Lee Yi Shyan
Singapore
“When Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong opened the Heartbeat@Bedok on 4 February 2018, we unveiled a locally-installed art work named “Pulses”. Singapore is no Florence but we could still envision our version of renaissance. Given this context, would the Minister enlighten us how MCCY views arts and culture development in the community?”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister if the Government has a framework to review and reduce outdated and obsolete regulations on a regular basis to keep the regulatory burden light. Would the Ministry consider applying expiry dates or sunset clauses to newly introduced regulations?”
“How would the Ministry encourage Singapore entities to capture the intellectual property created, so that we can monetise them and invest in our future? Does MOT see the need to champion research and development (R&D) activities in intelligent transport technology?”
“How would a wide range of solutions be coordinated amongst different agencies responsible for service delivery? Mr Chairman, just as the Government rolls out the 23 Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) to transform our industries, is there a similar masterplan to transform our Public Service to be a smarter Government?”
“Now that the region has caught up, China has risen, we need to make continual and further adjustments to our strategy to sharpen our competitiveness. Being multilingual and deeply connected to the regional hinterlands must be our strategic priority. I support the Budget.”
“It is not just physical connectivity that we need to build, but the psychological bridge to understand the world, to reach out to complex issues and to deal with them tenaciously. There is no silver bullet but hard work aplenty. Mr Deputy Speaker, there is great urgency. I support the Budget.”
The complete record
Every one of 438 lines we hold for Lee Yi Shyan, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 6 of 9.
“The PE Act requires that only persons who are registered with the PE Board are allowed by the PE Act to practise professional engineering and conform to the ethics and conduct like any other professional engineers. I suggest that the Minister look into this compliance. The BCA has always been highly efficient and persistent in getting building owners to conduct periodic structural inspections of their buildings. I commend BCA for their effort and dedication for the safety of the building occupants. In the meantime, I believe more can be done to ensure that all building owners are getting their notices through the most convenient and practical channels. I know building owners can claim that they did not receive the documents sent to them by the BCA via normal post and were only aware when they received fax copies later. We have a reliable postal service, but it is not faultless, and there have been complaints every now and then that people do not receive their mail on time, or mail delivered to the wrong address. I receive that feedback very often from my residents as well. Fax transmission is another popular mode for serving notices, yet it is not entirely reliable. In the past, companies would leave their fax machines switched on 24 hours. These days, as people begin embracing the importance of saving energy, they stop allowing their fax machines to run for the entire day. Many companies are now phasing out fax machines, which are replaced by emails and express couriers. So, is serving notices by fax still relevant? Is BCA going to charge the building owners if they did not receive the fax message from BCA? Page: 626 Talking of phasing out, I would like to reinforce my point on qualified persons, namely that of registered professional engineers.”
“However, I hope that BCA would continue to work rigorously towards and without let up on incentives and education to facilitate and encourage stakeholders to embrace Green. Imposing a requirement on building owners to conduct a three-yearly energy audit on the cooling system of their buildings is a wise move. However, I note that the energy auditors may be conducted by a non-Professional Engineer, so long as he is a suitably qualified personnel registered with BCA. Based on my experience, energy auditing qualifies as engineering work and it should be carried out by a Professional Engineer in accordance to the Professional Engineers (PE) Act in Singapore. My question is, if an auditor seeks registration, should this be done through the Professional Engineers Board (PEB), or at least approval be obtained from PEB so that the PE Act is not infringed? For that matter, any agency that wishes to form any registers to accredit any person to perform engineering services should consult and obtain approval from the PE Board according to the PE Act, rather than each agency sets up their own register and bypassing the PE Board. Then, what is the use of the PE Act? Another issue I would like to raise is clause 4 which amends section 9 on the removal of the requirement to be a practising Qualified Person to assess an alternative solution. A Qualified Person is either a registered architect or professional engineer. While I understand that an alternative solution need not have any relevance to engineering, but if it does, then such specialist person should be registered by the Professional Engineers Board again.”
“During actual works, if there are specialist building works within the project, the main contractor is required to engage a licensed specialist builder to carry out those works. Next, Service of Documents. Currently, the Building Control Act provides for service of notices, orders and documents by delivering them personally, leaving them at the usual or last known address, or by registered post. Clause 20 provides for additional modes of service by facsimile transmission, ordinary post and electronic mail for the service of notices and documents. For service of orders, the additional mode of service is through facsimile transmission. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed. 4.40 pm Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: Mr Speaker, Sir, firstly, I would like to declare my interest as a passionate engineer and a Board Member of Professional Engineers Board. The Minister of State has taken a long stride in the right direction in implementing policies that make our buildings more environmentally sustainable. In line with our continuous nationwide campaign to encourage and embrace the green revolution, this amendment has come at a timely moment. In recent years, we have observed in the global news, and experienced firsthand, nature's wrath in the form of extreme, unpredictable climates that are largely attributed to global warming and other environmental problems. Page: 625 Singapore has done reasonably well over the years in advocating a green building culture. Industry stakeholders by and large have been quite receptive towards the green buildings and energy efficiency movement. I believe that some small form of legislation could be inevitable.”
“Page: 624 Clause 15 formalises the administrative process to subject buildings without TOP and CSC to periodic structural inspections. Currently, these inspections are mandatory for non-residential and residential buildings every five and 10 years respectively after they have obtained their TOP or CSC. This requirement, implemented following the Hotel New World collapse, ensures that the building structure continues to remain sound and is not subject to undue loading. However, for some buildings without TOP or CSC such as pre-war buildings or buildings built prior to the implementation of the TOP/CSC regime, BCA has been relying on administrative means to ensure that these buildings are being regularly inspected within the periodic structural inspection framework. Clause 17 removes an unintended restriction in the current provisions on buildings licensing from the Building Control Act. When builder licensing started in 2009, the intent was to ensure that the various types of building works are carried out by the builders with the right competencies. That is, general building works would be carried out by licensed general builders while specialist building works, such as precast concrete work and structural steelwork, will be carried out by licensed specialist builders. However, the industry practice is for the main contractor, who is normally a licensed general builder, to tender for all the works in a project, including specialist building works. This does not adhere to the current definition in the Building Control Act that a person acts as a specialist builder if he submits a tender for specialist building works. Hence, the removal of the restriction will allow this industry practice of the calling of tenders by a licensed general builder to proceed.”
“Currently, only a Qualified Person is allowed to be a specialist for alternative solutions in the preparation of plans for building works. Clause 4 removes this restriction on the specialist because specialists for such alternative solutions may not practise as Qualified Persons. This amendment will also make available a greater pool of such specialists. We will, however, still require these specialists to have the requisite knowledge or qualifications as approved by the Commissioner of Building Control. Clause 5 of the Bill proposes to formalise the current "gate-keeping" administrative role of BCA by empowering BCA to require the owner to have obtained the respective approvals of technical agencies before it issues the temporary occupation permit (TOP) or certificate of statutory completion (CSC). The technical agencies' requirements include those pertaining to fire protection, sanitation and drainage. Even though they do not fall under the ambit of the Building Control Act, these also form the basic and essential aspects of occupation of the building. Current provisions in the Building Control Act allow BCA to require the owner of a land with the dangerous slope to take steps to make the slope safe, only if there is also a building built on that plot of land in the vicinity of the slope. Clause 11 will add a new provision in Part IV of the Building Control Act to allow BCA to regulate the safety of slopes which become dangerous as a result of building works or slopes which endanger buildings in close proximity to them. BCA will be able to require the owner of the slope to carry out investigation and repairs on the slopes and to order the closure of the slope.”
