Josephine Teo
Singapore
“The Government's risk-calibrated approach to data security in artificial intelligence (AI) systems was explained in a written reply, given on 9 January 2024, to related questions asked by Dr Tan Wu Meng and Mr Gerald Giam.”
“Access to frontier models is helpful for specific use cases, such as advanced research and cybersecurity. However, these form a small proportion of artificial intelligence (AI) demand. For most industry, Government and research uses, capable models are already available.”
“The Government tracks the development of technical standards for identifying artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content, including watermarking and digital provenance approaches, as part of broader efforts to manage AI-related risks.”
“Upon receiving a valid report of intimate image abuse, the Commissioner of Online Safety is empowered by law to direct Online Service Providers (OSPs) to disable access by Singapore users to the specified harmful online material. This direction may be extended to cover identical copies found on the platform.”
“The Government is committed to keeping children safe online. We have announced plans to extend age assurance requirements to designated social media services, including requiring platforms to keep users under 13 off their services.”
“Under the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025, the Commissioner of Online Safety is empowered to issue directions to platforms to remove specified harmful content, including intimate image abuse.”
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“We are happy to work with NGOs, dormitories operators and employers to explore different ways to ensure that our workers receive sufficient, sustainable and nutritious food. 12.30 pm With the outbreak in dormitories now under control, many volunteers are concerned about the strict measures that remain in place for workers residing in dormitories, even as the country moves into Phase Three. We understand and we empathise with their needs and the need for social interaction. At the same time, we are also concerned about the livelihoods of workers should a second wave or clusters develop in the dormitories. We are, therefore, calibrating and easing restrictions in a very carefully, controlled, safe manner, particularly given the fact that there is a lot of news about more virulent strains emerging. Communal facilities have resumed operations in dormitories where operators have demonstrated good compliance with safe management measures. Starting from this month, instead of once a week – which means in early March, instead of once a week – migrant workers can visit the Recreation Centres up to three times a week, on their rest days or after working hours. Each visit will be extended from the current three to four hours. Workers will have more time to carry out their personal errands or to do some sports. To mitigate transmission risk from inter-mixing, these workers must have attended their rostered routine testing and they must continue to carry their contact tracing devices. We are also currently drawing up plans to allow eligible workers to visit the community once a month. The operational details are being worked out to keep the numbers in the community manageable.”
“While we see that as a possible opening and option, we recognise the fact that different employers tap on various channels to recruit employees, whether it is employment agencies, employee referrals or direct hiring from source countries. If we want to mandate a centralised recruitment platform for all employers, many of our businesses have given feedback that this will limit their hiring flexibility to meet their respective manpower needs. So, I think we have to be open to all different options. In addition, such a platform can reduce but not necessarily completely eliminate fees paid by migrant workers to these "unlicensed" overseas agents or middlemen, to assist with the documentation that is required or to help them link them to this platform or "licensed", so to speak, employment agencies in the source countries. This is always a hard work-in-progress. We will constantly and continually work with stakeholders including employers, migrant workers themselves, the NGOs, the employment agencies, to explore the various suggestions that have been brought up in the past, today and moving forward, to reduce the recruitment costs incurred by migrant workers seeking a job in Singapore. Like my appeal earlier on, the support of employers, the NGOs and acceptance by workers will be crucial. Miss Rachel Ong asked about protecting the rights of workers to safe and hygienic meals. Today, there are various options, including self-cooked food. Migrant workers who face issues with access to adequate and proper food or other well-being concerns should report their cases to us at MOM. MOM will address the issues with employers. In serious cases, we will take appropriate enforcement action.”
“This has helped us to proactively detect cases, in addition to complaints and tip-offs when we receive from NGOs, MWC ambassadors and migrant workers. We encourage all parties to provide us with the different data sources so that we can triangulate better and we encourage migrant workers who are made to pay monies to their employers or any other party as a guarantee of employment, and members of the public with information to come forward on all these illegal recruitment and workplace practices to inform us immediately. This is our appeal to you. We have also ramped up education efforts. MOM has been educating foreign employees to report underpayment of salaries and employment kickbacks through various platforms and initiatives such as FWMOMCare app. During the mandatory Settling-In Programme, an orientation for first-time work permit holders, and roadshows, we will educate them. The regular presence of MOM’s FAST teams at the dormitories also allows for early detection. Hence, foreign workers are now aware that they have multiple avenues to seek help. We continue to encourage and we hope that you would help us to send the message out as well, to ask them to come forward early to report if they face any employment-related issues. There was a decrease in illegal employment agent activities in 2019, with around 70 foreigners and 18 Singaporeans being taken to task, compared to an average of over 100 foreigners and 25 Singaporeans per year in the preceding three years. We have not discounted this centralised job portal, as suggested by Members.”
“For the remaining, we are in consultation with tripartite partners to extend requirements for electronic payments to more workers, including locals and work permit holders who are not living in the dormitories. Mr Louis Ng and Mr Leon Perera expressed concern, rightfully, about the recruitment process, including job advertisements, fees paid by migrant workers and if it was possible to establish direct recruitment channels. Our laws limit the recruitment fees charged to migrant workers by Employment Agencies (EAs) in Singapore at one month of their salary for each year of their contract, capped at two months. So, it is one month for each year capped at two months. EAs must also refund 50% of the recruitment fee to the worker if the employment is terminated within six months and MOM takes strong enforcement actions against EAs that do not comply with these requirements. MOM also actively takes enforcement action against persons performing EA activities without an EA licence, or engaging in hiring activities without an agent licence. Such persons face a jail term of up to two years or a fine of up to $80,000, or both. Harsher penalties will be meted out for subsequent convictions, including fines of up to $160,000 or a jail term of up to four years, or both. So, receiving or offering payment as consideration for the employment of migrant workers is also prohibited under the EAA and the EFMA Act. Offenders found guilty under the EFMA Act can face a jail term of up to two years or a fine of up to $30,000, or both. In recent years, MOM has also adopted the use of data analytics to detect anomalies and fraud in the employment patterns of migrant workers more quickly and more accurately.”
“For underpayment of salaries, we will get the employers to make full restitution of salaries owed to the foreign employees. The vast majority have been able to recover their salaries in full. For wilful employers, MOM will take further enforcement actions and failure to comply will attract additional penalties, including payment of fines and serving an imprisonment sentence. Underpayment of salaries to any employee, foreign or local is not tolerated and we will not hesitate to take actions against any errant employers and parties who abet the offence. To Mr Singh's suggestion to require errant employers to pay the foreign employee a penalty amounting to six months of his salary for each instance of salary underpayment, MOM already requires such employers to make full restitution of the salary owed to the employee and pay a fine or be jailed if prosecuted. We will facilitate the transfer of affected workers who want to continue to work in Singapore to a new employer. And in spite of many of these things that we have heard about, Singapore remains a very attractive destination for our migrant workers who want to come to work. So, what we are trying to do is to assure workers that they can continue to stay in Singapore – because this is what they need – to earn an income when they report their employers for salary underpayment. As such, at this particular point in time, we do not see the need to require the employer to pay the employee an amount beyond what was owed to him. One way to reduce the incidence of salary underpayment or non-payment is e-payment. As of January 2021, more than 97% of employers pay their migrant workers living in the dormitories electronically.”
