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”
The complete record
Every one of 1,209 lines we hold for Koh Poh Koon, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 2 of 25.
“That is why much of our work this year has focused on building practical partnerships – through tripartite workgroups, alliances for action and the Economic Strategy Review – to listen carefully, to test what works on the ground, and turn ideas into outcomes that matter for both workers and employers and ultimately, for Singapore. Career longevity is not simply about staying employed for longer. It is about enabling Singaporeans to remain productive, adaptable and engaged across different stages of their lives and enabling employers to continue drawing on the full range of experience, skills and capabilities in a tight labour force. This effort cannot be carried by any single party alone. Workers must stay adaptable, taking ownership of their skills and plan ahead for transitions over longer careers. Employers must continue to invest in their people, redesigning jobs, developing skills and creating workplaces where workers of all ages can contribute meaningfully. Government will continue to walk alongside both, strengthening career and employment systems, uplifting HR capabilities, supporting transitions and keeping our employment protections fit for a changing workforce. This is how we turn longer working lives into a strength for Singapore, strengthening productivity, resilience and inclusion at the same time. And our commitment to Singaporeans is this: as work changes, we will keep listening, keep assisting, and keep adapting, so that workers have the confidence to move forward and businesses have the support to grow through change.”
“Done right, this can also benefit workers, by allowing employers and employees to negotiate mutually beneficial arrangements that meet individual needs. Mr Patrick Tay has asked about the Ministry’s plans to issue guidelines on the inclusion of restraint of trade clauses in employment contracts. We are discussing with tripartite partners on how and when restrictive clauses in employment contracts can and should be used, and the guidelines will be based on established principles that the Courts have articulated. Employees who believe that they are affected by unreasonable or unjustified clauses can seek assistance from their unions, TAFEP or MOM. We will update further, in due course. Finally, many stakeholders pointed out that the Act has become harder to navigate over time. We will study how to streamline and clarify key provisions, so that they are easier to understand and comply with. The Tripartite Workgroup on the Employment Act Review will publish its report in the second half of this year. Through this Tripartite Workgroup, we are strengthening protections where they matter most, while keeping our labour framework practical and responsive as careers lengthen and workplaces evolve. Taken together, these efforts reflect a simple principle: as work changes, our protections must evolve alongside it. Whether it is supporting workers through restructuring or updating the Employment Act, our aim is the same – to ensure workers and employers can adapt with confidence to the future of work. Sir, longer lives are reshaping how we work, how we build careers, and how our economy grows. What matters now is whether our workers, employers and systems are ready to adapt to these changes with confidence.”
“It sets out the basic terms and conditions of employment, such as timely salary payments, overtime pay and sick leave. As the Employment Act covers almost all employees in Singapore, we must always strike a careful balance between protecting employees and giving space for employers to thrive. 5.45 pm But the nature of work has changed. Our workforce profile is different, work arrangements are more varied and businesses are operating in a more competitive environment. That is why the tripartite partners convened the Tripartite Workgroup on the Employment Act Review in August last year, to review key parts of the Act in a balanced way, protecting workers who need it most while supporting business flexibility. Mr Pritam Singh and Mr Patrick Tay have asked for an update on the main areas of review for the Employment Act. Mr Pritam Singh also asked if the review can include a public consultation in parallel with tripartite negotiations. In conducting this review, the Tripartite Workgroup has collectively engaged more than 2,000 stakeholders, including PMEs, lower-income employees, employers, HR practitioners and other experts to understand diverse needs across the workforce. What we heard from workers and employers was clear: different groups need different forms of protection and flexibility. For lower-wage employees, time-based protections still matter and overtime pay remains an important part of their income. As wages rise and the workforce profile evolves, we will review Part 4 of the Employment Act to ensure these protections remain well-targeted at workers who need them most. For employers, greater flexibility is needed to manage costs, redesign jobs and stay competitive.”
“This scheme provides temporary financial relief to involuntarily unemployed individuals, helping them transition into suitable new roles rather than rushing into poor job matches. As at end-October 2025, more than 3,500 individuals have received support from the scheme. Among these individuals, we estimate that more than 1,600 have since found new job roles. Mr Ng Chee Meng and Mr Patrick Tay asked whether we would consider increasing the current qualifying income cap. As the scheme has only been rolled out last year, we will conduct a review when we have more experience, including on key parameters such as the qualifying income, to ensure the scheme remains well-targeted and sustainable. Building on this, the ESR's Committee on Managing the Impact of Restructuring is studying how we can support workers more proactively and how we can extend meaningful support to more groups, including PMEs. For instance, as Minister said, this could include requiring earlier notice of retrenchment from employers, leveraging networks of trade associations and chambers to provide more targeted job matching in sectors with more PME job openings and expanding the scope of support under Career Conversion Programmes to help more workers with the transition into growth jobs. These efforts reflect a shift from reacting to job loss, to actively supporting career transitions, guided by strong tripartite partnerships and closer alignment between skills, jobs and industry needs. Beyond transition support, our employment laws are important to ensure our workers are adequately protected. Many Singaporeans may not realise that the Employment Act profoundly shapes our everyday working lives.”
“We just cannot afford to leave this to chance. Mr Patrick Tay asked if the Government will consider mandating IHRP certification. Building on the PME Taskforce's recommendation, the the Tripartite Workgroup on Human Capital Capability Development is studying a proposal to require larger organisations with more than 200 employees to have a suitable HR personnel certified. The workgroup is now studying how this can be done in a way that is practical for businesses and will put out its detailed recommendations later this year. For firms who may not have dedicated HR, MOM is working with partners to uplift the wider career and employment services ecosystem. As mentioned by Minister, through the Alliance for Action on Advancing Career and Employment Services (AfA ACES), we are working with private career and employment service providers to pilot new initiatives and services to support workers of diverse profiles in their career journey. These efforts – from uplifting HR capabilities to partnering ecosystem players – are part of a longer-term vision under the Economic Strategy Review's Committee on Human Capital, which I co-chair, to build a future-ready jobs and skills ecosystem where employers invest in people, HR is a strategic partner and workers can move more confidently across roles and sectors over a longer working life. As the economy evolves, more workers may face job displacement, not because they lack ability, but because of business restructuring or failure or economic cycles. Even with stronger HR capabilities and better career support systems, job transitions may still be difficult, especially when the change happens abruptly. To help workers through such transitions, we introduced the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme in April last year.”
