Masagos Zulkifli B M M
Singapore
“Coordination between Early Intervention (EI) centres, families and preschools is important for the continuity of support for children with developmental needs.”
“The Taxi Subsidy Scheme supports persons with disabilities (PwDs) who are unable to take public transport, by providing means-tested subsidies to offset the cost of taxi travel to school, work and employment-related training supported by SG Enable.”
“The Skills and Salary Guidelines published by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) guides social service agencies (SSAs) to pay their employees fair and competitive remuneration and maintain the sector's attractiveness. The Guidelines are adjusted so that salaries remain competitive with comparable roles in competing markets.”
“Staff turnover rates vary across social service agencies (SSAs). An individual's decision to leave an organisation is influenced by a myriad of factors, of which pay is only one.”
“Beyond the requirement of a structured daily programme, community-based SCFA administrators have the flexibility to offer programmes and additional enrichment activities that meet the needs of their students. MSF does not track staff salaries and turnover of SCCs in general nor those that administer SCFA.”
“Male preschool educators comprised about 1% of the early childhood workforce in each of the last five years. The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) has not issued guidelines pertaining to the rules set by preschool centres specific to the conduct of male preschool educators.”
The complete record
Every one of 2,489 lines we hold for Masagos Zulkifli B M M, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 26 of 50.
“Caregivers play a critical role in caring for children with special needs. To care for their children well, we recognise that caregivers themselves need respite care from time to time. At present, there are preschools and early intervention (EI) centres which enrol and provide support for children under the age of seven with developmental needs. There are also Special Student Care Centres (SSCC) which provide before-and-after school care service for children aged 7 to 18 years, and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) is working closely with the Social Service Agencies (SSAs) to build more of these SSCCs. These services can provide some respite for caregivers during those hours that the children are in the schools/centres. In addition, Child Disability Homes (CDH) provide both long-term and short-term residential care services to children aged 7 to 18 with special needs. SG Enable (SGE) has also brought together 24 organisations, comprising SSAs and hospitals, to form a caregiver support coalition. Members of the coalition share knowledge and learn from one another, identify current challenges, and find common ground to collaborate. Through SGE's Enabling Guide website, caregivers can also find informal support groups. The Caregivers Pod (Facility) at Enabling Village serves as a meeting place for support group activities, providing them with a space for rest and respite, caregiver training, and engagement with SSAs and community partners. To better equip caregivers to support fellow caregivers, SGE has worked with the community and SSAs to organise Peer to Peer (P2P) Mentor training. This allows caregivers to be supported by other more experienced caregiver mentors.”
“Home-based care arrangements are generally more informal and small-scale (compared to centre-based care), and are founded on mutual trust between parents and caregivers. Many parents rely on grandparents, relatives, friends or neighbours for such arrangements. There are no specific regulations for such small-scale, home-based care services. Regulation, with its attendant registration requirements, may discourage such familial arrangements. Home-based care also tends to be decentralised, small-scale, and varied in nature, making it difficult to enforce a common set of standards in the home environment. For parents who choose to engage these informal home-based care services, we encourage them to know their caregivers and conduct the necessary checks before doing so, such as obtaining and checking references from past clients. There are also legal safeguards in place against mistreatment of children under the Children and Young Persons Act and the Penal Code. For any cases of suspected mistreatment or abuse of children by centre-based staff or informal caregivers, parents can make a report to the police.”
“We will continue to partner caregivers to co-create solutions that better address their needs and concerns.”