“In general, foreign employees in Singapore are protected under the same civil and criminal laws as citizens for general crimes, employment matters, safety and health and injury claims. We provide foreign employees with additional protection under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act or EFMA and the Employment Agencies Act or EAA. These prescribe the employers’ responsibilities for hiring foreign employees, such as supervision and proper deployment, prompt payment of salaries, provision of a safe working environment and ensuring acceptable accommodation. For the local employment agencies, we limit the fees in which they can charge workers. We will investigate all salary and fee-related complaints, which include underpayment of salaries, collection of kickbacks or recovering of employment costs, and excessive recruitment fees. We will take necessary enforcement actions. Mr Singh asked for the details of the number of migrant workers who were unpaid and the details of restitution made. Between 2015 and 2019, 950 errant employers were caught for not paying the foreign employees their contractual fixed monthly salary or inflating the salaries with no intention of paying them the amount that has been declared. There were about 1,400 foreign employees affected in these cases. Penalties for the underpayment of salaries take into account the severity of the offence. For not paying the salaries that are due to them, employers could be prosecuted and they could be fined up to $10,000, jailed up to a year, or both, under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA). These penalties were last reviewed and raised in 2012, up from a fine of up to $5,000, or jail of six months or both. So, we doubled it. Exploitation in any form is not fair to employees and is unacceptable.”
“First, ACE will tap on existing volunteer networks, such as MWC’s volunteer ambassadors for a start, to set up a network of migrant worker volunteers in every dormitory with 100 or more residents. Through this network, ACE will partner dormitory operators, employers and NGOs to better communicate with migrant workers, to understand their needs and work collectively together to uplift their well-being. Second, we will offer para-counselling training to our migrant worker volunteers to encourage peer support and better protect the mental health of our migrant workers. The initiative under Project DAWN helps workers to identify signs of stress, help them to perform simple breathing exercises that can help them relieve their anxiety and learn where to find and access mental health support in Singapore. Third, we will also support ground-up volunteer activities that can promote social cohesion amongst migrant communities. For International Migrants Day last year, we brought together 24 partner organisations and 180 volunteers to celebrate at eight Recreation Centres all across Singapore. We will do more to widen the circle of community volunteers. We hope that this new engagement model will encourage migrant workers to step forward and co-create solutions. We are always a work-in-progress and we encourage everyone who has ideas to come forward and share with us, so that we can work collectively to improve everyone's livelihoods. And we encourage employers to give your fullest support to migrant workers who wish to serve their dormitory residents. Ms Hazel Poa and Mr Pritam Singh asked about the enforcement of laws protecting migrant workers’ employment rights, such as cases of underpayment of salary.”
“Most importantly, employers and migrant workers have shown a significant amount of trust, patience and support in the measures which we have had to implement. One of the things we learnt is, that we were able to bring the COVID-19 situation in the dormitories under control because of the critical and crucial contributions of many, many volunteer networks who have helped workers overcome many of the fears and challenges that they face in Singapore, such as language barriers and the lack of social support. Many NGO volunteers have helped to distribute food and care packs to our migrant workers. Many migrant worker volunteers have also stepped up to disseminate information to their peers in native languages and worked with MOM’s Forward Assurance and Support Teams (FAST) to deliver assistance at the dormitories. Mr Muthaiah Diwakaran, a volunteer ambassador with the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC), has been in Singapore for about 20 years and currently resides at Cochrane Lodge 2. This is a purpose-built dormitory. He reaches out to care for his peers, takes questions on the latest worksite and dormitory measures, and encourages the workers to sign up for Gov.sg WhatsApp updates in their preferred language. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of you, volunteers, the various organisations and migrant workers, for bringing care, comfort and company to our fellow migrant workers during this period. To better support and facilitate the outreach of more volunteer networks, ACE will partner key stakeholders to create a more structured eco-system to engage workers.”
“In this way, we will shift beyond episodic care to better manage chronic health conditions, including mental health. We have set up a Project DAWN taskforce. We have also introduced a seven-point mental health strategy comprising: (a) mental wellness promotion, (b) identification of at-risk patients/factors, (c) screening of mental health conditions, (d) surveillance of mental/emotional distress, (e) development and training of para-counsellors and counsellors, (f) timely escalation of care, and (g) provision of post-intervention support to complete and ensure a holistic mental health support eco-system for our migrant workers. Employers remain responsible, ultimately, for providing and paying for their workers’ medical treatment. Hence, our review of primary healthcare support will also aim to keep these costs manageable. In a small minority of hospitalisation cases, employers can face large medical expenses. MOM is reviewing medical insurance coverage for migrant workers to help employers better manage their medical expenses, and to give both employers and workers a greater peace of mind. Again, we will provide an update later this year. 12.15 pm COVID-19 vaccination will also be made available to migrant workers. When ready – and it will be ready soon – it will be accompanied by comprehensive communications in all of their native languages. This additional layer of protection strengthens our defences. We encourage, when the time comes, all of our employers and workers to get vaccinated to create a safer living and working environment for everyone. Compared to 12, 13 months ago, we are much better equipped now to deal with the health pandemic.”
“We continue to provide holistic physical, mental and social care for them. Our multi-layered strategy of regular testing and swift containment has also effectively helped to contain infections in the dormitories to the current very low levels. This outbreak highlighted gaps in primary health care that migrant workers received pre-COVID-19. Often, migrant workers might delay or avoid seeking medical attention until the condition worsens significantly, with negative consequences for health, employment and work outcomes, both for the worker and the employer. The Government has since made it easier for migrant workers to access good primary healthcare. We will need to be able to sustain this for us to constantly survey and have sentinel reporting health clinics to detect public health threats early. Today, about 200 workers use the 24-hour telemedicine service available to them via the FWMOMCare app on a daily basis. We have piloted 13 regional medical centres and further increased access by opening a night clinic in each of the West, Central and East regions of Singapore. About 500 workers a day receive medical support for non-acute respiratory illness (ARI) conditions like gastritis or chronic diseases like diabetes. Beyond this pandemic period, we will take stock of the healthcare eco-system for migrant workers residing in dormitories and other housing types, to see how we can sustain the longer term access to primary healthcare in a cost-effective and culturally-sensitive way. For example, we hope that every migrant worker can be registered with a designated medical centre or GP clinic near where they live and work to foster better continuum of care and better doctor-patient relationships.”
“The Government is studying the possibility of developing the upcoming PBDs on a different operating model compared to the current system, where land is released for commercial operators to bid, to build and to operate. We are studying each option very comprehensively and we will share our findings – and again, we will work with industry to get their feedback – in due course. For existing dormitories, we will also consider how to progressively improve standards, pacing and phasing it so that the price fluctuations will not be steep and the gradient will be gradual; while ensuring competitive bed rental prices and a continuous, stable housing supply during the transition period. We will update on all these in due time. Having put in place all the upstream and long-term measures explained earlier, we need to ensure that our efforts can be sustained for the longer term. Disease outbreaks will harm not just our valued workers, but disease outbreaks also have grave implications for employers, for the economy, for our resident population as a whole, and the provision of many services. It is in all of our interests to make sure that we continually take good care of our migrant workers. COVID-19 provided the impetus for us to relook how we engage and support the migrant workers. We have to and will establish a resilient and safe support eco-system to care for them. Ms Hazel Poa asked whether MOM has sufficient manpower to implement all of these ambitious plans. Since August 2020, we have set up the Assurance, Care, and Engagement (ACE) Group. ACE officers regularly check on the dormitories. We have also got the FAST teams come onsite to work with the migrant workers. This assures them of our continued interest in preserving their well-being.”
“The principal basis is to de-densify all the rooms to facilitate the segregation of residents so that during a pandemic, we can quickly impose lockdowns in a very targeted and precise manner. We are also conducting a holistic review on these improved standards to be applied to future new dormitories, keeping in mind that every new disease outbreak can be very different from the existing one. We are always working in close consultation with MOH, with public health experts and with the various stakeholders such as employers, migrant workers themselves, dormitory operators and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to gather all of their views in coming up with the new standards. We will also draw on our experiences from the Quick Build Dormitories. In addition to infrastructure, we are also studying how contact tracing has enabled us to more accurately identify, isolate and quarantine close contacts in the event of a public health outbreak. There are also innovative processes and practices in dormitory management that can be adopted to improve overall standards in terms of infection prevention and control. We expect to finalise all of these standards later this year. We recognise that higher standards may also result in higher costs for employers and dormitory operators. Many businesses would have locked in their costs in their existing projects and will now need time to adjust to higher migrant worker housing costs. Dormitory operators may also be more cautious in bidding to build and own new dormitories, given the current uncertain demand for migrant worker housing alongside the evolving COVID-19 situation.”
