Liang Eng Hwa
Singapore
“Sir, in Mandarin, please. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I would like to thank IMDA for its flexibility in allowing the filming of "Dear You" in the Teochew dialect, and for approving additional screenings to meet public demand.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. Sir, we hope that there will be peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict soon and that the Strait of Hormuz will be fully open.”
“Sir, I believe the political office holders have not replied or responded to my cut on traffic congestion, so can I perhaps ask the Minister, whether is it because he disagrees with me that the traffic congestion has worsened or that there is no non-pricing solutions to traffic congestion, which I had asked for.”
“Sir, Minister Chee, in his speech mentioned that this year we will be launching 19,600 new BTO flats. So, I would like to ask, how he sees the trajectory in the next two, three years.”
“Also, flexible work arrangements, through inter-agency coordination, could also help flatten peak demand. Sir, road pricing remains important, of course, but it must be a multi-pronged approach to manage congestions. And all these suggestions that I have made, I hope would also help to reduce congestions.”
“Thank you, Speaker. Sir, there are Singaporeans who felt strongly that the founding Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew's original wish to have the house demolished should be respected. It is not just because this is his personal wish but also the values that he espouse, which is not to have personal monuments.”
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“We have kept Singaporeans safe, safeguarded the economy and taken care of the overall well-being of Singaporeans. In the earlier stages of the pandemic, the Prime Minister addressed the nation at each turning point of the pandemic, updating Singaporeans on where we are and what may lie ahead. The Multi-Ministry Task Force (MTF) also regularly updated Singaporeans on the latest developments in an open and transparent manner. So, I agree with the White Paper’s conclusion that there has been high quality of governance throughout the crisis. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet has not only steered the nation into safe harbour during the pandemic but have also set our sights beyond the pandemic with moves and strategies for the country to emerge stronger. In particular, the 4G leadership led by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has shown its mettle in leading Singapore through this crisis of a generation. Not that we want it that way, but the crisis came at a time as if to test the leadership strength of the 4G team. It is like the baptism of fire. I believe that Deputy Prime Minister Wong and the 4G team has proven their leadership ability, the tenacity, the decisiveness and courage to take difficult decisions in overcoming the crisis, as well as doing what is right and what is in the long-term good for the country. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] Most importantly, the 4G team has demonstrated that the well-being of Singaporeans is foremost in their minds and hearts. Sir, I am heartened and assured that the future of Singapore is in good hands and together with the fortitude and unity of Singaporeans, we can continue to scale new heights and overcome whatever challenges that may come our way. Sir, with that, I wholeheartedly support the Motion.”
“3 billion in FY2020 and FY2021. Given the severity and the magnitude of the crisis, I had expected the Government to do more to support and assist, but I must admit the massiveness and the decisiveness in the series of fiscal interventions were more than I expected. It once again demonstrated that the Government may well be cautious and prudent in managing its finances during peace time, but when hit with a severe crisis, the Government would not hesitate to use our fiscal firepower in an impactful way to protect lives and livelihoods. In essence, in 2020, it is the Government's spending that propped up the entire economy. Sir, during a severe economic downturn, the foremost concerns are often about whether our economic capabilities would be permanently impaired as businesses will run into cash flow problems and some will have to wind down. The Jobs Credit Scheme, COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act and the various financing support made a big difference to help our business stay afloat and safeguarded our capabilities. When air traffic dropped to almost zero for a prolonged period of time, our national carrier SIA posted huge full year financial losses in 2020. Fortunately, the company was able to raise massive cash from their rights issue, with its major shareholder Temasek pledging to exercise all its rights to buy the shares. I am glad that we have shareholders that saw the strong fundamentals and long-term value of SIA as well as its business growth potential beyond the pandemic. Secondly, Sir, given the enormous scale of this global crisis and the fluidity of the situation with known unknowns and unknown unknowns, the Government has steered the nation well through this crisis.”
“Sir, one area that I felt that we have also done well but was not quite well elaborated in the White Paper is the tremendous contributions by the grassroots community volunteers. The grassroots volunteers rose to the occasion in various pandemic operations in the community. For example, just in Bukit Panjang, we distributed masks and hand sanitisers to more than 50,000 residents, delivered more than 4,000 care packs, groceries and social assistance to residents affected by COVID-19, installed 5,585 bottles of hand sanitisers at lifts and supported the distribution of more 4,000 TraceTogether tokens. Our volunteers also reached out to 12,566 seniors to urge them to go for their rounds of vaccinations. I am sure Members in each of their constituencies have done similar things. These and the many other areas are where our grassroots volunteers have selflessly stepped up in this crisis in carrying out some of these duties while at risk of being infected themselves. They made a big difference in the overall health outcomes, providing last mile support and care at the neighbourhood level and, in particular, taking care of those that are vulnerable. Sir, in conclusion, I would like to point out two underpinning factors that enable our ability to achieve the outcomes that we did as listed in the White Paper. Firstly, it is our financial strength. There is this Chinese saying, "钱不是万能，但没钱确是万万不能". Money is not everything, but not having the financial means is inconceivable. When the pandemic landed upon us, the Government had initially drawn on our current Budget surpluses to fund the urgent expenditures in public health defences and the various support measures for businesses and households. Thereafter, we had to draw on the Reserves as the total bill snowballed to $72.”
“However, for the production to be viable, it would require some domestic anchor orders or offtake from the Government so that there is a base level production volume to work with – very much like how the Public Utilities Board (PUB) undertook the liability to buy a certain quantity of desalinated water from water production companies even though it cost more than treated water. In this regard, can I suggest two related supportive initiatives? Firstly, continue to encourage Singaporeans to adopt the mask-wearing habit, especially when they are unwell, in healthcare settings or in highly crowded areas such as public transport or in crowded lifts. This would not only create some local demand for masks but also help to reduce the spread of other airborne diseases such as flu, cold, cough and other influenza. Studies indicated that there was a sharp decline in flu cases during the pandemic, which could be attributed in part to mask wearing. Just last week, The Straits Times reported that doctors saw a rise of as much as 30% increase in flu cases in the last few months as we unwind almost all our COVID-19 measures. If less of our population were infected with flu and cold, we could free up demand for primary care clinics like polyclinics for other patients. There will be more healthy people around, which in turn leads to overall savings on healthcare costs for the population. Secondly, to encourage the population to wear masks, I suggest that the Government, or perhaps Temasek Foundation, consider continuing the practice of distributing face masks to every Singaporean household each year as a way to encourage the wearing of masks as a responsible social habit, especially if we are unwell. This could be a part of the Healthier SG movement.”