“The the Tripartite Workgroup on Human Capital Capability Development will also consider Ms Tan's suggestions as part of its broader review. Third, we must expand professional HR practice to more organisations. As our workforce becomes more diverse and employment issues more complex, organisations need HR that meet high standards, possess future-ready competencies and are committed to continuous professional development. This need was recognised back in 2020 when the NTUC-SNEF PME Taskforce recommended mandating HR certification for larger firms. However, such a significant change could not happen overnight. This is why we have spent the last five years laying the groundwork to strengthen the value of HR certification. I am happy to say that these efforts have yielded good progress. Today, the certified community exceeds 10,000 professionals. Around 45% of larger firms with more than 200 employees have a certified HR, covering nearly half of Singapore's workforce. The impact has been promising. A recent study by MOM economists showed that the IHRP certification delivered measurable improvements in both wage outcomes and employment prospects of certified professionals. This ultimately translates into benefits for both firms and workers, as evidenced by the greater range of career development initiatives – such as workforce planning and career guidance – implemented in organisations with certified HR professionals compared to those without. With this critical mass established, we are now ready to take the next step. We need a broader coverage of certified HR professionals who can embed best practices like structured career planning, which I mentioned earlier, to strengthen employee engagement and in turn business productivity.”
“SNEF is leading a multi‑agency effort to pilot a National HR Leadership Programme, together with NTUC and our local HR institutes. The programme aims to strengthen Singapore's local HR leaders through international exposure, experiential learning, mentoring and networking. Second, we are preparing HR for AI-driven change. As AI accelerates transformation across sectors, stronger and more systematic HR capability becomes even more critical. AI can automate repetitive tasks like scheduling interviews and handling routine queries. It can also surface workforce trends more quickly, helping HR to spot skill gaps earlier and design better development and deployment strategies. But let us be clear here: AI is not here to replace the human in HR. AI can take care of the processes, but only humans can take care of people. This shift towards human-AI collaboration presents opportunities for HR to be more strategic, more developmental and more human-centered. Ms Jessica Tan asked how we are equipping HR to be more AI-driven. MOM is working with the Ministry of Digital Development and Information and the Infocomm Media Development Authority under the National AI Impact Programme to develop AI fluency amongst HR professionals. In parallel, NTUC is developing a framework to help companies with limited AI experience, especially smaller SMEs navigate the complexity of AI adoption for HR by consolidating existing resources for AI readiness assessment, training, applicable grants and widely adopted AI tools for HR. Looking ahead, MOM, WSG and IHRP will refresh the HR Jobs Transformation Map this year to provide clear guidance on two fronts. One, how AI will transform HR jobs and two, how its impact on the wider workforce will change the demands on HR.”
“(In English): Our senior employment efforts reflect a broader shift in how we support working lives: longer careers, less linear progressions and more frequent transitions. But this is not a challenge unique to seniors. Across the workforce, workers are navigating more frequent changes as our economy restructures and technology reshapes jobs. This calls for stronger systems that help all workers and employers manage transitions more deliberately and responsibly. Employers and especially their HR teams are critical enablers. HR sits at the intersection of skills and career development, job redesign and employment practices. How well firms manage careers directly affects whether workers can stay relevant, productive and engaged over longer careers. This is why MOM convened the Tripartite Workgroup on Human Capital Capability Development in February 2025 to strengthen workforce development capabilities across organisations. We are establishing clearer benchmarks of what "good" looks like. MOM launched the Singapore Opportunity Index last October and unveiled the top 300 organisations earlier this year. The Singapore Opportunity Index gives employers and workers a data-driven yardstick to see how the best workplaces shape outcomes like pay, progression and retention, enabling employers to make sharper talent decisions. Beyond recognising top performers, we are progressively releasing detailed reports and advisory support to help all 1,500 organisations covered by the Singapore Opportunity Index improve. To turn these insights into real gains for workers and businesses, the workgroup will also make recommendations to uplift the HR profession in key areas. First, we are strengthening HR leadership capability.”
“In this way, we shift the focus from managing exits to enabling longer, meaningful participation at work. Ms Mariam Jaafar asked when the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment will share its recommendations. The Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment will release its report in the second half of 2026, with further details on its proposed measures. Mr Chairman, allow me to say a few words in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment was established last year. After communicating and exchanging views with various parties, the Workgroup concluded that as Singaporeans' careers extend, we must assist employees with career planning earlier, support employers in redesigning job roles and ensure that relevant systems and incentive measures are practical and feasible. For employees, this means receiving support for career guidance and skills training earlier, enabling smooth transitions while they still have options. For employers, this means receiving clearer support to retain experienced employees, redesign job roles and provide flexible work arrangements that are more suitable for older workers. For the Government, this means strengthening the overall career and employment ecosystem, ensuring the viability and sustainability of longer careers through career guidance, skills training and employment incentives. The Workgroup is currently studying recommendations for the various stages of older workers' career journeys, including needs from mid-career transitions to later-career adjustments, and will announce the relevant outcomes in the second half of 2026.”
