Lim Hwee Hua
Singapore
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I believe the Minister for Finance has actually addressed that quite adequately in the Budget Statement. I will encourage the Member to read the Hansard. As I recall, he did say that our projections for revenue have been made for the next five years and we do not target a particular source of revenue.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would encourage the Member to file a question for MCYS, if she would like to discuss safeguards further. What I would comment here is that at the outset when we conceived the whole Integrated Resorts idea, there were many business risks: whether it is country risk or the timing of the business cycle and so on.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the supplementary questions raised by Ms Denise Phua have actually been debated to some detail under the different heads, in terms of the intended strategy – why we are having Integrated Resorts and casinos in the first place. This has been debated quite extensively by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.”
“Madam, I take the Member's point about the need for checks to be done professionally, and indeed this is the case, and that is why the officers would be sufficiently trained to conduct these checks in a professional manner.”
“The proposed amendments are necessary in order to effect the new financing framework, to allow for greater contestability to be injected into the RTS industry, as well as to ensure security and continuity of the RTS operations. Madam, I beg to move. Question proposed. 4.28 pm”
“Because of the complexity of the issues and the need for us to continue consulting other players who have already been operating in that space, as well as consulting the business community in greater detail, the study would take the better part of this year. OUTCOME OF 50PLUS EXPO 6.”
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“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2008 comprises four tax changes. The first amendment gives legislative effect to a tax change announced in Budget Statement 2007, while three other amendments are tax changes arising from regular reviews to improve the administration of the GST system. A public consultation on the Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill 2008 was conducted between August and September 2008. This Bill has incorporated the feedback received. GST Budget changes Sir, let me highlight the tax changes covered by this Bill. First, zero-rating treatment for the sale, leasing and servicing of containers used in the international transport of goods As announced in Budget 2007, to promote Singapore as a shipping and logistics hub, the sale, leasing and servicing of containers used in the international transport of goods is now allowed zero-rating. This is similar to the existing treatment for ships and aircraft. Clause 2 of the Bill reflects this change. Second, zero-rating treatment for prescribed machinery used in the manufacture of goods for export and related services In 2007, the GST Act was legislated to cater for the zero-rating of prescribed tools and relevant services used in the manufacture of goods for export. Clause 3 of the Bill extends the zero-rating treatment to supplies of prescribed machinery, which are akin to specialised tools, and relevant services used in the manufacture of goods for export.”
“Thus, clause 3 amends the Act to allow the Government to set-off tax arrears against monies due to the taxpayer from the Government. Similar amendments of the Income Tax Act, Stamp Duties Act and GST Act will also be made to effect the set-off mechanism for the Government to recover outstanding taxes. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mrs Lim Hwee Hua]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read.”
“The proposed Bill is meant to preserve our current tax treatment of structural networks. Clause 2 of the Property Tax (Amendment) Bill specifies the circum stances under which these networks are assessable for property tax, as outlined above. To give certainty to network owners on such scope of taxation, a list of structural networks that will be taxed in accordance with that scope will be prescribed in the Subsidiary Legislation. Clause 4 of the Bill validates past collections of the property tax on or in respect of structural networks. This is in line with the policy intent all along to subject such structural networks to property tax. The validation clause will not affect cases such as the one in which the Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the taxpayer, cases on structural networks that are before the Valuation Review Board, as well as unresolved cases on structural networks in respect of which objections have been made to the Chief Assessor or Comptroller of Property Tax, before 20th October 2008, which is the date of the First Reading of this Bill. Sir, the provisions of the Act will come into force, at the latest, by 1st January 2009 to correspond with the billing cycle for property tax on 1st January every year. Allowing the Government to set-off the amount of outstanding tax owed to it Sir, let me now move on to the second amendment of the Property Tax Act. Presently, the Act provides for the appointment of a person, who can be someone in the private sector or statutory board, as an agent to pay over to IRAS monies that he holds for taxpayers who owe taxes. However, Government office-holders are currently not appointed as agents, as the Government is not included as a “person” under the Property Tax Act. This exclusion is inadvertent.”
“Those parts of a structural network which perform a distribution or transportation function should not be considered as mere machinery. They should be subject to property tax. For practical reasons, we propose to use the boundaries of building which houses the machinery to which the pipelines and cables are attached to draw the line between the parts of the structural network that may be considered as machinery (and hence be exempted) and those that may not be considered as machinery, and hence be subject to property tax. It also has been and remains the policy intent to hold the network owner responsible for the property tax since he is the one who derives benefits from the network. Otherwise, based on the court's decision, the owners of the land through which the structural network passes would have to pay the tax, which would be inequitable as these land owners do not, in practice, receive payment or benefit for the use of their land for such networks. What we need is to clarify in the Act the circumstances under which structural networks are to be subject to property tax, just as jurisdictions such as Hong Kong and the UK have done. In these countries, they have specific provisions in their Acts to treat structural networks as properties assessable to tax. This is notwithstanding that their Acts, like ours, also exclude machinery from property tax. In the UK and Hong Kong, it is also the network owners that are taxed on the structural networks, including networks that extend beyond the building which the network owner owns. In Hong Kong, the Act was specifically amended in 1991 for this purpose. The amendment to the Property Tax Act therefore seeks to provide, for avoidance of doubt, the circumstances under which structural networks are assessable for property tax.”