“Given our domestic constraints, both labour as well as costs, as well as our shift towards more high-value-adding advance manufacturing, producing medical masks domestically may not be economically viable. It is difficult to compete with countries with a much lower cost structure. Our domestic demand for masks under a non-pandemic environment is not high enough to achieve the scale efficiency for production to be viable. Hence, our medical masks are almost dependent on imports. In an ironic way, thanks to the transboundary haze situation that we faced years ago, the Government does stockpile a significant quantity of masks, which helped us meet the initial wave of demand when the outbreak happened. But the stockpile quantity was never able to meet that sort of daily consumption demand needed for the entire population in a long-drawn pandemic. We scrambled to assemble our own mask producing capabilities so that we can produce some of our mask needs locally. Credit goes to the MTI, Enterprise Singapore and the relevant agencies for getting the mask producing factory up in double quick time, just so that we have some additional back-up supplies. Sir, in an airborne infectious disease outbreak, masking up can be our first line of defence. As part of a key measure to prepare for future pandemic, we have to designate medical masks as a critical supply item that requires some local production capability.”
“It must have required the officers to use whatever conventional or unconventional means to secure these supplies, possibly having to deviate from the usual standard operating procedures (SOPs) and instruction manuals (IMs) in such emergency situations. Sir, the pandemic also exposed several of our vulnerabilities. It was mentioned by Deputy Prime Minister Wong as well as Minister Tan. Allow me to also express my views on the two. First, on the migrant workers' dormitories. Among the most severe situations or high stress points was the outbreak at the migrant workers' dormitories in this pandemic. The White Paper called it a "crisis within a crisis". Given the communal living arrangements, the dormitories inevitably became a high-risk area in a highly infectious disease outbreak. Fortunately, as what Minister Tan has said, the morbidity and the mortality rate has been very low, notwithstanding the scale of the outbreak there. I noted that MOM has since taken significant steps to improve the dormitories' environment, with new standards and continuous efforts to de-risk the exposures. As what Minister Tan said, even with significant improvements in the living environment of these workers, we ought to still continue to institute more defensive measures such as having self-segregating features in the event of a disease outbreak, contingency plans for quarantine arrangements as well as a business continuity plan (BCP) set up. Sir, the dormitory outbreak also reminded us that there is really a limit as to how much more we can grow our migrant workforce. We must continue to review and weigh the trade-offs of our dependency. Sir, the second area of vulnerability I want to highlight is mask wearing. The White Paper highlighted the shortage of masks that we had to contend with.”
“This honest and reflective approach is important as we take stock of the whole-of-Government response to the pandemic, reaffirm and reinforce what we have done well, but also initiate necessary follow-up actions to address learning points to strengthen our response to future pandemic. Our healthcare system withstood the stresses of the crisis well, albeit with considerable strain. Among the key successes were the capabilities that we have built up post-SARs, namely the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) and the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). Consequently, NPHL had the ability to develop our very own polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits early in the pandemic and NCID was able to attend to early serious COVID-19 patients and saved lives. Our entire healthcare ecosystem, both public and private, were mobilised to respond as an integrated health system to this unprecedented public health crisis. I read in the media that even retired nurses and medical professionals stepped forward to join the frontline healthcare warriors in the battle to save lives. Sir, we also scored well in our nationwide vaccination programme, making the right call with advance purchases of the most effective vaccines and thereafter ramping up to a high vaccination rate. Another remarkable area that I wanted to highlight is how we as a small, tiny island ensured that vital supplies were not disrupted despite the lockdowns, the border controls, the intense competition for scarce items and the export restrictions by many countries. I can imagine the uphill tasks our frontline procurement officers faced securing large amounts of sought after critical items like medical equipment and supplies, test kits, masks and a whole range of food and daily necessities.”
“Sir, it is no exaggeration to say that the experiences and images of the last three years of our life will be in our living memory forever – very much like how our earlier generations remembered other life-changing events such as the Japanese occupation and Singapore's separation from Malaysia. In fact, we now use the pandemic as a time reference, referring to life before COVID-19 and life after COVID-19 – "before COVID-19" as in "BC". Sir, recently, in my workplace, we had a workshop with many of my colleagues. As part of the pre-workshop warm up teaser, the workshop moderator asked participants to share what they were most grateful for in the last three years. I was most heartened that many participants shared they were most grateful for being a Singaporean during the last three years. They felt safe, shielded and were assured that we are well-resourced, both financially and in terms of capabilities to cope with the crisis. Many knew that there is no perfect way to manage such a formidable crisis of this magnitude and scale, yet appreciated the balanced approach we took to manage the pandemic. Sir, it is in this context that I like what I read in the White Paper on Singapore's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper detailed areas that we have done well but also crucially self-evaluated the areas that we could have done better. There was no glossing over of shortcomings and almost every area where we can take issue with are covered in the paper. Deputy Prime Minister Wong's speech as well as Minister Tan See Leng's speech have also elaborated some of these shortcomings.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, there is this ancient Chinese saying, "大疫不过三" – the literal translation being "a major pandemic would not last beyond three years". I am not sure if there was enough empirical or scientific basis but after three years of the pandemic, we can finally move on and live with COVID-19 as an endemic disease. Fortunately, since our decisive opening in 2022 and the resumption to normal lives, we have not seen significant stresses in our healthcare system. By and large, we have moved on, with COVID-19 very much like a normal flu. Singapore and Singaporeans as a whole went through an extraordinary experience, adapting and overcoming the harsh onslaught of the pandemic. In all, 2.2 million people fell ill to the disease. Unfortunately, 1,711 succumbed to the disease. My deepest condolences to the families. On our economy, we went through a roller coaster ride. In 2020, we suffered the worst full-year recession since our Independence, where in the second quarter of that year, the economy contracted by a hefty 13.2%. Among the worst hit sectors were construction, retail trade, F&B, tourism and airline. Total employment shrank sharply in 2020 while many self-employed were left with no incomes. The nation came to an almost standstill during the two months of circuit breaker. I still remember feeling eerie, seeing the streets so empty. Even in this very Chamber, extraordinary things happened too. We had to sit wide apart – using up the gallery spaces up there, wearing masks, wiping the microphones and rostrum after each speech and conducting self-antigen rapid tests (ART). We even had five Budgets in a year and drawn on an unprecedented amount of $37 billion from the Reserves.”