“These efforts reflect a holistic approach to senior employment, to help seniors continue to contribute meaningfully, in ways that work for them, for their employers and for our economy. Across both mid- and later-career stages, navigating transitions remains a key challenge. Workers need clearer pathways to plan their next steps, while employers need guidance on age-friendly workforce design. Today, even though seniors can tap on many schemes for training, job search or hiring support, navigating these different sources of support can still be challenging. So, to address this, the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment is studying a more integrated approach to support career longevity and whether to deliver this through a dedicated centre for career longevity, which brings service providers together to raise awareness, collaborate, as well as develop and scale solutions for longer, multi-stage careers. What does this centre mean? For individuals, this would help them better navigate and access the relevant career, skills and employment support in accordance with their needs, including allowing them to plan earlier for their later-stage career transitions. For employers, they would be able to access practical resources and the network of partners to support them in designing age-friendly workplaces and strengthen multi-generational teams. For partners, this would be a platform for them to test and scale new initiatives, new innovative practices, including those emerging from AfA-EMW. This centre could be co-located with existing career centres, so individuals who need job search assistance can receive more holistic support across the various aspects of career planning, skills and employment, rather than navigating these services separately.”
“Through the Alliance for Action on Empowering Multi-Stage Careers for Mature Workers (AfA-EMW), we are working with organisations including intermediaries to test practical models, which can give employers greater confidence to act. 5.30 pm For example, under the AfA-EMW, the pilot by QED Changemakers gives us a glimpse of how we can unlock senior expertise in new ways. By connecting experienced senior professionals with companies that need their expertise on a project basis, senior professionals can continue contributing meaningfully, sharing decades of experience, staying active and earning an income, while companies, especially SMEs, get access to seasoned leadership when they need it. Another example explores how simple job redesign can keep experienced bus captains on the road, safely and sustainably. Tower Transit is piloting new work arrangements that allow senior bus captains to continue working safely and confidently. With more balanced shifts, job rotation and lighter duties, seniors can keep contributing, while the company retains experience, maintains service reliability, and supports the next generation of bus captains. These prototypes are being developed and will feed into the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment's recommendations, translating good ideas into scalable practices. As seniors remain economically active for longer, work must also remain safe and sustainable. To support the development of industry-led solutions to address common workplace safety and health risks, including those faced by seniors, MOM will be launching an Alliance for Action on Safety and Health for Employment Longevity (AfA-SHEL). Minister of State Dinesh Vasu Dash will share more detail about this.”
“So, building on the positive experience with SCP, we will therefore give a stronger push for employers to adopt regular SCP conversations earlier in their employees' careers and explore how SCP can be more systematically embedded into HR training and certification requirements. This will enable employers and workers to proactively redesign jobs, adjust work arrangements and build resilience over longer careers. As workers move into later stages of their careers, some may wish to continue full-time work, others prefer reduced hours or more focused roles, while some require adjustments over time as their priorities, their health status or physical abilities change. Whether seniors can continue contributing depends largely on how workplaces adapt. Employers play a critical role here. To support employers who hire and retain senior workers, we will extend the Senior Employment Credit to December 2027, as announced by the Prime Minister at Budget. Mr Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari and Mr Shawn Loh have asked for longer extensions to the Senior Employment Credit, and whether the scheme will be studied beyond 2027. Under the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment, we are reviewing support measures for employers more holistically, including reviewing the Senior Employment Credit and whether longer-term measures may be appropriate. We have also extended the Part-Time Re-employment Grant to December 2027, to support employers in offering suitable part-time and flexible work options that attract and retain senior workers. Beyond these measures, we also need to rethink traditional job designs. What does age-friendly work look like in practice? There is no one-size-fits-all model that will work for every company and it will likely be different across industries and job roles.”
“Many seniors who are already in employment need clarity on how long they can stay in a role, whether their job will evolve and how they might work differently. These are insights that only their employers can provide. Employers must therefore have deliberate conversations with their workers to plan for job redesign, identify skills needed to seize future job opportunities and adjust work arrangements over time as part of regular workforce planning. This Structured Career Planning (SCP) should not just be a structured conversation, but should be also structured as part of routine HR processes within the company. Under the Part-Time Re-employment Grant, employers are required to send management and HR representatives to SCP workshops, to gain knowledge and skillsets to conduct SCP. Based on a survey by SNEF, about 80% of these employers subsequently conducted SCP conversations with their employees, who found the sessions useful in helping them to understand options and navigate the next bound of their careers. What we have learnt is that SCP works best when it starts earlier, not only when one has reached the age for re-employment. Strengthening career planning earlier helps seniors stay confident and employable, while giving employers clearer sight of how to develop and deploy their workforce over longer careers. Yet today, fewer than 30% of workers aged 50 and above actively plan for their careers and only 38% of employers conduct structured career conversations. Mr Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari rightly asked how we can intervene at the mid-career stage to boost continued employability before workers reach their late 50s.”
“At the individual level, WSG and its partners have piloted targeted career guidance programmes for individuals in their 50s and 60s planning their later-stage careers. They include workshops, such as the Republic Polytechnic's Designing Your Life – The Next Chapter, and Singapore University of Technology and Design's What's Next: Reimagining Your Career Using Design·AI, which were introduced in April and October 2025 respectively. These programmes have since supported about 1,000 participants, with about four in five already embarking on their career plans within six months of completing the workshop. With the right guidance, later-stage career transitions can open new doors. Participants, like 61-year-old Mr Eddie Sng and 55-year-old Ms Mabel Lee, show how this works in practice. After attending WSG-supported career guidance workshops, both began to see career transitions as growth opportunities rather than professional endings. So, Eddie, a former logistics managing director, is now pursuing logistics advisory work while creating digital content. Mabel, a former photographer and marketing professional, has secured a part-time marketing manager role while building her photography teaching practice. Their journeys show how strategic career guidance enables older workers to rethink their options, make confident transitions and continue contributing meaningfully. Building on these early successes, WSG will work with partners to scale up the provision of career guidance for later-stage careers and integrate these programmes into its regular career guidance offerings. But career guidance by a third-party is not enough. Employers too have to play a role.”
