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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“The unions had difficulty in persuading existing employees, particularly the older ones, to opt into the scheme because they were not willing to give up the comprehensive medical benefits which they currently enjoy. As the trade-off benefit for new employees is lower at 1%, unions were also concerned that the older retrenched employees, who would be regarded as new employees when they join another company, could end up with insufficient Medisave to meet their in-patient expenses. On the other hand, employers were concerned about the additional cost of implementing the Alternative Medical Benefits Scheme. They were concerned that not all existing employees would opt into the new scheme. Employers would then end up having to operate more than one medical benefit scheme, which is administratively very cumbersome. Some employers, lacking a long-term outlook, felt that the current medical benefit system was not too onerous and therefore saw no reason to change. Sir, we are concerned that changes in the labour market and the rapid ageing of our workforce will, over the long-term, create severe problems for the present employer-based medical benefit system. The traditional employer-provided medical benefits tend to reduce job mobility for older workers and those with poor health, by tying them to their current employers and medical benefits. Under this system, a worker who loses his job would automatically lose his medical benefits. This would not matter if he is young and in good health. He can find a new job quickly and be covered by medical benefits provided by his new employer. However, if he is an older person and not in good health, a new employer will be reluctant to employ him and accept the burden of higher medical expenses.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in November 1995, my Ministry appointed a Tripartite Committee to review the minimum retirement age and the cost implications of a higher retirement age, including the desirability to move away from the employer-provided medical benefit system. The Committee recommended raising the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62. This was implemented with effect from 1st January 1999. The Committee also recommended several measures to help enhance the employability of older workers so that the extension of retirement age would not undermine cost competitiveness of the employers. These measures include the capping of retrenchment benefit payment, the implementation of the base-up wage system, and the replacement of the existing employer-provided medical benefit scheme with an Alternative Medical Benefit Scheme. Progress has been good in voluntary adoption by employers and unions of the capping of retrenchment benefit and base-up wage system. However, there has been no progress in the case of the Alternative Medical Benefit Scheme. Under this Scheme, as proposed by 1995 Tripartite Committee, existing employees will be given average in-patient expenses for the past three years plus 1% of salary as an additional contribution to their Medisave account. New employees will receive an additional 1% of their salary also to be contributed to their Medisave accounts. For outpatient expenses, existing employees will receive a salary adjustment of 1% or some other mutually agreeable and appropriate level in return for co-paying their outpatient expenses. Sir, both unions and employers had encountered difficulties in applying this idea.”
“The Manpower 21 strategy and programmes represent a blueprint or a road map. Workers, employers and the Government must travel along this road hand-in-hand so that we can arrive together at our common destination. The road is not straight nor smooth. It is winding, runs uphill with many obstacles along the way. We must help each other to navigate the climb and overcome the hazards on the way. Government, working with the employers, will invest, subsidize, motivate and encourage workers to upgrade their skills. Singaporeans must also make personal commitment to make full use of these opportunities to upgrade. Every worker must adopt the "lifelong learning" credo and make continuing effort to ensure his or her employability. I urge all employers and workers to join us in this exciting and rewarding journey to transform ourselves into a globally competitive workforce. Sir, many Members have spoken and given suggestions and made many good comments on the M21 report. I do not propose to go into the details and respond to individual comments, but let me assure all the hon. Members that my Ministry will study and consider their suggestions and comments as we implement the recommendations of the Manpower 21 Committee report. Sir, I support the motion.”
“In the years ahead, we must also find equitable and mutually agreeable solutions to these other issues so that they will not hinder the effort to create jobs for our people. Conclusion The new millennium will present many new opportunities to Singapore. These are opportunities which we must seize and ride on to bring us into the next phase of growth. If we are ill prepared, we will miss out on these opportunities and slide down on the competitive ladder. This will mean higher unemployment rate. We will have to live with higher unemployment rate. There will be insufficient and lower value-added jobs for our people who will end up earning lower wages and have to put up with lower standard of living. The transition to the new economy involves every individual. It is not confined to only the engineers and those who are highly educated. Rather, it requires the commitment, determination and effort of all Singaporeans at every level of the workforce. It requires our people to be willing to learn, to try new things, to be innovative. Whether professionals or production workers, employers or employees, the key to our ability to earn good living in the future will rest on our ability to acquire new knowledge and skills and to use these to add value to the economic effort. Individuals can choose to be overwhelmed by the changes and languish by the side, or take a proactive role to prepare for the future and ride on its opportunities. While the Government will provide the overall framework, the people and the private sector have to take the lead in seizing the growth and learning opportunities. Employers and workers must be agile, flexible and open to various possibilities in this fast moving knowledge-based economy.”
“The question is: can we afford further delays in implementing a measure which will result in better allocation of health care benefits across the board and also ensure that our employers or companies do not bear an unfair share of providing such medical benefits to their employees? There is also the sacred cow of retrenchment benefits. A ceiling of 25 years service was introduced when the retirement age was raised to 62 years last year. However, as I mentioned earlier, the pace of change will cause companies to restructure and reorganise much more frequently in future. Companies will have to down-size when the market turns against them and when they develop new products or new services, they can then grow again. So company sizes will change. There will be frequent restructuring and reorganisation. If our retrenchment benefits are perceived by investors to be too generous and a hindrance to corporate restructuring, we may lose our attractiveness to such investors. Can we afford to pass up such opportunities because we want to preserve the present system of protecting our workers from unexpected retrenchment? Or should we recall, go back to first principle that retrenchment benefits were meant to help workers to tide over the period during which they are unemployed and looking for a new job? These are all very sensitive issues with tremendous impact on the state of our industrial relations. But we must start to discuss these issues and build up a tripartite consensus on how we can make progress. We have already started to do so with regard to another issue concerning union representation for executives in a company.”