“Sir, I am very thankful that during the circuit breaker in the period of April to June 2020, Singaporeans were allowed exercise at the parks; either alone or with someone you live with. Personally, it has been most beneficial to me, as I can get out for some fresh air and sunlight; and it really improved my overall well-being. I am sure this is the case for many others. Indeed, during the pandemic, having a park to go to near your home is such a blessing. We have our founding leaders to thank for being so steadfast in setting land aside for parks including nature reserves even though Singapore is so land scarce. This passion and conviction to safeguard and develop our green spaces has continued through the generations of leaders; and today Singapore is one of the greenest cities in the world. Developing and upkeeping a park comes with considerable costs. But it is worth it and necessary, particularly so for a densely populated but small island state. The pandemic has made Singaporeans even more cherished of our parks and visitorship has risen exponentially. Sir, at Bukit Panjang town, we are fortunate to have a number nature parks around us with very convenient accesses; including one nature park that is managed by Town Council. It attracted visitors from all over the island. MND launched the exciting City in Nature vision three years ago. I would like to ask how would National Parks Board (NParks) work with the community including the local agencies like Town Councils to enhance and enrich the green spaces in our neighbourhoods and towns? Towards Net-zero Carbon”
“Sir, while we do have commercial shopping centres at HDB towns, heartland shops at neighbourhoods do play an essential role to offer convenient services and at affordable prices. The rents for these shops tend to be lower than those at shopping centres and the shops are often run by residents who live around there or are familiar faces. It adds vibrancy, character and identity to the place. These market places can also be a conducive environment for new entrepreneurs who may wish to try out a small startup or to test-bed their business ideas. Hence, I am very happy to hear of the Heartland Innovation and Transformation Programme announced at the Ministry of Trade and Indutsry (MTI)'s COS this year. It is important to keep the barrier to entry low in these heartland locations so that entrepreneurship can flourish in these neighbourhood settings and also serve the local community and beyond. So, can I ask what is the Ministry of National Development (MND) or HDB's thinking on encouraging innovative startups as well as social enterprises to set up at heartland commercial precincts? To do this, we also need to further refresh the shop spaces in the heartlands. Can I ask if MND will look into enhancing the Revitalisation of Shops (ROS) scheme to upgrade the shops and to inject new vibrancy? If yes, can I take this opportunity to also register my interest for Bukit Panjang? We have a vibrant heartland market at Bangkit and it is most ideal for an enhanced ROS. So, for MND's consideration. F&B and Retail Options in Existing Towns”
“The COMPASS framework was introduced as a transparent system to strengthen the complementarity and diversity of our workforce and prevent sources concentration. The qualifying salary for Employment Passes and S Passes has been raised in September 2022 and the reduction of the Dependency Ratio Ceiling (DRC) for the construction and process sectors will follow suit in January 2024. The Overseas Networks & Expertise (ONE) Pass targets the top talents across sectors while the Manpower for Strategic Economic Priorities (M-SEP) scheme support growth of businesses that contribute to Singapore's strategic economic priorities. These are targeted schemes that comes with tight conditions to fulfil and also with a specific percentage and number cap to limit the number of foreign workers a firm can hire. In the case of M-SEP, participating companies must also commit to hiring and training local workers. Only about 1,000 firms are eligible for M-SEP or less than 1% of the total number of companies. Sir, I support the policy approaches to strengthen complementarity and diversity, with specific requirements to ensure a complementary mix of local and foreign workforce, and with the intent and goal to develop a strong Singaporean Core. In this regard, may I ask the Minister if there are any updates to our foreign workforce policies to attain these goals? Retirement Adequacy”
“Sir, in almost every recent engagement that I have with businesses, the manpower crunch problem would surface. The problem seems to have worsened as we resumed most of our economic activities post-COVID-19. Many businesses lamented that there may well be more businesses to do or more growth opportunities out there but there are not really enough workers to go around to grab these opportunities. Many ask for a higher foreign worker quota and/or for MOM to loosen the foreign worker criteria. Sir, the reality for Singapore is that we are already in a near full-employment economy. In fact, we are leveraging and dependent on a large pool of foreign labour to stretch our overall economic capacity and growth potential. The numbers are large. Our total foreign workforce currently stands at 1.31 million, slightly less than the pre-COVID-19 level of 1.43 million. This represents one-third of our total labour workforce, a very significant share. There are physical and social limits as to how much more foreign labour we can accommodate on our tiny island. I believe we are already near the limits in terms of numbers. Being too dependent on foreign manpower also expose us to source country risks as well as concentration risks. We have seen these vulnerabilities played out during the pandemic when borders were closed or restricted. Sir, the manpower-driven growth strategies of the past are no longer sustainable in our current context. Can I ask the Minister for an update as to how the businesses have coped with the foreign manpower constraints? Have we seen noticeable shifts in companies tapping on technologies and training to improve productivity and capabilities? 2.00 pm Sir, last year, the Ministry announced a number changes to the foreign workforce policies.”
“Thank you, Sir. Allow me to thank Minister Gan Kim Yong, Minister Tan See Leng, Minister of State Low Yen Ling and Minister of State Alvin Tan for their super comprehensive replies and responses. I do not believe they come from ChatGPT, the responses. But we wish MTI every success in your vision 2030. So, with that, I beg leave to withdraw my amendments. [(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)] [(proc text) The sum of $1,708,401,500 for Head V ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)] [(proc text) The sum of $7,967,036,100 for Head V ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]”
“Thank you, Sir. Minister Gan spoke about MTI's effort to strengthen trade connectivity and support for our companies going international. Given our external developments and as part of the Resilience Measures, I think it is important to also anchor ourselves as a hub for global traders. I would like to ask Minister Gan about Trade 2030 that he announced last year. How has that helped us grow our trade volumes and also expanded our external trade with the rest of the world?”