“If the drop-off in labour force participation starts from 50, as I said earlier, then the interventions must begin at 40. From our engagements, both employers and seniors told us that earlier training and career guidance are essential to keep skills fresh, open new pathways and ensure every stage of a longer working life remains meaningful and productive. The Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment is therefore studying recommendations across the senior's career journey, including during mid-career transitions and later-career stages, where timely interventions can make the greatest difference. Just as good physical health supports longer and better physical lives, good career health supports longer working lives. And like physical health, career health benefits from early, regular check-ins and career planning, not only when problems arise. This is especially important for many who are mid-career in their 40s and 50s, adapting to new roles, technologies or sectors, while balancing work and family commitments and responsibilities. These pivotal years determine how long and how well they can continue working. Yet working adults often face this journey alone. Unlike the structured education and career guidance that one might find in schools, working adults receive less structured support to help them make sense of options at this stage. This is why, as the Minister highlighted earlier, we are strengthening and broadening Career Health SG by working with and developing the Career and Employment Services sector. We will grow the sector so that there is a variety of good quality services to cater to different segments of seniors, to help them plan ahead, navigate transitions and build sustainable careers over a longer working life.”
“A major step was to progressively raise the retirement and re-employment ages. These moves have helped more seniors stay employed. These changes matter because they do more than set legal limits. They shape social norms around ageing and work, giving seniors confidence to stay on and giving employers the clarity to plan for and retain experienced workers. Indeed, more than nine in 10 employees who are eligible and wish to continue working are successfully offered re-employment. This year, we take the next step. We will raise the retirement and re-employment ages to 64 and 69 respectively, keeping us on track towards 65 and 70 by 2030. I want to assure Mr Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari that these changes have made a difference. Over the past five years, labour force participation among residents in their 60s has edged up, from around 58% to nearly 60%. Among those in their 50s, it rose from 79% to 82%. Internationally, this puts Singapore among the leaders – for workers in their 60s, we rank fifth compared to OECD countries for labour force participation. But for workers in their 50s, we rank only 23rd. We agree with Ms Jessica Tan's call on the need to strengthen career support for mature and senior PMEs. We need to do more work upstream, to support workers who may be leaving the workforce earlier than they need to or earlier than they would like to. This is why MOM, together with NTUC and the SNEF, convened the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment in July last year. The Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment reflects a shared responsibility, by workers, employers and the Government, to respond to longer, more varied careers for our seniors, including PMEs. With longer careers ahead, support cannot wait until workers are near retirement.”
“We must move beyond supporting training and job-seeking to supporting career longevity, giving workers insights about their human capital and empowering them to take action, across career transitions, across life stages and across different forms of work. This is why MOM is focusing our efforts in three key areas: empowering seniors to thrive in longer careers, by supporting meaningful participation, career transitions and flexibility in later stages of work; building thriving workplaces that support longer working lives, through stronger HR systems and better management of age-diverse workforces; and thirdly, adapting employment protections for a changing workforce, so that our laws and safeguards remain relevant as work arrangement and career pathways evolve. Let me first outline how MOM is responding to this shift through our senior employment strategy, before turning to how we are strengthening HR capabilities and employment protections more broadly. Singaporeans live longer and healthier lives. Our workforce is also maturing. Today's seniors are better educated and more skilled than the generations before them. Future seniors will be even more so, reflecting the high cohort participation in our universities in our population. Seniors therefore offer a growing wealth of human capital and many of them want to contribute meaningfully to our economy. Supporting seniors today is no longer just about extending working years. It requires planning ahead to enable sustainable careers across later stages of life. We are strengthening support across mid-career and later-career transitions through the Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment. More than 10 years ago, tripartite partners started removing barriers for seniors who wanted to keep working.”
“Mr Chairman, our workforce has always been the backbone of Singapore's progress. As Singaporeans live longer and healthier lives, we now have the chance to extend that progress into longer, more rewarding careers. In the past, a career often progresses in a linear fashion, with people starting in one job after graduation and working their way up through the same company. But today, faster business and technology cycles and changing business models mean that most people will go through multiple jobs and roles over their working lives. Workers now have different work-life balance expectations and different hierarchy of needs at different stages of life. This shift has implications for everyone. For workers, this means that careers are no longer about climbing a corporate ladder, but rather about navigating a dynamic, multi-stage journey – moving up, across domains or even intentionally downshifting to balance life's priorities, such as caregiving. This also means taking greater ownership of their careers and skills and desiring more flexibility in work arrangements. For employers, this shift means more than just adapting job roles, it means rethinking how jobs are designed to tap on both the vitality of youth and the wisdom that comes with seniority and experience, how talent is managed and developed at every stage and how transitions are supported across a workforce that is increasingly diverse in age. Employers need to be proactive in creating workplaces that are inclusive, flexible and capable of supporting workers at all life stages. And for the Government, this shift requires a fundamental change in how we support the workforce.”
“Sir, the short answer to that is that we have no plans to turn foreign domestic workers into healthcare professionals in the formal sense.”
“And in the primary care sector, we have also announced that we will grow the pool of family medicine specialists, designating family medicine as a specialty itself, so that we can then grow the pool of general practitioners who are prepared to train at a higher level and deliver care at a higher level of acuity in the community, and thereby aligning that with our overall transformation to community care settings and helping patients to accept their care in the community.”
“So, through redesigning the job and making the career progression pathway a lot more seamless and more fluid, we allow these professionals to practise at the top of their licence so that they actually have satisfaction in their professional career. But beyond their own professional satisfaction, we also want to make sure that the work environment is one which is inclusive and supportive. So, each of our healthcare clusters have a Chief Welfare Officer that looks at the welfare initiatives to encourage and support our healthcare staff who work under reasonably stressful situations. And finally, we also have systems in place to prevent harassment and abuse at the workplace of our healthcare professionals and we take a zero tolerance stance. So, we also send a signal that we are protecting their workspaces and supporting them in the work that they do. The third supplementary question on how the workforce planning is being aligned with care transformation, I will briefly say that we are also creating new career tracks. For example, in the hospital setting, we are creating a new category of career track for doctors. We call them hospital clinicians. These are pegged similar to how a specialist would progress in the hospital and by doing so, we open up pathways for doctors even within the hospital setting to have fulfilling careers.”