“Recently, following a case taken to the courts by a taxpayer with regard to its network of pipelines attached to a cooling plant, the High Court in May 2007 arrived at the position that the pipelines, a type of structural network, were not assessable for property tax as the pipelines were considered to be part of the cooling plant which is classified as machinery falling within the ambit of section 2(2) of the Property Tax Act. Section 2(2) currently exempts machinery used for certain purposes from property tax. In March 2008, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the taxpayer that the pipelines were not subject to tax. The case also raised the issue of whether the current provisions of the Act allow IRAS to hold the owners of the structural networks responsible for paying the property tax for the parts of the networks that pass through lands not owned by the network owner. The proposed amendments in this Bill thus seek to clarify the circumstances under which structural networks are assessable for property tax, in line with the Government’s policy intent. Sir, it has been and remains the Government’s policy intent to subject structural networks to property tax, just like in the UK and Hong Kong. We recognise that pipelines or cables attached to machinery could arguably be part of machinery and, hence, be exempted from tax under section 2(2) of the Property Tax Act. However, it has not been and is still not the policy intent for the property tax exemption for machinery to apply to the entire structural network, including those parts that extend outside and beyond the structural network of the owner’s building which houses the machinery to which these are attached.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Bill proposes two changes to the Property Tax Act. The first amendment clarifies the tax treatment of structural networks while the second amendment provides a mechanism to allow Government to set-off the amount of outstanding tax against what is due to the taxpayer from the Government. Sir, let me now explain the first amendment. Clarifying the tax treatment of “structural networks” Structural networks, which typically refer to networks of pipelines, cables, ducts and railway lines attached to land, have hitherto been subject to property tax in Singapore. This is similar to the tax treatment in other jurisdictions like the UK and Hong Kong. However, unlike these jurisdictions, we do not have specific provisions under our Act to explicitly treat structural networks as properties subject to property tax. Currently, IRAS taxes structural networks together with the building to which they are attached. For example, electricity networks are assessed together with the substations, and the property tax is payable by the owner of the electricity networks and substations since the owner is deriving the benefits from these networks. The electricity network may extend beyond the boundaries of the land on which the substation is sited and may pass through lands which the network owner does not own. As for the lands through which such network passes, the owner of the land is assessed for property tax which will not take into account the network concerned since he does not derive benefits from the network which passes through his land.”
“Mr Gautam Banerjee asked the Senior Minister whether all insurance companies operating in Singapore can (i) put in place measures and/or programmes to educate policy holders and the public at large on the nature of risks involved in different insurance policies such as investment-linked products, par and non-par funds; and (ii) be more transparent in sharing and explaining information on investment, capital adequacy and solvency requirements.”
“Mr Inderjit Singh asked the Senior Minister in view of the meltdown of the financial sector in United States (a) if he will provide an update on the state of our financial institutions especially banks operating from Singapore and their ability to meet the obligations of customers; (b) whether any of the financial institutions operating in Singapore have been weakened by the meltdown; and (c) what additional measures have Monetary Authority of Singapore put in place as lessons learnt to ensure that financial institutions remain viable to protect consumers. 7. Mr Inderjit Singh asked the Senior Minister (a) if he will explain the impact of the AIG bailout on insurance companies in Singapore; (b) what protection do Singaporeans have in the event that any of the insurance companies operating in Singapore become affected by the financial crisis; and (c) what measures are in place to cushion subsidiaries of foreign insurance companies operating in Singapore from such crisis. 8. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Senior Minister (a) what is the basis for the Monetary Authority of Singapore's assurance to AIA Singapore policy holders that there are sufficient funds to meet future obligations; and (b) whether MAS is aware if AIA Singapore has invested in products related to Lehman Brothers and United States sub-primes derivatives. 9. Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Senior Minister whether there is any evidence or indication that the American banks and financial institutions currently in distress have taken steps to sell off their Singapore properties on an urgent basis and, if so, what implications will this have on the local property market. 10.”
“Sir, precisely because of the philosophy that we have adopted, both GIC and Temasek are in a comfortable position to take advantage of any opportunities that may arise from the current downturn. EFFECTS OF FINANCIAL TURMOIL ON SINGAPORE'S BANKS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES AND IMPACT ON SINGAPOREANS 4. Mdm Cynthia Phua asked the Senior Minister (a) what is the impact of the recent financial upheaval on Singapore’s banking and insurance companies; (b) what steps are being taken by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to review the exposure of our financial institutions to high-risk instruments; (c) how does MAS monitor the investment risks of insurance companies in Singapore; (d) what is the process for local banks and finance houses to report on their exposure to high-risk financial instruments overseas; and (e) what safeguards are in place to protect our depositors from any catastrophe impacting the financial institutions in Singapore. 5. Dr Lily Neo asked the Senior Minister (a) to what extent are Singaporeans affected by the collapse of American financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers; (b) how many Singaporeans are losing their savings as a result of this crisis; and (c) what are the safeguards, if any, to protect Singaporeans' savings in financial institutions and insurance companies from similar financial turmoil. 6.”
“Sir, so far, the diversification has been across markets, across industries, across asset classes and across currencies, and this strategy has served us well. So, unless there are compelling reasons for us to depart from this long-term approach, the Ministry will not direct GIC or Temasek to change its portfolio philosophy.”
“Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC HEALTH (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 3.04 pm”
“Finally, ships over 1,000 gross tonnes that wish to enter the Singapore port will be required to have a contract of insurance or other forms of financial security to cover liabilities arising from pollution damage. They will also be required to carry certificates of evidence of that insurance. These certificates will be issued by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (or MPA) for all qualifying Singapore-registered ships. MPA will also issue the required certificates to qualifying foreign-flagged ships of States not party to the Bunker Convention calling at the port of Singapore. The shipping community will be notified of the detailed administrative procedures on how to obtain these certificates through MPA's Shipping Circulars. Amendments to the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act (Chapter 243) and the Merchant Shipping (Civil Liability and Compensation for Oil Pollution) Act (Chapter 180) Sir, the Bill also makes related amendments to the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act (Chapter 243) and the Merchant Shipping (Civil Liability and Compensation for Oil Pollution) Act (Chapter 180) for consistency. Mr Speaker, Sir, as Singapore has acceded to the Bunker Convention, the Convention will apply to Singapore when it enters into force on 21st November 2008. As a State party to the Bunker Convention, it is necessary for us to pass this Bill so that Singapore can comply with her international treaty obligations under the Bunker Convention when it enters into force. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mrs Lim Hwee Hua].”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." This Bill seeks to give effect to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage 2001, or the Bunker Convention in short. This Convention was adopted by the International Conference on Liability and Compensation for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage in London on 23rd March 2001. Singapore acceded to the Bunker Convention in 2006. The Bunker Convention The Bunker Convention is an international treaty that provides a liability and compensation regime for losses and damages arising from bunker oil pollution from ships that are not tankers. Claimants will be guaranteed compensation for pollution damage arising from bunker oil spills from ships such as container and passenger ships as well as bulk carriers. This is significant as some large container and passenger ships carry bunker oil in much larger quantities than small oil tankers. Current compensation regimes covering oil spills do not include bunker oil spills from vessels other than tankers. Giving effect to the Bunker Convention In accordance with the Bunker Convention, this Bill seeks to enact the Merchant Shipping (Civil Liability and Compensation for Bunker Oil Pollution) Act with the following key provisions. First, shipowners are strictly liable for pollution damage resulting from the escape or discharge of bunker oil from ships covered by the Bunker Convention. Second, persons suffering pollution damage have a right of "direct action" against the ship's insurers. This means that they can seek compensation directly from the insurers rather than the shipowner who, in some cases, may have no assets other than the ship. Third, shipowners can limit their liability, contingent on the size of the ship.”
“Out of the 53 statutory boards listed in the Accounting Standards Act, all but seven have provisions in their Acts which accord such power to the Auditor-General. Nevertheless, we recognise that the current legal framework governing the audits of statutory boards is unwittingly incomplete and should be updated to reflect the larger number of statutory boards that we have today. Except where there are national security reasons, the Auditor-General should be able to initiate audits in statutory boards. In his Annual Report tabled in Parliament in July, the Auditor-General stated that he had embarked on a review of the Audit Act, which has not been substantively updated since it was passed in 1966. His review, which takes into account the legislation and practices of other countries, will include the audit of statutory boards. My Ministry will consider the AG's review report and recommendations when they are ready. INCREASE IN ERP GANTRIES AND HOURS (Social and economic impact) 9. Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong asked the Minister for Transport whether his Ministry has conducted a study to assess the wider social and economic impact of increasing the ERP gantries and hours on (i) work patterns; (ii) businesses affected within ERP zones; and (iii) family life and bonding.”
“Sir, let me inform the House that statutory boards are audited annually, whether by the Auditor-General or a public accounting firm. Since last year, the Auditor-General's plan has been to audit the larger statutory boards at least once in five years. This does not mean that the larger statutory boards cannot be audited by the AG more frequently. For example, the AG audits IRAS every year. Likewise, the Monetary Authority of Singapore is audited by the AG every year as the MAS Act requires it. My Ministry has supported a higher manpower budget to enable his office to increase the frequency of his audit of statutory boards. Mr Banerjee asked about the practice in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and UK with regard to the audit of statutory boards. In these four countries, the accounts of the bodies equivalent to our statutory boards are by law required to be audited by their national audit institutions annually. The current system of the Auditor-General coming in periodically to audit a statutory board, in between audits by a public accounting firm appointed in consultation with the AG, has served us well. As I mentioned, the AG will subject a statutory board to more frequent audits where necessary. This is a more focused and practical approach as it allows him to direct resources towards areas which are of greater significance. As regards Mr Banerjee's other question, under the current legal framework, the Auditor-General is empowered to initiate and carry out an audit of a statutory board only if the Act creating that statutory board so provides. This framework, Sir, was introduced at a time when there were very few statutory boards.”
“Sir, I have previously taken a question on the Park-and-Ride Scheme, so I will not repeat the answer I had given, except to say that this will be part and parcel of the overall plan to shift more people towards public transport. The Park-and-Ride Scheme is currently under review and the Ministry will make an announcement in due course. As regards Mdm Ho's questions on the funding of the different support measures, my Minister has also previously in this House elaborated quite substantially on all the different plans in terms of both the implementation timeline as well as the different measures that will be taken to finance the rollout of all the different pillars of the land transport plan. A large part of these, in terms of the investment in the rail as well as the road infrastructure, will no doubt be publicly funded. RISING SEA LEVELS (Measures to monitor effects and impact on Singapore) 5. Dr Lam Pin Min asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in view of the rising sea levels due to climate change, what long-term measures are contemplated to protect Singapore's coastline and to avoid major catastrophes. 6. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether his Ministry has assessed the recent findings that the Greenland ice sheet is melting faster than expected and what impact, if any, would these findings have on Singapore. 7. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether the Government is prepared for a possible rise in sea level and, if so, what measures have been planned in response.”
