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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“Therefore, on the one hand, ENV is receptive to the idea of increasing the number of licences for the mobile hawkers but, at the same time, we have to make sure that the situation does not get out of control, whether it is from the viewpoint of public health or from the standpoint of obstruction to pedestrians, or unfair competition to the shopkeepers. What we will do is to take it one step at a time, gradually. We have to make sure that we allow the situation to evolve. What NEA intends to do now is to extend the arrangement that we have with town councils to the other public places, such as parks, car parks and pedestrian malls. We would also like to extend the list of items, maybe from ice-cream to other items which are not easily perishable and unlikely to cause public health problems. For example, these could include pre-packed snacks, candies, biscuits, canned drinks and even kacang putih. Along this line, last month, ENV met with NParks, LTA, URA and HDB and they are now working out the guidelines and details. Depending on the response from the public, we may also have to put in place a system for allocation. Mr Ang Mong Seng asked whether we will do more to encourage more public toilets to be OK. The answer is yes. In fact, public toilets are the second area of our priorities in the coming years. So far, out of the 29,000 public toilets, 26,600 are already OK, about 92%. We will continue to reach out to the remaining 8% to push for 100% OK. At the same time, the upgrading of public toilets at coffee shops is also progressing well. As of now, about 350 coffee shops have upgraded their public toilets – about one out of every four. We have just extended this programme by one more year and, hopefully, more will take part.”
“Sir, during the MTI's Committee of Supply, Mr Wee Siew Kim asked whether ENV has any intention to bring back mobile hawkers. Let me explain here that our main concern is public health, especially for the sale of cooked food. Thirty years ago, in 1974, ENV stopped issuing licences for mobile hawkers for the sale of food, ice-cream, bread, and so on. Ten years ago, in 1994, ENV conducted an island-wide registration of all stationary street hawkers and vendors, like cobblers, newspaper vendors, and so on. They are granted non-transferable permits that are subjected to annual renewal. In some cases, due to road safety considerations, they were also re-sited. Since 1996, ENV stopped issuing any new licence. However, in 2000, in response to various appeals by Members of Parliament, grassroots leaders and others, ENV started to allow some of these itinerant ice-cream vendors to operate in the town council area, with the support of the town councils. I am happy to say that to-date, over the last 3-4 years, we have issued 260 permits for them to sell ice-cream within the town council area. Last night, I saw one of them, Mdm Lin Huji on TV News. She is operating in Marine Parade. I looked at the stall she is operating. It is very well designed. When she was handling the ice-cream, she was wearing gloves. All the paper waste is properly collected. That is the way to go. Through their own efforts, they are able to earn a living while, at the same time, taking care of the environment. However, Sir, I want to say that every year, ENV also receives many complaints regarding illegal hawking. In fact, every year, more than 3,000 of them come from shopkeepers and members of the public. This is due to unfair competition posed by the street hawkers to the shops.”
“Mr Zainul Abidin asked for the progress of our Hawkers Upgrading Programme (HUP). I am happy that the programme is progressing well. So far, 59, out of 113 hawker centres have either been upgraded or under development or earmarked to be upgraded. Mr Zainul also asked whether it is the intention to centralise the management of all the hawker centres including HDB hawker centres under one agency. The answer is yes. Starting from 1st April, the management of the 92 HDB hawker centres will come under NEA as well. Mr Ang Mong Seng asked whether, after the centralisation and consolidation, the NEA can take over the functions from the town councils. The answer is no, because most of the HDB hawker centres are located in our HDB estates and it is not the NEA's intention to reduce the community ownership and links in these hawker centres. So the role of the town councils will not change. Sir, Mr Ang Mong Seng and Mr Wee Siew Kim also asked whether we will build new wet markets and hawker centres. There is no plan to do so. In our newer housing estates today, the private sector is basically the one to gauge the demand and from there, they set up coffee shops, air-conditioned food courts and supermarkets to meet the demand of the community. This will continue. What the Government will do is to continue to zone sites for commercial development and to allow the private operators to meet this demand by setting up appropriate types of eating and marketing facilities. But as far as the older estates are concerned, the Government-operated hawker centres will continue to be upgraded so that the private sector-operated coffee shops and food courts, and the Government-owned hawker centres and wet markets can co-exist and compete in a healthy manner.”
“The first priority area is the hawker centres and wet markets because they are one of our weak links today. Today, 15% of the food centres and 37% of markets in Singapore are still not OK due to poor housekeeping. What NEA, together with Town Councils, will be doing is to improve the housekeeping standards and, at the same time, increase the frequency of major washing. Instead of once or twice a year, we intend to increase it to three times a year. Hopefully, in time to come, many of our hawker centres and wet markets will be OK too. Sir, there is another reason why we should do our best to make sure that our hawker centres are OK. Recently, my new Permanent Secretary, BG Tan Yong Soon, told me very excitedly,"Minister, you know, there is something great about hawker centres." I asked, "What is so great about our hawker centres?" He said, "Our hawker centres are now in the same class as the Lake District in England, the North Pole in Norway, the Pyramids in Egypt, the Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal of India and the Grand Canyon of USA." I asked, "Are you all right or not? What are you talking about?" He shared with me this book which just came out in the market. It is entitled, "One thousand places to see before you die". All the places that I have mentioned are in this book. When we turn to the pages on Singapore, there are two places in Singapore which everybody in this world should see before they die. One is the Raffles Hotel and the other is Singapore's hawker centres. Sir, the food we have in the hawker centres today is not just our way of life but it is a unique way of Singapore's life. I think the Singapore Tourism Board, in an effort to promote "Uniquely Singapore" will pay attention to our hawker centres too.”
“I was very happy as it was the first time I had a watch on my wrist. So everywhere I went, I made sure that the watch was on my wrist. One day, I went to the Farrer Park public swimming pool to swim. When I was young, I was not a good swimmer. There were a big pool and a shallow pool. The shallow pool was about one metre deep so it was quite safe. I went to the shallow pool and because I liked my watch so much, I left it on. After swimming for a while in this shallow pool, I found, to my horror, that water actually seeped into the watch. I was very upset. I went to the shop dealer and demanded for an explanation. The shop owner looked at me and asked, "What has happened to your watch?" I said, "I went swimming at Farrer Park yesterday with my watch on." He said, "No, you are not supposed to swim with your watch on." But I said, "This watch is water-resistant." He said, "Yeh, it is water-resistant but it is not water-proof." He said that if the watch is water-proof we can wear the watch for swimming and diving. But for water-resistant, it is only resistant against raindrops but not in a swimming pool. Likewise, in our battle against virus, no country can claim to be virus-proof. No country can say, "Look, no virus can attack this country." As I have mentioned, there will be new and mutated viruses. But every country obviously wants to do its best to be as virus-resistant as possible so that hopefully, we will be able to reduce and minimise the outbreak of viruses and infectious diseases. Therefore, it is important, as Mdm Cynthia Phua mentioned, that we must press on with Singapore's OK to strive for 100% for all our public places. In the coming years, we aim to increase our attention in four areas. These are our four priority areas.”
“In the last seven months, 6,200 grassroots leaders and volunteers under the People's Association have staged 1,200 activities to reach out to more than one million people. Today, the hostels, pre-schools and food courts are 100% OK. Even in the case of the construction sites, condominiums and restaurants, they are now more than 90% OK. Mr Ang Mong Seng asked, how about public toilets? I am happy to say that even our public toilets have improved tremendously. As of today, 92% of our public toilets are OK. Sir, we are happy that Singapore is indeed more OK. According to the regional offices of the NEA, they observed fewer people spitting on the roads and, at the same time, some of our more litter-prone areas are seeing less litter now. eg, Hougang Mall, Holland Village and Clementi Town Centre. These are indeed very encouraging signs. Yesterday, Mdm Cynthia Phua also asked what plans we have to bring the Singapore's OK campaign to a higher plane of achievement. This is a very important point, because we must always remind ourselves that no country is virus-proof, and Singapore is no exception. This is because the threat can come from known and unknown viruses, from new and mutated viruses. We do not know when they will strike. We also do not know how they will spread. But one thing we do know is that if we can keep our living environment cleaner and more hygienic, we will make it more difficult for viruses to grow and for infectious diseases to spread. In other words, even though we cannot be virus-proof, we can do our best to become more virus-resistant. 11.15 am Some Members may ask what is the difference between virus-proof and virus-resistant. Sir, when I was young, my first watch, given by my father, was a very nice Seiko watch.”