“Page: 623 The legislative amendments, together with our incentive schemes and public education, demonstrate our commitment to create an environmentally friendly and sustainable built environment. We can achieve a win-win outcome for building owners, tenants and businesses. Sir, now, I shall briefly outline other amendments of the Bill that do not pertain to energy efficiency of the building sector. Clause 2 clarifies and refines certain definitions in the current Building Control Act. Let me cite two such examples. First, "underground building works" has been renamed "geotechnical building works" to include earthworks and building works for constructing or stabilising a slope. Such works may take place above ground and hence, to avoid confusion over the term "underground" in the current definition, we propose to use the term "geotechnical" instead. Second, the definition of "owner" is amended to make clear that BCA may identify the owner of a building or land by relying on the information in the land register maintained by the Singapore Land Authority or in the Valuation List prepared under the Property Tax Act. Under the Building Control Regulations, approved designs have to comply with prescribed objectives and performance requirements. For new designs to comply, a Qualified Person, as defined by the Building Control Act, may either follow approved methods, called acceptable solutions, that are set out by the Commissioner of Building Control, or use an alternative solution. Where an alternative solution is used, the qualified person may get a specialist to certify that the alternative solution meets the prescribed objectives and performance requirements.”
“These auditors are professional mechanical engineers, or other suitably qualified personnel registered as energy auditors with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). Third, the Bill proposes to require the annual submission of building information and energy consumption data. For a start, we will implement this requirement for office, hotel and retail buildings. BCA intends to obtain the needed data from two sources: first, from utilities suppliers, the annual electricity consumption data of these buildings; and, second, from building owners, the building data such as tenant profile and certain technical details of their building cooling system. Data submission will be simplified through the use of online portal. After the first time data-filling, building owners only need to update the database if there are changes. To commence the process, BCA will inform the affected building owners in the office, hotel and retail sectors in advance, by way of notice in writing on when they need to submit the data. The data collected will be put to good use. BCA will analyse the data collected, and share with building owners their electricity consumption patterns compared to the aggregated average, such as industry and national benchmarks. We hope that with such information, building owners can proactively improve their buildings' energy efficiency over time. Sir, BCA has consulted the industry on these proposed legislative changes. The industry generally welcomed the measures as they will set an objective and level-playing field for the building sector to improve its energy efficiency. We expect to implement these measures in the second half of 2013.”
“There are about 850 such buildings, but they consume up to 50% of the total energy used by the building sector. Page: 622 With the new legislation, the building owner will have to engage a professional mechanical engineer to ensure that the overall building design, taking into account the change to the cooling system and any other retrofitting necessary, achieves the minimum Green Mark standard. The building owner will be given three years to complete the retrofitting works – a reasonable timeframe by industry standards. Second, the Bill proposes to require building owners to conduct three-yearly audits on the building cooling systems to ensure that the efficiencies of the systems are maintained to the minimum regulatory standards. Installing energy-efficient equipment is a good start, but to achieve the intended energy saving, the equipment must be properly operated and maintained. To ensure that the building owners regularly maintain and operate their cooling systems at optimum performance levels, we would introduce an audit requirement for building owners. This audit requirement will be applicable to two categories of buildings. The first category is new buildings whose application for planning permission is submitted on or after 1 December 2010 which, by virtue of the Building Control (Environmental Sustainability) Regulations, are required to meet the raised minimum Green Mark standard. The second category is existing buildings which have had their cooling system changed and have retrofitted to meet the minimum Green Mark standard, as required by the current amendments. The building owners will need to engage energy auditors to carry out the audit and ensure that the cooling systems meet the minimum system efficiency standards.”
“This scheme has just been enhanced in July this year, in response to industry feedback. BCA is also working with financial institutions to provide loans to building owners, especially the smaller companies or individuals, and energy services companies to carry out retrofitting works. BCA and financial institutions co-share the risk of loan default on this pilot project. Sir, besides incentives, we propose to amend the Building Control Act to mandate building owners to achieve higher energy efficiency as and when they decide to retrofit their buildings. Let me now highlight the new Part IIIB of the Bill. Firstly, the Minister for National Development will be empowered to prescribe what types of buildings would be subject to minimum Green Mark standard and related Regulations. These building owners will be obliged to meet the standard as and when they install or replace their buildings' cooling system. Let me explain why. Of a building's total energy use, typically 30% to 50% is consumed by its cooling system. Further, the cooling system has a lifespan of 15 to 20 years. With the advance of technology and design, today's cooling plant system when properly implemented can save as much as 40% compared to the typical cooling system installed in our existing buildings today. Thus, introducing a minimum Green Mark standard for existing buildings at the point when the building owner changes the cooling system will enable up-to-date systems to be installed, saving expenses for the building owners while reducing energy consumption at the same time. For a start, BCA will focus on large hotels, retail buildings and office buildings with a minimum GFA of 15,000 square metres.”
“Singapore is also recognised internationally for its leadership in the Green Building movement in this region. However, we still have some way to go before we achieve our ambitious target of greening 80% of our buildings by 2030 under our Sustainable Singapore Blueprint. We have adopted a suite of measures comprising incentives, legislation and public education to encourage more building owners to achieve higher energy efficiency. Page: 621 For new buildings, BCA introduced the Green Mark Gross Floor Area Incentive Scheme for new buildings whereby developers enjoy bonus gross floor area (GFA) if their new buildings achieve Green Mark GoldPlus or Platinum ratings. We also mandated that new building works involving GFA of more than 2,000 square metres must achieve a minimum Green Mark certified rating via the Building Control (Environmental Sustainability) Regulations in 2008. For existing buildings, the challenge is a different one. Let me explain. To green an existing building, one basic upgrading that a building owner needs to do is to retrofit his existing building cooling system. A building that is retrofitted will enjoy savings in the form of lower energy bills and operating costs. It would typically take three to seven years for a building to pay off its retrofitting investment – three to seven years' payback time. But some building owners are reluctant to undertake retrofits, citing high upfront costs of retrofitting and the cost of energy-efficient equipment. They also feel that the payback period is too long. To address this, we launched the $100 million Green Mark Incentive Scheme for existing buildings in 2009. Building owners can tap on it to offset their retrofitting costs.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." This Bill aims to introduce measures to improve the energy efficiency in the building sector and to update existing provisions in the Building Control Act. Our building sector accounts for about one-third of Singapore's total electricity consumption, second only to the industrial sector. Typically, energy cost constitutes 20% to 40% of the total operating cost of a building. Hence, it makes economic sense for our buildings to be more energy-efficient. The more building owners and tenants conserve energy, the lower will be their operating costs and the cleaner our environment. Since 2005, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has been championing the green building environment in Singapore. It introduced the holistic Green Mark rating scheme which, in addition to measuring buildings' energy efficiency, also measures water efficiency, indoor environmental quality and environmental protection. Today, upon certification, Green Mark new buildings at the lowest certified level can be at least 28% more energy-efficient compared to the non-Green Mark buildings which were built in 2005 and before. Working with the industry stakeholders, BCA launched the first Green Building Masterplan in 2006 to encourage, enable and engage the industry to increase their efforts in environmental sustainability, with the focus on "greening" our new buildings. In 2009, we launched the second Green Building Masterplan with greater emphasis on greening existing buildings. The latter makes up about 95% of Singapore's building stock. To date, we have achieved some success. More than 1,200 green building projects have achieved Green Mark certification.”
