Koh Poh Koon
Singapore
“In 2025, for walk-in patients, the median and 95th percentile doctor consultation waiting times were eight minutes and 72 minutes respectively. However, the Ministry of Health (MOH) does not track waiting times by peak versus off-peak hours, but it is likely that 95th percentile waiting times happened during peak hours.”
“The offences and penalties for importing, supplying or abusing SPS products are similar to those in the MDA, to ensure similar level of deterrence. Mr Speaker, with your permission, may I ask the Clerks to distribute a handout that summarises the changes in legislative penalties for key offences.”
“So, if you are a Singaporean student, you will expect that there will be some subsidies to the fees. The third question on how can the public, who may want to seek psychological care, know who is legitimate.”
“Sir, I thank the Member for his question on audiologists. In general, a qualified audiologist in Singapore needs a higher level of certification because a diploma level may not be quite enough to perform the task. So, we will look and see whether there is a way to actually find an in-between.”
“We are starting with registration to give formal recognition to those who are practising in higher risk sub-sectors in psychology and making sure that the quality, the standards and the support is given to them to deliver the care that the clients and the patients need.”
“It takes a bit of, not just system change in the providers, in the doctors and the care teams, but also, a gradual shift in the mindset of our population as well. So, it is something that we have to continue to do. There is no magic bullet to this and it is not something we can achieve overnight. 12.15 pm”
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“Sir, we will take the suggestion by the Member on the B1 plans into consideration. This is an on-going process of reviewing the utilisation over time and we may evolve some of this coverage over time as well. But at this moment, we will focus, because MediShield Life is still a very new plan that we had started in the last five years or so. So, we want to let it stabilise and see how the utilisation of the Basic plan, which covers nine in 10 subsidised bills, goes before deciding whether we should broaden the inclusion of B1 into our fold as well. The private insurance market is also evolving. So, this thing will take some time to settle. Nonetheless. we will take the suggestion into consideration The increased coverage for MediShield Life, the expansion of increased coverage up to about 120,000 claims per year, actually, that refers to total bill size. That does not necessarily mean, therefore, that the need for private plan is negated by the increased coverage, because there is still healthcare inflation and choosing private coverage is actually a matter of personal choice. Some people prefer to go to the private sector where they can have, perhaps, a more personalised type of higher value service. But those who are looking for good value care will still come back to the institution in our restructured hospitals. So, I do not think those two are mutually inclusive and increasing coverage for one would necessarily eat into the other.”
“Sir, I do not quite understand the Member's first question. So, I will ask the Member to clarify again later. But for the second question on the standard B1 coverage, we must understand that, at this moment, the Basic MediShield Life coverage already covers for nine out of 10 subsidised healthcare bills. So, the additional B1 coverage is really that little bit of icing on the cake and I think it would not be useful for CPF Board to take over all coverage, including up to B1, because there is still a role for the market to play. But by standardising the level of coverage and ensuring that the premium is uniform, it gives Singaporeans the option to choose something beyond the coverage of nine in 10 that are already covered by the current Basic MediShield plans.”
“MediShield Life premiums are fully payable by MediSave. There are no withdrawal limits. Family members can also utilise their MediSave also to help pay the premiums for their loved ones. The additional private insurance component of the Integrated Plans (or IP) is also payable by MediSave, up to the Additional Withdrawal Limits (AWLs) which range from $300 to $900 per year, with higher limits for older policyholders as their premiums are higher. The AWLs strike a balance between helping Singaporeans pay for their IP premiums using MediSave and ensuring that they have enough MediSave for basic healthcare needs, especially after their retirement. As MediShield Life already provides universal and basic insurance coverage for all Singaporeans, policyholders will need to consider whether they need the additional IP insurance and the affordability of the IP premiums when choosing these plans.”
“I think in this situation, it is where the doctor spends time talking to the family instead of maybe just the patient alone, to help the family to understand the context in which the decision has been made and why a surgery is necessary. There are times in which we withhold a lot of the details of informed consent with that particular patient who may be in denial but who needs surgery urgently to convince the person to go for life-saving surgery. I think it is in that context where the doctor himself may take on some professional risk as well. But ultimately as doctors, we take the Hippocratic Oath seriously. Our job is to first, be a patient advocate. I think if all of us here, with aged parents, put ourselves in the shoes of a son or a daughter knowing your parents will refuse surgery if they know about the full context of what they are going to go through for the next three hours under the anaesthesia, I think you understand what I mean by saying that there are situations in which the doctor must make a difficult decision to put himself, probably at professional risk for the sake of the patient. And this is why in this Bill, the construct of a professional value of opinion is still important. Even as we try and shift some of the focus to become more patient-centric, we hope that doctors will not take a defensive approach, but will still continue to advocate the benefits of patients. Mr Speaker, thank you very much.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I was not preparing to make a speech during this debate, but Mr Murali made a reference to a sharing I had with him yesterday at the tea room. And I thought it is useful for me to take this opportunity to share a larger context of what the conversation was because I think it adds texture to the debate. For many in the House who may not be practising doctors – and I think I am going to say this as a doctor who has been dealing with informed consent for many complicated procedures, performing abdominal surgery – in the context of sharing, it is about when sharing more information can sometimes lead to paralysis. I think Mr Murali made the point; situations where a doctor may use therapeutic privilege to withhold information from patients. I share this story of many old patients who may be afraid of going for surgery. And I think many of us who deal with elder patients will recognise that there is a subgroup of patients who are afraid of hearing the big "C" word – the word cancer. Sometimes, the word "cancer" would then force them into denial. They will refuse treatment, to their own detriment. Many family members in this context in Singapore which is very much an Asian-centric population where the patient relies a lot on their family members for a lot of social support and family members naturally will come to the doctor and say, "Please do not tell my mother or my father he has cancer". Because they know their parents better, they know that if the parents were to hear about the "C" word, they will deny treatment, they will insist on going home, and I think the doctor also knows in this situation, that the patient will ultimately be harmed by refusing surgery, by going home where they have an acute abdominal situation.”