“Mr Zaqy has asked if we plan to consult community stakeholders and those affected by the changes. I would like to assure him that we will certainly do so. Currently, there is already extensive engagement at the grassroots and community level on transport issues including bus routes. Teams of managers from LTA's Community Partnership Division are assigned to each constituency, and have established strong relationships with local residents and grassroots leaders. If there are issues or suggestions on bus routes and services, LTA's officers will surface to the PTC for consideration. This process will continue, and as LTA takes on the bus planning role, LTA will also examine how to further engage community stakeholders to ensure bus routes will better meet the transport needs of the community.”
“The PTC reviews the PTOs' compliance with the QoS standards, including passenger loading levels per bus, every six months. It is expected to provide the next update in October. Third, we are in the process of providing more and better public transport travel information. Commuters are currently already able to use an online Journey Planner on the Transitlink website to work out what services they need to take to reach their destination. This journey planner is integrated across operators and bus and rail modes. If they would like to suggest a new premium bus service route, they can also visit the online premium bus service demand aggregator tool, on LTA's website. If there is sufficient demand for a particular route from the community, LTA will approach operators to examine the viability of launching a new premium bus service. Fourth, in terms of the medium-term initiatives, LTA will be injecting greater contestability into the bus and rail sectors, by shortening the length of rail licences and tendering out packages of bus routes. Also, the PTC will introduce a new system of distance-based through fares by 2009, to give commuters greater flexibility in choosing the travel options that best suit their needs, including transfer journeys, without having to pay an extra fare penalty. The first step in this transition was announced last Friday, when the PTC said it will raise the transfer rebate from 25 cents to 40 cents. Also, by 2009, LTA will assume the role of central bus network planner, to ensure better optimisation and integration of bus and rail services, so that the entire public transport network including bus routes is designed holistically and with the commuters' interests in mind. All these initiatives mean change.”
“Where train loading is persistently high, we will consider allowing bus services to run parallel to the MRT lines during peak hours, to help take some of the load off the trains. For example, Service 128 now runs parallel to sections of the North-South Line, from Ang Mo Kio to the CBD. Second, on bus services. Since June 2008, all trunk bus services plying along corridors affected by the ERP changes this year have improved their headways from 15 minutes to 12 minutes during peak hours. This will be further improved to not more than 10 minutes by 1st August 2009. In addition, the Public Transport Council (PTC) has tightened the Quality of Service (QoS) standards such that bus operators must operate at least 85% of their feeder bus services at headways of not more than 10 minutes during peak hours with effect from August 2008. This standard will be further tightened to 90% of feeder bus services by August 2009. To meet the tighter QoS standards, and also as part of their continuous efforts to improve services, the PTOs are adding more buses and renewing their bus fleet. For example, SBS Transit recently announced that it will put 400 new Euro V buses on the road next year, at a cost of $147 million. Aside from basic bus services, we have also increased the number of premium bus services to 74, surpassing our initial target of 72 services. For commuters, premium bus services offer greater choice in the form of a faster, more direct and more comfortable journey. In tandem with the increase in bus capacity, bus ridership has increased, by about 6% for the first half of 2008, compared to the same period last year. Crowding levels on our buses are regulated under the QoS standards, which the PTC administers.”
“Sir, since the completion of the Land Transport Master Plan (LTMP) early this year, LTA has been rolling out various initiatives to improve the public transport system. I will briefly report the progress in four key areas: (i) immediate improvements to train capacity, (ii) immediate improvements to bus capacity, (iii) providing more and better public transport travel information, and (iv) other medium-term initiatives to improve the overall system. First, on train services. LTA has worked closely with the Public Transport Operators (PTOs) to increase the capacity of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. Since February this year, SMRT and SBST have injected some 800 additional train trips per week. This has led to shorter waiting times and less crowded trains around the peak hours and lunch time. For instance, the waiting time for a southbound train at Toa Payoh MRT station during the morning peak period, between 8.00 am and 8.30 am, has been reduced by about 15% to about 2 minutes. This means that even if a commuter may not be able to board the first train that arrives, he need not wait too long to board the next or subsequent trains. In addition, with the additional train trips, crowding has been kept manageable despite a 13% surge in train ridership on the North-South East-West line between February and July 2008. At the most crowded stretches during peak hours, we are still seeing an acceptable level of loading of between 1,300 and 1,400 passengers per train – or to put it in more concrete terms – approximately 4 persons/sqm. This is comparable if not better than other major cities such as Hong Kong, New York or Tokyo.”
“Sir, the Budget Terminal at Changi was opened in March 2006 with an annual handling capacity of 2.7 million passengers. After over two years of operation, the utilisation rate today has exceeded 65% of its current capacity. The current expansion will see Budget Terminal's capacity increase to 7 million passengers per annum by the second quarter of 2009. Sir, when the decision was taken to build the Budget Terminal in 2004, budget air travel was still a relatively new phenomenon in Asia and no one could be certain of its success in the region. Nevertheless, we decided to invest and build a dedicated facility ahead of many other countries in Asia to cater to an emerging demand. The Budget Terminal was therefore planned to be developed in a phased-like fashion with the scope to scale up its capacity to meet higher passenger traffic as and when necessary. After more than two years of operation, passenger traffic has grown by more than 30% since 2006 and this growth accounted for about 25% of Changi Airport's total passenger growth over the same period. Moving forward, air travel in Southeast Asia is expected to grow as liberalisation of air services among ASEAN capitals will materialise by the end of this year. Low cost carriers would then have even more opportunities to expand their network and operations. The expansion of the Budget Terminal is therefore timely and would continue to facilitate the growth of budget air travel in Singapore. 3.00 pm”
“Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Health whether he will consider the promotion of adoption as a serious alternative to abortion to increase our total fertility rate.”
