this generation of Singaporeans whose efforts and contributions have made Singapore succeed and be resilient. The State should do more to encourage and help our older workers stay healthy. This can be done, for example, through appropriate workplace wellness initiatives, a review of the differential premium pricing and use of ElderShield payout, and grants and tax credits for qualifying corporate health insurance arrangements. Each of these areas has much potential for refinement and improvement. There is also a need to address the worries of both workers, older workers and their employers, on increasing healthcare costs, both outpatient and inpatient, that are associated with ageing. These worries show up consistently in surveys and research both locally and overseas, and have a direct and adverse effect on the employment and re-employment prospects for older workers.”
“We must never let up on the skills, productivity and career progression of Singaporean workers but we must help create the proper conditions for a sustained improvement in real wages across the board. This is basic to inclusiveness and social cohesion. This year's Budget contains important components to strengthen the momentum to transform so that Singaporeans will benefit at the end, and I see three in particular: the tightening of the foreign manpower inflow through lower dependency ratios; increasing the price of foreign manpower; and the WCS. Tightening on the inflow of foreign manpower and increasing the price of foreign manpower will put pressure on companies to rethink their operating models and methods, and to try even harder and more creatively to tap Singaporean manpower sources. I know that many businesses have deep concerns about the manpower cost impact. Hence, I welcome the WCS which will lighten the manpower cost pressure on employers as they undergo the necessary and serious restructuring in the coming three years. I urge companies not to hanker after the past anymore and instead focus on this new reality, and transform to emerge even stronger, and the Labour Movement will work with you and support you in this. With regard to building the momentum to value every older worker, I have three proposals to make. First, I once again urge the Government to initiate tripartite discussions as soon as possible to take stock of the progress of the re-employment law since it came into effect on 1 January last year, and in particular to consider how soon and how best to further extend the re- Page: 23 employment age band from the current 62 to 65 years to 62 to 67 years.”
“Yes, there has been progress, but I think we must all also agree that much more needs to be done to tackle the serious challenges that we face. We must increase the momentum in each of these areas. The nub of the challenge that we face, in my view, lies in the low and sometimes negative productivity that we have been facing for the past number of years. Research everywhere has shown that there is a strong correlation between productivity, competitiveness and the long-term standards of living of a country and its population. So when we have chronic low productivity, then what it really means is that it would drain our competitive lead and eventually gnaw away our future. Page: 22 We have to tackle this, and we cannot tackle these increasingly difficult times simply by doing more of the same; more of what we have always been doing, for example, in the area of manpower − looking to foreign manpower as a source, to just add to the workforce, and then to use that to solve the problems of production. That was in the past and it has also contributed to a scenario of lower productivity. Going into the future, we cannot do that anymore. Because if we do that, then the pay of our low wage workers will never go up and our middle-income PMEs will also face less than fair competition from a too-easy influx of foreign manpower. That was why I called for serious Government's attention to flagging productivity back in 2009 and I was glad to see stronger and more focused Government's action since, to spur productivity across different industries. That was also why the Labour Movement pushed hard for the Progressive Wage Model for both Rank and File and PME workers.”
“Mdm Speaker, thank you for allowing me to join the debate. Building a better Singapore for Singaporeans through quality growth and an inclusive Society − this is the goal of this Budget. The Labour Movement stands with the Government on this because we believe that it is the whole purpose of nation-building − build a better Singapore for Singaporeans through good growth and an inclusive society. From our perspective, the coming three years will be critical in making sure that this transformation of economy works and that in the process, we value every worker. Actually, if you look at different segments of the workforce, in some ways, the transition has already begun a little while back. Take, for example, in the area of the ageing workforce, the tripartite partners worked hard to enable our older workers to continue contributing and earning, and for companies to hold on to this precious manpower over the last few years. As a result, you find that the whole notion that you have to value the mature worker more in order that the person would be motivated, would want to do so and, at the same time, the company would be able to derive value from what this worker took root. And the result has been positive. So, if you look at the employment rate for older workers aged 55 to 64, for example, it went up from 56.2% in 2007 to 64% in 2012. With the re-employment law enacted and taking effect from 1 January 2012, this effort was given a further boost. I just cite this as an example of a transition in the area of older workers that has been taking place and my fellow Labour Members of Parliament will touch on other segments of the workforce such as the low wage workers, the PMEs, new job entrants, women workers and the self-employed. In each of these areas we can observe progress.”