“The NWC has recently made recommendations to further protect the interests of our low-wage workers. Amidst economic uncertainties, employers may resort to pay-cuts or retrenchments. NWC recommends that employers in distress should try to maintain the salaries of low-wage workers, or freeze wages temporarily in order to protect jobs. Conversely, if the employer is doing well and able to raise the salaries across the board, NWC recommends up to $50 increase for low-wage workers. I hope that when NWC reviews the wage guidelines again in the next few months, it will continue to pay attention to and protect the welfare of low-wage workers. Mr Speaker, the triple uplift formula of PWM +WIS+NWC has effectively uplifted the salaries and retirement savings of our low-wage workers. In order to benefit more workers, NTUC calls for the Government to expand PWM and for it to be made universal to cover all sectors. I also hope that the Government can strengthen WIS to better support low-wage workers. In the face of economic challenges, we can leverage the NWC platform to protect the welfare of our low-wage workers. (In English): With that, Mr Speaker, I support the Motion. 2.54 pm”
“Hence, I would like to raise these points below to strengthen our support for low-wage workers. First, PWM. Led by NTUC, the Tripartite Partners introduced PWM in 2014 to help our low-wage workers in essential services sector upskill and increase productivity, leading to higher wages and better career progression. From 2013 to 2018, the wages of these low-wage workers have increased by about 30%. However, PWM is only mandated in the cleaning, security and landscape sectors, which benefits 78,000 low-wage workers and represents 15% of all low-wage workers. We should expand PWM to more sectors to help more low-wage workers. PWM will be made mandatory for the Lift and Escalator sector in 2022. NTUC is also in discussion with stakeholders to implement PWM in the Waste Management sector in the near future. Nonetheless, I hope the Tripartite Partners can quickly conduct an in-depth study on the universal implementation of PWM across all sectors, so that we can move faster in this aspect when the economy recovers post-COVID-19. At the same time, we should explore setting a sectoral wage benchmark as a first step towards PWM. This could help encourage more companies to uplift the wages of our low-wage workers. Second, WIS. In addition to PWM, the Government has also introduced WIS which contributes to almost one-third of the take-home pay of our low-wage workers. This is a demonstration of our Social Solidarity as mentioned by President Halimah. In addition, the Workfare Special Payment of $3,000 will help low-wage workers to tide through this difficult period. We do not know how long the pandemic will last. I hope that the Government can increase the WIS assistance to low-wage workers when necessary. Third, NWC.”
“Mr Speaker, the "Triple Uplift" formula of PWM, plus WIS and NWC recommendations, has led to higher take-home pay and retirement savings for our low-wage workers, particularly those who perform essential services. To benefit more workers and protect workers from stagnating wages, NTUC calls for PWM to be expanded at a quicker pace and be made universal to cover all sectors. Sectoral wage benchmarking could be explored as a first step towards eventual universal PWM to uplift wages for sectors such as food services and retail industry. WIS should also be strengthened to better provide for low-wage workers. Taking care of our low-wage workers and giving them the dignity of earning a fair wage must be an important and tangible manifestation of the social solidarity that President Halimah has called upon all of us to do as one united Singapore. Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to speak in Mandarin, please? (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions to Singapore’s economy and the employment market. In her address, President Halimah called on us to look after our low-wage workers, especially during this unprecedented crisis, to demonstrate the spirit of Social Solidarity in Singapore. The pandemic has made us realize the important contributions made by workers in the essential services sector. And there is now more focus on the many low-wage workers in this sector. In Singapore, we uplift low-wage workers' salaries through three complementary measures- Progressive Wage Model (PWM), Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) and National Wages Council (NWC). While these three measures have lifted low-wage workers’ salaries significantly, there are still areas that we can improve on.”
“This in itself is an expression of social solidarity that Mdm President spoke about in her address where the larger pool of taxpayers, through taxpayers’ money, has helped to uplift the wages of those earnings less. In addition, the Workfare Special Payment of $3,000 announced in the recent Budget was a good measure to tide lower income Singaporeans over this difficult period. This was much welcomed by many of the low-wage workers I met. I hope the Government will continue to strengthen this WIS scheme and ensure that the earnings of the low-wage workers keep pace with the rising cost of living. The third aspect – on the National Wages Council. The broader articulation of this social solidarity is also embodied in the recommendations by the NWC. The NWC recommendations early this year – in March 2020 – have sought to further safeguard the interests of our low-wage workers, particularly those in the front line of our COVID-19 response and earning a basic monthly salary of up to $1,400. Some of these recommendations include freezing the wages of workers instead of pay cuts when the company is not doing well. Conversely, increasing the wages by up to $50 if the company is looking at increasing wages across the board. Given the profound impact of COVID-19 on the economy, companies and workers, the tripartite leaders have agreed to reconvene NWC again later this year, much earlier than the usual time frame to review the wage guidelines. I hope during this review the NWC will continue to protect the wages of our low-wage workers and recognise their contributions in the essential services sector.”
“During this circuit breaker period that we have just emerged from, many Singaporeans appreciated the work that essential services workers do, to keep our estates clean, our utilities functioning and our transportation nodes running. Members would have also read articles and social media commentaries calling for these essential workers to be better paid for the work that they do. I hope service buyers would price the contracts fairly, so that our workers can be paid fair wages. The adoption of Outcomes-based Contracting must also be ramped up at a quicker pace. We need more progressive service buyers to start awarding contracts fairly to companies based on performance and quality, instead of just looking at price alone. In this way, we can truly recognise the importance and value of the work performed by our essential services workers. This means that as consumers we must also be prepared to pay more for essential services. But in reality, there is a limit to how fast we can raise wages and how much the consumers are prepared to absorb price increases, especially during an economic downturn. Hence, to further boost wages across the board for many low-wage workers in Singapore beyond the PWM, the Workfare Income Supplement or WIS scheme is an important one. This was recently enhanced with the qualifying income gap raised to $2,300 a month and the maximum payout increased to $4,000 per year. Through this enhancement, our low-wage workers get to experience strong real wage growth. Today, WIS contributes to almost a third of the take-home pay of our low-wage workers.”
“I hope Tripartite Partners can come together even now to conduct an in-depth study on the universal implementation of PWM across more sectors, so that we can move faster in this aspect when the economy recovers post-COVID-19. If we truly want to build a more inclusive society and narrow the income gap, the pace of PWM implementation across more sectors must quicken. To build a more inclusive society that President Halimah Yacob spoke about, companies must find a way to translate the increased productivity into tangible benefits for our essential service workers, many of them are in the low-wage segment, so that they can see how industry transformation will benefit them. The Government must also be prepared to use more regulatory levers to widely implement PWM. Clearly, waiting for the market to respond on its own will not produce results we hope to see. In moving towards universal PWM, we should explore setting a sectoral wage benchmark for companies as a first step in sectors where there are currently no regulatory levers to mandate a PWM. This can be done through leveraging various data sources that we currently have, such as the Occupational Wage Survey data. And inn sectors with a more variegated employment landscape such as food services and retail, sectoral wage benchmarks may help catalyse more companies to embark on uplifting the livelihoods of our low-wage workers. This of course can eventually evolve into a formal PWM. Next, let me talk about Workfare Income Supplement enhancements. To raise the wages of those in the lower paying jobs, society at large must also play a role. Many low-wage workers are in sectors that provide essential services.”