“We will have common requirements that apply across the board such as cleanliness, space and ventilation as well as additional requirements that depend on the dormitory's size such as recreational facilities in some of the larger dormitories. We will engage stakeholders in the coming months to review and to get their input in terms of expanding the scope of FEDA. We will consider the details of the regulatory framework by incorporating their feedback. We hope to complete this review and provide more details in the second half of 2021. Miss Cheng Li Hui and Ms Hazel Poa asked whether dormitory standards will be adjusted and how the higher costs arising from future improved dormitory standards will be managed. As most migrant workers continue to live in communal settings, it is critical to improve, better prepare and future-proof our dormitories for future pandemics. Since September 2020, we have progressively rolled out over 25,000 beds in Quick Build Dormitories (QBDs). To respond to the immediate COVID-19 challenges while strengthening the public health resilience of our dormitories against infectious disease outbreaks and enhancing living conditions for migrant workers, we have piloted a set of improved standards at these QBDs to test for their effectiveness, their feasibility and their economic viability and sustainability. For example, the capacity in each QBD room is capped at 10 residents. This is in order for us to reduce inter-mixing amongst residents. Each QBD room is also fitted with en-suite toilets to minimise transmission risks from shared facilities. Kitchens, dining rooms and laundry areas also cater to smaller groups of residents.”
“All dormitories, whether regulated under FEDA or not, are subjected to a set of regulatory requirements set by the various Government agencies, covering areas such as building and fire safety, minimum living and hygiene standards. FEDA imposes additional requirements in areas such as public health and safety, security and public order, and the provision of social and commercial facilities as well as services. Our experience in containing this pandemic in the dormitories highlighted the need to strengthen our regulatory levers in order to enable us to raise and enforce housing standards very quickly across the various dormitory types and sizes, and to introduce new housing standards to make dormitory living more resilient to public health risks. We are thus reviewing the scope of FEDA to expand it to cover all dormitories, regardless of size. This will allow us to bring the regulation of all dormitories – that means it covers the FCDs, the CTQs and the TOLQs – under one single Act. We are going to introduce consistency in terms of housing standards and safe living requirements in all the dormitories through this FEDA expansion. This will allow MOM to prevent and more quickly contain disease outbreaks in the dormitories. Requirements to create more isolation bed facilities, stringent infection control measures, and ensure dormitory residents' well-being, had to be implemented on non-FEDA dormitories through the COVID‑19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order). When we expand the scope of FEDA, this would empower MOM to directly and quickly impose safe living and infection control requirements. This also enables MOM to implement a consistent framework of housing standards across dormitories of different sizes and types.”
“This MWOC is part of our efforts to minimise COVID-19 importation risk and we hope that this will also serve to minimise other types of future infectious disease importation risks, so that we can bring in sufficient numbers of workers to support the needs of our economy. We adjust the entry numbers in a very dynamic fashion – depending on the infection transmission risk in each one of the home countries, depending on the risk levels and the regions that our workers come from. We facilitate the entry of foreign workers as required for key infrastructural projects. We have also been responsive and we have provided a higher degree of certainty to employers as well as households. Entry approvals are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis by the chosen arrival date, and we facilitate, where it is needed, families to come and enter together. Entry applications will get an outcome by the next working day. Employers will also be advised on the next available arrival window should applications for their chosen arrival dates be unsuccessful. Mr Desmond Choo, Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman, Miss Rachel Ong and Mr Louis Ng asked how we can and we will improve the standards of dormitories, including smaller sites as well as factory-converted dormitories. Today, we have a variety of migrant worker dormitories – the Purpose Built Dormitories (PBDs), the Factory Converted Dormitories (FCDs), the Construction Temporary Quarters (CTQs) and the Temporary Occupancy License Quarters (TOLQs). Sixty percent of the 280,000 migrant workers in dormitories stay in just 50 large dormitories with beds of 1,000 or more and they are regulated under the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act (FEDA). Forty percent of them are in the numerous FCDs, CTQs and TOLQs.”
“This MWOC brings together various entry processes as one efficient, seamless, integrated end-to-end process. Centralising and coordinating the operations and functions together also facilitates faster reaction times as well as allowing us to adapt and be able to pre-empt better preparation for future pandemics. It benefits employers, workers and the general community in Singapore. For employers, bringing the processes together helps to lower the risk of transmission from imported cases, enabling the entry of more migrant workers to support our businesses where they are needed. Employers, especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), will have the benefit of the MWOC providing an end-to-end SHN and onboarding service, compared to now, where each employer would have to arrange for the medical screening and Settling-In-Programme (SIP) on their own after their workers have completed their SHN. For workers, the onboarding programme will help them start their employment in Singapore on the right footing, with them knowing their rights. The MWOC will also provide the flexibility to adjust SHN as well as testing measures in the blue zone, depending on the volatility and the fluctuation of the situation in the source country where they come from in the green zone. So, we can calibrate it appropriately. This is done in order to safeguard the safety and the health of the workers as well as our general community in the white zone. Ms Sylvia Lim highlighted her concerns of households and businesses of the uncertainty when bringing in migrant workers.”
“At the MWOC, while the workers are undergoing the additional seven-day testing process, they will also go through a residential onboarding programme, comprising: one, the enhanced medical examination; and two, the orientation and the SIP that I have alluded to earlier. This enhanced medical examination programme will entail more comprehensive and rigorous screening to enable appropriate health support and interventions. For example, workers above the age of 40 or with risk factors will also be screened for chronic illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. This enables us to identity these risks and have more effective targeted downstream patient care. It also reduces potential work disruptions and unexpected medical costs for employers from untreated health conditions. The residential settling-in programme will inculcate better dormitory living and worksite practices amongst migrant workers who have just arrived here and help them understand their employment rights, the kind of good health practices and Singapore's social norms. For instance, workers will learn to adopt the safe management measures, learn how to use contact tracing devices and SafeEntry check-in as well as the Foreign Worker MOMCare (FWMOMCare) app to monitor their temperature, update daily health status and access telemedicine if symptoms are reported. Our guest migrant workers will learn when and how to seek help when they are unwell or when they need assistance with employment disputes. 12.00 pm Third, the white zone. This refers to the time when the workers have cleared all these check-ups and when they can move into their respective residences and adopt safe living measures both at work as well as in the community.”
“There are three elements to this: first, the Stay-Home Notice (SHN) period; second, an enhanced medical examination; and thirdly, an orientation and Settling-In-Programme (SIP) for these migrant workers. The journey for a migrant worker to safely enter Singapore can be segmented into three zones. First, the green zone. This refers to the upstream precautionary efforts in the source countries. Today, before migrant workers depart for Singapore, they are required to take a COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test in their country and produce a negative PCR result within 72 hours before their departure. Robust pre-departure tests (PDT) will minimise imported cases and allow more workers to come in. There are some employers already taking extra precautions in verifying the health status of their workers by even employing the use of serology tests before departure. This is over and above the PCR test. This allows employers to identify workers who have recovered from COVID-19 so that the public health measures that we are going to adopt on arrival can be more targeted. Second, the blue zone. This refers to what we do here in Singapore. When they arrive here, we have introduced a combination of on arrival PCR test as well as serology tests. This allows us to better differentiate recent infections from the recovered persons can still be intermittently shedding the virus but they are no longer contagious. For example, for these workers who are found to be already recovered, we can exempt them from SHN. All other CMP sector workers from higher risk countries are now required to serve 21 days – first 14-day SHN plus another additional seven-day testing process as a further precaution. And this is where our one-stop MWOC comes in.”