“Therefore, I hope my fellow Members will not just focus on the topic of the "tap" and neglect the existence of the "glacier". Mr Low Thia Khiang said earlier that the Government cannot assume that, just because our forefathers were immigrants, we can continue to accept more immigrants in our midst, just like "we were part of Malaysia, does it mean that we can now allow ourselves to go back to Malaysia?" I think that such a saying is a bit too extreme. Mr Low Thia Khiang also said that, "Do not forget that we are a city." Here, I would like to say to Mr Low that, indeed, we are a city but we are not an isolated city, we are also not a fortress. A city is a centre, but without a hinterland, it cannot be a centre. Therefore, we have always been an open city. Singapore is an open city, it is only natural for people to move in and out of this city. Attracting better talent and growing in strength is part of Singapore's developing history. To remain open towards foreigners is also part of the Singapore spirit. Here, in Parliament, we are talking about manpower numbers. We are also talking about the pace of population growth. We are talking about national allegiance. I urge Mr Low to speak according to facts when discussing serious issues, and not use exaggerated language. I hope you will take care of your own blood pressure and that of others.”
“His amendments highlight the following, that is, maintaining a strong Singaporean Core by encouraging more Singaporeans to get married and have children, supplemented by a calibrated pace of immigration to prevent the citizen population from dwindling. Secondly, recognise that the population projections beyond 2020 are for the purpose of land use and infrastructure planning, not a population target. Thirdly, he also called on the Government to place priority on resolving current strains on the infrastructure, especially transport, and called on the Government to plan, invest in, and implement infrastructure development ahead of demand. Fourth, the amendments also called on the Government to ensure that our population policies will benefit Singaporeans in terms of better job opportunities and salaries. Fifth, carry out medium term reviews of our population policies and assumptions to take into account the changing needs of Singapore and Singaporeans, and global trends. Page: 95 The prosperity and progress that Singapore has achieved over the years are due not only to the hard work of our people and successful Government policies, but also due, in no small part, to the fact that the pace of population and manpower growth was highly favourable to us. Problems of crowding and congestion are, indeed, painful, but solutions are being implemented. The Minister for National Development, Mr Khaw Boon Wan, announced yesterday that the Government will get ready the infrastructure ahead of demand. This is a timely move. On the other hand, the issues of ageing and manpower shortage are long term and profound. Like the movement of a glacier, the changes may not be easily visible but, nevertheless, inexorable. It will also completely alter the various aspects of our society.”
“" So, some of you might say, "If we were to increase their salaries, I am sure somebody would be attracted surely and would not that also make the Singapore economy grow now because of the salary growth?" In that sense, the homemakers will be able to enjoy a higher salary and, at the same time, they can still go home and provide a better living for their family. If that is the case, then childcare fees will also go up. Then some people might also suggest that we go according to the Workers' Party plan, and tap on our reserves progressively. This sounds like an attractive option, but it may bring about another problem. Our reserves are set aside for rainy days, if we were to tap on our reserves now, for example, to subsidise the salaries of local workers so that they enjoy higher salaries and our Singaporeans enjoy better quality of living, then for how long do we tap into our reserves, how much will we use? Our reserves are used to safeguard the value of the Singapore dollar, it is the main tool used against imported inflation. We are all concerned about the rising cost of living. If we were to take their option, then the rise in cost of living may go up drastically and not gradually. No matter how we do the sums, it just does not add up. So, I am going to leave it to the retirees, homemakers and others who worry about the cost of living to work out the sums themselves. What I really wish to say is that no one can stop the process of ageing. Our population is growing and ageing at the same time. We must have the right balance of population and manpower. Mr Liang Eng Hwa, my fellow Member of Parliament from Holland-Bukit Timah, has proposed some amendments and I support these amendments.”