“The NSRS will enable mature workers to earn credit for what they have learnt, and provide an additional mechanism for employers to assess their employees' skills level. This system is designed to be accessible to all workers, regardless of their basic education. It will provide all workers with the opportunity for skills certification to a nationally recognized standard. This will help facilitate the gradual transition of the lower skilled segments of our workforce into the knowledge economy and encourage them to also pursue lifelong learning. Apart from promoting lifelong learning, training and retraining, we must also constantly examine our employment market to look for areas that can be improved and also to enhance our resilience and competitiveness. For instance, we must refine our wage system to enable companies to be more responsive to changing business conditions in good and bad times. Hence, employers should quickly adopt the monthly variable payment (MVP) system. This system was recommended by the National Wages Council in May this year as a means to help companies to adapt to the changing business cycle. The monthly variable payment will in fact give companies an additional measure to adjust cost without having to retrench workers or resort to more painful wage cuts. We should also rationalize some of our employees' benefit system, such as the introduction of a co-pay principle for medical care. This was in fact recommended by a Tripartite Committee nearly three years ago but progress in implementation has been fairly slow. On the contrary, the civil service has already implemented this system since 1994, and has made very good progress with it.”
“We will use the experience gained from this pilot project in the IT sector and extend it to the other new growth areas so that Singaporeans can be better equipped and better prepared to take on these new jobs. Raising skills levels and multi-skilling The third development is the demand for flexibility, creativity and thinking skills and also multi-skilled workers. Gone are the days when a production worker or production operator focuses on a single task on the assembly line. In a typical hi-tech manufacturing plant, whether it is in petrochemicals, semiconductors or food manufacturing, most of the actual work itself is done by machines, operated by a few highly skilled workers. These workers will have to conduct quality inspection and trouble-shooting and even maintenance of the machines that are placed under their care. Even in traditional jobs such as in the cleaning industry, healthcare aides, hotel industry with the need for a large number of chambermaids and other backroom support staff, there is scope to raise their skills and productivity by widening the scope of such jobs through proper training. The result is to enhance the image and dignity of these jobs. This will help us in our effort to re-deploy some workers who will be made redundant as the manufacturing industry reduces its labour requirements. To motivate workers to undergo upgrading so that they can continue to remain employable or be redeployed to other sectors, my Ministry is developing the National Skills Recognition System (NSRS). The NSRS is a framework that will develop industry skills standards in the manufacturing and service sectors and accord national recognition to the training that meets these standards.”
“When companies reorganize to concentrate on their core activities or to venture into new areas, very frequently, there will be employment disruption and, in some cases, retrenchment of surplus staff. So while the demand for a people with knowledge and capabilities in growth areas will increase, other workers may well find that their skills are no longer needed. There will be a shrinking demand for their skills. For example, since 1992, the manufacturing share of employment in Singapore has declined from 29% to 21% in 1998. While demand for higher skilled technicians, engineers, computer systems analysts and product research and development workers will still grow, the demand for production and assembly workers is expected to continue to decline. Our approach to helping these workers is to equip them with new skills and help them to re-deploy to other economic sectors, such as service industries. Other growth sectors which will continue to create jobs for our people will include the banking, finance, communication, broadcasting and information technology sectors. In the IT sector alone, the current pool of 33,000 IT professionals is expected to grow at about 10% a year for several more years. To prepare for the manpower needs in the high growth sector, my Ministry is planning to launch a Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme. This is a programme whereby workers are encouraged to undergo short "conversion" courses to acquire new knowledge and skills for careers in the growth areas. For a start, my Ministry is working with NCB on a programme to convert non-IT trained workers for higher value added jobs in the growing IT sector. The scheme will be implemented early next year.”
“Even in traditional fields such as construction, the use of technology will result in sizeable improvements in productivity and reduction in the need for low skilled foreign construction workers. Next week, my Ministry will launch the Construction 21 Report and announce new measures to transform the construction industry. While our new school leavers and graduates of polytechnics and universities will be well prepared for these changes and demands of new jobs, we must not forget the older workers who may not have the same skills and are in many cases hampered by their lower education. The concept of "lifelong learning" put up by the Manpower 21 Committee is designed to help mature workers learn new skills to help them to keep up with the changing job requirements. While younger entrants to the workforce will be better equipped, their stock of knowledge and skills will also get outdated in the face of technological progress. So even today's well educated younger Singaporeans must adopt a new mindset and embrace lifelong learning so as to stay employable. New Growth Industries The second major development is the accelerated pace of rise and fall of companies and industries. This is the result of the unprecedented pace of technological advances and applications. To succeed and remain profitable, companies are constantly seeking new products and new services. They are always looking out for better, more productive and lower cost opportunities. Those which cannot keep up with the pace of change will soon find themselves shut out of the market. In response to this trend, restructuring will become part and parcel of business growth and survival.”
“As we move towards a knowledge-based economy, the jobs are likely to be transformed into knowledge intensive jobs. What this means is that while industries will need fewer people, these workers will be of much higher calibre, higher skilled, able to perform more valuable jobs and earn higher wages. Singaporeans must begin to prepare for these changes now. What would be the developments affecting jobs in the future? We think there are three developments that we must look out and be prepared for. These developments will form the backdrop and provide the challenges for us in implementing Manpower 21. IT/Technology Based Workplace Environment Sir, the first is the technology-based workplace environment. There is no question that technology will reshape not only the electronic and manufacturing based industries. Every other industry and business will be affected by the use of technology. Information technology and e-commerce are just examples of how technology has been applied to improve business efficiency and customer reach. For example, information technology is progressively being applied in sectors such as retail, banking and insurance to dramatically expand the delivery channels and the reach towards new customers, and, of course, also to improve the service to their customers. In education, the intranet and the Internet provide opportunity to apply new learning methods which can bring a whole host of education materials to the fingertips of students. Retail staff, bank staff, insurance salesmen, as well as teachers, will all need to be prepared for such changes. Increasingly, our workers have to be IT savvy, attuned to the latest technology and comfortable with the demands of the new jobs which are being created.”
“We have to seek out new opportunities and adopt a new paradigm for growth and prosperity. So, what we should do is to use this recent experience to plan for the future. Of course, we cannot precisely determine what the future will hold for us, but we can safely assume that the 1998 recession would not be the last nor would it be the worst. Sir, in the pre-crisis days, economic growth resulted in the creation of as many as 120,000 new jobs a year. Singaporeans were, in fact, spoilt for choice. Companies rushed to carry out "green-harvesting" exercises. University graduates were offered jobs before they actually graduated. Production workers could quit a job and walk down the street to another factory and find another job with a $50 pay increase. In fact, many jobs had to be filled by foreign workers, due to a sheer shortage of Singaporeans. In some areas, it was a shortage of suitably skilled and qualified workers; but in many other areas, it was a shortage of workers who were willing to take on the less attractive and less pleasant jobs. In the post-crisis days, as the economy recovers, we cannot expect the labour market to return to the conditions prevailing in 1995 to 1997. If our GDP grows at the target rate of about 5% a year, and at least half of this growth comes from productivity gains, the balance will have to come from an expansion of labour supply, to yield a net job creation of around 60,000 jobs a year. This means that we must be prepared for a lower level of job creation, even as the economy recovers and settles to its long-term growth rate of between 4-6%. We will have to ask ourselves what are the jobs which will support sustainable economic growth over the longer term.”