“But even as we continue to battle the evolving global and local situation, we continue to take on board the valuable lessons that we have learnt from the past many months of managing this current pandemic. To prepare for future pandemics, we will transform our migrant worker landscape in three key areas. First, we will fortify the upstream entry controls and measures for migrant workers. This is done so that we can minimise the transmission risks of new workers arriving on our shores and to ensure that they are properly onboarded before they move into our community. Second, we will strengthen the resilience of our dormitories. This includes conducting a comprehensive review of the housing standards of our dormitories, strengthening regulatory controls, to enable us to continuously raise housing standards across various the dormitory types and sizes. Third, we will also ensure the sustainability of all of our efforts to assure, to care for and to engage with our migrant workers. We will do so through cost-effective healthcare, establishing a migrant worker volunteer network to deepen our engagement with them, as well as partnering with our non-governmental organisations (NGOs), employers and community organisations. On the first initiative, that of fortifying migrant workers' entry and onboarding process. Renewed inflows of migrant workers will be needed to continue to meet the needs of our growing economy. But at the same time, we need to ensure that good public health outcomes are achieved. To do so, we have set up a Migrant Worker Onboarding Centre (MWOC). This is a one-stop centre to pilot an end-to-end onboarding process for all CMP sector work permit and S Pass holders entering Singapore.”
“These include safe management measures, rostered routine testing every 14 days as well as through distribution of contact tracing devices to our migrant workers. In 2020, the construction, marine and process or CMP workforce has shrunk considerably, by about 15%. The CMP workers are the main occupants of our dormitories. With fewer workers and with more safe management measures, there have been significant project delays which impact completion timelines for on-going construction projects. This cannot continue indefinitely. We are now able to progressively bring in new migrant workers to support our businesses. However, let us not be mistaken. This, by no means, represents that we have won the battle. In fact, as I have alluded to in my previous speech at the end of last year, we have just reached base camp. This base camp is different in that unlike Mount Everest or any mountain peak where we know where the full height of that peak is, for this particular crisis, we really do not know where that peak is. Early this year, as the global COVID-19 situation worsened, we tightened measures to contain the risk of spread from imported infections. We introduced on-arrival tests and an additional post-Stay-Home Notice seven-day testing process for CMP workers. This essentially means that the Stay-Home Notice (SHN) for these workers has been extended to 21 days. This further mitigates and minimises any risks of an imported case from transmitting the virus into the dormitories or into the worksites. But our work is far from done. Continuous adaptation and improvement have helped us to bring the pandemic under the current state of control.”
“In the medium and longer term, we must help every segment of the workforce emerge stronger, including our migrant and foreign domestic workers. We will support our businesses to transform, especially our SMEs, so that we succeed together. We will keep strengthening fairness and support for workers. Let me conclude by emphasising the importance of tripartism again. Few countries have the extraordinary advantage we do. Its value was reinforced when COVID-19 struck. Without the reservoir of trust between the tripartite partners, many issues would not have been resolved quickly. In Luxembourg, we saw trouble. In France, unions called for a nationwide strike to denounce the French government's pandemic response, disrupting essential services for many citizens. In Singapore, both workers and employers accepted the many painful adjustments we made. NTUC sprung into action. Its Job Security Council helped many workers retain their jobs or move into new jobs. Employers too helped to preserve a strong Singaporean Core, even if they had to downsize. Once again, I thank Members for your many suggestions and support to MOM. The COVID-19 pandemic did not just test the resilience of our workforce. Tripartism was also tested and we are emerging stronger. [Applause.] The Second Minister for Manpower (Dr Tan See Leng): Mr Chairman, it has been over a year since the pandemic started. As of today, over 114 million individuals all over the world have been infected and more than two million have died. We have been fortunate, with a whole-of-Government effort and everyone's support, patience and cooperation. After successfully bringing the COVID-19 outbreak in our migrant worker dormitories under control, we continue to maintain tight measures to minimise transmission.”
“WSG supports these through existing Professional Conversion Programmes, as well as the new Place-and-Train programme for Supply Chain and Logistics Coordinators. We will set aside close to $10 million over the next two years for more of such Jobs Transformation Maps (JTMs). So, we have the ITMs and we have the JTMS. Three JTMs have been completed and we have plans for another 12. They will help the TACs and SMEs alike with their workforce planning. In addition, we expanded the Productivity Solutions Grant to also support job re-design. There is a panel of pre-approved consultancy firms. They bridge the knowledge gaps for companies to develop and implement job redesign solutions. This year, we raised the subsidy to 80%. I urge businesses to take advantage of the enhanced support before it expires in a year. Second, how to help SMEs attract talents. Close to 31,000 SME employers have benefited the JGI and SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package. We will help companies looking for local talent to also get professional assistance. We recently appointed five best-in-class employment agencies under a new Human Capital Partnership programme. They help employers consider talented locals they may sometimes overlook, by focusing on their transferable skills and relevant experience. We also have the P-Max programme which has placed over 7,800 PMETs into 7,300 SMEs in the last five years. We want our SMEs to succeed. Ultimately, their ability to transform themselves will spur our workforce to be transformed too. Mr Chairman, I have outlined MOM's priorities this year. In the short term, we will need to secure the rebound by shoring up hiring of locals.”
“Otherwise, the new skills have limited impact. In Chinese, we say, “英雄无用武之地”. At the industry level, business norms must evolve and innovations embraced. Again, these decisions depend very much on the dynamism and foresight of our business leaders, as pointed out by Mr Henry Kwek and Ms Janet Ang. It includes dealing with the threats and opportunities of remote working within and across national borders. 11.45 am Strengthening business capabilities and promoting innovation comes within the purview of our sectoral agencies. MOM too, has a keen interest because the future of our workforce depends very much on it. On our part, we will pay particular attention to SMEs, a point which Ms Yeo Wan Ling has raised. They deserve a fair chance to succeed. Our partners, SNEF and many trade associations and chambers (TACs) tell us that SMEs face bigger difficulties in their quest to transform. This is understandable and we will help in several ways. First, how to transform jobs. A good example is our logistics sector. In 2019, an interagency team, including the Economic Development Board (EDB), Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and WSG studied the impact of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) on the logistics sector in the next three to five years. The study systematically identified how 56 existing job roles will evolve and how 12 new job roles will emerge. As it turns out, more than half of the existing logistics jobs will experience a medium to high degree of change. Logistics companies are taking reference from the findings to invest in new systems and reskill their staff. For a warehouse supervisor, the job role can evolve from manually recording inventory to operating automated storage and retrieval systems.”
“For consistency with recent work pass moves, we will also regularise the work arrangements of Dependant Pass (DP) holders. The vast majority of DP holders do not work during their stay in Singapore. DP holders who have sought employment in Singapore via a Letter of Consent (LOC) constitute only about 1% of all Work Pass holders. From 1 May 2021, DP holders who wish to work during their stay in Singapore will be directed to apply for a relevant work pass, such as an EP, S Pass or Work Permit. We will provide sufficient time for existing DP holders working on a Letter of Consent (LOC), as well as their employers, to transit to this new arrangement. Most of them meet prevailing work pass criteria. Those that do not, will have to cease working in Singapore. Sir, several Members have asked for more support for workforce transformation. Transformation should serve a purpose to create better jobs, better skills and, therefore, better pay and better prospects. All of these cannot be achieved without better businesses. It is why workforce transformation and business transformation go hand in hand. Many studies have attempted to predict jobs of the future. They are useful signposts and help us create the conditions to keep businesses thriving. For example, we invest heavily to build up digital access and capabilities – Minister Iswaran said quite a lot about it yesterday. However, the extent and manner in which the future jobs materialise will depend on the entrepreneurial zeal of our businesses to disrupt the status quo and seize new opportunities. To sustain better pay over time, there is no short cut to raising productivity. This is rarely achieved by just up-skilling or re-skilling the workers. At the firm level, work processes must change and jobs redesigned.”
