Lee Boon Yang
Singapore
“6 The other guidelines are that there must be a post office sited within 5 km of every private residential estate and within 1 km of any commercial or industrial estate. MAID LEVY CONCESSION (Applications by the disabled) 32.”
“Madam, can I quickly respond to the point on assistive technology? Certainly this is an area of interest. We cannot say that we have the capability at this juncture but we will certainly look into what is possible and work with our ICT sector.”
“Nevertheless, if the spouse of the homemaker is working, he will be eligible for WIS if he satisfies the criteria. Husbands of homemakers are further eligible for tax relief.”
“Sir, I do not think it is quite correct to say that we always expect our own artists to perform for free or do public service. There are, of course, occasions where we do seek Singapore artists and arts companies to contribute to the national causes. For instance, when we went international for Singapore Season in China.”
“Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for National Development (a) what checks does the Ministry or the National Environment Agency have in place to prevent mistaken payments to hawkers who cease operations due to upgrading works at hawker centers; (b) how did the mistaken payment of $18,000 to Mdm Lee Ah Muey come about; and (c) what will the…”
“While it was also true that initially the reaction or the response of the licensing authority was that foreigners should not participate in such an event at the Speakers' Corner - because there is already an existing prohibition against any foreigners taking part in any activities at the Speakers' Corner - subsequent assessment resulted i…”
The complete record
Every one of 2,412 lines we hold for Lee Boon Yang, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 15 of 49.
“I think we are on very tricky ground, Mr Speaker, Sir. It is not fair to generalise that women in the high level jobs are not promoted just on the basis of gender. There are equally significant examples where women are in leading positions in many organisations, both in the private and public sectors. So it is not fair to comment on that basis. But the situation in our labour market is that many women tend to leave the workforce soon after they get married and started a family. So on average, if you look at the profile of the workforce, you would see that women in Singapore earn a lower salary than men and some have pointed to that as gender discrimination. In fact, what it really reflects is that women are withdrawing from the workforce. So the average experience level of women in the workforce is lower than men because they do not work that many years. If you average out the wages earned by women and men, you will find that men have a higher earning because they have more years of experience on the job. So it is not fair to conclude that women have been discriminated against in this sense. I would say that we should not generalise on this basis. There are many opportunities for women in Singapore to excel and demonstrate their capability to contribute to the company, and they have risen in their ranks. We have Japanese multi-national companies being led by women, we have local companies like the promising local enterprises and GLCs being led by women and we also have Government departments with women in very senior positions. We should look across the board instead of generalising and saying that women are somehow being discriminated on the basis that they are women.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in fact, we do encourage as many employers as possible to consider tapping the pool of married women, the housewives, to supplement the existing workforce, and we encourage them to redesign their jobs so that some of the jobs can be offered to women on a part-time basis. Some companies are already taking it up, particularly those in the retail sector, the department stores. I understand that some hospitals are offering part-time employment opportunities to the nurses and I am sure the Member would have heard about the offer by the Ministry of Education of part-time teachers to work in the schools, ie, to teach on a part-time basis. As I said earlier on, it is a continuing effort. As the labour market tightens up in view of the economic turnaround, we are expecting more employers to have greater difficulties recruiting the workers that they need. So those who are more innovative will have to come out with new recruitment offers to attract the inactive women to rejoin the workforce.”
“Employers are encouraged to introduce such arrangements so that married women could better balance their work with family responsibilities. The promotion of family-friendly practices is not a one-off affair. It is going to be a long-term effort requiring the support of employers and unions and their members. We will continue to explore all avenues to facilitate married women's entry into the workforce.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the return of married women to the workforce, more often than not, is a family decision, involving factors such as alternative child care arrangements, costs and benefits, whether the women should stay at home to look after the family or go out and work to supplement the family income and also the confidence of the women who have been absent from the workforce for some years in returning to work. My Ministry will try to facilitate the return of the married women back to the workforce and we will encourage employers to help working women to better manage family and work commitments so that they need not drop out as a result of family commitments. Over the past years, through our tripartite network, we have been encouraging and emphasizing pro-family or family-friendly practices at the workplace. In 1996, we launched the "Back to Work" Programme with the support of the Productivity and Standards Board, NTUC and Singapore National Employers' Federation. This programme was aimed at helping married women re-enter the workforce. This will require employers to adopt more "family-friendly" practices. Sir, currently, our labour laws do not restrict employers from arranging any workweek patterns to meet the needs of the companies and their employees. In addition, the Employment (Part-Time Employees) Regulations, introduced in 1996, provided greater flexibility for employers to pro-rate the benefits based on the number of hours an employee puts in and ensured that part-time employees are given the basic benefits stipulated in the Employment Act. The Regulations also allow the encashment of statutory benefits, such as annual leave and public holiday pay. The Regulations will facilitate the introduction of part-time and flexi-work arrangements.”
“All work permit holders have been required to undergo and pass a general medical examination since 1972. Over the years, the medical examination has been extended to cover medical screening of contagious illnesses such as TB, malaria and HIV. The requirement for work permit holders to undergo the HIV test was imposed in 1993. Foreign workers who fail their medical examination including the HIV test will not be issued with a work permit and they will have to be repatriated by their employers. Work permit holders who wish to renew their work permits are also required to undergo and pass the HIV test and a chest X-ray examination. Since March this year, my Ministry has extended the medical examination requirement to foreigners who have obtained an in-principle approval for an employment pass of six months' duration or more. The medical examination for employment pass holders includes the HIV test as well. Employment pass holders are also required to pass the medical examination before their passes can be renewed. On the question of an employee who has contracted HIV, the employer may terminate his employment due to ill-health and inability to perform his duties. However, the employer should deal with the termination sympathetically and consider granting some form of financial relief to assist the employee. AIDS PATIENTS 3. Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh asked the Minister for Health (a) whether he is aware of the rising number of AIDS patients and what steps his Ministry will take to contain the spread; and (b) whether these AIDS patients can afford medical treatment and, if not, what other sources of funding are available for young patients who are also the primary breadwinners for their families.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not feel the need for it because, as I said, if the employer observes that the foreign domestic worker is psychologically unstable or not adjusting well, they would know what to do, ie, make a proper arrangement either to repatriate the person who is not well or who is obviously unfit to work and live in the Singapore environment. The employer has every opportunity to do so already. SPEAKERS' CORNER 22. Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether he will give an unequivocal assurance that the names of the speakers at "Speakers' Corner" and their particulars will not be released to anyone but will be destroyed at the end of the day.”