“We look at 1,000 by 1,000 as the first step because, if we can succeed in redesigning 1,000 jobs paying at least $1,000, that would lay the foundation for us to take the second step, which is 1,200 for 1,200, ie, redesign 1,200 jobs paying at least $1,200 per month. When we have reached that, we would be ready to go on to the third step, ie, 1,500 by 1,500, then 2,000 by 2,000. In time to come, we hope that the environment sector will indeed be transformed into a sector that offers jobs that are more productive, equipped with better tools and, at the same time, can be a source of employment for more Singaporeans. Sir, Dr Teo asked about the progress of the ASEAN Sustainable Cities programme. It is progressing quite well. Since the launch of the ASEAN Sustainable Cities programme, Singapore has been appointed by our ASEAN member countries to coordinate this programme. The programme has attracted not only interest within ASEAN, our ASEAN+3 partners - China, Japan and Korea - have also expressed interest. Last year, when we were at the ASEM meeting, our European counterparts likewise expressed interest. In other words, this ASEAN Sustainable Cities programme has the potential of not only promoting best practices within ASEAN and within Asia, it can in fact be a platform to facilitate the sharing of best practices across Asia and Europe as well. Sir, I now move on to the Singapore's OK campaign. Yesterday, Mdm Cynthia Phua asked whether Singapore is more OK. The Singapore's OK programme was launched in May last year to enhance the cleanliness and hygiene standards in Singapore, not through fines or enforcement, but through community leadership and personal ownership.”
“Basically, we are trying to reduce the mismatch between jobs and workers. On the one hand, we would like to redesign the jobs in the industry, so that they can be of higher productivity and offer better pay and yet, at the same time, we have to retrain the workers, so that they are better skilled and can take on these jobs. I am happy to say that the collective effort on job redesign is progressing well in terms of mechanisation of the waste collection function and conservancy cleaning. There is a town council project chaired by Mr Ang Mong Seng, together with various town councillors, to look into how we can make the jobs in conservancy cleaning more attractive and, in the process, encourage more locals to take on these jobs. On the part of skills upgrading for workers, we have so far implemented 19 skills standards under the National Skills Recognition System. So far, more than 600 workers have been trained. For hawker centre cleaning, over time, the cleaning contractors would have to make sure that more than 50% of their workers are NSRS-certified within four months of taking on the contract. In the case of waste collection, our long-term target is to aim for 100% NSRS certification. Dr Teo asked for the progress of the 1,000 by 1,000. Sir, progress has been promising since the launch in October last year. So far, we have been able to match 307 jobs to the retrenched workers, with each being paid more than $1,000. We hope that more can be done in the future. We hope that in time to come we can go beyond 1,000 for 1,000.”
“Sir, Dr Teo Ho Pin asked for a progress update on the 1,000 by 1,000 programme, which is our effort to redesign jobs in the environment sector for Singaporean workers. The Ministry of Manpower and the Workforce Development Agency are certainly doing a lot in the areas of employment and job matching. Other Ministries, including the Ministry of the Environment, are also playing their part to contribute to the effort. As far as the environment industry is concerned, it is an industry with the reputation of offering dirty jobs with lousy pay. But, as mentioned by Dr Teo yesterday, the industry today is going through a very rapid pace of transformation. We are seeing higher technology content, a faster pace of innovation as well as a higher level of mechanisation. What this means is that the industry has tremendous potential to offer good jobs at decent pay. Dr Teo mentioned that in time to come we will need to have more specialists to support the growth of the industry. I fully agree. In fact, the development of a skilled manpower base is critical for the industry to become a more productive industry and one that is more competitive and yet, at the same time, offer our environment workers a better quality of life and standard of living. With that in mind, we set ourselves the challenge of creating 1,000 jobs paying at least $1,000 in September last year. This programme is known as 1,000 by 1,000. This is a 3P collective effort. From the public sector, we have the Ministry of Manpower, the Workforce Development Agency and the NEA. From the private sector, we have Waste Management and Recycling Association of Singapore (WMRAS). On the part of the people sector, the CDCs and town councils are all playing a very active part in this programme.”
“Sir, yesterday, Mr Iswaran asked for an update on industry development and corporatisation of incineration plants. I am happy to report to the House that the environment industry in Singapore is progressing well. The industry has grown. Five out of the top 10 global companies are now operating in Singapore. The industry is also becoming more innovative and more capable. They also undertake activities with higher technology contents, for example, the trial of the fuel cell vehicles by DaimlerChrysler and the use of the incineration bottom ash for construction of roads. We will continue to build up the capacity, expertise and experience in the industry through a DBOO (Design, Build, Operate and Own) programme, for areas such as desalination, NEWater and incineration of wastes. Mr Iswaran asked whether corporatisation is still on track. Sir, we have earlier announced that we intended to corporatise 30% of our incineration capacity and privatise 70% of capacity. This will proceed. In fact, we are now reviewing whether the role of the private sector could be further increased. Yesterday, Mr Iswaran highlighted several concerns of the industry - asset heavy, potential demand could be affected by our efforts to promote recycling and so on. These are valid concerns. On the part of the ENV, we will take these into consideration as we formulate the final plan for corporatisation and privatisation. We want to do this carefully and do it right, because we have only one chance to privatise our incineration plants. Once it is privatised, we cannot privatise them for the second time. Therefore, we are going to do it very carefully and take inputs from all angles. At the same time, we will study the experience of other countries.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has made further progress on the Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 2004/2005, and ask leave to sit again tomorrow.”
“And, remember, every drop saved will mean saving not just the cost of producing the drop, but the cost of treating that drop of waste water as well. Sir, in conclusion, the affordability of water supply depends a lot on supply efficiency and demand conservation. For supply efficiency, we believe that by adopting the best sourcing approach, by optimising our assets, by exploiting advances in technology, we can bring supply efficiency to as high a level as possible. At the same time, we need to count on the support of the members of the public, the industry and the commercial sector to help derive maximum effect in the area of water conservation. Only when everyone plays his part, can Singaporeans be assured of always having enough water, and always finding our water supply affordable.”
“6 billion to upgrade and expand existing water reclamation plants to cater for the increase in water consumption and thereby a higher volume of waste water to be treated. That is one option. The second option which PUB is doing now is to build the DTSS. By building the DTSS, because of economies of scale, we are able to bring the cost of development from $8.6 billion down to $5.9 billion. This will result in a saving of $2.7 billion. As I mentioned, it is basically due to economies of scale in the building of waste treatment plants. With DTSS, eventually, we need only two waste treatment plants - one in Changi and the other in Jurong. The economies of scale enable us to bring down the cost of development. Sir, the DTSS is on schedule. It will be completed by the year 2008 and start receiving and treating waste water from the northern region and eastern region. Existing plants will be phased out progressively, from the year 2007. Sir, I wish to emphasise again that PUB is doing its best to keep cost down. There is now a new mindset in PUB. Since the new CEO of PUB, Mr Khoo Teng Chye - Members of the House may remember that he spent some time with PSA, and he is quite used to market competition - came on board late last year, he is inculcating a new mindset in PUB - away from cost plus, towards price minus. He has set up 12 price-minus teams in PUB. The challenge of these price-minus teams in PUB is to look for ways to reduce the cost of water treatment through the use of new technology, more innovative processes as well as better management of the assets. At the same time, we need members of the public to play their part too, because every drop does count.”