“The CEO explained, "Even though oil was at $10, it was the right decision. You're going to be successful in the long term if you have good people". That was why in the worst of times, Conoco was still investing in training its people to provide good leadership, so that the company can weather the crisis and emerge more competitive and more successful. Conoco was not alone in taking this approach. According to the same Business Week report, and I quote, "Corporate America has concluded that investing in people is the way ahead." Sir, this is one idea that we must adopt and embrace wholeheartedly, and apply as soon as we can. And this, in fact, is what M21 is all about. It sets out a strategy or blueprint, if you like it, for Government and employers to invest in our people as a means for Singapore to stay ahead. It provides a framework for all Singaporean workers to upgrade their skills, knowledge and capabilities so as to stay relevant and to remain employable. Sir, the recent economic recession, though rather brief, was a timely reminder of our vulnerability. It shows how easily tens of thousands of Singaporean workers can be made redundant. Now that the crisis is largely over and the Singapore economy seems to be well on the road to recovery, it is indeed timely for us to reassess our situation. We can sit back and simply ride this wave of recovery by doing, more or less, the same, doing what we have been doing before the crisis itself. It is the easiest way out. It is the course of least resistance. But the danger of taking this approach, this pathway of least resistance, is that with increasing globalization, we would be exposed to increasing competition and, over time, our economic space will shrink.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in the debate. I rise to speak in support of the motion standing in the name of Mr Davinder Singh. Sir, the President in his Address to open the Second Session of this Parliament had highlighted Government's efforts to promote life-long learning and to enhance our people's skills and capability under the Manpower 21 plan. Several hon. Members have also spoken in support of the Manpower 21 plan. I thank them for their endorsement and support for the initiatives contained in the Manpower 21 Report. Yesterday, Mr Lim Boon Heng, speaking about the employee share option scheme, urged caution on our companies to adopt such an approach of rewarding their employees. I think he made a valid point. We should proceed with care when adopting such new ideas. He said that one should be wary of adopting new ideas that appear to be great but their consequences are not fully known. I agree with that approach. But there are other ideas which, although new and novel, are self-evidently relevant and applicable to our situation, and we should be prepared to adopt them immediately and wholeheartedly. I will give you an example, Sir. The latest issue of Business Week (18th October) contained a special report entitled "Learning to Lead". It described how an energy company in the US, Conoco Inc, coped with a 1998 downturn in oil price and surplus capacity within the company. The usual approach in such a situation, when your product price is going down, would have been to cut spending and to close plants, which would mean retrenching some workers. Instead, the CEO made an unusual decision. He decided to make a major investment in the company's managers. He approved a new comprehensive leadership-development programme for his senior executives.”
“There are currently more than 450,000 work permit holders in Singapore, of which more than 100,000 are foreign domestic workers. There are also about 80,000 foreigners employed in Singapore on Employment Pass. TEMPORARY OCCUPATION LICENCE FOR ALJUNIED CONSTITUENCY SPORTS CLUB 4. Assoc Prof Toh See Kiat asked the Minister for Community Development whether he will support the efforts of the Aljunied Constituency Sports Club to obtain a Temporary Occupation Licence for football and sports fields on disused state land at Block 173, Hougang Ave 1 and provide grants which will be used to level the rocky ground, plant suitable grass and install football posts, nets and fencing thereon.”
“So we see no reason now to proceed on a different tack, the one that is advocated by the hon. Member, to enact a new law for dealing with such cases. We already have a mechanism that works, a mechanism that is efficient, low-cost and expeditious. So, why do we need to create a new framework? ALEXANDRA HOSPITAL (Geriatric specialization services) 5. Dr S Vasoo asked the Minister for Health whether there are plans to develop geriatric specialization services at Alexandra Hospital.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I was also around in 1955. Certainly, I was much younger than the hon. Member. The point that the first generation leaders of the PAP, including the then Secretary-General and Prime Minister, were very involved in the trade union movement does not invalidate my point. They were there to serve the interests and the rights of the workers who had engaged their service, unlike others who were there to use the trade unions and their organisations to advance their own political agenda at the expense of the interests and the rights of the workers. So there is a difference. And if the hon. Member is not aware of it, I would urge him to read Senior Minister's memoirs, because it is set out quite clearly what the Senior Minister tried to do in his younger days in championing the rights of the workers. Sir, on unfair dismissal, this has been a question that he has trotted out at every opportunity, and since it is the same question, I am bound to give him the same answer, because the answer cannot vary just because he trots out the same question on a different occasion. The answer is that workers who feel that they have been unfairly dismissed have a very efficient and low cost mechanism to which they can appeal to seek redress. Our experience at the Ministry is that the mechanism has worked very well, in fact, over the last 30 years. We deal with thousands of cases a year, and our decisions have always worked in the interest of both parties. We have been able to secure a mutually satisfying resolution to many of these disputes. Whether it is unfair termination or dismissal, we have always been able, after conciliation, to reach an agreement between the employer and the employee in the vast majority of cases.”
“But I am saying that if we take his advice and proceed to do what he is urging us to do, then we are likely to end up in a situation where the trade union movement, instead of serving the welfare of the workers, could well end up being an instrument to be used to advance other people's interest and agenda, and not necessarily that of the workers.”
“I do not think we should try to reinstate such provisions in the law because that would result in unending disputes between workers and the employers. And this was what happened in the 60s. The legal framework in existence then resulted in endless disputes leading to confrontation and strikes at the workplace. Let me give the Member an example. In 1955 alone, there were 275 strikes, resulting in a loss of almost one million man-days. In one year alone, there was a loss of one million man-days. In 1961, the industrial disputes also resulted in 116 strikes, and the loss of more than 400,000 man-days. So, that kind of legal framework resulted in an adversarial and confrontational industrial relations climate. I do not think that will equip Singapore to deal with today's competitive economic conditions. If anything, perhaps the hon. Member may be trying to hamper our economic prospects by advocating a return to the bad old days of industrial relations. We can surmise what would be his reasons. What is quite clear, obviously, is that in an adversarial and confrontational industrial relations climate, very often political parties are able to exploit unhappy trade union members and even the leadership, and this is precisely what happened in the 60s where political parties were able to influence various trade unions and to use them for their own political objective. I am not saying that the hon. Member is in fact having such a strategy in mind.”