“Yesterday I attended my usual meet-the-people session (MPS). In the past one-and-a-half years, we have seen one type of problem increasing while another type of problem decreasing. What has gone down? One group of people are those applying for HDB flats for the first time. But on the other hand, we have many SMEs who are requesting for more manpower, and their numbers have gone up. Last night, at my MPS, there were also many of these SME businessmen. At the end of the MPS, I was discussing with my volunteers if we were to take up the Workers' Party's proposal, if we were to "freeze frame", stop increasing foreign manpower, and just explore local manpower, which are the groups of people that we can tap on? Well, first of all, we have retirees, we also have homemakers who take care of their families. How do we attract them back into the workforce? Indeed, this is something we should work on. As Minister Iswaran said earlier, this suggestion is not an issue. However, the more critical issue is, if we freeze the number of foreign workers and we employ retirees, some may be willing, yet there will be others not willing to work. If we try to employ homemakers who need to take care of their families, they may say, "Yes, I could go back to work but then who is going to take care of my kids? Can I engage a foreign domestic helper to come and take care of my kids?" Well, you would probably say, "I am sorry but because of the freeze in foreign manpower, you can't engage foreign maids" or "Then can I place my children in a childcare centre?" The childcare centre might say that "I am sorry, but I cannot get any locals and I cannot hire foreigners now, I cannot accept your child." The homemaker may then very well Page: 94 say, "Then I might as well just stay at home.”
“So, we hear these conflicting voices, one of being over-populated and the other about not having enough manpower. This is something that I often hear in my constituency and it is not surprising. This is because, the residents that I serve are not just employees, but they are also entrepreneurs who create job opportunities for fellow Singaporeans, especially the SMEs. In my constituency, too, there are many older folks who have spent their best years serving the society and now we need more manpower to take care of their needs. The life expectancy of Singaporeans is now longer and these older Singaporeans will remain with us for a longer time and we owe it to them to Page: 93 take care of their needs. In my constituency, there are also younger families who hope for better childcare facilities, and again, there is a manpower issue. Not long ago, I attended an annual dinner organised by an elderly day care facility in my constituency, and it was attended by many old folks. Some were accompanied by their family members, yet there were also many who were accompanied by their maids, and few came on their own. Majority of those who performed and entertained the old folks at the event are foreign workers. On usual days, they are physiotherapists and care-givers, taking care of the elderly to ensure their physical and mental well-being. We all know that it is not easy to employ people to take care of elderly folks. The demand for these workers will only increase with time. Thankfully, we have these foreign workers to take care of our elderly, or their quality of life would have been greatly affected. But what about the future? If we were to "freeze frame" right now and not allow any increase in foreign manpower, and rely only on exploring local manpower, what will happen?”
“Can we solve the manpower problem without foreigners? When discussing this issue, there are two aspects: one is to raise the local fertility rate and the other is to raise productivity. But both require time, and both will require us to explore solutions. Of course, the pace of bringing in foreign manpower has to be properly calibrated. The problems of overcrowding and congestion, particularly in the area of transport, are pressing and immediate. The key issues being resolved at the Government and constituency levels are all related to these problems. The Government has now tightened measures on foreign manpower, moderated the pace of increase, but in deciding the population of 2020 or 2030, the number of foreign manpower being brought in remains a key issue. So, a critical plank of the current debate now is how much manpower is required to serve the needs of our people and our economy in future? Hence, the Population White Paper is essentially a Manpower White Paper. If there are too many people, then there will be congestion and overcrowding. As a Member of Parliament, 70% to 80% of the daily problems that I deal with are related to transport congestion. Resolving these problems includes meeting with the other committees and also meeting with our residents to get their feedback. Of course, I also hope that the transport problems faced by my residents can be resolved immediately, so that residents can commute to and from work and school smoothly. The Transport Minister has said that problems of traffic congestion are being actively resolved. There will be some short-term inconvenience as these plans are being implemented but I am confident that these issues can be resolved. But the shortage of manpower is a problem faced by many businesses and is harder to resolve.”
