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…”
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“But at the level of the mature workers, we will also have programmes under the Manpower 21 initiatives to help workers who need to acquire new skills or different skills in order to remain employable. Mr Hawazi Daipi has asked what would be the projected unemployment rate this year. In 1998, when we faced the full brunt of the economic downturn, we saw about 29,100 workers retrenched over the year. Last year, in 1999, when the economy started to recover, we saw 14,600 workers being retrenched. Prior to the crisis, the average retrenchment a year was around 10,000. So I would say that this year, the likely retrenchment numbers are going to be somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000, unless something exceptional happens, because the process of restructuring will continue. Faced with greater competition, companies will continue to restructure, particularly in sectors like electronics, where the margins are getting thinner, and there will be tremendous push to raise productivity and cut costs. In the process of restructuring and redistributing their operation where the lower value-added operations are moved out of Singapore, we have to anticipate continuing retrenchment in this sector. So while new jobs are being created, we are also going to lose some other jobs. I would expect retrenchment to be somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000. Next, I turn to Mr Inderjit Singh who suggested a scheme to prevent job-hopping. I am glad that Mr Singh has agreed that the CPF is really not the mechanism, because this was proposed previously. He has now come up with a new suggestion, a national compulsory savings scheme, where employees and the employers can jointly contribute to a fund which will be used to pay a gratuity for long-staying employees. I think the approach is sound.”
“We should not go overboard with incentives so much so that it could distort the labour market and create a sense of complacency among older workers that, in fact, they are going to be guaranteed a job, regardless of what happens. I think we want the older workers to also feel the same sense of urgency that they must make personal effort to upgrade their skills, so that they will stay employable. I think the other Member who spoke on this issue is Mr Chay who has commented on the group of workers who may not have the basic ability to be upgraded broadly because of the low level of education. I mentioned just now in my response to Mr Charles Chong that we are equally concerned if this group of Singaporeans, who through lack of education, will have greater difficulty to be upgraded. Our approach is to try to re-engineer jobs in different sectors so that this group of lowly educated workers can also find alternative employment. For instance, we have initiated a strategy in the cleaning industry and the construction industry. We want to transform jobs in these industries into more skilled jobs, into higher value-added jobs, so that older workers who are retrenched from their jobs in the manufacturing sector, for instance, could move into these new jobs with minimal amount of retraining. Such retraining would be at a level which we believe these older workers would be able to cope with. I agree with his idea of introducing skills multiplier, in other words, helping our workers to be more adaptable and to have greater capabilities to cope with the demand of the new jobs. I mentioned earlier on in my response to Mr Chong that we will, in fact, encourage the workers, particularly those with post-secondary education, to move into more multi-disciplinary training.”
“There are jobs going for this area and they cannot find enough people. The US is also facing a severe shortage and they have already increased the visas for professionals for skilled workers from about 65,000 to 150,000. In fact, the employers there in the US are clamouring for even more for this type of H1B visas. So strong demand will really push up the wages of these workers, the highly-skilled workers. But, at the same time, technological changes will also compel these skilled workers to undergo constant upgrading, and they should not put it off until the threat of retrenchment is imminent. They should constantly make effort to upgrade their skills to stay relevant, to remain employable. On the other hand, we have our lower-skilled workers. They will face threats of unemployment, as Mr Ong has mentioned, because many of the jobs are going to be phased out as the company relocates from Singapore, because they find that the environment is too costly for that type of operation. For this group of workers, skills upgrading is even more critical. It will really make the difference between getting an alternative job or remaining permanently unemployed. Mr Ong also mentioned that maybe we should have some incentives to encourage employers to hire older workers. We already do give employers such incentives by way of providing a higher level of subsidy for their training and retraining under the Skills Redevelopment Programme. Employees above the age of 40 can receive 100% full subsidy on all training expenses and up to 85% subsidy for absentee payroll under the Skills Redevelopment Programme. So I think this would help employers to overcome the mindset about the reluctance to employ older workers. But, at the same time, we should be careful.”
“Sir, I thank the Members who have spoken on the various subjects. Let me now first respond to Mr Ong Ah Heng. He raised a number of issues. First, I would like to say that I agree with him that one of the problems that we are facing is this shift in the industries. They have to move away from low cost labour-intensive to more high value-added which will result in the emerging structural unemployment. More workers are going to be retrenched from these lower skilled jobs and they just cannot find alternative jobs unless they upgrade their skills. So I agree with Mr Ong that retraining of the workers is critical and that retraining cannot be put off until the workers have been retrenched. It will be rather late in the day to talk about upgrading the skills of a worker on the eve of his retrenchment. Because that means you have to undergo a period of training before you can take on another job. It is better for a worker in this situation, in such vulnerable jobs, lower-skilled jobs, to constantly upgrade his skills, so that any time when the threat of retrenchment materialised, he should be comfortable in the knowledge that he has acquired sufficient skills that will allow him to transit to a different job with another company, or maybe even undergo a short period of retraining to take on jobs that are available in other sectors. I think this is one aspect that we have to be well aware of, that as we evolve into a knowledge-based economy and as we face the pressures of globalisation, our workers are going to be exposed to the full pressures of global competition. Skilled workers will remain in demand in Singapore, like they are in demand everywhere else. For instance, recently Germany has announced that they want to open the doors to 75,000 IT professionals.”
“The objective of this top-up is in fact to recognise Singaporeans who have accepted the wage and CPF cuts as part of the package to deal with the economic crisis. In fact, homemakers who had made at least one CPF contribution during this same period, either by their children or spouse, will also be able to receive this $250 top-up from the Government. Sir, I believe I have addressed all the points that were raised.”
“Even though they are not actively working or contributing in the economy, the housewives, by looking after the children and the homes are making an enormous contribution. In fact, we do provide incentives for spouses and children to build up or to contribute to CPF accounts for the housewives or homemakers. Children of the homemakers can make contributions to their parents' or their mother's CPF account under the existing Minimum Sum top-up scheme. The children would be allowed a tax relief on the cash amount contributed into their non-working mother's CPF account up to $6,000 a year. Spouses of homemakers can also top up their wife's CPF account with CPF savings under the Minimum Sum top-up scheme provided they themselves have double the Minimum Sum amount. We also have other incentives for children or spouse to make contributions for homemakers in the form of CPF share ownership top-up scheme. This was done in 1993, 1995 and again in 1997 and we also have the CPF top-up scheme in 1995 and the Medisave top-up scheme in 1996 and 1997. In some of these top-up schemes, the children or the spouses were required to make a co-payment before Government would credit a certain amount of top-up into the homemakers' CPF accounts. It is not quite correct to say that homemakers cannot take advantage of various Government CPF top-ups. In fact, they did in the past. In the recent top-up announced by the Minister for Finance in his Budget speech, Government is going to give a special top-up of $250 into the Ordinary Accounts of every Singaporean CPF member aged 21 and above, provided they have made at least one contribution for the whole of 1998 and 1999.”
