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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“Mdm Ho Geok Choo and Miss Irene Ng seem particularly worried that when the ERC Report, or my Ministry officials, or even myself mentioned "workers", we are only thinking of blue-collar workers. Let me assure all of them, once and for all, that when we use the term "worker" or "workforce", we use it in the broadest sense. We use it in an all-embracing manner. We are all workers - working for our families, for Singapore - regardless of the actual job that we are engaged in. However, we will still need to prioritise and target our training assistance. As Mdm Halimah pointed out on Saturday, the lower-skilled workers are more vulnerable to structural unemployment. Yes, we are seeing structural unemployment, and growing unemployment even among the professionals, managers and executives, but the lower-skilled and lower-educated are by far the most vulnerable. So they needed a little extra help. Sir, briefly, I see the statutory board doing the following: (1) promote workforce skills upgrading; (2) build a comprehensive Continuing Education and Training infrastructure; (3) enable sustained Continuing Education and Training with employers' involvement and support; (4) develop the Continuing Education and Training and Human Resource industries; (5) last, but not least, regulate the standards of Continuing Education and Training. Sir, the statutory board's objective is very specific - the employability of our workers. But its mandate is broad because it will serve the mainstream of adult workers, not just the lower skilled or the unemployed. It will reach out to our workers, including the professionals, managers and executives.”
“We have exceeded the 5-year target of 100,000 training places under the Skills Redevelopment Programme administered by the NTUC. Over 150,000 people have been trained in IT skills under the National IT Literacy Programme and also the Infocomm Competency Programme. Over 20,000 people have been trained under the WorkSkills Training Programme. And, over 4,800 professionals have been trained under the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme and Self-Employment Training Programme. This does not include professionals, managers, executives and technicians who were trained under different programmes run by EDB, MAS, Infocomm Development Authority and IE Singapore. Sir, the annual Lifelong Learning Festival has also reached out to some 75,000-100,000 Singaporeans each year. But more can be done. The Economic Review Committee recommended that a Continuing Education and Training statutory board be formed to provide more comprehensive and effective national Continuing Education and Training. Government has accepted this recommendation. The Ministry of Manpower will establish a statutory board to focus on CET and employment facilitation by the end of this year. The mission of this new statutory board is to enhance employability and competitiveness of Singaporean workers. It is to prepare our workers, young and old, skilled and unskilled, professionals and blue-collar, for the restructured economy. I thank the many hon. Members including Mr Ahmad Magad, Mr Seng Han Thong, Mdm Halimah Yacob and others for their comments and suggestions for the CET statutory board. We will be considering all of these ideas and suggestions in the months ahead as we go about setting up the statutory board.”
“To bring more investments here, we need workers with the right skill sets for the jobs. If workers lack skills or if they cannot pick up the relevant skills, they will not be employable. Then we will suffer growing structural unemployment. So, the answer is in skills upgrading. Many hon. Members - Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Mdm Halimah Yacob, Mr Heng Chee How, Mr Ong Ah Heng and Dr Amy Khor - have spoken in support of Government's effort to upgrade the skills of our workers or retrain them for the new jobs. I thank all the hon. Members for their endorsement. Sir, skills upgrading is not new to our workforce. It is not new to Singapore. As all Members know, the Government has been promoting skills upgrading for decades. Over the years, we have, in fact, established a very strong system of employer-based training in Singapore. Members will recall that we set up the Skills Development Fund in 1979. Since then, the Skills Development Fund has supported some 8 million training places for our workers. That has kept our workers productive and competitive in the past two decades. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang pointed out that we should use the present slack period to prepare our workers for recovery. I agree wholeheartedly. In FY 2001, the Government contributed $500 million as a one-off payment to the Skills Development Fund (SDF) to sustain its effort to train the workers. The Manpower 21 Plan launched in 1999 highlighted the importance of promoting lifelong learning. Since then, we have achieved some success with new programmes introduced to build up skills in various segments of the workforce. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, and I believe Dr Amy Khor, also asked how many workers were helped through this programme.”
“To do this, we must transform Singapore into an even more attractive location for businesses that come here because they can leverage on our excellent economic infrastructure. That is the strategic thrust of the Economic Review Committee's Report. And, Sir, Singapore is attractive. Despite the gloomy global economic environment last year, EDB attracted $9 billion worth of fixed assets investments in manufacturing and $2 billion worth of business spending in services. And, as the Minister for Trade and Industry told us on Saturday, these investments will add 20,000 new jobs when operational. Sir, EDB's investment promotion efforts will receive a boost with our network of FTAs with different countries, especially the upcoming FTAs with the United States. For example, recently ST-Microelectronics - by the way, "ST" is not "Singapore Technologies", it is a European company - just announced that it would invest S$436 million over the next three years to expand its semiconductor production capacity in Singapore. ST Micro expects this to create some 800 new jobs. Another company, AFPD's Liquid Crystal Display plant, launched at the end of last year, is an example of the advanced display industry which we believe has growth potential. AFPD's investment of some S$3.14 billion over the initial two years is expected to generate 700 jobs. These and other investments will create many skilled jobs and also some unskilled ones along the way. At the same time, IE Singapore is helping our companies to seek out new markets and export opportunities. As our companies grow their businesses abroad, they will have to build up management capabilities at home to help to run the business in the region. This will create more jobs for our professionals and managers.”
“Others are shifting to China and eastern European countries which have ample highly skilled, well-educated workers willing to work at competitive salaries in areas like chip design, software engineering, even auditing financial statements and drafting architectural plans. Singapore has to compete for investments and jobs in this global environment. To remain competitive, we have to move up the value-added and technology ladder. This is not the first time that Singapore has had to change gear. From making shoes and garments, we went into making hair-dryers, typewriters and radios. Later on, we went into printed circuit boards, disk drives, semi-conductors and precision-engineering. Today, Singapore continues to attract investments in growth industries such as specialty chemicals, high value electronics products such as network storage devices, advanced display devices, photonics, digital media, and biomedical industries. In short, Sir, we have stayed ahead and remained competitive because we have successfully adapted our economy to suit global trends. What is different today is that the pace of restructuring is accelerating and so we need to adjust faster than before. And this time, Sir, there are more competitors in the market. Displacement, or job losses, is also affecting the entire spectrum of workers, from lower-skilled blue-collar workers to professionals, managers and executives. So how do we address the concerns of those who are vulnerable to economic restructuring and to structural unemployment, as Mr Low had just mentioned? First, we must have more investments, so that new jobs can be created.”
