Indranee Rajah
Singapore
“Mr Speaker, I would like to make a clarification in relation to two written answers on childcare leave issued by the Prime Minister's Office on 25 September 2025 and 3 February 2026 in response to Parliamentary Questions filed by Members of Parliament Ms Cassandra Lee and Ms Valerie Lee respectively.”
“Based on Year of Assessment (YA) 2025 data, about 9,500 working mothers claimed a lower amount of Working Mother's Child Relief (WCMR) under the fixed-dollar basis than they would have under the previous percentage-based basis, for children born or adopted on or after 1 January 2024.”
“We regularly receive feedback on enhancing child-related leave provisions, including the Member's suggestion. In recent years, parental leave provisions have been significantly enhanced, such that parents now have 30 weeks of paid leave, including 10 weeks of Shared Parental Leave.”
“The Government does not have data on the number of transactions involving multiple units on a single residential title that have not been subdivided. Such properties are treated as a single property for Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) purposes when it is bought, so no ABSD is foregone.”
“The Government publishes data on personal income tax, which is publicly available on www.data.gov.sg. This includes data on the number of course fees relief claimants and the amount of the relief granted. The Member may refer to the website to access the data for the first three questions.”
“In considering the duration of leave, we will look at the need. In this case, as I have explained, there is a difference between those who give birth physically to a child and those who adopt.”
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“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament do now adjourn." [(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)] TOWARDS FULL PARTICIPATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN SINGAPORE SOCIETY”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg to move, "That the debate be now adjourned." [(proc text) Resolved, "That the debate be now adjourned." – [Ms Indranee Rajah]. (proc text)]”
“You save, you tax, but you can only tax if there is something to tax on, which means that you must grow the economy. So, transforming the economy is very important, which is why on every Budget, you hear Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat talking about economic restructuring and transformation – it is to grow the economy. We need to raise the productivity of workers and we need to also ensure that our resident labour force is able to support our economic development. That is why we supplement the local workforce with foreign skilled workers, especially in areas where we do not yet have the needed number of local skilled workers; although obviously we want to grow the local skilled workers to be able to do those jobs. And in the long run, raising birthrates. That remains the most sustainable solution to our demographic challenges.”
“These are committed funds which you set aside because you know what the numbers are like roughly – the package or size – and it means that no matter what, these funds are available to help that group of ageing Singaporeans. But there will be new requirements that will come along because as we know healthcare is not a sort of a gentle slope that increases. It actually increases exponentially as you get older. And you will need recurrent revenues for that, especially when we are ageing at a faster pace. For example, the average annual healthcare spending is expected to rise from 2.1% of GDP today to almost 3% of GDP over the next decade. What this means is that aside from savings, you need revenue. You will need fresh revenue and you have to keep your revenue sources diversified. The share of personal income tax or PIT, of our tax revenue has remained at about 18% from FY2016 to FY2018. The other taxes which contribute to our revenue are corporate income tax, GST and asset related taxes. When you have recurrent spending, you also need recurrent revenue. That was a key reason why we introduced GST in 1994 because we recognised then, that an ageing population structure would require us to reduce our reliance on personal income taxes. If we continue to rely principally on personal income taxes, the tax burden will weigh increasingly heavily on younger Singaporeans who are still working. You have to try and spread it out and make sure that you have some reliance on personal income taxes, but it is also necessary to have consumption taxes such as the GST. And GST lessens the problem by balancing the taxation more broadly among the population. But that is not all.”