“Let me say that today we are not facing a shortage of funding in order to support workers' upgrading or retraining. In fact, skills upgrading or retraining is well within the reach of every worker today. Let me point out an example. Last year, we had a training commitment of 18,200 workers for the Skills Redevelopment Programme. 18,200 workers signed up for the Skills Redevelopment Programme. In fact, only 12,600 or about 70% actually turned up for the training. The rest never showed up. In fact, the SRP budget that we have is grossly underspent. We have the funds, the training capacity, but the workers have not turned up. The issue that confronts us today is not a lack of funds. It is a sense of complacency, a lack of urgency on the part of employers and their employees. I think the economic recovery has made it even worse. The employers do not feel the urgency. They see a pick-up in business and prefer to keep their workers on the job or even to work overtime. Investment in training for their employees is now seen as less important. On the other hand, workers who see that his job prospects are much better, see little need for training as the threat of retrenchment seems to be over. Let me say that individuals should take responsibility for their training, career and learning needs and they should make full use of the extensive support and financing mechanism that we have instituted in order to upgrade their skills so that they can remain employable even as the job market continues to change. Lastly, I would like to respond to Mr Hawazi Daipi and Dr Jennifer Lee. I also agree with Mr Hawazi that housewives contributed immensely to the family and to the national development of the country. I do not think this is ever debated or anyone would argue against this point.”
“There are many studies to show that, over the long run, equity investments generate significantly higher rates of return than just putting money in the bank. There may be ups and downs in between, but if you are prepared to hold those investments over the long run and if they are wisely invested, if you make a careful study or, better still, allow professionals to help you make the investment, then you will find that, over the long run, you are unlikely to lose out. That is why we are prepared to allow CPF members to use their CPF savings to invest in shares. Whereas investing in overseas education is a totally different thing. Investing in overseas education is not just paying the fees. It means supporting the student during the period of stay and that can be quite costly. The fees can be tens of thousands of dollars compared to what is being charged by NUS. That is why we are quite concerned and we are not prepared, at this juncture, to relax the ruling that CPF savings can only be used for education if the person using it is studying in a Singapore institution on a full-time basis. 3.15 pm Mr Thomas suggested, if I get him right, that the Government should consider transferring some of the surplus to top-up CPF members' accounts and allow them to use it as some sort of training fund. This is a different presentation from what was raised sometime ago about allowing CPF members to use part of their CPF savings for training. If it is in fact to ask whether the Government would make this CPF top-up available for CPF members to pay for some training expenses, that is a totally different proposition and it is something for the Minister for Finance to consider and see whether this should be the way to give out some of the budget surplus or not.”
“We also have allowed the CPF member to borrow against his own account if he himself wants to undertake a full-time course in a Singapore institution. This was in order to allow lower income Singaporeans who have difficulties supporting their children to study full-time at the local tertiary institutions. We are comfortable with doing that because tertiary education in Singapore is highly subsidised, and the fees are in fact regulated and controlled by the Government. On the other hand, for self-improvement courses, the fees are charged at the market rate. Overseas education is very costly. Even if we say yes, you can borrow against your CPF account to finance your children's overseas education, there would have to be a limit obviously. You could not say you could take everything out of your CPF account and spend it on your children's overseas education. What would be the limit? The limit naturally must be what you can withdraw if your children were studying in Singapore. If you do that, then you will find that the portion that you can borrow from your CPF account to finance your children's overseas education is a very small part of the total cost of financing the education overseas. In which case, you would therefore run a greater risk of losing that investment if, somewhere along the line, the parent loses his job or has to take a cut in the income, and he can no longer support his kid overseas. That is why we are concerned that if we open up this area, we will allow greater erosion of CPF savings. Of course, when you buy shares, there are risks. We know that there are risks associated with buying shares. But at the end of the day, those members who make prudent investments, in the long run, will certainly enhance their CPF savings.”
“As to the details of the scheme, the Minister for Finance has explained that he will study it in greater detail because there is a wider tax implication. We will seek feedback from various sectors and if Members have any comments, we will be prepared to consider, particularly, whether employers should contribute to the SRS by way of incentives so that they will put in their co-contribution together with the employees. This is something we can look into. His other point was that we should consider additional tax allowance for employees or workers who have made other investments, such as by way of insurance policies. This is an area that had been studied before. Under our arrangements, all mandatory CPF contributions are tax exempt. You can buy insurance and claim tax exemption on the premium that you have paid, provided the total amount does not exceed the mandatory CPF contribution. I am not sure whether we should at this juncture change the tax ruling. But this is a matter for the Minister for Finance to consider. Next, I would like to respond to Mr Ahmad Magad, Mr Ang Mong Seng and also Mr Thomas. Both Mr Magad and Mr Ang Mong Seng raised the concern about using CPF for self-improvement courses, part-time courses and overseas education for their children. This is not a new subject. It has been raised on many occasions in this Chamber and we have discussed this extensively. Let us go back to the objectives of the CPF. What is the CPF's core objective? It is to help the member to save sufficient money for his retirement needs. We have allowed one deviation from this and, that is, to allow him to borrow against his CPF savings to finance his children's full-time education in a Singapore institution.”
“In this regard, we should get all our employers to sit up and take a more proactive stand with regard to the recommendations by the NWC to institute a monthly variable payment. A monthly variable payment, which is in a way bringing part of the end-of-the-year bonuses into a monthly payment, will help employers to cope with sudden changes in the business environment. They do not have to wait till the end of the year to adjust the bonuses in order to reduce their labour costs. They could in fact adjust the monthly variable payment whenever business takes a sudden turn for the worse. This is an area that all employers should sit up and take notice of, and try to implement as soon as possible. He also suggested that we should review the CPF contribution ceiling because, presently, no CPF is contributed for salary above $6,000. The $6,000 was fixed in 1985. We have looked at this possibility. But we should be careful about raising the CPF contribution ceiling. Because if you do that, you are increasing the cost burden to the employers. And at this juncture, while the economy has recovered, we cannot be sure that the recovery will be smooth and uneventful. We do not want to over burden the industry with additional cost factor. So we should be very careful about adjusting the CPF ceiling. On the contrary, we do want Singaporeans to also save more for their retirement which is why the Minister for Finance announced the Supplementary Retirement Scheme. The scheme will enable those who want to save more and also have a tax incentive to save, to put aside more of their income into the Supplementary Retirement Scheme, ie, open a SRS account and put aside additional savings for their old age.”