“Madam, we appreciate Mr Zaqy Mohamed's point. We really want to make sure that when PMETs go for training, they do not waste their time and resources in that particular training, especially if the courses are long and intensive in nature. So, what we have done is to work with the employers. And in some of the programmes, we call it train-and-place. We have an understanding with employers on how many workers they need, what kind of workers they need. There will be a joint selection process to look at some of the candidates. In the healthcare industry, for instance, for the training of healthcare workers and nurses, we indeed look at that, then we conduct the training, and thereafter they will be placed in this industry. I want to assure the Member that making sure that the trained workers find a meaningful placement subsequently is also in our target.”
“As we have said before, we are building up the number of training places. So far, we are quite happy with the progress.”
“Madam, I think the topic of PMET training has been raised in this House a number of times. I did actually explain before the initial ramp-up on the CET infrastructure that it really has to take care of masses of the workers on their basic skills and see how to upgrade them. But, over time, we have begun to work on PMETs because of several reasons that are quite well explained by now. One is that they account for half of the workforce and, second, PMETs are, likewise, vulnerable to changes in industry structure and economic climate. So what we have done is to identify more courses in the CET infrastructure, ie, looking at the CET centres and the ATOs to see how many of the courses, usually at the higher levels, such as advanced certificate or even diploma level, are suitable for PMETs. Some of the courses are identified in terms of the industry verticals they are in. When there are gaps, for instance, if they complete the diploma and they want to go on to advance diploma, degree or post graduate, we want to build up the upgrading path, so that some of the PMETs can go for these courses and upgrade themselves. 6.15 pm There are also the PMETs who have to face the prospect of changing jobs because of retrenchment or industry changes. We have programmes to help them to convert. Some of the conversion programmes that we rolled out, especially since the financial crisis in 2008/2009, provide incentives in terms of training allowance and to incentivise some of the PMETs to switch course and go into a new industry. Some of these new industries are in manufacturing and some of them are in the services. For instance, we need a lot of PMET workers in healthcare. That kind of shift is happening, and we are diverting resources and focusing on them but it will take time.”
“Madam, on Mdm Halimah's question on the CET centres, specifically working with companies to bring in the leading edge contents and training programmes, in principle, I think this is what we are doing. But I think Mdm Halimah would appreciate that in the last three years or so, we have been scaling up the entire CET infrastructure, not just building up the approved training organisations that can deliver training contents of certain standards, but we are also using public institutions like the polytechnics and the very specialised training centres to deliver some of these contents. Of course, when we come to certain niche areas in some of the industry verticals, there will be a leading edge content that is residing with the companies. Our approach is to work with them to certify them. But all this takes time and resources. It also depends on how receptive they are. If these companies are willing to open up their contents and training for the industry, in a way, some of the more progressive organisations will see it as benefiting the industry and themselves, whereas others will see it as a competitive issue. But, nevertheless, our approach is to work with them and provide more of such high quality content training as part of the CET infrastructure landscape. I do not have the numbers at the moment.”
“Regarding the actions of employment agencies jointly raising the salaries of FDWs, the Competition Commission of Singapore is looking into the matter to see if there is any breach of the Competition Act. My Ministry’s position on wages remains unchanged, that is FDW wages are to be determined by market forces, and based on mutual agreements between the employer and employee. 5.15 pm Madam, let me conclude. As a small country with limited resources, we have done well. Our human resources, including our openness to foreign talent, have enabled us to achieve what many other countries could not have. To sustain this competitiveness, we have started to architect the workforce of the future. Our goal is to empower our workers with the skills they need to lead a better life.”
“This is, of course, a significant saving for those families. But FDWs cannot be the sole solution for eldercare and childcare. MOM needs to address this holistically, rather than tweaking the FDW levy. For example, families can tap on the Centre of Enabled Living’s Caregiver Training grant which supports training in basic caregiving skills to our informal caregivers and subsidises home-help services for elderly who prefer to stay at home. A survey recently conducted with FDW employers also indicates that employers are generally satisfied with their current FDWs, with the majority intending to continue employing their current FDWs after their existing contracts expire. My Ministry has introduced additional measures to help employers. To help FDW employers make an even more informed decision when engaging an employment agency, MOM has revamped the online employment agency directory on MOM’s website. The directory allows employers to look at an employment agency’s track record, such as retention rates – retention rate refers to the percentage of placements who stayed at least one year with the same employer – and the passing rates on entry test. Feedback from employers has been positive and they found the directory useful. To facilitate better matching between employers and FDWs, employers are also able to put a request through the EA to see FDWs’ employment history in Singapore. Employers can also subscribe to MOM’s six monthly electronic newsletter called InFOCUS, for tips on fostering a harmonious relationship with their FDWs and updates on new policies.”
“Our strong regulatory framework and good employment terms have made Singapore an attractive destination for FDWs. Interviews with over 900 FDWs last year indicate that they are highly satisfied with working in Singapore, with a mean satisfaction level of 8.7 out of 10. Seven in 10 FDWs intend to continue working in Singapore after their contracts expire. Almost 90% of FDWs were also aware of their employment rights and obligations. Indeed, the total population of FDWs in Singapore has increased over the years. As of December 2010, there were 201,000 FDWs, compared to just 196,000 in 2009. This translates to a relatively high proportion of 175 FDWs per 1,000 households. It is even higher than Hong Kong at 122 per 1,000. Mr Charles Chong has suggested increasing the number of source countries for FDWs to ensure supply. Decent treatment of FDWs has helped to ensure that we have not been targeted by any measures by source countries seeking to reduce supply to Singapore. The growing population of FDWs and increasing penetration rate of FDWs also suggest that the addition of new source countries to raise supply is not necessary at this stage. FDWs now come from more than 10 approved sources, including India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Nevertheless, MOM periodically reviews the adequacy of existing sources, considers alternative sources and conducts pilots, where necessary. Mr Laurence Wee has suggested waiving the FDW levy for families with elderly or young children to care for. Madam, the FDW levy is intended primarily to moderate the demand for FDWs, so that only families who really need them will hire them. Families with elderly, young children or disabled family members already enjoy a concessionary FDW levy of $170, compared to the regular $265.”
“MOM will consider each case on its own merit, taking into consideration factors, such as the ability of the couple to maintain a family. Madam, Mr Charles Chong asked what my Ministry has done for foreign domestic workers (FDWs). MOM has put in place a robust framework over the years to ensure the well-being and quality of FDWs. First, FDWs must meet our minimum age requirements and pass an entry test before working in Singapore. These requirements aim to identify FDWs that are likely to face fewer problems adapting in Singapore’s urban environment, by ensuring that they are sufficiently mature and have the basic numeracy and literacy skills. Second, MOM sets out and enforces minimum working conditions, such as acceptable accommodation and safety standards. All first-time FDWs are required to attend a half-day safety awareness course to learn about safe ways of working in our urban domestic settings. All foreign workers, including FDWs, must also be covered by medical insurance of at least $15,000. Third, we put in place measures to help FDWs adjust to Singapore’s work environment. We conduct random interviews with first-time FDWs to determine if they are facing problems when adjusting. To help with the adjustment process, we piloted the FDW Settling-In Programme last year, covering topics such as Singapore’s culture, and norms and stress management. About 1,300 FDWs attended at least one module of the programme, and MOM has received positive feedback from them. MOM also has a dedicated helpline for distressed FDWs who require assistance. MOM does not hesitate to undertake strong enforcement action against employers who commit offences against FDWs.”