“In fact, over the last few years, SkillsFuture Singapore or SSG, has comprehensively mapped out the skills framework for many job roles. Leveraging on these skills ladders, we should now move towards universal PWM across all the low-paying job roles. This is in line with our ITM wants to achieve; some of the objectives of which are upskilling, job redesign, productivity growth and wage progression. Some of our efforts undertaken by the tripartite partners prior to COVID-19 will lead to the lifts and escalator sector having a PWM becoming mandatory by 2022. The Labour Movement is also now in discussions with our stakeholders to see how we can implement PWM for the waste management sector. Understandably, it is not the best time to raise wages during a global health and economic crisis when businesses are facing challenges of cashflow and disruption. Timing is important. We do not want to put businesses out of action through escalating wage costs in an economic downturn, nor do we want to deter hiring of workers in a distressed job market with rising unemployment rate. As brother Heng Chee How said before in an earlier commentary speech, even as we endeavour to help low-wage workers, we must make sure a balance is struck, so that "low wage" does not become "no wage". As a doctor, I think it is quite clear that there are no magic bullets and there are actually no magic wonder drug that can heal everything without side effects. So, I think in trying to push for intervention, we need to find the right timing but when the timing is right, we must be bold and move quickly.”
“Despite all this, I thought this would be an opportunity for me to address areas in which we can improve on this "Triple Uplift" formula. I will first start with the Progressive Wage Model. The Progressive Wage Model or PWM, championed by NTUC, was introduced in 2014 and aims to help our low-wage workers to upskill and benefit from higher wages and better work prospects. This is done through a four-ladder approach – skills upgrading, productivity improvements, wage progression and career advancements. In other words, a "wage ladder" is coupled with a "skills ladder". Wages go up as skills and productivity improve. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach. But it is different for different sectors. It looks at raising wages sustainably to match the necessary productivity growth for each different sector, which is beneficial for businesses, workers and the Singapore economy at large in the longer term. Currently mandated in the cleaning, security and landscaping sectors, PWM has helped to substantially raise the wages of workers in these three sectors by around 30% between 2013 and 2018. Cleaners saw their real median wages go up by 30%, while the increases were 31% for security sector and 32% for landscape industry. For example, the starting monthly salary for a cleaner in Town Councils after we introduced PWM is $1,442 a month. With overtime pay and AWS or Bonuses, this could actually be higher. However, I must say that these three sectors account for only about 78,000 workers, representing only about 15% of all the workers in the lowest 20th percentile of salary ranges. So, we should do more and expand PWM to more sectors to help more low-wage workers.”
“Mr Speaker, I rise in support of the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. I would like to focus my speech, as Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC, on supporting low-wage workers. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions to businesses and impacted workers’ livelihoods in an unprecedented way. In her Address, President Halimah Yacob called on all of us to build a fair and just society and to look after our low-wage workers, especially during this crisis. In Singapore, our way of helping the low-wage workers is via, what I will call, the “Triple Uplift” formula: Progressive Wage Model or PWM, plus Workfare Income Supplement or WIS, and, of course, National Wage Council (NWC) recommendations – using all these three – to uplift their wages. The strong interlinkages of these three components in the “Triple Uplift” formula have increased the overall take-home salaries and retirement savings of our low-wage workers. Importantly, this uplifting of wages is significant for our workers, without imposing additional burden on companies, especially during an economic crisis like this. Through this "Triple Uplift" formula, the wages of the lowest 20th percentile have seen a higher annual growth rate of 4.4% from 2014 to 2019, as compared to 2.3% in the preceding five years. As a result, the income gap between the low-wage workers and the workers at the 50th percentile has narrowed. The wages of low-wage workers have also been growing faster than those with higher income, hence income inequality in Singapore is at its narrowest in almost 20 years. So, the "Triple Uplift" formula has helped significantly. It is good but it can be better.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank the Member for the question. Under this scheme, the Government will co-invest in the selected start-ups, together with the private sector, on a one-to-one basis via convertible bonds. A convertible bond is of one of the most expedient instruments to invest into a company in this current COVID-19 situation as discussions on equity valuation can be deferred to the next funding round, hopefully, when the economic situation is better.”
“But even as we address the immediate ones, we must not forget to put in place plans for our future, so that Singapore, our companies and Singaporeans can emerge stronger post-COVID-19. Start-ups are a critical part of these plans.”
“Mr Chairman, start-ups play an important role in our economy. They contribute to the development of new technologies and the rejuvenation of traditional industries. We have set aside $285 million in the Fortitude Budget to provide financing support for promising start-ups. Ms Anthea Ong asked why our start-ups need more help and how we intend to identify the promising ones. In fact, the answer is in her question. The keyword here is "promising". Start-ups, especially those that work on cutting-edge technologies, need to be nurtured with long-term patient capital. COVID-19, unfortunately, has sharply curtailed the availability of such capital. The Special Situation Fund for Startups is intended to fill this gap. Other countries like the UK and France have introduced similar measures. Without help from the Government, many high potential start-ups will likely scale back their innovation activities or even cease prematurely. That will be a loss to Singapore and will certainly have a detrimental impact on Singapore's innovation eco-system, which we have painstakingly built up over the years. By helping promising start-ups sustain their growth momentum, we want to maintain the vibrancy of our eco-system and maximise the value of our innovation-related investments. To impose market discipline, the scheme will operate on a co-investment basis with private sector investors that have expertise in assessing the value and viability of start-ups. This will also help crowd in more private capital. These co-investors can also offer industry insights, networks and even mentorships to help our start-ups to succeed better. Mr Chairman, the COVID-19 pandemic presents many immediate challenges.”
“We will continue to work closely with our tripartite partners to keep our workers in jobs, to enhance job matching and job creation for our workers, to encourage skills training so that we can collectively navigate through the new post-COVID era. Tough times do not last but tough people do. And I believe that if we continue to stay united, band together, face the challenges head-on as One United Singapore, we will be able to go through this global pandemic together and be ready when the upturn comes. With that, Sir, I stand in support of the Budget.”