“Sir, I wish to assure the Member that this is applied consistently for all equivalent of the shareholders' funds that are being held in the statutory boards. What the Member might be referring to could be on the deposits that statutory boards might be holding, which do not technically belong to them. There are also moves to ensure that these are returned promptly to the rightful owners. ABORTIONS AND ADOPTION 6. Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Health in view of some foetuses being viable before 24 weeks and given that the Abortion Act of 1974 was introduced when curbing population growth was a social priority, whether he will consider amending the legislation to lower the 24-week limit for unrestricted abortions since Singapore now needs to increase her population. 7. Mr Siew Kum Hong asked the Minister for Health whether his Ministry will (i) affirm the fundamental right of women to choose, subject to objective considerations of medical safety, whether to have abortions, which has been accepted in Singapore for the past four decades without question; (ii) confirm whether there is reason to change the current prevailing objective medical evaluation of independent foetal viability; and (iii) focus on influencing societal attitudes towards abortion and counselling persons seeking abortions, instead of the 24-week-limit for unrestricted abortions and women's legal right to choose. 8. Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Health what would be Singapore's annual total fertility rate from 2000 to 2007 if (i) no abortions were carried out during those years; and (ii) abortions were only permitted on an unrestricted basis for foetuses up to 12 weeks of age. 9.”
“Sir, I wish to inform the Member that, over the past few years, the Ministry of Finance has been working closely with all the different Ministries, precisely in the areas that he has raised concerns in. As I mentioned in my reply, apart from raising the awareness and encouraging Ministries to optimise the use of resources, my Ministry has also introduced a framework where we would actually, first of all, for example, in the area of office space, impose space norms as well as to impute a rental charge, so that there is a real cost to the decision. As regards the holding of surplus cash at statutory boards, the system has already been in place where statutory boards are actually charged the cost of capital and there will be the net economic value that will be computed and for which there is a real charge to the budget for the respective years. In other words, if they continue to hold on to surplus cash, this will exact a certain carrying charge.”
“Under this framework, a charge would be imposed on agencies for reservations of State properties for planning and feasibility studies. This would encourage agencies to make land reservations only when necessary and for the optimal period of time. MOF and MinLaw will continue to review and enhance our systems and policies to raise the effectiveness and accountability of public sector agencies in the management of land and buildings.”
“Sir, land and buildings like other resources have to be managed effectively by Ministries and agencies who have been allocated those resources. All Ministries and agencies are charged with this responsibility. The non-office properties that were reported by the Auditor-General's office as under-utilised were built for certain purposes that had now been overtaken by events. There were also some constraints on their alternative use. Nonetheless, the Ministries and agencies concerned should have exercised greater consciousness in managing these properties. My Ministry has recently introduced a framework to encourage better management of office space in the public sector. Firstly, MOF has reviewed and reduced office space norms. We will be imposing surcharges on agencies which exceed the stipulated norms, as well as imputing rental charges to highlight the opportunity cost. We will also be looking to extend this framework for office space to other types of uses such as staff apartments, chalets, and institutional buildings. The framework will also strengthen the monitoring of vacant space. Secondly, vacant properties that are not required for the use of public agencies will be put out to the market for lease where possible. We have in fact done this in the past two years to meet the growing demand for office space. However, as regards the quantum and pace, we will need to take into account the market situation. Non-core Government properties, such as the Atrium@Orchard, have also been divested. Thirdly, to instill greater discipline in the reservation and holding of Government properties pending development, the Ministry of Law will be introducing a reservation framework applicable to public sector agencies.”
“Sir, what Ms Eunice Olsen has highlighted is precisely the reason we are able to take and we should continue to take a long-term perspective. Government is not in a better position than Temasek and GIC to assess these investments and Government has entrusted both agencies to undertake these long-term investments because they are better placed to do this. As I have said earlier on, the performance of both agencies will be assessed on a regular basis but the monitoring measures would be done on a frequent basis, not on a long-term perspective. MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC ASSETS (Actions to ensure more accountability) 5. Mr Gautam Banerjee asked the Minister for Finance given that the Auditor-General's Report has highlighted the under-utilisation of land and buildings by certain Ministries and statutory boards for the second consecutive year, what specific actions will the Government take to ensure that land and buildings are managed more effectively to ensure more accountability in the management of public assets.”
“Both the GIC and Temasek make regular reports to MOF as a shareholder. So at these reporting sessions, the performance to the point of reporting would always be taken into consideration. So we would not wait till a long period after the investments have been made.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, when the Ministry reviewed the reasons for the tardiness in the presentation of the financial statements, there is actually a whole range of reasons. For some statutory boards, for example, like MUIS, they actually have to seek the approval of the Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs as well as the President before they can present the reports. So, that is an actual requirement of time. Others have very specific one-off reasons and yet others have poor organisation, which is not an acceptable reason. So, the Ministry of Finance will work very closely with all the statutory boards. But the Member's point about presenting timely information is a well-taken one. INTEGRATED RESORTS (Potential workforce planning) 13. Mdm Ho Geok Choo (West Coast) asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what measures does his Ministry have in place to prepare the potential workforce planning to work in the Integrated Resorts to successfully adapt to the specific mindsets and outlook required by that industry.”