“Sir, I thank the many hon. Members who have spoken on the manpower challenges, employment market and job assistance measures and also on continuing education and training. Before addressing the specific queries raised by hon. Members, I would like to make some general comments to put in perspective the situation and challenges confronting us today. First and foremost, the poor employment market reflects the weak global economy. Major economies such as the US, the European countries and Japan are down. We cannot expect to be immune from the global downturn. There is also a radical shift in the global environment. Globalisation and the relentless pursuit of corporate competitiveness are pushing companies to be more mobile. They scour the world for locations that can offer them a competitive edge in terms of cost, productivity, infrastructure and talent. Previously, labour-intensive operations such as manufacturing of toys, radios and TVs were transferred to the less- developed countries. Later on, more sophisticated products, such as disk drives and computers, followed. But the current round of globalisation is seeing even skilled and knowledge type of jobs moving offshore as well. This is not just happening in the United States or the European countries, but also affecting Singapore, with the emergence of China and India as major economic competitors. With the Internet, knowledge tasks can be undertaken or done almost anywhere in the world. Many MNCs are shifting their back-room operations and even call centres to India.”
“There are currently no plans to further liberalise the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Investment Scheme, apart from implementing the ERC recommendation to offer low-cost privately managed pension plans to CPF members. The Board is studying the best practices for pension plans in other countries. A consultant was appointed in December 2002 to assist in establishing an appropriate pension plan structure within the CPF framework. The objective of such pension plans is to enable members to have a better chance to obtain higher long-term returns through a well-diversified portfolio. The private pension plans are meant to facilitate regular investments over a long-term horizon, but should not require members to make complicated investment decisions (cost of participation should be kept low). This is to cater for the majority of CPF members who are not investment-savvy. Details on the private pension plan framework will be announced in a few months' time. The Board is also working out strategies to educate members on private pension plans. This will build on existing public education efforts to increase members' understanding of the financial market and investment products. This would include the admission criteria for pension plan providers and investment guidelines for pension plans. The Board has sought public feedback and will also be seeking feedback from the financial service industry soon. SKILLS LEVEL OF THE FOREIGN CONSTRUCTION WORKFORCE 2. Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the scheme to raise the skills level of the foreign construction workforce will similarly apply to Singaporeans; and (b) how can we ensure that this sector of the economy will increasingly attract local participation.”
“DEBATE ON BUDGET STATEMENT (Motion) Resolved, "That, notwithstanding the Standing Orders, an additional day, namely, Wednesday, 12th March 2003, be allotted for the debate on the motion for the approval of the financial policy of the Government for FY 2003/2004 moved by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance on 28th February 2003." - [Mr Lee Hsien Loong]. ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [28th February, 2003]. That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the financial year 1st April, 2003 to 31st March, 2004.". - [Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance]. Question again proposed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the answer is yes. Over the longer term, we will still move towards tightening the allocation of non-traditional source workers under the Man Year Entitlement scheme to contractors. But in view of the slew of changes that has been introduced this year, we have decided that, for this year, we will suspend any further revision of the Man Year Entitlement scheme. But, starting from next year, we will review the situation and if, in fact, there is still room for further reduction, which we believe that there would be, then we will carry on to achieve the target set by Construction 21, which is to half the dependency on foreign construction workers within a certain timeframe or faster, if we can achieve it. BILLS INTRODUCED INTERNATIONAL ENTERPRISE SINGAPORE BOARD (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the International Enterprise Singapore Board Act (Chapter 143B of the 2002 Revised Edition) and to make consequential and related amendments to other written laws", presented by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (Mr Lee Hsien Loong); read the First time; to be read a Second time after the Committee of Supply debate on the Estimates of Expenditure for FY 2003/2004, and to be printed. CUSTOMS (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Customs Act (Chapter 70 of the 2001 Revised Edition) and to make consequential amendments to certain other written laws", recommendation of President signified; presented by Mr Lee Hsien Loong; read the First time; to be read a Second time after the Committee of Supply debate on the Estimates of Expenditure for FY 2003/2004, and to be printed.”
“Business-wise, this is better than recruiting low-skilled workers to be trained in Singapore. While such multi-skilled workers will expect higher wages, the lower levy and productivity gains will more than offset any higher wage cost.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the construction industry is the largest employer of foreign workers in Singapore. Although the vast majority possess a trade skill, this has not translated into improvements in Singapore's construction productivity. Thus, the Government had introduced multi-skilling and enhanced the skills criteria for lower foreign worker levy. This is to raise the overall skill level of the foreign construction workforce and reduce the industry's reliance on low-skilled workers. Multi-skilled workers can be deployed for a wider range of jobs at a construction site. This will result in more efficient manpower utilisation and higher productivity. Sir, my Ministry and the BCA are mindful of the impact the changes may have on the industry. Only new foreign workers recruited after 1st January 2004 have to meet the new skills criteria to be eligible for the lower levy. Existing workers have a transition period of two years until 1st January 2005 to re-qualify for the lower levy. They will continue to be eligible for the low levy (currently at $30 per month) until this date, ie, 1st January 2005. So, most ongoing contracts would not be affected. With the long transition period, contractors would also have sufficient time to adjust their operations and factor the changes in their tenders. They should also have sufficient lead-time to train their workers to acquire a second skill during this period. Contracts of a longer duration that could be severely affected will be considered on a case-by-case basis by BCA. Following these changes, contractors should not continue to recruit low skill foreign construction workers. The sensible thing is to make greater efforts to recruit better-skilled and more experienced workers.”