“It allows us to conduct such processes even with circuit breaker measures. We will be conducting more virtual-OTRs with the various CTCs using online platforms to ensure that companies' transformation needs and workers' training needs continue to be served by the virtual-OTR during this pandemic. Workers have also shared with me that training-related costs may deter their employers facing cashflow challenges during COVID-19 pandemic from undertaking skills upgrading for their workers. NTUC introduced the NTUC-Education and Training Fund (NETF) Collaborative Fund (NCF) in March 2019 to provide training-related funding support to our unionised companies who send their unionised employees for training programmes. To help the increasing number of affected workers and to ensure that training costs to companies are further reduced during this COVID-19 period, I am glad to share that NTUC has increased the training support funding cap of this NCF from S$30,000 to S$50,000 per unionised company. To speed up business recovery, we will also introduce NETF Collaborative Fund Lite or NCF-Lite, for non-unionised companies with 50 or more NTUC union members in their workforce, with training support of up to $8,000 per company. I want to encourage more companies, both unionised and non-unionised, to approach NTUC to set up CTCs and tap into the additional funding support to send their workers for training. Sir, Singapore is not immune to the disruptions brought about by COVID-19. We have in place structures and initiatives to help the Singapore economy recover. The Government has set aside nearly $100 billion through the four Budgets to support both businesses and workers. The Labour Movement also stands ready to journey with our tripartite partners through this challenging period.”
“While DKA's business in the aviation sector has been affected by COVID-19, they will be using this downtime to cross-skill workers through structured on-the-job training so that they have flexibility to re-deploy workers to areas of need and emerge stronger from the crisis. Many companies like DKA in the manufacturing sector has been impacted by disruption to the Malaysian workers commuting across from the Causeway due to the lockdowns and the situation in Malaysia. And by cross-skilling their workers, they are able to respond to this transient manpower shortages and cope with the skill gaps that they may have. Some companies have pivoted to other business segments with growth opportunities and accelerated their business transformation during this period. One example is Certact Engineering, a unionised company under MIWU as well. This company has recently transformed their business from a plastic and aluminum manufacturing company, to manufacture medical equipment components like the COVID-19 test kits and ventilator component parts. To support the new business requirements, Certact had to remodel their business processes, redesign existing jobs and send their workers for training to operate their new manufacturing lines. So, even as I speak today, Certact is partnering NTUC to leverage the CTC and Operations Technology Roadmapping (OTR) process to implement their new business model and strengthen their workforce capabilities. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, physical OTR sessions cannot be conducted. Hence, NTUC worked with A*STAR to develop a virtual-OTR methodology and we embarked on this virtual OTR process with Certact Engineering recently. They have given good feedback. It is a useful process.”
“Through this, and with the help of many of our unions and the various Company Training Committees (CTCs), NTUC stands ready to support the Government in the National Jobs Council, leveraging our existing capabilities and our network to help match workers to new jobs and also to equip them with deeper skills at the national level. I hope policy incentives being considered by National Jobs Council can further support the early success of NTUC Job Security Council and encourage more companies to join us in this network to create more traineeship placements and more job opportunities. One of the key enablers to allow better job matching is skills training to ensure our workers acquire future-ready and industry relevant skills. During this economic slowdown, NTUC has been working closely with our unions to encourage companies to send their workers for training and to take advantage of the various schemes, like absentee payroll, for example, to help defray wage costs when the workers are away on training. Companies should also leverage on the CTCs to identify skills and training needs to better upskill their workers. One example is Diethelm Keller Aviation (DKA). This is an unionised company under Metal Industries Workers Union (MIWU). Together with the union, the company set up a CTC in 2019, with the aim of furthering workers' career prospects through relevant skills training. The company engaged NTUC's e2i or the Employment and Employability Institute, to redesign the jobs and raised productivity of their workers.”
“They were seeing reduced work hours, shorter work weeks and even no-pay leave is becoming more frequent now in many of our branches and our partner companies. So, naturally, I understand that our union leaders and workers are concerned about their job security in the immediate and longer term. Therefore, the Labour Movement welcomes the Fortitude Budget that supports the gradual reopening of our economy. The enhancement to the Jobs Support Scheme will help to sustain companies in the early phase of reopening and reduce the pressure to retrench workers. PMETs and workers, aged in the 40s to 50s, are expected to be more impacted by any retrenchments. They are more likely to face difficulties in finding jobs in this distressed job market. To help workers stay employed and employable, the new SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package will create close to 100,000 placement opportunities in the three areas of jobs, traineeships and training. This is very much welcomed by union leaders and workers that I spoke to. The National Jobs Council chaired by Senior Minister Tharman will oversee this effort. NTUC hopes that the NJC will leverage the NTUC Job Security Council set up earlier in February this year to pre-emptively match at-risk and soon-to-be displaced workers into available job opportunities. NTUC JSC, as Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng has shared earlier, has more than 7,000 companies in our network and has emplaced more than 10,000 workers into job opportunities. These jobs were mainly in essential services or to support COVID-19 efforts, especially in sectors such as healthcare, retail and logistics.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to speak in support of the Fortitude Budget as Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC. Sir, COVID-19 has transformed our world drastically and the past few months had been challenging for everybody. Since MTI’s last review in March, the disruptions to economic activity in major economies around the world have been more severe than expected due to the stringent containment measures taken by various governments to slow the spread of COVID-19. Most of the major advanced economies as well as the emerging economies are now projected to see full-year recessions in 2020. Against this backdrop, the outlook for the Singapore economy has weakened further. As a small and open economy, Singapore’s GDP growth is expected to come in at -7% to -4%. Sectors such as manufacturing, wholesale trade and transportation and storage will be adversely affected by the sharper-than-expected slowdown in many of Singapore’s key markets and there will be prolonged uncertainties as well disruptions in the global supply chains. The implementation of circuit breaker measures to contain the COVID-19 virus in Singapore was necessary but it has also created an impact on our economy – business operations were disrupted and non-essential business services were forced to close during the circuit breaker period; workers have to make alternative arrangements to work from home. While we have managed to flatten the epidemic curve, we must now shift our focus to tackle the "unemployment" curve as retrenchment and job losses will inevitably rise. As the Executive Secretary of the Metal Industries Workers’ Union (MIWU), I had the chance to speak with many of our employer partners as well as our workers on the ground.”
“At this moment these situations are still evolving because the technology for many of the low carbon alternatives are still quite nascent. They are still not exactly mainstream. Things like carbon capture, utilisation, carbon storage, hydrogen fuel cell technology, for example. All these things are still technologically undergoing development and they have not gone to mainstream yet. So, I do not think we have reached the inflection point where we need to actually transit aggressively into alternative energy sources. For new jobs, one of the key things is to make sure that we continue to work on our ITM together with the industry. The ITM for the energy and chemical sector is a tripartite effort between the oil majors or the people owning the refineries in the energy sector, together with the union as well as the workers. The idea is to make sure that we involve these tripartite partners into looking at what their transition plans would be over the longer term. And then working out step-by-step what kind of new jobs would be created in the interim, what kinds of skills are needed and then very, very targetedly training the workers today to continue to take on new skill sets so that as the new jobs come about, whether it is through efficiency measures, putting in new technology that changes the way they work, then the skills of the workers are relevant for these news that come about. So, I hope that gives you a kind of sense of where we are implementing some of this technological change to our workforce. I hope that answers the bulk of the Member's questions.”