“Mr Speaker, that is actually a very important question. I would like to thank Mr Liang Eng Hwa for raising it. You have seen from the figures that I have mentioned that our TFR is at 1.14, so it is not a replacement rate. At the same time, we do have an ageing population. Last year, about 15% of Singaporeans were aged 65 and above. By 2030, this will increase to around 25%. What this means is that we have a smaller proportion of the working population contributing for a population that is growing older. So, the ones who are not working, the numbers are going to expand, and if we do not have replacement, the numbers who can actually come into the economy and contribute is going to shrink. That is the scenario that we are looking at. The question is, how are we going to manage this? There are several strategies. The first and most important, which is what this Government has been doing consistently over the years, is to put in place resilient systems and measures for each generation to save for its own retirement needs. For example, the CPF helps Singaporeans to save for their old age, covers medical expenses and purchase basic health insurance. With the introduction of CareShield Life in 2018, we now have an enhanced system, which includes CareShield Life, CPF LIFE and MediShield Life. With this kind of national risk pooling schemes, we are better prepared to manage the uncertainties associated with ageing in a sustainable way. Then, the other thing that we have done is we have actually set aside funds. For example, for the Pioneer Generation Package and the Merdeka Generation Package.”
“I thank the Member for her question. There are various factors that we look at when we grant citizenship. We cannot only grant citizenship on the basis of giving access to benefits. That cannot be the sole criterion, so, we do look at many things. Importantly, we look at family ties, we look at contributions to Singapore, we look at the stability of the family unit. In short, we will assess each application holistically, but we will give priority to family ties and family support. And even if the parent may not be Singaporean, where the children are Singaporeans, we will also make sure that the Singaporean children are adequately supported and taken care of.”
“These include, among others, land use needs for economic growth, improving housing and transport for our people, socioeconomic and technological trends, as well as ensuring a good environment and resilience to climate change shocks. Our infrastructure planning process allows us to be flexible and responsive in catering to the changing needs of our residents, and ensure a good quality living environment in Singapore. We will continue to monitor our population trends closely, and regularly review our population policies along with our infrastructure and social development needs. This will ensure that Singapore remains a cohesive society and a good home for all Singaporeans.”
“Sir, the Government has clarified via a media statement and Factually articles in March and July 2020 that it does not have a population target or seek to achieve any particular population size. Singapore’s population size is affected by many factors, including birth rates, life expectancy, as well as global developments affecting immigration and employment. In March 2018, we updated Parliament that given recent trends, Singapore’s total population size is likely to be significantly below 6.9 million by 2030. This outlook remains valid today. Like most developed economies, Singapore’s resident total fertility rate or TFR is below replacement. Our most recent resident TFR, for 2019, was 1.14, unchanged from the year before. To moderate the impact of ageing and our low birth rates, we take in a stable and measured number of new citizens and Permanent Residents or PRs every year. To the Member’s question on annual new citizens, over the past five years, we granted an average of about 22,100 new Singapore Citizenships each year. This included about 1,600 children born overseas to Singaporean parents every year. We also granted about 31,700 new PRs on average each year, over the past five years. The total size of the PR population has remained at around half a million for many years now. New citizens either share family ties with Singaporeans, or have studied, worked or lived here for some time. They are drawn from the pool of qualified PRs who eventually make the serious commitment to take on citizenship. Citizenship and PR status are granted selectively to applicants who are committed to making Singapore their home, and who can integrate and contribute to Singapore. Infrastructure planning is a long-term process guided by many factors, not only demographics.”
“Mr Speaker, may I take the question from Ms Poh Li San and the next question from Mr Liang Eng Hwa together.”
“Mr Speaker, may I seek your consent and the general assent of Members present to move that the proceedings on the item under discussion be exempted from the provisions of Standing Order No 48(8) to remove the time limit in respect of Minister Edwin Tong's speech?”
“So, meaning it is already into the defects liability period, but because of the circuit breaker, the works could not be dealt with?”
“Can I just clarify with the Member, before she goes back to her seat. Because the defects liability period usually runs from a certain time. So, if the works have not been completed yet, the defects liability period does not run. So, I just wanted to clarify what time period she meant?”
“I do not have that particular information with me at the moment and hence, I do not want to hazard an answer, and inadvertently, not give correct information. So, if the Member could just file a question on that, then we will be able to get back to him.”