“123-132) ANNEX F - OVERSEAS TALENT RECRUITMENT (Cols. 133-134) ANNEX G - CURRENT AND NEW EXCISE DUTIES FOR LIQUORS (Cols. 135-136) ANNEX H - CURRENT AND NEW EXCISE DUTIES FOR TOBACCO PRODUCTS (Cols. 137-140) ANNEX I - VALUATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES (Cols. 141-142)”
“If the concern is about the member's ability to finance his housing loan, his current CPF balance is a poor measure of that, because he could have withdrawn his CPF savings under other schemes, such as for investment under the CPFIS. Also, he could use his monthly OA contributions to finance his loan; that is not reflected in his current CPF balance. Hence, it is not meaningful to compare CPF balances with housing loans. SCHOLARSHIPS OFFERED BY THE GOVERNMENT 4. Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Education if he will give a breakdown of the number of bonded and bond-free scholarships, offered by the Government and its related organisations, to Singaporean and non-Singaporean students. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: The Government offers a wide range of scholarships through its various Ministries and agencies. These scholarships are devolved to and administered directly by the specific Ministries and agencies. The Ministry of Education does not have data on the scholarships given out by other ministries and agencies. In 2002, the Ministry of Education itself offered 217 bonded scholarships and 26,274 non-bonded scholarships to Singaporeans. The Ministry also offered 144 bonded and 689 non-bonded scholarships to non-Singaporeans. These scholarships were of various types, covering different levels of education. ANNEX A - CHANGES TO EXCISE DUTIES FOR PETROL (Cols. 117-118) ANNEX B - UTILITIES SAVE REBATES (FROM JULY 2003 TO JUNE 2004) (Cols. 117-118) ANNEX C - REVISED SERVICE & CONSERVANCY CHARGES REBATES (FROM JANUARY 2003 TO DECEMBER 2003) (Cols. 119-120) ANNEX D - TAX MEASURES TO PROMOTE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SINGAPORE COMPANIES (Cols. 121-122) ANNEX E - TAX MEASURES TO HELP THE MANUFACTURING AND SERVICES SECTORS (Cols.”
“At the end of financial year 2002, the total CPF savings kept with the CPF Board was $96.4 billion. Of these, $94.4 billion (or 97.9%) were invested in Government Bonds and $2 billion (or 2.1%) in Advance Deposits*. * These are unaudited figures. The returns on the funds invested in Government Bonds and Advance Deposits are pegged to the same interest rates that the Board pays its CPF members. The interest rate that the CPF Board pays on balances in the Ordinary Account (OA) is pegged to the 12-month fixed deposit rates (80% weightage) and the savings rates of banks (20% weightage). The minimum guaranteed rate for OA is 2.5% per annum. For balances in the Special and Medisave Accounts, the CPF Board pays an interest rate that is 1.5% above the prevailing CPF interest rate, i.e. at 4.00% per annum currently. The CPF Board does not receive any interest from the Housing and Development Board (HDB), as the CPF Board does not place any funds with the HDB. As highlighted earlier, all CPF savings were invested in only Government Bonds and Advance Deposits. The Government, however, does provide the HDB with mortgage financing loans at an interest rate that is pegged to the CPF interest rate to enable the HDB to finance its concessionary mortgage loans. The CPF Board does not track the proportion of Singaporeans with CPF OA balances greater or lower than their property loans. It is unclear why Mr Chia wants to compare a member's CPF balance with his property loan. If the concern is that the member has used too much CPF for housing, there are checks against that, such as the withdrawal limit, which at present is equal to 150% of the lower of the valuation or the purchase price of the property and would be gradually reduced to 120% over the next 5 years.”
“There are currently more than 140,000 foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore. 214 FDWs filed claims with the Ministry last year. This was an increase compared to the 181 claims in 2001 but substantially lower than the peak of 406 in 1998. We were able to resolve their disputes amicably with their employers. Last year, there were 19 substantiated cases of FDW abuse involving employers, spouses and members of the household. All offenders were prosecuted. WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS SINGAPORE PASSPORTS 1. Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Home Affairs if more pages in the Singapore Passport can be added on, like in Canada and the USA, when it runs out of empty pages before its 10-year validity period expires.”
“There were a total of 3,388 industrial accidents in 2002. This is a reduction of about 11 % compared with 2001. However, the number of fatal industrial accidents increased from 52 cases in 2001 to 64 cases in 2002, an increase of about 23%. Out of this increase of 12 fatal cases, 11 cases occurred in the construction industry. The number of permanent disablement cases also increased from 83 to 93, an increase of 12% over the same period. However, when compared to accidents in 2000, the safety performance in 2002 was still better. Nevertheless, MOM will continue with its efforts to enforce safety regulations and to remind all contractors and factory occupiers to pay particular attention to safety at work. FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS 22. Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how many foreign domestic workers are employed as at 1st January 2003; (b) how many of them have approached the Ministry for help in recovering arrears in salaries and other claims and what is the success rate; and (c) how many employers have been prosecuted for maid abuse.”
“Sir, I do not have the profile here, but my understanding is that a broad spectrum of companies are involved. Perhaps our small local companies may also represent a significant sector of those who were in default of their employees' CPF payments. If the Member is interested in the details in this area, we could supply the information to her. TEENAGE ABORTIONS 14. Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman asked the Minister for Health (a) in each of the last 5 years what is (i) the number of abortions by teenagers and (ii) this number in proportion to all abortions; and (b) if the trend is increasing, whether his Ministry is collaborating with other Ministries to develop programmes to address the trend.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, from 1st January to 31st December 2002, there were about 6,500 cases of employers defaulting on their employees' CPF contributions. This translated into a default rate of 0.6% for 2002. The Board's stringent and effective enforcement actions have helped to keep the default rate low. The amount of arrears involved for 2002 was $17 million (or 0.1% of the $16 billion contributions for 2002). As at 31st January 2003, the outstanding arrears have been reduced to $4 million. The Board is continuing recovery actions for the remaining arrears. Employers have a grace period of 14 days after the end of the month for which the contributions are due and payable. Those who fail to pay up by then will be charged interest, while compound fines will be imposed on recalcitrant employers. Employers are informed that legal action will be taken against them unless the CPF contributions, interest due and compound fines are paid within the notice period stated. In 2002, about 700 employers were convicted in court. Sir, the Board takes a serious view of employers who pay late or fail to pay CPF contributions for their employees and is committed to ensuring prompt recovery of the CPF arrears for employees through speedy enforcement action.”