“SG Enable also launched the Enabling Mark earlier this month, which is a national-level accreditation framework that seeks to incentivise organisations to adopt best practices, and support them as they improve their inclusive employment practices. MSF set up the Enabling Masterplan Workgroup on "Preparing PwDs for the Future Economy" last year comprising members from the people, private and public sectors. This is a collaborative, cross-sectoral effort to co-solution and co-implement initiatives to improve the employability of PwDs. Some of these initiatives have already been implemented, such as the enhancements to the wage support scheme and the ODP Training Grant, as well as the launch of the Enabling Mark mentioned earlier. We are also looking at other initiatives to expand opportunities for lifelong learning, create more job opportunities, and better support PwDs at the workplace. The workgroup will release its full report and recommendations in the first half of 2021. Beyond support for inclusive employers and PwDs, the Government recognises that families and caregivers are the first line of support for PwDs. We have introduced financial assistance schemes such as the Home Caregiving Grant last year, and CareShield Life earlier this month. The Special Needs Trust Company (SNTC) also helps caregivers to develop care plans to ensure that the future needs of their loved ones are met. We have worked through SG Enable to build caregiver support networks, facilitate peer-to-peer training, and support ground-up initiatives such as the Inaugural Care Carnival that was held in November 2019. Detailed information on all these caregiver support services can be found on the Enabling Guide website which was launched by SG Enable last year.”
“Last month, the Government announced that we will provide the higher level of wage support of 50% under the Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) to all new local PwDs hired by JGI-eligible firms from September 2020 to February 2021. We are also finalising plans through the National Jobs Council to provide more support for employers to hire PwDs during this economic downturn and will announce more details when ready. These additional support measures will complement the existing support available under the Open Door Programme, which helps PwDs enter suitable jobs and better integrate into the workplace. The job placement and support services under the ODP are free and available to all PwD jobseekers and employers. We will also continue to invest in training, both to equip PwDs with industry-relevant skills, and to help employers and co-workers work better with PwDs. In the first half of 2020, 209 PwDs benefited from the ODP Training Grant, which subsidises course fees and provides training allowance. Employers also receive funding to send their employees for training to better understand how to work with colleagues with disabilities. The ODP Training Grant was enhanced in July 2020 to provide stronger funding support to encourage more employers to send their employees with disabilities for training. Under the enhanced Training Grant, there are more course fee subsidies and training allowance, as well as a new training commitment award of $100 per completed eligible training course. We will continue to push for progressive and inclusive workplaces, and recognise employers who are leading the way. To help defray the cost of job redesign initiatives, the ODP Job Redesign Grant provides funding of up to 90% of job redesign costs, capped at $20,000 per employee with disabilities.”
“Based on data from the Comprehensive Labour Force Survey (CLFS), among resident persons with disabilities (PwDs) in the working ages of 15 to 64 in 2018 and 2019, on average, 28.2% were employed, 3.6% were without a job and actively looking for one, and the remaining 68.2% of resident PwDs were outside the labour force, with most of them citing poor health or disability as the main reason. Based on the number of PwDs known to SG Enable, MSF estimates that there are around 32,000 PwDs aged 15 – 64, of whom around 9,000 are employed, 1,000 are unemployed, and around 22,000 are outside of the labour force. Employers receive wage offsets under the Special Employment Credit (SEC) and Additional Special Employment Credit (ASEC) for Singaporean PwDs earning below $4,000 a month. In the first half of 2020, there were almost 5,000 employers who received SEC and ASEC for over 8,300 Singaporean PwDs who were in their employ. The total number of employers who employ PwDs would be higher than 5,000, as there are other employers who employ PwDs who earn more than $4000 a month. The Government is committed to supporting the employment and employability of PwDs. The SEC and ASEC, which provide wage offsets of up to $240 a month for PwDs under 67, and $330 for PwDs over 67, will expire in December 2020, and be replaced by the Enabling Employment Credit (EEC). The EEC will provide employers of Singaporean PwDs with a wage offset of up to 20% of the employee’s monthly income, with a higher cap of $400 a month, compared to the SEC and ASEC. In addition, employers who hire Singaporean PwDs who have not been employed for at least six months will receive an additional wage offset of up to 10% capped at $200 a month, for a period of six months.”
“Table 1 shows the number of Singapore Citizen (SC) children born in Singapore to female Long Term Visit Pass (LTVP) holders and to SC women between 2010 and 2019. Data on divorces between SCs and LTVP holders with at least one child under 21 years old between 2010 and 2019 is unavailable. The Family Justice Courts and the Syariah Court do not track divorce by the type of immigration passes held by Non-Resident parties.”