“So, if it is a new flat and there are defects, that will be followed up on, general rule – DLP; seepage, then the warranty for the seepage, spalling concrete, that is a 10-year warranty, which is a really long time. And the assurance you have is that they will be investigated and dealt with accordingly.”
“Again, it goes back to a question of identifying the source or the cause of the problem. The question as framed by the Member was where the residents have multiple attempts at repairs and this continues over many years with respect to seepage, I understand. So, if it is seepage, then there is a five-year warranty. So, if it falls within the five-year warranty, it will be dealt with on the basis of that warranty. But if the seepage arose, let us say, maybe in the sixth year and it was because of the unit above having done certain renovation works and therefore broken the waterproofing or done something, then, it really would not be correct to look to HDB for that because the owner above will also have to bear some responsibility. Hence, it goes back to the approach that I said earlier. We would look at the cause, we would look at where the fault is or what the reason is. Sometimes, it is a diagnostic problem. All of us have encountered this. The residents will point to leakage, they think it comes from a certain place but actually it may come from somewhere else. You have got to trace it, you have got to find the cause. And whoever is responsible for having generated that cause or made that leakage happen, should generally be the one to deal with it. But bearing in mind that for flats – and this is the same for HDB as well as for private developments – there is a defects liability period or DLP for a reason and there is a warranty period for a reason. Because it cannot be that a developer remains responsible for the entire lifetime of the building which is subject to fair wear and tear.”
“With respect to the first question, if the defects are reported within the DLP, then obviously, it is within the relevant time frame and they should be followed up upon. For the defects which come up after the DLP period, as mentioned earlier, HDB will investigate the cause and then decide on what the best course of action is. The reason I say this – and I sort of cannot give a definitive answer that yes, automatically everything after the defects liability period will be attended to by HDB – is because it depends on the nature of the defect. It depends on what exactly the cause is and it also depends on the nature of the follow-up action that needs to be taken. So, I think the the assurance we can give is this. If there is a problem after the defects liability period, HDB will look into it and do its best to resolve it with the contractor. But obviously if it is something that crops up 10 years later, then that is a very different thing.”
“So, when you do have outliers like this, HDB will work closely with the contractor to rectify the defects and to see how they can be made good because obviously people moving into new BTOs would want their premises to be nice to live in. And it is obviously upsetting when there are defects, because they mar your enjoyment of the premises.”
“I thank the Member for his question. I had earlier omitted in my answer to also mention that if any maintenance issues are reported after the DLP, HDB will investigate the likely cause and advise flat owners on the follow-up action accordingly. So, if the issue is assessed to be due to an inherent defect or quality issue, HDB will engage the building contractor to rectify it. The Member raised the question of what happens when you have certain developments that may have more than the usual number of defects. And I think he referred in particular to Woodlands Glen. The BTO project at Woodlands Glen consists of five residential blocks with a total of 888 units and the flats in the MSCP were completed between March 2017 and June 2017. And I think that a number of the residents had appealed to Mr Nair with regard to the defects. HDB met up with the building contractor, Precise Development Pte Ltd, and the contractor agreed to replace, in this case, I think a number of the defects related to the cracked toilet seat cover. So, they agreed to replace that – the bumpers and the window weather seal, upon the residents' feedback. And with regard to the other reported defects, for example, there was feedback about rusty gate and timber toilet door issues, HDB followed up to resolve the issues with the residents. So, HDB is working closely with the contractor. In short therefore, I think the position is this. On DLP specifically and the length of it, the numbers show that one year would be sufficient because the vast majority of the defects appear within that period and those are generally fairly minor defects. We have provisions obviously for major things like wall seepage and spalling concrete.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament do now adjourn." [(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)] Protection Against Second-hand Smoke in our Homes 6.32 pm”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, may I seek your consent and the general assent of Members present to move that the proceedings on the item under discussion be exempted from the provisions of Standing Order No 48(8) to remove the time limit in respect of Minister Grace Fu's speech.”