“Mature professionals, managers and executives, otherwise known as PMEs, who have unfortunately been retrenched or are currently still unemployed can take advantage of the various training programmes established by my Ministry, such as the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programmes in Infocomm, Internationalisation, Healthcare, Social & Community Services and Logistics sectors to equip themselves with new skills and capabilities. In addition to this, professionals and executives who are interested in starting their own businesses can take advantage of my Ministry's Self-Employment Training Programme. My Ministry will consider what other training programmes are needed and relevant to enhancing the employability of professionals, managers and executives.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore's Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with important trading partners such as New Zealand, Japan, European Free Trade Association, Australia and recently concluded negotiations with USA, will save our exporters hundreds of millions of dollars of tariffs a year and open up access to previously closed or restricted sectors. This will create new opportunities for our companies to expand overseas and attract more investments here to take advantage of the increased trade access. This will also result in more employment opportunities for Singaporeans. The nature of the jobs which will be created will depend to a large extent on whether industries are quick off the mark to seize the new market opportunities and also on the nature of new investments attracted to Singapore. Ultimately, the extent to which Singapore and Singaporeans benefit from these FTAs will depend on our companies' ability to seize the opportunities afforded under the FTAs to grow and expand internationally. The recently concluded FTAs will not help us to hold on to jobs that are no longer competitive, whether in the manufacturing or services sectors. We have to remain more productive than our competitors. Our workers must also have the requisite skills and capabilities to take on these new job opportunities. Workers without the relevant skills must be prepared to upgrade and be retrained to remain employable. This is the only way for us to benefit from the FTAs.”
“The Member may wish to know that many of these employers are likely to be in severe financial difficulty and have no asset left for payment to the workers. Our officers would usually advise on the chance of recovering the claims but leave the decision to proceed in the Civil Courts to the workers. They would have to accept the reality that, when a company is broke, enforcement action may not result in any positive outcome. Fortunately, the number of workers in such a situation is relatively small, constituting some 3.7% of the total number of claimants who lodged their claims at the Ministry. NORTH EAST MRT LINE The following Question stood in the name of Mr Chiam See Tong - 15. To ask the Minister for Transport when will the North East Line be opened.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, last year, a total of 12,705 non-unionised workers, including foreign workers, sought the assistance of the Ministry's Labour Relations Department to resolve their employment claims. There were 12,203 claims by non-unionised workers in the year 2001. In 2002, 11,918, or 94%, of the claims were successfully resolved through conciliation at the Ministry. The majority of these claims were over unpaid wages. The balance of 787 claims which could not be settled through conciliation were adjudicated by the Commissioner for Labour. Of the 787 workers, 664 of them were awarded payments by the Commissioner for Labour, while the claims of the remaining 123 workers, or about 1%, were struck off or dismissed as the workers failed to turn up for inquiry by the Commissioner for Labour or were found to have no valid claims. Sir, of the 664 workers who were awarded payments, 167 workers were fully paid by their employers while 17 were given partial payment after orders had been issued. The remaining 480 workers did not receive payments from their employers within the stipulated period of 14 days. Of these 480 workers, 280 were from three large companies and the remaining 232 were from many small companies. Majority of these companies face severe financial difficulty or are insolvent already. Sir, 301 of the 480 workers who were awarded payment by the Commissioner sought my Ministry's assistance to enforce the orders in the Subordinate Courts while the rest of 179 workers did not pursue their claims further. Sir, in cases where the workers decided to enforce the orders in the Subordinate Courts, the Ministry will help them prepare the necessary documents. But whether the workers get any payment depends on whether the companies have any assets left for sale.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, if the couple proceed to have a child before they seek our approval for the marriage, they will be deemed to have contravened the work permit condition and the penalty will have to be enforced. POLYCLINICS (Prices of drugs) 12. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Health (a) why the prices of some drugs in polyclinics are higher than those of restructured hospitals; and (b) how can the Government ensure that polyclinic patients will get the best deal in drug prices.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, currently, there are already more than 500,000 lower skilled foreign workers on work permits in Singapore. To discourage unskilled work permit holders from marrying locals, with the view to sinking roots in Singapore, we require all existing and ex-work permit holders to seek approval before marrying a Singaporean or a Permanent Resident. Ex-work permit holders are also required to seek marriage approval to prevent them from circumventing this requirement simply by cancelling their work permits in order to marry a Singaporean or Permanent Resident without prior approval. Sir, my Ministry approved more than 80% of marriage applications by existing and ex-work permit holders. Hence, this work permit condition is not an unreasonable hurdle for Singaporeans who wish to marry existing or ex-work permit holders. There are no plans to change this work permit condition.”
“1 Professionals 3.1 Technicians and Associate Professionals 4.3 Clerical Workers 6.0 Service and Sales Workers 7.1 Production Craftsmen and Related Workers 7.3 Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers 7.3 Cleaners,Labourers and Related Workers 7.3 _________________________________________________________ Note: *The unemployment rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the labour force. The labour force number for occupations is determined by adding the number employed in a given occupation to the number of unemployed persons who have worked previously in the same occupation. The number of unemployed persons is then divided by the labour force.”
“Occupation Number Sector of Job Vacancies Financial Services Customer service clerk (42225) 151 Management executive (39221) 122 Office clerk (General) (41201) 117 Porter (except hotel) (92013) 104 Bank teller (42121) 90 All Occupations 1001 Business & Real Private security guard (51440) 337 Estate Cleaner(Industrial establishment) (91292) 109 Office cleaner (91291) 102 Budgeting and financial accounting manager (12331) 26 Auditor (Accounting) (24102) 24 All Occupations 1713 Community, Social Professional nurse (General) & Personal Services (32241) 253 Hair stylist/Hairdresser (51311) 72 Beautician (51313) 68 Sweeper and related worker (91420) 58 Waiter (General) (51231) 55 All Occupations 1764 ____________________________________________________________ Source: Job Vacancy Survey,September 2002, MOM TABLE 3B: PUBLIC SECTOR JOB VACANCIES, SEPTEMBER 2002 Total 3,613 Professional/Associate 2,013 Professional Teaching Professional 863 Health Professional/Associate Professional (eg,General Physician, Nurse) 82 IT Professional 78 Engineer 176 Government Executive - Graduate (eg,Senior Officer, Manager) 383 Management Support Officer - Diploma Holder 76 Technician/Technical Support Officer 283 Other Professional/Associate Professional(eg,Legal Professional Accountant) 72 Clerical Worker 205 Protective Service Worker 1,295 CISCO Police Officer 100 SPF Police Officer 136 SAF Personnel 775 Fire Fighter 174 Other Protective Service Worker (eg, prison guard,life guard) 110 Cleaner,Manual & Related Workers(eg,office attendant) 98 attendant) Others 2 __________________________________________________________ Source: Job Vacancy Survey, September 2002, MOM TABLE 4: RESIDENT UNEMPLOYMENT RATE* (%) BY PREVIOUS OCCUPATION, JUNE 2002 (Non-seasonally adjusted) Occupation Unemployment Rate (%) Managers, Working Proprietors and Senior Officials 3.”
