Lim Swee Say
Singapore
“The number of reports received via the Snap@MOM app, number of valid reports and number of companies issued with enforcement actions between 2015 and 2017 are shown in the table below: All valid reports have resulted in warnings or enforcement actions.”
“In the case of students from ITE, polytechnics or autonomous universities, employers do not need to contribute CPF if the student is employed by them for training that is approved by their institutions.”
“Together with our tripartite partners at the national and sector levels, we have to do our best to transform across all sectors, for our economy to transform and grow, pervasively, as One Singapore Unlimited.”
“Between April and December 2017, the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) and the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT) concluded 3,750 employee salary claims where the employer was ordered to make payment to the worker. Salaries were fully recovered in about 92% of these orders. The remaining claims involved 139 employers.”
“The number of employed residents aged 62 and over, and 67 and over has increased over the last five years (see Table 1 below). Of all employed residents aged 67 and over in 2017, 64% were males; 80% held secondary and below qualifications, 9% had post-secondary qualifications, while 11% were tertiary-educated; 52% of this group of older w…”
“The proportion of full-time resident employees earning below $2,000 who received bonuses, including the Annual Wage Supplement, has remained stable at about 50% over the last decade. Employers and unions share the flexibility in structuring staff remuneration together under our Flexible and Performance Based wage systems.”
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“India started off with services but is now moving into manufacturing. So when all these competitors start to come in to cover all areas, the only way for us to do is to keep creating new space for ourselves in the blue ocean. Of course, if we are big and fast, that is ideal. America is quite close to that, ie, big economy, very dynamic, innovative, so it is a good example of big and fast. But being small and slow is certainly a deadly combination. So, for Singapore, we cannot try to be big. Even if we go to a 6.5 million population, it is still small. So we cannot be big. But we must make sure that we never end up being slow. Because if we are small and slow, that would be the end of Singapore. If we look at Singapore today, we are small but we are fast. And precisely because we are small and fast, as a result, in the latest report published in September last year by the World Economic Forum, Singapore is today one of the top five most competitive economies in the world, together with Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. What are the common features of these top five most competitive economies of the world? Interestingly, they are all small and fast. And this is the reason why we must continue to remain small and fast so that we can continue to grow, prosper and create a better future for all. Sir, please allow me to conclude in Mandarin. EXEMPTED BUSINESS (Motion) Resolved, That the debate on the Budget Statement be proceeded with beyond 7.00 pm and the proceedings thereon be exempted at this day's sitting from the provisions of Standing Order No. 91(3). - [Mr Mah Bow Tan]. ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Debate resumed.”
“Madam, the fact that we have succeeded in creating the wafer fabrication cluster, notwithstanding all the limitations we face in the form of water, land, etc, has given us a lot of confidence that if we continue to apply our minds, upgrade our capabilities, expand our capacities, invest in the future, there is no reason why we cannot continue to succeed in this difficult world of globalisation. Yes, globalisation is challenging and will result in the same implications for all economies. But we all know that globalisation will lead to unequal outcome. Those that are able to respond to globalisation will become winners and those that are not able to respond to globalisation will turn out to be the losers. And we have been a winner in the world of globalisation all these years and we must continue to enlarge the pie, create more jobs, grow our economy, so that there will be the best outcome for all levels of workers. Last but not least, this Budget is also about investing in our future. Earlier, our parliamentary colleague, Ms Lee Bee Wah, said that we should not leave it to chance or chuan dao qiao tou zi ran zhi. I agree with her fully. Singapore of today did not happen by chance. We created the Singapore of today, and we will continue to create the Singapore of tomorrow. We must all recognise that the "blue-ocean economy" of yesterday has become the "blue-sky economy" of today. The "ho tan" will become "giam tan" because of globalisation. Likewise, the "blue-sky economy" of today will end up to be the "red-ocean economy" of tomorrow, and the "giam tan" will become the "bo tan" or "pai tan" because of globalisation. Do we have a choice? Can we run away from globalisation? There is no way. China started off with manufacturing. They are now moving into services.”
“In fact, it is not easy to attract this kind of investment. But precisely because it is so difficult to compete for wafer fabrication investments, it gives us a better chance of succeeding. Why? Because the more difficult it is, the more we can run ahead of the competition. Take water, for example. We have not much water. But PUB came up with NEWater. As a result, today, almost every wafer fabrication plant in Singapore no longer uses PUB water. They have all switched to NEWater. It is cleaner and cheaper. In terms of land, we have limited land, but URA did a rezoning and, over the last 10 years, we created not one, two, three but four wafer fab parks, from Woodlands, Tampines and Pasir Ris to Ang Mo Kio. In terms of manpower, do we have enough manpower? Over 10 years of development, we have attracted about 14 to 15 wafer fabrication plants. Today, there is a cluster in Singapore. The total employment is 15,000 people working in the wafer fab plants. And the interesting thing is that if you look at the operator's level, in fact, about two-thirds of them are foreign workers. But at the PMET level, 80% are Singaporeans and PRs. In other words, because we are smart and receptive enough to bring the foreign workers and foreign talents from around the world, as a result, not only are we able to create an industry cluster and 15,000 good-paying jobs, most of the good-paying jobs go to Singaporeans.”
“But the bad news is that more and more countries and economies are going after these good investments and jobs. Just three days ago, on Monday, on the front page of the Straits Times was a report headlined "India going all out to woo wafer fab plants". Why is India all of a sudden interested in competing for wafer fabrication plants? Because if you look at wafer fabrication plants, firstly, it is capital-intensive. Every wafer fabrication plant will cost about US$1 billion to US$2 billion to build. Secondly, it is technology-intensive. Thirdly, it is manpower-intensive. Every wafer fabrication plant will create about 1,000 jobs. So, for such investments, there is high-tech, high capital and high manpower demand as well as good paying jobs. Obviously, these are good investments that many countries would want to compete for. So the bad news is that more and more people are competing for all these good investments. Where does that leave Singapore? On the whole, I would say that the outlook is still positive. Why? Because it is very difficult to satisfy the demand of these wafer fabrication plant investors. For example, wafer fabrication is water-intensive. Every plant will consume about half a million to one million gallons of water every day. More importantly, the water must be very pure because they are dealing with integrated circuits. They also need a big piece of land because you cannot stack wafer fabs one on top of another and make them high-rise factories. As I mentioned, they need a lot of manpower, about 1,000. And not just any manpower, but well-trained, skilled and professional manpower. On top of that, all these integrated circuits (ICs) do not take ship; they go by air. So you must have good air cargo logistics services.”