“Let me clarify that there are a variety of housing options for foreign workers apart from dormitories, such as housing workers on-site. The Government has been increasing the number of purpose-built dormitory bed spaces since 2007. Over the past year alone, the Government has rolled out dormitory sites that can supply about 50,000 additional beds. Operators of dormitories are also required to provide sufficient amenities for their residents. However, the speed at which new dormitory sites are released also depends on a number of factors, such as the time taken to prepare the land. In addition, the Ministerial Steering Committee on Foreign Workers takes care to engage stakeholders in the community and to ensure that dormitories minimise disamenities to their neighbours. My Ministry also conducts regular inspections to ensure that employers house their foreign workers in acceptable conditions. Beyond enforcement, my Ministry intends to review the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA). We will review the adequacy of existing offences and penalties to ensure accountability of employers and other stakeholders. We target to complete the review by 2012. The EFMA also prescribes the conditions that employers and foreign employees must adhere to under their work pass. Ms Indranee Rajah asked if my Ministry could revise the current marriage restrictions on work permit holders. One of the work permit conditions that work permit holders agree to before they are allowed to work here is that they are not allowed to marry a Singaporean citizen or Permanent Resident without prior approval. Work permit holders who contravene this condition will be repatriated and placed on an entry ban. This ban might seem long but it is not permanent, and those affected can appeal to MOM.”
“Employers who subscribe to these practices are likely to get higher-quality workers who are less burdened by debt, less likely to create employment disputes and more motivated. The advisory will touch on areas, such as raising workers’ awareness of their rights and obligations before they arrive in Singapore, and helping workers settle in after their arrival. It will also highlight case studies that employers can learn from. MOM will pilot the adoption of these measures with some companies in a few months’ time. The advisory will be practical. In fact, some of our employers are already practising it. Consider, for instance, Keppel Offshore & Marine. The company conducts competency tests and interviews for potential foreign workers in the source countries, such as India, Bangladesh and China. It organises pre-departure briefings for successful candidates to inform them about the organisation, as well as the terms and conditions of their employment. During the briefing, foreign workers are also informed about the agency fees that they should expect to pay. With this process in place, the company’s foreign workers know what to expect when they come to Singapore to work, and this minimises employment disputes. Next, on management: we concur with Mr Yeo Guat Kwang that effective enforcement is important to deter employers from adopting errant practices, such as kickbacks. In 2010, MOM charged and convicted 212 employers for failing to comply with their obligations under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, upholding the rights of 1,151 foreign workers. Nine of these employers were convicted of kickback offences. Mr Yeo has also raised some concerns regarding foreign worker housing.”
“They can independently sign up for many Government-funded CET courses at the CET Centres, polytechnics and ITEs. We have also made CET affordable through direct course fee subsidies. Hence, in response to Mdm Ho Geok Choo’s query on establishing individual skills accounts, MOM believes our current approach is working well and is efficient. We will also continue to look at new initiatives, such as a self-service skills portal to encourage Singaporeans to take more responsibility for their training. WDA will release more details about the portal in due course. Madam, our CET system has helped us produce a world-class workforce. But our local workforce is only part of the equation. To be precise, two-thirds of the equation. Foreign talents and workers have to raise their contributions too. To ensure that our foreign workers contribute to the overall quality of our workforce, we need to continue to improve the way we recruit, manage and develop our foreign workers. They ought to be respected and treated fairly, as capable members of our scoring teams. Providing an updated framework on the management of employment agencies, my Ministry recently revised the Employment Agencies Act which will take effect on 1st April this year. We are sending a clear and strong signal that we want to improve the standards and professionalism of the industry and will not tolerate any errant employment agencies or shady employment services. Beyond regulations and enforcement, we would like to encourage a change in the mindset of employers to be more responsible. My Ministry is developing an advisory to educate employers on responsible practices that they should adopt when recruiting foreign workers.”
“From 1st March 2011, Singaporeans who complete their first WSQ Diploma will receive $1,000 and those who complete their first WSQ Certificate will receive $200. This scheme will cost the Government about $12 million over the next three years. As we invest more in CET and expand the WSQ system, the demands on training providers and professionals will also increase, as observed by Mdm Halimah. To ensure quality, my Ministry will introduce mandatory qualification requirements for CET trainers, assessors and curriculum developers engaged by WSQ training providers. By 1st October 2014, we will require that at least 80% of these trainers and assessors have a full Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA) or equivalent. For curriculum developers, we will require all WSQ curriculum developers who provide external training to have a Diploma in Adult and Continuing Education (DACE) or equivalent by 1st October 2015. To provide time for WSQ Approved Organisations to adjust, the changes will be implemented in phases. WDA will release more details in due course. To help training providers and professionals meet the new requirements, we are increasing the training capacity at the Institute for Adult Learning, our polytechnics and other private sector training providers. WDA is also offering substantial funding for trainees. 5.00 pm Madam, these are our efforts to build up a first-class national CET system. As my Minister shared earlier, CET must be accessible, relevant and each individual must also have the desire to continuously learn and upgrade. Today, individuals are able and are encouraged to take charge of their own training, as strongly advocated by Ms Denise Phua.”
“Through the career centres at the CDCs and e2i, we placed about six in 10 job seekers in jobs in 2010. This translates to some 17,000 successful job seekers, better than the 40% we estimated in the Budget Book, as observed by Mr Charles Chong. About 4,000 of these received training before they were being placed. Moving forward, the job placement rate by our career centres may come in lower, say around 40%. Given the healthy job market, many job seekers should be able to find jobs on their own. Among the users of our career centres, we expect a higher proportion of those who face greater barriers in their job search, including the long-term unemployed. Our CET system has helped to open up new opportunities for Singaporeans. It has helped them take on better jobs and earn better wages. Let me share one such story. Mr Mohd Salleh Bin Mohd Nordin is 57 years old. Mr Salleh had worked in the Advertising industry for more than 30 years before he was retrenched. Motivated by a sense of professionalism to do his job better and to improve his own career prospects, Mr Salleh took up training under the Landscape WSQ Advanced Certificate course. He subsequently rose through the ranks and became a Senior Supervisor, managing a team of 18 Landscape Technicians. He is currently pursuing a WSQ Diploma in Horticulture. Mr Salleh aspires to become an ecologist and in his own words, "learning never stops". We need more workers to think and act like Mr Salleh. We especially want to encourage all our workers to complete a full CET qualification, as it gives them a more comprehensive repertoire of skills. The Minister for Finance announced that we will introduce a CET Qualification Award. The award recognises trainees who persevere and attain a full CET qualification.”
“Ultimately, it means raising overall customer satisfaction, value-add and higher wages. A world-class workforce requires the support of world-class managers and leaders. Let me now turn to best practices in leadership, HR and management. Mdm Ho Geok Choo advocated the building up of case studies on Asian best practices in HR and leadership. I agree. The Asian Human Capital Award recognises exemplary and innovative people practices. The annual Singapore Human Capital Summit also provides the platform for companies to learn these best practices. Beyond this, MOM and WDA have established communities of practice via the Human Capital (Singapore). MOM also regularly organises Executive Roundtables to bring together CEOs, chief HROs and thought- and practice-leaders to share their experiences and strategies. All these add to a vibrant landscape for learning and exchange of ideas. Mdm Ho also asked about an HR Outsourcing Hub for SMEs. SPRING is currently reviewing the potential HR service providers and studying the different types of HR services that SMEs might need. I would also like to assure Ms Denise Phua that we are preparing for the future. MOM is currently leading a FutureSkills Needs study to identify areas where new manpower capabilities are needed beyond 2020, and develop strategies to address any gaps. Preliminary findings show that future workers will need to equip themselves with a combination of soft, some people call it "horizontal", and hard, some people say it is "vertical" skills. The currency of these skills must be renewed. Most importantly, future workers must be life-long learners. An efficient labour market is characterised by good matches between job seekers and employers.”