“Can I ask the Minister how he sees the impact to our attractiveness as an investment destination with this move? Sir, venturing beyond our shores, is also another growth strategy to help overcome our domestic limitations. The Global Enterprises Initiative and the SME co-investment fund are targeted to support and help businesses scale up and be globally competitive. Can I ask the Minister how are we supporting our firms to capture opportunities from the region and other emerging markets? Also, what steps is Singapore taking to strengthen our trade, economic and digital linkages with other economic partners? Sir, our economic successes have brought us benefits but also problems as well. But it is always a better position having to deal with the problems of success than to deal with problems of failures. Fortunately for us, we are in a position to build on our past successes and strengths to secure an exciting future for all of us in the new era. [(proc text) Question again proposed. (proc text)] Economic Structure and Global Business Hub”
“Sir, at last year's Budget, the Minister for Trade and Industry unveiled the Singapore Economy 2030 vision and strategies. Under this vision, there are four key pillars identified which would drive new growth, namely services, manufacturing, trade and enterprises. I would like to ask the Minister how have we progressed towards this vision? Sir, while we should be concerned about our inherent constraints and strive hard to overcome them, our economic fundamentals and propositions remain strong. Our handling of the pandemic and the balanced approach that we have taken has lifted our credentials. We are the early movers to reinstate air travel which helps to strengthen our air hub status and our premier status as an international convention centre. Investors see attractiveness in our overall economic proposition and are even prepared to pay the premium to invest or hub in Singapore. Before the pandemic, we do not have a single facility that produce vaccine. But in the next two years, five pharmaceutical companies will be setting up plants here, which can churn out a billion doses of vaccines annually. It will create new job opportunities and new economic value add. Credit goes to EDB, MTI and the other agencies for continuing to attract quality investments to Singapore despite the intense competition and more challenging circumstance. Sir, the Government has announced the planned implementation of the BEPS 2.0 Pillar Two in 2025; where would see higher corporate tax rate. We would need to sharpen our competitive edge to attract and retain investments. The $4 billion top up of the National Productivity Fund, which has had its scope expanded to include investment promotion as a supportable activity, is one of the new tool kits.”
“Sir, we are increasingly seeing the emergence of transformative technologies disrupting existing business models and industries. The proliferation of disruptive technologies such as AI, blockchain, Web3 are expected to have uneven impact across businesses; with some embracing the changes and others falling behind. The gap will likely widen. The global shifts towards renewable energy are another challenge that businesses must contend with. The journey to transit to low or zero carbon is expected to be a taxing one for businesses especially the SMEs. Besides higher carbon taxes, the immediate impact would be the initial higher energy costs and the additional resources needed for the shift. Next, comes the manpower crunch that businesses faced. Notwithstanding layoffs in the tech sector, the labour market continues to tighten. The turnover of foreign labour, where the experienced workers go on home leave whilst the newer inexperienced workers take on, add to the tightness of the manpower situation. I am also concern about the overdrive mode of our domestic economy, especially in the service sector. It would further squeeze to the limited manpower availability and drive up costs. Sir, there may well be more businesses to do out there for the businesses, but companies are just unable to find the manpower to benefit these opportunities in the near term. Improving productivity and efficient utilisation of resources are the only way out to create new capacity for further growth. The ITMs are our main playbook to improve productivity and to press on with innovations and internationalisation. Can I ask the Minister for an update on our industry transformation efforts so far?”
“Mr Chairman, I beg to move, "That the total sum to be allocated for Head V of the Estimates be reduced by $100." Sir, as in every MTI COS debate, we start by taking stock of the economy. So, let me kick off by asking the Minister on how has the economy fared in 2022 and what he sees as the outlook for 2023. In the Budget Statement debate, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister painted a mixed outlook going forward. Major economies like US and EU are seeing slower growth and may enter into recession. The war in Ukraine may escalate or prolong, which could further weigh on global trade, hold up energy and food prices and dampened consumer and business confidence. The bright spark is the reopening of the China economy, which could boost demand for the global economy. However, the intense rivalry and competition between major powers has led to countries taking unilateral actions to decouple in trade, technology, finances and investments. To shore up their economic security, we have seen countries like US introduced the Chips Act; and China implemented the Export Control Law to reduce dependencies on other countries. Sir, globalisation is no longer what it used to be and we are entering into a period of geopolitical instability. Domestically, Singapore is also running up against serious internal resource constraints; among others the ageing resident workforce, rising wages, decarbonisation, high rental and land costs, higher taxes among others. Against this backdrop, can I ask the Minister how would Singapore navigate and respond to this increasingly complex and uncertain operating environment? How do we stay competitive and how should our businesses prepare for these challenges?”
“Sir, our Embassies, High Commissions, Consulars, Trade Office and Overseas Missions are like a home away from home for Singaporeans overseas. They are like a one-stop service for Singaporeans in need or in a dire situation, or for seeking information and queries. These were well demonstrated during the numerous emergency situations in foreign lands and, more recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic. When Wuhan city was dramatically locked down in January 2020, MFA and our embassy in Beijing were in touch with stranded Singaporeans there and worked on their expeditious evacuation. Similarly, when Shanghai went into lockdown mode in April 2022, our Consulate-General office in Shanghai sent food packs to Singaporeans who were unable to obtain food on their own. They also helped source for essential supplies and medications, and facilitated Singaporeans who wished to return home urgently. This is the service ethos of our MFA officers in Singapore and overseas. We owe them a debt of gratitude for going all out to take care of Singaporeans overseas, often going beyond their call of duty and at personal risk, and leaving no one behind in any emergency situation. Now that COVID-19 is in our rearview mirror, it is important that Singaporeans know about the extraordinary work that our MFA officers did during the pandemic, to help Singaporeans overseas and at home. This would be also useful as the Government undertake the after action review (AAR) and to look at areas that we can further improve or strengthen. Hence, I would like to request the Minister to share with the House and Singaporeans more details of how MFA supported Singaporeans overseas affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Singaporeans Travelling Overseas”
“Sir, the geopolitical stability that we have experienced for decades which has helped propelled globalisation is now being challenged. The rivalry and intensification of competition between major powers and the Ukraine war has altered the global geopolitical landscape. We are increasingly seeing countries taking unilateral actions to decouple in areas of trade, technology, investments and finance. More countries are taking steps to shore up their economic security through policies to safeguard strategically important technologies and data. This development would create more barriers for businesses to internationalise, with a likely negative impact on global economic growth. Can I ask the Minister for his view on how he see globalisation panning out in the years ahead? Sir, Singapore participated in several multinational platforms like World Trade Organization (WTO), World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN). We play our part, working with these agencies to deal major crisis and help resolve deep-seated global issues. Can I ask the Minister if these multilateral organisations have been able to galvanise actions and make real impact? Is multilateralism still useful for Singapore when globalisation is under threat and what role should Singapore play? Adapting to a Challenging World”
“Allow me to thank Deputy Prime Minister Wong and our best-in-class MOF team for the reassuring as well as forward-looking Budget; and also thank you to Minister Indranee and Senior Minister Chee Hong Tat for responding to our cuts. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. [(proc text) Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. (proc text)] [(proc text) The sum of $1,168,082,700 for Head M ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. (proc text)] [(proc text) The sum of $131,628,500 for Head M ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. (proc text)]”
“Thank you, Sir, I believe we are quite close to raiding our guillotine time.”