“Most statutory boards are required under their respective statutes to present their annual reports and financial statements to Parliament, as soon as practicable. Ministries and statutory boards have generally been complying with the six-month time frame as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee and this is a good governance practice. The hon. Member noted from Auditor-General's Report for FY 2007/08 that one statutory board, in fact, did not present its audited financial statements to Parliament for the previous two financial years. The statutory board in question attributed this to the fact that new staff had been unaware that the financial statements had to be submitted together with the annual reports. This is, of course, not a good reason. My Ministry has therefore issued a circular in May this year directing all statutory boards to submit their annual reports and financial statements within the six-month time frame as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee. All Ministries have also been reminded to ensure that their statutory boards comply with this recommendation in future. The Ministry in charge of the statutory board in question has, in fact, put in place a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the annual reports and financial statements of its statutory boards are submitted within the recommended six-month time frame. MOF will evaluate the situation regularly to see if further actions are needed to ensure compliance.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Bill seeks to amend the Estate Duty Act so that deaths occurring on and after 15th February 2008 will no longer be subject to Estate Duty. This change was earlier announced in the 2008 Budget Statement. Deaths occurring before 15th February 2008 will continue to be liable for Estate Duty. We decided to abolish Estate Duty to send a clear signal of encouragement for individuals to take risks, invest and grow their wealth in Singapore. This wealth creation will benefit our whole economy and society, not just the individuals concerned. The revenues lost each year from collection of estate duties should be more than offset by the economic benefits over the long term. Key provisions Sir, clauses 2 to 4 state that the provisions of the Estate Duty Act will only apply to deaths occurring before 15th February 2008. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mrs Lim Hwee Hua]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. SINGAPORE TOURISM (CESS COLLECTION) (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 3.33 pm”
“SPRING has been helping Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through its Technology Innovation Programme (TIP) to accelerate technology adaptation. Workers and employers must work together to retrain and retool to improve our productivity and ensure our labour force remains competitive. 3.00 pm”
“We saw this happening during the economic boom between 1996 and 1997, preceding the Asian financial crisis, when employment grew strongly (6.2% per annum on average) and productivity growth was low (1.8% per annum on average). It will be simplistic to conclude that the weaker productivity performance was due to the increased presence of foreign workers. In fact, our flexible and responsive foreign manpower policies enable companies to capitalise quickly on growth opportunities in Singapore and expand to create even more jobs, including jobs for locals. This is why employment has grown strongly over the last few years. Nevertheless, we should redouble our efforts to ensure that productivity continues to grow over the long run so that we remain competitive. Our strategy to achieve this is three-fold. Firstly, by investing in the training of our workers. Secondly, by helping companies to take advantage of the higher skills of its workers through job redesign. Thirdly, by bringing in new investments and encouraging existing companies to upgrade through technology and innovation. The Government will continue to invest in our workers to enable them to upgrade their skills and take on better jobs, through the CET Masterplan. Companies can also benefit from a more adaptable and productive workforce. On job redesign, we are working closely with companies to redesign jobs to enhance productivity and value. Spearheaded by NTUC, the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) is a key driver for Job Re-creation and Industry Re-development efforts. Finally, we support companies to upgrade their capabilities to undertake higher value-add activities and encouraging companies to invest in technology and innovation for greater productivity.”
“Sir, I think the ERP system covers most, if not all, parts of Singapore. And it will be difficult to assign a certain priority to certain areas. But, certainly, when LTA does its centralised planning, it will see how best to optimise the feeder service network with the different modes of transport. DECLINE IN LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY 13. Mrs Josephine Teo asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) what are the reasons for the decline in labour productivity as reported in the Report on Wages in Singapore 2007; (b) to what extent is this contributed by the increased presence of low-skilled and low-wage foreign workers in the workforce; and (c) whether the decline implies that efforts in skills upgrading and job redesign have been ineffective. The Acting Minister for Manpower (Mr Gan Kim Yong): Sir, productivity tends to fluctuate from year to year. It is therefore best to assess productivity over a longer horizon, instead of drawing conclusions on the basis of a few quarters' or a single year's data. Over the past five years from 2002 to 2007, productivity growth averaged 3.0% per annum, higher than the real wage growth of 2.8% per annum. This is a respectable rate of productivity growth for a mature economy like Singapore. In developed countries like Australia, Germany, the UK and the US, average productivity growth is typically around 2.0% or below. The decline in productivity in 2007 is partly due to the record employment growth of 234,900 jobs (9.4% growth), which was far higher than the average of 116,500 jobs created per year over the last five years. During periods of strong employment growth, productivity growth typically tends to be lower as output growth will take time to catch up with the increase in manpower.”
“Sir, as Dr Lim Wee Kiak has very well elaborated, car pooling tends to work better in a localised and customised fashion. Therefore, unless the Government can add value by having national platforms, it will still be far better to allow the informal arrangements to take place.”
“Some other measures to improve our public transport system include the introduction of competition by the LTA to the bus industry through competitive tendering from 2010 as well as introducing more Premium Bus Services and competitive bus services along mature MRT lines so as to relieve the train loads. To encourage more people to take public transport, the measures I have mentioned have to work together on both fronts.”
“In its review, LTA will need to work with the various agencies to study these issues carefully and how to enhance the Park and Ride Scheme to better facilitate inter-modal transfers for motorists. As for car pooling, there is really nothing stopping motorists from car pooling today if their savings on the costs of driving, such as parking, petrol and ERP, made it sensible to do so. Sir, this is a personal choice, and we will leave it to individuals and informal groups to work out their own arrangements. On the public transport front, Mrs Teo asked about plans to enhance the connectivity of feeder bus services. We will need to look into both the feeder bus routes as well as the frequency of the services. Sir, the House will recall that LTA will take over the centralised planning of bus routes by 2009; this will ensure that there are more direct feeder services so that commuters can get to MRT stations and bus interchanges in less time. As for the frequency of feeder bus services, more than 80% of our feeder bus services currently operate at frequencies of 15 minutes or less during the peak hours. However, this can be improved. As part of the Quality of Service Standards (QoS) for basic bus services, the operators will be required to run at least 85% of feeder bus services at headways of not more than 10 minutes during the weekday peak hours by August 2008 or this month. The PTC will raise this standard progressively from 85% to 90% by August next year, to allow time for the bus operators to phase in their procurement of new buses as well as to recruit more bus drivers.”