“They must uphold strong governance and accountability in their organisations. These expectations are spelt out in the form of leadership competencies and responsibilities, which are conveyed to all senior Public Service leaders in Ministries and Statutory Boards. We evaluate our leaders against these expectations as part of their performance reviews and those who fall short will be rated less favourably. Depending on the nature and cause of the incident, appropriate disciplinary action may be taken as well. So, finally, let me assure Members that public accountability remains a top priority for the Government. Where warranted, agencies mentioned in the Auditor-General’s report are conducting further investigation into the lapses. The senior leadership of the Public Service is accountable and committed to addressing the lapses identified, resolving the problem at the root and preventing future recurrence.”
“Similarly, GovTech is working on a competency framework for IT procurement and developing an e-learning module that will be ready next year. To take these efforts forward further, MOF and the Civil Service College jointly established the Finance and Procurement Academy this year to better equip Public Officers with finance, procurement and contract management skills. The academy will work with technical agencies such as BCA and GovTech to not only conduct formal training, but also promote informal learning such as through practitioner sharing and mentorships. It will also support officers in continual learning to keep abreast of developments in finance, procurement and contract management policies and practices. In the area of developing finance capabilities, finance officers today are required to attend induction courses that cover the fundamentals of Government financial procedures, including on governance and internal controls. These are reinforced and refreshed at milestone programmes, forums and sharing sessions throughout the officers’ career. Similar efforts are also undertaken to raise awareness of these concepts more widely across the Public Service. For example, they are incorporated into finance courses targeted at non-finance officers. MOF also conducts regular briefings to agencies’ senior management to emphasise the importance of public accountability. In conclusion, let me say public officers are expected to be accountable for their actions and decisions, and this includes maintaining high standards of compliance with guidelines and procedures as they perform their duties. We place high expectations on the senior leadership of the Public Service, who are entrusted to be stewards of public resources.”
“Next, on procurement and contract management, the recurrent lapses tend to be for more complex types of procurement – such as IT and construction, and in less straightforward cases, such as assessing price reasonableness for single bids and managing urgent contract variations. Navigating these complexities require not only technical skills but experience and judgment which require long-term efforts to build up. To address this, we have been stepping up efforts in recent years to strengthen the competencies and capabilities of Public Officers in managing the procurement process. First, we are stepping up training of officers in key areas such as evaluation and approval of tenders. The training covers learning points from audit observations and good practices. Second, we will be providing additional guidance to approving authorities, which will be available from early next year. Third, since 2018, we have required all officers who are involved in procurement processes to complete a compulsory e-learning module. These are supplemented with regular refreshers and updates on new policies and practices. In addition, we are also stepping up efforts to strengthen construction and IT procurement and contract management capabilities, which are more specialised areas requiring deeper technical know-how. The Building and Construction Authority or BCA is developing a competency framework to train public officers in managing construction contracts. MOF and BCA issued a good practice guide last year, containing practical advice on the management of variation orders and how to spot fraudulent quotes. To enhance governance, we will track agencies’ performance in contract management, based on a set of governance indicators.”
“It will take some time to fully implement the solutions across the whole-of-Government because we need to implement the automated process in more than 2,000 IT systems. First, we are automating the review of privileged users’ activities. SNDGG has started a pilot with some agencies and the tool will be progressively deployed from January 2021. This will be fully implemented for high-priority systems by December 2022 and all remaining systems by December 2023. Second, we are automating the management of account and user access rights. SNDGG has made available a solution which can alert agencies to staff movements and role changes so that they can manually remove the user accounts that are no longer required. Five of the 38 agencies that have onboarded this system were audited by AGO and no lapses pertaining to account and user access rights management were found. SNDGG is in the midst of enhancing this solution, so that it can trigger automatic removal of unneeded user accounts and review of user access rights, once the staff movement or role change is updated in the HR records. This system will be implemented for 800 high-priority systems by December 2023 and all remaining systems by December 2024. When officers are freed up from manual tasks, they are better able to focus on aspects of cyber-security and data protection that cannot be replicated by a machine. SNDGG has stepped up efforts to educate public officers on the importance of strong ICT governance and security controls, and to have the right habits and instincts. All public officers are required to undergo annual cyber and data security awareness training.”