“The number of preschools offering the Development Support (DS) and Learning Support (LS) programme has increased by 60% from 350 preschools in 2017 to about 550 preschools today. Of these preschools offering the DS-LS programme, about 400 are Anchor Operator (AOP) preschools. Today, all of the AOPs are DS-LS providers who have or will have their own team of in-house Learning Support Educators. This enables the AOPs to better expand the delivery of the DS-LS programmes in their centres. The Early Childhood Development Agency (EDCA) is working closely with the AOPs and other preschool operators to make the DS-LS programme available at more preschools. ECDA provides funding to preschools which are DS-LS providers, to train their Learning Support Educators and procure therapy services. These preschools are also supported with a Place-and-Train programme to facilitate the training of more in-house Learning Support Educators.”
“Mr Speaker, during the circuit breaker period, MSF continued to facilitate interaction between children-in-care and their natural parents. This is important to maintain the family ties between the children and their families and to facilitate the children's eventual reunification with their families. In line with the safe management measures implemented during the circuit breaker period, case workers and foster families continued to facilitate access virtually through video conferencing or phone calls for the children to maintain regular contact with their natural families. Case workers also had more frequent virtual check-ins with the children to ensure their well-being. In the post-circuit breaker period, children in foster care are granted home leave to visit their natural families in their homes. The natural parents must declare the health situation of the family before any visit. For instance, there must not be any household member feeling unwell, or under a Home Quarantine Order, Leave of Absence, or Stay-Home Notice. Case workers will also request for periodic updates on the natural family's health.”
“Encouraging more babies is one reason why we did it, but not the reason to do it. For childcare, for example, we want to make sure that children get access to affordable and quality pre-school education. That is very important, especially during the growing years. For students above seven years old who need care because of the circumstances in their families, they have access to higher subsidies given the special circumstances the families may need. So if Members know of families who do not qualify because of this income criteria, they can always come forward and appeal for higher subsidies. And we will look at it carefully.”
“We will monitor the impact of the enhancements, because these are very recent, and review these schemes when necessary to ensure the affordability of pre-school and student care, especially for lower income families. For pre-school, we aim to lower fee caps for full-day childcare at Government-supported pre-schools over the medium term to make pre-school even more affordable for all families, starting with Partner Operator pre-schools in January 2021.”
“Around 36,000 children are enrolled in MSF-registered student care centres today, of which 6,600 Singaporean children are SCFA beneficiaries. Of the 6,600 children, the median SCFA subsidy is $243, and the median net fee after subsidy is $30. One thousand and eight hundred children, or three in 10, receive the highest tier of the SCFA subsidy, as their families have monthly household income of $1,500 and below. The median SCFA subsidy is $275 and the median net fee after subsidy is $5. Thirty five percent of these 1,800 children have zero household income. The Member also asked if we could eliminate means-testing so that families can pay a uniform fee for pre-school and student care. Means-testing allows the Government to use fiscal resources more effectively and to extend more support to families with greater needs. In January 2020, we raised the household income ceiling for the Childcare Additional Subsidy and KiFAS to $12,000 per month, up from $7,500 and $6,000 respectively, to support more families with pre-school expenses. We also increased the subsidy amounts for each eligible tier, by up to $240 per month for the Additional Subsidy. Similarly, for student care, we recently enhanced the SCFA scheme to strengthen support for lower income families. In July 2020, the monthly household income ceiling was raised from $4,000 to $4,500. The per capita income ceiling was raised from $1,000 to $1,125, allowing more families to qualify for subsidies. The quanta for means-tested SCFA subsidies have also been increased, such that eligible families can receive up to $60 more in subsidies per month.”