“My point was that our expenditures are way higher than the taxes that we collected from the system. In that regard, it is expansionary because we are spending more than that we collect from the taxes. And in reference to the clarification earlier that the Member said that every dollar in the tax that the Government collected is taking out from the system. But, here, in our case, our expenditures are way above the revenue that we collect from taxes.”
“Sir, just want to come back to the question I raised in my cut which is whether the Government can do more to review our rules and procedures so that we can be more pro-business and help businesses save cost and save time. I often hear this feedback from the businesses. The pain point is always that the Government rules can be quite cumbersome and some are unnecessary and the procedures can be quite inefficient. I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State again if the Government can do more here.”
“Sir, one other area that I hope that the Government can facilitate to do more is the development of the social sector. The Government can be a catalyst to spur more innovative social solutions and contribute to a stronger social compact. So may I ask the Minister: how is MOF is supporting the development of the social sector? And finally, in this Committee of Supply (COS), can I also seek an update on the various policy measures in place, to encourage philanthropy and volunteerism? Sir, as I have two more minutes, I just want to add my views to the discussion on the budgetary stance for Budget 2023. Earlier in the debate, Assoc Prof Jamus Lim commented that the fiscal stance for Budget 2023 is a contractionary one. I have a different view. The fact that we have a significant Net Investment Returns Contribution (NIRC) contribution to our Budget every year, currently at 20% of our revenue, would mean that our Budget would necessarily be expansionary. Our expenditures are way higher than the taxes that we collect from the system. Hence, from that angle, our Budget will always be expansionary if we rely on NIRC to balance our books. [(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)]”
“In the Budget Statement debate, I expressed concerns about cost pressures faced by businesses and the need to step-up the overall productivity. Many companies transact and do businesses with the Government and the way the Government agencies conduct its operations, and the processes involved, can have a significant impact on cost to the businesses. While we must be digitally inclusive when dealing with individuals; especially the seniors, we can aim for greater digital pervasiveness when doing businesses with the enterprises. There must be continued obsession to improve processes and users' experience; whether through greater digital adoptions or process streamlining. In this regard, I would like to ask if MOF has any plans to make doing businesses with Government even more seamless, less time consuming and lower the costs? The Government is a major buyer of goods and services, and many SMEs and start-ups have innovative solutions and product offerings that can be of value to the Government. So, I would like to also ask, how can MOF and the public agencies better support and facilitate the growth of SMEs when they participate in Government procurements? Sir, Singapore is transiting to a low-carbon economy and the public sector has set itself a net-zero emissions target by around 2045. This is a laudable effort and a major undertaking for the Government. Can I ask the Ministry: how is MOF supporting the whole-of-Government in this effort? The Government and MOF can also play a significant role helping businesses build green capabilities and capture growth opportunities, given the buying power of the public sector. So, can I seek an update from Minister in this area?”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I beg to move, "That the total sum to be allocated for Head M of the Estimates be reduced by $100". Sir, let me start by commending the Ministry of Finance (MOF) for publishing the Occasional Paper on the Medium-Term Fiscal projections; and releasing it just before the Budget debate. This paper provides a useful forward view on the likely fiscal trends in the next decade, as we debate Budget 2023 and our longer-term positioning in the new era. It is clear from the Paper that both our operating and development expenditures are rising, and may rise sharply in the years ahead. We look set to be heading towards a recurring spending bill of about 20% of our GDP by 2030. The key drivers are expected: healthcare, wage subsidies, security and other social spending. We know that these spending, once introduced, can only grow bigger and are unlikely to be reversed. Cutting costs to balance a Budget is increasingly not a possible option. We need to expand and diversify our revenue sources, and hence, growing our economy and growing our reserves for the annuities to help fund the Budget is an imperative. While we cannot cut costs to greatness, we should do our level best to ensure public funds are well spent, spend effectively and are achieving the desired outcomes. Given this backdrop, I would like to hear from the Minister, how MOF intends to maintain fiscal sustainability, even as our spending needs continue grow? Sir, as our fiscal situation tightened up, it is even more important that MOF scrutinise and ensure that our spending is value-for-money, that cost avoidance procurement practices are adopted, and that we closely monitor and track the outcomes and key performance indexes (KPIs).”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Sir, two questions, two clarifications for the Finance Minister. Firstly, on the Occasional Paper which I find very useful to get a forward view of the fiscal trend going forward. So, I would like to ask the Finance Minister will he make this Occasional Paper less occasional going forward? [Laughter.] The second question is in his Budget Statement speech, he talked about this contingency funds where we are going to reduce the balance from $16 billion to $6 billion. It used to be from $3 billion to $16 billion; and then now we are going to $6 billion. I want to hear from the Finance Minister the rationale for doing that. Would we not want to keep more contingency funds in this environment where it is more disruptive and uncertain?”
“There are many more strategic projects that are needed to be built to strengthen resilience, to reduce our vulnerabilities – infrastructures, such as climate adaptation, energy diversification, food security and so on, which is why we need to continually strengthen our finances and not the other way round. Our best defence against any future external shocks, whether it is a black swan event or any catastrophic incident is responsible and prudent fiscal management today. Sir, the recently released Ministry of Finance (MOF) Occasional Paper signposted our medium-term fiscal challenges. We are heading towards a spending milestone where expenditures is projected to hit 20% of our GDP. Our operating expenditure will keep rising and at a faster pace in the years ahead. Healthcare, education, wage subsidies, security and other social spending are the expected key drivers. Even in the non-operating expenditure areas, there are also a long list of infrastructural spending items, whether it is investment for capabilities building or for building a more resilient home. We also need to keep the powder dry, so as to have the fiscal firepower to respond to external shocks or major disruptions which is likely to happen more often, in my view, going forward, and can be even more impactful than the pandemic that we have experienced. So, we cannot afford to decumulate or stop building our reserves. Reserves are not only to buffer against a crisis but its returns are also a main source of income to finance the budget, as well as to help maintain confidence in Singapore. Sound, prudent and fiscal management today will enhance our survivability, give us the safety cover when needed and importantly, position us strongly to seize the opportunities in the new era. Sir, I support the Budget.”