“But, surprisingly, they told us that not only NEWater is cost competitiveness, they are also able to reduce water consumption by up to another 20% because of the high quality of NEWater. These buildings are now able to save not just 15% of lower cost but also another 20% due to lower water consumption. As we roll out NEWater, more and more buildings will be able to recycle more using NEWater due to the extra pureness of NEWater. At the same time, we will continue to work with the water industry to encourage faster pace of innovation, as mentioned by Prof. Low Seow Chay earlier. Dr Teo Ho Pin asked about the status of the DTSS - Deep Tunnel Sewerage System; when do we phase out the existing plants and whether this would increase waste water treatment fees. Sir, treatment cost of waste water is likely to go up in the future for two reasons. Firstly, the removal of solid, bacteria and smell from waste water is land intensive, energy intensive and capital intensive. Over time, as land cost goes up, as energy cost goes up, as capital cost goes up, the cost of treatment is likely to go up too. It is also useful to remind the House that even though water-borne fees were last adjusted in 2000 to the current level of 30 cents per cubic metre for the domestic sector and 60 cents per cubic metre for the non-domestic sector, these rates still do not reflect the full cost of waste water treatment. What PUB is doing is to slow down the cost of increase through the implementation of DTSS. Dr Teo asked whether we have to pay more because of DTSS. Sir, it is the reverse. Over the next 40 years, we basically have two options. One option is for us to upgrade and expand existing water reclamation plants - we have six of them. PUB projected that over the next 40 years, it will cost PUB $8.”
“Just imagine if each one of us is able to reduce our water consumption by 3%, we will be able to reduce our daily consumption from 165 litres per person to 160 litres per person. This is the new target for PUB. We hope to be able to reach out to more businesses, industries, households and the community as we continue to conserve water. As at the end of last year, about 100,000 households in Singapore are fitted with water saving devices. As a result, they are able to save on water consumption, about 3-5%. In some cases, as high as 8-10%. This year, we hope that more will do so. The target of PUB is to reach out to another 200,000 households this year for the installation of water saving devices. Dr Teo asked if we can enact legislation to require water conservation. Sir, to some extent, we do have some regulations in place. For example, water flow in toilets in non-domestic premises has to be less than six litres per minute. But yet at the same time, PUB is talking to these building management people to see if they can go below the approved limit of six litres per minute. I was told that more than 200 buildings have responded so far. Some of them are now going for as low as two litres per minute of flow rate. Of course, we do not require buildings to observe that ultra low flow rate. We encourage but leave it to them to decide. The key consideration is to keep the flow rate as low as possible without affecting the effectiveness of these devices. As for factories and businesses, they are recyling more too. One interesting development with NEWater is that some commercial buildings are now using NEWater for aircon cooling towers. We asked the building management how do they find NEWater. We expect them to tell us that NEWater is good because it costs 15% less.”
“But the important point is that we do have a workable solution today and that Singapore can be assured of having sufficient water supply post-2011, and post-2061 too because we can be self-sufficient, if need be, in the long term. Sir, Prof. Low Seow Chay asked whether more can be done to create local entrepreneurship in our water industry. He asked whether it is possible for us to find ways to upgrade the technology in the industry by allowing the water industry to test out new ideas, new concepts, new technology, new processes, using the PUB facilities. Sir, the answer is yes. The PUB and the NEA, together with the EDB, have launched the Environmental Test-bedding Initiative (ETI). Under the ETI, companies in the industry are encouraged to try out their innovations, new processes and new technology at some of our public facilities. Together, between PUB, NEA and the industry, we can jointly explore the new frontiers in technology and innovation. Sir, we have started and we will continue to do more. 6.00 pm Sir, allow me to move on to the area of water conservation. Dr Teo Ho Pin asked whether PUB will step up plans to promote water conservation. Sir, this is a very important point. Even though we have formulated workable solutions for our long-term water supply, we must continue to recognise that every drop of water is precious. For the last five years, we have done very well. On a per person basis, each Singaporean, on the average, consumed 165 litres of water per day, compared to 203 litres in Hong Kong, 254 litres in Sydney. We are one of the lower water consuming people among major cities. This is very good. However, we can do better.”
“In the case of Jurong Island, PUB will continue to supply PUB water and if there is a market demand, a company can go on to provide the high grade water. I do not rule out the possibility of extending the supply of NEWater to Jurong Island one day. It all depends on whether it will fit into our overall strategy of replacing PUB water with NEWater for non-potable use. Sir, having said that the cost of desalination is a lot lower than what we expected in the year 1997 and that NEWater is cheaper than desalinated water, I want to point out that this does not mean that we will not see any increase in the cost of PUB water in the future. What it does mean is that we need not increase water tariffs so soon, and by so much, as compared to the situation we were in in 1997. Sir, Mr Zainul Abidin and Dr Teo Ho Pin asked, beyond this 4-Tap Strategy, whether we are looking at other sources of supply. As far as the PUB is concerned, PUB basically has two functions: firstly, to ensure that water supply will always be sufficient to meet our needs today and in the future; secondly, to keep the cost of water supply to our industry and households as affordable as possible. Having put together a 4-Tap Strategy - water from Johore, local catchments water, desalination and NEWater - we now have a workable solution. But, of course, at any point in time, if we are able to identify new sources that can supply water on a long term basis, not just for the next 5-10 years but the next 50-100 years, which is able to further enhance the reliability of supply as well as the affordability of supply, PUB is always open to those ideas.”
“We are aiming to enable more industries and companies to benefit from this lower cost of NEWater as PUB expands the reticulation network of NEWater. I mentioned earlier that we will have four NEWater plants. Each of the four NEWater plants will be supported by a reticulation network. The one in Ulu Pandan will be supported by a network in the western and central region. Bedok will be supported by a reticulation network in the east. The one at Seletar by one in the northeast, and the one in Kranji will be supported by a network in the northwest. With these four plants supported by four reticulation networks, industries and commercial buildings all over Singapore will be able to draw on the NEWater in time to come. Sir, Mr Zainul asked whether the monopoly for the supply of high grade water on Jurong Island will be terminated. Sir, it is useful for me to clarify that the role of the PUB is to supply water of potable standard. PUB is not in the business of supplying high grade water. For example, on the Jurong Island today, companies can take industrial water or PUB water from PUB, and process it into high grade water for petrochemical plants that require water quality which is cleaner than the PUB water. PUB has no intention of going into that business because the job of PUB is to provide water supply of potable standards and it will leave to the industry to do the value-add. Of course, Mr Zainul may then ask: is NEWater not high grade water? The answer is yes. Because with reverse osmosis, NEWater is almost as good as high grade water. But I want to emphasise that supplying high grade water is really not the core business of PUB.”
“Sir, several Members asked whether the introduction of desalination and NEWater would lead to higher cost of water in the future. Let me explain it this way. In 1997, when we were looking at desalination as a reliable source of future water supply, the cost at that point in time was about $2 per cubic metre. This was in 1997. Today, the good news is that desalination does not cost that much. In fact, under the DBOO contract, the company, Hyflux, selected through an open tender, is going to supply desalinated water to the PUB with a starting price fixed at 78 cents per cubic metre in 2005. This is significantly below the $2 projected in 1997. Of course, this purchase price of 78 cents is not static. The pricing formula takes into account fluctuation in the cost of energy, inflation and so on. The price of 78 cents covers only the production cost. PUB will have to incur additional cost in terms of transmission, storage, distribution and so on. However, the point here is that, with open competition and with advances in technology, we are now able to tap on water supply from one of the most cost competitive desalination plants in the world. Sir, even better news is that NEWater will cost even less than desalination. We have been supplying NEWater to the industry for over a year now. Today, eight wafer fab plants in Singapore are using NEWater. There are 22 other customers, including major companies like Seagate, 3M and Senoko. Collectively, these customers consume about 10 million gallons of NEWater a day. By using NEWater, instead of PUB water, these companies are now able to save more than $3 million a year because NEWater supplied to them is cheaper than PUB water. This is because NEWater does not attract water conservation tax given its tremendous supply potential.”