“Sir, can I get Ms Anthea Ong to repeat her first question because I did not quite catch that.”
“For example, we are engaging China's regulators on the recognition of meat and seafood products. This will help Singapore companies to export their food products to new markets which previously did not permit this. As we continue to anchor and seek out new growth areas, new exciting jobs will be created. And I hope to see Singaporeans seizing opportunities to work in these exciting sectors. To conclude, Mr Chairman, innovation is key to our continued success. Our resilient and agile economy was not built overnight. It is the product of strong and consistent investment over many decades. Not every individual project or enterprise will succeed but, collectively, we will move forward. We must not be afraid to venture into new frontiers to reap undiscovered rewards, for present and future generations. In the years to come, we will continue to strengthen our innovation ecosystem and transform our industries through innovation so that Singapore and Singaporeans can continue to thrive.”
“Infrastructure and land preparation works for Phase One of AFIP have started and we will be ready to welcome companies by the first half of next year. The Government must be prepared to relook at our rules and regulations as we grow new sectors. As with any new sector, there will be a learning curve for both businesses and the regulator. But we must not be afraid to try. Even before the setting up of AFIP, agencies such as the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and ESG, have already been engaging the Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation and other farm operators to address the issues that they have faced with existing regulations. This includes areas that are important for agri-food tech operations, like building infrastructure, fire safety and other regulatory issues. So, we will expand these efforts into a new regulatory sandbox for High Tech farms at AFIP. This will allow us to review more regulations for AFIP tenants even more quickly in a more streamlined manner. The lessons learnt from the sandbox will then be extended to benefit the wider farming industry. As we help our agri-food tech companies to increase their food production capacity through the use of high-tech farming equipment, we must also help them to access new markets and expand their customer base overseas. This is why we have started an inter-agency workgroup, the Food Regulatory Connectivity Initiative, to develop Singapore as a trusted food trading hub. We will work with trading partners to boost recognition of Singapore’s food regulatory system and improve market access for food produced in or exported through Singapore. We are also partnering accredited private bodies based in Singapore to provide the necessary checks that fulfil foreign import requirements.”
“Individual companies across diverse industries can also benefit from adopting a circular economy concept. In the food manufacturing sector, for example, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) has helped to connect food businesses with tech solution providers to convert food waste into higher value products. Last week, I visited SinFooTech, a food technology company co-founded by two young entrepreneurs, Jonathan and Jian Yong. When I spoke to Jonathan, he shared how their patented fermentation technology upcycles soy whey, a food waste by-product of tofu manufacturers, into a much higher value-added alcoholic beverage named Sachi. This is the first alcoholic beverage in the world to be made from soy whey and it was fascinating to understand the science behind how soy whey, a waste product from tofu manufacturing, can be converted into an alcoholic drink with a slight fruity, sweet and floral taste. And if you have a chance to, you should try it when they finally start their commercial production. I am glad to hear that SinFooTech is looking to sell their technology licence overseas and will be setting up a factory to scale up their production of Sachi. Companies like SinFooTech contribute to Singapore's broader agri-food tech industry. This is a sector of growing importance as the world looks for innovative solutions to feed our growing population amidst climate change and resource constraints. Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Ms Foo Mee Har asked how the Government will support the development of emerging sectors. Last year, I announced that we will establish an Agri-Food Innovation Park (AFIP) in Sungei Kadut to allow leading high-tech farming operators to testbed and commercialise their technologies.”
“Today, we ensure resilience in our energy supply by encouraging our natural gas importers to diversify and import from multiple sources. This addresses the energy security concerns that Mr Leon Perera has raised. Our LNG terminal has the capacity to cover all our gas demand even if our piped natural gas supply were to cease today. On nuclear energy, countries that deploy nuclear energy have to be accountable to their populations and their regions and ensure that high safety and security standards are adhered to. We are working with ASEAN countries to strengthen cooperation on nuclear safety and emergency preparedness as well as response systems. But security is not just about ensuring the robustness of our current energy supply. It is also about looking at our energy future. Hence, we welcome Ms Anthea Ong's suggestions on studying the potential of renewable and alternative energy options. Such reviews are important because they provide useful insights on how we can work with companies to overcome the growth risks and capture economic opportunities arising from global climate change developments. One area of growing interest is the idea of a circular economy. A "circular economy" seeks to improve resource efficiency and recycle resources in a loop to maximise their value. JTC is thus partnering with companies on Jurong Island and other Government agencies, such as NEA and PUB, to conduct a Jurong Island Circular Economy Study. The study will map out flows of water, energy and waste on the island and identify system-level gaps. This will allow companies to come together to develop solutions to address these gaps, testbed solutions on Jurong Island and then export these solutions globally.”
“Just as we had turned our vulnerability with water into a strength, we can do likewise with climate change as Miss Cheryl Chan and Ms Anthea Ong have discussed. We can do so in two ways. First, by reducing our carbon footprint. Last week, Senior Minister Teo announced the Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) which details Singapore's approach towards a low carbon future, and how our industries and Singaporeans can contribute to this global effort. The Energy and Chemicals sector is a valued pillar of Singapore's economy, contributing 2.3% of our GDP and employing around 26,000 workers in 2019. We have been working closely with companies in the industry to ensure that new or upgraded facilities meet higher levels and higher standards of efficiency. Companies, such as ExxonMobil, are also taking active steps to improve their energy efficiency. From 2002 to 2018, ExxonMobil's efforts to reduce their energy consumption in Singapore have led to energy efficiency gains of over 25%. This is equivalent to the removal of more than 550,000 cars from Singapore's roads. Miss Cheryl Chan would also be pleased to know that there are existing platforms to facilitate exchange of best practices, such as those organised by industry associations like the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS). We also organise the annual Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW), which brings together global policy makers, think tanks, industry experts and leaders to discuss trends and challenges in the energy landscape. We will continue to encourage such exchanges. 10.45 am Second, by developing new sustainable solutions. Given the increasing demand globally for sustainable products and services, there are economic spin-offs to be captured here.”
“This will be a co-working space to help companies ideate and design their own unique products. For a start, there will be a focus on equipment design, medtech devices and electromechanical modules. It will be equipped with the necessary tools for companies to prototype their designs and will have resident design and technology experts to help companies through their innovation journey. This is very useful for SMEs when they do not have the scale or the necessary technical expertise to do this on their own. So, we hope this will be a real boost to our SMEs to up their innovation capabilities. After successfully designing their own products, companies can then go on to one of two of A*STAR model factory facilities for pilot production of these new products. To fully seize opportunities in I4.0, companies must also train and upskill their workers. I4.0 is not just about equipment, is not just about technology. Our experience implementing the ITMs has shown that industry transformation is much more effective and pervasive when there is participation and ownership by the workers. The Labour Movement has been advocating that for I4.0 to succeed, there must be Worker 4.0. We will do more to enable this. We recently launched the SkillsFuture Work-Learn Bootcamp for Engineer 4.0. This is a three-year pilot programme that will train and place up to 200 engineers in areas such as lean manufacturing and the Internet of Things. We have also introduced the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit, with a portion reserved for training and job redesign, to encourage companies to invest in their workers. Sir, innovation is also about turning challenges into economic opportunities.”