“Singapore has always taken the mindset that there will be a crisis around the corner waiting for us, whether it is the stockpile of food and various essential materials or our Four National Tap strategy for water or our Four National Switches strategy for energy, Singapore will always plan for various scenarios, invest in total defence and be operationally ready for any emergencies. The war in Ukraine has triggered a major energy crisis in Europe with countries like Germany which heavily depended on Russia for piped gas for their electricity generation, among those most impacted. And this has led to a major scramble to build LNG terminals to import liquified natural gas to replace the lost supplies from Russia. Fortunately, in Singapore, our LNG terminal was built more than a decade ago at Jurong Island. It allows us to import natural gas from just about anywhere in the world and not having to depend solely on piped gas. This terminal has not only contributed to our energy security. It has also enabled us to be a major player in the LNG market and help position Singapore as a LNG hub for the region. At a cost of about $1.7 billion, the terminal was a major financial outlay for the Government then. So, credit goes to Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Energy Market Authority (EMA) for the foresight and their will to press on with this massive project. I believe Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong was the Chief Executive of EMA then and got the project off the ground. Sir, my point to illustrate this example is that resilient building also requires significant financial commitments and hence, the need to have the adequate fiscal capacity.”
“We need a more ecosystem approach to rev up productivity and I hope that the ITMs that we have set up can galvanise industry stakeholders to work productively towards this cause. The Jobs-Skills Integrators is a refreshing approach to tackle stubborn jobs-workers mismatches. This is akin to having relationship managers bridging the information and connectivity gap between employers and jobseekers. So, I applaud the Government for getting down to the micro level to close the gap. It shows the Government's resolve and commitment to improve employability of Singaporeans. I look forward to more positive outcomes in this endeavour. Mr Speaker, I am heartened that the Deputy Prime Minister has also devoted a significant part of his Budget Statement speech on building national resilience. The COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of the war in Ukraine further underscored the critical importance of being resilient against external shocks, catastrophic events, or a devastating crisis. During the pandemic, we experienced various supply disruptions, including sudden export restrictions on essential items by countries. The economic blockade on Qatar by its neighbours in 2017 is another reference point. With land, air and sea lanes cut off by its neighbours, the population in Qatar were immediately hard hit by rising food prices and job insecurity. It had to quickly find alternative sources of supplies and to also boost domestic food production.”
“Therefore, we need an even sharper prioritisation in the allocation of our resources going forward and to pace our policy initiatives roll-out so that it would not add further constraints and tightness in our resource utilisation. In other words, we must pick the battles that play to our strength. The Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister spoke about redoubling our efforts to attract high quality investments and to focus on growth sectors that we can be highly competitive, such as finance, transportation, logistics and advanced manufacturing. Innovation is another key ingredient. To nurture and sustain pervasive innovations, the new Enterprise Innovation Scheme is introduced, under which tax deductions are enhanced. There is also a new cash conversion component of up to $20,000 for companies yet to turn profitable. To help support scaling up of the local enterprises, the SME Co-Investment Fund and the Global Enterprises initiative are there to invest and support promising companies to internationalise and to seek global markets. But, ultimately, to overcome our inherent resource constraint, we need to significantly beef up productivity as an economic system. Sir, I welcome the expansion of the scope for the National Productivity Fund to include the promotion of quality investments in Singapore as a supportable activity. While we continue to work on upskilling our workforce, the productivity of work is not solely dependent on workers. A company's overall productivity to a large extent depended on management, how resources and workflows are designed and organised, harnessing the use of data, technology, innovation and creativity to invigorate efficient solutions.”
“The original intent is meant to finance sustainable transition in America. However, it now appears more like a state-funded industrial policy plan. The Act has trigger EU and other countries to call for their own policy response measures to rebalance the playing field. These developments will have profound implications how Economic Development Board (EDB) and our agencies attract direct investments into Singapore. Against this increasingly complex and volatile operating environment, Singapore is also running up against serious resource constraints among others – our ageing resident workforce and rising wage aspirations, carbon constraints and longer-term fiscal constraints. The growing pain question is: how can we continue to grow in a setting of an almost full-employment economy? Economically, we are not only in full employment of our domestic economic inputs. We are leveraging on significant pool of foreign labour to stretch our overall growth potential; which brings to my next point on economic competitiveness. How do we stay competitive in this daunting external and domestic landscape? Business costs have risen significantly in the last two years. Though much of it are externally induced such as the rising prices of energy and materials imports, we do increasingly face domestically driven costs pressures. Rising wages, escalating rentals, higher financing costs, impending higher carbon taxes, among others, would have the overall effect of diminishing our economic competitiveness vi-a-vis our competitors and negating the favourable economic attributes that we have.”
“One other measure that I have also heard concerns is the phased increase of the CPF monthly ceiling to $8,000. As inflation is expected to stay elevated in the next few years, my concern is that raising the ceiling at this juncture would add further cost pressures to businesses and also reduce the take home pay of middle-income households, just when they need the cash to meet the higher cost needs. While I can understand and support the rationale for the raise, I hope that the Government can review the implementation timing of this measure. Sir, while our budgets do tackle the immediate challenges and offer timely and targeted relief, a budget should not be an exercise just about "what’s in it for me" or otherwise. Beyond about how we slice the pie and who gets what, budgets must also be about how can we grow the pie bigger. And here we must not lose sight on the need to grow our economy. A growing and vibrant economy not only create good jobs; which is the best welfare for workers and best counter against inflation, but growing the economy also generate revenues to pay for our needs and wants. The troubling external environment has made growing our economy an even more uphill task. The US-China strategic competition continues to intensify and more countries are taking steps to shore up their economic security, through policies to safeguard strategically important technologies and data. We have also seen countries attempting to decouple in areas of trade, technology, finance, investments and people flows. The US has introduced the US Chips and Science Act while China has also implemented the China Export Control Law, just so that they reduce their vulnerabilities and dependence on other countries. Last year, the US introduced the US$369 billion Inflation Reduction Act.”