“There is a case here for companies that are doing well to also reward their workers by either wage increase, if they think that their good prospect is sustainable, or by one-off special bonuses, at the end of the year, if they are not too sure whether the good performance will continue or not. In fact, this was recommended by the NWC in October 1998 to account for the differences that if you are doing well, the companies should reward workers with special bonuses, rather than go back to the old CPF mechanism. As far as the Government is concerned, we will restore the CPF cut, and this is a point which was also brought up by Mr Thomas. We will restore the CPF cut at a pace which will not hurt the economic recovery and growth. The first step is the 2% restoration on 1st April this year. We will speed up the restoration if there is clear evidence that a faster pace of restoration will not hurt our overall competitiveness. Mr Thomas next went on to suggest that the CPF should not be used as a tool for cost reduction. I agree with him. We should not treat the CPF as a means of adjusting our wage cost at the slightest provocation. We should look at the CPF as a last resort. Only if there is no other way of preserving our competitiveness should we then touch the CPF. This has always been my position even in 1998, when we were first discussing the CPF cut. Because whenever you cut the CPF, it will affect people in a whole range of ways, some of which are quite unanticipated. So we should always treat it as a last resort measure. I agree with him that we should use the flexible wage system as the first mechanism to adjust our wage competitiveness.”
“Companies, which were facing severe difficulties during the financial crisis and economic downturn, could, in fact, have fallen by the wayside, but ended up with a second chance as a result of our CPF reduction and other cost reduction measures. Many have in fact survived and are well on their way back towards a growth path again. Companies that were doing well during the crisis and economic downturn also benefited from the cut in CPF because they then found themselves to be even more competitive than they were before. They could gain a bigger market share. So what happens is that when you cut the CPF across the board, you benefit everybody because those companies that are not doing well, we help them to survive. Those companies that are already doing well, they are able to increase their market share and, in the process, even create more jobs. So we both preserve jobs and also create more jobs. If we were to allow companies which are able to make quicker restoration of the CPF on their own and also give them the full tax benefit, then we are going to lead to a situation of invidious comparison between companies. Employees who want to compare may say, "Why is this company able to make the restoration faster, although voluntarily, as compared to mine?" That would remove this sense of collective burden sharing that was so important in how we rallied Singaporeans together to face the crisis in 1998. It could lead to a situation where employers, including the less profitable ones, could be pressured to make voluntary contribution. Having said that, I do not think companies that are doing well should just enjoy the CPF cut and reflect it as an additional surplus or profit to be enjoyed by shareholders, who are owners of the company.”
“00 pm Having said that, there are some vocations which generally are considered as self-employed but, in fact, there may be specific instances where they are actually employees. For instance, many musicians are considered self-employed and they are not members of a union. But musicians of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, for instance, are actually employees of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra Limited and therefore they are eligible to join a union. There, again, it is not a question of what you do. It is a question of whether there is an actual employer-employee relationship. Mr Thomas also suggested that unions should be allowed to buy shares of their own companies, including foreign-based companies. This is an area that we have to study carefully. Presently, unions can invest their funds in trustee shares. They can invest in land, they can also invest in land overseas, although that will require a different procedure to get approval from the members. But whether they should buy overseas shares and also foreign denomination shares, it is something that we should study. We should not rush into it. Of course, as Mr Thomas would agree, the risks of buying overseas shares with foreign denomination are much greater than buying Singapore dollar denominated shares. Sir, I next turn to Mr Charles Chong's query on some companies which are able and may be willing to restore the 10% CPF cut faster than announced by the Government. Let me say that the CPF cut that we introduced on 1st January 1999 had enabled many companies to become more cost competitive.”
“Let me point out that there is a cut later on and we will give him a full reply on our approach towards ILO conventions. But at this juncture, suffice to say that when ILO convention does not run counter to our national interest, we are very open and we are ready to ratify such conventions. Mr Thomas also suggested that the Trade Unions Act be amended to enable unions to represent a wider category of workers. As it stands today, any employee who has a contract or service with an employer, in other words, there is an employer-employee relationship, he is already entitled to join the union, regardless of whether the worker is a part-time worker, a casual worker or hired on a contract. As long as there is a real employer-employee relationship, the worker can join a union. The group that is excluded, in fact, is only the self-employed workers. In the past, prior to 1982, even self-employed could join the trade unions. But then it was noted that obviously being self-employed, there was no employer-employee relationship, and the group or the union that represents these self-employed workers could not negotiate or could not have collective bargaining with the employer because there was no real employer-employee relationship on which they could base their collective bargaining on. And also such self-employed workers - even if they joined the union, before the 1982 amendment to the Trade Unions Act - found that they could not avail themselves of the conciliation or the industrial arbitration process within the ambit of our labour legislation. So, in fact, there was no advantage for them to become union members in this sense. 3.”
“My Ministry will work closely with our various partners and implementing agencies on these strategies and programmes. Mr Chong also raised questions on manpower development and on foreign workers. There are cuts later on in the debate on this. Either my Minister of State or I will be responding to those other points. Let me now move on to Mr Thomas Thomas' point on the importance of tripartism. Here, again, I agree completely with Mr Thomas on the importance of tripartism. It has been, I would say, a cornerstone of our economic well-being. The strong tripartite cooperative, non-confrontational relationship has helped us tremendously and is, indeed, an asset. Mr Thomas suggested that we give top priority to the M21 recommendation to upgrade the human resource practitioners. Yes, we will do that. We will work closely with various human resource institutes. In fact, my Ministry has set up a unit to promote a HR promotion unit where we will study the companies which have developed or implemented good HR practices. We will use these as case studies and we will then promote these practices to other employers by way of seminars or workshops, so that employers and HR practitioners can learn about what other companies are doing by way of improving their HR management practices. Mr Thomas also suggested that the Government as an employer should contribute to building up tripartite relationship, consulting the unions whenever there is a need. Let me assure him that that is our approach. I know that the Public Service Division does consult the unions on key issues, whether it is NWC wage increases or any other matters that would affect the public sector employees. He mentioned in passing about ratifying ILO conventions.”
“For instance, if we can increase the female labour force participation rate by, say, 3 percentage points, we will be able to draw about 40,000 women, who are now economically inactive, back into the workforce. So just a 3 percentage point improvement in our female labour force participation rate amounts to 40,000 additional or new workers to the workforce. This is a significant area for us to look into, if we are talking about augmenting our manpower resources. But even after we try to draw the economically inactive women into the labour force, we will find that there are still gaps in the manpower demand and supply which the local workforce will not be able to fill, as I said earlier on, perhaps where Singaporeans do not have the experience or the expertise or where there are just simply not enough of Singaporeans to go around. Consequently, we will need to supplement our local workforce with foreign manpower. We must continue to leverage on the global manpower resources at all levels in order to bring about sustainable economic growth. We expect the shortage in professionals and technicians as well as production workers and manual workers to persist for some time to come. Foreign manpower is therefore needed to plug these gaps, especially at the higher end, where we continue to attract foreign talent. At the lower end, we will continue to admit foreign workers selectively. So the thrust is to raise the skills profile and the productivity of lower-end foreign manpower as well as to professionalise the lower-skilled jobs, so that we can reduce our reliance on low or unskilled foreign workers. Sir, all these strategies will help us to build a globally competitive workforce to meet the economy's needs as we transit into a knowledge-based economy.”