“Sir, of the two water agreements with Malaysia, the one signed in 1961 will expire in 2011. This is less than 10 years away. Several Members, Mr Othman Haron, Mr Zainul Abidin and Dr Teo Ho Pin, asked whether we are on track to increase our local supply to make up for the provision under the 1961 Agreement. Sir, the answer is yes. In the last few years, we have taken various actions. First, to enlarge our local catchment areas. The Marina Barrage will be completed by 2007-2008. The Seletar/Serangoon Reservoir Scheme, Phase I, is on schedule. Likewise, the integration of reservoirs to increase yield is also underway. Sir, well before 2011, we would have increased our local supply sufficiently to make up for the loss of the water supply under the 1961 Agreement. Enlarging the local catchment areas is just one of the three strategies. The other one is NEWater. Sir, at this moment, three plants are already up and running at Bedok, Kranji and Seletar. The fourth one is on the way, to be built in Ulu Pandan. NEWater would also add to our water supply. The third strategy is desalination. The desalination plant is done on a Design, Build, Own and Operate (DBOO) basis. Groundbreaking was done in January and the plant should be ready by the end of next year. Together, these three strategies of enlarging our local catchment areas, NEWater and desalination will provide additional capacity more than enough to make up for the quantity provided for in the 1961 Agreement. What this means is that water supply will not be affected by the expiry of the 1961 Agreement in 2011. Our 4-Tap strategy, with three now in place and one more to come, will make us become more self-sufficient in future, and at the same time make our water supply system more reliable, resilient and sustainable.”
“Hopefully, on the one hand, we can avoid the generation of the waste and, on the other hand, whatever minimum amount of waste we have to produce, there is an easier way to recycle and dispose of the waste. This means we have now reached a stage whereby we need the concerted effort of everyone throughout the whole value chain of waste management - from the point of production, ie, the manufacturers; to the point of distribution, ie, the wholesalers and the logistics handlers; to the point of sales, ie, the retailers and members of the public. Sir, indeed, this is the next move for NEA in the management of solid waste. We want to explore the next frontier in solid waste management - towards zero waste. Recreational Use of Reservoirs”
“We just burn them to reduce volume, and landfill them so that they are out of sight. As we move towards recycling, reuse and recovery, we are moving from downstream to midstream, avoiding the generation of waste by turning waste into useful materials. But I think it is now time for us to move upstream, towards waste reduction by avoiding the generation of waste in the first instance. Just last year, the global community involved with solid waste management met at a world congress. We have many world congresses, and there was one on solid waste management. This world congress was held in Melbourne in November last year, and I was there to take part in the deliberations. Sustainability in solid waste management is today the key word in the global community. Singapore, New York and Tokyo are not the only cities in the world facing challenges in solid waste management and problem of shortage of landfill sites. In fact, more and more countries and cities are facing the same problem. At that world congress, there was a discussion on how the global community can move towards the concept of zero waste. The idea of zero waste is basically this: can we not, for example, reduce packaging? Every year, come Christmas, we buy gifts for our loved ones. Some shops would have three layers of packaging. They wrap the gifts, put them in a box, put another layer of paper outside and, in some cases, put on a ribbon, etc. There is a lot of over-packaging being practised in the marketplace. Hence, the question is: can we not do something to reduce packaging? Even as we reduce packaging, can we not use packaging materials that are more eco-friendly and biodegradable?”
“At this rate, Pulau Semakau will be able to last another 10 years longer. So, instead of 25 years, it will be 35 years. At the same time, we will be able to save on the construction of three incineration plants every 40 years. Even though this is very good, we do not think it is good enough. We must continue to recycle more waste streams - incineration bottom ash, food waste and more. We must continue to promote recycling by the households. One area of emphasis this year will be the condominiums because, as of now, only 20% of the condominiums are taking part in recycling. We hope more will come on board. Hopefully, we will achieve 35% by the end of this year. At the same time, in public places, we will put more public bins, up from 4,500 last year, to 5,500 this year. This will help reinforce the recycling message on a day-to-day basis to members of the public. Dr Amy Khor asked whether we could do more to educate the young. The answer is yes. In fact, we now have a recycling programme targeting at the schools. We hope more schools will come on board. Mdm Cynthia Phua suggested that we should bring more members of the public to visit our landfill sites, recycling plants, and other facilities. This is an excellent idea and is something we will do more in future. At the end of the day, we hope all these efforts will help us resolve our landfill problem as we move towards zero landfill. Sir, Mdm Cynthia Phua asked what is new in recycling, beyond what has been said today. Dr Amy Khor suggested that we go one step further towards waste reduction. Again, I fully agree. Basically, if we look at the life cycle of solid wastes, what we are doing in incineration and landfill are downstream activities. The waste is already there.”
“If we keep on doing that, firstly, we need to build quite a number of incineration plants to burn all the rubbish. Secondly, we will still run out of landfill sites one day, because the bottom ash from incineration will still need to be landfill. This is the reason why we moved beyond incineration towards recycling about 10 years ago, so that we can reduce incineration and reduce the demand for landfill. Today, I am happy to say that our environment industry is becoming more capable and innovative in the area of waste recycling. For example, we now have the capability to recycle electronic waste into precious metals, wood waste into compost, horticultural waste into charcoal, construction and demolition waste into secondary aggregates. The list goes on. In fact, 94% of the construction and demolition waste in Singapore was recycled last year. This is just one illustration of how far we have come in recycling. But what is even more exciting, as mentioned by several Members here, is that we have expanded the recycling culture beyond the industries to include the households as well. The national recycling programme for households started in 2001. We are happy to see that 45% of our households in Singapore are now taking part in recycling. We hope to achieve 55% by the end of this year. Together, the industries and households have been able to increase our overall recycling rate in terms of tonnage from 40% three years ago to 47% last year. This is a very significant improvement. What is even more exciting is that we are beginning to see the fruits of our recycling effort. Last year, we - industries and households together - produced 10% less waste, compared to 2000. We are seeing a reverse trend now in waste generation.”
“Sir, last but not least, I want to assure the House that, from time to time, we will not hesitate to enact legislation to address a public health concern when necessary. For example, three years ago, in 2001, we enacted the Environmental Public Health Act on the cooling towers and water fountains. The outcome was that we managed to reduce the Legionnaire cases by one third over three years, from 65 in 2000, to 45 last year. Sir, allow me to move on to solid waste management. Several Members asked whether clean land in Singapore today is sustainable. Dr Amy Khor asked about the progress we have made in recycling and whether there is enough landfill in the long term. Mdm Cynthia Phua also asked about the progress and what is new in recycling. Let me emphasise here again that managing solid wastes is a global challenge. What do New York City, Tokyo and Singapore have in common? All three cities are short of landfill sites. New York City solves the problem by transporting rubbish as far as 480 kilometres away for landfill. In the case of Tokyo, it is reported that the City will run out of landfill capacity very soon. They are looking for new solutions as well. In the case of Singapore, I would like to reiterate that there is no more landfill site left on the main island. Pulau Semakau is the one we are using today, and it can last for 25 years. Even if we were to double the size of Pulau Semakau, in time to come, it will last for 50 years at the most. Beyond that, what do we do? In the past, from 1970 onwards, we solved our solid waste challenge mainly through volume reduction. We sent the waste for burning and, in the process, reduce the volume of the waste by up to 90%. That was how we addressed our solid waste problem.”