“Doing so will limit our ability to compete for the most cutting-edge investments and sophisticated activities, and hurt Singaporeans’ prospects in the longer term. In any case, as Mr Melvin Yong and Mr Sharael Taha pointed out, knowledge workers can increasingly work from anywhere. This must temper our expectations regarding the usefulness of further EP controls, like levies, which Mr Leong Mun Wai has advocated. Second, we will ensure employers practise fair hiring and improve the diversity of their foreign PMET workforce. It is wrong for employers to disregard qualified local candidates because of discrimination. MOS Gan will say more in her speech. To comments by Brother Abdul Samad, Mr Saktiandi Supaat and Mr Pritam Singh regarding the Capability Transfer Programme (CTP), Deputy Prime Minister Heng noted that it is one of many to facilitate capability development. In general, we do not depend on any single programme to achieve better employment outcomes. Other agencies, besides WSG, have introduced or enhanced complementary capability development schemes. For example, ESG has the Global Ready Talent Programme. It supports Singapore enterprises in building young talent pipeline through internships and overseas work opportunities. All the programmes that have helped to recruit, reskill or redeploy local PMETs, reduced the need to rely on foreign professionals. The CTP remains a useful complement to sector-specific schemes, as well as broad-based schemes like LEDS and JGI. We have committed about $5 million so far under CTP, and employers have to co-fund part of the costs. The supported projects span over 20 sectors, and we welcome more businesses to use it. As announced, we will extend it to September 2024.”
“In addition, we raised the S Pass qualifying salary twice last year and extended the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) job advertising requirement to cover S Passes to ensure that locals are considered fairly for these jobs. Ms Hazel Poa expressed disappointment there were no more cuts other than for S Passes in manufacturing. Ms Poa may not have been in Parliament for the last few years to know of all the adjustments we have made. Nonetheless, I urge her to consider the points made by Mr Liang Eng Hwa. Whatever her criticism, the foreign workforce accounted for all of our employment contraction in 2020. I would not say foreign workforce policies alone made this happen, but they certainly played a part. We will continue to review our S Pass levers, including the qualifying salary, quotas and levies. This will be done together with efforts to transform industries and upskill the local workforce. Over this decade, employers should expect further changes to S Pass rules to be phased in. I encourage them to start making the efforts to strengthen their local talent pipeline at this level. At the Employment Pass (EP) level, our aim is two-fold. First, we will continue to ensure that foreign professionals complement our local PME workforce. The salary threshold is by no means a perfect gatekeeper of quality, but it is easy to understand and administer. We raised the qualifying salary for EP holders twice last year and will explore possible refinements to how we do so. Ms Janet Ang and Mr Saktiandi Supaat who spoke about worldwide shortages in tech and digital skills will understand why we do not set a quota on EPs.”
“At the Work Permit level, the Services sector is our baseline for foreign workforce policies, with a Dependency Ratio Ceiling, or DRC, of 35%. Services account for three quarters of our workforce. We already recognise that some sectors are less attractive to locals. Manufacturing, for example, has a DRC of 60%, at the operators' level. Construction, Marine Shipyard and Process sectors get even more. There is a limit to how much further we can differentiate within Services. The sub-sectors, which lobby the hardest, already hire the big majority of work permits in Services. If we relax quotas for each one of them, it amounts to raising the overall DRC for Services. Instead, as Ms Foo Mee Har has called for, we will focus on helping companies become more manpower-lean and strengthen their Singaporean Core. Many firms have already started on this journey. In the last three years, an average of 20,800 firms benefited annually through the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme. Meanwhile, periodic adjustments will continue to be made to the Local Qualifying Salary, to ensure that locals are not hired on a token salary in order to access foreign worker quota. We will hold off further increases this year to give firms time to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last few years, we have also updated the S Pass policy. We have made cuts to the S Pass sub-DRC in Services, Construction, Marine Shipyard and Process sectors. As mentioned by the Deputy Prime Minister in his Budget speech, we will also reduce the S Pass sub-DRC in Manufacturing gradually, from 20% to 18% next year, and to 15% in 2023.”
“Examples include the National Taxi Association and the recently-announced National Delivery Champions Association. Collectively, about 47,500 SEPs are already part of the labour movement. Likewise, in terms of work injuries, SEPs do have some protection. Key platform intermediaries like Grab, Gojek and Deliveroo, already extend free personal accident insurance coverage to the SEPs who they place in jobs. Nonetheless, we acknowledge Mr Pritam Singh’s point that coverage is not uniform and collective bargaining is still not available. In the Addendum to the President’s Address last year, we said that we would review the responsibilities of service-buyers and intermediaries to bring about a fairer and more balanced relationship with their self-employed workers. In doing so, we will take into account the need to be fair, yet practical, recognising the usefulness of work opportunities provided by the intermediaries and the need to secure better outcomes for workers. Sir, having covered the priorities of our local workforce, let me turn to our foreign workforce. The views raised by Members on our foreign workforce fall into two broad clusters. On the one hand, Mr Edward Chia and Ms Cheng Li Hui suggested greater access to foreign manpower for some sectors, to address persistent shortages. On the other, Mr Patrick Tay and Brother Abdul Samad emphasised localisation and strengthening the Singaporean Core, which requires reducing reliance on foreign manpower. Sir, this is a tension that MOM grapples with continuously. Our fundamental objective is always to serve the interests of Singaporean workers. Access to foreign workers is meant to help grow a larger economic pie than we otherwise can. Therefore, the foreign workforce must act as a complement to our local workforce.”
“They received close to $1 million in matched MediSave contributions from the Government, as part of a one-off incentive to help SEPs transit to CAYE. Nevertheless, we are aware that many SEPs had to defer their income and MediSave contributions. Hence, we will extend the qualifying period to receive matched MediSave contributions for another year, till 31 December 2021, to provide more time for SEPs to fully benefit from this transition package. With the encouraging take-up of CAYE in the public sector, we will study if the scheme should be extended to SEPs serving the private sector. We will consult the relevant industry stakeholders before doing so. The third area of focus is to find a better balance in the arrangements between “gig workers” and their intermediaries that deploy their services. As Mr Patrick Tay and Mr Louis Chua had suggested, one way is to provide basic employment rights for SEPs. But this is not straightforward. In Italy, for example, “gig workers” dependent on one buyer or intermediary for their work, are categorised as dependent contractors and entitled to partial employment rights. This provided added protection to the dependent contractors but also incentivised employers to reclassify regular employees as dependent contractors instead. In California, the legislative moves have swung like a pendulum. But as several MPs have highlighted, the latest ruling by the UK Supreme Court may have turned the tide decisively towards recognising Uber drivers as “workers”. In this regard, we welcome the NTUC’s keen interest to strengthen representation of SEPs and freelancers. In general, such workers can already form associations and be affiliated to NTUC.”
“They mostly worked as private hire car and taxi drivers, or drivers for delivery services. Majority say they prefer to be self-employed. Because of their diversity, we should avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to supporting SEPs. Instead, we have three areas of focus. 11.30 am First, we will support SEPs who wish to switch to regular employment. One such example is Mr Nazry Zakaria, who transitioned from being a freelance project manager and set designer, to a Creative Strategist at Unearthed Productions – this is the name of the company. To pick up digital marketing skillsets for his job, Mr Nazry participated in WSG’s Professional Conversion Programme for Digital Advertising Professionals. His income is now more stable and he has better opportunities for career development. Second, we have started to help SEPs better meet healthcare and retirement needs. With the introduction of MediShield Life and CareShield Life, SEPs are generally well-protected against major medical expenses even without employer-provided benefits. The gap lies in the risk of income loss should illness prevent them from working, as SEPs do not have paid medical leave. This is why we worked with insurers to introduce prolonged medical leave (PML) insurance. They now cover almost 40,000 SEP drivers and riders. We also introduced the Contribute-As-You-Earn (or CAYE) scheme for SEPs providing services to Government procurement entities. With CAYE, SEPs have a convenient way to build up their medical balances. In 2020, the first year of implementation, about 95% of SEPs remained on CAYE, although they could have opted out. About 4,000 SEPs made CAYE contributions.”