“The crux of Mrs Josephine Teo's and Dr Lim Wee Kiak's questions is how we can encourage more people, especially the drivers, to use public transport. Sir, we are tackling this on two fronts: (a) firstly, enhancing our public transport services to improve the areas that matter most to commuters such as the travelling and waiting time; and (b) secondly, enabling motorists to switch to public transport more easily if they wish to do so. Mrs Josephine Teo and Dr Lim Wee Kiak both highlighted the Park and Ride Scheme as an area to look into. I agree. We should do more to encourage car owners to Park and Ride because it provides motorists with an additional option to use public transport for their daily commute. LTA is currently undertaking a review of the existing scheme with Transitlink which administers the scheme. Some motorists have found the Park and Ride Scheme attractive, where they pay $70 for a Park and Ride Set which includes a Season Parking Ticket for the month and a $40 Park and Ride ez-link card. Overall, the current utilisation rate is 31.3% of available car parking lots. However, the take-up rate has not been uniform. LTA found that some of the carpark sites under the scheme are fully utilised because of their proximity to the MRT stations while some have hardly any takers. For the popular carparks, there is also a need to look into how the balance should be struck between the car parking needs of the HDB residents and that of visitors which include the Park and Ride users. Then there is also the issue of misuse, where some people with offices in the suburbs use the Park and Ride Scheme as a cheap alternative office carpark.”
“So, they will do physical control checks and checks of IDs as well. But I take his point that while this has worked well thus far, there may be a case to consider making these responsibilities explicit in the legislation. So, we will study this further. As for his point about clause 14 giving the Minister the power to exempt any person or class of persons from all the provisions, let me assure the House that the Ministry does not intend to abuse the authority provided for by this new section. As I have commented earlier on, any decision taken is really a balance of all the different points. We should note that the gambling industry is a fast-changing one. The illegal gambling operators continue to pose a major challenge today and, therefore, this new provision will enable the Turf Club to be able to respond quickly with once-off exceptional exemptions to be made by the Minister in a timely manner. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mrs Lim Hwee Hua]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. ADJOURNMENT TO A DATE TO BE FIXED Resolved, That, at its rising today, Parliament do stand adjourned to a date to be fixed. – [Mr Mah Bow Tan]. ADJOURNMENT MOTION”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to thank the Members for their comments and support of the Bill. As regards Ms Sylvia Lim's point about the liberty that is seemingly given to the Minister in varying the Scheme, let me assure her that this is actually a balance between trying to enable the Turf Club to exercise flexibility and to respond better to challenges. But the Club would still need regulatory approval for the introduction of new gambling products or, for that matter, changes to regulatory conditions. So, there would be no concern over the proliferation of newer products. This will just be simply variations of the existing rules that are allowed. As for Mr Siew Kum Hong's point about the age limit, let me just clarify that currently the Tote Board Act actually already stipulates the age limit for gambling as 18 years. The objective of clause 10 is really not to set the age limit but to make a consequential amendment because of the removal of the Scheme from the subsidiary legislation. And as he has noted, the age limit applies to all gambling activities, except casinos which have a higher limit of 21 years. Eighteen years, if I may add, has been adopted as the age limit for gambling in many other jurisdictions, including Hong Kong, United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. It is also incidentally the same age limit set for the consumption of alcohol and tobacco in Singapore. As regards the operators' responsibility towards the age limit, Singapore Pools and Turf Club have actually taken very concrete steps to ensure that the products are not offered to the underaged. This is part of their commitment towards responsible gambling. In fact, all the frontline staff and employees are required to undergo training in terms of executing these gambling measures.”
“We will adopt a balanced approach, allowing the Turf Club some room to enhance awareness of their products and channels so as to divert demand away from the illegal operators, while ensuring sufficient safeguards to protect the youth and other vulnerable groups. We will also extend the regulations to Singapore Pools and the Totalisator Board. This is similar to the approach taken for the Casino Control Act. Clauses 2(a), 11, 13 and 15 of the Bill provide for this change. Increasing the quorum at Board meetings Thirdly, the Bill increases the quorum at Board meetings from three members to a majority of the members to ensure majority representation and sound governance at the Totalisator Board. Clause 16 of the Bill provides for this. Other changes The other changes include removing the need for the Turf Club to seek Minister's approval for by-laws controlling admission to the Turf Club, which are operational in nature; allowing any public officer authorised by the Minister to compound prescribed offences; and consequential amendments to the Betting Act and Common Gaming Houses Act. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.”