“Source: Labour Market Survey, MOM TABLE 3A: TOP 5 PRIVATE SECTOR* OCCUPATIONS WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF JOB VACANCIES BY MAJOR SECTOR, SEPTEMBER 2002 Occupation Number of Job Sector Vacancies TOTAL 17229 Manufacturing Electronic equipment/ component assembler(82812) 908 Aircraft engine mechanic(72314) 543 Sewing machine operator (82631) 297 Metalworking machine setter- operator (General)(82111) 201 Plastic product machine operator (82320) 199 All Occupations 5825 Construction Construction labourer and related worker (93300) 144 Electrician (72413) 40 Bricklayer (71111) 30 Plasterer (71150) 27 Quantity surveyor (21496) 25 All Occupations 617 Wholesale & Retail Shop sales assistant (52102) 652 Trade Cashier (General) (42111) 136 Sales supervisor (52101) 76 Sales demonstrator (52103) 55 Plastic product machine operator (82320) 50 All Occupations 1899 Hotels & Waiter (General) (51231) 512 Restaurant Kitchen assistant (91222) 179 Cook (51220) 167 Room steward/Chambermaid(91221) 99 Bar/Lounge hostess (51233) 58 All Occupations 1659 Transport, Storage Trailer truck driver (83242) 825 & Communications Office clerk (General) (41201) 181 Cabin attendant/steward (51113) 181 Bus driver (83230) 149 Commercial airline pilot(31531) 121 All Occupations 2576 _____________________________________________________________ * Data pertain to private sector establishments with at least 25 employees.”
“9 Electrical Products 83 0.5 Electronic Products 1645 9.5 Medical & Precision Instruments 113 0.7 Transport Equipment 1343 7.8 Other Manufacturing Industries 175 1.0 CONSTRUCTION 617 3.6 OTHERS* 175 1.0 SERVICES PRODUCING 10612 61.6 INDUSTRIES Wholesale & Retail Trade 1899 11.0 Wholesale Trade 816 4.7 Retail Trade 1083 6.3 Hotels & Restaurants 1659 9.6 Hotels 649 3.8 Restaurants 1010 5.9 Transport,Storage & Communications 2576 15.0 Transport,Storage & Supporting Services 2356 13.7 Post & Telecommunications 220 1.3 Financial Services 1001 5.8 Financial Institutions 912 5.3 Insurance 89 0.5 Business & Real Estate Services 1713 9.9 Community, Social & Personal Servoces 1764 10.2 OCCUPATIONAL GROUP Professionals,Managers, Executives & Technicians Technicians 4980 28.9 Clerical,Sales & Service Workers 5055 29.3 Production & Transport Operators Operators,Cleaners & Labourers 7194 41.8 _________________________________________________________ * Includes Agriculture, Fishing, Quarrying and Utilities. Note: Data pertain to private sector establishments with at least 25 employees.”
“As at 31st December 2002, 24,700 Singaporeans aged 21 and above did not have a CPF account, of which, 13,200 or 53% were female. There were 1.5 million inactive CPF account holders as at 31st December 2002. 52% of these inactive CPF account holders were female, and 48% were male. For the detailed breakdown of total inactive CPF account holders by age and gender, please refer to the Table below. The CPF Board does not maintain records on the occupations of CPF members. Total inactive CPF account holders by age and gender as at 31 December 2002 Age Gender Total Percentage by Age Female Male Unspecified Up to 20 23,896 27,302 12 51,210 3.4% 20 - TABLE 1: UNEMPLOYED RESIDENTS BY AGE AND EDUCATION, SEP 2002 (Non-seasonally adjusted) Education Total Below 30 30 - 39 40 & Above Number Rate Number Rate Number Rate Number Rate Total 72,000 4.2% 19,700 5.3% 18,400 3.6% 33,900 4.1% Below 25,500 4.6% 4,300 10.0% 4,700 4.3% 16,500 4.1% Secondary Secondary21,200 4.7% 6,200 6.5% 7,500 5.3% 7,500 3.5% Upper 6,000 3.0% 900 1.6% 1,100 1.6% 4,100 5.2% Secondary Diploma 6,400 3.7% 3,600 4.1% 400 0.8% 2,400 6.9% Degree 12,900 4.0% 4,700 5.2% 4,700 3.6% 3,400 3.6% Note: Within the same educational group, younger persons generally experience higher unemployment rate than the older ones as many are entering the labour market for the first time and even after starting work, tend to seek more frequent job changes. TABLE 2: DISTRIBUTION OF JOB VACANCIES BY INDUSTRY, SEPTEMBER 2002 Number (%) TOTAL 17229 100.0 INDUSTRY GOODS PRODUCING INDUSTRIES 6617 38.4 MANUFACTURING 5825 33.8 Food, Beverages & Tobacco 304 1.8 Textile & Wearing Apparel 339 2.0 Paper Products & Printing 144 0.8 Petroleum & Chemical Products 607 3.5 Fabricated Metal Products 571 3.3 Machinery & Equipment 501 2.”
“I understand that the BCA is currently working on setting basic living standards for on-site housing for construction workers. Although the new work permit requirement will only be imposed in 2004, construction companies should take immediate steps to regularise the housing condition for their foreign workers. During the interim period, the URA will conduct inspections to detect workers who are not housed in approved premises. Construction companies caught housing their foreign workers in such premises will be warned to take remedial action. Recalcitrant employers who continue to house their foreign workers improperly will not be allowed to recruit new foreign workers. Since June this year, 26 construction companies have been caught housing their foreign workers in unapproved premises and were issued with warning letters. INCREASE IN GST RATE (Statement by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance)”
“Sir, the Work Permit Department has introduced criteria such as the value of work on hand, particularly for the construction sector, and also the duration of the available project. For instance, a contractor who applies for non-traditional source workers must have at least six months of contract work available before the application will be considered. We will look into the current regulation to see how we can further tighten the procedure to prevent abuses and to minimise exploitation of the foreign workers. Enhancing the penalty is certainly one of the options that we will consider. FOREIGN WORKERS (Accommodation) 3. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how does his Ministry ensure that employers provide decent and reasonable living conditions for their foreign workers and (b) in the past three years how many cases of employers, who failed to provide the required accommodation, have been investigated and dealt with. Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, under the conditions for the issue of work permits, all employers of non-traditional source workers have to provide accommodation and maintain their foreign workers during their stay in Singapore. However, some employers have resorted to housing their foreign workers in overcrowded and unsafe living conditions. The problem is particularly pronounced in the construction sector which is also the largest employer of non-traditional source of foreign workers in Singapore. To arrest this problem, the Government has announced in June this year that construction companies housing their foreign workers off-site would have to house them in approved and purpose-built dormitories. From 2004, this will be spelt out as a work permit condition.”