“Another prong of our strategy is to build platforms that foster interaction and collaboration within the manufacturing ecosystem, to adopt I4.0 technologies. Mr Leon Perera and Ms Foo Mee Har asked about networking platforms and industry collaboration. To build a regional community, Singapore has been hosting Industry Transformation Asia Pacific (ITAP), the Asian Edition of Hannover Messe, the world's largest industrial trade fair. ITAP has provided a very useful platform to help companies to connect, discover the latest trends in technology and exchange best practices. We introduced a learning element into the 2019 edition, to ensure that our enterprises, workers and even our students were able to learn about I4.0 through guided tours and on-site learning labs. Beyond single touchpoints and events, we are also developing the Jurong Innovation District (JID) as a dedicated advanced manufacturing campus for different players along the value chain, such as researchers, technology providers and businesses, to work together on new ideas. It will also serve as an area for SMEs to collaborate with our MNCs and larger enterprises. Over the next 20 years, companies in the JID are estimated to create 95,000 new jobs in research and advanced manufacturing activities. For our next phase of transformation, we will leverage on what we have learnt from our Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) and explore synergies across the different sectors. This will allow us to identify more opportunities within the clusters to promote innovation, to deepen capabilities and importantly, to encourage partnerships. To build on these efforts and give more local companies a boost in innovation, I am happy to share that we will launch a new SIMTECH Innovation Factory in the JID.”
“To encourage funds and fund managers to invest a larger proportion of their funds into Singapore-based start-ups, we will also extend the relevant tax incentives by five years. This also includes enhancements such as expanding the types of investments and incomes incentivised and streamlining of the requirements to invest in Singapore-based enterprises. Mr Chairman, innovation is not only about investing in R&D but also about transforming our industries to be relevant for the future. Mr Lee Yi Shyan and Mr Leon Perera have spoken on Industry 4.0 or I4.0. I4.0 will have a deep impact on our industries, particularly in Manufacturing. Over the years, manufacturing in Singapore has evolved to compete based on the deep skills and capabilities of our companies and our people, and the use of technologies such as robotics and automation. Our initial efforts have allowed us to anchor I4.0 activities from some of the best manufacturers in the world. Two of Singapore's factories, Micron and Infineon, joined the World Economic Forum's Global Lighthouse network as trail blazers earlier this year. This accolade is only offered to advanced manufacturers who show leadership in applying I4.0 technologies to drive change. We will continue to support companies in their efforts to adopt innovative solutions through a multi-pronged approach. As a start, we launched the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) and the SIRI Prioritisation Matrix in 2017. Since then, more than 250 companies have undergone the SIRI Assessments and among them, about 30% of them were SMEs. The SIRI Assessments help our companies understand where they are at in their manufacturing transformation journey and to prioritise the improvements they need to make.”
“For deep-tech start-ups, it is especially important to have access to such funding that is backed by deep industry knowledge. As Mr Liang Eng Hwa and Ms Foo Mee Har noted, such start-ups typically require larger investments and have longer gestation periods, because of the multiple iterations of prototyping and pilot production that are needed. In fact, for medtech and pharmbio products, they would usually require quite a period of time for clinical trials and validation for safety and efficacy, before they can be introduced into the market. Clearly, not all moonshot projects will succeed. But when they do, when these moonshot projects succeed, they break new ground and give fertile foundation for future incremental innovations to succeed thereafter. We will therefore enhance the Startup SG Equity Scheme to help our deep-tech startups in the areas of pharmaceuticals, biotech and medtech, advanced manufacturing and agri-food tech. To ensure they have the necessary resources to bring their products to market, Deputy Prime Minister Heng shared during Budget that we will be topping up S$300 million to the scheme. We will also enhance the scheme to double the maximum amount each start-up can receive, from S$4 million to S$8 million. A portion of the S$300 million will be allocated towards investing in a global Venture Capital or VC fund, through a new "fund-of-funds" approach. This not only increases the availability of investment funds, but also attracts experienced VCs into the Singapore eco-system. Our deep-tech start-ups can then tap on their expertise, knowledge and networks to accelerate their growth, such as seeking guidance on commercialisation and business operations, and importantly, meeting new business partners.”
“We have also set up the Digital Industry Singapore (DISG) last year to better coordinate Singapore's efforts for the digital industry. Our suite of value propositions has helped us to grow our tech sector, where we have successfully attracted digital giants such as Google, Facebook and Alibaba. These strong inter-linkages between research, innovation and enterprise do not just serve a pure commercial purpose. In fact, they have been essential to tackling the COVID-19 scourge that we are facing right now too. Take Kronikare, an AI start-up that is based locally. Kronikare has an AI wound monitoring software to help patients take care of their wounds. When COVID-19 struck, Integrated Health System Information (IHiS), the IT arm for our public healthcare sector, partnered Kronikare to quickly re-engineered this core technology to develop an automatic fever detection solution to aid other businesses in the fight against COVID-19. Start-ups like Kronikare play an important role in the innovation eco-system. They bring new ideas to the table and spur industry to do things differently. Over the past four years, through schemes like Startup SG Equity, the Government has catalysed over $560 million in private sector funding into Singapore-based start-ups, helping them with product development and bringing these products into market. Mr Teo Ser Luck asked about how we identify which start-ups to invest in. Investing in start-ups is inherently risky and the Government does not possess enough information to make these assessments alone. This is why Enterprise Singapore (ESG) co-invests with private sector investors who have the expertise in assessing the commercial value and viability of start-ups.”
“Mr Chairman, as a small and open economy, Singapore must be nimble and responsive to developments in the global economy, in order to maintain our competitive advantage. Innovation is key to doing this. We will foster innovation in Singapore by strengthening our innovation eco-system and leveraging innovation to transform our industries and seize new growth opportunities. We will strengthen the innovation eco-system to help companies harness technological change and bring new ideas to market. Ms Foo Mee Har asked about the research landscape in Singapore. As part of the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 Plan (RIE2020), we provide strong support to our companies in their innovation activities, including translating research into commercially viable products. We have established technology consortia, which bring together companies and public sector researchers to collaborate on research projects. Companies can join these consortia to keep up with research trends and tap on the expertise of our many researchers. Our Centres of Innovation (COIs) that Ms Foo asked about, provide specialised expertise to help companies translate problem statements into technology requirements. This accelerates their product development process. The COIs have supported over 4,200 such projects in areas such as technical consultancy, product development and intellectual property commercialisation. Mr Lee Yi Shyan asked about our digital eco-system. In addition to our strong research and development capabilities, we are also constantly building up other aspects of our pro-innovation eco-system, including access to skilled global talent and a vibrant startup eco-system.”