“Employers should also show more understanding and concern if they detect that their foreign domestic workers are emotionally upset, especially after receiving letters from home. Generally, employers who treat their foreign domestic workers well and are genuinely concerned with the welfare and interest of their foreign domestic workers are more likely to enjoy a happy and productive relationship with the foreign domestic workers.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, currently, all foreign domestic workers must undergo a full medical examination before they are issued with a Work Permit. The medical examination includes a section on the foreign domestic worker's mental history. If the examining doctor feels that the foreign domestic worker is not mentally stable, the foreign domestic worker will not be cleared for employment. The Work Permit Department does, from time to time, reject applications from foreign domestic workers who have a history of mental illness, although the number of such cases is not large. The vast majority of foreign domestic workers are normal healthy persons. Hence requiring a psychological evaluation may not be effective in preventing tragedies involving foreign domestic workers. Typically, foreign domestic workers, who exhibit abnormal behaviour, do so as a result of work related stresses or news of unpleasant events from home. The reported cases of foreign domestic workers, who were suicidal or who inflicted harm on a member of the employer's household, were normal when they first arrived in Singapore. It is doubtful whether psychological evaluation would have prevented these tragedies. Foreign domestic workers work and stay with their employers. Hence, employers are responsible for helping the foreign domestic workers to cope and adapt to their new working and living environment. Some foreign domestic workers may need more time to adjust to the new social and cultural environment than others. Employers should therefore be more sensitive to foreign domestic workers' adaptability and not subject them to unnecessary work pressures especially at the beginning of their employment in Singapore.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, if any landlord wants to check on the authenticity of the actual work permit or the employment pass, then, of course, the original document has to be submitted, because you cannot verify the authenticity on the basis of a photocopy. But if you just want to check whether the particulars, in other words, this work permit number belongs to a person by such and such a name, then those particulars can be verified online. It can be verified through the interactive voice response system, or they can be verified by calling my Ministry's one-call centre. As to whether we could decentralise the checking of finger-print, I think we need to look into whether, in fact, it is technically feasible to have such a decentralised system. STATUTORY BOARDS TAPPING FUNDS FROM OPEN MARKET 17. Mrs Lim Hwee Hua asked the Minister for Finance whether the practice of statutory boards tapping the open market for funds has raised the overall cost of capital for these agencies, and whether this will lead to (i) an inflation of the cost of services to be provided to the public, and (ii) a change in the public finance structure, for example, the distribution of subsidies via the pegging of interest rates between the Central Provident Fund and the Housing and Development Board.”
“However, in view of the need for very high quality power by our high-tech industries for their sensitive equipment, PUB is currently working with the industry to establish power quality standards for compliance by utilities companies. This will provide clearer guidelines on the quality of the power supply expected. In addition, we are also undertaking measures to provide an even higher quality of power supply. Last year, we amended the Public Utilities Act to impose heavier penalties on earthworks contractors who damage power cables. This has helped reduce the number of voltage dips. In addition, as part of the restructuring of the electricity industry which the Minister for Trade and Industry announced last month in this House, PUB will also implement performance-based regulation for PowerGrid, the transmission and distribution company. With a liberalised electricity market, we can expect to see a variety of service providers provide customised solutions to meet the specific needs of high-tech customers. Meanwhile, to help existing high-tech companies in Singapore, PUB is working with the EDB and PowerGrid to implement a scheme to provide premium quality power. These customers will have to bear the additional costs incurred but Government will assist by co-sharing the cost. Details will be announced when the scheme is finalised. ESTATE AGENTS' BILL 28. Mr Sin Boon Ann asked the Minister for Finance when the Government intends to introduce the Estate Agents' Bill.”
“Voltage dips occur in all electric power systems and are caused by many reasons such as cable damage by excavation works and ground movements; equipment failure at customers' installations; and equipment failure at power stations and the transmission and distribution network. Voltage dips cannot be totally eliminated. The voltage dip on 24th March 2000 was caused by the failure of a voltage measuring transformer in the 230 kV switchgear at Pulau Seraya Power Station. The faulty equipment caused a short circuit which resulted in a voltage dip. The short circuit was detected and the faulty equipment was immediately isolated by its protection system. The defective component has since been replaced and it has been sent back to the original equipment manufacturer in Japan for further investigation to determine the reason for failure. Disruptions caused by voltage dips vary from one customer to another depending on the sensitivity of their equipment and the protective devices which they have installed to help their equipment ride through such voltage dips. It is hence difficult to estimate losses suffered by companies. Since many of our companies now manufacture high value products such as semiconductors, power dips are therefore a serious concern for many of them. Compensation payments will arise if there is a contract between a customer and its utilities supplier based on a mutually agreed set of power quality standards and the compensation where there is failure to meet these standards. Currently, we do not have a generally accepted standard for power quality with respect to power dips although we have standards for power outages.”
“The Ministry of Manpower is not aware of foreign motor mechanics carrying out repair work within the vicinity of Woodlands checkpoint without work permits. The Ministry has checked with the Ministry of Home Affairs which has not received any reports of such activities. Depending on the circumstances, these foreign mechanics would either have infringed the Employment of Foreign Workers Act or the Immigration Act. For example, if a work permit holder freelances as a motorcycle mechanic, he would be moonlighting and this constitutes an offence under the Employment of Foreign Workers Act. The employer of the mechanic would also be liable to be prosecuted under the Employment of Foreign Workers Act. On the other hand, any foreigner on a social visit pass who engages in any form of paid employment or business would have contravened the Immigration Regulations. MOM will work with the Immigration Department to look out for such illegal activities and will not hesitate to take firm action against the errant parties for infringing our laws. PULAU SERAYA POWER STATION 24. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what was the cause of the recent power dip at Power Seraya and what was the estimated loss to industries affected by this dip. COMPENSATION FOR DISRUPTION OF POWER SUPPLY 25. Mr Noris Ong Chin Guan asked the Minister for Trade and Industry whether it is the policy of utilities companies such as Singapore Power Limited, to compensate consumers (including commercial and industrial users) affected by disruptions to the supply of utilities, as in the case of the recent dip in power supply. BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: Voltage dips are momentary drops in voltage levels, usually in the order of a fraction of a second.”
“Mr Tay Beng Chuan asked the Minister for Manpower (a) if he is aware that some foreign motor mechanics are carrying out repair work on break-down motorcycles in make-shift workshops within the vicinity of Woodlands checkpoint without work permits; and (b) whether his Ministry will allow these foreigners to continue with such activities in competition with our local motor repair workshops, contrary to our stringent control over the employment of foreign workers by our local industries.”