“Four thousand three hundred children, or two in 10, receive the highest tier of the KiFAS subsidy, as their families have monthly household income of $3,000 or below. For this group, the median subsidy is $170 and the nett fee is $1. The Member asked if we could extend subsidies to non-working mothers taking care of older children in the family. Non-working mothers who need childcare due to certain circumstances, such as those who are looking for employment or are caring for a younger child aged 24 months and below, a special needs child or a sick family member, can apply for the same subsidies as working mothers under Special Approval. From August 2020, families under HDB's Public Rental Scheme and MSF’s ComCare schemes automatically qualify for maximum pre-school subsidies, regardless of the mother’s working status. Non-working mothers may also consider enrolling their children in half-day kindergarten programmes, which are often more affordable than full-day childcare programmes. KiFAS is available at kindergartens run by Anchor Operators and MOE, and does not depend on the mother's working status. As for student care, student care centres provide care and supervision to school-going children from seven to 14 years old. To ensure that student care remains affordable, MSF provides children from lower income families with monthly subsidies for student care fees under the Student Care Fee Assistance or SCFA scheme. These subsidies are available for all eligible families with monthly household income of $4,500 or below or per capita income of $1,125 or below, including those with non-working parents who are looking for work, on medical leave, or with certified full-time care-giver duties for a dependant and so on.”
“Mr Speaker, all families with Singaporean children enrolled in childcare programmes receive a universal Basic Subsidy. In addition, working mothers with a monthly household income of $12,000 or below are eligible for a means-tested Additional Subsidy, with lower income families receiving higher subsidies. Families with Singaporean children enrolled in kindergartens run by Anchor Operators and MOE and whose monthly household income is $12,000 or below are eligible for a means-tested subsidy under the Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme or KiFAS. Larger families can choose to have their household income assessed on a per capita basis, which may enable them to qualify for a higher tier of the Additional Subsidy or KiFAS. Today, 103,400 Singaporean children are enrolled in full-day childcare. Of these, all receive a Basic Subsidy each month. Sixty-one thousand five hundred children, or six in 10, receive an Additional Subsidy each month, as their families have monthly household income of $12,000 or below. For this group, the median total subsidy is $560 and the median nett fee after subsidy is $210. Nine thousand nine hundred children, or one in 10, receive the highest tier of the Additional Subsidy, as they are from families with monthly household income of $3,000 and below. For this group, the median total subsidy is $767 and the median nett fee is $3. For kindergarten, 18,800 Singaporean children are enrolled in Anchor Operator- and MOE-run kindergartens. Of these, 12,000 children, or over six in 10, receive KiFAS each month, as their families have monthly household income of $12,000 or below. For this group, the median subsidy is $156 and the median nett fee after subsidy is $15.”
“The COVID-19 Support Grant (CSG) supports lower- to middle-income resident employees who, as a result of the economic impact of COVID-19, are presently: (i) Involuntarily unemployed due to retrenchment or contract termination; (ii) Placed on involuntary no-pay leave for at least three consecutive months; or (iii) Experiencing reduced monthly salary of at least 30% for at least three consecutive months. As of 27 September 2020, around 133,000 individuals had applied for the CSG. Of these, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) approved the CSG for more than 83,000 applicants. About 46,000 applicants were unsuccessful, and around 4,000 applications were being processed. Of the 46,000 applicants who were unsuccessful, about 2,500 applicants were rejected due to their prior gross monthly household income exceeding $10,000 and monthly per capita income exceeding $3,100 (some of them might have also failed to meet other eligibility criteria). We do not have further breakdown of this 2,500 figure. Applicants who wish to appeal can either call the ComCare Call Hotline or approach MSF's Social Service Offices (SSOs). MSF's SSOs will assess these applications on a case-by-case basis, and can exercise some flexibility to support households in extenuating circumstances even if they exceed the prior household income criterion.”
“Parents who opt for their children to pursue madrasah education at the Primary school level are actually exempted from the Compulsory Education Act. So, they have made a choice to move into a sector where they know that funding from the Government may not always be available, particularly because it is in the religious sector. Having said that, they still have options to go back to the MOE system that will provide the full support that they may need. In fact, for some of the areas like for those with learning difficulties, it is best that they go and pursue within the Government sector. Because this is where not only is it available but quality, quantity and availability are made available for everybody. Having said that, for our community, our focus, as I had mentioned just now, is to produce religious leaders that will be impactful and also relevant to our community, and of course to help Singapore integrate into the multiracial, multi-religious landscape that we all are in. We will try to increase the support for our madrasah with the resources that we have. As you know, these resources come largely from the community themselves. They are adequate, they have been increasing over time, and I thank all the donors, all the generous donations that the community has provided to support madrasah education as it stands today. In fact, if we compare ourselves to many other places, the structure and the institution of our madrasah are serving us; I would say it is adequate but I will not say that it is something we will settle for and we will continue to improve over time.”