“In a recent report released by the Department of Statistics on key household income trends, it is very interesting if we look at the overall average household monthly income from work per capita, ie, taking the average income earned per month from every household divided by the number of persons per family. So it is the dollar income per month per person from work. In 2002, on the whole, throughout Singapore, the average income from work per capita per household dropped by 2.1% from the year 2001. But last year, it went up by 5.7%. Why is it so? Because 2006 was a good year. The economy grew strongly, companies and industries were profitable, bonuses went up and, as a result, average income per capita went up by 5.7%. In fact, everybody benefited from this rise in average household income per capita. Take, for example, the bottom 30th percentile. The increase in per capita household income went up by 5.2% to 6.6%. So it is not an insignificant increase. The middle-income group, ie, the 40th to 50th percentile, went up by 4.2%-4.6%, and the top-income obviously is the happiest group because it went up by 8%. In other words, creating jobs and growth is the best Workfare for the middle-income workers because, with a tight labour market and profitable industries, there would be more to share for everyone. The question is, will we be able to continue to create high growth, strong job growth in 2007, just like in 2006? The answer is that it may be yes, it may be no. May be yes, because we have all the right strategies in place; may be no, if we are not able to meet the global competition. The good news is this. In the world out there, there are still many good investments and good jobs for us to chase after.”
“Of course, this is important, but it is also important that we do not lose sight of the bigger picture. The bigger picture is to help our low-wage workers to grow their wage pie, and that can only be done if we ride on the introduction of Workfare, help more workers to upgrade their skills and jobs and, at the same time, bring them onto the social safety net. In other words, I would like to repeat what many MPs have said in the last two days. We are happy that Workfare is a permanent feature of the Singapore social safety net, but we hope that the individual recipients do not become permanent recipients of the Workfare incentives. Let me now go on to touch on the issue of the middle-income workers. A few fellow parliamentary colleagues mentioned that many of the middle-income workers feel that they have not been as well looked after in this particular Budget as compared to, say, the low-wage and other categories of workers. I want to share a labour movement perspective. When I first joined the labour movement in 1996, I visited Japan. There, I met with a union leader and I asked her: "In Japan, what is your main concern?" She said that, in Japan, they believe that if the workers were to chase after money, money will run away from the workers. But if the workers chase after jobs, money will run to the workers. She went on to say that, "Better still, if we can get workers to chase after jobs and jobs chase after workers, then all will be well because, if the labour market is tight, wages will go up." I am happy to say that, in fact, this is what is happening in Singapore. It is something that I hope more of us will pay attention to.”
“For example, NParks says, "Look, I am calling a contract for 10 workers. Please bid." When they specify a headcount, what happens? Companies will bid based on a headcount of 10. If you were to look at the competitive bids, eventually the one who submits a lower bid would win the tender. But since the headcount is fixed, what it means is that the dollar available per worker has also come down. But under Best Sourcing, NParks adopts the concept of performance-based system. In other words, they do not specify the headcount. They just specify the performance standards needed, and every week and every month, NParks officers will go around assessing the quality of the work. If the contractor scores 80% or more, they get full payment. If they score only 75%, they get 88% payment. If they score less than 59%, they get zero payment. So, it is truly a performance-based system. As a result, under this programme, the contractors would make sure that they do the best possible job with as fewer workers as possible. Why? Because if you do the best possible job, you get higher payment. At the same time, with fewer workers, higher productivity per worker, they can reward each worker with a higher salary. As a result, the workers are better motivated. Again, I am happy to say that, under this Best Sourcing initiative, the wages of about 195 Singaporean landscaping technicians have gone up from $1,050 per month two years ago to an average pay of about $1,200 today, ie, a 15% increase. Madam, I want to emphasise the point that when we look at Workfare this year, I hope that we do not look at it in the narrow sense of just asking about how many dollars in cash, how much in CPF for each individual worker.”
“But today, in the case of Horsburgh, 90% of the cleaners are actually Singaporeans. You may wonder why. Why is it that 2 1/2 years ago, Singaporeans did not take the job, and today, two to three years later, 90% of them are Singaporeans? The cynical one will say that, "Oh, now, the workers have no choice. They are forced to take on these dirty, lousy paying jobs." But that is not the truth. The truth is that, over the last two to three years, the NEA has been, firstly, doing industry development by upgrading industry and, secondly, manpower development by upgrading the skills of the workers. As a result, of the 400 cleaners, 85% of them are more than 40 years old. The oldest is 70 years old. They are now earning between $900 and $1,300, depending on how productive they are, how hard they are prepared to work. Compared to two to three years ago, the total wage has gone up by 20% to 30%; in some cases, in fact, almost 50%. More importantly, every one of them is National Skill Recognition System (NSRS) certified. So they know the proper way of cleaning. At the same time, I am happy to say that every one of the 400 is entitled to annual leave, insurance, medical coverage and every one of them is on CPF. This sounds like music to the ears for Mdm Halimah. This is in fact the case where workers are not exploited under this "blue sky" competition. Another example is NParks. NParks has, since 16 months ago, decided to embark on the best sourcing initiatives. NParks manages 52 parks, 233 neighbourhood parks and 21 connectors. They have about 32 maintenance contracts with the industry to maintain all these facilities. Of the 32 contracts, 17 of them are now under this Best Sourcing initiative. How does it work? In the past, NParks would call for a headcount contract.”
“That is the reason why the labour movement, over the last two to three years, has been working very closely with the Ministry of Manpower, Workforce Development Authority and Singapore National Employers Federation, through a tripartite effort, to find ways to help our workers to upgrade, redesign and recreate their jobs. I am happy to say that over the last two to three years, we have been getting some promising results. Yesterday and today, quite a number of MPs have said that if we feel that cheap sourcing is the cause of the problem and that best sourcing is the solution, then the Government should take the lead. Here, I am happy to say that, in fact, several Government agencies have taken the lead. This afternoon, I would just like to mention two examples. The first example I want to quote, in terms of adopting the concept of best sourcing, is the National Environment Agency (NEA). NEA manages 27 hawker centres. For the last two to three years, the NEA had been adopting a performance-based, best-sourcing approach. For example, there is a company called Horsburgh Engineering. It is a very responsible company. The company does not believe in engaging in "red ocean" competition. It believes in competing under the "blue sky" by ensuring that productivity and quality of service are good. Because of the performance based, best sourcing approach adopted by NEA, Horsburgh Engineering, even though they are not the lowest cost supplier, has been able to secure 11 out of the 27 hawker centre cleaning contracts. To clean the 11 hawker centres, Horsburgh employs 400 cleaners. What is even more exciting is that two to three years ago, 70% of the hawker centre cleaners were illegal foreign workers.”
“] Mr Low Thia Khiang said that the Singapore Government is not sincere in helping the informal workers. From the labour movement's point of view, I am not quite sure why he said this. Does it mean that $1 of Workfare in the form of CPF top-up is not real money? Or is it smaller in value? No, it is not. Every dollar is a real dollar, it is genuine and not counterfeit money, and it is not smaller in value. Also, does it mean that low-income workers do not need to have a house for them to live in? Does it mean that they will not fall sick? Does it mean that they will not retire forever? Therefore, I disagree with what Mr Low Thia Khiang said. He said that the Government lacks sincerity. However, from the labour's point of view, I say, in fact, our Government has a very good intention. (In English ): The purpose of Workfare is to supplement the income of the low-wage workers but, more importantly, to help more and more low-wage workers and informal workers, in particular, to join the social safety net. *Cols. 2049-2050. Let me also say that there is another important purpose of the Workfare which is to find ways to help our workers to keep growing their total wage pie. The problem faced by low-wage workers is that if their wage pie is small, it does not matter how we cut the wage pie, whether it is today's cash or tomorrow's CPF. This eventually is still "money no enough". So the way to really solve the low-wage workers' problem is to find ways to enlarge their wage pie and that can only be done if we can find ways to upgrade and enhance their productivity.”