“The extension of Senior Employment Credit (SEC) and Part-time Re-employment Grant are helpful support to enhance seniors' employability, while the increased co-funding share for Progressive Wage Credit Scheme, Enabling Employment Credit and the Uplifting Employment Credit are meaningful additions to support the more vulnerable segments of our society. These moves, among others, are part of the overall effort to build a stronger social compact and a more compassionate society. Sir, but as in every budget, besides the giving by the Government, there will some taking as well. Budget 2023 outline some policy adjustments that would have some impact to Singaporeans. The higher marginal Buyer Stamp Duty for higher-value properties and the upward adjustment of the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) is very much in keeping with our approach to steepen the progressivity of our tax structure and where the better-off contribute more. The 15% increase in tobacco tax would add costs to smokers, of course, but I hope that it would help discourage the overall consumption in tobacco products. Sir, at Bukit Panjang, we have a Platform Delivery Workers Support Group where I regularly met and engaged the delivery workers. While they appreciate the good intention of Government to improve protection and retirement adequacy, they are also very concerned on how the changes to CPF contributions and other implementations would impact the viability of the delivery business and eventually their livelihoods. So, I would appeal to the Government, to not only provide transitional support to these workers but also dedicate resources to help with the reskilling and re-employment should their livelihoods be impacted. We will await more details on the transitional support in the MOM COS debate.”
“In my conversation with young parents, many told me that while they cherish the joy and fulfilment of being a parent, they are often worried about the costs of raising their children. Understandably, we all want the best for our kids. Currently, there are already a generous set of support package such as the Baby Bonus Scheme, preschool and education subsidies to support parenthood as well as the various tax benefits. But every bit of additional help the Government can give to our young parents would be most appreciated. Sir, while I applaud the increased Baby Bonus and CDA, which would avail more disposable cash to parents to meet the costs of raising their child, I do receive mix reactions on the changes to the Working Mother's Child Relief (WMCR). Middle-income group parents will see some cash impact with the WMCR no longer pegged to a percentage of income. On the seniors' front, we can expect the healthcare needs to increase in the years ahead. I am already seeing these increases in my constituency at Bukit Panjang, where there are more requests to help pay for healthcare related and hospital expenses. We are also building more senior care centres at the neighbourhoods to serve seniors who need more longer-term chronic care services at more convenient locations. Hence, I support the top-ups of the Eldercare Fund by $500 million and the Medifund by $1.5 billion. These are the funds that we often tapped to help our senior residents meet their ageing related expenses.”
“Mr Speaker, as in every Budget, there is always some "give and take" on the part of everyone. I will first speak on the "give and take" part and thereafter, on Singapore's longer-term positioning in the new era. Sir, Budget 2023 gives Singaporean households a major lift to tide through the period of high inflation and defray the impact of higher Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates. The further upsizing of the Assurance Package and the permanent GST Vouchers, coupled with the newly introduced Cost-of-Living Special Payments, the increased Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers, doubling of U-Save and topping up of the Child Development Account (CDA), demonstrates the Government's commitment to journey through this difficult period of rising cost with Singaporeans. The various support measures have been thoughtfully formulated with significant cash component and targeted assistances towards essential cost items like electricity, Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC), medical and education. For the businesses, the Enterprise Financing Scheme and the Energy Efficiency Grant are extended to help companies weather the immediate challenges of tighter financial conditions and higher energy prices. This Budget also enhances various measures to support Singaporeans at various stages in life and in various circumstances. Sir, I can understand the angst of young Singaporeans wanting to own their homes at the soonest possible time. I welcome the further measures to help first-time home buyers improved chances of owning Build-To-Order (BTO) flats with the additional ballots as well as the higher CPF Housing Grant to help first-time home buyers purchase resale flats as another option.”
“Thank you, Sir. I appreciate the proactive move by the MAS with the stronger Singapore dollar to help mitigate the imported inflation. We have also read about how the supply chain has stabilised, which hopefully, will not add new pressures to our inflation from external sources. I wish to ask the Minister of State how much inflationary pressure does he see coming from domestic sectors. In other words, how much of the inflationary pressure is domestically driven? Secondly, what more can we do to manage this domestic cost pressure, which the businesses are facing?”
“If that can be done, it will certainly strengthen the deterrent effect and greatly reduce the incidences of high-rise littering.”
“To achieve effective deterrence, NEA would need to beef up its investigative capabilities, step up its zealousness to solve each of the high‐rise littering case. Often, it takes quite a while for NEA to mobilise its resources to deploy the surveillance equipments. I believe this is not for lack of trying by the ground NEA officers but, rather, these hardworking officers are just not armed with sufficient tools and ammunition to be effective. NEA needs to invest in more and better high‐rise surveillance equipment and NEA also needs to build up stronger capabilities to investigate, including deploying forensic tools, such as DNA; the sort of capabilities that the Police possesses. A case in point is in the Spottiswoode condo killer litter case. As it involved a sad fatality, the Police took over the investigation and, within 10 days, the high-rise litterer was apprehended and prosecuted. Why would NEA not have the similar capabilities, given the many near fatally high-risk littering posed to the public? Littered cigarette butts, for example, thrown out of the window, could have caused a fire in the units below them. In my constituency, I do have many of these long-standing high-rise littering cases which have gone on for years. NEA officers has attended to the cases but the littering continues. Just to pick one case at Blk 203, Petir Road; where residents have raised this for years, but the litterer continues to throw things out of the window. Perhaps, I can throw this challenge to the NEA team to attend to this case at Blk 203; just one of the many cases that I have and demonstrate that with the means and capabilities that NEA has, the litterer can be taken to task in the next three months.”