“We will also raise the CPF contribution rates for senior workers from January next year to help them accumulate more retirement savings. The full support and cooperation of all employers is critical to ensure the new policies benefit senior workers. Last year, the Government introduced the $1.3 billion Senior Worker Support Package to help companies adjust their operations to continue employing senior workers. In one year, even with the current COVID-19 outbreak, 1,700 companies have tapped government subsidies to bring forward their plans to implement the new retirement and re-employment ages, as well as create part-time roles, to help 17,000 senior workers remain in the workforce. To encourage and support more employers, the Ministry of Manpower has decided to top up $230 million for the two subsidies. At the same time, we will help employers defray the business costs of the increased CPF contribution rates for senior workers. The goal of allowing our elderly to realise their dreams to continue contributing at work during their golden years and enjoy old age after retirement is not out of reach. As long as the tripartite partners, companies and the elderly work together, we will be able to build a fulfilling and fruitful golden era for the elderly in Singapore. (In English): Sir, let me now signpost the direction for self-employed persons (SEPs). For well over a decade, our SEPs have consistently made up 8% to 10% of the resident workforce. They are not a homogenous group and can be found in over 200 occupations. In recent years, we have seen the rise of SEPs who use online matching platforms to get their work, or gig workers. About 3% of our resident workforce could be considered "gig workers".”
“A previous survey in Singapore observed that our older workers are more dependent than their younger peers on employers’ guidance to attend training. Yet a recent study by the World Economic Forum suggests that in addressing new business opportunities, employers in Singapore are less likely than countries like Japan and Australia to re-skill existing workers, choosing instead to hire new staff who they can plug-and-play. These attitudes must change. It must become the norm for employers in Singapore to build on the transferable skills of mature workers to meet new business opportunities. At the same time, we also need mature workers to take greater ownership of their skills upgrading. A new norm of continuous re-invention must take root, as Ms Janet Ang also envisioned. Brother Abdul Samad would be pleased to note that the career conversion programmes benefited 12,600 mature individuals in the last three years, and we want to go further. This year, we will introduce new programmes for in-demand jobs in growing sectors such as Manufacturing, Information Communications and Technology to provide fair opportunities for our mature as well as all jobseekers. The training and salary support in these programmes come on top of the enhanced JGI. As a result, employers can get up to 95% of the costs covered. It is very generous and the right way to recognise employers and workers for making the effort. Sir, in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted livelihoods and disrupted our lives, but we must continue to press on with some far-reaching policies. Therefore, we will continue with our plans to raise the retirement and re-employment ages to 63 and 68 respectively from July next year.”
“Prior to the pandemic, we had been studying if a Lifetime Retirement Investment Scheme (LRIS) can be introduced to help members who have the risk appetite and investment horizon but not enough investment knowledge. Recent events have altered the investment environment. We need to update our planning assumptions and strike the right balance between risk and return in our design of LRIS. I seek Members’ understanding that we will update when ready. Sir, I have outlined changes to the Retirement and Re-employment Age plus CPF that will also benefit the mature workers still in their 40s and 50s, provided they remain in the workforce. Everywhere in the world, automation and digital advances have shifted labour demand towards higher level skills. At all levels including PMETs, perfectly competent people can be at risk of displacement, unless they upskill. Even in China, McKinsey estimates that up to 220 million workers may need to reskill for new occupations from 2018 to 2030. That is almost 30% of the Chinese workforce. We must try and make the best of these trends. We can help our people pick up new skills and move into new jobs. With our strong educational foundation and build-up of the continuing education and training eco-system, we can turn this challenge into an opportunity for Singaporeans. By doing it better than other countries, we can strengthen our competitiveness. This must be complemented by new job creation and upgrading of existing jobs, both of which comes from pervasive business transformation, including that by the SMEs. I will say more about its nexus with workforce transformation later. But let me highlight two concerns.”
“Since they started in July last year, we have supported 1,700 companies with 17,000 senior worker beneficiaries. We will top up their budget by over $200 million to directly benefit about 75,000 seniors. But the larger goal is to create the momentum and shape a new norm among employers, where many more companies raise Retirement and Re-employment Ages to 65 and 70, well before 2030. A senior who can leave the workforce at age 70 instead of 67 and defers the start of his CPF LIFE payouts accordingly, can get around 20% more per month for life. Can it be more? Part of the answer lies in raising CPF contribution rates for those aged 55 and above. Two years ago, tripartite partners had agreed to set in motion a phased increase, starting from 2021. Due to COVID-19, this was deferred by a year to avoid worsening the employment prospects of older workers. Fortunately, despite the pandemic, senior employment has largely held up. Tripartite partners therefore agree to push ahead, barring unforeseen circumstances, to raise senior worker CPF contribution rates from 1 January 2022. The CPF Transition Offset scheme will absorb half of the increase for employers in the first year. The impact will be further cushioned by the Senior Employment Credit which provides up to 8% wage offset to employers of senior workers for the next two years until the end of 2022. We will study the extension beyond 2022 and will update in due course. As to Mr Louis Chua’s question on whether CPF members can earn higher returns, there is no magic formula. Higher returns come from taking higher risks.”
“In terms of median real income, the younger group earned twice as much as the older group when both were in their 40s. In terms of median real Ordinary and Special Account CPF balances, the younger group had three times as much as the older group. For the older age group, it is fair that they have the opportunity to work longer. It will help them build up more for retirement. In this regard, I fully agree with NTUC Deputy Secretary-General brother Heng Chee How and Mr Yip Hon Weng. We should avoid a disruption of our plans to raise the retirement and re-employment ages. Therefore, from 1 July 2022, the statutory minimum Retirement Age will go up from 62 to 63. The statutory Re-employment Age will also go up from 67 to 68. As earlier committed, the Public Service will proceed with these changes a year ahead of legislation. This will help to keep us on track to raise the Retirement Age to 65 and Re-employment Age to 70 by the end of this decade. While we are asking more of our employers, we have also provided them fair support to make these adjustments. This is why we announced the $1.3 billion Senior Worker Support Package last year. Companies that raise their retirement and re-employment ages before it becomes compulsory, can apply for the Senior Worker Early Adopter Grant. Many senior workers will work longer if they can do so part-time, they tell us that. Employers that provide such opportunities can apply for the Part-time Re-employment Grant. Together with the support for job-redesign, which I will say more about later, this helps to address Ms Ng Ling Ling’s concerns about broadening the range of jobs for senior workers. Interest in these two grants has been high.”
“15 am This is why in October last year, with the encouragement of Deputy Prime Minister Heng, I sought the support of Secretary-General NTUC and President SNEF to set up the Tripartite Workgroup on Lower Wage Workers. The Workgroup is making good progress. It has developed an ambitious plan and detailed roadmap for a major expansion of the PWM. We will start by introducing PWM to the food service and retail sectors. In cleaning, security and landscaping, in-house workers will be covered. We will also work out ways to introduce PWM to other occupational groups, what Dr Koh calls vocational PWM. Senior Minister of State Zaqy who chairs the Workgroup will provide more details in his speech. Mr Chairman, Singapore has what it takes to uplift the lives of our lower wage workers and their families. In doing so, we will become a better and more cohesive society. Mr Chairman, let me turn now to mature workers. We have tended to put everyone 40 and above into the same category of "mature workers". However, one can almost see two distinct generations within this group, with vastly different educational and work experiences. The group now aged 55 to 69 were born in pre-Independence Singapore, from 1951 to 1965. One-third of this group have below Secondary school qualifications. Fewer than 30% have a diploma or degree. Nonetheless, given the widespread expansion of opportunities, nearly 40% hold PMET jobs. The group now aged 40 to 54 were born in post-Independence Singapore, from 1966 to 1980. Only 10% have below Secondary school qualifications. Over 60% have a diploma or degree. Nearly 70% hold PMET jobs. As a result of these differences, a 2019 MOF study had some interesting findings when it compared Singaporeans born in the 1950s and 1970s.”