“Let me first assure Members that, as mentioned in the Auditor-General’s reports, all the agencies take the audit observations seriously and are committed to making improvements. Actions have been taken at the whole-of-Government level to address the gaps identified. Mr Speaker, the Auditor-General’s Report for FY 2019/2020 highlighted weaknesses in IT controls, specifically in the areas of: first, review of privileged users’ activities; and second, management of account and user access rights. These observations were raised in previous Reports. To provide some context, I should first explain that the Government IT systems were built over time, beginning from when we first built IT systems in Ministries back in 1980s and eventually extending to all Ministries and also new Ministries and programme offices. Since then, the IT systems have been upgraded, refreshed or replaced to be more effective and efficient to cater to the requirements over the years. Consequently, we now have more than 2,000 Government IT systems built over the years, by different vendors and using different technologies. Each system has its way of logging user activities and of managing who can access the system. As the access controls are not linked across systems, when an officer moves to another portfolio, it requires a chain of manual adjustments to different systems, to remove obsolete access rights and create new access rights for the officer. The reliance on manual adjustments is prone to human errors. The Smart Nation and Digital Government Group or SNDGG is developing systems that will automate the processes involved and minimise errors.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg to move, "that this Parliament, in accordance with paragraph (1) of Standing Order 100, appoints the following as Members of the Committee of Selection: Ms Indranee Rajah Dr Koh Poh Koon Ms Denise Phua Mr Pritam Singh Dr Tan See Leng Mr Edwin Tong Mr Zaqy Mohamad" Sir, the appointment of the Committee of Selection will enable the Committee to begin its work of nominating Members to the six Standing Select Committees of this House and the Special Select Committee on Nominations for Appointment as Nominated Members of Parliament. [(proc text) Resolved, (proc text)] [(proc text) That this Parliament, in accordance with paragraph (1) of Standing Order 100, appoints the following as members of the Committee of Selection: (proc text)] [(proc text) Ms Indranee Rajah (proc text)] [(proc text) Dr Koh Poh Koon (proc text)] [(proc text) Ms Denise Phua (proc text)] [(proc text) Mr Pritam Singh (proc text)] [(proc text) Dr Tan See Leng (proc text)] [(proc text) Mr Edwin Tong (proc text)] [(proc text) Mr Zaqy Mohamad (proc text)]”
“Mr Speaker, just a short point of order. I appreciate that Members, especially new Members are keen and enthusiastic. I would just like to remind Members that for supplementary questions, they are subject to the same Standing Orders as ordinary questions. And ordinary questions shall not contain more than one issue and shall be concise. So, I would urge the Members to be concise in their questioning.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, may I seek your consent to move that the debate be now adjourned.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, may I seek your consent and the general assent of Members present to move a Motion to take the proceedings on the business set down on the Order Paper for today beyond the moment of interruption?”
“Mr Speaker, to provide sufficient time for the Prime Minister to deliver his speech, may I seek your consent and the general assent of Members present to move that the proceedings on the item under discussion be exempted from the provisions of Standing Order No 48(8) to remove the time limit in respect of Prime Minister's speech.”
“Mr Speaker, may I seek your consent to move that the debate be now adjourned.”
“Mr Speaker, may I seek your consent and the general assent of Members present to move a motion to take the proceedings on the business set down on the Order Paper for today beyond the moment of interruption?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I seek your consent and the general assent of Members present to move that the proceedings on the item under discussion be exempted from the provisions of Standing Order No 48(8) to remove the time limit in respect of Minister Teo's speech?”
“Mr Speaker, may I seek your consent to move that the debate be now adjourned.”