“Sir, I thank the Member for her three supplementary questions. As I will be giving a more holistic treatment of this subject on healthcare manpower in my Committee of Supply speeches, I will be brief on the three supplementary questions. For the first supplementary question on how we are redesigning care models to ensure the workloads are sustainable, I would just briefly say that we are shifting from more team-based care to a more shared care model, in which we allow more cross training among the healthcare professionals in adjacent domains, so that they can provide more shared care for patients who may need a lower acuity of care outside their area of expertise. For example, among the allied health professionals, a physiotherapist and occupational therapist may share the same patient, for which they can provide some degree of support or guidance to a patient who needs an adjacent sector of care. So, that would not require an overburdening of another fellow professional, for which they can give simple advice in their own capacity. We will also be doing care team transformation. So, one idea is to then change the idea of a specialist being always the principal doctor in charge of a patient to having someone else who can coordinate the care other than a specialist, so that the workload can be better distributed and care is less fragmented. On the second supplementary question on strengthening retention of more senior or mid-career professionals in the healthcare sector, as I said in my main reply, we looked at making sure the salary is competitive compared to other sectors so that there will be a good reason to retain them, but also making sure that they are able to practise at the top of their licence.”
“Sir, as I said in my reply, HSA takes an independent review of all submissions for regulatory approval. We have our methodology that is based on science done by a panel of experts who are well versed in this area. So, we look at comprehensive data that is being submitted by any manufacturer who seeks to license their products here, and this includes parameters looking at quality safety efficacy, including data from Phase 3 randomised controlled trials, where we will also assess the methodology and whether the sample size is adequate for the type of products that are seeking to be registered. We also look at whether there are adequate follow-up periods after the product has hit the market, typically at least more than six months, to make sure that in the post-launch period the product has not surfaced any unknown side effects that were previously not detected in the randomised controlled trial. And of course, the manufacturer also must show evidence of compliance with good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards, so that things like detailed manufacturing processes, quality control data with testing methods and acceptance criteria, will allow us to assess whether every batch of product that comes through this manufacturer has a consistency that meets quality standards. And also, we look at the stability data demonstrating that any vaccine or any medical product maintains effectiveness and safety throughout its storage period. So, I just want to assure the Member that we have a robust system and we will continue to do so.”
“See how they can leverage on the rest of the resources the Government has put forth – Productivity Solutions Grant, working with central kitchen, for example – so that some of the backend operations that are very labour-intensive can be outsourced, while they focus on actually preparing the meals, making sure that it is authentic.”
“Sir, I thank the Member for her comments and questions. I agree with her that it is a challenge for smaller scale operators. But this goes beyond just giving more headcount. It fundamentally revolves around a few key issues. One is the operating model itself, whether it is sustainable. Secondly, it is a broader conversation beyond policy, which is what Singaporeans expect of the food operators when it comes to the authenticity of the of the recipe, the way it is prepared. It is a question that goes beyond policy, because Singaporeans have certain expectations about the quality of the food from the hawkers, the authenticity of the recipe and whether it still tastes like the good old days that they are used to. In essence, actually, MOM is agnostic to this. If it makes sense for us to give them more headcount just to produce the food at a certain productivity level and maybe even quantity and efficiency, that is something we are prepared to consider. But that will mean that the authenticity of the recipe could be impacted – that hawkers are selling a particular ethnic dish that is now not even cooked by the actual ethnicity, for example. You see this a lot in food courts, where your typical traditional dish is cooked by a foreign worker. And if that is something that the broader Singaporean public can accept, that is conversation we should have and then decide how best to move forward on this. And in the end, smaller operators may really also have to rethink their business model and see how they can be more productive so that they are not going just by headcount.”
“She said that there is a structural problem in the way F&B operators here still operate. One of the key thing is that productivity gains have lagged behind activity growth. That means that the F&B operators are putting more effort and resources into their operations without the proportionate economic gains. And her suggestion is that productivity and not headcount must be the central lens through which productivity must be assessed and for which business viability has to be looked at. So, instead of just looking at raising headcounts, the Government has schemes to support small F&B companies. These include the FoodX programme, which supports the outsourcing of labour-intensive food preparation to central kitchens to improve operational efficiency; as well as the F&B Process Optimisation Programme, which supports technological adoption and process redesign. Companies may also tap on broader schemes such as the Productivity Solutions Grant to support transformation efforts to raise productivity. We will continue to review the foreign manpower policies for hawkers and small F&B companies, together with relevant agencies, including MSE.”
“Mr Speaker, we recognise the manpower challenges faced by small food and beverage (F&B) operators, including our hawkers, given our ageing demographic and rising local aspirations. As a unique combination of food, space and community, hawker centres are a microcosm of Singapore’s multicultural society. To preserve the local identity of our hawker culture and heritage, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) only allows Singaporean Citizens and Permanent Residents to be stallholders at our hawker centres. Stallholders can also hire eligible Long-Term Visit Pass and Long-Term Visit Pass-Plus holders, who are already in Singapore and can contribute to our economy. Licensed food shops, such as restaurants, can hire foreign workers, subject to the services foreign worker levy rates and quota of two locals to one foreign worker. To address the manpower needs of micro enterprises, we allow those with only one local worker to hire their first Work Permit Holder. Differentiating levies and quotas further to favour smaller operators could incentivise the larger operators to break up into smaller entities to hire more foreign workers. This could result in a large increase in the number of foreign workers, which would not be sustainable given our limited infrastructural and social carrying capacity. I think if the Member has been reading The Straits Times, she would probably have noticed that there was an opinion piece on 24 February, Tuesday, last week, written by Assoc Prof Lee Kuan-Huei. She is the Chief Research Officer of the Singapore Productivity Centre. In that article, I think there was quite a good data-based opinion of the current state of play in the F&B sector. If I may just share some of the insights from that particular opinion piece.”