“Prior to 1968, our labour law had severe inherent weaknesses. These weaknesses resulted in constant bickerings, confrontations and disputes between the unions and employers. Unions were exploiting loopholes in the law. Workers themselves were also exploiting loopholes in the law. Let me give the Member an example. Prior to 1968, workers could claim triple pay for working on a holiday. The outcome of it was that there were many reported instances of workers absenting themselves on the day before and the day after the holiday, but turning up to work on the holiday itself to collect triple pay. So, in effect, he got two off-days for working one day. I do not think this kind of practice should be encouraged and we proceeded to amend our law to plug such loopholes in the law. I think what we have today is a better framework for managing our industrial relations. In the past, before 1968, the trade unions were not required to have a secret ballot before they took extreme industrial action in launching a strike. In fact, many trade unions took action without securing a mandate first from their members. They called their union members out on strike without any due regard to the interest and welfare of the workers, and the consequences to the company. Trade unions in those days, before the 1968 amendments, also intervened on issues which, as I have said earlier on, should rightly be within management domain, such as hiring, promotion, transfer, dismissal and even the assignment of duties. Those were the days where trade unions would confront and challenge employers over issues, such as redeployment of their members within the company.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the right of workers to negotiate for better wages is enshrined in the law. That is our system of collective bargaining and it is being exercised regularly by workers as represented by their unions when they negotiate for their collective agreement. None of that right has been taken away or eroded. With regard to dismissal and transfer, I have already said in my main reply that this was in fact removed for good reason because it was considered to be rightfully the functions of management. The way they promote, transfer, hire, retrench or dismiss employees should be a managerial decision or management function. But at the same time, we have provided a mechanism for employees who feel that they are wrongfully dismissed or their services unfairly terminated to make an appeal to the Ministry for their cases to be studied and investigated and the Ministry would then take action to ensure that if they were in fact wrongfully dismissed or their services unfairly terminated, they would be fairly compensated or reinstated as the case warrants. As to the point he mentioned about what the Senior Minister stated, I did not have the exact context of what was said on that particular occasion. But what I want to say here is that whatever changes that we make to our labour law must be changes that can help us to better compete in a globalising environment. You know that the world is undergoing rapid changes. There are no longer barriers to movement of capital and technology. If we were to change our labour laws and as a result of the change, introduce a lot more confrontation, adversarial relations between the unions representing the workers and the employers, we may, in effect, be putting ourselves at a disadvantage.”
“With regard to executives joining the rank-and-file unions, Members will recall that I had already, in reply to the hon. Member, Mr Yeo Guat Kwang on 3rd August, informed the House that my Ministry is studying the issue. We have convened a Tripartite Committee to consider how to bring our laws on union membership up to date especially with regard to executives joining unions and the areas for which union representation should be allowed. The 1968 amendments of the Employment Act and Industrial Relations Act succeeded to strike a fair and equitable balance between the interest of workers and employers. As a result, we have enjoyed more than 30 years of harmonious industrial relations, steady economic growth and higher incomes for workers. Our legal framework has been a key factor for BERI to rank the Singapore workforce as No. 1 in the world for almost 20 years. Hence, we should only make changes which will better equip us to deal with the evolving workforce and business environment.”
“The Industrial Relations Act was amended in 1968 to provide a sound basis for enhancing industrial relations. The amendments drew a distinction between the functions of management and trade unions while balancing the interest of both parties. Thus, under the new provision, matters like promotion, transfer, hiring, retrenchment, dismissal and assignment of duties were classified as matters not for collective bargaining between trade unions and employers. To prevent abuses by employers, the amendment provided for workers and trade unions to seek redress through conciliation and adjudication, including appeals against unfair dismissal. The legislative amendments in 1968 also involved the rationalisation of the basic terms and conditions of employment and the rights and obligations of employees under the Employment Act. For example, an employee would be entitled to two days' pay for work on a holiday instead of three days' pay provided the employee does not absent himself without valid grounds immediately before and after the holiday. While employers were given the discretion to carry out their managerial functions without being subjected to collective bargaining, the right of trade unions to take industrial action was not removed. Such rights continue to be enshrined in the law. The main difference is that a union, which intends to take strike action, must first obtain the consent and mandate of its members through a secret ballot. This requirement of a secret ballot is in line with the democratic principle that such an extreme action should reflect the collective wishes of the members. The need to seek the mandate of members through secret ballot before an industrial action has also been introduced in other countries such as Malaysia, Australia and the United Kingdom.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, let me explain again to the hon. Member that even ILO does not require countries to enact a legislation on equal remuneration if they want to ratify the convention. In some instances, ILO will only require a tripartite declaration to the effect that the wages will be based on the work performed rather than on the gender of the workers. There is no reason for us to adopt his approach that for every issue, we must create or establish a law to ensure that the matter is dealt with. We have, over all these years, made progress and demonstrated that the meritocratic system works and employees will be paid according to the value of their contribution to the company and no employer is going to deliberately circumvent this by paying his female workers significantly less than what he pays to his male employees if they are doing the same job. RESTORATION OF WORKERS' RIGHTS 4. Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Government has any intention to restore to workers the rights which were taken from them in 1968.”