“Mr Speaker, I beg to move, "That, notwithstanding Standing Order 48(8), with effect from this day's Sitting until the end of the 14th Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition Mr Pritam Singh shall be entitled to speak for up to 40 minutes to any question in Parliament". This is to give effect to the privilege of a longer duration of speeches accorded to Mr Pritam Singh as the Leader of the Opposition that I spoke about in my Ministerial Statement earlier. Mr Speaker, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Resolved, "That, notwithstanding Standing Order 48(8), with effect from this day's Sitting until the end of the 14th Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition Mr Pritam Singh shall be entitled to speak for up to 40 minutes to any question in Parliament". (proc text)]”
“Our goal should be to harness this diversity of views in a constructive manner so that we can, as a Parliament, better serve the interests of Singaporeans and Singapore. The role of the Leader of the Opposition in Singapore will evolve with our politics. It must always be the ambition of this House to live up to the expectations of our people and create a political system that is focused on serving Singapore and Singaporeans to the best of our abilities. I congratulate Mr Pritam Singh on being designated the Leader of the Opposition and look forward to working with him to achieve this outcome. [Applause.] 12.12 pm”
“As Leader of the Opposition, Mr Pritam Singh will lead and organise the Opposition's parliamentary business. This includes leading the Opposition in: (a) Presenting alternative views in parliamentary debates on policies, Bills and Motions; (b) Scrutinising the Government’s positions and actions in Parliament; and (c) Nominating Opposition Members for appointment to Select Committees, including Standing Select Committees such as the Public Accounts Committee. Mr Singh may also be called upon to take on other duties such as attending official state functions and taking part in visits and meetings alongside members of the Government and the Public Service. To ensure better understanding across both sides of the House on important national issues such as security and external relations – especially in the event of a national crisis or emergency – the Leader of the Opposition will from time to time receive confidential briefings by the Government. The matters to be briefed will be determined by the Government. In deciding on these duties and privileges of the Leader of the Opposition, the Government considered the conventions and practices of other Westminster-style parliamentary systems such as the United Kingdom and Australia. What I have set out in this Ministerial Statement reflects what we have adapted to suit our current political and parliamentary context. With greater diversity of views, we can expect more robust debate and in some cases, sharper exchanges. But we should work to ensure that diversity does not lead to polarity of country or of people. Experience elsewhere shows that unity in diversity is not an assured outcome.”
“For example, at the Opening of Parliament in 1991, when there were four Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs), then Leader of the House Mr Wong Kan Seng said he would deal with Mr Chiam See Tong as the unofficial leader of the opposition and that Mr Chiam would be given due courtesy and precedence among Opposition MPs. Now, with more Opposition MPs reflecting a strong desire among Singaporeans for a greater diversity of views in politics, as noted by the Prime Minister in his swearing-in speech and a constitutionally guaranteed minimum of 12, it is timely and appropriate that the position of the Leader of the Opposition be more formally recognised. As Leader of the Opposition, Mr Pritam Singh will be accorded appropriate privileges and duties. The leader of the main Opposition party typically takes the seat directly opposite the Prime Minister in this Chamber during Parliament sittings, similar to the practice in other countries that formally recognise the role of the Leader of the Opposition. He will be given an office in Parliament, staff support and resources and additional allowance. The Leader of the Opposition will generally be given the right of first response among MPs to ask the lead question of Ministers on policies, Bills and Motions in Parliament. This will be at the discretion of the Speaker and subject to existing speaking conventions. The Leader of the Opposition will also be given a longer speaking duration for speeches than other MPs. I will be moving a Motion to give effect to this later. I have consulted the Speaker on these arrangements and he has agreed that they are appropriate. With more Opposition MPs in Parliament, we hope the Opposition will play a bigger role in putting up alternative views and proposals for debate.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, following the General Election on 11 July 2020, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Mr Pritam Singh would be formally designated as the Leader of the Opposition in the Fourteenth Parliament of Singapore and that he would be provided with staff support and resources to perform his duties. This has been reported in the media and Mr Singh has since been briefed on his duties and privileges as Leader of the Opposition, as was announced on 28 July 2020. However, it is proper that the duties and privileges of the Leader of the Opposition been also stated in Parliament. The position of the Leader of the Opposition is not provided for in our Constitution or in the Standing Orders of Parliament. Singapore’s legislatures have not previously formally recognised or ascribed specific duties and privileges to the leader of the opposition, even in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when there were many Opposition assemblymen in our Legislative Assembly, there was no Leader of the Opposition. For example, Mr Lee Kuan Yew was not formally designated the Leader of the Opposition even when the People’s Action Party (PAP) formed the largest party in the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly between 1955 and 1959. Still, leaders of the main Opposition parties in past Parliaments have, from time to time, been referred to informally as leader of the opposition during parliamentary debates. And it has been the consistent practice of the PAP Government to liaise with them as the defacto or unofficial leader of the opposition.”