“Sir, if the Member is referring to those who were prosecuted for illegally deploying their work permit holders, the main motivation is to get around the work permit regulation. They have brought in workers supposedly for their own jobs and perhaps they have brought in more workers than they need. They have overstated their demand or after bringing in the foreign workers they find that they may not have jobs that last long enough to keep them fully employed. There may well also be a demand from the illegal employers of such redeployed workers who hope to get illegal workers without having to pay for the levy because they can get the original employer to palm off these workers to the establishment without having to pay the work permit levy for such foreign workers. In fact, there are many reasons why people try to get around this provision but we will continue with our enforcement action against those who are trying to illegally deploy their work permit holders. We will also remind employers that they can employ a foreign worker if they have applied for a work permit for the foreigner. Just because a foreigner holds a work permit does not mean that he is entitled to work for anybody in Singapore. The work permit is specifically issued to a foreigner to work for a particular employer.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, work permits are issued to foreign workers to work for the employers stated in the application. Employers of work permit holders are not allowed to deploy their foreign workers to work for another employer. Employers who breach this work permit condition will be prosecuted under the Employment of Foreign Workers Act. In the last 3 years, we have prosecuted about 730 employers or individuals who have illegally deployed or abetted in the illegal deployment of work permit holders. We take a serious view of such breaches of the work permit conditions and will continue to take enforcement actions against such employers.”
“They will be admitted based on merit if they meet all the additional requirements of the faculty, if any, over and above the basic university admission criteria. Chart - Proportion opted out within each monthly income group (as at 30 Sep 02) (Cols. 1661-1662) Chart - Proportion opted out within each age band (Cols. 1663-1664)”
“Ms Braema Mathiaparanam asked the Minister for Education (a) what are the criteria used by the National University of Singapore to admit top student applicants into the medical faculty; (b) what is the composition (by profession and gender) of members of the interviewing board; (c) what criteria are used to match top students with the various disciplines under the initiative to spread Singapore's top talents among various disciplines; and (d) what is the extent an individual student's preference for a discipline is taken into account in this matching process. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Students who wish to apply for the medical degree programme at NUS must meet its basic admission criteria for university studies. From AY2003 onwards, the university admission criteria for students will comprise both their SAT I scores and their GCE `A' level results. In addition, these students have to attend an interview to assess their aptitude and suitability to be a doctor. The interview team comprises a representative each from the Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry and the Ministry of Health. The members of the interview teams are either medical doctors or dentists by profession. These members are appointed on the basis of their professional experience and expertise, and not by gender. As for the spreading of top talents among various disciplines, there is a cap on the number of top students admitted into Medicine. The basis for this policy is that Singapore also needs good minds to be trained in other disciplines. Top students who could not get a place in Medicine will be given a place in another faculty in their list of preference stated in their application.”
“The Labour Relations Department of my Ministry set up a foreign domestic worker hotline in 1997. This is to enable domestic helpers to call in to seek help and advice on issues relating to their employment in Singapore. The availability of this service was conveyed to all foreign domestic workers in a letter detailing how they could contact the Ministry if they need help. The service has been well used by the domestic workers of different nationalities. On average some 600 calls by foreign domestic workers are answered a year. Officers who are deployed to man the help-line have several years of experience handling employment disputes. They can speak at least 3 languages - English, Tamil and Malay. When calls lead to follow-up conciliation meetings, my Ministry will engage interpreters if necessary to ensure that the foreign nationals are not misunderstood. Generally foreign domestic workers seek the advice on salary-related problems, general work environment and issues such as whether the foreign domestic workers are entitled to a gratuity after working in Singapore for several years. If the advice is over salary payment, the help line officers will record the complaint and arrange a conciliation meeting with the employer to seek a resolution of the dispute with her employer. In regard to complaints of physical abuses, the MOM officer will record the details and refer to the appropriate authority for investigation. MEDICAL DEGREE PROGRAMME AT NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2.”
“One thing that employers have to do is to take a hard look at their business operation and, if possible, restructure their business so that they can offer more value-added and more productive jobs to job seekers. 1.30 pm”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the problem that we are facing today is a problem that we have discussed before, that of a mismatch in expectation, both in terms of wages and in terms of working conditions, and also a mismatch in the skills that are required by the SMEs and the skills that the displaced workers have with them. That is why our overall strategy towards addressing rising unemployment is to offer workers, or those who are unemployed, more opportunities for skills upgrading, and at the same time, to raise their awareness that economic restructuring is going on. Old jobs that they have lost are unlikely to come back and new jobs would require new skill-set, which they must make an effort to acquire, and in order to fit into these new jobs they may have to start lower down the ladder from where they were before, because they have now moved to a new industry, doing a different kind of work. So there are quite a lot of adjustments that are needed, both on the part of the worker, the person looking for a job, and also on the part of the employers. We are also helping companies, particularly SMEs, to look into how they can restructure their business operations. One thing that the employers need to do is to look into how to improve the productivity of the jobs. If he has a job, if the job can be re-engineered into a more productive job, then he could obviously offer a higher salary to the worker and still remain competitive. If he continues to do business in the old way, in an unproductive manner, then his wages would be constrained by his low level of productivity and he will not be able to offer wages that can attract more Singaporeans to take up this job.”