“Currently, any variation to the Scheme must be approved by the Minister and published in the Gazette. By removing the Scheme from the subsidiary legislation, and having it administered by the Turf Club under a private contractual arrangement with the Totalisator Board, the Turf Club will be able to respond better to challenges posed by the illegal operators by changing their betting rules and bet types. The Turf Club will still need to seek regulatory approval for the introduction of new gambling products or changes to regulatory conditions such as age limit. This approach is consistent with practices in other jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and Western Australia. It is also consistent with the treatment of operational rules governing lottery games and football betting run by Singapore Pools. Clauses 2(b) to 8, 10 and 12 of the Bill provide for this change. Transferring advertising regulations from main Act to subsidiary legislation The second change relates to the transfer of advertising regulations from the main Act to the subsidiary legislation. The Act currently allows the Turf Club to publish certain information in the newspapers. This includes the hours of business, address and telephone number of Turf Club's betting outlets, and the names of the race meetings. The Act does not cover advertising by Singapore Pools and the Totalisator Board. By removing the advertising regulations from the main Act, and empowering the Minister to make subsidiary legislation on advertising, the regulations can be updated more expeditiously, in response to changes in the operating and social environment.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Today, all forms of gambling in Singapore are prohibited except for selected products offered by the Singapore Totalisator Board and its two agents, Singapore Turf Club and Singapore Pools. While gambling is not an activity that we want to encourage, it is also not something that we can wish away. Imposing a complete ban on gambling will only drive the industry underground and profit the illegal operators. Our approach has therefore been to allow a limited range of gambling products in a controlled environment, with appropriate safeguards for the vulnerable groups. Together with sustained enforcement action against illegal operators and continuing efforts to raise public awareness of the ills of gambling, we can minimise social concerns. The Singapore Totalisator Board has been using and will continue to use the gambling proceeds to fund programmes and projects for the social good. The amendments to the Singapore Totalisator Board Act seek to achieve three objectives. First, to allow the Singapore Turf Club more operational flexibility so as to combat illegal horse betting. Second, to provide the Ministry greater flexibility to update the gambling advertising regulations. And, third, to strengthen governance at the Singapore Totalisator Board. Sir, let me now highlight the key changes. Moving the Singapore Totalisator Scheme out of the Subsidiary Legislation The first change relates to the removal of the Singapore Totalisator Scheme from the subsidiary legislation under the Act. The Scheme governs the administrative and operational aspects of horse racing and betting, such as race fixtures, admissions to the racecourse, and bet types.”
“Sir, I would say that it is impossible to achieve a zero-defect policy. But I would add at the same time that for the ERP system as a whole, LTA does have a standard, which is a system availability of 99.7%. I think that is a high enough standard for the system as a whole. APPOINTMENT OF SCHOOL BUS OPERATORS (Criteria) 14. Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Education what are the criteria used by schools to appoint bus operators to transport students.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, allow me to put the problem in perspective. Currently, there are about nine million ERP transactions in a month. So, the 250 to 300 cases really represent a small percentage of 0.003% of the total transactions. But having said that, it is the intention of both LTA and NETS to reduce the inconvenience for motorists who have been affected by these ERP problems because of technical issues. With the integrated one-stop checks, motorists will not have to keep going down to the LTA and, therefore, avoid the inconvenience of having to make additional trips to get a waiver of the administrative fee.”
“This will provide motorists a convenient one-stop solution to resolve problems encountered with ERP payments.”
“Sir, if I may answer the second point first. Essentially, as I said, there is really a whole range of issues and what the Ministry has done was, over the last two years, to narrow it down to small buses and that is by no means a simple conclusion to arrive at. As regards the two-point versus the three-point system, it is still being debated. If one were to assume that, therefore, as a safety measure, to simply go ahead with the imposition of the two-point belt rule, we would actually close out the possibility of school bus operators who may opt to replace the fleet, when we do decide on the three-point belt rule. So to incur additional costs by imposing something as an interim measure, only to settle on the final position later, I think that would be rather unwise. ELECTRONIC ROAD PRICING CHARGES (Improper payment by motorists) 13. Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Transport what action is taken to address the current problems faced by many motorists with respect to being fined for improper payment of Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges given that they may be attributed to faulty CashCards, In-vehicle units or ERP gantries. Mrs Lim Hwee Hua (for the Minister for Transport): Sir, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Network for the Electronic Transfers (Singapore) Pte Ltd (NETS) are working closely together to assist motorists who have encountered problems with the Electronic Road Pricing or ERP payments. Motorists, whose CashCards or In-vehicle units (IU) are found to be faulty, will get a one-for-one replacement free. LTA will also waive the administrative fee for the ERP violation. In addition, LTA and NETS have announced an arrangement for the integrated testing of NETS CashCard and the IU at LTA's authorised inspection centres from this Wednesday.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I reiterate what I said just now that for existing buses, the focus is on safety and not just on the implementation of the installation of seat belts. The debate is still open as to whether lap belts provide sufficient protection, and to simply impose this as an interim measure is not wise. Therefore, we would rather have that be borne out through a proper study than to have bus operators and, perhaps, even passengers incur interim additional costs, when the position is still not clear.”
“Sir, in terms of whether MOT will regulate what school bus operators charge, the current system of schools tendering out the process and choosing bus operators works rather well. I think there is no real reason why the Ministry should now intervene and attempt to regulate these services because the needs of individual schools are actually quite different. The Ministry, through macro intervention, might not actually be able to do that better. As to the issue of licensing the capacity and the number of seat belts, this will be part of the study that I have referred to, especially for existing buses. For small new buses, going forward, the position is very clear. This would be based on the three-point seat belt rule and to be applied to all new buses. The real challenge is actually with the existing buses and we will have to take this into consideration as we review the study.”
“Sir, currently, the provision of school bus services is actually determined directly by the schools themselves, where they would tender out the process and evaluate the school bus operators on the basis of many factors - the quality of services provided by the bus drivers and the attendant, where appropriate, pricing as well as many other issues. And that is something which we would certainly allow the free market to operate. As to whether there is a justified basis for the operators to pass on the entire cost, what LTA would do is to work directly with all the stakeholders to minimise such cost increases. But, at the end of the day, the imposition of the seat belt rule would have cost implications and someone would therefore have to pick up the tab.”