“The third question on whether we will support any studies to measure the outcomes, like I said, these resources were just started in recent years. We will see over time how we can collect data and then, analyse the impact of some of these interventions we put in the public domain, to make sure that we have a better insight on how to enhance them.”
“The third question on whether we will support any studies to measure the outcomes, like I said, these resources were just started just about a year or so ago. We will see over time how we can collect data and then, analyse the impact of some of these interventions we put in the public domain, to make sure that we have a better insight on how to enhance them. [Please refer to "Use of AI Chatbots for Counselling and Mental Health Support by Teenagers and Young Adults", Official Report, 27 February 2026, Vol 96, Issue 21, Oral Answers to Questions section.] [(proc text) Written statement by Dr Koh Poh Koon circulated with the leave of the Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order No 29(5). (proc text)] I wish to make the following factual correction to my statement made during Question Time at the Sitting on 27 February 2026. My statement should read as follows:”
“Thank you, Sir. Sir, on the Member's first question whether peer supporters should be actually part of the formal network care. As I said in my reply, peer support is meant to be an informal scaffold around formal levels of support and I think we should not put a burden on them to be part of the formalised care structure. But they form a wider community of support around those with needs to help to guide them to the relevant resources that they can seek formal help for. And the second question on what to do with the harder to reach population, that indeed is a big challenge. Because mental health is pretty much a silent disease. There is no external manifestation that you can see from far away. And so, the focus for us would be to increase education and also to put forth our community care teams, so that those with needs in the community, especially the harder to reach ones, if we know who they are, we can then find a way to reach out to them and encourage them to step forward and seek care. 10.34 am”
“It aims to supplement our existing professional counselling and therapy services by serving as a 24/7 available pocket therapist that removes any barriers towards help seeking and signpost help seekers to local human-based resources. But just to reassure the Member, unlike GenAI chatbots, Wysa is designed to deliver such digital therapeutic exercises via a rule-based model. It is not something like the chatbot itself can be extremely creative and come up with a new suggestions. There is a rule-based model in it, so the conversation follows a structured decision tree, which is developed and continuously validated by clinicians. The Wysa chatbot has been clinically evaluated for its efficacy, safety and impact. So, I hope this gives the Member assurance that the resources that we make available are legitimate. It has got its risks managed. We will continue to see how we can improve such resources. The third question on whether we will support any studies to measure the outcomes, like I said, these resources were just started just about a year or so ago. We will see over time how we can collect data and then, analyse the impact of some of these interventions we put in the public domain, to make sure that we have a better insight on how to enhance them. [Please refer to "Clarification by Senior Minister of State for Health", Official Report, 27 February 2026, Vol 96, Issue 21, Correction By Written Statement section.]”
“Sir, I thank the Member for her pertinent questions and thoughtful questions on this very important issue that increasingly many people in public, especially young people, are concerned about. On her first question on how can we assess data privacy and whether informed consent is needed, I think in the first instance, many of these resources we put online, such as mindline.sg, works on the basis of anonymity. So, you cannot really do an informed consent when you want it to be anonymous, so that the person seeking help does not have to worry about his or her data being exposed. The assurance we want to give to them is that first of all, the anonymity already ensures that none of these things that you actually divulge to the counsellor online or to the chatbot can be traced back to the individual. So, that is the first thing. And we want to make sure that the barrier to access this care is something that is as low as possible. On the second question on whether these chatbots overly affirm users' views, especially those who may have suicidal ideation, and whether that will reinforce the person to end up taking action, let me just give a little bit more insight on what we use in mindline.sg, one of the First Stops for Mental Health services, which is a digital platform that uses a chatbot. It is a chatbot based on Wysa. It is a specialised mental health AI-enabled chatbot. This chatbot then guides users through digital therapeutic exercises such as mindfulness, deep breathing techniques, sleep hygiene practices that are inspired by cognitive behavioural therapy principles.”
“That would be something that we hope to also do, through injecting a lot more support and services in some of our career employment services that we are thinking about, so that, as an ecosystem, we have a more comprehensive way to help – whether they are engineers, IT professionals or PMEs in different sectors as well, to be able to pivot across when opportunities arise. So, I hope that gives the Member a sense of what we are doing at the national level, but also in conjunction with what the union is doing already on the ground.”
“So, we are thinking about whether some of these services can be something that can be more broadly available for PMEs who may want to avail themselves to other opportunities, even while they are still in employment. And that can apply to many other sectors, not just in engineering and IT. So, that stream of work will continue to see how we can go beyond SkillsFuture, as it currently is today. On the second question of whether we can facilitate more lateral movements across sectors, the Member looked at it from the union perspective, and in fact, in the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), there has been a practice of helping workers who may potentially be displaced from one union sector to reach across other unions in the adjacent sector, and then facilitate their movements through an internal arrangement, because the unions in two different sectors may have more awareness of where the opportunities are. And that is what the NTUC has been doing all this while, something that we will continue to support and encourage as well. But on the aspect of just trying to facilitate that, I do not think keeping a tight labour market per se, is perhaps, the most appropriate tool to do that. The labour market is tight not because we want to facilitate lateral movements, but it is tight because we have resource constraints in Singapore. But despite that tightness, I think the key thing is to make sure that there is more awareness amongst the workers themselves where opportunities may lie in adjacent sectors and have a system to help them gain the necessary skills so they can pivot across.”