“Although the WSQ was only launched in 2005, we already have 26 WSQ frameworks, and about 14,000 courses available. Most major industries have been covered, including almost all of the 12 priority sectors under the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council (NPCEC). The next phase of our CET content-building sees us working closely with the NPCEC to develop sector-specific CET strategies to address the productivity challenges and the CET needs of each sector. This builds upon the foundation we have and places priority on areas, both old and new, to support each productivity roadmap. The sector-specific CET details are still being finalised and will be released by the respective champion agencies in due course. But let me provide an illustration. Today, the hospitality sector has WSQ frameworks and courses in Service Excellence, Food and Beverage, Hotel and Accommodation Services, and Spa, amongst others. There are many courses available in a wide range of areas, and for different skills levels. However, only some will feature in the hospitality productivity roadmap, while other new courses will have to be brought in. In this regard, WDA has appointed the William Angliss Institute from Australia to provide integrated CET for the hospitality and tourism sector. The William Angliss Institute will not replace existing training providers, but supplement them. A core strength of this new Centre is in the Integrated-training, which means equipping the worker with relevant cross-functional training. For instance, the hotel concierge can be trained in hotel front desk skills, as well as tour guiding and travel services skills. In this way, our workers in the hospitality sector can be multi-skilled and provide better service and more comprehensive service.”
“While building mass delivery channels and training places, we are also building Centres of Excellence in these two national campuses. To be ready by end of 2013, they will deliver 150,000 training places and train up to 50,000 workers annually. The campus at Paya Lebar Central will focus on Tourism and Hospitality while the campus at Jurong Lake District will emphasise on manufacturing and some selected professional services. Both campuses will provide certain horizontal programmes, such as employability skills, business management and productivity development. The two campuses will also serve as a training and job hub, offering employment services to both employers and trainees. Construction of the two campuses is expected to commence later this year. Mdm Halimah also spoke about bringing in new providers and contents by leveraging on good companies. We agree with her that while buildings and hardware are indispensable, content and the quality of training are even more important. One way to raise the quality and relevance of CET training is indeed to work with leading companies. To date, we have already given 500 such companies ATO status. Last year, for example, WDA worked with the Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) to align 20 of its in-house training modules to WSQ standards. As a result, REC's employees are trained and certified under our Environmental Technology WSQ framework. We welcome companies who wish to align their in-house training programmes to WSQ standards to approach WDA. WDA has also worked with other companies to open up their inhouse WSQ training to benefit the entire industry. For instance, WDA collaborated with Ascott Limited to set up the Ascott Centre of Excellence for the hospitality industry. We have also made good progress for CET content.”
“Madam, amongst the many accolades bestowed upon Singapore, our workforce stands out as one being the most competitive in the world. While this is a great achievement, this leadership may be eroded if we slacken and competition catches up. With the hastened pace of product development, technological obsolescence and globalisation, what our workforce learnt yesterday can become out-dated tomorrow. Ms Denise Phua used the term "21st Century Workforce" to denote the new knowledge and skill sets of tomorrow that differentiates the workforce of today. The only way we can future-proof our workforce is to create an infrastructure of lifelong learning; that on a continual basis, every willing worker has the opportunity to upgrade himself, acquire new skills, and take on new jobs that will come along in his lifetime. We call this infrastructure our Continuing Education and Training (CET) system. Mr Zainudin Nordin asked how we are helping Singaporeans to remain meaningfully employed. Since we announced the CET Masterplan in 2008, we have made good progress in building our CET system. This is a very strategic infrastructure that will enable our workforce to stay relevant. Our CET has the following key building blocks. Over the past five years, we have built up a set of comprehensive channels to deliver CET programmes. Today, these channels are made up of three National CET Institutes, 50 CET Centres and 500 Approved Training Organisations (ATOs). Together, more than 600,000 workers have been trained in WSQ courses since 2005. We now have a training capacity of about 240,000 persons per year. Mdm Halimah Yacob asked about the progress of our national CET campuses.”
“Mr Chairman, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry we oversee an important portal called the "Enterprise One". In the "Enterprise One" portal, there are many business-related applications that have been put online so that users, large and small companies, can go to it and download applications very efficiently. Obviously, whether it is a Ministry, statutory board, or even a private-sector company, simplifying user interface is so critical because of the ongoing changes in contents, in products and services offered and also in meeting the changing needs of customers. PSD responsible for the civil service-wide improvement of efficiency, for example, cutting red tape, has very aggressive programmes. I participated in some of them and I am aware that, for instance, they look at Six Sigma, they look at training black-belters in their organisations. These are people that are trained and put into different departments to relook at processes in a very fundamental way with a hope that they can greatly simplify the efficiency and the user experience.”
“For instance, in Australia, one of our major export markets, we managed to secure exemption from mandatory fumigation for Singapore's orchid exporters. We will continue with such efforts. Mr Chairman, let me conclude, our SMEs are the backbone of our economy, making up 99% of the enterprises in Singapore. Six out of every 10 workers in Singapore are hired by SMEs. Investing in our SMEs is investing in our future.”
“Mr Teo Siong Seng asked about the role of Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs) in helping SMEs make use of productivity-related schemes and to expand overseas. Indeed, TACs are our important and natural partners. As representatives of the various industries, the TACs understand the needs and aspirations of their members and the challenges facing different sectors in improving productivity or expanding overseas. It also have many SMEs in their membership. TACs are thus well-placed to advise SMEs on using the various Government's programmes for productivity improvement and internalisation. 1.30 pm We have a long history of working with TACs. We continue to explore new ways in helping TACs. For instance, we are now exploring with TACs to improve the needs and interests of their members when applying to use programmes under the National Productivity Fund. This may be one way to ease the administration burden on smaller companies. The TACs have been playing an active role in leading business missions and trade fairs. Last year, the various Chambers led a total of 150 trade fairs and over 50 missions to overseas markets, benefiting some 3,300 companies. Before I conclude, Mr Chairman, let me address Mr Chiam's question on orchids. MTI works closely with agencies like the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore and IE Singapore to facilitate the growth of Singapore's orchid export sector. Our efforts have seen our global market share of orchid exports grow from 7.3% in 2007 to 11% in 2009. Today, Singapore is the third largest exporter of fresh orchids. We promote orchid exports by negotiating free trade agreements that remove or reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers imposed by our major markets.”
“Behind the scenes, of course, we have further integrated the collaboration among agencies, such as SPRING and IE Singapore to better serve the common clients more effectively. Although the Government will do what it can to make the schemes easier to understand and access, I must also emphasise that SMEs themselves must be proactive in wanting to improve before the right assistance can be rendered. Over the years, IE Singapore has rolled out a number of programmes to take SMEs overseas. They include market studies, meeting potential partners and connecting with Singaporeans' firms already in overseas markets. IE also runs programmes that help companies build specific strengths in branding, franchising, intellectual property protection and access to finance. For first-timers, IE also runs SME Market Access Programme. So far, 87 SMEs have gained from this programme. One of them is Bee Cheng Hiang, a very well-known Singapore-based barbecue meat retailer with more than 130 overseas outlets. Recently, it made its first foray into Seoul. To prepare for this, the company applied for intellectual property rights for its brand in Korea and tapped on the programme to reduce the associated costs. As the opportunities in Asia grow, MTI and our economic agencies will step up efforts to open doors. We will also facilitate projects for SMEs through the many bilateral G-to-G platform and business councils we have established with many countries. SMEs should also tap on our wide network of 18 FTAs, including those with key Asian markets, such as China and India, to enhance their market access. We will keep improving our outreach to SMEs on how to take advantage of the FTAs.”