“The safety record of the metal-working industry is indeed a cause for concern when compared to other industries. The accident frequency rate (AFR), which is the number of accidents per million man-hours worked was 3.4 for 1997. While it had improved to 3.2 in 1999, this AFR is still higher than the figure of 2.4 for all industries in 1999. My Ministry is working closely with the industry to organise safety and health promotional activities. These include the annual safety campaign in October, safety seminars and workshops and a mobile exhibition highlighting past accidents and appropriate remedial measures. A safety training course for supervisors, comprising 13 modules was developed for the industry. In 1999, a CD-ROM on Safety orientation programme for workers was also developed. A series of 7 Handbooks to help workers and supervisors to improve work safety were also produced and distributed to the industry. My Ministry has formed Advisory Committees on Accident Prevention for both the construction industry and the shipyards. These Committees provide a good platform for the discussion of safety and health issues and organising activities and programmes to reduce accidents in the two industries. My Ministry is looking into forming an Advisory Committee for the metal-working industry to further improve safety and health in this industry. In 1994, we made the implementation of a safety management system a mandatory requirement for shipyards. Since then, the safety records in shipbuilding and ship-repairing industry have improved significantly. The Ministry is considering making it mandatory for bigger metal-working factories to implement similar safety management systems. FOREIGN MOTOR MECHANICS 23.”
“Office environment in Singapore is generally safe. Our offices are mostly air-conditioned. There may be potential air pollutants from the use of office equipment, ie, `sick building' syndrome. However, good air quality can be achieved by adequate ventilation and proper maintenance of the air conditioning system. My Ministry and the Ministry of the Environment are monitoring the situation. Guidelines on improving the indoor air quality of such premises have been issued. Our assessment is that currently air quality in the office workplaces is generally within the acceptable limits and there is no cause for alarm. Nevertheless, my Ministry will continue to provide safety and health training for workers and promote a culture of safety and health at work. Last year, the Factories Act was amended extensively to enhance safety at workplaces. We will continue to actively enforce safety and health laws. Industries with poor safety performance, such as construction industry, will receive special attention. However, maintaining high standards of safety and health at work requires the commitment and combined efforts of employers, workers and regulatory agencies. We must work closely in partnership to achieve a safe and healthy work environment for all workers. METAL-WORKING INDUSTRY 22. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower whether there are plans to improve safety record in the metal working sector.”
“Those who are coming here for a longer stay will have to apply for the appropriate permit, whether it is employment pass or work permit. Let me say once again that the salary criterion is not a rigid criterion. It is not a rigid cut-off point. We will consider special high talents or highly capable performers who are coming in and, for whatever reason, they are going to be paid less than $2,000. There are borderline cases which we will consider on its own merit. In so far as Prof. Chin Tet Yung's point on marriage is concerned, we have to prevent a large number of unskilled foreign workers from sinking roots in Singapore through marriage with a Singaporean. We have now more than 450,000 unskilled foreign workers in Singapore. If through marriage to Singaporeans, they can immediately claim right of permanent residence in Singapore, we could end up with a very serious problem. Already we have difficulty in finding jobs for the nearly 500,000 Singaporeans who have less than secondary education. Can you imagine we then double the number with another 500,000 equally low skilled, lowly educated foreigners? At the next economic crisis, what is going to happen? Obviously, we cannot do that. So we have to assess those work permit holders who apply for marriage approval. Those whom we assess to be able to contribute to the economy and not likely to be a liability to Singapore, we approve their application. In fact, 70% of all the applications by work permit holders to marry Singaporeans are approved. The policy is not unreasonably strict.”
“In a more complicated case, it might take a little longer, but sometimes a difficult case may be because inadequate information was provided in the first instance. It is the responsibility of the employer to provide all the information required by either the employment pass or work permit department to ensure that the application can be processed quickly. Mr Seng Han Thong asked whether we could make the work permit category a bit more flexible. For instance, create a special category for artistes and performers who would not be finger-printed. Let me say at the outset that finger printing should not be a problem. All Singaporeans have to be finger printed. Why is it so difficult that we finger-print a foreigner who wants to come here to apply for a pass? All our people have carried a finger print on their ICs too. So that in itself should not be a difficulty. I understand that we should expedite, and that is what we would do. In fact, we had already gone some way towards helping to expedite this entry of performers and artistes. For instance, we have liberalised the Professional Visit Pass Scheme which allows the entry of these artistes and performers into Singapore. They can now come in for performances, filming, exhibit their work in terms of the paintings or give lectures or speak at other public occasions, or also foreign sportsmen to participate in some sporting events. They can all come in without having to apply for a special pass. They can do all these things with their normal social visit pass and it can be extended for up to three months, if necessary. In fact, most of the people who are coming in for such performances will be covered, and they can do so with their ordinary social visit pass.”
“If you are caught, you must face the full consequences of the law. I am sorry to say that, but the law has to come down hard on employers who choose to employ illegal workers, otherwise we will have a terrible problem of having large numbers of foreigners in our midst working illegally and causing all kinds of other problems. He made the point that our laws have been unfair by putting all the responsibility on the employers. As I said earlier on, we take a two-pronged approach to catch the people who bring in foreigners to work illegally in Singapore. These are the traffickers and illegal agents who bring them in. When they are caught, they are dealt with very severely under the law too. The workers themselves are also penalised. The employers, of course, as I have explained earlier on, face the full consequence of the law. Having said that, we are conscious of the fact that there are many businesses that do depend on the foreign workers to survive. We will endeavour to meet their demand subject to also meeting all the other constraints and reservations such as those expressed by the Nominated Member, Mr Thomas, about the older groups of workers and how to ensure that they also have jobs waiting for them, if they need it. Next, I turn to Mr Ahmad Magad and Mr Seng Han Thong. Both of them spoke about the work permit or work pass system. In the case of Mr Ahmad Magad, people who are coming in for short-term training or attachment, my understanding is that we have fairly straightforward procedures for companies that want to bring in their foreign employees for training or short term attachment in Singapore. The processing time for such a work pass application is generally very short. It is within three days if all the information is provided.”
“But we also have to ensure that very few Singaporean employers would willingly want to go and employ an illegal worker. That is the demand side. Only by working from both angles, can we nip the problem completely. I want to say that our approach, both trying to contain the entry of illegal workers into Singapore and also cutting down the demand, has worked quite well so that the illegal worker problem is not getting out of hand, and I think we should continue to do so. We have strict rules about work permit eligibility. Therefore, those who choose to contravene the rules must face the consequence of our law. I cannot understand when Mr Tay said that some employers unwittingly or unknowingly employed workers who turn out to be illegal. Because under our rule, if you want a foreign worker, you have to apply for a work permit. As the employer, he has to apply for a work permit. If he had never applied for a work permit for this foreigner who is working for him, he will know obviously that the foreigner is an illegal worker. There is no way that the foreigner is entitled to work for him because the work permit card carries the name of the employer. If the work permit card carries the name of some other company, he is obviously not the legal employer, and he employs the foreigner at his own risk, knowing full well that he had violated the law. This is not the kind of risk that the Government is encouraging entrepreneurs to take to break the law. The risks that we are encouraging entrepreneurs to take are the risks involved in doing business, setting up new technology start-ups. To break the law by willingly and knowingly employing a foreigner without having applied for a work permit is foolhardy. The question is one of time: when will it be detected?”