“5% of her salary in the form of CPF and her employer pays 3.5%. So every month, she adds another $121 into her CPF Account. So when Workfare announcement came, she was very happy. Why? Because on top of $121 she is contributing to her own CPF account today, under the Workfare, she will be getting another $677 in CPF top-up. She will also get another $274 in cash. Because we have reduced the CPF employee's contribution rate, her take home pay will go up even more. So here we have two situations - an informal worker without CPF, a formal worker with CPF. Both are low-wage workers. But the formal worker, because she took pains to contribute to CPF, as a result, her housing need is addressed, her medical care is addressed, her retirement saving is addressed as well. Let me put it this way. The reason why the labour movement fully supports the linkage of Workfare to Medisave and CPF is because we do not look at Workfare simply as a means to supplement the income of low-wage workers. In fact, we believe there should be a much bigger, much more important objective behind the introduction of Workfare. In other words, through Workfare, we not only want to encourage workers to look for jobs, but more importantly, we want workers to join the Singapore's social safety net. This social safety net today has got three pillars - housing through OA, medical care through Medisave, retirement through Special Account. And we believe that, by linking Workfare also to CPF scheme, in fact, we now have a complete system to attract more and more workers to join this social safety net. It is indeed very important that they join this safety net. (In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.”
“His second problem is that he has not been contributing Medisave. If he , his wife and the two children were to fall sick, who is going to fund his Medisave, where is he going to find the money to join the MediShield? So medical care is the second problem. His third problem is that today, he is 46 years old. If he continues working this way until he reaches the retirement age of 62, will he have enough money in his Special Account for his retirement? He does not think so. And we do not think so too. So here we have an informal worker doing his best to earn a living, taking home every dollar in the form of cash, but yet running into growing problems compared to those days when he was paying CPF. He has no new OA, no new Medisave, and in the future, no Special Account for retirement. Here is another situation. Ms Lee Peck Lian, 63 years old. She worked almost her entire life as a hawker, earning about $600 per month for the last 30 years. But, fortunately, for her, over the last 30 years, she had faithfully made her Medisave contribution. Today, her 3-room flat, I believe, is fully paid by her and her husband. So she does not have to worry about her housing loan. After working 30 years as a hawker, she decided to stop working as a hawker and, instead, she became a restroom cleaner in a hawker centre some two and a half years ago. She now earns $700 per month. With overtime of $400 a month, she is making about $1,100 a month. Because of the years of contribution to Medisave and having completed paying her housing loan, she now has $12,000 in her Medisave Account and Special Account. Over the past 2 1/2 years, because she had been contributing to CPF, she had accumulated another $3,000 in her OA. On top of that, every month, because she is now 63 years old, she pays 7.”
“Why do we tie Workfare to CPF? Why not let informal workers enjoy the Workfare in the form of cash instead of Medisave? The argument is that low-wage workers need the dollars today, not tomorrow. The labour movement strongly support and are 100% behind this linkage of the Workfare to Medisave and CPF. Let me explain. Instead of talking to you in theory and concept, let me give you two real case situations and make a comparison. There is a gentleman, his name is Mr Prunari, 46 years old. He used to work as a general labourer with CPF. Until two years, he left the job, and today, he is working as an informal worker. He works and he receives pay, but he does not pay CPF. He does not make CPF contribution. He does not make Medisave contribution. Every dollar he earns, he brings home. He is happy with that. But now, he has other problems. He is living in a 4-room flat together with his wife and two children. His wife is not working and is a full-time housewife. He alone has to service the housing loan. The housing loan repayment every month is $550. Before he became an informal worker, he had no problem servicing the housing loan. Because, under the CPF, he has an Ordinary Account and the money in the Ordinary Account was enough for him to service his housing loan. After two years of not topping his Ordinary Account, he now has $4,000 in his Ordinary Account. But his problem is that he has old OA money, but not new OA dollar because he has stopped contributing to his CPF for the last two years. At the rate things are going, within about eight to 10 months, he will be running out of money in his OA Account. So in the future, every dollar of $550 monthly repayment would have to come from his own pocket. This is his first problem.”
“But the difference is that ours is 1,000 Singapore dollars and theirs is 1,000 renminbi. After conversion to US dollars, we are about five times more expensive, in terms of labour cost per hour. As a result, because of the "blue sky" competition, just like the many spas in that little street, nobody dares to raise their charges beyond 200 bahts because when you do that, you will be out of business. It is the same thing. Wages in Singapore for the rank and file workers, for some of them at least, when they are caught in this very intense "blue sky" competition, their wages cannot go up. Yet, there is another group of workers whose wages also cannot go up. Sometimes the wages may even drop because they are the "red ocean" workers. Yesterday, several fellow MPs talked about their concern for cheap sourcing. With more companies embarking on outsourcing, and if more and more of them were to engage in cheap sourcing, then over time, more and more of our workers could be caught by this cut-throat competition and, as a result, become workers sinking or floating in the "red ocean". Because of this very intense "blue sky" competition and "red ocean" competition, we have now institutionalise Workfare, making it the fourth pillar of our social safety net. This is the reason why the labour movement welcome this very much. When the Prime Minister announced the setting up of Workfare as a permanent feature, the labour movement cheered. We cheer because on the ground, we can feel the pain suffered by these low-wage workers and we believe that the Workfare as the fourth pillar of safety net will come as a relief to many of them. Having said that, over the last few weeks, there have been a lot of discussions about what is the purpose of Workfare and why do we tie Workfare to Medisave?”
“For the 90 bahts-per-hour kind of spas, they call it the "pai tan" or the "bo tan" type of business. And for the 1,000 bahts, I think you have guessed it, it is called the "ho tan" business. So when we ask our local businessmen what business they are in, they will say either "ho tan", "pai tan" or "giam tan". Of course, the management consultants cannot make money if they use terms such as "giam tan", 'ho tan" or "pai tan". So they come out with very creative terminology. They describe the 200 bahts type as "blue sky economy" - under the blue sky, crowded place, highly competitive, low margin, big volume. And those competing on low cost, low price, they call them the "red ocean". And those going for the high margin, they call them the "blue ocean". Why "blue ocean"? Because the "blue ocean" is a beautiful ocean, not too crowded. If you can survive in the blue ocean, you have the whole catchment to yourself. Why "red ocean"? Because in "red ocean", people undercut each other, they engage in cut-throat business. When you cut the throat, blood will flow and the blue ocean will turn to red ocean. In Bangkok, the spa capital of the world, the three types of economy co-exist - "red ocean", "blue sky", "blue ocean". In fact, not just in Bangkok, all over the world, these three categories of economy co-exist. In Singapore, it is also the same. Some of our companies are competing under the "blue sky". Our factory workers, for example, for a long time, their wages have been stuck at about $1,000 per month. Sometimes, the workers will ask the union leaders, "Union leaders, can you do something for us? Raise our wages." But we could not. Why? Because workers in Singapore are paid $1,000 per month. Workers in China are also paid $1,000 per month.”