“I would like to elaborate that this is a serious invitation to employers because the Government has offered through the People for Jobs Traineeship Programme, a wage subsidy for up to six months or a limit of 50% of the first six months' salary, up to $2,000 a month, for employers to recruit Singaporean workers aged 40 and above. If you do so, we give you this wage subsidy, and on top of it you can recruit another foreign worker in the manufacturing sector under the dependency ceiling of 50%. So it is a win-win situation. You recruit a Singaporean and you get an additional foreign worker. Overall, it averages downwards your wage cost. So I would urge employers to take advantage of this scheme to reach out to the unemployed Singaporeans to give them a chance, to help them to make this adjustment, rather than to just look towards getting more foreign workers, getting more non-traditional source workers, or to ask Government to further lower the levy. At $30, the levy is almost practically nothing. It is already such a generous concession. How much lower can we go? Cancel the levy completely? I think that would be most unreasonable, and I think that could be very disruptive to our own resident labour market.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, we now have two contrary views or opinions on this situation. I just like to remind hon. Members that what I said was that we should strike a judicious balance. We should not shift from one end of the spectrum to the other end. The Member's proposal that we apply labour market test, in other words, we make sure that the employer has conducted proper recruitment exercise and has offered similar jobs to Singaporeans and these offers were turned down, before we approve the work permit application. This is one possibility. Some countries do implement labour market test. But in our context, if we introduce labour market test, we would increase the rigidity in our labour market and I think that is not good for us because, on the one hand, while we have rising unemployment, on the other hand, many of our industries are still actually quite dependent on some percentages of lower-wage foreign workers to maintain their competitiveness. Our companies have to survive in the global market and if we force them to employ higher-wage workers, then we might seriously cripple their ability to compete. So, while unemployment has gone up, we should not swing too far towards trying to protect displaced Singaporeans. What we should do, as I have said, is to help them, equip them with the skills so that they can take on the new jobs that are available, and also encourage employers to give them an opportunity. So as I said earlier on that in the light of our slack labour market, it is an opportunity for employers to recruit more Singaporeans. And, if they have more Singaporeans then they can recruit more work permit holders under our present dependency ceiling.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I have your permission to take Question Nos. 12 and 13 together as they are both related to the same subject?”
“The foreign domestic worker (FDW) levy was first introduced in April 1982. At that time, the levy was set at 30% of the worker's monthly wages, in line with the levy rates for other sectors*. To moderate FDW demand, the FDW levy rate has been adjusted upwards over the years to the present $345 per month. The changes in FDW levy rates from 1982 to 1999 are given in Annex I below. Owing to the uncertain economic climate, a moratorium was placed on increases to the levy rate in January 1999. There were around 14,000 FDWs when the FDW levy was first introduced in 1982. Since then, the number of FDWs has grown steadily to more than 140,000 today, which is ten times the figure in 1982. * The monthly levy rates for these sectors then were set at 30% of the worker's monthly wages or $150, whichever is greater. Annex 1 FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKER LEVIES Effective Date Foreign Domestic Worker Levy ($/month) 1 Apr 82 30% of monthly wages 1 Nov 84 $120 1 Jan 89 $160 1 Jul 89 $200 1 Feb 90 $230 1 Aug 90 $250 1 Apr 92 $300 1 Apr 95 $330 1 Apr 98 $345 1 Jan 99 $345 (moratorium imposed ) VACANT MARKET PRODUCE AND COOKED FOOD STALLS 3. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for National Development how many market produce and cooked food stalls respectively have been vacant at the Block 11 Hougang Avenue 3 food centre as at 1st October 2002 and whether the Housing and Development Board has plans to tender out those stalls.”
“This can be avoided if households contact Power Supply and jointly work out a viable repayment arrangement. CHANGES TO THE JUNIOR COLLEGE SYSTEM 27. Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Education whether the proposed changes to the junior college system can be implemented before 2006. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: I (Minister for Education) will be moving a motion to debate the White Paper on the Report of the Junior College/Upper Secondary Education Review in Parliament in November 2002. I will be happy to respond to Mr Chia's question during the Parliamentary debate on the White Paper where the full context of the review can be better appreciated. I hope that Mr Chia will not mind waiting till then. ELECTRONIC VOTING IN THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTIONS 28. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Prime Minister whether the Government will consider using electronic voting at the next election of the President.”
“The CDCs administer a Rent and Utilities Assistance Scheme (RUAS) that offers assistance to households in HDB rental flats who are in need and have difficulties paying their rent and maintenance charges. They also administer an Interim (Short-term) Financial Assistance Scheme (IFAS) to help families in 2 to 4-room HDB flats with temporary grants to meet their subsistence needs, including maintenance charges. In the first half of this year, a total of about $340,000 has been disbursed to more than 600 applicants of the RUAS scheme. In addition, the Government has also extended the Utilities Save scheme for another year, as part of the 2nd off-budget measures to help households to offset their utility bills through a monthly grant for 10 months. The scheme started in July this year, and will last till April 2003. For households that are facing financial difficulties, they should contact Power Supply to work out a viable repayment plan, so that their bills do not get out of control. For genuine hardship cases, there are Government financial assistance schemes in place to tide families over temporary difficulties. However, households must also do their part to cut consumption and to lighten their own bills. Power Supply's statistics show that about 92% of households with accounts in arrears have electricity and water consumption bills that exceeded the national average for their housing types. Such households will find their bills more manageable if they reduce usage. As part of its education efforts, Power Supply advises these households how to better conserve their electricity and water usage. Disconnection of utilities supply is a last resort action taken by Power Supply.”
“Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for Trade and Industry, at this time of economic difficulties, whether he will advise Power Supply Ltd and the Public Utilities Board not to cut electricity and water supplies to consumers who are in arrears of utility bills but to give them more time to pay up. BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: The concern raised by the Member for Potong Pasir is shared by all of us in this House. My Ministry has been in discussion with Power Supply. Power Supply deals with customers in arrears by giving them what is effectively an extension of time to pay rather than pre-emptorily cutting off their utility supplies. It issues reminders and also visits these households to work out the best way to resolve the outstanding bills. If a consumer informs Power Supply that he has difficulty paying his bills, Power Supply will advise him to make alternative payment arrangements, usually in the form of instalments. For such consumers, they must pay off at least their current bill. The backpayments may be repaid via an instalment plan. This arrangement helps control the size of the arrears from spiralling out of control. Currently, about 73,000 households are paying their arrears in instalments. As a commercial company, Power Supply should recover arrears from its defaulting customers. However, they are aware that they should do this in a sensitive way especially from households who have genuine difficulties. For these households, if the need arises, Power Supply will refer them to the Community Development Councils to access the Government's financial assistance schemes.”