“Sir, I thank the Member for his clarifications and questions. On his first point, whether we can go beyond what SkillsFuture currently does to support PMETs, especially as the Member mentioned, in the engineering and IT sectors where they may face some challenges. Indeed, that is one of the streams of work that the Tripartite Workgroup for Senior Employment is looking at. As I mentioned in my main reply, we are trying to go more upstream to prevent even a displacement from a job. So, how can we help our professionals, even while they are still in employment, to try and understand better where they can pivot to, should there be a shift in the industry sector; and helping to guide them in that skills acquisition, in the looking out for opportunities and help them to navigate the kind of challenges that they may need to do in this transitional process? So, going upstream, even to the age of 40s, for example, rather than wait till they are near retirement, or when they are retrenched. Because at this stage when they are in their 40s there could be some early skills obsolescence in the midst of this rapid economic change and disruptive technologies. So, we believe that if we go upstream, we can do more preventive measures to help them to remain relevant for a longer period of time. So, indeed, going beyond just acquiring skills, how can we build a better career and employment ecosystem to better support them? Currently, we see that for more higher-end PMEs who are, perhaps, usually head-hunted – rather than them going and applying for a job, people come looking for them.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. Sir, can I perhaps ask the Member to repeat his second question again, because I did not quite catch the gist of it.”
“To support them to navigate the labour market and make longer-term career plans, we have introduced digital tools and services, such as the Careers and Skills Passport, CareersFinder and career guidance programmes. The Tripartite Workgroup on Senior Employment is studying recommendations to provide better support across a senior's career journey, including during mid-career transitions and later-career stages. Its recommendations will be released in the second half of this year.”
“Mr Speaker, the long-term unemployment rate for resident professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in their 40s and 50s remained within the range observed during non-recessionary periods, indicating that structural unemployment risks remain low and stable. However, rapid technological change and shifts in the external economic environment mean that our workers should regularly upskill to stay up-to-date with industry needs and remain open to new opportunities. This could be more challenging for mature workers. The Government has hence been strengthening measures to support this group to strengthen their career resilience and to manage career transitions. We have invested strongly in developing our local workforce and several of our programmes offer a higher level of support for mature workers. For example, Workforce Singapore's (WSG's) Mid-Career Pathways Programme and SkillsFuture Singapore's (SSG's) SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme support mid-career jobseekers to acquire industry relevant experience and skills to facilitate career transitions, while WSG’s Career Conversion Programmes provide employers with more salary support to reskill mature workers into growth job roles with good longer-term prospects. Those who require a more substantive skills reboot can tap on SSG’s SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme. In total, we have invested over $10 billion over the last five years on local workforce initiatives to help our workers upskill and remain competitive. In order to improve access to new opportunities, we need to go more upstream. Workers need to take charge of their career health and take proactive steps to improve their employability.”
“Our focus now is on building the capacity and the competency of those who are delivering those tiered model care as we want those who are ready to seek help, to be able to get the help that they need. Based on this early set of strategy, we will continue to measure indicators and in time to come, share data where available.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for her two questions. On the first question, whether the NMHO will publish data, the answer is yes. We will look at how we can meaningfully share more data publicly over time. But I must say that the strategy, while we had launched it towards the end of 2023, it has only been slightly just more than two years. Mental health is a very complex and multi-faceted issue, so you can see from our strategy we are trying to put more resources into the public domain so that those with mental health issues or concerns can have more accessibility to those resources that we put out. The Member will understand that for those suffering from mental health issues, it sometimes takes quite a while to convince them to seek help. So, it is not so easy for us to measure outcomes in such a short timeframe. The NMHO actually focuses on monitoring medium- to longer-term trends. In time to come, when we have more meaningful data that we can share publicly, we will do so. On the second question of what outcomes have been observed, this is also related to my first point that some of these are longer-term issues that we will take time to observe. But as you would have heard from my main reply, what we are doing is to make sure that in our strategy, make sure that navigation is not a hurdle, so there is a first touchpoint to the mindline resources for those who may want to seek help to be guided, to help them navigate the resources that are available, so that by the time they make the decision to step forward and receive care, they will not be lost in the system. Also, through the Tiered Care Model, we then make sure that they receive the appropriate care.”
“Nonetheless, we have stepped up our national posture and issued out alerts to healthcare practitioners, institutions, as well as tighten some of the monitoring at our migrant worker onboarding centre to make sure that we keep our borders under some observation. For any incoming individuals who may have symptoms, to take proactive actions to contain, to isolate and also to give them supportive care if necessary; and at the same time, also to advised them to monitor for symptoms if they had been in at-risk areas 14 days prior to arrival in Singapore, for example. So, we are adopting a cautious posture, but looking for vaccine target at this moment is premature.”
“Nonetheless, we have stepped up our national posture and issued out alerts to healthcare practitioners, institutions, as well as tighten some of the monitoring at our migrant worker onboarding centre to make sure that we keep our borders under some observation. For any incoming individuals who may have symptoms, to take proactive actions to contain, to isolate and also to give them supportive care if necessary; and at the same time, also to help them to monitor their symptoms within the first 14 days of arrival in Singapore, for example. So, we are adopting a cautious posture, but looking for vaccine target at this moment is premature. [Please refer to "Local Research into Nipah Virus Diagnostic Kits and Vaccines", Official Report, 12 February 2026, Vol 96, Issue 17, Oral Answers to Questions section.] [(proc text) Written statement by Dr Koh Poh Koon circulated with leave of the Speaker in accordance with Standing Order No 29(5): (proc text)] I wish to make the following factual correction to my statement made during Question Time for Question No 2 at the Sitting on 12 February 2026. My statement should read as follows:”
“[W]e have enhanced the electronic health declaration card, which is part of the SG Arrival Card. In this format, if the arriving individual, clicks yes on the SG Arrival Card to any of the symptoms, then there will be a prompt to enter the previous travel destination, and that would include the West Bengal region as well. But if the person clicks no to any of the symptoms, then he would not be prompted for any travel destinations, except those that we are already monitoring. So, it is to make sure that there are no excessive compliance needs on the individual submitting the information card to make it seamless. At the same time, we do not want to end up having over-declaration for those with no symptoms.”