“Sir, Bangkok is the spa capital of the world. There is a street in Bangkok, a very vibrant place. On that street alone there must be about 20 to 30 spas. The place is very vibrant, especially at night. You can choose any of these spas, you get good services from foot massage to body massage. They charge 200 bahts per hour, about eight Singapore dollars an hour, and the place is very vibrant because many customers go there since it is competitive and convenient. But yet, not too far away, if you take a cab, ten minutes away, there is another cluster of spas. Customers go there not because it is more convenient and better, but because it is cheaper since they charge only 90 bahts per hour. So for customers who believe in "cheaper is better", they take a taxi to go to that place and they pay 90 bahts an hour. Yet, ten minutes away in the other direction, there is another cluster of spas. They compete differently because charging 200 bahts per hour means the profit margin is small. They will have to depend a lot on volume. So these spas decide to compete differently. They offer massage with something special - the room, decor, music, food and ambience are fantastic. For that, they charge 1,000 bahts per hour. In other words, you look at the spa capital of the world, they have spas competing on 200 bahts for the mass market, 90 bahts for the “cheaper is better” type of customers, or 1,000 bahts per hour on the basis of differentiation. In our local terminology using our local language, we describe the 200 bahts-per-hour spa which is based on convenience, competition, high volume with low profit margin as "giam tan" business. "Giam tan" means profit margin is small but you survive on big volume.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, from the labour movement's point of view, this year's Budget is a win-win Budget. The cut of two percentage points in corporate tax rate is a win for businesses. So this is a pro-business Budget because with the reduction in corporate tax, companies will have more profit and, as a result, be able to not just reward the workers better but, more importantly, also invest for the future and continue to grow. At the same time, this Budget is also a win for the workers because the 1.5 percentage point restoration of employees' CPF and the introduction of Workfare as a permanent feature of our social safety net are important for the long-term welfare of the workers. So it is a pro-worker budget as well. Last but not least, this is also a pro-Singapore Budget because, with the increase in GST, the Government will be able to do an even better job in ensuring that the Singapore economy will be competitive and the society will be cohesive. Therefore, the labour movement welcomes fully this pro-business, pro-worker, and pro-Singapore Budget. Having said that, the question in our minds is: does this mean that, with such a good Budget, all our problems are solved? Does it mean that the problems of low-wage workers would disappear? Does it mean that the economy of Singapore will always continue to grow? Does it mean that Singapore will always make progress as a successful nation? The answer is probably "no". No matter how good the Budget is, it is only part of the solution, it is not the entire solution. So I would like to talk about, from the labour movement's point of view, how workers should look at this Budget and how to work together to achieve even better outcomes, better still, the best outcome for all Singaporean, for all workers.”
“The Centre for Fathering runs programmes, like father- child bonding camps and talks for single men; PPIS-Jurong Family Service Centre and ADAFM conduct regular workshops and support groups for men. Recently, MCYS provided support for "dear dad" and seminars supporting men involving in preparing and parenting and "dear child" photographic exhibition focusing on men and children jointly organised by the Swedish Institute. MYCS will continue to monitor the needs in our community and work with the VWOs and people sector to introduce new programmes where necessary for both men and women. Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim (Nominated Member): Sir, I was visiting the MCYS website and I saw a whole list of services to women in need. I would like to propose that the Ministry put up similar services to men in need.”
“The Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon) (for the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports): Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry has been conducting studies and surveys on issues affecting individuals and families in their various significant life stages. Gender comparisons, taking into account different age groups, ethnicity, etc, has been a standard feature of the analysis and recommendations. Most counselling services, crisis assistance and other family support services provided by Family Service Centres (FSCs), voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs), etc, are non-gender specific. They target individuals and families who need assistance. Most social workers take a systematic orientation of helping individuals and families. For example, in helping families deal with domestic violence issues, help is provided to both men and women. Notwithstanding this, we recognise that the men do face certain gender specific issues pertaining to their roles as husbands, fathers and as the main breadwinner. MCYS has therefore worked with the VWOs to develop programmes to address such needs. For example, in response to observations that there has been an increase in male clientele at FSC and VWO-run services, we are now encouraging and supporting more male specific initiatives with VWOs and community partners who provide developmental, preventive as well as remedial programmes for men to help them address some of their concerns. MCYS has also been supporting and working with VWOs, like the Centre for Fathering, Young Women Muslim Association, Jurong Family Service Centre and the Association for Devoted and Active Family Men (ADAFM) to run programmes for men.”
“Sir, Dr Warren Lee is correct that cyclists are not allowed to use the hiking trail because that would pose a danger and inconvenience to the hikers. What NParks has done is to work very closely with the Singapore Amateur Cycling Association and the various cycling groups. In fact, according to the assessment of NParks, the situation has improved. Over the last few months, the Singapore Amateur Cycling Association and the various cycling groups have come together to promote greater awareness among their members by encouraging them not to go on to the hiking trail. Those who want to do cycling should use the biking trail. Sir, we do have biking trails along the perimeters of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. We are extending these biking trails so that hopefully, over time, there will be more biking trails for the bikers. The bottomline is that the bikers should not go on the hiking trail and the hikers should not go on the biking trail. As long as they keep away from each other, things will be all right. Last year, of the about 150 offences, none of them were due to illegal cycling in our nature reserves. In other words, the cyclists indeed have been cooperating. COUNSELLING SERVICES FOR MEN IN NEED OF HELP 19. Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) whether the Ministry has conducted studies and surveys of issues and problems involving men and masculinities with respect to different age groups, income levels, ethnic origins, etc; and (b) whether the Ministry will initiate and set up programmes and services to provide help, counselling services and crisis assistance to the men faced with problems, parallel to the various programmes and services that have been set up to help women in need.”
“Whether golfers or members of the public, we will just have to learn to co-exist so that we can enjoy nature without risking each other. But more importantly, without risking nature.”
“Sir, the location of the Tree-Top Walk is such that it is in the middle of the nature reserve. The Member is correct that there is no direct access to the Tree-Top Walk, in the sense that you do not see a big road or path going direct to the Tree-Top Walk. The question is whether the current situation will put the safety of the public at risk. My own assessment is that I do not think so. If Members were to go to the Tree-Top Walk, they will realise that the way to get to the Tree-Top Walk is to walk along a road path right next to the New Course of the Singapore Island Country Club. On a typical day, maybe 100-150 players will use the road. In other words, the number of cars using that road is very limited. Also, as golfers do not tee-off any time of the day, you can expect about 50-100 cars or so using that road mainly from 7 o'clock to 9 o'clock in the morning. Sir, I have been to the Tree-Top Walk myself. I can assure the Member that the speed limit on the Island Country Club Road is actually 20-25 kph. It is also full of humps. So even if the golfers were impatient and wanted to speed, it is not possible for them to speed because of the many humps on the road. Hence, from my personal observation, the speed on that road is being observed at 20-25 kph. From time to time, I play golf there and I have noticed that all have to drive very slowly there. I want to assure the Member that while this concern for safety is a valid one, I do not think members of the public are being exposed to unnecessary risks. Of course, the question is whether there is any other alternative. One alternative will be for us to cut down the trees and build a road directly to the Tree-Top Walk. If we were to do that, then we will be destroying nature.”