“Mr Speaker, I will focus my speech primarily on the new sections 17(A) of the Bill. Sir, notwithstanding this amendment, which I support, we need to step up further measures to tackle high-rise littering. High-rise littering is usually committed by a small number of residents. But their anti‐social and irresponsible acts caused disamenities and unpleasantness to the majority. Cleaners would have to do additional rounds of cleaning just because of this inconsiderate behaviour. They could have done other work for the betterment of residents. The number of high-rise litterers that was cited by NEA of 30,000 complaints, in my view, a much smaller number than we know of, as the majority of the public are resigned to the fact that these are the problems and we have to live with the problems. From my experience, education and anti‐littering messages have no bearing or impact on this minority group, who are the habitual litterers. They will continue to throw things out of the window because they think they can get away with it. And indeed, judging by the current means and capabilities that NEA has, there is a high probability that they could throw something out of the window without getting caught. So, the deterrent effect remains very lacking. The passing of this Bill could help raise the deterrent effect but, in my view, it would not be significant enough to deter these habitual litterers that I referred to. In other words, this new measure is still not the game changer needed. So, I urge NEA to significantly increase capabilities to tackle this high-rise littering problem. In particular, to harness technologies, as well as to be equipped with forensic means to do the investigations.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for the further clarification. Just two quick questions. Firstly, does the Minister envisages this to be a permanent feature, this SG Arrival Card? And secondly, even if we were to stand down this procedure, does the Ministry see the readiness to re-activate this expeditiously, to be there? Meaning, if we were to stand down and then we need to re-activate it again, can the Ministry do it in a very expeditious way?”
“We have developed post-COVID-19 Community Resilience Days. So, I hope that we can get more and more people to be on board to be part of this. But above all, I think it is the personal responsibility. How we, the Members of the House including myself, as well as well fellow Singaporeans, can play our part: one, to not be complacent about fire safety; and second, how we can make our home safe in terms of our daily activities. For the data over the years that I shared earlier, the reasons and the causes of fires remained similar, such as unattended cooking and the appliances that we use, there may be overloading. But most importantly, some of the things that we should do are: do not leave cooking unattended; keep stove tops, cooker hoods and ovens clean and free of grease; and also, we should not throw burning embers or cigarette butts into rubbish chutes without first fully extinguishing them; and do not leave batteries or devices to charge unattended. Today, we travel a fair bit and we are able to do many online shopping. Some of these devices that we use in Singapore, we also must take upon our ownership to see whether they are suitable for use here, and also, how we can make sure that if left unattended, that they do not give rise to fire risk. So, while the community, organisations and agencies continue to enhance fire safety standards and raise awareness, I hope this is something that we have come together for. We can see some of the reports that we have seen about fires. So, even though numbers have been going down, I think it is important for us to bring the message home and each of us has a role to play in this. We want to get more and more people to be aware, to be conscious and put our concern into actions so that we can keep the fire risk as low as possible.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister of State for sharing the data from 2018 to 2022. I do encounter a few of these fires in my constituency and quite a number were electrical related. So, perhaps, the Minister of State can share a little bit more about some of the numbers that he mentioned, specifically, details of the causes of the fires for those incidents. We know every household fire, besides the casualty, was devastating to families, to neighbours and also to firefighters and first responders. I would like to ask the Minister of State how can we significantly raise the awareness amongst households on the likely fire risks? And also, how can we make our homes and neighbourhood more fire safe? Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. I will share more details about the numbers, year by year. The number of residential fires, for 2018, as I shared earlier was 1,235. For 2019, 1,168. For 2020, 1,054. For 2021, 1,010. For 2022, it was 934. So, it was on a decreasing trend. However, for the number of electrical fires, it has remained stable over the years. For 2018, it was 288. For 2019, 293. For 2020, it went down further to 253. For 2021, it was 261. For 2022, it was 257. These are the details. Indeed, we agree with the Member that even though we saw the numbers decreasing, every fire would cause disruptions to lives and some lives have been lost. We continue to work together with the community, as well as from the professional angle, we want to make sure that we continue to review and put in place fire safety standards. At the same time, our SCDF officers will do their best to go and respond as fast as they can and put out the fire. We will also continue to enhance and raise awareness on fire safety.”
“Mr Speaker, this idea of the cohort ban has been talked about for some time. I can understand that the Government will have to be very careful in deliberating and it may take awhile. But we also know the ill effects of smoking and second-hand smoke. It is without a doubt, indisputable why we should curb smoking and second-hand smoke. I want to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary why is the hesitation still there and what can be the downside to having a cohort ban on smoking? Now that we have been pushing for Healthier SG, would MOH not see this as a longer-term Healthier SG move, so that there is a structural shift towards better public health for the public and for the individual as well?”
“Thank you, Sir. I am not sure if it is for the Minister for MOT or MOH. This is on the SG Arrival Card. In the past before COVID-19, returning Singaporeans do not need to do health declaration at the customs. But now, we have to do it via online or physical. I mean, I can understand that we need to do some of these border checks, like PDTs, but for the SG Arrival Card where we ask some generic questions: where you come from, Africa or Latin America or Middle East. And then, ask those questions like, "in the last seven days, have you been unwell" and so on. We can say yes to all three questions, but you will still be granted entry, you will still be allowed entry to Singapore and there is no follow-up. I just want to ask whether what purpose does this serve to do that, to have that SG Arrival Card process?”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. Sir, credit to MOM and MTI, and of course, Minister Tan See Leng for relentlessly working, improving and refreshing our framework, our schemes, to manage our foreign manpower needs. In the last one year, we now have more schemes – we have M-SEP, we have Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass (ONE Pass) and we have Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS), which are all specific and targeted schemes by design, and understandably, it would also add a lot to the overall complexity of our foreign manpower management system. We have Condition 1 and Condition 2, and more and more to assess whether it can fit into that and other criteria. Sir, I would like to ask the Minister, would MOM now need a bigger bureaucracy to administer these schemes? He mentioned that there are 1,000 companies eligible for M-SEP. And if 500 come to apply, and on top of the appeal cases, there will be a lot to manage as well. Secondly and importantly, how does MOM guard against companies gaming and circumventing some of these qualifying criteria, or some of the commitments they have made to the schemes?”
“Thank you, Sir. The Deputy Prime Minister in his reply talked about the over-optimism in the earlier stages of the crypto developments. We also know that many financial centres like Dubai and Hong Kong are all aspiring to be the cryptocurrency hub. I want to ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Government sees hubbing the cryptocurrency trading activities in Singapore as necessary to strengthen our position as a financial centre. What are the possible economic use cases here?”
“Sir, I want to thank the Senior Minister of State for leading this future major effort to take care of the welfare of our platform workers and also for him to personally come down to Bukit Panjang to engage our platform workers support group just a few months ago. The Senior Minister of State mentioned about the recommendation from the advisory group, I would like to ask him for the reception from the platform workers and the company so far on all these recommendations. And in particular, I want to hear from the Senior Minister of State, his views on the concern raised by Grab with regards to the issue of level playing field as the taxi's street hail platforms are excluded from the recommendations, whether there would potentially be issues of price and market distortions?”