“Under this system, we will optimise the use of current educational infrastructure to expand the capacity for continuing education and training. My Ministry will work closely with Ministry of Education to look into the funding arrangements for specific programmes and the means to optimise the current infrastructure to provide this CET needs, for example, through the provision of more part-time and evening classes. Another strategy is to re-engineer jobs and industries which are low value-added and are labour-intensive. The objectives are to improve productivity, reduce manpower demand and raise the image of the industry to encourage more locals to enter such occupation. This is especially important given that there are many in our workforce, especially of the older age group, who may not have the basic literacy, numeracy and language skills to benefit from the Skills Redevelopment or Conversion Programmes. Through these strategies, Sir, we hope some of the structurally unemployed will be able to fill the manpower gaps in the domestic service-based industries and be meaningfully employed. This strategy has been initiated in the cleaning and construction industries. The National Manpower Council has identified other areas in health care, hotel and restaurant and retail sectors. Sir, in augmenting manpower supply, there is a need to augment the local manpower supply. That is quite obvious. In many areas, we have jobs where we do not have sufficient Singaporeans to take these jobs or we do not have Singaporeans with the required expertise and experience to take on these jobs. That is why we need to augment our manpower supply. But, first of all, in terms of augmenting or increasing our manpower supply, we must also look at our own domestic population, our own workforce.”
“Sir, in line with the anticipated growth in manpower needs for specific disciplines, the National Manpower Council also set new targets for university and polytechnic intakes. For example, the universities will expand the intake of engineering and computer science by about 4% from last year's intake. Other disciplines with significant increases to cope with anticipated demand could be seen in pharmacy (about 8% increase) and communication studies (about 9% increase). Polytechnics will increase engineering intake by about 2% and 12% for computing. The polytechnics will aim for higher intake for media and design studies of about 14%, and for health-related subjects, about 9%. In the case of business studies, the intake will go up by a very significant 14%, with SMU taking a share of the increase. In the other disciplines, the intakes will be maintained more or less. In addition, in a knowledge-based economy, when knowledge creation could come from the convergence of various disciplines, it is recommended that the post-secondary educational institutions adopt a more multi-disciplinary approach. For example, core skills such as IT and communication should be included as modules in all disciplines of studies. This approach will provide younger Singaporeans with multiple skills and capability for a wider range of jobs. To achieve the desired educational profile for the workforce of 25% degree, 20% diploma, and 20% post-secondary workers in 10 to 15 years' time and to ensure that workers, especially those at risk of structural unemployment, can be trained and deployed to emerging industries quickly, the National Manpower Council strongly endorses the Manpower 21 programmes to enhance in-employment, education and training.”
“Sir, in line with the move towards more knowledge-based activities, the demand for manpower will be greater for the highest skilled and education category. Manpower demand is projected to grow for those with degree, diploma and post-secondary qualifications, while the job demand for workers with secondary and below education will continue to drop. In general, a greater proportion of highly-skilled manpower will be needed across all industries. In terms of manpower demand by occupations - professional, associated professional and managers - will emerge as the fastest growing occupations in the industries such as business, computer and related activities, finance, engineering, electronics and communication. Sir, to meet these emerging manpower needs, various strategies encompassing manpower development, manpower augmentation and industry re-engineering will be needed. First, on retraining the workforce, the Skills Redevelopment Programme and the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme have been formulated to provide skills training and conversion to help workers move from one industry to another. The National Manpower Council has identified additional areas that could be considered for SRP and the SMCP. For instance, workers within electronics, electrical, retail and construction industries can be upgraded through the SRP to take on higher skilled jobs within these industries. Training and conversion programmes could also be offered to enable workers to be deployed to other industries with growing demand for workers. Workers in engineering, light manufacturing, finance and construction, for example, can be deployed to appropriate jobs in IT, health care and the transport and logistics sectors.”
“45,000 jobs a year might sound a lot, but, in fact, it is much lower than what we were doing in the years before the financial crisis. Between 1992 and 1997, for example, we saw employment gain of about 83,000 per year. In the next five years, the sectors with the fastest job growth per annum include business services (about 8,800 per annum), financial inter-mediation (5,900), computer-related activities (4,007), transport and logistics (4,000), education (2,008), health care (2,300), wholesale trade (1,900) and petroleum and chemical (1,400). Sir, these projections, I have to emphasise, are based on the economy growing steadily at an average of 5% per annum and also based on what we know of the investment trends and the business opportunities or business forecasts in the short term. What is important is not so much the actual projected number, but the projected changes in demand between different sectors of the economy. The projections show that the service sector and the IT-related will lead in job creation. In the manufacturing sector, the turnover of lower value-added jobs to be replaced by higher value-added jobs will continue. EDB's Industry 21 plan is on target to generate about 15,000 jobs per annum, two-thirds of which will require fairly highly skilled workers. New jobs in the electronic, chemical and life sciences industry will be created. At the same time, job losses are expected from restructuring of the light manufacturing and electronic industries. Employment growth in the service sector will be underpinned by the rapid growth of Internet and e-commerce activities across various industries, including finance, business and education and the growth of new activities in logistics, communication and IT.”
“Sir, thank you for allowing me to respond to the hon. Members who have just spoken. First, I would like to respond to Mr Charles Chong who spoke about the need to have a national manpower planning framework to quickly anticipate and identify key manpower trends in a fast changing environment. I am in full agreement with Mr Chong that we need to have such a manpower planning framework. This is in fact one of the recommendations of the Manpower 21 study, namely, to set up a National Manpower Council in order to conduct an integrated holistic approach towards manpower planning for Singapore. Sir, as our economy transits into a knowledge based economy, effective manpower planning will be crucial to help us to meet the challenges of rapid changes as well as to ride the new wave of opportunities. Sir, a manpower planning framework with the Manpower Council at the helm will enable us to better anticipate manpower needs and to facilitate a better fit between manpower demand and supply. It will also enable us to address the manpower issues in a holistic manner. The end objective is, of course, to enhance the competitiveness of our workforce in the knowledge-based economy. 2.45 pm Sir, I am pleased to report that the National Manpower Council had held its inaugural meeting last month. I would like to take this opportunity to inform the House on some of the key issues which were discussed and the strategies which were endorsed by the National Manpower Council. First, on the area of manpower demand. With the economic recovery well underway, job creation is expected to be positive in the medium term, with a projected average net job creation of about 45,000 jobs per annum between the years 2000 and 2005. This will be much lower than the pre-crisis year.”
“When a contractor wants to build dormitories to house foreign workers, they have to apply for the land and the land would be made available, subject to various conditions from the Land Office. Obviously, the contractor or developer who puts up the dormitory housing will have to comply with the various building control regulations and this will obviously also be inspected from time to time. ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 2000 TO 31ST MARCH, 2001 (Paper Cmd. No. 2 of 2000) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [4th Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] Head W (cont.) - Resumption of Debate on Question [10th March, 2000], "That the total sum to be allocated for Head W of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100." - [Mr Leong Horn Kee] Question again proposed.”