“We stipulate the acceptable limits for indoor air pollutants, eg, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, suspended particles, total bacteria and fungal counts, and so on. 5.15 pm Sir, Members may wonder why we publish only a guideline and not regulation for enforcement. To the best of our knowledge, this is an international practice, where the government authority will provide the guidelines as it is the responsibility of the building owners and management to ensure that the best practices are being adopted. We will continue to promote these best practices, so that these guidelines can be observed and the indoor air quality can remain good. Sir, Dr Teo Ho Pin touched on poor maintenance of air-conditioning and ventilation system. I do not disagree with him. From time to time, we do come across buildings where maintenance procedures can be further enhanced. This is the reason why the Singapore Environmental Institute conducts training for the building management personnel, so that they can learn how to abide by the specifications for ventilation systems under the Singapore standard code of practices for mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning in buildings. Sir, to further enhance indoor air quality, NEA is now studying the possibility of drawing up a series of code of practices to supplement the guidelines. This series of code of practices will touch on more specific measures for various types of indoor environment and take into consideration the duration of stay, such as shopping malls versus offices. These specific measures for different kinds of environment can become a more formal instrument. In time to come, if there is a need to regulate some practices in the code, we are prepared to do so, but not at this juncture.”
“CNG and Euro IV will help to slow down the increase in green house gas emission. If we look at CO2 emission on a per capita basis, Singapore was ranked 18th highest in the world. This is unavoidable because we are a city state and an export oriented economy. As a result, much of the CO2 is emitted by factories producing goods for export, and the emission is counted against Singapore. This has made us the 18th highest, in terms of CO2 per capita emission. However, a fairer way to look at CO2 emission efficiency is CO2 per GDP dollar. We think that is a more relevant way of measuring CO2 emission efficiency. In that regard, I am happy to say that we are ranked 49th in the world, fairly low down. With CNG vehicles coming on stream in conjunction with the introduction of Euro IV standard, this will come down further. These CNG vehicles will emit 10-30% less CO2 compared to Euro II diesel vehicles. Together with proper maintenance of all vehicles as well as our campaign to save electricity in households and factories, and our efforts to promote the greater use of clean energy, I believe that we can collectively reduce CO2 emission on per GDP dollar basis, progressively in a sustainable manner. Sir, allow me to move on to indoor air quality. Dr Teo Ho Pin asked what is the indoor air quality in Singapore today, whether it is possible to have an index for indoor air quality. Mr Ang Mong Seng asked whether we have any strategy to improve indoor air quality. Sir, I agree with the Members that good indoor air quality is important because many of us spend a lot of time indoors. I am happy to say that the indoor air quality in Singapore is generally good and safe. In 1996, the Ministry of the Environment published the guidelines for good indoor air quality in office premises.”
“CNG taxis registered between now and end 2005 will enjoy the ARF rebate of 20% of the OMV and, on top of that, they will be exempted from special tax in the years 2004 and 2005. In addition, the Government has decided to offer an additional ARF rebate of equivalent to 80% of the OMV. What this means is that the taxi fleet owners, if they were to replace their Euro II diesel taxis with the CNG taxis, will be able to enjoy ARF rebate of up to 100% of the OMV, together with the exemption of special tax. With this, the life cycle cost of a CNG taxi will not be more than a Euro II diesel taxi, if registered between now and October 2006. In fact, it will be slightly lower. I want to emphasise that this incentive support is only applicable during this transitional period between now and October 2006 so that we can see the setting up of natural gas refueling infrastructure as well as achieving a base of CNG taxis. After October 2006, there will be two viable options of CNG taxis and Euro IV diesel taxis. Both will have to compete in the open market. Sir, the NEA and LTA will brief the taxi and the bus operators and the gas suppliers on why we need to move towards Euro IV and details of the tax rebate and exemption of the special tax at a separate session. I hope that the taxi operators will take advantage of this tax rebate during this transitional period so that, hopefully, we will see the first batch of CNG vehicles operating in Singapore by the end of this year. This will mark a new beginning of green cars here in Singapore, to enable us to bring the air quality in Singapore to come within the standard of PM 2.5 well before 2012. Mr Othman Haron asked whether we are effectively reducing carbon dioxide emission. Sir, the answer is yes.”
“A CNG vehicle, in fact, emits almost no PM 2.5. It is even cleaner compared to Euro IV diesel since it does not emit PM 2.5 at all. We feel it is very important that we try to put in place the infrastructure for both options, so that by the time Euro IV comes into effect in October 2006, the industries, the fleet owners, the taxi owners, the bus owners, and so on, will have two options. They could either go for Euro IV diesel or go for CNG vehicles. Today, CNG is not an option yet. Because if you were to go for CNG vehicles, there is no refueling station. The infrastructure is not in place. So we are caught in a situation where the gas suppliers are not keen to roll out the CNG refueling network because there are no vehicles and no demand. On the part of the fleet owners, they are not able to move into CNG cars because there is no refueling network. The only way to solve this problem is to jump-start CNG vehicles in Singapore over the next 2½ years so that by the time Euro IV comes into operation in October 2006, the two alternatives will be in place. Sir, between now and October 2006, potentially, there are 5,000 taxis which are due for replacement. If we can put in place the incentives to enable these taxi operators to replace their Euro II diesel taxis with CNG taxis over the next 2½ years, we would have about 5,000 CNG taxis by October 2006. This is indeed our intention. The Government has therefore decided to offer incentive support for CNG taxis during this transitional period between now and October 2006, so that CNG taxis can take off and compete with Euro IV diesel taxis in the open market by the year 2006. The tax incentive support, firstly, would include the green vehicle rebate.”
“Since our air quality was still within the international standards, we decided to defer the implementation of Euro III. But, now that we have decided to tackle the issue of PM 2.5, we have made a reassessment. If we were to move from Euro II to Euro III, we will not be able to bring the level of PM 2.5 to within the standards set by US-EPA because Euro III vehicles still emit a certain amount of PM 2.5. The only way for us to meet the standard for PM 2.5 is for us, as recommended by Mr Ong Kian Min, to leapfrog from Euro II to Euro IV. However, we are fully aware, as pointed out by Prof. Low Seow Chay, that this would have cost implication, in terms of cost on public transport, cost of business, and so on. We therefore have to be mindful and introduce whatever measures possible to minimise the cost impact on the transportation industry and on members of the public. Sir, I wish to inform the House that the ENV has decided to adopt Euro IV as its next move to sustain clean air in Singapore. However, Euro IV will not come into effect immediately, but only in October 2006. We are giving the industries 2½ years of lead time ahead of implementation. Over the next 2½ years, there are two things we need to do. On the part of the industry, they can plan for compliance and phase in Euro IV vehicles. But, more importantly, we have to find ways to introduce new options for the fleet owners to satisfy this Euro IV standard. Today, fleet owners in Singapore can obviously go for Euro IV diesel vehicles when Euro IV comes into effect. Various Members have described the advances in diesel vehicles. That is true. So Euro IV diesel vehicles that use ultra low sulphur diesel are obviously a solution. However, there is another solution, which is to make use of CNG vehicles.”
“But the US-EPA, about six years ago, had already identified and defined the standards for major cities in USA. In line with the spirit of observing best practices, we have decided to observe the same standards as well. As of now, most of the major cities in the USA are still not able to meet this standard of PM 2.5. Singapore too. Members of the House may wonder where does PM 2.5 come from. Sir, PM 2.5 comes from three sources. Firstly, from power generation and industry, and they account for 30% of the PM 2.5 in our air. Secondly, background sources - these are particles from natural sources, nothing much we can do, and they account for 20%. And the remaining 50% of PM 2.5 in our air comes from vehicles, and in particular, diesel vehicles. Today, the emission standard in Singapore is Euro II. Diesel in Singapore is used mainly for taxis, commercial vehicles and buses. Collectively, they account for almost all the PM 2.5 in our air as far as vehicular emission is concerned. In other words, 50% of the PM 2.5 comes from the taxis, commercial vehicles and buses. Prof. Low Seow Chay and several Members commented that we should do something to tighten emission standard. Mr Ong Kian Min asked when we can move to Euro III and suggested that we might want to leapfrog to Euro IV. Sir, it is true that, in 2001, we introduced the Euro II as an emission standard for all vehicles, including diesel vehicles. At that point in time, we gave the industries two years advanced notice. The intention at that point was to follow-up with the introduction of Euro III following Euro II. However, because of slow economic growth in the past few years, we did not want to add to the burden of the industries and businesses.”