“However, we each have a pair of hands, and we can work. With our hands, we can work for others, create wealth and support ourselves. We can pay taxes and when these taxes are redistributed to help others, we can contribute to society. So, manpower also involves the concept of "production" and "contribution". Of course, population and manpower are inter-related. Children and youths are the manpower of the future. The working adults of today – including many of us here in Parliament – are going to be elderly folks in the future. Population does not equate to manpower, but manpower constitute the population. When we have sufficient manpower, we can generate wealth and the society can be prosperous, even if there are no natural resources. Without sufficient manpower, even with the best policies, there will be problems. As we are all aware, our country's fertility rate has been at the low end for a long time. When the population ages rapidly, the gap between active manpower and total population will widen. This also means that the next generation will have to bear a heavy burden. How do we change the situation? We will have to try to ensure that there is sufficient manpower without increasing the long-term population burden of this country. So, bringing in young foreign manpower is the main solution to increase manpower and lighten the burden of our future generation. They do not remain Page: 92 in Singapore for the long term. When they are old and perhaps need more medical expenses, they need not rely on our resources. However, when they are in their most energetic and active years, they would be able to contribute to our economy and service our people. In the past few years, the bulk of increase in population came from this group of people.”
“Madam, I support the Motion as moved by the hon Member Liang Eng Hwa. 4.55 pm The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications and Information and Minister for Education (Ms Sim Ann): Mdm Speaker, in Mandarin, please. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Although we are debating the Population White Paper, we still need to celebrate Chinese New Year. In line with tradition, I would like to wish all my Chinese parliamentary colleagues a very Happy Chinese New Year. For our non-Chinese parliamentary Page: 91 colleagues, I wish you a pleasant holiday. Mdm Speaker, a few days ago, I met a resident at the local market in my constituency while distributing Chinese New Year couplets. He expressed great concern at the population projections contained in the White Paper. Initially, I thought he was going to talk to me about traffic congestion, housing prices and about the cost of living. Because these are, indeed, some of the issues that our residents are very concerned about. However, what he said was, "With more and more people on this island, what are we all going to eat?" Singapore imports most of its food and he was worried that food supply will be a problem. He wanted me to bring this up during the Parliament debate. His question left me in deep thought. I pondered over it because I felt that it was very interesting. Indeed, what are we all going eat? The term for population in Mandarin is made up of the characters "human" and "mouth", and every human being needs to eat. With more people on this island, we are going to have more demand for services like education, healthcare, transport, recreation, social security and so on. Unlike other countries, we cannot live off the land, whether in the form of agriculture, mining or petroleum.”
“But in other countries, such as in the US, there are alternative arrangements on how this kind of insurance can be arranged and with better linkages to ageing well, as well as eldercare, with the payout. And I urge, therefore, the Government and the insurance industry to review the use of ElderShield beyond periodically adjusting premiums and payouts so that we can then integrate better with the workplace wellness programmes and to directly also address concerns of employers and workers on healthcare costs and health insurance costs relating to an ageing workforce. My final point, Mdm Speaker, is on fairness in the workplace. Fairness and the Singapore Core should be taken together as the twin concurrent objectives of employment. This is to be upfront with both employers and workers. The Singapore Core will remind employers that when it comes to recruitment, retention, promotion, retrenchment – we expect employers to bear the Singapore Core seriously in mind. At the same time, we expect employers to do more to demonstrate merit-based employment practices, and for unions and Government to remain alert to toxic discriminatory environments and corporate practices, and for all three parties to commit to continual and resolute action against discrimination and to embrace good and innovative fair employment practices to attract and retain talent in an increasingly tight labour market. Madam, the destiny of countries and their peoples is not pre-ordained. Their fortunes wax and wane according to the honesty, clear-mindedness, determination and compassion with which they seize opportunities and tackle the challenges before them. For the sake of Singaporeans and Singapore, let us do so with purpose, discipline and heart.”