“Let us work together to overcome this challenge and let us develop the integrated resorts for maximum benefit to our economy at minimum cost to our society.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank Mr Low for responding in a positively and calm manner. We can see that on this issue, even though we may hold different opinions, we can still have a positive exchange of views. My Chinese is not so good and there are a lot of concepts I cannot express fully. Recently, I had the opportunity to meet the Deputy Chairman of the All China Federation of Trade Unions and he said something which was very meaningful. I asked him, "As the leader of the trade unions in China, what is your biggest worry?" He said, "Big development, small difficulty. Small development, big difficulty. No development, most difficult." In other words, if the economy cannot develop and grow, there would be more and more social problems. Therefore, every country, whether a country like China with 1.3 billion people or Singapore with four million people, the challenge is the same, that is, how to sustain our economic development so as to minimise our social problems. So when Mr Low said that it is not possible to have a win-win situation, I hope that Mr Low will not give up his endeavour to look for a solution that would achieve both our economic and social objectives. My reasoning is that half a success is equivalent to a failure. If we were to build the integrated resorts and we have only half a success - from the economic point of view, the IRs could be very successful but the society has degenerated - then we would have failed. We have to take a bold decision that the only way forward is to go for total success for both sides, ie, economically and socially. I hope Mr Low and the Workers' Party would respond positively.”
“Sir, assuming that this House was to pass this Bill this afternoon, then NParks intends to announce the first list of the roads to be gazetted as Heritage Roads. So, at this moment, I am not in a position to disclose any information. Hopefully, by the end of today, NParks will be in a position to provide the information. Secondly, Dr Geh Min asked whether the public can come forward with suggestions. Of course, any suggestion from the public is most welcome. On the part of NParks, they have identified some of the roads as potential areas to be gazetted. But if the Nature Society or members of the public have any other suggestions, I welcome them. But please bear in mind that the Heritage Roads will be gazetted on a highly selective basis. It has to satisfy two criteria: firstly, tall green walls and; secondly, with nice green buffer to create the overall effect of a green and natural environment. 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. - [Mr Lim Swee Say]. Bill considered in Committee. [Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair]”
“Once we have the watch list in place, what we can assure Members is that any development that will affect these roads will be given very careful consideration to make sure that all other alternatives are being explored.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, first of all, I want to clarify the difference between the Tree Conservation Area (TCA) and Heritage Roads. When we talk about Heritage Roads, we are talking about roads which have a green wall of trees supported by a green buffer of up to 10 metres. In the case of the Tree Conservation Area, basically only the trees on the green verges will be protected. In other words, when an area is being designated as a TCA, it has no impact on the landowner because the protection of the TCA applies to the green verges by the roadside in a public area; it does not cut into the areas owned by the private owner. In the case of the Heritage Roads, it will cover up to 10 metres of the green buffer. Should this green buffer cut into a private land currently owned by a private sector owner, again this buffer requirement will not be applied to the existing owner. However, what I have said earlier was that in time to come, should there be a transfer of ownership from the public sector to the private sector, then the green buffer requirement will apply to the new owner, because in the process of acquiring that piece of land, the new owner should know that the condition is already in place and in force. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to the watch list, at this moment, I would say that our first step is to identify a few roads to be gazetted publicly as Heritage Roads. As far as the watch list is concerned, we are still in the process of building up the list. Whether in time to come, we want to release the information, let us take it one step at a time, because for many of these roads, we have to consult various agencies to find out what are the development plans. But my point here is this.”
“As and when there is any development that will affect these roads on the watch list, all the agents (LTA, URA, HDB, NParks and so on) will pay particular attention to make sure that all alternatives are being explored and that the impact on the environment will be fully assessed. Sir, last but not least, Dr Amy Khor suggested we step up public education and we should do so with the community through partnership with the CDCs, the Town Councils, the Nature Society, and so on. I fully agree with that. Over the years, NParks has transformed Singapore into a Garden City. The next step that we intend to take is to transform Singapore into a Green Community, which means that we want to inculcate this appreciation for nature, and this love for planting trees in the community. For that to happen, NParks would be working very closely with the CDCs, the Town Councils, the CCs, the various grassroots organisations. Hopefully, in time to come, the Green Community will take root in Singapore. Sir, in conclusion, I thank both Members for their support and by working along the line that they have suggested, we hope that Singapore will not only be green on the outside but, more importantly, every Singaporean will be green in the inside as well.”
“In other words, we do not expect too many roads to qualify as Heritage Roads. And since we are going to do it selectively, we do not think that the impact on the land value will be significant. In fact, we believe that the gazetting of certain roads into Heritage Roads will, in fact, enhance the value in the surroundings, because I think everybody who lives in the city would like to live near a Heritage Road. Thirdly, Dr Amy Khor commented that the fines have gone up by five times and that the Bill introduces a six months' jail term. Sir, I just want to clarify that the six months' jail term, in fact, was already in the existing regulation. In other words, it is not a new addition. As for the increase in the fine from $10,000 to $50,000, as I mentioned earlier, most of these damages were caused by developers and construction companies in the course of construction works. As far as the members of the public are concerned, we do not expect them to wilfully go and damage many of our mature trees. In any case, for trees outside the Tree Conservation Area, we regulate that through the Parks and Trees Rules. Right now, the maximum fine is $5,000, and with the passage of this Bill, this will go up to $10,000. So, for members of the public, I want to remind them that even $10,000 is a hefty fine, so please help us take care of our nature and not damage these public trees at public places. Fourthly, Dr Amy Khor suggested that we step up inter-Ministry consultation. I believe that is the point made by Dr Geh Min as well. That I fully agree. In fact, Members of the House may be pleased to note that NParks has compiled a list of roads - what we call a watch list. Even though these roads will not be gazetted as Heritage Roads, we will still pay special attention to these roads.”