“The EDCs proactively engage the SMEs to educate them on relevant Government schemes and provide advice in areas such as finance, operations and management. Some EDCs have helped SMEs to diagnose their productivity's performance and develop appropriate plans to move ahead. I am pleased to note that in 2010 alone, the five EDCs have provided assistance and business advisory services to about 10,000 SMEs, out of which, 900 also embarked on the productivity management programme under the SME productivity roadmap. In our grant application process, the Government continues to simplify our schemes by having enough customisations to best meet the wide diversity of SMEs' needs. Broad-based schemes are designed to be as simple as possible for SMEs to use. For instance, consider the iSPRINT scheme. SMEs looking for packaged solutions pre-qualified by IDA to support basic business functions, such as accounting and payroll, do not need to submit any business proposals under the Increase SME Productivity with Infocomm Adoption and Transformation (iSPRINT) or grant application form. They can proceed with the purchase of the solution, implement it and make that claim through IDA, all in about eight weeks. Since its launch, more than 750 SMEs have benefited from iSPRINT programme, generating a projected $400 million in value-added over the next three years. For people capability development, involving larger sums of money, more customisation is needed to better understand the SMEs' needs so as to provide the right time of assistance. For example, SMEs looking to build capabilities, such as branding, had to go through a diagnostic process to identify the key areas which need to be addressed and most appropriate scheme for them.”
“After setting up the central kitchen, Jumbo Seafood experienced a surge in sales with more repeat customers and an improved market position. In fact, F&B chains equipped with central kitchens are in a very good position to offer additional value proposition, such as off-site catering service and takeaway sales. These new services will actually raise the sales per worker and make better use of the equipment and machinery which means assets productivity. This is one way to expand sales beyond the limitation of physical shop fronts. To help more companies to do what Q&M and Jumbo Seafood have done, the Government will be injecting substantial resources in the next five years, including the $850 million Enterprise Development Fund announced by the Minister for Finance. This will be managed by both IE Singapore and SPRING Singapore. The fund will support broad-based efforts to help all SMEs upgrade our industry clusters and help our high-growth companies build up further capabilities and spur entrepreneurship. It will also help our companies expand overseas. The additional $1 billion injected into the National Productivity Fund will give us more resources to support our industries and companies moving towards higher productivity. The Government will continue to ensure SMEs are aware of the various schemes. Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked if our Enterprise Development Centres are effective in reaching out to SMEs to improve productivity, and whether our system schemes could be simplified. The Enterprise Development Centres (EDCs) – five of them now – play a key role, both in reaching out to SMEs, regardless of their membership with Trade Associations and Chambers, to improve productivity. They help SMEs understand and navigate the grant application process.”
“By freeing up their staff from administrative chores, Q&M can now commit more time to human resource training as the next phase of their productivity efforts. Q&M has recently embarked on their customer-centric initiative and are sending their staff for customer service training to improve customer service. What we see here is one good step leading to another, along the journey of productivity improvement. Let me give Members another example of productivity improvement in one of our well-known seafood restaurants, Jumbo Seafood. There was a time when they used to receive frequent customers' feedback on inconsistency of taste across their outlets, specifically for the chilli crabs. There are customers who prefer certain outlets and shun others. The reason was simple. Everyday, each individual kitchen had to marinate and prepare their own sauces and food items. This was done before work, in between the afternoon and night shifts. The difference in taste and quality across outlets was affecting customers' satisfaction, brand recognition and market positioning. Jumbo Seafood then decided to set up a central kitchen to prepare their sauces and fast-selling items. This allowed them to maintain consistency and freshness in the food quality across their outlets and to cut down the repetitive work carried out at every outlet. Without having to prepare food each day before work and after the afternoon shift, overall working hours were shortened and their outlet staff had more time to rest and get ready for the intense night shifts. This had led to higher workers' productivity. The central kitchen also reduced the need for large kitchen areas at each outlet, thus creating more space for tables to increase revenue which also means land productivity versus worker productivity.”
“Many of the measures that the Minister for Finance announced in his Budget Speech to help companies, such as the one-off SME cash grant of 5% of the company's revenue capped at $5,000, corporate income tax rebate up to $10,000, and the Productivity and Innovation Credit will help SMEs cope with rising costs. But even as they address the challenges of rising costs, SMEs should not lose sight of the more important task of raising productivity by embracing innovation, automation and workers' training. To address short-term cost pressures, we need to reinvent our businesses for our long-term competitiveness. Consider, for instance, Q&M Dental Clinic which has a chain of 40 clinics and two dental centres across the island. Q&M faced the problem of increasing material cost eating into their profits. It was difficult to reduce cost from their manual pen-and-paper procurement system. The system was not only prone to human error but also resulted in wastage and many unhappy staff would have to spend time doing very tedious paperwork. These problems are not uncommon among SMEs. Q&M decided to tap on SPRING Singapore's Technology Innovation Programme to develop a computerised procurement system with a database of nearly 4,000 products. This new system allows each clinic to easily place orders, track its monthly expenditure against budget, and reduce wastage through timely reminders on expiry dates of their materials. It saved them many hours of manual submissions and queries. It led to higher staff morale and teamwork. With its new system in place, Q&M sees scope to eventually lower material cost to around 5% of its revenue from the current 8%.”
“I hope that the other retailers will also follow their example and offer low-cost options. Third, take tough actions against monopolistic and profiteering practices. The newly established Retail Price Watch Group includes representatives from Competition Commission of Singapore and Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) and their role is to monitor and take action against businesses involved in profiteering, engaging in anti-competition or unfair practices, as well as those who fail to deliver what they promise. In the event that the Watch Group finds any *Cols. 3825-3826. shops or stalls involved in inappropriate business practices, the Competition Commission and CASE will take action and investigate. Fourth, educate the consumer to understand how the market works. For almost all daily necessities and food, there are relatively low-cost alternatives or brands available. The Watch Group will improve communication with consumers through various ways. Our education efforts will focus on letting the consumers know that they have many choices, and be aware of various money-saving tips. The Watch Group launched a new hotline 64611880 and website, www.pricewatch.gov.sg today. This will make it more convenient for our consumers to give feedback and suggestions. I hope that members of the public will generously share tips on getting value-for-money deals. Of course, they can also report businesses that raise prices unreasonably, so that the Watch Group can understand the reasons and source of price increases. (In English): Sir, I would like to move on to address concerns of raising costs for SMEs. As pointed out by some Members, some SMEs may also face rising costs, especially for wages and rentals.”