“So, they are paid according to the work they are doing. As to the study to look into whether we can accede to ratify Convention Nos. 100 and 138, let me point out to the hon. Member that there are many countries or nations who are members of the International Labour Organisation. They do not ratify all the conventions. Even the United States of America does not ratify all the conventions of ILO. In fact, the United States is one of the countries that has ratified the fewest number of conventions compared to many other countries. It is not surprising that we have not ratified all the conventions because each country's laws are crafted based on the special needs of the country. ILO provides a supranational legal framework. It is only when we feel fully comfortable and confident that our legal framework will not in any way clash with the legal framework imposed by ILO that we then proceed to ratify a convention. That is why I am saying that since we have reached this stage, there is no discrimination on the basis of gender, in terms of wages and also our minimum age laws will not clash with what ILO is espousing, that we can now look further into this matter to see whether in fact we should proceed to ratify these two conventions.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, with regard to equal wages for men and women, my Ministry has not received any complaint that companies adopt discriminatory practices. If the hon. Member is aware of such discriminatory practices being adopted by any employer, please bring it to our attention and we will look into the matter. As far as we are aware, employers in Singapore adopt the practice of paying their employees the same wages for the same kind of work being done. If the Member is alluding to the fact that when you look at the overall statistics, there is some wage disparity between male and female employees, let me clarify that wage disparity in the overall statistics of our labour force is not the result of discriminatory practices. It is due to the differences in the profile of male and female workers in Singapore. Many female workers drop out of the labour force when they get married and start a family. As a result, the current stock of female employees is generally younger compared to the male employees who are older because they stay in the labour force longer. So when we average out, the wage would indicate that the males tend to get a higher pay than the female. But that is because of this pattern of female workers dropping out of the labour force earlier than the male workers, and not because the employers deliberately pay them less. Furthermore, a lot of our female workers are also employed in the production and related-type of work and as a result, you will find that the overall earnings of female workers may be depressed. There again, it is not because they have been discriminated against but because of the nature of work that they do. If you go to an electronics factory, you will find that the vast majority of the assembly workers or production workers are females.”
“Sir, under the Employment Act, a child below the age of 12 years shall not be employed in any occupation at all. My Ministry has not received any complaint of such underaged employment practices for more than 10 years. Under the Act, young persons below the age of 14 years are also not allowed to work in industrial undertakings. They can only be employed in light work suited to their capability and capacity. For young persons between the ages of 14 and 16 years, a small number are employed in industrial undertakings. Employers must notify the Commissioner for Labour with details of the young person and medical report to certify his fitness for the job. Last year, the Commissioner received notifications from 1,200 young persons to work in industrial undertakings. I should hasten to point out that almost all of them are working part-time in fast food restaurants and such kind of establishments. Fast food restaurants are classified as industrial undertakings under the Factories Act because cutting machines and other apparatus for food preparation are used in the premises. So employers of young persons between the ages of 14 and 16 years in fast food restaurants have to notify the Commissioner for Labour on this basis.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member has raised three supplementary questions. One is on the number of complaints received on gender based discrimination. Apart from a small number of complaints about gender discriminatory recruitment advertisements, my Ministry has so far not received any complaints concerning gender discriminatory employment practices adopted by any company. Members will recall that in March this year, my Ministry, together with the NTUC and Singapore National Employers' Federation, had jointly issued tripartite guidelines on recruitment advertisements. I am pleased to inform the House that since the release of these guidelines, recruitment advertisements which specify gender, age, race or religion had dropped from about 30% to less than 1%. We will continue to persuade the last few employers to adopt non-discriminatory practices when they advertise for new employees. The second supplementary question is on women doing part-time work and also flexi-time arrangements with their employers and how we will protect them from discrimination based on gender. Sir, currently, employees taking up part-time or flexi-work are covered by the Employment Act and its regulations. Their terms and conditions, in respect of statutory benefits, are pro-rated based on the number of hours that they work vis-a-vis the regular working hours of their full-time counterparts within the company. Our employment laws and practices are of course gender neutral. Sir, my Ministry is also looking into how our employment laws could be made more flexible to facilitate the employment of women in such work arrangements so that they can better balance work and family responsibilities. Finally, he asked the number of employers who have been found employing underaged youths in the past few years.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore has been a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) since 1965, when we became independent. We have ratified a total of 20 ILO Conventions including two of the seven core conventions, namely Convention 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, and Convention 29 on Forced Labour. As a member state of the ILO, Singapore participates in relevant ILO activities. We monitor the development of international labour issues closely and assess whether additional ILO conventions could be ratified. Convention 100 on "Equal Remuneration" aims to ensure a non-discriminatory payment of salary for men and women for work of equal value. In Singapore, working women enjoy good social status and income that are comparable to their male counterparts. Our employment practices emphasize payment of salary based on performance and meritocracy. Convention 138 on "Minimum Age" aims at protecting children by establishing a minimum age for certain types of work. We have no child labour in Singapore. Hence, it would appear that we may be in a position to ratify these two Conventions. However, ratification of ILO Conventions entails obligations to fully comply with all their provisions. My Ministry will carry out a thorough study on the requirements and our follow-up actions under each of the conventions, in consultation with NTUC, Singapore National Employers' Federation (SNEF) and other relevant agencies, before we can consider ratifying Conventions 100 and 138.”
“Foreign workers enjoy equal protection and are entitled to the same compensation as local workers. Out of the 7 foreign workers whose accident reports have been received, 3 suffered minor injuries. Their medical expenses would be borne by their employers and they would receive full wages for the period of medical leave. For the remaining cases where the injuries were more severe, my Ministry is awaiting the final medical reports to determine the extent of disability suffered by the workers. If the workers are confirmed to have suffered some disability, they would in addition, be entitled to lump sum payments for the permanent disability. Where a worker is totally incapacitated, the minimum compensation payable under the Act is $49,000.00 and the maximum is $147,000.00. The amount of permanent incapacity compensation payable in each case will vary depending on the severity of the injury, the age of the worker and his average monthly earnings. REHABILITATION PROGRAMMES FOR CRIMINALS 21. Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether he will establish rehabilitation programmes for those persons, who have committed an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 7 years and who have maintained a criminal-free record for 10 years, with a view of expunging their names from the Criminal Investigation Department's criminal records and of making it easier for them to obtain employment.”
“We intend to build on the foundation laid by the SRP and other programmes to evolve a comprehensive system for manpower development and lifelong learning. The need for workers to become lifelong learners in order to remain employable in the knowledge economy has been the key area of attention in the Manpower 21 study effort launched by my Ministry in June last year. Manpower 21 will serve as the blueprint for Singapore's manpower development into the 21st century. Extensive consultations were held with industry, union and community leaders to formulate the recommendations. Initiatives to promote and support lifelong learning will form the cornerstone of the Manpower 21 plan. The work of the Manpower 21 Committees has now been completed and the Report will be released to the public later this month. My Ministry will then provide details on the specific initiatives to be implemented. COMPENSATION FOR INJURED WORKERS 17. Dr Lee Tsao Yuan asked the Minister for Manpower what is the compensation that has been (or will be) given to the workers who were injured during the collapse of Compassvale Primary School, and whether there are regulations regarding the amount of compensation for injured foreign workers. Dr Lee Boon Yang: My Ministry has received workmen's compensation accident reports for 7 workers injured during the Compassvale collapse and are processing their claims under the Workmen's Compensation Act. My officers are investigating into the 7th case where the employer has yet to report the accident. All the workers injured in this case were construction workers. They are "workmen" and are entitled to compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Act The Workmen's Compensation Act treats local and foreign workers alike.”