“Another way to grow the workforce and to help anchor jobs in Singapore is to better tap the less-tapped segments. And, here, I want to speak on the older worker segment. I urge the tripartite partners now to start working on extending the limit of the re-employment age beyond the current 65. In the law, it is already provided that it can go up to 67 without actually further legislating. But our re-employment law has started off at 62 to 65, from 1 January last year. I think that, in line with the discussions in this House, we want to maximise the tapping of our local sources, we would want to make sure that the re-employment is carried out smoothly, fairly and at the earliest opportune moment to see how it can be properly extended in a fair way. Secondly, to enhance the ADVANTAGE scheme and other programmes to make it even more attractive for employers to transform their recruitment and work processes to be age-friendly. And reform ElderShield and reform the HPB workplace health programmes to introduce Wellness@work to improve health and reduce concerns by employers and employees about rising healthcare and health insurance costs as workers age. On ElderShield, I note that it is currently a contingency insurance scheme that makes a cash payout when the insured person is disabled to a given extent. There is nothing in it to incentivise the insured person to age well, whether by way of premium differentiation or participation in wellness programmes. There Page: 90 is also no link between the payout made and what the money is used for. Hence, the payout may or may not be for better eldercare.”
“For this to happen, the Government and Singaporeans must work hand in hand and remove or lower the barriers to marriage and parenthood, to take advantage of improvements in incentives and arrangements to have more babies, and to keep trying. Growing the workforce is related to but not exactly the same as growing the population. There are four ways to grow the workforce – school-leavers, making more productive use of current manpower, tapping currently less tapped local manpower sources as well as importing foreign manpower. Producing more babies – not easy, but the babies produced today will only enter the workforce 20 years hence. Page: 89 We have two challenges to meet. Firstly, it is to enable businesses to continue to operate well in Singapore with sufficient manpower so that our current citizen workforce will continue to enjoy full employment. Second, to upgrade the value of jobs and the capability and productivity of workers so that those employed can look forward to sustainable wage increases. A more capable and productive workforce has the same effect as having more workers who are less productive. A more capable and productive citizen workforce will help lessen the reliance on foreign manpower import, and, therefore, better safeguard the Singapore Core within the workforce. It will also help ensure that babies born now and entering the workforce in 20 years' time can have jobs that have been continually upgraded and are, therefore, better than those today. And this is a practical way to construct a brighter future for ourselves and our children. On the Singapore Core, I wish to speak on two additional aspects; namely, tapping the less tapped local segments and nurturing fairness.”
“Ministers and Members of Parliament spoke at length these past few days on the subject of growing our population through encouraging births and replenishing our population each year with enough PRs and new citizens. Even the Workers' Party agrees that there is a need to grow the Singapore population, so the 5.9 million, for example, is more than today's 5.3 million. However, the Workers' Party did propose to cap the replenishing through new citizens to 10,000 a year, versus the White Paper's range of 15,000 to 25,000 a year. For the information of this House, every year, about 18,000 people die in our population. What it means is that at 10,000 a year, it will not be enough to make up for even those who pass away; and make their own hope of achieving 1% growth in Singapore's citizen workforce between now and 2020 even harder to achieve; which will then intensify the pressure on the Government to let in even more foreign manpower to make up the shortage caused by the proposal while at the same time calling for a freeze between now and 2020 on foreign workers; and bring forward the prospect of Singapore's population reaching the shrinking point. It actually can bring it forward. These are my concerns about that part of the recommendation. I agree with Minister Grace Fu when she reiterated the Government's absolute resolve to doing its utmost and even more to encourage Singaporean births to boost our population. We all agree that the more we succeed in doing so, the less we need to worry or argue about the complexities and comparisons between citizens and non-citizens here, because we can rely more on our internal growth and regeneration and less on the outside.”