“Currently, the Department of Statistics regularly monitors the sale of necessities, tracking the price of items such as rice, fish, meat, eggs, vegetables island-wide, and even prices of chicken rice and fish ball noodles commonly sold at food centres. From this month, the Department of Statistics will also monitor food prices at food centres, to see which stalls have raised prices. I think the coffee stall patronised by Mr Liang can also be included in the list. The Retail Price Watch Group also welcomes more people to provide more tip-offs and take part in the tracking of prices. In fact, the Watch Group suggests that Mr Liang visit Bao Hua Drinks Stall and Ah Di Drinks Stall at Block 527, in Ang Mo Kio Cheng San Constituency, to enjoy coffee at just 50 cents. According to a report in the New Paper dated 15th February, there is another stall in Cheng San Constituency called "Lao Li Coffee". I have nothing to do with this stall. [Laughter. ] It also sells freshly brewed coffee at 60 cents. MP Mr Liang Eng Hwa said that $1 is a fixed price, but I say this is not fixed as the market is very competitive and people are trying all means to fight for business. Thus, not all can fix the price at $1. Second, ensure that the market operates highly effectively. For the market to operate effectively, getting the support of big retailers is the key. Big retail chain stores are all over the island. If big retail shops do not raise prices, it will have a positive effect on stabilising prices. Currently, NTUC FairPrice has promised that for the next six months, prices of its 500 housebrand items will remain the same. Apart from NTUC FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant and Shop N Save have also made similar commitments.”
“Mr Chairman, let me first address the concerns on inflation, especially Assoc. Prof. Dr Muhammad Faishal's query on how inflation has affected the various income groups. Singapore's headline inflation rose to 2.8% in 2010, from 0.6% in 2009. The lowest 20% income group experienced the lowest inflation rate of 2.4% compared to 2.7% and 3.1% for the middle and the highest 20% income groups respectively. Last year's inflation affected the higher-income group more than the rest. This year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore is expecting headline inflation to be between 3% and 4%. The four key drivers on inflation are: higher car prices, rising accommodation cost, higher wages and rentals and higher food prices and utilities. While some of these price increases, for example, the higher cost of food, utilities and service-related items, affect a broad segment of Singaporeans, the spike in car prices would only affect every three in four households which purchased new cars last year. Likewise, for accommodation cost, 87% of households already live in housing that they own. The increase in imputed rental in the CPI will not affect their cash outlay at all. 1.15 pm Mr Chairman, now I will speak in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Liang Eng Hwa has asked how MTI monitors prices and monopolistic practices in the market and whether Government has enough resources to monitor the situation effectively. Mr Chairman, recently MTI set up the Retail Price Watch Group to monitor the prices of necessities and food to prevent monopolistic practices and promote money-saving tips. The Watch Group have focused on four areas. First, keep track of price fluctuations. The tracking of prices is mainly done by the Department of Statistics.”
“Sir, the NPCEC is driving the national effort in terms of productivity and 12 sectors have been identified to develop sector-specific productivity improvement plans. We need to do so because each of the sectors has its own requirements in terms of technology adoption and workforce skills upgrading. By doing so, we hope to evolve various specific solutions that are optimised for each of the sectors. In terms of general buzz, education and awareness building, the NPCEC, through its Secretariat, is also considering various options. GOVERNMENT'S FLOOD CONTROL MEASURES 13. Assoc. Prof. Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) if he will update the House on the flood control measures taken to manage flooding in Singapore; and (b) how have these measures helped to manage the flash flood incidents in view of the recent heavy rain spells.”
“Mr Yeo Guat Kwang made a remark in Mandarin, "上有政策,下有对策；道高一尺， 魔高一丈". I would respond to his remark with "人力部的立场是：严阵以待，绳之以法。除害扶弱，从不手软。" Sir, I believe I have addressed all Members' concerns and queries. Let me conclude by first thanking Members for their strong and passionate support. We are also grateful for all the key stakeholders who so willingly participated in the series of consultations we conducted and gave us constructive feedback and suggestions. Having gone through many rounds of refinements, I am confident that the amendments will help us move in the right direction. However, as Ms Audrey Wong, Mdm Halimah Yacob and Mr Yeo Guat Kwang have rightly pointed out, there is only so much the Singapore Government can do. We also need the governments of the respective source countries to play their part in regulating their EAs to stem the abuses and malpractices that start at home. Together, we can make the new regulatory framework succeed and reap the intended benefits. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Lee Yi Shyan]. Bill considered in Committee. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair]”
“Let me now touch on the transition plan of the new framework. Mr Ang Mong Seng raised a valid point about keeping EAs updated on any policy changes. We have planned a series of public communications initiatives to key stakeholders over the next few months. The new certification requirement for all EA personnel will also help ensure they fully understand the new EA regulatory framework. Sometime in the future, my Ministry is open to conducting refresher courses for all EA personnel to keep them abreast of more recent developments in the regulatory framework. Mdm Halimah voiced concerns that the timeline given for the existing EAs to transit onto the new regulatory framework is too long. I would like to assure her that most of the new changes will be implemented within the first year from the time the new Act comes into force. EAs will be given three months to register all their existing personnel and up to one year to move onto the new licensing regime. Those EAs personnel registered during the three months will be given a grace period of up to three years to be certified, in other words, to take courses and to be certified. This allows EAs to have sufficient time to make the necessary arrangements and schedule their staff for certification courses. However, we strongly encourage all EAs to certify their EA personnel at the earliest opportunity and we will ensure that the appointed training provider is able to meet market demand for training places. We are committed to ensure a smooth transition process for all existing EAs. As suggested by Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, we will monitor the situation on the ground once the new regulatory framework is put in place to ensure that the recruitment landscape in Singapore moves in the right direction.”
“To further protect the interests of foreign domestic worker employers, my Ministry will require all licensed EAs placing foreign domestic workers to use a standard service agreement. This agreement will spell out the obligations of EAs and employers in different scenarios. We have also enhanced the interactive employment agency directory on MOM's website to give employers the information they need to choose the appropriate EA, such as the EAs' foreign domestic worker placement success record and names of their registered staff. This is also in line with Mr Yeo Guat Kwang's suggestion for a central database of all licensed EAs and registered EA personnel to be set up. Together, these measures seek to facilitate more informed choices and better matching of workers and employers. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang also suggested putting in place a system to allow EAs to deduct the agency fees from the foreign domestic workers' monthly salaries without involving their employers. My Ministry will consider his suggestion separately. Mr Ang Mong Seng asked for more details on the new Commissioner for EAs. The new Commissioner for EAs will be a public officer within the Ministry who is appointed by the Minister. The Minister will also appoint the Assistants and the Deputies who will also be public officers within the Ministry to aid in the administration of the Act. These new appointments will be timely especially since the amended EA Act will require the appointed Commissioner to take on greater responsibilities and powers. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang also proposed providing certain incentives for EAs to attain the new voluntary trustmark in future when it is available. We will seriously consider what incentives may be needed in the development of this new trustmark scheme.”
“Mr Ang Mong Seng touched on the point related to study mothers. To clarify, study mothers are allowed to work in Singapore as long as they fulfil certain criteria and abide by certain conditions. As this is not a matter concerning the regulation of local employment agencies, we will continue to work with Embassies of the relevant source countries to convey these messages to the citizens interested in sending their children to Singapore to study. Mr Calvin Cheng also spoke at length on the employment scams by employers. We are aware of such errant practices and have prosecuted employers for collecting kickbacks. We have also penalised employers for setting up shell companies, hiring phantom workers or illegally deploying their workers to other employers. We actively monitor and investigate employers who frequently cancel in-principle approvals. While our efforts on these fronts to tackle employment scams have been significant, some of them are beyond the ambit of this Bill. Mdm Halimah raised the concerns that employers should also enjoy fair treatment especially when my Ministry considers forfeiting the security bond posted by employers of foreign domestic workers. I would like to assure her that my Ministry does not treat lightly the decision to forfeit security bonds of employers and does so only in egregious cases. The security bond conditions were amended recently such that employers may recover half of the security bond if he provides evidence that he has made reasonable efforts to locate workers such as lodging a missing person report with the Police. There are already existing measures to protect the interests of foreign domestic worker employers. For instance, EAs are required to check and provide the employment history of prospective hires from MOM's records.”