“With regard to extension of the period of the work permit, I think raising it at this juncture serves no useful purpose. The point to make is that I hope the Chambers of Commerce and all other employers take note that if they have foreign workers in their company, they should make every effort to help them upgrade their skills and qualify for a higher grade of work pass. In that way, we will welcome them here to stay longer. Mr Tay also made a very passionate appeal on behalf of employers who were found to have violated our law on the employment of foreign workers. While we are sympathetic, I think most of his passion is misplaced. Because we have to understand that it is simply not sustainable for Singapore, both from the economic and social point of view, to have unlimited number of foreigners coming to Singapore. We cannot simply afford a situation where any employer who wants a foreign worker is entitled and can demand for a foreign worker. If you accept the position that there must be some restrictions and there must be some control, then you have to accept that those who do not comply with the restrictions or the controls that are agreed upon have put themselves beyond the law, and they should be dealt with accordingly, no matter how they themselves feel about the need for foreign workers. If you had employed a foreign worker without a work permit, you have violated the law and you will have to be dealt with according to the law. 2.00 pm In order to deal with this problem of illegal workers, we have to deal with it from two perspectives. One is the demand and the other one is the supply. We have to ensure that very few foreigners can sneak into Singapore to work illegally. That is the supply side.”
“I have to correct his impression, because it is only four years and not six years. We allow an unskilled foreign worker holding a work permit to renew the work permit once. So it is four years' maximum stay. The reason is that we want to ensure that these unskilled workers do not stay in Singapore too long to either sink roots in Singapore or for the employer to become too dependent on these unskilled foreign workers. After all, they are unskilled. So getting a new unskilled worker to replace an old unskilled worker is not a serious problem, nor will it involve a lot of effort on the part of the employer. If the employer finds that this worker is particularly skillful and experienced in a certain operation, then the onus is on the employer to send this worker for skill upgrading and training, so that he qualifies for a higher grade of work pass and therefore can be allowed to stay longer. We allow skilled foreigners to stay here for much longer than four years. The other side of the coin is that while the employers may be saying that the four years is a problem causing them to lose their workers, the real situation on the ground which, unfortunately, many employers are not aware of, is that nearly 73% of unskilled foreign workers do not stay longer than three years in Singapore. Even though we allow them to stay a full four years, they have, voluntarily on their own or because of their employers' desire to phase them out, left the country within three years. So if we raise it to six years, eight years or whatever it is, it makes no impact. 73% are already going back after three years. In the construction sector, a larger number goes back after even a shorter period.”
“These older groups of Singaporeans are the ones who are going to be permanently unemployed. I think we should not allow that to happen. We should continue to regulate the entry of unskilled foreign workers so that they do not price our own Singaporeans out of the job market completely. Next, I turn to Mr Tay Beng Chuan. Firstly, he said that unskilled foreign workers can remain in Singapore for six years. Did I hear him correctly?”
“When I meet my counterparts in the countries which send their people to work here, I have always suggested to them that they should make greater effort to regulate and control their own employment recruiting agencies, because that is the only way that they can prevent the exploitation from taking place in their own country. Employment agents in Singapore, if they exploit the foreign workers, if they make unreasonable or unjustified deductions from the salaries or ask for very high agency fees, we will look into these problems. We will make sure that they do not exploit the workers. We will make sure that they do not run foul of the Employment Agents Act and also the conditions under which we issue the employment agent's licence to the person. His other point is on Government trying to serve as a central agency. I think that has never been our approach for Government to be the sole agent by which we bring in all these hundreds of thousands of foreign workers, whether to work as domestic maids or to work in the electronic factories or hotels. It is well nigh impossible, I would say, for Government, as a single agency, to be able to satisfy the demands of so many tens of thousands of employers. If the Government were to try to do that, we may well become the single biggest bottleneck to the economy. We may well become the single biggest bottleneck to employers recruiting the quality and the number of workers that they need within the timeframe that they need these workers. I do not think we should become a bottleneck. Mr Thomas also made a very valid point, which I entirely agree with him. There is an older group of Singaporeans, low skilled, and they are facing stiff competition from the foreign workers if we allow foreign workers to pour in without any restrictions.”
“My Minister of State will have more to say on that later in response to a cut on Construction 21. So if he will be patient, he will get the answer later. Mr Thomas suggested that we review the ways we bring foreign workers to Singapore. He suggested that maybe Government act as a central employment recruiting agency to bring all the foreign workers into Singapore. Let me say that we are aware that there are malpractices going on in the recruitment process of foreign workers. But not all the problems originate in Singapore. Our understanding of the way the foreign workers are recruited is that the Singapore employment agent works with a counterpart in the home country. We must remember that these are huge countries and the workers who want to come to Singapore come from various parts of the countries. Some are from very remote rural areas. No single agency can reach out to all these potential foreign workers out there. They need a local agent who knows the country and people well, and who knows the procedures within the country. Very often, the abuses or the exploitation of the foreign workers begin with his own employment agent in his own country, sometimes even in his own village. We have had reports of employment agents in villages in Bangladesh who exploited their own fellow villagers and were subsequently subject to vigilante laws by the villagers when they found out. This has happened before. So, you have exploitation taking place at that level among employment agents who are their own people, and it is very difficult for us to regulate, prevent or to anticipate this kind of exploitation.”
“Sir, I want to thank all the Members who raised various issues on work permit and foreign workers. In case I do not have time because of the "guillotine" to reply to all their questions, may I suggest that they raise them on another occasion as Questions for Oral Answer so that I can give them a full reply. First, let me take the points raised by Mr Yeo Guat Kwang. I think he asked for better policies to look after foreign workers who are here in Singapore, particularly housing and recreational facilities. I think the point has been addressed in my answer to Mr Gerard Ee on Saturday morning. So I would not belabour that point again. I just want to say that we have continued to keep our labour market open to foreign workers in the economic sectors, because many employers, in fact, do require these foreign workers. We continue to educate the employers on their rights and responsibilities in employing foreign workers; and in the case of foreign workers, in coming to Singapore. With regard to the employers' dependency, Mr Yeo suggested that we should try to reduce the dependency on foreign workers. This is in stark contrast with the request by the Nominated Member who wants my Ministry to review our foreign worker policy to allow employers, especially in the SME sector, to have more foreign workers. So we have to try to maintain a balance. Our policy is that foreign workers are welcome. We understand that some employers need them, but it cannot be an unrestricted entry into Singapore. There must always be some moderating rules. Mr Yeo also raised several points with particular focus on construction workers, referring to the man-year entitlement allocation system. This is a new system that we are using to allocate the foreign workers to the construction sector.”
“Sir, let me reassure Members that when we set up the training for the National Skills Recognition System, we will look at the profile of the workers who are coming for the particular course. There may be instances where we will have to resort to using languages other than English to communicate lessons and the training materials to them. We are prepared to consider this.”