“Mr Speaker, I beg to move, "that, notwithstanding the Standing Orders, my Ministerial Statement on the Duties and Privileges of the Leader of the Opposition be taken now and before the business Motion on Speech Time" standing in my name. [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Resolved, "that, notwithstanding the Standing Orders, the Ministerial Statement on the Duties and Privileges of the Leader of the Opposition be taken now and before the business Motion on Speech Time standing in the name of the Leader of the House". (proc text)]”
“We welcome sincere and rigorous debate from Members on both sides of the House – be it new ideas and policy proposals, or the difficult decisions that have to be taken and trade-offs that have to be made. In this Parliament, we have, for the first time, an officially designated Leader of the Opposition. May I take this opportunity to formally congratulate Mr Pritam Singh. I look forward to working with him in this new term of Parliament. Sir, Parliament is more than a place where laws are made. It is a place where the aspirations of a nation are articulated and made real. This must be a House with a heart that cares, a voice of reason and a place of courage to do what is right, all conducted with the necessary dignity and decorum. Over this, Mr Speaker, you will preside. Once again, my heartiest congratulations. [Applause.]”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, on behalf of the House, may I extend our warmest congratulations to you on your re-election as the Speaker of this Fourteenth Parliament. In your last three years as Speaker, you gained the respect of Members of this House with your fairness and impartiality. Your firmness in discharging your duties has also enabled smooth and orderly proceedings in this House. I have every confidence and trust that the good standing of this House will continue to be maintained under your Speakership. Sir, you will be Speaker of Parliament that is sitting in extraordinary times and has its work cut out for it. While our COVID-19 situation is under control, the need for vigilance remains to prevent recurring waves of infections as we have seen in other countries – indeed, the fact that this evening’s Sitting is in two locations is a testament to this. As we redouble our efforts to see Singapore through this crisis, we must also not lose sight of our longer term goal of building a better Singapore – an economy that serves as a global-Asia node and continues to create good jobs; a liveable city equipped to adapt to the effects of climate change; and a caring and inclusive society where every Singaporean can achieve his or her full potential, regardless of starting point. As we deal with our internal challenges, we must also continue to secure Singapore’s position as a trusted and valued partner in the region and the world, amidst an increasingly uncertain global environment. Sir, the issues that this House will consider over the next five years will be increasingly complex, with no textbook answers or model solutions. We will have to find our way, create solutions suited to our unique context while holding fast to the values that define us as Singaporeans.”