“The Government has been working in close partnership with employers and unions over the last several years to implement initiatives in worker training and upgrading. The Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP) to equip less-educated workers with certifiable skills has been making good progress since it was launched in December 1996. To date, more than 14,000 workers have either completed training or are currently undergoing training. The labour movement has been gearing up for the challenge put to it by the Prime Minister in his May Day Rally speech this year, to train 100,000 workers under the SRP by May Day in year 2003. Over the next few months, the SRP for several new sectors will be launched. The Government is fully committed to supporting the SRP. We have so far allocated a total of $100 million to the programme. This is supplemented by another $50 million set aside by the Skills Development Fund for the SRP. In addition, a Skills Development Centre costing $20 million has been established to increase the training capacity under the SRP. We also supported initiatives such as the NTUC Education and Training Fund (N-ETF), launched in October 1998. The Government has provided a grant of $12 million to the NTUC to match funds of $4 million that the labour movement has raised. NTUC has reported that the Fund has received very good response. More than 10,600 union members have benefited from training support, already exceeding NTUC's initial target of training 10,000 workers in the first year of operation. The Government's support for these programmes demonstrates the urgency we are placing on redeveloping the skills of our workforce for the knowledge economy.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That Parliament do now adjourn. Question proposed. FUNDING OF POLITICAL PARTIES 3.36 pm”
“If you are in the private sector, when I look at the figure, it is such a small percentage of people who are affected and who have to apply for the bridging loan. If they want to, more can come forward. They are welcome to come forward and apply for the bridging loan, and we will help them through the bridging loan, rather than erode the savings for medical expenses which they would need sooner or later. OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN NEWSPAPER EDITORIALS (Policy) 9. Mr Simon S C Tay asked the Minister for Information and the Arts whether the Ministry's policy is that all newspapers, being private entities, must restrict opinions expressed in their editorials to strictly conform with Government policy, especially as regards views expressed on our ASEAN neighbours. The Minister for Information and the Arts (Mr Lee Yock Suan): Mr Speaker, Sir, MITA does not control the editorial line of our newspapers, which are independent private entities. However, editorial independence does not mean complete freedom to write as they desire. Singapore newspapers must also be circumspect when commenting on the domestic politics of our ASEAN neighbours. Where Government feels an editorial is rash and inappropriate and not in the national interest, it will make its opinion known, as was done in the case of the recent Business Times editorial.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the reduction in the CPF contribution for those who are aged 60 and above has been in place for some time already. So CPF members who purchase property should have made their calculation on the basis of their existing CPF contribution. When we raised the retirement age from 60 to 62 effective this year, there was a slight reduction in CPF contribution for those aged above 60. But that was a very, very small adjustment only and would not have caused additional difficulties to those CPF members who are still servicing their mortgage loans. As I have explained in my answer, in fact, the 8% contribution for older CPF members is really necessary, because they are the ones who are most in need of accumulating savings to meet their medical expenses. If we were to allow them to use these Medisave savings to finance their mortgage loans, we might expose them to other dangers later on if they should suddenly fall ill and need to be hospitalised. They would still end up facing a problem. So it is better for us to remain focused on what we are trying to do. What is Medisave for? Medisave is for you to save to prepare for your hospitalisation expenses. If you have sufficient CPF contribution now, even with the reduction, you should emphasise on putting aside the amount that you need for your medical expenses. That is first priority. The rest, if you have additional savings left over to service your loan, fine, by all means. If you have other difficulties, eg, if you are in a HDB flat, as I have already explained, there are many measures offered by HDB to assist home owners who have difficulty paying their mortgage loans.”
“The Medisave contribution rate of 6-8 per cent takes into account the greater need for CPF members to save for their hospitalisation expenses as they grow older. The Member for Hougang may wish to know that if a CPF member's Medisave Account has reached $22,000, any additional contributions to his Medisave Account will overflow automatically into his Ordinary Account. This will avoid an excessive build-up of Medisave balance and allow the members the flexibility to use the contributions for housing or other purposes. For these reasons, we will maintain the Medisave contribution rates.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Government recognises that as a result of the CPF reduction implemented on 1st January 1999, CPF members who have committed all their CPF Ordinary Account savings to housing would need assistance to tide over the difficult period. It is with this in mind that the Government has introduced the bridging loan scheme and a range of HDB assistance measures to help CPF members who are affected by the CPF reduction. These measures help to minimise the impact of the reduction in Ordinary Account contributions on CPF members' ability to service their housing loans. As at 30th June 1999, 126 CPF members have applied for the bridging loan scheme. 89 of them are for the servicing of private property mortgage loans. This is less than 0.1% of the total number of CPF members who are fully or partially using their CPF savings to service their private property mortgage loans. The balance 37 CPF members who applied for the bridging loan are HDB mortgagors on market interest rate. According to HDB records, from December 1998 to May 1999, slightly less than 10,000 HDB mortgagors (about 2% of total HDB mortgagors) have been assisted under the various HDB assistance measures. These measures include the rescheduling of mortgage loan instalments, converting mortgage loans to reduced repayment scheme, allowing working family members as joint-owners to help settle mortgage arrears or requesting HDB to allow mortgage arrears to be settled by instalment plan. The CPF cut has thus not caused severe difficulties to many CPF members. Hence, it will not be appropriate to reduce the Medisave contribution rate for CPF members who are aged 60 and above. In fact, they are the ones who need more savings in their Medisave Account.”
“MEDISAVE (Contribution rate) 8. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Manpower whether he will consider lowering the Medisave contribution rate for Central Provident Fund (CPF) members aged 60 years and above so that they have sufficient funds in the CPF Ordinary Account to pay for housing mortgage loans.”