“The CREST programme basically gives workers tools with which they can learn new skills. It is not imparting job specific skills but giving them the tools for them to acquire new skills on the job. We are thinking of including IT as one of the packages under the CREST programme, because IT is nowadays required in many jobs that are available. So housewives who want to re-enter the workforce will find this aspect of IT training very useful. I am glad to say that the CREST programme has been making good progress. As of February 2000, there were 21,000 providers providing 87 training modules in the seven CREST skills. To-date, more than 24,000 CREST training places have been taken up by workers. We have found it to be more effective and appropriate to encourage employers to recruit housewives and to send them for CREST training, rather than to train housewives first and then try to find a job for them. So this is the approach that we will take. We will encourage and support employers who are willing to recruit housewives. And once they are recruited, we will send them for the full range of CREST training and subsequently follow up with any job specific skills training that is required. I think this would be a more productive approach and it would maximise return on our investments in training. Sir, I think I have covered all the points raised.”
“The second approach is that managers and supervisors must also be trained on how to nurture and develop their new employees, who have just re-joined the workforce, because you have to treat them a bit differently. You have to manage them in a different way because, although they have past working experience, they may have been out of touch for some years, raising children, looking after the family. Since they are newly back into the workforce, you have to manage them differently. So we have training programmes for managers and supervisors, and several hundred managers have been trained under these programmes. In 1996 and 1997, we started to look at how to get more women back into the workforce. We had a committee called Back-to-Work Committee, chaired by Mrs Tan Ai Lian, to study the various issues concerned. But in 1998, because of the economic downturn, it seemed to be less critical and less necessary to launch a massive effort to get women back into the workforce, because we were already having very high unemployment rate. So we scaled back the programme in this area. But now that the economy has recovered and employers are again crying out for more workers, I think it is appropriate to revisit all these old areas and see what more we can do in order to help women re-enter the workforce. In November 1998, we launched the Critical Enabling Skills Training programme or CREST programme. We are thinking of using this CREST programme to replace the Back-to-Work Core Skills Training Programme. The PSB has set aside $200 million for this CREST programme. This is a separate programme. They have allocated $200 million for this programme which will equip workers with critical skills to enable them to acquire new skills and competency in the job.”
“So he found a telecommunications company (Telco) that is planning to replace a manager in about five or six months' time, and he decided that he wanted to try for this job. He is a 50-year old competing with the 30s and the early 40s. He spent four months learning everything he could about Telco operations and management, learning from friends in the business, reading from books and magazines. He even went to the extent of giving up his golf to jog regularly so that he can improve his physical appearance to compete with the 30-something who would turn up for the interview. Well, he got the job. From the story, those of you who are interested should read the article, the employer is very happy with his performance. So the moral of it is that there is a lot of individual responsibility, there is a lot that we can do as a person, faced with such an unpleasant situation. If we make the effort, I think it would pay off. Next, I turn to Dr Jennifer Lee who asked what are the training opportunities for housewives who want to re-enter the workforce. If we have SRP for workers who are retrenched or facing retrenchment, what assistance is available to help housewives refresh and update their skills so that they can go back to work? In this regard, we are taking a two-pronged approach. First, the Productivity and Standards Board has introduced core skills training programme for job seekers. This was set in place since September 1996. And over the years we have trained about 5,000 new employees, including many women. They were equipped with new skills or to update their old skills so that they could fit into the new working environment.”
“But at the end of the day, I would like to point out that those with tertiary educational qualifications - the managers and the executives - are already much better equipped to adjust with the changes in the economic environment, compared to the less educated and lower skilled workers. For the managers and the executives, there are options for seeking new employment, going into business on their own, becoming self-employed, and be free agents offering their expertise and services on a more entrepreneurial scale. Individual drive and enterprise will ultimately determine how each person will be able to make a living. It is important that they also adopt this life-long learning mindset to prepare themselves, to keep themselves relevant and up-to-date with what is needed in the job market. A high degree of individual proactiveness is required and will be helpful to them in anticipation of any economic downturn or any sudden changes in their job prospects. Here, I would like to draw Members' attention to an article in The Asian Wall Street Journal on the 3rd-4th of March (the Friday-Saturday paper), which is headlined "Old Manager Learns New Tricks". The article is based on the story of a Korean executive. I am sure we will find similar examples in Singapore also which may not yet have been highlighted. I am quite confident we have similar inspiring examples. This article tells the story of a 50-year old Korean executive who was facing retrenchment from this company. Instead of sitting around and bemoaning his fate, he looked around to see which other sector offered him the best opportunity. He concluded that the growth sector was the telecommunications industry in Korea. The telecommunications companies were the ones that were still recruiting.”
“For this group of executives and management personnel, they are, of course, also able to use the income tax relief of $2,500 for individual upgrading programme. But that is not to say that we do not have any programme for this group of Singaporeans. In fact, our Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme, which I had mentioned on Saturday, could possibly be extended in the future to cover this group. Initially, when we launched the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme, we were going to focus on the IT industry. That is the area where there is the greatest need for IT-trained manpower and there is a growing demand which cannot be met. So we are trying to convert non-IT trained people to take on these new jobs. But later on, with the benefit of experience of our initial launch in IT industry, we could expand this programme to cover other areas, in management areas, for instance. So we can create opportunity for management personnel to change profession to respond to the new demands that are emerging in the economy. We also encourage Chambers of Commerce and various industry associations to set up their own life-long learning programmes for their managers and executives. Under the Manpower Development Assistance Scheme, which I have mentioned earlier on, we have allocated funds to develop training infrastructures. We can make use of those resources to assist Chambers of Commerce and industry organisations to set up this kind of training facilities. My understanding is that the Singapore National Employers' Federation is, in fact, embarking on one such initiative.”
“Next, I turn to Mdm Claire Chiang who on Saturday spoke about the difficulties facing different groups of workers. She was more concerned with the middle management and the executive group who also faced job pressures during the economic downturn. Let me say that it is true that in our approach to retraining and skills upgrading, we focus on the needs of the lowest level of workers, the least educated and the lower skilled group of workers. This is because it forms the largest group. About 500,000 of our workers have less than secondary education. So this is the group that is most vulnerable to structural unemployment and most likely to be displaced as industries upgrade to higher technology and higher skills level. For the executive and middle level managers, most are well educated, as I mentioned earlier on in my response to Mr Ong Ah Heng. They already receive fairly good education and for many, they have been working for some years in the company and have very good working experience and track records also. Our universities and polytechnics offer many opportunities for continuing education and training which are available to this group of people, and they are the group that would have the most resources available to them to continue such training. The Singapore Institute of Management and other private sector educational providers are also doing a thriving business offering many management upgrading programmes. Sir, the raising of the salary ceiling for contributions to the SDF, which I have mentioned earlier on, would, in fact, help this group too. Because once the salary ceiling is raised to $2,000, SDF would be able to allocate more of its available resources to provide training for the middle level managers.”