“The remaining 20% of foreign construction workers are housed off-site. Some are accommodated in purpose-built dormitories, such as the Kaki Bukit Hostel which provides not only good quality housing, but also social recreational amenities to the 3,000 residents. Other foreign workers are housed in pre-war shophouses, old buildings or in private residential estates. This is where the problem lies. Some unscrupulous employers may force their foreign workers to live in cramped, and sometimes, unsafe living conditions. Those responsible will be taken to task for violating the guidelines on accommodation set by the Work Permit Department and various Government agencies. The URA, for example, ensures that there is no misuse of private and residential buildings. On the inhumane treatment of foreign workers, the Government takes a very serious view of employers who mistreat or abuse their foreign workers. The Penal Code, for example, was amended in May 1998 to enhance penalties for employers who physically abuse their foreign domestic workers. Errant employers will not only be taken to court for their actions, they will also be debarred from employing foreign domestic workers. Foreign workers in the economic sectors are protected under the Employment Act which spells out the basic terms and conditions of employment. Employers who fail to provide basic statutory benefits and who do not comply with the provisions of the Act will be dealt with under the law. In addition, these employers may be barred from employing foreign workers. Employers are reminded to treat their foreign workers decently and not to subject them to any inhumane actions, whether in the homes or other workplaces. Those who do so will have to face the consequences of the law.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not have much to crow about as far as foreign workers are concerned. But when applying for foreign workers, all employers have to undertake to provide adequate accommodation for their foreign workers. In the case of foreign domestic workers, they live in the homes of the employers. Although there are no specified standards for the accommodation of foreign domestic workers, my Ministry has issued guidelines to employers to ensure that foreign domestic workers' need for privacy should be respected. Employers have also been reminded not to make their foreign domestic workers sleep on beds in the corridors or in the living rooms or in the kitchens with little privacy. Foreign domestic workers should not be asked to share a room with an adult of the opposite sex. The living conditions of foreign workers in the economic sectors vary from industry to industry. In the manufacturing and marine sectors, foreign workers are generally provided with reasonable and acceptable accommodation. In many cases, foreign workers are housed in purpose-built dormitories, whose living conditions are comparable to that enjoyed by the average Singaporean. Shipyards, for example, provide very good accommodation to their foreign workers such as the Acadia Lodge by Keppel Shipyard. Sembawang Shipyard also provides good quality accommodation in company-built dormitories. Other foreign workers in the manufacturing sector are housed in commercially run dormitories built by the Jurong Town Corporation. In the construction sector, the majority of the foreign workers, ie, 80%, are housed on-site. Contractors who provide on-site housing have to meet basic standards set by various Government agencies, such as the URA, BCA, the Ministry of the Environment and the Fire Safety Bureau.”
“Sir, our intention, eventually, is to cover all the industries, but we want to do it in stages. As I have said in my main answer, the National Skills Recognition System will only work if it is a collaborative and joint effort. It cannot work just purely as a Government initiative. The industries themselves have to come together and agree that they want to have formal standards for skill competencies for all their workers in the various occupations. We are in discussion with the various industry groups and, as and when they are ready, they will be brought on board to implement a national skills recognition system for their particular industry. BILL INTRODUCED SUPPLY BILL "to provide for the issue from the Consolidated Fund and the Development Fund of the sums necessary to meet the estimated expenditure for the financial year 1st April 2000 to 31st March 2001", recommendation of President signified; presented by the Minister for Finance (Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. FIRST SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1st APRIL, 1999 TO 31st MARCH, 2000 (Paper Cmd. 1 of 2000) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair]”
“We hope to extend the National Skills Recognition System to other industries by the second quarter of this year.”
“Sir, the National Skills Recognition System (NSRS) is a key recommendation of the Manpower 21 report. The system provides a national framework for the definition, acquisition and certification of job skills competencies for our workforce. It will be industry-driven, accessible to workers through an open entry and modular approach, and provide for training and acquisition of skills at different levels to establish skills progression for the workforce. Establishing clear skills standards will potentially benefit many workers who are holding skilled or semi-skilled jobs, such as clerical, sales and service personnel, production operators and even cleaners. Currently, most of these jobs do not have clear competency standards. Implementing a national skills recognition system for the workforce is an enormous task. Apart from the large numbers involved, we need to cater to different industries and within industries, different occupations. To succeed, a concerted effort involving all key Government agencies and industry bodies is needed. Currently, the system is being piloted in 3 industries - hotel, marine and cleaning. The pilot phase aims to test the robustness of the system and fine-tune it for the comprehensive launch to all industries. To date, 19 skills standards have been developed for the pilot industries. For the hotel industry, for example, the standards include servicing guestrooms, providing western-style food and beverage services, handling guest arrivals, processing room reservations and so on. The assessment centres and training programmes for the pilot industries are in the process of being established. Our aim is to train and certify 3,000 workers in these three pilot industries.”
“Precisely. In fact, the Committee that is working on it is looking at the ways of enabling executives of companies to join rank and file unions. As I said earlier on, we have to address not just the concern of NTUC in wanting to reach out to a wider group of workers but also the concerns of employers over this potential conflict of interest. The Committee will certainly consider, where there is no real potential for conflict of interest, allowing executives to join the rank and file unions and even, if necessary, where they have sufficient support, to serve the union in a leadership position. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Dr Lee Boon Yang]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. MEDICAL AND ELDERLY CARE ENDOWMENT SCHEMES BILL Order for Second Reading read. 3.58 pm”
“Even if we want to include the self-employed, they would not be able to avail themselves of a conciliation on any trade dispute or reference to IAC, because there is no employer/employee relationship on which they can refer the matter to the Industrial Arbitration Court. Each one is a free agent working on his own and with his own terms and conditions. The employer exercises very little supervision or disciplinary proceedings over the worker. So it is very difficult to try to attempt to cover this group. In fact, it confers upon them no advantage to bring them in. Hence, in 1982, it was argued that we should exclude them. We have since then maintained this position. I do not think the situation has changed so much between 1982 and now that we should go back there and re-examine this area to bring in the self-employed within the coverage of the Trade Unions Act.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, it is correct that prior to 1982, the Trade Unions Act allowed non-employees or the self-employed to become members of a union. Precisely, this situation was not tenable that in 1982 the law was amended to define a workman as a person who has entered into a contract of service with an employer regardless of how this contract of service was written up and what are the terms. As long as there is employer/employee relationship, he is a workman, he can join a union or form a union. During the 1982 debate on the Trade Unions (Amendment) Bill, the reason was provided for this exclusion. I think the reason still exists and it is still relevant in today's situation. In the absence of an employer/employee relationship, there is no collective bargaining between the employee and the employer, between this worker who is actually a free agent working on a contract for service with a particular company. Mr Thomas mentioned the example of a taxi driver. Who is the employer in this instance? Is it COMFORT? Is it TIBS? There is no employer/employee relationship in that sense because the taxi driver hires the taxi from the company. Is the taxi driver himself an employer? It could well be, by his definition, because part of the time he gets a relief driver to drive his taxi. So does that mean he is an employer? We can see that if we adopt that approach, we will reach very difficult and unsustainable positions. So we have decided that, as a rule, as long as he does not have a fixed contract of service, where there is no clear employer/employee relationship, he should not be covered. The other point is this.”