“Sir, during the economic downturn, nearly two-thirds of the retrenched workers came from the manufacturing sector. And the vast majority of those who were retrenched in the manufacturing sector were the production operators. Many Malay Singaporeans work in the production operation type of jobs in the manufacturing sector. Then, logically, you expect that you will see more Malay Singaporeans among those who were retrenched as a result of the economic downturn. As to helping them to find re-employment, we have made every effort to help all Singaporeans who were retrenched as a result of the downturn. We have organised many job fairs with the support of the various Community Development Councils. The job fair was an attempt to bring employers who are still recruiting to the community, and very often at the community centre itself, and to bring people living in the vicinity of the community centre to come down if they need job assistance. We found the job fairs to be quite useful in helping unemployed Singaporeans look for jobs. We also benefited from the support given to us by the various community self-help groups. For instance, MENDAKI and even AMP have actively participated in some of our employment exercises. Likewise, SINDA and CDAC have also participated in helping to act as surrogate employers for unemployed Singaporeans who need to go for further training before they can take on new jobs. So, in the Skills Redevelopment Programme, we, in fact, were able to work with the community self-help groups such as MENDAKI, SINDA and CDAC whereby the self-help groups will take on the role of employers for the unemployed Singaporeans and put them through the SRP programme, providing the financial support for them, so that they can undergo training to take on new jobs.”
“Sir, I agree with the Member that during the economic downturn of last year, the workers who were most affected by unemployment and most vulnerable to retrenchment, were indeed the older workers. Many of these older workers missed out on the opportunity for a good education and for skills training when they were younger. Now they are in their mid-40s and they become very vulnerable to retrenchment. In fact, if I recall correctly, they were over-represented among the groups of workers who were retrenched. That is why we have to have special programmes to meet their needs. In the way I responded to the Nominated Member, Mr Simon Tay, we have to put in extra efforts in this area to help the older less-skilled workers to upgrade their skills. The Skills Redevelopment Programme is one such programme focused at meeting the needs of the older workers, helping older, less skilled workers to upgrade, refresh their skills, so that they can take on the new jobs that are being created, in other words, helping them to avoid structural unemployment.”
“So, as I have said in my main answer, companies will have to restructure their operations, move on to higher value added activities, bring in new technology and introduce new processes. In fact, as the economy recovers, the jobs that are going to be created will be quite different from the jobs that were available prior to the recession. In fact, our workers will have to take note of this and make efforts to upgrade their skills so that they are able to take on the new jobs that are being created. If they do not upgrade their skills, they will find that when the economy recovers, jobs are going a-begging, but the unemployment rate may well stay high, mainly in the form of structural unemployment. This is a serious concern. That is why my Ministry, working together with all the other economic agencies, is putting in efforts to try to address this by providing more opportunities for skills upgrading and retraining to our workers, particularly the older workers and the less educated workers who are most vulnerable to structural unemployment.”
“In terms of job creation that we are seeing in the first half of this year compared to the past, in other words, prior to the economic downturn, I have to say that we are still a long way. Between 1992 and 1997, we were creating between 70,000 and 120,000 jobs a year. Last year, we had a net job loss. In the first half of this year, as has been mentioned earlier on, the total employment gain was only 5,800. So we are a long way from what it was before. Perhaps, this is an indicator to say that the economy has not completely recovered to what it used to be pre-1998. As to the Member's question on discrimination, whether in the light of the economic downturn, there were any discriminatory practices adopted by employers vis-a-vis local workers versus foreign workers, I have replied to this point on a previous occasion in this Chamber that we have observed during the recession that, on average, when it comes to retrenchment, employers, in fact, retrench their workers without any discriminatory practices. In other words, the retrenchment reflects the profile of the workforce in the company. If the company has 50% local and 50% foreign workers in the manufacturing sector, then the retrenchment would take the same proportion. There was no evidence to show that there were clear attempts by employers to retrench Singaporeans and to substitute them with foreign workers. On the type of jobs that would be created as the economy recovers, I think this is a very important point. As the economy recovers, we will shift into a new area of competition. Our neighbours will also recover, just as we are recovering, and they will be very much more competitive in some of the more labour-intensive type of businesses, particularly in manufacturing.”
“Sir, the unemployment rate at the end of March this year was 3.9%. As for the current unemployment rate, the preliminary figures indicated that it is on the decline. It is coming down. We expect the unemployment rate to continue to decline. The figures will only be available when we issue the quarterly economic survey probably later this month. As to the details on the employment creation in the commerce sector, I am afraid I do not have the exact figures with me, but I would be prepared to share the information with the Nominated Member. As to the net employment creation for local workers as opposed to foreign workers, the demand for foreign workers has actually been fairly stable as a result of the economic downturn. In fact, we saw a dip in demand. In other words, employment creation for foreign workers would have gone down. As a result of the recession, many companies, particularly those in the construction sector, had to release their foreign workers. Therefore, we would expect a decline in the employment creation for foreign workers. But due to the swiftness of the recovery, we are also expecting to see a resurgence in the demand for foreign workers and the demand for work permits would rise quite quickly as the manufacturing, commerce and transportation and communication sectors pick up in their business prospects.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, at this juncture, it is rather difficult to give a final projected figure on the retrenchments likely to be experienced this year. But we know that it would be significantly less than the 29,000-odd workers who were retrenched last year. But it would probably be still a little bit more than the 10,000-11,000 that we experienced prior to the economic downturn in 1998.”