“In many of these exercises, we also arranged suitable companies that were still recruiting workers to be present on site to immediately offer retrenched workers alternative job opportunities. My Ministry also worked closely with the CDCs, self-help groups, NTUC and economic agencies to organise many job fairs during 1998 and 1999. In 1999, for example, we organised more than 10 large scale job fairs. We publicised these job fairs extensively through newspapers, radio advertisement, posters, personal letters to retrenched workers and also to the community grassroots organisations and the various self-help networks. As a result of our publicity effort, the job fairs were very well attended. Some of these job fairs attracted crowds of 3,000 people looking for job placement assistance. At every such event, my Ministry's officers, together with representatives of NTUC, the CDCs and self-help groups, would be on hand to offer advice and assistance on employment and the training assistance that would be available. In fact, in November 1998, we worked with Hougang CDC to organise a community job fair at the Hougang Community Centre, and this would certainly have benefited residents of Hougang constituency. 1.00 pm We have also been very proactive in helping retrenched workers who are under-skilled or low skilled to enrol in training. We work with the CDCs, NTUC and various employer groups to encourage these workers to take up training under the Skills Redevelopment Scheme. I hope this will address the points that he mentioned and I reiterate that there is no basis to say that we have not been paying sufficient attention to the needs of this lower educated or lower skilled group of workers who are affected by the downturn.”
“This will encourage more older workers to undergo skills upgrading. Next, I turn to the remarks by Mr Low Thia Khiang. Unfortunately, he is not here this morning. Mr Low made the point that training programmes must be supported by employers, which I agree. He would like more information to be communicated on the opportunities available for training upgrading. That is also an area we agree upon and that is something that my Ministry will pursue to extensively publicise all the various training programmes. He then went on to say that during the recession in 1998 and early 1999 a lot of workers had difficulties getting jobs. If his purpose is to imply that we have not given these workers sufficient assistance or rendered sufficient support to workers who are affected by the downturn, I would like to take this opportunity to correct the impression because, on the contrary, it is true that my Ministry has been very proactive in helping unemployed workers secure employment, particularly during the economic downturn in 1998 and even early 1999. We have been especially proactive in helping the lower skilled group of older workers who had the greatest difficulty in seeking re-employment. In fact, in 1998, it was quite clear that the economy was going to take a turn for the worse. We set up an employment facilitation team to proactively hunt for jobs from various employers and to offer these job opportunities to workers who are affected by retrenchment or workers who registered with the Employment Department of my Ministry. My Ministry was present during the most difficult period of the economic downturn in 1998 and 1999 at most of the large scale retrenchment exercises conducted by various companies.”
“My Ministry is working closely with the Productivity and Standards Board, the Singapore Hotels Association (SHA), Environmental Management Association of Singapore (EMAS) and the Association of Singapore Marine Industries (ASMI). They will drive this pilot project. In addition, key players within these industries are consulted as well. This includes companies like Conrad International Centennial and Westin Stamford and Westin Plaza in the hotel industry, ISS Servisystem and UMC ServiceMaster in the cleaning industry, and Keppel Hitachi Zosen and Sembawang Shipyard in the marine industry. Under this pilot run, the participating companies are sending about 250 workers to be assessed for National Skills Recognition System certification. We are targeting to train and certify 3,000 workers in the pilot phase. My Ministry will proactively seek out the industries, including the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which can provide jobs after NSRS training, and also participate in the development of standards. This will address the point raised by Mr Seng Han Thong on Saturday. He was concerned that smaller companies may not be involved in the process. Mr Seng also suggested that the NSRS take into account the needs and capabilities of older workers. I agree on that score too. Under the National Skills Recognition System, workers are trained and certified according to the skills standards set by industry. They do so in modules, small bite sizes, which they can digest easily, tailored to meet the capabilities and working experience of older workers. There is thus a lot of flexibility for them. They can progress at a pace that they are comfortable with. NSRS trainers will develop suitable software to meet the needs of older workers in the industry.”
“We would see an increase in structural unemployment with a growing mismatch between jobs available and a growing pool of Singaporeans lacking the skills for these new jobs. Our programmes for manpower development are targeted at narrowing this gap. Mr Chay Wai Chuen suggested that industry experts must be involved in establishing the National Skills Recognition System (NSRS) and that the standards that are being set must be reviewed regularly. I agree with him. The National Skills Recognition System seeks to define standards for specific job-based competencies that are relevant to industry and which can be nationally recognised. Such a system would make it easier for workers to upgrade their skills. In addition, the establishment of competency standards and recognition of skills would enhance the professionalism and quality of service of the workforce. It would enable the better trained and better skilled workers to serve their customers more professionally and to offer better quality service. I agree with the Member that industry experts must be involved in setting up the National Skills Recognition System. We will be identifying industry lead bodies to take ownership of the development, maintenance and recognition process. Industry lead bodies are, in fact, key players in their areas. They would comprise industry associations, group of companies or leading companies in the industry, and the economic agency that is responsible for promoting this sector. We will also set up Industry Skills Standards Committee to establish skills standards, promote the National Skills Recognition System and also review the standards regularly, as suggested by Mr Chay. The National Skills Recognition System is currently being tested in the hotel, cleaning and marine industries.”
“Mr Ong on Saturday cited examples of workers who engage in training but subsequently find that they still cannot find new work with their new skills. He observed that when they started on the training programme, they did not have good enough information to guide them. We intend to address this gap by setting up one-stop career centres, which I have mentioned earlier on, and e-Career network to make available information on learning and job opportunities. This will help workers make informed decisions on skills upgrading and career development. A pilot one-stop-career centre will be launched later this year. Mr Ong also pointed out that management skills are also important in the new economy and that we have to train our managers in addition to our workers. For this purpose, the SDF currently provides support to the SMEs for management training. While the importance of management training is recognised, Government support in this area should be selective and focused on the companies and areas of greatest need since management training is already widely available. Sir, while the Government is committed to encouraging workers to engage in skills upgrading, this effort will only be successful with strong partnership from employers and workers. Employers need to recognise that workers need their support for training. On the other hand, workers need to see the importance of training and to engage actively in skills upgrading. A complacent attitude towards skills upgrading is a dangerous mindset. If employers and workers do not change this mindset and move out of the "comfort zone", we will face a serious problem in the future.”