“Companies can make use of this opportunity to build digital confidence amongst employees and accelerate the digital transformation of their business operations. Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) for certain job functions could also be made permanent. This will not only help companies save on operational costs like office rentals and utilities, but also help many working parents better balance work demands and parental duties, which will encourage more to contribute to our workforce. I hope that companies and workers will ride on the momentum driven by this crisis to deepen and accelerate the pace of transformation. The Labour Movement is committed to partner the Government and employers to work towards a brighter future for Singapore. (In English): Mr Speaker, this year's Budget builds on the previous year's efforts to upskill our workforce and transform our industries while providing crucial help for our workers, our enterprises and our economy to get through the challenges posed by COVID-19. The Labour Movement stands ready to work with the Government and our employers to Advance as One Singapore and build a stronger and better future for Singapore. I support this Budget.”
“The enhanced EDG and the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit announced in this Budget will provide useful funding resources to this tripartite effort to catalyse industry transformation. Mr Speaker, in Mandarin, please. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] With the reduction in workload during this lull period, EDG as well as the SkillsFuture Enterprise Grant can be used to help companies redesign jobs and enhance the skills of their workers. They can focus on business transformation, respond quickly and seize new opportunities when the economy recovers. In the past few weeks, NTUC and our management partners have been working closely to see how we can make full use of the lull period to upskill workers. Currently, there are many skills upgrading courses in the market. However, with so many different courses to choose from, some companies and workers are at a loss about which courses to pick. They also find it difficult to map the training courses against the skills framework developed by SkillsFuture Singapore, and hope that the training they have undergone will be better recognised by their employers and the industry, and that it will help advance their career. Government Ministries and agencies need to work with their tripartite partners and HR professionals to streamline the matching of courses with the skills framework, and make the “customer experience” of lifelong learning more manageable. This will fit in better with the Government’s efforts to provide more SkillsFuture Credits at the individual and enterprise levels. To manage the operational risks of COVID-19, many companies have rolled out business continuity plans, adopted segregated work arrangements and allowed some workers to telecommute using their laptops.”
“Because she was able to give critical inputs about workers' concerns and understanding of the ground situation, this has helped the company's management to identify gaps and blindspots in the roadmap. The OTR process has certainly helped Energizer to identify transformation priorities and action plans. CTC will be the platform for regular tracking of their transformation objectives. Apart from MNCs, SMEs are also leveraging the CTC platform and the OTR process to systematically transform their businesses. Fong's Engineering is an SME unionised under the Metal Industries Workers' Union. I have shared in previous Budget speeches before how Fong's has embraced innovation and business model transformation very much early on to help keep themselves ahead of the competition. While having done their own company planning previously, Fong's still chose to undertake the OTR process in November last year. The aim is to re-evaluate the relevance of their previous transformation plans and, through this OTR process, Fong's managed to pinpoint some blindspots in their current transformation plan that needed a further in-depth analysis, they identified additional talent and training needs and updated their transformation plan to move even more decisively for the next two years ahead. So, whether you are an MNC or an SME, let me encourage all companies to work with our Labour Movement via the CTC platform to hasten and deepen your transformation. Through the CTCs, the unions work closely with the companies and relevant agencies in the Government to tap on the various support measures and resources to make the company transformation and the workers' training a reality.”
“In coping with the near-term challenges brought about by COVID-19, our companies should, therefore, not forget about the long-term goal of growing and expanding their businesses through deeper industry transformation. The Labor Movement has been advocating the formation of CTCs to help drive companies' transformation. As shared by NTUC Secretary-General Mr Ng Chee Meng earlier, to date, we have 352 companies that have formed CTCs across the various industry clusters. Allow me to share a little bit more about this. NTUC has also, in this process, partnered the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to train a group of 28 Industry Training Officers (ITOs) to conduct the Operations Technology Roadmapping (OTR) process through the CTCs as a platform on which the process can run. This helps our companies to systematically map out the process of using technology, process change, work redesign and workers' training to turn their strategic business objectives into concrete, tangible, actionable items. Some CTCs have already completed the OTR process and are pushing ahead with their transformation. Let me share an example. Energizer, a unionised company, a household name under the United Workers of Electronics and Electrical Industries (UWEEI), is one such example. The US-based MNC has over 500 workers in their branch here in Singapore and they were looking to increase their productivity, optimise resources and manpower, as well as upskill their workers. The company embarked on the OTR process in September last year and, within a month, completed the entire process. Our union leader, Sister Sukartini, who is the Branch Chair of UWEEI in Energizer, was involved in the whole OTR process.”
“There is a need for Government agencies to work with tripartite partners as well as HR practitioners to streamline the approach and make the "customer journey" of lifelong learning a much easier one to navigate. This will complement the Government's efforts in providing more SkillsFuture Credits at both the individual and enterprise levels. For companies that are keen to train their workers but are unable to find courses due to training gaps currently available in the industry, NTUC LearningHub stands ready to work with companies to bridge the gap and strengthen training in the respective sectors. In coping with COVID-19, many companies have also implemented their Business Continuity Plans (BCPs). Many have split team arrangements to minimise the risks of community spread while ensuring operational continuity. In place of face-to-face meetings or discussions, the teams now meet virtually over their smart phones or laptops. Companies can take this opportunity to help these workers transit and become more digitally confident and, at the same time, use this as impetus to accelerate the digital transformation of their business processes. Through the use of technology and job redesign, flexi-work arrangements (FWAs) for certain jobs can, indeed, be a more permanent arrangement to save on operating costs like office rental and utilities while providing the opportunity for employees to remain productive and empowered to manage their time flexibly. This can also meet the needs of many working mothers to balance their childcaring needs and career aspirations while contributing positively to our labour force. So, it is in a crisis where we must make the full use of it to push ourselves to transform even faster.”