“Mr Othman Haron asked whether our air quality is one of the cleanest in the world. Mdm Cynthia Phua and Dr Amy Khor asked how does it compare with international standards and what are the new areas of concern. They talked about the rising trend of asthma and asked whether this has to do with the air quality. Mr Ang Mong Seng asked what strategy we have to improve air quality. Sir, the air quality in Singapore today is certainly one of the best in the world. All the major pollutants - sulphur dioxide, particulate matter 10, nitrogen oxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, and so on, are all within the international standards. Certainly, we have one of the best air quality in the world. However, for us to continue to enjoy this good quality of air, there are two things we need to do. Firstly, we have to keep the level of the established air pollutants to within the international standards, just like what we have done up to now. At the same time, we must continue to identify new pollutants and make sure that these new pollutants are brought within the international standards. In this regard, one of such new pollutants which is attracting a lot of attention from Members of the House is PM 2.5 which stands for particulate matter 2.5. Sir, PM 2.5 is a very small particle, just the size of 1/20th of the diameter of our hair. Various studies have shown that PM 2.5 can be harmful to our health if we are exposed to unhealthy level. For example, it could lead to bronchitis or asthma. Therefore, it is important for us to make sure that the emission of PM 2.5 is under control in Singapore. PM 2.5 is a newly identified pollutant. At this moment, there are still no international standards. The WHO has not defined a standard for PM 2.5 yet.”
“We need members of the public to understand not just what are we trying to do, but more importantly, why we are trying to do all these. If we are not able to explain things in simple terms, if we are not able to do our best to KISS - keep it short and simple - then we are going to confuse the public. There is a Chinese saying, zhi qi ran, pu zhi qi suoyi ran. They say, "You want me to recycle, but why is it so important to recycle? You tell them that in the future, we may have to tighten our emission standard and save energy, and they wonder why." Through this Singapore Clean Report, we are actually adopting a human psychological angle now. We are not trying to give instructions to the members of the public, because the harder we try to enforce, the harder we try to instruct, I think the more they will resist. Instead, we try to explain and help members of the public understand why the threat of environmental disaster is real and it is important that we do what is necessary. 00 pm Sir, Members can see that we use simple graphic and user-friendly language in this Report. We hope that, in time to come, members of the public will understand much more about environmental performance and environmental sustainability. Hopefully, the day will come when we talk about the environment, we will not be talking about "The Environment", but "Our Environment". This would be the day when we can truly say that we have all taken ownership of the environment. Sir, this is also why I am thinking of changing the name of our Ministry - from the Ministry of the Environment to the Ministry of Our Environment. Sir, let me move on to address some of the specific issues raised by the Members regarding how sustainable is the Singapore environment.”
“I was told that when the World Trade Centre building was first built, they put in the fastest lifts they could find at that time. But within a few days, many of those who went to the top of the World Trade Centre came down with a common complaint that the lifts were too slow. The engineers could not understand why. They said, "Look, this is the fastest lift we can get in the market, but the people still complain that it is too slow. What more can we do?" The building management asked the engineers to design an even faster lift than the fastest lift. The engineers said, "It cannot be done, because this will compromise the safety standard." Then, out of the blue, a person who knew nothing about engineering but knew a lot about human psychology said, "Maybe the problem is not the speed of the lift because, after all, we know that this is the fastest lift". He felt the problem was more to do with human psychology. When you are with a group of strangers in a confined space, you do not know where to put your eyes. If you look at the other person, the person does not like it. You stare at the ceiling, there is nothing to see. So they feel very awkward in the lift, and every second seems like a long time. He said, "Why don't we do this? We put mirrors on the four walls inside the lift, so that they can look at themselves and see whether their hair is all right, etc." That was what they did. It was such a simple solution and it solved the problem. After they installed the lifts with mirrors, there was not a single complaint that the lifts were too slow. What has this got to do with the Singapore clean card? When we talk about sustainability, we have to talk about public education.”
“In the case of the Singapore Environmental Council, likewise, we are working with them to introduce the concept of a pro-environment club, bringing together business organisations that want to support environmental programmes. Of course, the most significant 3P ownership programme that was undertaken last year was the launch of the Singapore's OK for the community. We now work with a few thousand grassroots leaders and volunteers in making sure that Singapore's OK is being permeated to the ground. As we move from partnership to ownership, it is very important to recognise that we are in this together - because we live in the same Singapore, we breathe the same air, we drink the same water, and we live in the same safe and healthy environment. We must all recognise that there is no easy way out towards environmental sustainability. We have to make it happen, by working together. Dr Teo Ho Pin pointed out the importance of strengthening mutual understanding among the 3P partners. Sir, I agree with him fully. As we move from 3P partnership to 3P ownership, the key issue is whether we are able to bring the level of public education to a higher plane. If the members of the public do not understand what we are trying to do and what needs to be done to strengthen our environmental sustainability, then many of the plans that we have under the SGP 2012 cannot come true. This is the reason why we have decided to launch Singapore Clean Report. Members of the House who have the chance to flip through this Report will notice that this Report is written in a very simple to understand manner. Some Members may wonder why it is so simple. After all, this is not meant just for primary school kids, but for the members of the public. Here, I want to relate a real situation.”
“We are now three co-owners and we have to work together to go into auto-pilot mode, so that everybody in Singapore, whether you are in private sector, public sector or people sector, will look at protecting our environment as second nature to us. Sir, some Members may wonder whether all this talk about transforming 3P partnership into 3P ownership is just talk and no action. I want to assure the House that we are putting action and money where our mouth is. The NEA, started two years ago, has established a 3P partnership fund. They drew on the resources from the various programmes, put them together, to support various 3P programmes. Last year, we had a fund size of $750,000. For this year, NEA intends to increase it to $1 million. We use these resources to work with our 3P owners in various areas. eg, in Little India, there is now a Little India Environment Watch. In the case of public toilets, there is a programme launched by the Restroom Association of Singapore known as "Happy Toilets". These are just examples of what we are doing now with our 3P owners. Another example - in our schools, we talk about students with straight As. In ENV, we talk about food courts with straight As. In the past, we went to a food court and we certified hygiene standard stall by stall - A, B or C. Now, we have a self-regulating programme. The food courts can self-regulate, take measures to improve their hygiene so that the entire food court can qualify for A grading. Food Junction now has 14 food courts with straight As grading. Another one is Banquet: its eight food courts are all straight As. This is a result of 3P ownership. Instead of us checking on them, they now regulate and check themselves, and they introduce necessary measures themselves.”
“I told them that when we talk about 3P partnership, it is like having three persons on the same ship. I said that as we move from 3P partnership to 3P ownership, we should now have three owners and not three partners on the same ship. In other words, there are three captains to steer and direct the ship. In response, my Senior Parliamentary Secretary Maidin said, "Mr Lim, I don't think so. From my limited knowledge about how a captain runs a ship, I don't think it is possible for three captains to direct one ship. I don't think that is a good illustration." The CEO of PUB, Khoo Teng Chye, said, "Instead of ship, why don't we use Jumbo aircraft instead?" In a SIA Jumbo, they have co-pilots. So, you can have more than one pilot to fly the plane. Then, my Director-General of Public Health, Daniel Wang, said, "Yes, better still, if we do not stop with the co-pilot concept, but towards auto-pilot too." That, basically, is to make protecting the environment second nature to the 3P partners. The CEO of NEA, BG Lum Joon Khoi, then added what, in my view, is the best reason for moving from ship to Jumbo Jet. He said, "In the case of a ship, even if you are a captain of the ship, you can still jump ship, even though you are the last one to jump. But in the case of the Jumbo, when the three co-pilots are in the same plane, there is no way that they can jump off the plane." In other words, all of us will be committed to the same destination in managing our environment. Sir, this indeed is the new mindset in the ENV, NEA and PUB. When we talk about sustaining the good performance of the environment, we no longer adopt the old mindset of looking at ENV as the captain of this environmental ship. Instead, we now look at our 3P partners as co-pilots.”