“I hope Members will not see this as yet another Government campaign but as a bold new initiative to get our people to prepare for the knowledge and technology challenges ahead of us. Mr Charles Chong on Saturday raised the issue of professionalising certain industries. We recognise that there is a group of older workers who lack the basic literacy and numeracy skills to be equipped with capabilities to take on the new jobs. For this group of workers, our strategy is to re-engineer and professionalise jobs and industries which are currently of low value-added and are labour-intensive. As it stands today, many of these lower skilled jobs in these industries are filled by foreign workers. We will continue to restrict the supply of unskilled foreign workers to this area. At the same time, we encourage more locals to enter such occupations by improving productivity through better practices and processes, the use of technology and raising the image of the industry. This strategy has already been initiated in the cleaning and construction industries. We are aiming to transform cleaning jobs into trades where workers can acquire new skills, operate sophisticated cleaning equipment effectively and perform their jobs much more efficiently, and hence command higher wages and greater responsibilities. Other areas identified for job enhancement are the hotel, retail and healthcare industries. The Government believes that learning, while it should be employment driven and employer-linked, also requires a high degree of personal motivation. For any programme to be successful, the individual must be prepared to put in the time and effort for continuous learning.”
“$40 million will go to the National Skills Recognition System (NSRS) which is an industry-driven certification system which will accord national recognition to skills obtained through modular training. I will have more to say about the national recognition skills system later. Last, but not least, $50 million has been set aside for the development of learning infrastructure. Sir, to support employer-based training, the SDF levy will also be revised. The salary ceiling for the collection of a 1% payroll levy will be raised progressive to $2,000 in the year 2004, as announced by DPM last year. The first step is the increase from $1,000 to $1,500 on 1st July 2000. This will increase the levy collection from $20 million a year to $48 million a year. The SDF will be committing about $100 million in this financial year for training grants and the Training Leave Scheme for older workers with lower education. Members can see for themselves that we are, in fact, placing a tremendous amount of resources into manpower development. The promotion of lifelong learning is critical. We must get all Singaporeans to adopt lifelong learning as a way of life. It is critical for our success in the knowledge-based economy. While we can provide funds and introduce various support mechanism, our employers and workers must adopt a new lifelong learning mindset. From the end of March this year, we will start to publicise the need and value of lifelong learning in the various media. This will lead to the Singapore Learning Festival which will take place at the end of August and early September. This event will further highlight the importance of lifelong learning in the new economy by showcasing learning opportunities and promoting learning as a fun and rewarding experience.”
“Sir, on Saturday, several Members had spoken on skills training, retraining and the manpower development aspect of my Ministry's work. Allow me to take this opportunity to respond. I agree wholeheartedly that skill upgrading is indeed an urgent task and I would like to reassure all Members that we are pressing ahead with our manpower development efforts. I am very happy to announce that the Ministry of Finance has approved my Ministry's plan to deploy the $200 million Manpower Development Assistance Scheme (MDAS) which Government agreed to in principle last year. The Ministry of Finance has given full approval for the $200 million budget to be utilised over the next five years. The MDAS has already been formulated to support all our manpower development initiatives by co-funding with employers to train their workers, develop skills standards and also develop learning infrastructure. The MDAS will support three major programmes: the workforce development programmes, the skills recognition and certification programme and the learning infrastructure development programme. $90 million has been set aside under MDAS to provide additional support for skills training under the Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP). Our target is to reach 100,000 workers by the year 2003. We have also allocated $20 million over five years to support the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme (SMCP) to be launched in April 2000. This was the programme I mentioned on Saturday. This is another skills upgrading programme to train non-IT workers for jobs in the rapidly growing IT industry. We hope to initially train about 300 IT specialists a year.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2000/2001, and ask leave to sit again on Monday, 13th March 2000. Mr Deputy Speaker: So be it. ADJOURNMENT Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn." - [Dr Lee Boon Yang]. Adjourned accordingly at Five o'clock pm to Monday, 13th March, 2000.”
“As I mentioned earlier on, we will look into whether we should make it mandatory for the self-employed to also contribute to the Special Account in order to help them build up savings for their retirement needs. I believe I have covered most of the points that were raised by Members.”
“This is the group that does not have to make any mandatory CPF contribution except for the Medisave. A lot of them do not make any voluntary contribution despite the fact that, if you are self-employed, you can make voluntary contribution and benefit from the tax exemption for your voluntary contribution up to a certain limit which, I believe, is around $14,000. So for this group of self-employed who only contributes to Medisave, they will obviously not be accumulating sufficient savings in their CPF accounts for their old age. We have to consider whether we should progressively encourage this group to also contribute to the CPF. One way to start is to introduce mandatory savings in the Special Account for this group so that they can accumulate savings for their retirement expenses because most of the money in the Special Account will go towards their retirement expenses. This is actually in line with what was recommended by the Inter-ministerial Committee on Ageing Population. This is an area that my Ministry is studying. We are assessing whether we should move into requiring the self-employed to also make mandatory contribution. Next, I turn to Mr Hawazi Daipi. Basically, he also raised the concern about part-time and contract workers who do not get medical benefits and CPF. As I said earlier on, if they are in fact employees, regardless of whether they are part-time or full-time, they are entitled to the same benefits spelt out in the law. So the question of requiring part-time or contract workers to contribute lower but regular payments to CPF is linked to whether we should make this group, that is presently not included in this CPF contribution framework, to also contribute, in other words, to bring in the self-employed.”
“Next, I turn to Mr Chay Wai Chuen who pointed out that, under the knowledge-based economy, you are going to have various innovative work arrangements, some of which we have touched on earlier in connection with family friendly practices, like flexi-time, working at home and also a remuneration or compensation system that includes new ideas like stock option scheme. But his concern is whether workers who are hired by companies on a contract basis or who are working outside the office most of the time, are covered. Let me assure him that as long as the person is an employee and there is an employer-employee relationship, whether the person works in the office full-time or part-time, or whether the person works at home full-time or part-time is not relevant. The person will still be covered by the Employment Act and the employer in this instance will still have to contribute CPF at the statutory rate, and in the case of medical benefits, like sick leave, etc, the person is entitled to what is stated in the Employment Act. Of course, if a person is working part-time only, then we have in fact a guideline on part-time work regulation under the Employment Act which will enable the employer to recruit part-time workers and offer them benefits on a pro-rata basis. But the important point to note here is that even part-time workers are entitled to the benefits. He is also concerned that some of these workers may not be able to save enough for their old age, particularly, with regard to medical expenses. As I have pointed out, in the case of those who are actually employees, they will be able to accumulate CPF savings like any other workers at the statutory contribution rates. The concern is with the group who is self-employed.”