“These two points are worth emphasising. The Labour Movement supports the Budget measures in the Stabilisation and Support Package. Our unions have been working closely with their management partners over the last few weeks to see how best they can utilise the downtime to reskill workers, especially those whose jobs have been impacted by COVID-19. One such example is Copthorne King's Hotel. Working with the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU), the hotel's General Manager, Mr Kung Teong Wah, saw value in tapping on the Hotel Job Redesign Place-and-Train programme to multi-skill their workers in other job functions so that they can actually be cross-deployed into other departments when there is a shortage of manpower. He even took the initiative to convince general managers from other hotels within the same group to do likewise in order to avoid asking their workers to go on mandatory annual leave or to take no-pay leave. This is just one of the first-movers from our unionised companies who is taking the lead to send workers for training during this downturn and I hope that more companies will also seize the opportunity to do so. However, some companies and workers have expressed difficulties navigating the huge number of courses available for skills training and, therefore, are unsure of how to select the courses appropriate for their needs. They found it difficult to map the type of training to the specific skills in the skills framework that are promulgated by SkillsFuture Singapore and hope that the training they received could be better recognised by employers as well as the industry towards their career progression.”
“Some manufacturing companies have, therefore, started to reduce or freeze workers' overtime hours while others are planning for a shorter work week if the situation in China does not improve. While support measures have been extended to sectors, such as those that are most immediately affected by COVID-19, I hope that the Government can pay special attention to sectors that may feel the downstream ripple effects of COVID-19, especially if the situation is protracted. Sir, the Stabilisation and Support Package brings relief to the cash flow of companies and helps them cope with the impact of COVID-19 through a combination of rental waivers, tax reliefs and bridging loans. Manpower costs are also a significant expenditure for companies, and the wage support measures that are announced during this period will help companies to "cut costs to save jobs" instead of "cutting jobs to save costs". This is well received by many of my union leaders and workers, who told me that while they are worried about the impact of COVID-19 on their job security, they are thankful that JSS and the Wage Credit Scheme will help enterprises retain their workers and protect the jobs that they have. Protecting the jobs of our workers will also allow our companies to retain their critical manpower capabilities, so they can respond swiftly when the DORSCON level normalises and the economy picks up again. During a downturn when the volume of work is reduced, the enhanced Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) and the newly announced SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit can help companies to redesign jobs, upskill their workers and look at long-term business transformation so that when economic recovery occurs, companies will be able to swiftly respond and capture new opportunities.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Budget 2020 is a strategic Budget, one that not only addresses short-term concerns of our workers and businesses but also invest in the long-term economic transformation and growth of Singapore. The theme for this year's Budget "Advancing as One Singapore" reminds us that when we work as one, we can overcome any challenges. Our frontline workers who have been working tirelessly around the clock in our fight against COVID-19 and the many ground-up initiatives and responses from the community rallying behind them embody the strong Singapore spirit that will see us through any challenge. To our doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, our cleaning and security personnel, public officers and all our frontline workers, thank you. Thank you for working tirelessly to keep Singaporeans and Singapore safe through this COVID-19 period. While the impact of COVID-19 is most acutely felt in sectors like retail, tourism and hospitality, the prolonged shutdown of factories in China, has disrupted supply chains around the world and the manufacturing sector here in Singapore is not spared from such an impact. The manufacturing and service sectors are also facing a manpower squeeze as many workers from China are unable to return to Singapore yet for work. This adds extra pressure or our already tight labour market. As the Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC and the Executive Secretary of the Metal Industries Workers' Union, I get feedback from our management partners that for companies with supply chains that are linked to China factories, there has been a reduction in demand of their products by up to about 20%. Some may experience an even greater drop in demand.”
“I believe that takes into account the whole of Singapore's emissions.”
“Mr Speaker, I think individual refineries' expansions and their emissions are commercially sensitive. So, that is not something that I am able to share with the Member at the moment. But I would say that, in principle, when we expand the presence of our refineries here, whether it is a new and or an existing one, the aim is to ensure that they are carbon- and energy-efficient. And let me also say that we are committed to our Paris Agreement goals that regardless of industry expansion of new plants, we want to make sure that we still cut our emissions intensity by 36% from 2005 levels and to peak in 2030, and to reduce beyond that.”
“For instance, the Government supported the Singapore Refining Company's (SRC's) upgrade on Jurong Island, including its co-generation plant, which has led to greater energy efficiency, higher quality products and reduced sulphur oxide emissions. This is also the case for ExxonMobil’s recent expansion of its Singapore manufacturing complex, which is one of the most efficient refineries globally. Beyond the refineries and petrochemicals sector, we also encourage companies in other sectors to be energy-efficient. For instance, Facebook’s first data centre in Singapore will be a leader in energy efficiency, with features that also minimise the use of land and water. But beyond industries, all of us, as consumers, as citizens, have a responsibility to mitigate climate change. For example, saving electricity, using public transport and reducing waste are good ways to cut carbon emissions. As a country, we will do our part to help address global climate change and global climate challenges.”
“In 2017, 190 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) of fossil fuels were imported into Singapore. About 55 Mtoe were refined into higher value chemicals and fuels and mostly exported for use in other countries. The rest is largely for power generation and transportation. Singapore generated 52.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2017, of which industries contribute about 60%. Around three-quarters of industries’ emissions are from the refining and petrochemicals sectors. Under the Paris Agreement, Singapore has pledged to reduce our emissions intensity by 36% from 2005 levels by 2030 and to reduce our total carbon emissions beyond 2030. To achieve this, we have to make our economy much more carbon-efficient. For existing industries, we are encouraging companies to adopt energy-efficient technologies. This year, we implemented an enhanced set of Industry Energy Efficiency schemes. From January 2019, the funding support for the adoption of energy-efficient technologies under the Economic Development Board's (EDB’s) Resource Efficiency Grant for Energy (REG(E)) and the National Environment Agency's (NEA’s) Energy Efficiency Fund (E2F) has been increased from the previous cap of 30%, to 50% of the qualifying costs. From 2021 onwards, companies regulated under the Energy Conservation Act must establish energy management systems and regularly assess energy efficiency opportunities. NEA is also planning to launch a new grant to help companies digitalise their energy management systems. When firms expand their operations or new firms invest in Singapore, the Government works closely with them to ensure a high standard of efficiency.”
“Mr Speaker, this is something that changes from month to month. But, on average, it is about 18% to 20% of the households have chosen to switch. Of course, over time, more households may come on. I do not have the updated number as of this moment, but we do see that there are fluctuations from month to month.”
“Mr Speaker, I can reassure the Member that our oil trading ecosystem is pretty well-diversified. Our traders have sourced for oil not just from the Middle East, but places in the US as well. So, the diversification is a robust strategy to make sure that we are not threatened by a single source, where there may be problems that occur with that supply. In terms of electricity, the generation comes largely from gas, whether it is piped or liquefied natural gas (LNG). So, in terms of electricity supply, that ensures our needs. That is something that we can be well assured about. With the diversified sources of LNG, where we can source from different places, our electricity supply is well taken care of.”