“It is a provision to ensure that we do not just bluntly adopt a position against people who have an old criminal conviction for dishonesty or fraud. So we give people a chance. If he makes a genuine effort to reform and not commit further offences in the intervening years, we may not want to hold it against him, unless the offence, in the first instance, was a very serious offence which raised strong doubts about the person's character. So we will need to have this flexibility, otherwise it is too rigid. Somebody with an old offence going back 25 years and we say, "No, you cannot be a trustee." In the meantime, he has risen through his effort. He has become a successful and prosperous businessman and contributed both to union and community work. And now you say he cannot be a trustee because of this old offence. I think that will be a bit too rigid. Whereas in the case of a bankrupt, of course, we are saying, he is a discharged bankrupt. The moment he has discharged his bankruptcy, he is no longer caught by this particular section 43(1A). I hope that clarifies the position for Dr Wang.”
“And in due course, we may well have to amend the Industrial Relations Act. On the 80:20 rule, we have discussed this before. It depends on the nature of work of the company. If we are talking of a company that is very labour intensive, then it may well go beyond 80:20. It may well be 90:10. But in a company that is less labour intensive, more knowledge intensive, we may end up seeing a situation of 40:60. So fixing it at 80:20 is introducing an element of rigidity, my view has been that we will continue to assist NTUC to reach out to all workers and companies and assist NTUC in its effort to seek recognition, and to represent as many workers as possible without having to adopt a fixed rule of whether it is 80:20 or whatever it is. I think we have to look at each company on its own, the profile of its workforce, and therefore try to recruit as many of the workers who are eligible as possible to join the union, rather than set ourselves a target, which may not be representative or reflective of the profile of the workforce in that particular company. Finally, I would like to refer to Dr Wang's query. This is clause 13 which amends section 43 to exclude an undischarged bankrupt from being appointed or serving as a trustee of a trade union. In the case of a person who has been convicted of an offence, there is a provision here that allows the Minister to exercise judgment. In some cases, some people may have a very old conviction and in the intervening years since his conviction he has shown himself to be an honest, upright citizen, somebody who has been reformed and who can now be trusted to serve a trade union and its workers in this capacity as a trustee.”
“As long as they have a contract of service, there is an employer and employee relationship between the employer and the worker, they come under the ambit of the existing Trade Unions Act, and they can become a full member of a trade union. Mr Sinnakaruppan's point is about expanding the outreach and who can be a member. The answer is that, in fact, all workers, as I have just explained, who have a contract of service with the employer can be a union member, and that covers nearly everyone, including executives. Executives can become members of a trade union. The only restriction is the restriction which exists in the Industrial Relations Act, which seeks to avoid a conflict of interest where executives or management staff of a company join the rank-and-file union of the same company. In fact, executives can all form unions of executives and be full members of unions of executives. We have to be careful when executives join the rank-and-file union, because there is always this potential of conflict of interest. In fact, this is an area that my Ministry is actively studying. We have established a committee to work together with NTUC and the Singapore National Employers' Federation to look into how we can widen the definition, how we can amend section 16(3) of the Industrial Relations Act to ensure that we only exclude that group of executives who genuinely face the possibility of a conflict of interest, and that we do not just bluntly exclude a large group of the middle level executives from joining the rank-and-file union. The committee is, in fact, in progress. They are studying this issue. I hope that they will be able to reach a consensus and make their recommendations for consideration by my Ministry.”
“Specifically, Mr Thomas mentioned that in the past the trade unions drew its members from the pool of perhaps mainly full-time blue collar workers, and this is changing. There is emerging in the workforce part-time workers and there is increasing highly skilled technical and also more white collar work being generated. I agree with him that there is a change in workers' profile. As to whether we should, in fact, now widen the Trade Unions Act to cover non-employees, in other words, people who are not working under a contract of service, this is something that at this juncture, we feel that it has not reached the stage and it is not necessary to extend the coverage in this manner. The Trade Unions Act will, as it stands, cover persons who work under a contract of service. In other words, there is a direct employer/employee relationship. Mr Thomas referred to a group of contract workers because companies are increasingly out-sourcing some of their services to outside providers of labour. While there is no existing contract of service relation between the worker and the ultimate employer, there may well be a contract of service relation between the worker and the organisation that provides the out-source service. So, in fact, such workers can also be covered if they have an actual contract of service with their employers in the first instance. It is not as if this group of workers is completely omitted. The other point is on part-time workers. Part-time workers can also become union members, as long as they have an actual contract of service. For instance, there are many part-time workers in the catering and food service industry. There are part-time workers in the departmental stores and supermarkets. There are even part-time workers in hospitals.”
“This is under existing section 53(6). It is a fine not exceeding $200 or an imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both fine and imprisonment, in other words, basically, $200 fine and maybe imprisonment. But in the case of the existing Societies Act, the fine for furnishing false information is $1,000. In the case of the Employment Act, an employer who furnishes false information would be subjected to a maximum fine of $1,000 and/or up to six months of imprisonment. In the case of the Factories Act, a similar offence of giving false information carries a maximum fine of $2,000 and/or 6 months of imprisonment. So we have to look at the review of the fines in totality of the legal framework. We have to look at other legislation and see what level of fines are being imposed, and not just look at a particular offence in the Trade Unions Act and see whether this penalty of $200 has now been increased, as in the case of giving false information. We are proposing under clause 16(c) of this Bill to raise the fine from $200 to $2,000. It looks like percentage-wise, it is a very steep increase indeed, but we have to look at it historically. The $200 fine was set way back in the 50s and today, the overall climate and the overall level of fines in other legislation would justify such an increase to $2,000 for giving false information to the Registrar of Trade Unions. Mr Thomas supported the amendment including the increase in fines which reflects the changing times. I agree with him. That was what I have just been explaining. But he asked whether we could, in fact, make more amendments in order to widen the reach of the Trade Unions Act, a point which Mr Sinnakaruppan also made.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, first, I would like to thank all the Members who have spoken, in particular, Mr Seng Han Thong, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Mr Thomas and Mr Sinnakaruppan, for their strong support of the amendments introduced in this Bill. As I have said in my Second Reading speech, this Bill had gone through a long process of discussion with the National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers' Federation. So it is not a unilateral decision on the part of the Ministry to make these amendments. The amendments were arrived at after a thorough discussion and in consultation with all the parties that are involved in forging a stronger, more cooperative, more productive, more fruitful industrial relations in Singapore. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang asked for some clarifications with regard to the penalties. He generally supported the review of penalties. He said that the review of penalties is long overdue, but he saw the increases in some cases going up to 100% and he felt that there is a need to clarify why we actually have to make such a steep increase in the penalties. Let me reiterate that most of these penalties in the existing Act were set long ago, even before the 1982 review of the present Trade Unions Act. Some of them date back to 1952. I have given an example in my Second Reading speech about union members participating in illegal industrial action paying a much smaller fine of $1,000, compared to another worker who participates in illegal industrial action and being charged under the Trade Disputes Act having to pay a much heavier fine. Let me give Members some other examples of why this long overdue review of penalties justifies raising some penalties by more than 100%. For example, the penalty of giving false information relating to trade unions.”