“Sir, based on these four indicators, I am happy to say that 2003 was a good year, as far as environmental performance is concerned. Dr Teo asked how sustainable is the good environmental performance. He also asked about the monitoring mechanism for 2012 and the progress of our 3P efforts. Sir, for a fast-moving, growing and open city like Singapore, none of these environmental performance achievements happened by chance. They did not come easy but it can be done as long as we work together to avoid environmental disaster. To ensure that we can continue to enjoy good environmental performance over the long term, we have, firstly, put in place very clear targets for the next 10 years under the Singapore Green Plan 2012, as mentioned by Dr Teo, in eight areas. Secondly, we have put in place a mechanism to review these targets every three years. This is very important because of the changing environment. So we make sure that our 10-year targets are up to date once every three years. Last, but not least, we have translated all these 3-year and 10-year targets into a series of action programmes. As of now, there are six action programme committees formed by the 3P partners, and they have formulated 155 action programmes for implementation over the next three years. This shows how serious we are in translating our targets on paper into real action on the ground. However, Sir, I want to emphasise that how far we can go and how fast we can move towards the Singapore Green Plan 2012 depends on one thing: not so much the target or strategy or action plan, but very much our ability to transform our 3P partnership into 3P ownership. Some Members may wonder what is the difference between 3P partnership and 3P ownership. I discussed this with my colleagues at the ENV, NEA and PUB.”
“More importantly, the people responded in a very united manner. Hence from the public health angle, we did well. The second challenge last year was the outbreak of dengue in our region. Dengue is endemic in more than 100 countries. According to the WHO, 50 million people are infected every year, and 22,000 people - most of them are children - die every year from dengue. So this is something not to be taken lightly. We are located in a region where dengue is endemic. We are affected by the outbreak of dengue over the last two years. The number of dengue cases in Singapore went up, from 2,300 in 2001 to 4,000 in 2002, to 4,800 last year. We are not spared from the dengue outbreak. However, I am happy to say that we managed to keep the dengue outbreak situation under control. As some Members intend to touch on this subject, I will respond later when we come to them. Sir, Dr Teo Ho Pin asked whether we have any disaster management plans in place to cope with public health outbreaks. The answer is yes. Firstly, PUB and NEA both have quick response teams in place all the time. These quick response teams were put to the test in the SARS outbreak and I think they responded very well when activated. Secondly, we work very closely with the pest control contractors so that when needed, we are able to activate them to conduct search and destroy operations. Lastly, most importantly, we network strongly with the grassroots organisations. In times of need, we will be able to mobilise the grassroots as well. In the case of food-borne disease outbreaks, again, we have the system in place. Should there be an outbreak, we will be able to close the food shops concerned, seize and destroy food items, clean and disinfect the food shops.”
“We aim to reduce the flood-prone areas from 158 hectares to less than 100 hectares, which is about one-quarter the size of Sentosa by 2007. Mr Othman Haron asked what kind of measures we can put in place today to reduce and minimise the impact of flooding on the residents. Sir, there are a few measures taken by PUB. Firstly, working with the NEA, we provide information on high tide to the residents in advance because we are able to forecast ahead which are the days we are likely to see exceptional high tides. Because the information is provided to the residents a few months ahead, the residents may have forgotten about our advisory note when the time comes. So starting from next week, PUB will provide reminders three days ahead of the high tide. Hopefully, this would better remind the residents. At the same time, PUB is working with the seven CCCs to provide flood advisories to residents living in the affected areas. PUB is also working with the radio to issue radio alert to keep the public informed in a very timely manner. Last, but not least, for those who want to find out more, they can always contact the PUB call centre, starting from last week, for any latest flood updates. 45 pm Sir, the fourth indicator is the colour of public health. And, here I am happy to say that public health is still pink. Last year, we had two major challenges. First, the outbreak of SARS. I am happy to say that our public health infrastructure and overall response system were put to the test and it shows that we are functioning well. Some Members may remember that there was a concern about whether SARS could spread through the sewer system. In the case of Singapore, we have water seals that will not only trap smell but also SARS.”
“It does not make sense for us to spend $10 million to solve the flood problem for 28 households. So I asked PUB if it means that that area will forever have to suffer from flood. PUB said that realistically the practical approach would be to use some sand and earth to raise the ground level when the area is due for redevelopment. Sir, I want to assure the House that wherever cost effective, we do undertake projects to reduce flooding. Take, for example, the one that is on-going at the Alexandra and Lower Delta area. We have widened and deepened the canal, and the project will be completed by the end of this year. Last week, even though the rain was heavy and the tide was high, that area was not flooded. We are beginning to see the benefits of widening and deepening the canal there. Sir, the other flood prone area is a cluster around the central district area. For example, in the Jalan Besar area - some of the shophouses and roads are often flooded during heavy downpours and high tides. The older parts of the city - Chinatown is also flood prone. Boat Quay, Rochor Road, Farrer Park, and so on are areas that are below the high tide level. The remaining area would be the ones mentioned by Mr Othman Haron - Geylang, Paya Lebar, Sims Avenue, Marine Drive, and so on. These are parts of the Geylang river system. Sir, I am happy to inform the House that, by the time the proposed Marina Barrage is put in place by the year 2007, most of these flood problems would go away, or at least be reduced by a very large extent. Sir, as mentioned by Mr Othman Haron, over the last 20 years we have spent $1.5 billion to reduce the floor-prone areas to 158 hectares now. Over the next 3-4 years, we will continue this effort.”
“On 8th March, in the Bukit Timah and Thomson Road areas, the flood was about 0.3 metre deep, lasted less than one hour, but covered an area of 11 hectares. That is why I said it was a fairly extensive flood. Three days later, on 11th March, in the Paya Lebar and Katong areas, again, the flood was about 0.3 metre deep, less than one hour long, but again, the area covered was quite extensive, about five hectares. So I can understand why Mr Othman Haron is concerned about the flood that took place last week. There are basically two reasons. First, the intensity of the storm last week was so heavy that it happens, on the average, once in 10 years. Secondly, it happened at a time when the tide was exceptionally high, more than three metres. These two factors, coming together, caused a fairly extensive flood. Some of you may wonder that since we are able to reduce the flood-prone areas from 8-9 Sentosas to less than half, why do we not remove the problem of flooding completely? Sir, let me explain. Lorong Buangkok is a place off Yio Chu Kang. According to PUB, that place is flooded, on the average, three times in a year. One reason is that the area is just slightly above the high tide level. As a result, whenever there is a heavy downpour, the place would flood. I asked PUB if we can do something to alleviate the flood situation there. PUB said, yes, it can be done. With today's technology, they can always put in place a pump to pump out the rain water whenever it rains heavily. However, it will cost us $10 million to put in place a solution, and that $10 million will go to benefit 28 households living in that area. Sir, Members will agree with me that it is just not cost effective.”