“Clerk, I propose, "That Mr Tan Chuan-Jin do take the Chair of this Parliament as Speaker." [(proc text) Member Mr Sitoh Yih Pin stood up and addressed himself to the Clerk of Parliament. (proc text)]”
“Mr Speaker, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Third Time." [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]”
“Mr Speaker, I beg to move, "That Parliament doth agree with the Committee on the said resolutions." [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Resolutions accordingly agreed to. (proc text)]”
“I thank the Member for his question. The way the Member has phrased the question, which is when they provide a rescue package to support viability, that is a wrong assumption. The parameters are, as I have laid out before, GIC and Temasek primarily invest, and they invest our Reserves, and their mandate is to act within their investment policies to get the returns that they can, that we are then able to use in various ways, as we have seen. So, they operate in the context of investment. They do not do business the way banks do, or other kinds of entities who may look to do rescuing just in the context of rescuing. As I have explained before, they do it in the investment context, and that is very well known. The framework within which they operate is well known. The commercial principles – and these are all commercial decisions – these are decisions that are taken by their professionals which are employed by GIC and Temasek. So, there is actually no difference with what they actually do, or loans made in the investment context.”
“I thank the Member for his clarification. The truth of the matter is that if we all knew exactly when the virus decides to stop and when COVID-19 will stop, then we will be able to give a specific timeline on all the things we wish to do. But as we know, there is a possibility of second outbreaks, there is a possibility that it may not go the course we wish, in which event, Emergency Procurement will have to continue to take place. So, the assurance that I can give is that best practices will be followed. As I have said earlier, we will make sure that the agencies still take proper evaluations and that they seek the necessary approvals, that they compare against the prevailing market benchmarks. And it is important to remember that all this is still subject to audit and compliance reviews. So, the framework for disclosure that we have in place will be complied with in due course. But if the question is whether we can do this very soon, the answer is I am afraid that the nature of this virus and the situation are such that it is not possible to say definitively one way or another.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his question. He asked whether the POFMA directive is going to meet the requirement of public trust. So, the question really is this: the issue that has now been put in play by the application for judicial review is whether there is a question of public interest and that is before the Court. The Court is an independent tribunal that will make that decision. At the end of the day, insofar as this specific question of public trust is involved, the Court will decide on that. With respect to the other matters, those do not really pertain to this particular question. The public trust will be upheld because the public will know when the Court decides on this issue, whether or not the test under POFMA was met.”
“I thank the Member for her suggestions and her input. On the question of whether we can have more sessions for physical interaction, there are two kinds. There is, of course, the limited service where some of the children have been allowed to come back to schools, especially for those who have particularly high needs. But the teachers also made great effort to do exercise sessions online. I know this because I participated in one of them, and I have to say that the workout was not a light workout, you could work up quite a sweat. You could see that the teachers prepared the exercises beforehand. They used very simple instructions. They made sure that the children were paying attention and following online. It is not the same, obviously, as when they are in school, they can see their friends face-to-face and they interact with the teachers directly, but the schools have made an effort to ensure that the children do continue to have physical exercise during home-based learning (HBL). The other thing that the teachers have made a great effort to do is to try and ensure that there is routine, because for those who deal with SEN, you will know that routine is very important for some of these children. It helps them to feel safe and to follow a regular structure. But I do take on board the Member's point about how we can look for other ways to facilitate interaction. We will look at that. And also that suggestion of teleconferencing and how it can be done better. As I mentioned yesterday, this period of HBL has thrown up a lot of learning lessons. We will take them on board, see how we can refine them to make sure that we have a good process, going forward.”
“Let me thank the Member for her suggestion. We will certainly take that on board. MOE is already beginning to look at some of the feedback and the learnings that we have derived from this. One of the pieces of feedback that has come, for example, is that teachers have said that the preparation of the lesson plans for online learning or learning through virtual platforms, is very different from face-to-face learning. So, that is one example. And the way you prepare the resources that you use and how you package it together is different. They are also looking at the right balance because after awhile, if it is only pure online learning, children get bored. They need stimulation of other kinds. So, you have got to make sure you have the right mix. You also want to make sure that you have a healthy mix. So, there are actually many things that have come out of this and we should see this as an opportunity to learn, to derive new strategies and add that into the mix of things, as we continue to make sure that our education system remains the foremost one in the world.”