“It will also provide for the payment of the prescribed statutory fees by electronic means. This amendment will facilitate the submission of such information by electronic means and enable unions to move to a paperless mode of record keeping. Conclusion Sir, in conclusion, the amendments proposed in the Bill will ensure that the Trade Unions Act will continue to promote the development of an effective and responsible trade union movement in Singapore. They will also enable our trade unions to respond to changing environment and to take advantage of information technology to better meet the needs of their members. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.”
“So you can see the discrepancy - a union member taking part in an illegal industrial action only faces a penalty of a maximum of $1,000, whereas any other worker, meaning a non-union member, who takes part in an industrial dispute illegally faces a much more severe penalty which may or may not include a term of imprisonment. Hence, we have to rationalise these differences. Clause 6 of the Bill therefore increases the fine for this offence from $1,000 to $2,000 and also increases the fines for other offences under section 27 of the Act. Likewise, clauses 10, 16 and 18 to 21 of the Bill seek to increase the amount of fines spelt out in sections 37, 53 and 56 to 59 of the Act respectively. Clause 22 of the Bill introduces a new section to grant discretionary powers to the Registrar to accept from any person or the trade union reasonably suspected of committing an offence a compound fine for a sum not exceeding $200 for every offence. The offences where a compound fine can be imposed will be prescribed by regulations. Electronic Register and Electronic Filing of Documents Under section 7 of the Trade Unions Act, the Registrar of Trade Unions is required to maintain a register of trade unions. Clause 3 of the Bill amends section 7 of the Act to enable the written copy of the register to be replaced by an electronic register kept on the computer. For the purpose of maintaining and updating the electronic register, the Registrar may call for information that is deemed necessary. Clause 17 of the Bill seeks to amend section 55 of the Trade Unions Act to empower the Minister to make regulations to allow for the manner in which applications, forms, notices, requests or returns required under the Act can be filed electronically.”
“Penalties Mr Speaker, Sir, it may sound a bit jarring in the light of peaceful industrial relations climate and the close co-operation prevailing between the tripartite partners, namely, the trade union representing the workers, employers and the Government, for us to talk about enhancing penalties imposed under the Trade Unions Act. However, we feel that it is timely for a thorough review so that the penalties imposed under the Act would reflect the severity of the offences. Those who have lived through the difficult periods of the 50s and 60s would recall that strikes were prevalent then. This resulted in the loss of thousands of otherwise productive man-days. The social disorder crippled the economy and caused tremendous hardship to the people. Although we have been almost strike-free for more than two decades, we should constantly guard against this brand of trade unionism so as to avoid its damaging effects. The penalties imposed under the Act had remained unchanged for many years and are now no longer comparable to those for offences of a similar nature found in other laws. Take, for example, the offence under section 27(3) of the Trade Unions Act where any union member who takes part in an illegal industrial action shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be fined a sum not exceeding $1,000. This offence is no less severe when compared to the offence under section 5(1) of the Trade Disputes Act (Cap. 331). Under this provision, ie, the Trade Disputes Act, any person who participates in an illegal industrial action can be fined a sum not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.”
“Purchase of Land and Building Section 46 of the Trade Unions Act allows a trade union to purchase or lease in its trustees' name any land exceeding 4,047 square metres in size provided it has obtained the approval of the Minister. There is no compelling reason today for us to restrict purchases of land based on its plot-size. Hence, clause 14 of the Bill will repeal and re-enact section 46 of the Act to remove the requirement for Minister's approval in the purchase of land where the plot-size exceeds 4,047 square metres. It will also allow trade unions to purchase or lease any land or building outside Singapore provided the union has obtained the requisite consent of its members or delegates. It is necessary for the union to obtain a clear mandate before the purchase of an overseas property as such a purchase may carry a certain amount of risk due to economic and political uncertainties apart from foreign exchange fluctuations. Application of Union Funds Mr Speaker, Sir, section 47 of the Act prohibits a union from using money received from its members or (in the case of a federation) its constituent trade unions, for a purpose other than the purpose for which it is given. Clause 15 of the Bill amends section 47 of the Act to provide that it can do so where the requisite consent has been obtained from its members or delegates. This will provide greater scope for a union to utilise its reserves without compromising the interest of its members.”
“Appointment of Union Trustees Under the Act, all union properties, either movable or immovable, have to be controlled and vested in the trustees for the use and benefit of the union and its members. The appointment or election of the trustees and the filling of these vacancies are determined by the union rules. As unions accumulate financial reserves and other assets, the responsibilities of union trustees have become heavier. Clause 13 of the Bill amends section 43 of the Trade Unions Act to disqualify an undischarged bankrupt and a person convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty or any other offence, which renders him unfit from being a union trustee. We should ensure that only persons of unimpeachable character and integrity hold such important position in the unions. Freeze on Union Funds Sir, under the existing Act, the Minister is empowered to direct in writing a freeze on union funds during an investigation by a public authority into the improper use or misapplication of the funds of a trade union under section 16. However, the existing provision does not take into consideration funds that are kept in other financial institution besides banks. Clause 5 of the Bill addresses this inadequacy by amending section 16 of the Act to replace the word "bank" with the words "financial institution". The term "financial institution" has been defined to mean "a bank, a finance company or any co-operative society carrying on the business of managing and investing funds." It will ensure that when the situation calls for a freeze, all of a union's assets will be protected.”
“When a decision is made by the delegates, the number of union members involved in the process would inevitably be much smaller than having to convene a general meeting of the members of the unions. Hence, it would not be too onerous on the trade unions to require two-thirds majority when a decision is made through a vote by their delegates. Accordingly, clause 8 of the Bill repeals and re-enacts sections 33 and 34 of the Trade Unions Act to allow a trade union to seek the requisite consent from its delegates to change its name or to amalgamate with other unions. Clauses 9 and 12 will introduce consequential amendments arising from the introduction of the new provision to allow decisions to be taken by delegates. There are similar provisions in clause 2 of the Bill governing decisions made in these areas by a person, who is elected or appointed as a delegate to attend and vote at a meeting of a federation, on behalf of any of the constituent trade unions. Appointment of Union Officers Mr Speaker, Sir, over the years many trade unions have built up strong financial reserves as a result of prudent investments of surplus union funds in union co-operatives and other investments that are authorised by law for the investment of trust money. Trade union funds and assets actually belong to the members of the trade unions and it is important that they continue to be managed prudently by officers of the unions. It will therefore not be desirable for an undischarged bankrupt to become a union officer and manage the financial affairs of the union. Clause 7 of the Bill amends section 30 of the Trade Unions Act to disqualify an undischarged bankrupt from acting as a union officer.”