“[W]e have enhanced the electronic health declaration card, which is part of the SG Arrival Card. In this format, if the arriving individual, clicks yes on the SG Arrival Card to any of the symptoms, then there will be a prompt to enter the previous travel destination, and that would include the West Bengal region as well. But if the person clicks no to any of the symptoms, then he would not be prompted for any travel destinations that we are monitoring. So, it is to make sure that there are no excessive compliance needs on the individual submitting the information card to make it seamless. At the same time, we do not want to end up having over-declaration for those with no symptoms. [Please refer to "Health Screenings for Those from Countries with High-risk of Nipah Virus, and Healthcare Advisories to Doctors and Public", Official Report, 12 February 2026, Vol 96, Issue 17, Oral Answers to Questions section.] [(proc text) Written statement by Dr Koh Poh Koon circulated with leave of the Speaker in accordance with Standing Order No 29(5): (proc text)] I wish to make the following factual correction to my statement made during Question Time for Question No 1 at the Sitting on 12 February 2026. My statement should read as follows:”
“At the same time, we think that the providers should be given enough latitude to exercise their own judgement, because even while doing a telehealth, video consultation for a supposed simple condition at presentation, if the provider detects something that is somewhat more sinister and perhaps needing more evaluation, they should actually get the person to attend in-person and make a thorough evaluation with an examination, for example. There are times also where in telehealth consultations, the person may say there is no pain. But when you look at the person on the video, he obviously is not looking too good. That is why judgement is still needed even in providing convenience. Ultimately, what we want is to make sure that whatever guidelines we give to our providers, we are not conscribing and constraining their ability to make the right judgement. All healthcare providers, typically doctors, are trained to picked up conditions that they may have to be cautious about. Ultimately, the bottom line is this: you can offer convenience, but that should not replace the need for patient safety and making sure that you discharge your duties in a professional way, looking at patient safety and outcome as a key priority.”
“MOH is monitoring the progress of the pilot by SingHealth Polyclinics and we will take lessons from that and see whether there is a scope for us to implement it more widely, and also to learn from it and see how it reflects or complements what the private sector is already currently providing. His third clarification on the age criteria, SingHealth Polyclinics in the pilot project has a cut-off age of 18 years old, but this is based on the polyclinic's definition of what is deemed as a child and what is deemed as an adult. So, this may be different from what the other clinics are using, and given the nature of this pilot being an early attempt to look at how it can be used for acute conditions, SingHealth is taking this 18-years-old cut-off as a more cautious approach to ensure that only adults are included in the testing of this service. In terms of guidelines, there are circulars issued by the Ministry to the service providers regarding how they should use telehealth services and how they should structure those services. But it will be quite difficult for us to provide a very prescriptive, line by line guideline for every possible condition out there. So, in general, we issue guidelines to give broad guidance and to make sure that providers assess patients' suitability for telehealth holistically, including their condition, their age, their ability to communicate using telehealth, like say, through a video conference.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his three clarifications. On his first question regarding services provided at three polyclinics, let me just clarify with him that actually all three polyclinic clusters currently do offer video consultation for follow-up of acute conditions. In other words, not for the first consultation, but for follow-up care. As I explained in my earlier reply, it really is to provide a good assessment of the patient's condition so that there is some assurance in terms of the quality of follow-up care through the tele-consultation means, in which the doctors may not be able to examine the patient. So, it is really to just risk stratify and make sure that even while we offer convenience for the patients, their care is not compromised. And SingHealth Polyclinics, while they also offer acute video consultation for the first attendance, as I said earlier, this is still under a pilot and there are currently no plans to expand this. Typically, the polyclinics will have to take into account their own resourcing and the needs of the patients. So, they are now, at the moment, for the other polyclinics in the other two clusters, they are now focusing their resources on chronic disease management, which includes telehealth for chronic diseases as well. So, it is offered, but to a more conscribed group of patients and not for acute conditions as a first presentation. The second clarification on the differences between what we provide at the polyclinics and the private sector, well, the polyclinics are guided by how best to meet the needs of their patients, while ensuring good care, at the same time, is provided in a safe and efficient manner.”
“Sir, I thank the Member for his questions. The National Mental Health Office has a collaboration and close interaction with many of our social partners that provide some of these services in the community. We do interact with them. If they feel that there are areas in which they need to be strengthened in terms of capabilities, we would be happy to work with them to conduct awareness courses for them. But generally, I think our more experienced counsellors that are providing services to these clients with neuro-developmental needs, if they do feel that there is something beyond what they can handle, if they feel that there is an element of co-occurring mental illnesses like depression, for example, I think they, being from a counselling background, will pick up on depression because they have dealt with other non-neuro-developmental clients in other aspects of their work as well. And if they do detect some elements of depression, we would encourage them to refer onwards for specialist assessments. And if need be, work with other healthcare partners providing a higher tier of service to co-manage these clients, if necessary.”
“In time to come, when the ESR releases its final report, there will be a better treatment of the questions that the Member asked regarding trades and skilled roles.”
“Sir, on Member's first supplementary question on job quality, I have already explained in my main reply that we do track multiple parameters and dimensions across our workforce and the labour market. But I guess, fundamentally, the workers are interested in whether their pay goes up. For them, as I have said, a good job need not just be pay, but many other dimensions around it. But fundamentally, workers want to see their wages go up from year to year. And in fact, as they get more seniority, they want to be recognised for their talent as well. So, we do take reference from the wage distribution of our workforce. In general, well-paying jobs are those that pay above the median wage of the resident workforce. And by creating more of such jobs and helping more Singaporeans to upskill to take them on, we will grow the median wage of our workforce over time. This is a useful indication of broad-based wage growth that also shows that with the measures that are put in, the median wage of individual workers goes up over time and as a workforce, it also rises. The Member's second question of looking at wage share, well, I think there are, like I said, there are multiple dimensions to track and we will continue to measure multiple dimensions of job quality, that could include looking at wage share over time. In doing so, we will consider relevant dimensions that are included in other international frameworks of job quality, including the one that the Member has mentioned – the OECD's job quality framework. The Member's third question on what the ESR is doing with regard to trade and skilled roles, this is an area still under deliberation by the ESR, so I would not jump the gun and make any pronouncements here.”