“It will be difficult to police fees collected by Singapore EAs via their overseas counterparts. Nonetheless, we leverage on existing networks with source country Embassies and continue to work with them to improve the regulation of cross-border recruitment activities. Both Ms Audrey Wong and Mdm Halimah Yacob raised questions about the transfer fees typically charged to foreign domestic workers (FDWs). These transfer fees will also be covered under the fee cap and the refund mechanism. To illustrate, under the new regulation, the fee that a foreign domestic worker on a two-year Work Permit can pay the Singapore EA is capped at two months' worth of her salary. If she is terminated by her first employer within six months, she will receive a refund of half the fees paid. If the EA helps arrange a transfer to a different employer, her agency fee will again be capped at one month's worth of salary per year of the new Work Permit duration. We agree with Mdm Halimah and Mr Yeo Guat Kwang that EAs should match employers with the right workers and with the right skills. We hope that the new fee refund mechanism will encourage EAs to do so. Mdm Halimah also asked how workers will be protected against EAs who promise them employment terms and conditions that do not materialise. My Ministry already has the power to revoke the licences of EAs that act in a manner detrimental to the interests of their clients, which include workers. In future, their directors or managers would be disqualified from working in the EA industry. In addition, the EAs would have to refund the workers half of the agency fees collected from them if they are terminated within the first six months. Some Members raised issues related to employment scams.”
“So, in other words, you cannot be fly-by-night unless you have $60,000 of security deposit to start the business. If we find shareholders involved in EA malpractice, we will also take action against them, both for committing the offence and for failing to register as a person conducting EA work. Mr Cheng and Ms Audrey Wong also expressed concern about the fee burden on workers. EAs that breach the fee cap will face a maximum fine of $5,000 per worker charged, in excess of the fee cap. So, if an EA charges 10 workers more than what is allowed, the maximum fine would be $50,000. For subsequent offences, EAs will face the maximum penalty of $5,000, or six months imprisonment, or both for each worker charged in excess of the fee cap. To better enforce the updated fee cap, my Ministry will conduct proactive audits on EAs and require them to issue receipts to workers they place. We will also ensure that the foreign worker is made aware of the important information before he or she arrives in Singapore. On Mdm Halimah Yacob's suggestion that there be greater transparency on the employment terms of workers, my Ministry is examining how to include certain details in the in-principle approval letter that MOM issues to foreign workers before their arrival in Singapore. This could include information on the workers' basic monthly salaries and the fees paid to the Singapore employment agencies. This will ensure that all foreign workers, not just those who go through an EA, would be provided with such information. More details will be announced at a later stage. We recognise that a large part of the fees paid by the foreign workers is paid to the overseas EAs, as many Members have observed.”
“Sir, I would like to thank all Members who have spoken so passionately in support of the Bill. Their comments and suggestions also showed that they have great insights into the workings of the industry and the many loopholes and pitfalls that currently exist in the industry. I want to assure the Members that the Ministry is committed to remove these loopholes through this Amendment Bill. Let me now respond to some of the specific issues that have been raised. Mr Ang Mong Seng was concerned about the number of unlicensed EAs in Singapore. There are currently about 2,500 licensed EAs in Singapore. We are unable to track the activities and numbers of unlicensed EAs. But the number of complaints against unlicensed EAs has been increasing. The new EA regulatory framework intends to weed out unlicensed EAs, firstly, by increasing the maximum penalties for operating without licence from $5,000 to $80,000. Unlicensed EAs will also face a maximum imprisonment term of two years and they will be held accountable for any other offences committed under the EA Act. In other words, not only are they liable for fine and imprisonment for operating without a valid licence, they will be treated as if they were a licensed EA and therefore liable for further penalties for other offences they commit. Secondly, to stem the demand for unlicensed EAs, we will make it an offence for employers to engage unlicensed EAs and for licensed EAs to submit applications on behalf of unlicensed EAs. These new offences, likewise, will carry a heavy maximum penalty. Mr Calvin Cheng raised concerns about fly-by-night EAs and suggested that the shareholders be held accountable under the Act. Under the new regulatory framework, the new security deposit requirement of $60,000 will be applied to all new EAs.”
“Finally, by enhancing the professionalism and accountability of the industry, the stricter licensing, registration and certification requirements will instil greater confidence in the industry and boost its reputation. I recently met the Managing Director of an EA called PeopleWorldWide Consulting. They bring in many foreign workers for the manufacturing and services sectors. They shared that they put all their foreign workers through a three to seven-day training programme. They also have a robust process to ensure that these workers do not pay more than the amount that was agreed between PeopleWorldWide Consulting and the overseas EAs, then promised to the workers. We would like to applaud their efforts and look forward to seeing more such progressive EAs. I hope the industry stakeholders, who had a large part to play in the development of these proposals, will continue to give my Ministry their support. Together, we can ensure that the new regulatory framework achieves its objectives and full potential. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed. 6.01 pm”
“Executive search firms which have generally been problem-free will be regulated with a lighter touch. As such, EAs placing only workers both locals or Employment Pass holders, earning monthly salaries of more than $7,000 will qualify for a Select Licence which is subject to only basic licensing requirements. EAs that do not wish to limit the type of workers they place may apply for a Comprehensive Licence instead. Transitional arrangement Sir, the new regulatory framework will be implemented on 1st April 2011. We have measures catered to help existing EAs transit to the new framework, which includes allowing EAs up to 2014 to certify all their EA personnel. We will carry out a series of public communications initiatives over the next few months to help the key industry stakeholders fully understand the new regulatory framework and be prepared for the transition. Sir, this new regulatory framework is an opportunity to improve the experience and labour market outcomes for all stakeholders – employers, workers and the EAs. Vulnerable rank-and-file workers, including foreign workers, will enjoy greater protection against the unethical practices of unlicensed and errant players. They will also benefit from measures such as the updated fee caps and the new fee refund mechanism. Employers will benefit from the greater certainty and transparency in the recruitment process. The new regulatory recruitment framework will facilitate labour market efficiency and raise the standard of recruitment practices in Singapore. This will in turn entrench Singapore's global position as a choice destination for experienced and skilled workers.”
“A worker can be charged a fee not exceeding one month of his salary for each year of the duration of the approved Work Pass or employment contract, whichever is shorter, subject to a maximum of two months' salary. The fee cap will cover all fees paid to Singapore EAs, including fees paid to Singapore EAs via overseas agents. However, the fee cap will not apply to fees paid for costs incurred overseas, such as the cost of the air ticket to Singapore. Certain costs, such as the cost of training and medical check-ups conducted in Singapore, must continue to be borne by the employer as mandated in the existing legislation. MOM will also introduce a new fee refund mechanism under the subsidiary legislation for workers whose contracts are terminated by their employers within six months of commencement. The refund will not apply if the worker absconds or voluntarily terminates the contract and aims to encourage EAs to be more careful in matching the right worker to the right employer. Introducing a more flexible framework To recognise the diverse range of EAs in the industry today, the new framework adopts a risk-based approach. A single approach to regulating headhunters that place only white collar workers, to those that place lower-skilled Work Permit holders, is inadequate. We are amending section 29 to empower the Minister for Manpower to vary the security deposits required of EAs. This will enable us to vary the security deposits required based on the risk profile of agency. The risk profile of an EA will be assessed on a combination of factors, including its placement volume, the types of workers placed and its track record. The amended section 29 also allows the Minister to impose different licensing requirements on different EAs, depending on their profile.”