“Trade unions with large membership often provide in their union rules for the delegates to decide on various matters, as it would be inefficient and cumbersome for every such decision to be taken by all the members. These delegates are elected by the members of their union through a democratic process and have the confidence of members to safeguard their interest and well being. In these unions, decisions such as the election of union officers and the amendments to the union rules are taken by the delegates. Larger trade unions face administrative difficulties in the implementation of existing sections 33, 34 and section 47(2) of the Act. Under these provisions, the trade unions are required to seek the consent of their union members on a change in the name of the trade union, which is covered by section 33; amalgamation with other registered trade unions, which is covered by section 34, and the change in the use of union funds, which is covered by section 47(2). There is no provision in the law to allow decisions on these matters to be made by the delegates. In other words, the existing law requires that these three areas be decided upon by the general membership of each trade union. As the system of empowering delegates to make decisions on other affairs has worked well, we propose to extend the delegates' power to include decisions in the three areas which I have just mentioned. Hence, clause 2 of the Bill provides for a delegate system, including the definition of a "delegate" and how "requisite consent" can be sought to allow the delegates to make decisions on such matters.”
“Sir, the details of the proposed amendments are covered in the Explanatory Statement to the Bill. I will now address the key features of the Bill. Delegates System Let me begin with the delegates system. Sir, the trade union movement in Singapore has bucked the worldwide trend of declining union membership by being able to maintain a steady growth in membership throughout the years. Over the last 10 years, union membership rose from 212,874 in 1989 to 289,707 in 1999, an increase of 36%. This increase did not come about by chance. The trade union movement under the leadership of the National Trades Union Congress works very hard to ensure that it stays relevant to meet the changing needs of the workforce, and to recruit and retain members through its vigorous recruitment campaigns. Smaller unions have reviewed their ability to expand membership and to serve the changing expectations and needs of members. Many have decided to merge with other unions to achieve critical mass and be transformed into more effective organisations to better serve the needs of their members. For example, the merger of the Jurong Shipyard Employees Union and Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Employees Union. As companies merge or restructure to enhance their competitiveness, their unions will also have to take similar actions. For example, when the Post Office Savings Bank was merged with DBS, the Post Office Savings Bank Employees Union and the Development Bank of Singapore Staff Union merged into one union. This trend of mergers is likely to continue in order to expand membership base and to better serve workers in related industries.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, the Trade Unions Act (Cap 333) and its Regulations provide for the registration of trade unions and the regulation of their activities, including prudent management of union funds and the free and fair election of union officers. The Trade Unions (Amendment) Bill before the House today seeks to amend the Trade Unions Act to improve and update its provisions so that unions can carry out their roles and responsibilities more efficiently. The amendments and new provisions in the Bill will enhance unions' decision-making procedures to enable delegates in unions with large membership to make prompt decisions and also ensure that union appointments will better safeguard the interest of members. Recognising the widespread use of Information Technology, provisions will also be introduced to enable trade union records to be submitted and maintained electronically. The last major review of the Act was carried out in 1982. The 1982 amendment created the framework for trade unions to play a more constructive role by working closely with employers and the Government towards the raising of productivity and the promotion of economic growth. This has benefited our workers, employers and the economy of Singapore. The active engagement of trade unions in strengthening our economic competitiveness has brought enormous benefits to workers and contributed to their high standard of living and a better quality of life. Trade Unions (Amendment) Bill, 2000 The views of the National Trades Union Congress and the Singapore National Employers' Federation have been sought and, where appropriate, they have been incorporated into the amendments in this Bill.”
“Sir, we will consider the request of members who had previously opted out and now want to opt in. Of course, you must understand that MediShield is an insurance scheme. Therefore, once you opt out, to rejoin, you will have to satisfy the conditions as a new applicant, which may well include medical examination and a ruling out of coverage for prevailing or pre-existing illnesses. That is why it is beneficial for CPF members to remain a member of MediShield or some other insurance, such as Managed Healthcare System or IncomeShield or MediShield Plus right from day one. In which case, as a young and healthy worker, he would be fully covered. In most cases, there will be no pre-existing ailments to be excluded. So they could remain covered for the rest of their lives. We are continuing to explain this to all CPF members and MediShield members to ensure that they stay insured throughout their working life time. PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION (Review) 6. Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh asked the Minister for Education (a) whether there has been a review on early education for the young under 6 years of age; (b) what are some of the critical findings; (c) what areas in our pre-school education require improvement; and (d) whether the Government will set up an Inter-Ministry Research and Action Task Force to identify changing needs and programmes in safeguarding quality and consistent standards among all pre-schools, irrespective of whether they are run by the Ministry of Community Development or by the Ministry of Education.”
“The Board will continue in its efforts to educate the public and its members on the MediShield/MediShield Plus schemes.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, as at 31st December 1999, the total MediShield membership was 2 million, of which 1.6 million CPF members and their dependants are insured under Basic MediShield Scheme, and 400,000 are insured under MediShield Plus. The total number of CPF members using Medisave to pay for coverage under the IncomeShield or Managed HealthCare System was 200,000. Since the inception of the Basic MediShield Scheme in 1990, about 230,000 members had opted out and did not participate in any health insurance schemes using CPF savings. Such persons could have their own health insurance coverage or felt that they were adequately covered under their employers' healthcare benefits. Another 337,000 members had opted out of the Basic MediShield Scheme in order to join MediShield Plus, IncomeShield or Managed Healthcare System. The CPF Board recognises that there could still be some members who may not have healthcare coverage. Therefore, the Board carries out regular programmes to promote MediShield cover. These include sending to all new CPF members an information package on MediShield, and providing information on MediShield in the CPF Newsline in all the four major language newspapers regularly. The CPF Board also jointly organised talks on MediShield with the trade unions, community clubs, public libraries and schools to help members of the public understand the benefits of the Scheme. In addition, the CPF Board has been actively promoting the MediShield/MediShield Plus Schemes to households and to parents through schools. Since 1996 a total of about 420,000 direct mail packages have been sent out to households and through schools. We have received a good response of about 130,000 applications as at 31st December 1999.”
“Sir, all our information kits are sent directly to the users. The video is sent to the employment agents because they are the ones responsible for bringing in the foreign domestic workers into Singapore in the first instance. Their responsibility is to show the video to the foreign domestic workers upon arrival to orientate them. All our other information materials are sent to the employers of the domestic workers or to the foreign domestic workers themselves at their place of work. If the Member for Potong Pasir wants to have a set of it, I see no difficulty. We will be very pleased to extend a set to him.”