“" This is a very stark reminder that many countries and many cities are learning from our experience but yet, at the same time, in the spirit of healthy competition, they all aspire to do better. And if we stop progressing, if we stop to aspire to do better in Singapore, then the day will come when we have to go to other places and say, "How I wish I can do a job as good as you." Therefore, I fully agree with Dr Amy Khor that sustaining Singapore as a garden city, going a further step to make Singapore a city in a garden, is a challenge that we all should share and embrace. Dr Amy Khor brought up a few points. I would like to respond to them quickly. Firstly, Dr Amy Khor hoped that the planning approval process should not be delayed as a result of the formalisation of NParks' regulatory function. Here, I want to assure Dr Amy Khor that as far as the Qualified Persons are concerned, the process of filing for applications is still the same. They still go through CORENET. All they need to do now is to add one more item into the distribution list, and this is NParks. As far as the NParks' process is concerned, it is no different from before because NParks will continue to do what it is doing currently in processing the applications. In other words, we do not expect any undue delay, resulting from the formalisation of NParks' functions. Secondly, Dr Amy Khor said that the legislation of Heritage Roads may have a negative effect on the land value and asked that the public be consulted. Sir, I want to assure Dr Amy Khor that the identification of roads to be gazetted as Heritage Roads will be done highly selectively for the simple reason that there are not many roads in Singapore that have that nice green wall, backed with a nice green buffer.”
“Sir, on the whole, I do share Dr Geh Min's point that we need to do whatever we can to preserve the natural capital of Singapore and, better still, to create natural value as we move along. But at the same time, I want to remind the House that it is an ongoing challenge to balance between preserving natural capital versus meeting the needs of land use requirement. Sir, let me move on to respond to some of the points made by Dr Amy Khor. She pointed out that a lot more needs to be done as we move forward, to make sure that Singapore will remain a garden city and, in fact, better still, become a city in a garden. I fully share her viewpoint on this. Last month, in December, I went to Shanghai with my family on a vacation. My wife and children visited Pudong for the first time. The tour guide explained the development of Pudong to us. At Pudong, we saw many tall buildings. The tour guide was very proud, as they now have one of the most developed new cities in the Asia Pacific. As we walked the ground of Pudong, there was a big and beautiful garden. The tour guide said, "Mr Lim, do you notice that Pudong has got many tall buildings and, at the same time, we plant a lot of trees and flowers? We did this because we learnt from Singapore. Singapore is a garden city." When he said that, I was very proud, I felt very good. And then came the punch line. He said, "Mr Lim, I believe that Shanghai can do a better job than Singapore, because we are bigger than Singapore. We have more land, we have more space and, as a result, we can do a much better job in terms of making Shanghai not just a beautiful city but also a beautiful garden.”
“In other words, I would not disagree with Dr Geh Min that, from time to time, we may have to subtract value from our natural capital in order to create economic value. But, at the same time, it is also important for us to recognise that we do invest some of our economic value to further create natural value. Dr Amy Khor mentioned the construction of SBG 2 at Marina South. The SBG 2 will cost us hundreds of millions of dollars, and I believe that it is a good example of how we are using our economic value to create value in natural capital. Dr Geh Min asked why do we not gazette marine nature reserves, why do we not make EIA compulsory and so on? Basically, the fundamental issue here is whether we recognise that the core issue facing Singapore, a small island with limited land resources, is the needs of land use requirement and the need to conserve nature reserves. The balancing between the two is the core issue. If we recognise that balancing natural reserves and land use requirement is indeed the core issue, I think we can manage the process, and indeed we have done so over the past many years, and I think we are doing a very good job. But if we do not recognise that we need to balance between the two - in other words, every time when we have to choose between conserving nature versus satisfying a new land use requirement, if we keep on saying that we have to conserve nature at the expense of meeting our land use requirement - then I would think that instituting public consultation and formalising EIA will only lead to more dialogues and more disagreements, but it will not lead to any harmonisation of both goals, and I do not see how this will make Singapore more sustainable.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank Dr Geh Min and Dr Amy Khor for their contributions as well as their support for the Bill. First, let me respond to the points raised by Dr Geh Min. I agree with her that in terms of natural capital, Singapore is one of the richest in the world. I was told by NParks that in terms of the number of tree species in our Botanic Gardens, it is more than what you can find in the whole of Europe. However, I do not necessarily share the view of Dr Geh Min that, over the years, we have been subtracting value from this natural capital that we have. When I was the Minister for the Environment, about two years ago, I attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Environmentalists, naturalists, socialists and economists were there at that particular gathering. The conclusion was a very simple one - that if we were to keep the world moving forward, we would need to harmonise all three areas of economic development, social progress and environmental management. In other words, when we talk about value creation, value adding or value subtraction, we have to look at all the three types of values in a holistic way. I want to remind the House that in order to conserve and preserve the natural capital of Singapore, it costs us a lot of money every year. It costs us millions of dollars every year to keep Singapore green. If we were to insist that every natural value - every tree, every grass, every plant - has to be left untouched, then we are not going to be able to pursue our economic value creation. If we are not able to create economic value, then where do we find the resources to preserve our natural value?”
“Sir, on the part of AVA, we do not impose any limitation on the number of eggs that the egg farms are allowed to produce. In other words, this is purely a business decision. SCHOLARSHIPS (To develop students into world-class Southeast Asian specialists) The following Question stood in the name of Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong - 9. To ask the Minister for Education, in view of the plan to offer scholarships to 100 to 200 students each year for them to develop a deep understanding of Chinese culture and history and a strong command of the Chinese language, whether scholarships can also be offered to students to develop them into world-class Southeast Asian specialists, as Singapore is located at the heart of Southeast Asia.”
“Sir, as I mentioned earlier, the next review on the lifting of import ban will be on 11th September.In the event that we are not able to lift the ban and that the ban has to be imposed for a longer period, the AVA and the relevant agencies will consider extendingthe rebate duration. The next reviewwill be on 11th September and we will take it one step at a time.”
“In other words, today, we cannot import eggs or chickens from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Korea and Japan because they are all affected by the Avian flu. My point here is that while it is easy to talk about developing alternative sourcesin nearby countries,in practice, it is very difficult to do so because when the disease hits us, it hits the entire region. But, notwithstanding that, I do not rule out the possibility. In fact, in my dialogue with the slaughter houses last week, one of the gentlemen asked whether it is possible for them to pursue the concept, and I told them that AVA will facilitate. In other words, if they are prepared to put in the investment and necessary measures to ensure that a particular island or region issafe fromAvian flu,AVA is prepared to look into the possibility of accrediting that particular farm as a potential source of supply. But we will leave all these to the market forces to decide.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir,AVA does monitor the prices in the market. But I think what Mr Steve Chia is asking is whether we can do something to prevent the escalation of prices.Sir, this is not possible because, as I mentioned earlier, supply has dropped from 100% to 30%. When supply is not able tomeet demand, obviously prices will go up. Mr Steve Chia may want to know that,at this moment, more and more trading houses arebringing in alternative supply from Australia and New Zealand, andfrom the Netherlands too. These sources of supply will be more expensive.In other words, we are going to see prices going up in the market, firstly, due to shortage of supply and, secondly, due to the higher costs ofalternative supply. Therefore, price escalation in the short-term is unavoidable. Secondly, Mr Steve Chia asked what are the long-term plans to prevent this sudden shortage in supply. As I mentioned earlier,we have put in place alternative supply from Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands,as well asliquid eggs,powder eggs. The reason why these have not taken off in a big scale is thehigher costs of supply. In other words, today, consumers do havea choice. If they are prepared to paya higher pricefor the additional supply, the supply will be there. For example, NTUC FairPrice is bringing in eggs from Australia. By the time it comes to the marketplace, it will cost about 40 cents per egg. So for those who are prepared to pay 40 cents per eggfrom Australia, the supply will be there. Thirdly, Mr Steve Chia asked whether we have looked into places like Indonesia. Sir, let me just point out thatin fact, most of the Asian countries are affected by theHPAI.”