“5,000 consumers will become contestable three months after the new market starts. Another 5,000 will become contestable 6 months thereafter. This will open about 70-75% of total demand to retail competition. The EMA is currently studying extending retail contestability to domestic consumers starting end 2003. Competition has also driven the existing generation companies to seek better efficiencies to gain competitive edge over their rivals. Some had replaced their oil fired plants with gas fired plants. Such plants enjoy better efficiencies and therefore lower costs. This has enabled the Energy Market Authority to lower the price cap on 1st January 2002, which resulted in a 6% reduction in the average electricity price. In short, Singapore's electricity costs are not low. Many factors resulting in this are beyond our control. However we can expect competition to drive the industry to achieve better efficiencies which will ultimately benefit consumers. The challenge for us is to continue to provide consumers with good quality and reliable electricity supply, and the higher costs this necessarily entails; while keeping electricity prices affordable and competitive. In this regard, we appreciate the suggestions of the ERC sub-committee on manufacturing and my Ministry is carefully studying them to see what more can be done. This is so as we are in full agreement with the sub-committee that keeping electricity prices competitive is an important element for the industry to prosper and thrive. RESPITE FOR ELECTRICITY AND WATER CONSUMERS 24.”
“Because of our small size, we bury our entire electricity network so that land can be freed up for other use. Depending on the voltage level, buried transmission cables cost three to 25 times more than overhead cables. To ensure reliability, back-up capacity has to be installed since faults take longer to locate and fix with buried cables. This makes a buried system much more expensive than comparable overhead systems used in most other countries and cities. This cost translates into higher grid charges. These then are the constraints. What are we doing within these constraints to ensure competitive electricity prices? On the matter of grid charges, EMA is reviewing the current grid charging framework to find ways to benchmark our grid charges to those imposed in comparable countries and cities. We have also started to further liberalise our electricity market to make it more competitive. This will help put downward pressure on prices. Competition will force market players to be more cost conscious and squeeze out inefficiencies. It will also encourage players to seek new and cheaper technology to gain market share. With the pending liberalisation, we have seen the entry of seven new licensees in electricity retailing and three new generation licensees. We can see the impact of competition on electricity prices from the first phase of retail contestability. About 220 customers, comprising the large industrial companies are already contestable. They can buy electricity from these retailers. About 179 (or 80%) have switched to buying electricity from these retailers. Of those who have switched, about 86% were able to negotiate lower prices for their electricity. Retail contestability in the electricity market will be gradually opened to other consumers.”
“The Ministry will, in consultation with the National Trades Union Congress, Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore National Employers' Federation, initiate the adoption of a Tripartite Resolution to re-affirm the commitment of the 3 social partners to promote and observe the principle of equal remuneration. This will pave the way for this principle to be incorporated in the collective agreements signed between employers and unions. ECONOMIC REVIEW COMMITTEE'S OBSERVATION ON ELECTRICITY RATES 23. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what is his Ministry's response to the observation of the Economic Review Committee's sub-committee on manufacturing that electricity in Singapore has become too expensive. BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: We need to frame this issue correctly. First, electricity price in Singapore is unlikely to be cheaper in absolute terms than in the neighbouring countries because of certain structural characteristics that are unique to a city state like ours. It is no different as to why property prices here are more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta. Second, the issue then is whether within these structural constraints, electricity prices are as competitive as they could be. What are the structural factors? Our electricity price comprises two components. One is the cost of generating electricity, and the other is the cost of the infrastructure to deliver the electricity. Our generation cost is high because we depend on oil and gas for our energy source, unlike many other countries which have recourse to cheaper electricity such as hydro-electricity. Both oil and gas are expensive. Our infrastructure cost is also high.”
“Singapore ratified ILO Convention 100 in June this year. This Convention seeks to promote and ensure the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value. Wages in Singapore are based on meritocracy and determined by market forces of demand and supply. In the case of the Civil Service, the principle of equal pay has been adopted since 1962. Male and female officers of the same rank are placed on the same salary scale. We are in compliance with the convention. Nevertheless, the public sector is aware of the difference in medical benefits for male and female officers engaged prior to 1994. For this group of civil servants, medical benefits were extended only to the dependants of male officers, but not to the dependants of female officers. This policy was formulated on the principle that in an Asian society like Singapore, it is the husband's responsibility to look after the family's need. However, if a female employee becomes the breadwinner, as in a widow or divorcee, her dependants would be eligible for medical benefits. In 1994, serving civil servants were given the option of accepting the subsidised outpatient cum Medisave Scheme whereby male or female civil servants received the same outpatient subsidy and additional 1% Medisave contribution. The latter could be used by both male and female officers to meet the hospitalisation expenses of their dependants. Since then all civil servants were recruited on similar terms. Officers on the older medical benefits schemes can opt over to the MSO scheme at any time. The Civil Service will periodically review its medical benefits scheme. Having ratified Convention 100, my Ministry will take steps to implement the necessary measures to comply with the requirements of this convention.”
“An estimated 84,300 residents (comprising Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents) were unemployed in September 2002. (This figure is seasonally adjusted). Although the labour market had shown signs of recovery, job creation is still not sufficient to absorb this year's new entrants to the labour market. Consequently, the seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate rose to a 15-year high of 4.8% in September 2002 from 4.1% in June and 4.5% in March this year. Among the resident labour force, the unemployment rate was 4.9% in September 2002. Unemployment is expected to remain high until the end of this year. It is expected to be between 5.0% and 5.5%. If economic recovery is sustained, then unemployment would fall in 2003. But it is too soon to predict next year's unemployment rate. Recent developments in the external environment would affect Singapore's economic recovery and employment growth. Nevertheless, there are still job vacancies. I would therefore urge unemployed Singaporeans to have a positive attitude, to be flexible and more willing to take up these jobs. It will not be easy to change, or to go into new areas, but those who keep on trying, will eventually succeed. HOSPITALISATION FEE ASSISTANCE SCHEME 9. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang asked the Minister for Health, since the introduction from 1st1/2November 2001 of the one-year hospitalisation fee assistance scheme as part of the second off-Budget package to help lower income and retrenched Singaporeans (a) how many retrenched workers and their families have benefited from the scheme so far; (b) how much has it cost the Government; and (c) in view of the continued economic downturn, does his Ministry plan to extend the scheme.”