“We have always operated on the principle of fairness at work, for both individuals and employers, to maintain cohesiveness in an open economy. Every worker segment must have a fair chance to emerge stronger. Businesses must have fair support to succeed. Apart from securing the rebound, we will have five key thrusts. For lower wage workers (LWWs), we will focus on equality, mobility and dignity. For mature workers, we will address concerns over employability and retirement adequacy. For self-employed persons, women, and persons with disabilities, our focus is on inclusion and progression. For our PMETs workforce, we need fair opportunities, quality and diversity. For migrant workers and foreign domestic workers, we need a renewed focus on safety, health and wellness. Let me focus on lower wage workers. Over the years, our income gap has narrowed. Incomes at the 20th percentile grew faster than the median. This decade, our ambition is to build on these gains and significantly grow incomes at the lower end. Workfare, which the Government introduced in 2007, will remain a permanent feature of our social safety net, boosting incomes at the lower end and moderating inequality. But wages must go up, while preserving options to work. We agree with Dr Koh Poh Koon, Mayor Fahmi and Mr Pritam Singh that it is only fair for essential services workers to be better recognised for their efforts. As a society, we must be willing to accord dignity through paying better salaries to those at the lowest end. We must also create pathways for these workers to progress. I am very glad Mr Raj Joshua recognises this as the true value of the Progressive Wage Model (PWM). No one should dismiss its meaningfulness to workers, whatever the age of these workers. 11.”
“But they cannot replace efforts to help people get back to work. Insurance payouts also may not match the allowances we are providing. Many unemployed persons will not qualify for any redundancy payout. They include new graduates just entering the workforce, workers who were dismissed, whose contracts ended and were not renewed. Nonetheless, we agree with Mr Patrick Tay not to foreclose these options. MOM will continue to study their merits. In the meantime, two key enhancements will make the attachments under the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathway Programme more attractive for mature individuals and their company hosts. Participants aged 40 and above can receive higher training allowances of up to $3,800, compared to $3,000 previously. Host organisations will share just 10% of the allowance, compared to 20% previously. With this enhancement, it is even more affordable to host someone with years of work experience than a new job entrant. To ensure that jobseekers can access help, WSG expanded its outreach significantly. For the first time, career matching services were brought to the heartlands at scale, with the SGUnited Jobs and Skills centres in all 24 HDB towns. Thanks to the close partnership across Government agencies, with unions and employers, WSG placed close to 55,000 locals into jobs, traineeships and attachments. This is 70% higher than what we achieved in 2019. This work does not stop. WSG is continuing to innovate to provide better support to our jobseekers. No jobseeker need ever walk alone. WSG has been and will always be a pathfinder for you. Mr Chairman, many Members of Parliament have asked what we can do to fortify our workforce in the post-COVID-19 world.”
“Mr Desmond Choo and Dr Lim can be assured that such conversion programmes will remain a core feature of our system of employment support. As for the JGI, this remains an extraordinary measure. Employers should not delay their local hiring, in the hope that the JGI will be available indefinitely. I hope Dr Lim agrees that some urgency on the part of employers helps jobseekers. At the same time, I hope employers take note of the enhanced support when they hire mature workers, persons with disabilities and ex-offenders. As noted by Members Mr Yip Hon Weng, Ms Ng Ling Ling and Mr Eric Chua, these jobseekers face greater difficulties. This is why we will provide 50% support for the first $6,000 of gross monthly wages, for up to 18 months. Altogether, employers can receive up to $54,000 for each eligible hire. Even with the substantial support provided under the JGI, we are realistic that not all employers can expand hiring. This is why we extended the SGUnited Traineeships, SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways and Skills programmes. Minister of State Gan Siow Huang will say more about the enhancements for the SGUnited Traineeships Programme and on the SGUnited Skills Programme at MOE's COS. For all unemployed jobseekers, until a suitable job materialises, these traineeships and attachments are the best way to be supported. I thank Dr Lim for recognising that "Singapore already has most of the elements of an end-to-end safety net in place including the functional equivalent of unemployment insurance". Prof Hoon thoughtfully highlighted the irony of unemployment insurance in heightening or even prolonging unemployment. NTUC also recognises its limitations. Unemployment or redundancy insurance, which Dr Lim also calls for, can indeed provide useful income relief.”
“In two short months, such a movement into growing companies is not insignificant, especially when we consider the hiring weakness. About half of the new hires were aged 40 and above. Prof Hoon Hian Teck will be interested to know that one-third of the JGI-supported hires switched into new sectors, possibly a re-allocation towards jobs with better future prospects. JGI may also be helping to address the issue of unemployment and under-employment which Mr Patrick Tay was concerned about. Around three in 10 JGI hires were not previously in a job; majority had been out of work for more than six months. In other words, the JGI uplifted those who were long-term unemployed as well. More than six in 10, got the same or higher pay than their last-drawn. To reduce scarring, we must be ready to deal with further displacements. Without JGI lubricating the process, the movement of workers into growing firms and industries will likely be slower. A JGI extension of seven months is helpful, and we will assess what is needed after September. It comes on top of long-standing schemes like WSG's career conversion programmes. Since 2016, we have facilitated over 34,000 placements or redeployments through WSG's Career Conversion Programmes. Before 2020, WSG placed on average of 5,000 annually. Last year, we placed over 13,000, including a spike in re-deployments. This year, despite more subdued employer interest, we have catered capacity for 10,000 places. Contrary to Dr Jamus Lim's suggestion, the Professional Conversion Programmes have well-documented outcomes. About 90% of the participants remained employed after 18 months. About seven in 10 earned more than their last drawn salary.”
“At the same time, we tightened controls on foreign manpower to account for the slack in the labour market. But there is more work to be done. Unemployment and long-term unemployment rates are still elevated. Even for those employed, some are in short-term or transitional positions. With this as backdrop, MOM has three overarching priorities. In the short term, we must secure the rebound by shoring up hiring of locals. As Mr Desmond Choo reminds us, we should not, for a moment, assume this will be easy. Beyond immediate concerns, we must not lose sight of the medium and longer term. Digitalisation, remote work, widening income gaps and an ageing workforce will continue to challenge us. We must aim to overcome the crisis and help every segment of the workforce emerge stronger. To do this well, our employers are critical. Their capacity to innovate and become more productive will determine how much we can improve job quality over time. In supporting business transformation, we will pay particular attention to SMEs. With your permission, Mr Chairman, I have asked the Clerk to place some reference materials on Members' seats. Securing our rebound. Given the uncertainties that still persist, the job market may take a while to recover. Our aim is two-fold. First, for employers, shore up hiring demand. Second, for workers, seize better opportunities. As announced by Deputy Prime Minister, we will extend the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package. Mr Liang Eng Hwa has asked how these programmes will help. From September to October 2020, we estimate that the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) supported over 110,000 new local hires, by around 26,000 employers. These 110, 000 represent roughly 5% of the workforce.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) and other Members who have spoken passionately. Twenty-twenty was an unusual year for MOM. With the COVID-19 pandemic, two battlefronts opened up. In terms of pandemic control, MOM was involved in managing the inflows of work pass holders and the outbreak in the migrant worker dormitories. On the economic front, we faced the sharpest employment contraction in decades. In March last year, I had said that MOM would review the housing arrangements for our migrant workers, raise standards, improve well-being and be better prepared for a next pandemic. In August, we set up a new dedicated group in MOM, the Assurance, Care and Engagement (ACE) team, to provide better support to our migrant workers. We have made good progress. We are reviewing plans to expand coverage of the Foreign Employees Dormitory Act (FEDA). And we will pilot a Migrant Workers' On-boarding Centre. Later, Second Minister Dr Tan See Leng will detail the steps we intend to take to transform the landscape for migrant workers. On the jobs front, we have started 2021 on a firmer footing. Were this not so, we will be having a very different debate. Resident employment has rebounded to slightly above pre-COVID-19 levels. Resident unemployment rate has fallen since October last year. In January, resident unemployment further moderated to 4.3%. Throughout the crisis, our workforce has shown remarkable resilience. Employers too heeded the call to retain their Singaporean Core. On its part, the Government provided strong support for local employment. Many more Singaporeans stayed employed because of the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS), plus the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package.”
“Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Regulations, foreign domestic workers (FDWs) are only allowed to work at their employer's residential address. In some cases, the employer may need her FDW to accompany her children or elderly family members to a relative's place at a different address while the employer is at work. This arrangement is allowed if the employer obtains the FDW's written consent and notifies MOM. Instead of writing in to notify MOM, the employer can now notify MOM through an online form on MOM's website. The employer must ensure that the FDW does not perform the full load of housework in both households. Employers are encouraged to get the FDW's written consent prior to the start of the employment and incorporate it into the FDW's employment contract.”
“Some of the youth detainees take much longer than others to come around and this is why ISD also works with our educators to try and equip them to identify potentially self-radicalised youths early so that we can help them avoid going down this path. Thank you.”
“To deal with it, the psychologists need to help them to reframe their faulty reasoning, and this effort, is actually quite an involved one. Third, we also need to pay attention to social rehabilitation. In this regard, family support is critical. So, the self-radicalised youths are granted weekly family visits. Why that is important is because they need to preserve a connection as much as possible. If they have no connection to family, you can well imagine why it will raise their risk of falling down the same path again. Here, we also assign an after-care officer to each detainee's or supervisee's family to provide social and other support because there may be some other factors that are contributing to this person's propensity to be radicalised. So, that is the general approach. Specifically, for youths, we pay additional attention to the fact that, at that stage of their lives, there is also the questions of identity and how one develops a sense of belonging. To whom does one identify with, and with whom does one belong? In this regard, helping them to acquire critical thinking skills to discern radical rhetoric online and also to cultivate a certain mental resilience to cope with life stressors – these are the areas that we pay particular attention to. For youths, another key motivation is to complete their education and we find that, if this is a practicable thing to do, helping them to continue their studies keeps them focused, and this is something that we always try to do. Among the seven self-radicalised youths aged between 16 and 19 that were dealt with under the ISA since 2015, most have made good progress in their rehabilitation. But I will not want to downplay the challenges.”
“Mdm Chairman, I appreciate the question from Mr Zhulkarnain on how MHA approaches the rehabilitation of youths who have been self-radicalised. It is of great concern to us because, if you look at the pattern, what has changed over the last decade or so is that, amongst those that we have found to be radicalised, the ages of those who have been identified have gone down quite a lot. I hope it is okay for me to just take a step back and explain our approach to rehabilitation in general and then to focus on the approach for youths. Our goal must be that these individuals are rehabilitated for the long-term. In other words, we want this process to have long-term benefits and, therefore, the approach must not only be intensive, it has to be holistic. And by that, I mean that we would have to cover several key aspects: religious, psychological and social rehabilitation. These are the three core aspects of the rehabilitative approach. The approach will then have to be customised to the individual's own context. So, that is the broad frame. On religious rehabilitation, there needs to be counselling sessions, but it has to be religious counselling with persons who are able to provide these self-radicalised youths proper religious teachings and interpretations that can effectively counter the radical ideology that they had somehow imbibed from online and other sources. For that, we are fortunate in Singapore, we have the Religious Rehabilitative Group to draw our counsellors from. Second, in terms of psychological rehabilitation, quite often, among these self-radicalised youths, there is propensity for hatred and violence and also a certain vulnerability to radical influence.”
“Over the past five years, about one in four CPF members pass away without a nomination. CPF members who passed away at an older age are more likely to have nominated their CPF monies. The proportion of members without a nomination at the time of death is 53% for those aged below 55, and 21% for those aged 55 and above. CPF Board does not record the member's education level or the income level of the member's household at the time of death. Members can make a nomination via the CPF Board's online nomination service or visit the CPF Service Centres, where the Customer Service Executives can help in the nomination process. CPF Board has undertaken various efforts to encourage members to make their nomination, which resulted in a 60% increase in the number of nominations made over the past five years. We encourage all members to make their CPF nominations early and update them as their life circumstances change, including marriage that revokes any prior CPF nominations. Newly married members will have to make a fresh nomination to ensure that their CPF monies continue to be disbursed according to their wishes when they pass away.”
“As of January 2021, more than 97% of employers with foreign workers living in dormitories were paying salaries electronically, up from 76% before the requirement was introduced in April last year. Among the small minority of employers who have yet to switch to electronic payment of salaries, some have indicated administrative issues with the setting up of workers' bank accounts, while others have cited their workers' preference for receiving salaries in cash. MOM will take steps to ensure full-compliance, including educating employers and workers on why and how to implement electronic payment of salaries. Paying salaries electronically has proven to be beneficial, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. It ensures that foreign workers continue to receive salaries even when there are movement restrictions in place. It also helps prevent salary disputes, as there are digital records for each transaction. Given the benefits of paying salaries electronically, MOM is in consultation with our tripartite partners on extending the requirements for electronic payment of salaries to more workers, including local workers and work permit holders who are not living in dormitories.”
“For example, the Air Transport sector will continue to be affected due to the on-going travel restrictions and could face more retrenchments. This year, we remain focused on matching local jobseekers to job opportunities or helping them to reskill for new careers. With the support of the tripartite partners, nearly 76,000 locals have been placed into jobs and skills opportunities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package as at end-2020. To give a greater boost to hiring, the Government has extended the Jobs Growth Incentive by seven months to September 2021. Employers who hire mature workers, persons with disabilities and ex-offenders will receive higher support. I urge employers to continue tapping on Government support to hire and invest in the training of local workers. I also encourage our jobseekers to keep an open mind to new opportunities, and be prepared to pick up new skills to pivot to new careers that offer better long-term prospects.”
“Total employment declined by 172,200 in 2020. This reflected the significant impact of COVID-19 on the labour market. There were different outcomes for resident and non-resident employment. Resident employment grew modestly by 9,300 in 2020 as the economy recovered and on the back of strong support for local hiring. On the other hand, non-resident employment fell in all four quarters of 2020, and contracted by around 181,500, or 16% over the whole year. This means that all of the employment contraction was accounted for by the reduction in foreign employment. The sectors with the largest cumulative increase in employment were Public Administration and Education, and growth sectors such as Infocommunications & Technology, Financial Services, and Health & Social Services. Over the same period, the sectors that experienced the most significant cumulative decline in total employment were those more affected by COVID-19, such as F&B Services, Community, Social & Personal Services, as well as Arts, Entertainment and Recreation. In line with the broad improvement in the job market, the number of retrenchments in 4Q 2020 is expected to be about 6,100. This is lower than the 9,120 retrenchments in 3Q 2020, and is the first decline after five consecutive quarters of increase. For the full year, the total number of retrenchments is expected to reach 26,570, higher than the 10,690 in 2019. However, if we take into account the growing size of the workforce, the incidence of retrenchment for 2020, at 13 retrenched per 1,000 employees, remained significantly lower compared to past recessionary years. It remains to be seen if the decline in quarterly retrenchments will be sustained in 2021.”