“Recent economic indicators have been very encouraging. Manufacturing output grew by a healthy 10.4% in the first six months of the year compared with the same period last year. Non-oil domestic exports also rebounded with an increase of 10.3% in the second quarter of this year. While the economic situation has certainly improved, the recovery can only be sustained if there is continued strength in the developed economies and a benign environment in the region. As the economic recovery gathers momentum, this would have a positive impact on the labour market. We can expect demand for workers to increase while retrenchment is likely to moderate. Nevertheless, there would still be some retrenchments as companies upgrade or restructure to remain competitive. Lower educated workers who lack the necessary skills will remain vulnerable as industries move towards higher value added activities. Workers must not be complacent. They must continue to upgrade themselves to ensure that they are able to take up new jobs that are being created as the economy recovers. That is why my Ministry will continue to support skills upgrading programmes such as the Skills Redevelopment Programme.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the labour market has shown signs of strengthening in the first half of 1999. In tandem with the pick up in economic activities, total employment rose by an estimated 15,400 in the second quarter of 1999. This is the first quarterly increase in employment after declining for four consecutive quarters. For the first half of this year, the total employment gain was 5,800. In other words, jobs created exceeded jobs lost by 5,800. This was a sharp contrast to the net job loss of 26,600 in the second half of 1998 when the impact of the economic downturn on the labour market was most severe. Unlike in the previous quarter, nearly all major sectors registered increases in employment in the second quarter of 1999. The employment gains came mainly from the real estate and business services with an estimated net job creation of 8,000, followed by manufacturing at 3,900, financial services at 1,400, hotels and restaurants at 1,200, and transport and communications at 1,000. Employment also rose by 4,300 in the other services sectors covering education, health, domestic and other community, social and personal services. In the construction sector, employment continued to contract for the fourth consecutive quarter. However, the net loss of 4,200 construction jobs was significantly less than the 10,500 in the preceding quarter. Preliminary findings from a survey of private sector establishments with at least 25 employees showed that about 3,300 workers were retrenched in the second quarter of 1999. This is close to the 3,400 displaced in the previous quarter. With the pick up in the economy, the number of workers retrenched in the first quarter of this year has fallen to 6,700, less than half of the 14,600 laid off in the second half of 1998.”
“(a) There are currently about 80,000 Employment Pass holders in Singapore, an increase of 20,000 as compared to that in 1995. We do not have detailed projection figures of expatriates. However, we would expect a higher demand for expatriates in the future. As Singapore evolves into a knowledge-based economy, our industries will restructure themselves to take on higher value-added activities that require a better skills profile. Therefore, there will be the urgent need for more international talents to meet this shortage. (b) To attract and retain international talent, we must offer employment terms that are internationally competitive. Tax rates for expatriates working here are generally competitive. However, as such expatriates do not contribute to CPF, their effective rate of income tax is higher than that paid by citizens and permanent residents. MOM together with MOF is studying this, to see if there is any justification for allowing tax efficient pension schemes as the Member has suggested. LIST - SSTD SHAREHOLDERS (Cols. 1867-1870)”
“Bar contractors from further employing Work Permit holders Lastly, contractors who employ foreign workers are obliged to provide a safe and healthy work environment. If a contractor has a bad safety record, it is an indication that the contractor is not able to meet this obligation. Such contractors should not be allowed to engage more foreign workers. Hence, my Ministry will consider barring the contractor from employment of more work permit holders, i.e. no new work permits will be issued and renewal of existing work permits will not be allowed. We have to take such firm action in order to further bring down the accident rate in the construction industry. 1.30 pm”
“The Construction 21 (C21) study which my Ministry and the Ministry of National Development have undertaken with key partners of the construction industry will recommend measures aimed at addressing both the upstream and downstream processes to achieve higher safety at construction sites. Notwithstanding the C21 study, my Ministry feels that more must be done by the contractors as employers to improve the situation. Investigations into accidents that occurred at worksites revealed that most of these accidents could have been prevented if only the contractors had provided the basic safety measures, such as barricading open sides, covering all openings to prevent workers from falling as well as objects from falling into these open areas and also improving on housekeeping. Contractors must know that they have the ultimate responsibility to ensure that there is a safe work place for their workers. As a further deterrent, my Ministry is now considering three additional measures. Deterrent sentence for contractors Under the Factories Act, a person who contravenes any provision of the Act that could lead to bodily injury of any person will face a maximum penalty of $10,000 or a jail term of six months, or both. The Ministry will not hesitate to press for deterrent sentence (including jail sentence) for individuals who are found to have blatantly disregarded safety rules. Compulsory safety re-training of all worksite personnel When a worksite is issued with a Stop Work Order, the Ministry will make it a condition to have all the personnel of the worksite undergo appropriate safety refresher training, before allowing work at the worksite to resume. This is to impress on the managers, supervisors and workers that unless the worksite is managed safely, work cannot resume.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, for the first half of this year (January to June 1999), a total of 753 accidents in construction sites were reported to my Ministry. This is an increase of 19 cases or 2.6% when compared to the same period last year. In terms of fatalities, 28 workers died in construction worksite accidents for the first half of this year. This is 11 (or 28%) less than the 39 workers who lost their lives over the same period last year. Although the number of fatalities has been reduced, the number of fatal accidents is still high and should be further reduced. Over the last two years, the Ministry has taken a number of measures to help improve the safety situation in the construction industry. Some of the more significant measures include Safety Courses for Project Managers, the requirement for Safety Provisions in Contract Documents and the stepping up of enforcement action. Last year, officers from the Department of Industrial Safety conducted a total of 179 special enforcement exercises on construction worksites in addition to the 4,581 routine inspections. The inspections led to 344 contractors being fined from $500 to $42,000 each and 54 occupiers were issued with Stop Work Orders for grossly unsafe work sites. The Ministry is aware that safety issues confronting contractors must be addressed by the whole of the construction industry. Hence, there is a need to adopt a total systems approach involving contractors, construction professionals and developers to improve the safety situation in the construction industry.”
“We will also take steps to minimise the opportunities for persons to present to a third party a distorted picture of what we did or did not do, when carrying out our statutory responsibilities. I would, however, like to assure the House that the existing dispute settlement system administered by my Ministry is effective and efficient in resolving conflicts between employers and workers in an amicable manner. We have enjoyed three decades of industrial harmony with no major industrial conflict. The existing dispute settlement system has served us well for 30 years. In 1998, my Ministry had helped to settle the employment claims and disputes involving some 12,000 non-unionised workers and amicably resolved 291 cases of industrial disputes brought up by trade unions and employers. For the first half of this year, claims by about 6,200 non-unionised workers and 120 unionised dispute cases were handled by the Ministry. Sir, my Ministry fully subscribes to the rules of natural justice. Indeed, as an arbiter of employment disputes, my Ministry has a duty and responsibility to evaluate each case thoroughly and objectively, and to uphold the principles of impartiality and fairness in dealing with employment disputes. I would like to assure the House that our employment dispute settlement mechanism is sound, as judged by the overwhelming number of resolved case. Notwithstanding that, my Ministry will not spare any effort to improve on the existing system. CONSTRUCTION SECTOR (Measures to reduce accidents) 11. Mr Ahmad Mohd Magad asked the Minister for Manpower what further safety measures are being considered to reduce accidents in the construction sector, in view of the increased number of accidents recently.”