“Andwhen there is an outbreak, when 70% of the supply from Malaysia is being stopped,the supply drops from 100% to 30%, plus1% or so from Australia and New Zealand. This is the reason why we have this shortage today. The AVA has alsobeen encouraging the importation of liquid eggs and powder eggs. For example, many of the larger users -hotels, bakeries and so on,over the years,have started switching to the use ofpowder eggs and liquid eggs. So, over time, hopefully more and more of the largerusers will looktoalternative solutions. On the whole, I would say that on the part of AVA, we will do whatever we can to achieve three priorities in food supply. Firstly,adequate supply in terms of quantity, secondly, safety of supply, and thirdly, stable pricing. Under normal circumstances, we would be able to achieve all three priorities. But, from time to time, when there is an outbreak of diseases, like the case ofHPAI, I think some temporary shortage will be unavoidable and I hope thatthe public could bear with us as we go through this temporary situation.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, firstly, Dr Amy Khor asked what is thetrigger point for the lifting ofthe import ban. Basically, AVA will considerlifting the ban only after Malaysia is able to declare that Malaysia isfree of the bird flu. Under the OIE requirements, this couldtake place 21 days afterthe Malaysian authorities have taken action to eradicate the causes of bird flu. In this particular situation, Malaysian authorities culledall the chickenswithin the affected areaby20th August. So the countdown of 21 days startson 20th August. Assuming that21 days after20thAugust,there is no new case of Avian flu infection, Malaysia will be able to declare to OIE that Kelantan isfree ofAvian flu. That is the earliest day when AVA will be able to consider lifting the import ban. Secondly, Dr Amy Khor asked why there is ashortage of egg supply in Singapore.Basically, local production of eggs is sufficient to meet only 30% of our consumption. The remaining 70% is direct import from Malaysia. In addition to that, over the years, AVA has encouraged the traders to source for alternative sources.Today, we have eggs coming from Australia and New Zealand but they account for less than 1% of the market consumption. The reason why these sources have not taken off isthe higher costs of the eggs. For example, eggs from Australia and New Zealand will costbetween 35-40 centsper egg. So, under normal circumstances, consumers obviously will go for cheaper eggs and, as a result, there is no demand for the more expensive eggs. In other words, even though there are alternative sources,under normal supply situation, they are not able to compete due to the high costs.”
“Sir, from the investigation conducted by the NEA, the black dust referred to by the residents is the size of about 40 microns; we call this PM40. These particles are relatively big and heavy. They are not likely to be emitted by the engines. But I thank Dr Warren Lee for his feedback. I will ask NEA to look into this further even though I do not think that this big and heavy black dust comes from engine emissions. ECONOMIC EXPANSION INCENTIVES (RELIEF FROM INCOME TAX) (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 2.15 pm”
“Sir, in short, I would like to assure Dr Warren Lee that the dust level in the air in Admiralty Link is within international standards and it does not pose a health risk to the residents there.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in the past few months, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has received several complaints from some residents living in Sembawang New Town in the vicinity of Admiralty Link about black dust deposited in their flats. Investigation conducted by NEA showed that the black dust is generated by grit blasting of ships at Sembawang Shipyard and the dust is carried towards the HDB flats by the north-easterly wind during the north-east monsoon from October to March. The black dust comprises mainly iron and copper particles, and is no more harmful than other particles in the air if present in small quantities. NEA had monitored the dust level in the air at the HDB blocks in Admiralty Link and found it to be within international standards. The dust level there therefore does not pose a health risk to the residents. NEA conveyed these findings to the grassroots adviser and leaders in March this year. The black dust, however, posed a nuisance to the residents. Hence, Sembawang Shipyard has on its part taken measures to reduce dust emissions from its operations. Sembawang Shipyard has installed a water curtain system to wash down dust emissions during blasting of ships. It has also installed a strong suction system to remove dust deposited on the ground of the blasting area. These measures have helped to reduce the level of dust in the air blown to the surrounding area. Sembawang Shipyard has also installed two air samplers at the boundary of its premises to monitor dust emission from its blasting operations. This has enabled the shipyard to take prompt actions in the event that dust emission exceeds the acceptable level.”
“That day is a day worth working and striving for, because that is the day when all Singaporeans can proudly say - Singapore is truly OK. 11.30 am”
“Maybe some of you might suggest that we put up mirrors, just like the World Trade Centre, all over our community so that all those irresponsible Singaporeans will be able to look at themselves in the mirror to see for themselves what kind of damage they are doing to the environment and what kind of threat they are posing to our public health. But, I think you will agree with me that it is too expensive to do so. However, we cannot give up on our effort to change the behaviour of these irresponsible Singaporeans. In fact, we are not giving up. What we will do is continue to do our best to achieve a fundamental shift away from this anti-social behaviour among our people. While we cannot put up a mirror for them to see themselves, we can help them understand that their anti-social behaviour is actually not only weakening our environment but, more importantly, our defence in the serious war against viruses and infectious diseases. Sir, I am happy that we are making progress with Singapore's OK. The next step is to invite all Singaporeans to take a copy of the Singapore Clean Card. This is a very important card because this Singapore Clean Card will help them understand all the challenges we face in keeping the Singapore environment going for a long time to come. At the same time, this Singapore Clean Card would also serve as their boarding pass to the jumbo jet co-piloted by the 3P owners, known as "Our Environment". Sir, I hope that we can all work together. Let us all strive for the day when every anti-social behaving Singaporean would stop littering, spitting, dirtying our toilets and public areas, breeding mosquitoes, leaving food behind for strays, crows, rats, and so on.”
“At the end of the day, they solved the problem by installing mirrors on the walls of the lifts so that the people in the lifts could look at themselves in the mirror, and before they realised it, they are already at the top of the World Trade Centre building. They therefore stopped asking for faster lifts. Sir, the same will apply to fines. No matter what we do with fines, no matter how much enforcement we do, there is a limit to which fines and enforcement can help to change the behaviour of Singaporeans. Today, we are seeing more and more Singaporeans looking to NEA to clean up the irresponsible acts of their fellow residents. The NEA has a hotline 1800-Call NEA. Over the last few months, we have extended the working hours of the hotline. Today you can call 1800-Call NEA, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sir, the hotline is now 24 by 7. We are now receiving more calls. In fact, last year, we received more than 112,000 calls. We are now providing faster service response as well because the public expects that. As a result, we are now responding to 90% of the calls within three days. If there is a complaint about mosquito breeding, the problem will be attended to. If there is a complaint about illegal dumping or smelly waste, we will solve all these problems within three days. But my question is this: how much more can NEA cope with higher expectations of the public and greater demand, if the number of irresponsible acts in the community keeps increasing? I do not think this is sustainable. Sir, the mother of all weak links in our environment really is our failure so far to get rid of all anti-social habits in our community.”