“90% of this waste is incinerated in our incineration plants, with the remaining 10%, which are non-incinerable, disposed directly at Pulau Semakau as landfill. The number of illegal dumping has also come down, from 160 in year 2000 to 32 last year. But, Sir, one point worth noting is that every day, here in Singapore, we still need to deploy 6,700 cleaning workers, coming from town councils, NEA and NParks. They have to clean our streets, housing estates, parks, public amenities and public places. One of the reasons why Singapore is clean today is not because we are litter-free, but rather because every day we have these 6,700 workers to keep cleaning away our litter. I think this is something Singaporeans ought to reflect on. Sir, the third indicator is the colour of the water. Again, I am happy to say that it is still clear and safe. Every day, the PUB supplies 300 million gallons of water and every drop of used water is being treated to international standard before it is discharged to the sea. The amount of "brown" water, ie, the "flooding situation", has also improved over the years. Sir, Mr Othman Haron asked about last week's flood. The total size of flood-prone areas in Singapore, over the years, has continued to come down. Thirty years ago, there were 3,200 hectares of flood-prone areas in Singapore, equivalent to 8-9 Sentosa Islands. By the end of last year, it has come down to 158 hectares, which is less than half the size of Sentosa Island. These flood-prone areas are pockets of low-lying areas. Whenever there is a heavy rain coinciding with high tide, we will have minor floods from time to time. There were 10 in the year 2000, six in 2003. Last week, the floods that we had were not minor floods. In fact, they were fairly extensive.”
“Mr Iswaran said that the PSI is an average across Singapore. Sir, I want to clarify that this is not the case. The way we measure PSI in Singapore is that we have 14 stations spread all over Singapore and we take the worst reading of these 14 stations in the compilation of our PSI. In other words, when I say that last year we had 93% of good PSI days and 7% of moderate PSI days, that applies to the whole of Singapore, whether you live in the west, east, north or south, since the compilation of PSI is based on worst reading across Singapore. Therefore, I want to assure Dr Amy Khor and Mr Iswaran that the air in the west is clean, fresh and safe. Sir, Mdm Cynthia Phua asked for an update on the haze agreement. I am happy to report that the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution was ratified by six countries as of 25th November last year. What this means is that the Haze Agreement can now come into force under the ASEAN framework because we need to have six countries to ratify the agreement. We can now go ahead to consolidate and strengthen our regional collaboration in the areas of prevention, monitoring, and mitigation of land and forest fires. Sir, the first meeting of the ASEAN Regional Haze Agreement will take place on 28th and 29th of April in Malaysia and ASEAN members will discuss the implementation mechanism and decide on the location of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre which will harness, mobilise and coordinate existing resources. Hopefully, by working together as one region, we can minimise the potential impact of haze on ASEAN. Sir, the second indicator is the colour of the land, and again I am happy to say that it is still green and clean. Every day, 6,900 tons of wastes were collected in a very timely manner.”
“Sir, first, I would like to thank Dr Teo Ho Pin, Chairman of the GPC as well as the Members for raising issues that are very pertinent to the future development of the Singapore environment. Sir, Dr Teo Ho Pin asked what is the status of the environment today. Mr Othman Haron asked what are the indicators and how are we doing in terms of environmental performance. Sir, the environmental performance of Singapore has been good in the year 2003. I say so based on four performance indicators. Firstly, the colour of the sky is still blue and the smell of our air is still fresh. According to the NEA, in terms of PSI, 93% of the days in 2003 were in the good range and 7% in the moderate range. In fact, in terms of air quality, 2003 was one of the best years in the history of Singapore. There was no unhealthy day, not a single day. One obvious reason is that we were not affected much by the regional haze last year. It was just modest. But, Sir, I want to emphasise the point that while regional haze is an important factor, we should not overstate that factor. The fact is that the quality of the air in Singapore depends a lot on what we do in Singapore. Over the last 20 years, through careful planning and pollution control, we reduced the amount of lead in the air by more than 90%, and this did not happen by chance. At the same time, we reduced the amount of sulphur dioxide by more than 70%. Again, this did not happen by chance. Sir, the point I want to make here is that, as long as we work together to manage air pollution, Singapore can indeed continue to enjoy quality air for some time to come. Sir, Mr Iswaran and Dr Amy Khor asked if there is a difference between the air quality in the western area versus eastern area.”
“A Care and Protection Order is usually issued by the Court to ensure that family members receive assessments, support services as well as counselling. To prevent child abuse, MCDS carries out on-going training on detection and early intervention to ensure that professionals and those in regular contact with children can raise alert even on potential abuse and not wait till after abuse has taken place. The protection of our children requires a "Many Helping Hands" approach. MCDS and our partners have implemented various initiatives that focus on the prevention and protection of our children from abuse. I will just highlight two recent initiatives. (i) Project Seed Project Seed is a programme of the Singapore Children's Society where teachers and social workers identify school-going children who may be at risk of being abused by their families. The help extended to the family is preventive and effective in improving parent-child relationships. (ii) Handbook for Teachers on "Managing Children At Risk" This handbook was produced by MCDS and the Ministry of Education to help teachers, principals and school guidance officers to identify and help children at risk of abuse. I must emphasise that parents or family members who require assistance in parenting or child behaviour management must seek help. We would also urge any member of the public who knows of or suspects child abuse to report the case. They can approach any Family Service Centre near their homes or call the Child Protection and Welfare Section's toll free line at 1800-258 6378.”
“Mr Wee Siew Kim asked the Minister for Community Development and Sports (a) how many children under the age of 18 have been detected by social workers and medical personnel to be victims of physical and sexual abuse in 2002 and 2003; (b) how many, if any, had died; and (c) whether there are new measures introduced to protect them. The Minister of State for Community Development and Sports (Mr Chan Soo Sen) (for the Minister for Community Development and Sports): Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Mr Wee for his concern. I would like to assure him that the safety of every child is the paramount factor in my Ministry's work in child protection. In Singapore, the Children and Young Persons Act provides the legal framework for the protection of a child or young person up to the age of 16 years. The Ministry of Community Development and Sports received 193 reports of alleged physical and sexual abuse cases in year 2002, and 205 cases in year 2003. No child has died among the cases reported to MCDS. However, according to the cases recorded by the Police, there was one death from physical abuse and one death from sexual abuse in year 2002. In year 2003, there were three deaths resulting from physical abuse. All five cases were aged below five years old. When a case of alleged child abuse is reported, an investigation is conducted by the child protection officer. This is to ascertain the risk to the child and, where necessary, to allow us intervention to safeguard the safety of the child. The care plan for the child is discussed by a Child Abuse Protection Team, comprising child protection officers, paediatricians, psychologists and the educational staff where appropriate.”
“Sir, earlier, Mr Khaw Boon Wan said that every birth is different. Later on, Mr Tharman said that every school is different; every principal is different. Here, I am saying that every hawker centre is different; every hawker is different. Over the last couple of years, we have encouraged the hawker associations to project an enhanced and yet different identities for their hawker centres. I am happy to say that the grassroots advisers, the community leaders and the market associations have been most responsive. Today, if you were to go to the hawker centres at Ang Mo Kio, Mr Seng Han Thong has introduced aprons and caps there. When he introduced caps, the hawkers said that it was too warm to wear a cap in a hawker centre. So, Mr Seng Han Thong got a designer to design a half cap. The cap covers only the front but not the back. I think these are the initiatives and innovations that we would like to see in the hawker centres, so that when the public goes to different hawker centres, they will see different images as well as different quality and standard of service. There will be a variety. This is what we would like to see. On the whole, the role of the NEA is to make sure that the minimum standard of hygiene and cleanliness is being achieved and maintained, and to progressively improve this minimum standard. But in terms of differentiating the image and the identity of hawker centres, we would rather leave it very much to the various grassroots organisations and grassroots advisers. VICTIMS OF PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ABUSE 9.”
“Sir, in terms of housekeeping standards, it does not matter whether the hawker centre is under the purview of HDB, NEA or JTC. Every hawker centre is subjected to the same standard of housekeeping and enforcement. With regard to the overall management of the hawker centres, I am happy to say that with effect from 1st April, all the HDB hawker centres will come under the management of the NEA as well. This means we will have one agency to be responsible for the overall management of all the hawker centres.”
“At the same time, we will work with Town Councils and hawker associations to improve and maintain good hygiene and cleanliness standards. This will improve the overall image of our hawkers and, at the same time, enhance the public's overall impression of our hawker centres.”