“We will particularly be looking at companies that have introduced flexible work arrangements which are better suited to help women balance the needs of home and work. Where there are local consultants or people with similar expertise, as mentioned by Dr Lee, we will certainly tap their expertise to help us improve this kind of HR promotion effort. I will pass on the suggestion to the Productivity and Standards Board to consider family friendly practices as part of the Quality Award. This is something we should consider to give greater recognition. I know that since 1997, we already have this Family Friendly Firm Award as a form of recognition. This was instituted together with NTUC, SNEF and Ministry of Community Development. We will continue to do this and we will continue to refine the framework so that it gives greater recognition to companies that have instituted family friendly practices. On double tax deduction for family friendly practices, this is something that has got to be considered by IRAS as there are tax implications. I am not in a position to commit whether or not we should do so. On the home management industry, mentioned by Dr Lee, yes, this is something that we are looking into because we firmly believe that there is opportunity for a home management industry to be organised in Singapore to enable more of our women to go out and join the labour force and yet have some of the duties, ie, the household chores, to be done properly by a professional group. This is an area that my Ministry is exploring. We are talking with interested parties to see whether they have an interest in initiating or starting up such ventures.”
“In other words, it performs a much higher value-added job matching service. We expect to launch the first one-stop career centre later this year in collaboration with one of the CDCs. We want to take it up as a pilot project first to see how well it can be translated in real life. As regards telephone jobline, we can consider this in the context of our one-stop career centre to make it easily accessible to anybody. Next, I turn to Dr Jennifer Lee. She spoke on the importance of balancing the demands of home and work. I agree entirely with her that we should try to help Singaporeans balance the demands of home and work. As I said earlier on, if we can increase the female labour force participation rate by 3%, we have an additional 40,000 workers to contribute to the economic effort. So it is not to be trifled with. It is a very significant contribution. Increasingly, many of the housewives are better educated and have useful skills that can make a significant contribution to our economic effort. I also accept the point that there is no need to reinvent the wheel. We should learn from other people's experience. In a way, we are doing that. As I mentioned in my response to Mr Thomas, we have set up a Human Resource Promotion Section within the Ministry. The mission of the unit is in fact to promote awareness and implementation of good HR practices. We will source out companies which have implemented good HR practices and we will then develop these as case studies to be shared with the other employers so that they can also test out such innovation in their own context and, hopefully, help their workers or employees to balance the needs of home and work.”
“There is tremendous scope and opportunity for the CDCs to play a very useful and effective role in helping the older, less educated, less well-informed and non-Internet initiated people to find jobs. In fact, my Ministry is actually working on this. We are taking up this approach to collaborate with the CDCs. We have already done so in 1998 when the economy went into a downturn. We worked with the CDCs and CCCs of various constituencies to organise job fairs. We brought groups of employers, who were still recruiting workers during the economic downturn, down to the constituencies. We provided the framework and the organisation for them to put up stands. And we publicised and attracted people living in the surrounding housing estates to come down and look at what were the job opportunities available, and helped those who were unemployed to get jobs and in fact conducted the interviews there and then to be considered for various job vacancies. So we have already been doing that. We want to go one step further, along the line that the Member has suggested, by working closely with the CDCs to offer a more easily accessible and a more comprehensive job matching service. We are thinking of starting up one-stop career centres to be located in the housing estates in collaboration with the CDCs. These centres will provide a full range of services to job seekers, not just identifying possible job vacancies for them, but actually looking into the skills requirement of these jobs and then assessing the skills capability of the person who is looking for the job. In fact, advising him where to go to get the required skills upgrading, what kind of schemes would be available to him to get subsidy or funding to undergo the skills upgrading so that he can take on the job.”
“If we restrict labour mobility, my fear is that our young, creative and dynamic talent will be drawn elsewhere. They could be attracted to freer labour market where they can apply their skills for maximum return without restrictions. For instance, if in the Silicon Valley there is a rule to prevent job-hopping, to prevent people from switching jobs or there is a mandatory scheme which will result in some personal loss if you switch jobs too quickly, will the Valley be able to spawn so many success stories and innovations? There is a competition for talent in this new economy. So tying people down through locking part of their remuneration or other mandatory savings plan may not be desirable or, in fact, appropriate in this new economy. Apart from not attracting the talent that you need, this additional labour market rigidity could translate into higher business cost for some other companies. I think we should leave it to employers to exercise their innovativeness to come up with packages and plans which will help them to retain the talent that they need. Next, I turn to Mdm Claire Chiang's point. She also talked about structural unemployment, particularly the problem of older and less educated workers and the mis-match between job vacancies and job applicants. These are issues that we are very concerned with. As I have explained in my response to other Members, these are issues that we will continue to address, and we will come up with programmes to tackle them, ie, mis-match and emerging structural unemployment. 4.30 pm She also made a point about CDCs playing a role as a job-matching agency. I completely agree with her.”
“People move swiftly to jobs and opportunities where their skills and abilities are most valued. Let me quote the President and CEO of Korn/Ferry International, a leading USA executive search firm, Windle Priem, who said that: "The Internet revolution means employees and executives know their value on the market in a click. With the average employee changing jobs five times in his career, as opposed to two times, the framework has changed dramatically." Sir, in the new economy, market condition changes rapidly. Competition is global, capital abundant, and people must be prepared to seize opportunity quickly, just as Mr Singh himself has closed a deal in 48 hours at Internet speed. The key for companies to win in this economic race is whether they are able to recruit and retain the best talent. With skilled employees in short supply in all sectors, companies must provide innovative and flexible remuneration packages to compete and retain the best people. For example, Intel Corporation was one of the first to use employee stock option scheme as part of employees' compensation. Interwoven, a leading edge enterprise software developer on Web infrastructure and content management, recruits engineers with the lure of a BMW. And I just read this morning in the Straits Times that a New Jersey technology company called ARCNET is also using BMWs to retain its staff. The company offers the staff a BMW after they have stayed for one year. I am not saying that we should do the same in Singapore. But I am saying that these examples illustrate that successful companies use incentives to retain their valuable employees. They did not wait for mandatory schemes. So our employees must do likewise.”
“I agree with that, and I would support employers who want to set up such a fund. But my question is: Do we have to make it compulsory? Do we have to apply this across the board to everybody? As it stands today, there is nothing to stop an employer from negotiating with the union or with the employees concerned, if they are non-unionised, to say that they will put aside a certain amount, whether it is from the wage increase or from the end-of-the-year bonus and keep this as a part of the gratuity to be paid periodically. I think this is entirely possible, especially if the employer were to tell the union or the employee that he is going to make an additional contribution to this fund, which his employee will benefit from if he stays for a certain period of time. So I think this can be done now, and I do not really think that we need to make it a mandatory system to be applied across the board. Such a scheme would, in fact, reinforce other schemes to reward their long-serving employees. For instance, employee stock option scheme is, in fact, attracting growing interest, and the Minister for Finance has announced that tax incentive for employee stock option scheme will be reviewed and studied to see how it could be made more favourable, particularly for the high-tech start-up companies. At this juncture, I want to explain why I am not quite keen to make this a mandatory system. As Mr Singh has said earlier on, job-hopping is quite a complex issue, and I also believe that some degree of job mobility is helpful. It sort of lubricates the labour market. In fact, with rapid IT development and globalisation, I think job mobility has increasingly become an essential feature of today's knowledge-based economy.”