“There would also be a list of contractors so that those who need to repair and maintain their gutters will know who to contact. Of course, for those who feel it is difficult to maintain the gutters, maybe they can decide to remove the gutters without being forced to do so. Sir, I think the community does have vested interest in improving the situation because a study shows that if more than 5% of the households in a neighbourhood were to breed mosquitoes, then the probability of a dengue outbreak in that neighbourhood is a lot higher. So, we hope that the information kit will help to spread the message. As of now, our target is to get the information kit ready, hopefully, by the end of this month when the Task Force next meets. It can be shared with the other estates as well. Sir, let me end by saying this. While we can talk about Singapore's OK, hawker centre upgrading programme, toilet upgrading programme, Rat Attack, Mossie Attack, and so on, but at the end of the day, it is very important that we do not forget that we are our biggest enemy. Why do I say so? I say so because Singapore cannot be OK, unless I am OK and you are OK. But the question now is: how could we make every Singaporean OK? Yesterday, Mr Iswaran asked for an update on enforcement action. Yes, maybe if we introduce more fines, longer corrective work orders, stepped-up enforcement, then the frequency of violation will drop. But I do not think that can solve the problem fundamentally. As I have mentioned yesterday, just like the World Trade Centre, when it was first constructed, the engineers could not make the lift go any faster.”
“What this means is that if we are not able to contain and reduce the breeding of mosquitoes in the household, then we are not going to get too far in our ability to contain and reduce the number of dengue cases.Sir, with that in mind, we have again decided to launch another new war campaign against the mosquitoes, and this is known as the Mossie Attack. Mossie Attack will start with 10 constituencies. We will partner with the dengue prevention volunteer groups in these constituencies, grassroots organisations and residents. Basically, the key targets will be our homes, whether they are landed properties, condominiums or HDB estates. This will be a four-month programme starting in April this year. We will do a survey before and after the campaign to measure the improvement. What we intend to do is, for example, to organise gotong royong sessions to bring the residents together so that they can learn how to look out for breeding grounds, and to get rid of stagnant water. By the way, we intend to include the maids as well in this training exercise. We will organise exhibitions. Yesterday, Mdm Cynthia Phua asked whether we can enforce the removal of gutters in all the landed properties. Sir, I think the answer is no because, while we can discourage the installation of gutters for new developments, I think it is difficult for us to force all owners to remove their existing gutters. But what we can do is to promote community projects and efforts to keep the situation under control. Take, for example, one of the areas under Mdm Cynthia Phua, known as Limbok Terrace. Under the leadership of Mdm Cynthia Phua, the grassroots leaders, NEA, PUB and BCA have come together and are now working on an information kit on how to repair and maintain the gutters.”
“In February 2004 alone, they inspected more than 19,000 premises. Sir, the encouraging sign is that breeding grounds are beginning to decrease in some of the places. For example, in our schools, in 1999, on the average, one out of seven schools was found to breed mosquitoes. Today, it has come down to 5%, or one in 20. Of course, we will continue to bring it down. Construction sites have dropped by half in terms of the frequency of mosquito breeding, from 13% in 1999 to less than 7% now. What is even more encouraging, Sir, is that we are seeing more active participation by the community. For example, even our school children are now getting involved through the programme known as the Mossie Buster. I was very happy to see that in the latest issue of the Thumbs Up there is a big write-up on how our kids are now helping to fight this war against dengue. If we look at their faces, they were really keen and interested in what they were doing. This is the kind of effort we should do more and more in our community. Sir, what is the next thing we should do? Our next target in our war against dengue is to target our homes. Why do I say so? Over the years, we were surprised to find that the percentage of households breeding mosquitoes has been on the increase. For example, if we look at HDB flats, it has more than tripled fromsix in 1,000 households to 18 per 1,000 households. In the case of the condominiums, it has more than doubled, from 12 per 1,000 households to 26 per 1,000. The landed estates, likewise, doubled from 19 per 1,000 households in 1999 to 47 per 1000 now.”
“This "Rat Attack" will be conducted under joint ownership of the pest control companies, grassroots organisations, shopkeepers, food shop operators, public waste collectors, hawkers and the market stallholders. NEA will co-fund this "Rat Attack" exercise with the town councils, using the 3P Partnership Fund of NEA which I mentioned yesterday. This is an eight-month programme, starting this month. It will go through four months of intensive control, followed by another four months of maintenance. From there, we will then assess the effectiveness of this programme before we roll out to the other areas. Sir, let me come to the fourth area of priority in the coming year, which is to address the dengue situation in Singapore. As I have mentioned, the dengue outbreak in the region started two years ago. However, I am happy to say that the situation in Singapore has shown signs of improvement. For example, in the first 10 weeks of this year, on the average, we have 68 cases per week, compared to 85 per week the same time last year. In the last four weeks, the average number has continued to drop to 61 per week. Sir, some Members asked yesterday whether it is possible to stop the importation of dengue cases from our region. The answer is no. Why? Because 90% of the people bitten by Aedes mosquitoes and infected with dengue viruses do not show any symptom. In other words, not everybody who is infected by the dengue virus will come down with the dengue symptoms. 90% have no symptom. Therefore, it is very difficult to detect who are the ones who actually carry the virus in their bodies. What we can do is to continue to step up surveillance, to identify hotspots and to intensify our inspections. Last year, NEA inspected more than 300,000 premises.”
“Sir, let me move on to the third area, which is the point brought up by Dr Teo Ho Pin regarding pest control measures and what more can be done to engage all the stakeholders. Sir, our war against the rodents will be the third area of priority in the coming years. Our target is to bring down the number of burrows per precinct to less than five. That is our target. As of today, out of the 16 town council estates, only three town council estates are able to meet this target. For the rest, we have about six to 41 burrows per precinct. So there is still a lot of work to be done. We believe that this can be done. We can succeed in reducing the number of burrows per precinct because, over the last couple of years, we have been focusing on the hotspot areas and we are achieving fairly good results. For example, if we were to go to Holland Village, we used to have 32 burrows in that area, but it is now down to eight; Chinatown, from 45, now down to six; Geylang Serai, from 28, down to one. Our challenge is to spread this success to the other areas as well. The key reasons why we have succeeded in some of these hotspot areas are, firstly, there were regular checks by the town councils, pest control companies and NEA. Secondly, we have good housekeeping by the shopkeepers. Thirdly, there was proper handling of food waste by the waste collectors and the cleaners. And lastly, there is no littering or leaving behind of food for strays by members of the public. What we have to do is to continue in this effort. I am happy to say that we have decided to launch a new initiative under the Singapore's OK, to be known as "Rat Attack". This "Rat Attack" will start with a pilot in five town councils – one each in each of the CDC districts.”