“Indeed, this was the discovery of the COFA that Dr Maliki chaired, that the landscape or the kind of careers that our asatizah get launched into are no longer quite simplistic. In fact, they have to deal with quite difficult circumstances, even when it is about socio-religious matters. Which is why now we also want to develop adjacent competencies and we are glad that SUSS has opened up this opportunity for madrasah students through lifelong learning opportunities; at the same time to acquire qualifications that will allow them to practise just like any other lawyer or social worker in a way that will contribute to our community, as well as in the future, if they want to go to the larger sector, they can do so too.”
“I thank the Member for the supplementary question. MUIS' focus must be to produce the best religious teachers for our community, because otherwise, we will be importing them from all over the world and you would have seen the result it has produced in many parts of the world. Therefore, for now, we are quite satisfied with the number of students that are retained at the pre-University level that will move on to acquire professional, recognised degrees in religious studies that will help to guide our community. For the rest of the students – that means about 70% of them – they pursue a secular educational pathways. Most of them – about two-thirds of these 70% – do it after their "O" level. Which means that they have accessed to the systems of support in the MOE system to choose the right career, to choose the right studies that may fit what they want to do. In any case, MUIS will be also looking at the madrasah's system holistically, in line with the Committee on Future Asatizah or COFA that Dr Maliki Osman has concluded for us. With that, we also would want to look at the other students who will not be pursuing madrasah education for their career and the kind of support that may be lacking if the national system of support is not enough for them.”
“For this group, their career path may depend on the field of study that they opt for at these institutes of higher learning. Madrasah graduates in this group have ventured into a wide range of industries such as media, finance and the creative industries, sometimes adding value to these sectors through their trilingual language competencies. MUIS will continue to work closely with our madrasahs to ensure the curriculum prepares the madrasah students well for future careers in the religious sector.”
“Thank you. Madrasahs play an important role in developing our future Islamic religious scholars and teachers, or what we call in our community, asatizah. Our asatizah provide leadership and religious guidance to our Muslim community, amidst an increasingly diverse and vibrant socio-religious landscape. Our madrasahs have produced key religious leaders such as our current Mufti and Deputy Muftis. Madrasah students receive a comprehensive education in Islamic subjects that is complemented by a strong foundation in secular subjects. This dual education equips our madrasah students with the knowledge and skills to apply the practice of Islam to Singapore's contemporary and plural society, as well as to pursue tertiary Islamic studies later on. In the past three years, around 35% of students in each madrasah cohort, pursue pre-university madrasah education. They form the steady pipeline of religious leaders for the community. Most of these students will further their tertiary education in the Islamic sciences, in areas such as Islamic Jurisprudence and Islamic Theology. They later return as asatizah and contribute to the religious sector as religious scholars and teachers and mosque religious officers. Some of these students may choose to use their Islamic training to pursue careers in adjacent sectors, such as social services, business and research, that complement the religious sector in serving the needs of the Muslim community and the larger Singapore society. Madrasah education also enables students who want to pursue non-religious career paths. Some madrasah students move on to post-secondary education at Junior Colleges, Polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education or ITEs, after their GCE "O" level examinations.”
“Persons experiencing family violence may apply to the Family Justice Courts (FJC) for a personal protection order (PPO) and/or a domestic exclusion order (DEO) under the Women’s Charter. The monthly number of orders granted by the FJC is in the table below. On average, FJC granted approximately 75 PPOs and seven DEOs per month since the start of the Circuit Breaker period. The monthly average from April to August is similar to the monthly average for the first three months of 2020.”
“Depending on the age when the residents are discharged from the Homes, they may continue attending school, for example at Institutes of Higher Learning. The males may be enlisted for National Service. If the residents are ready to enter the workforce, the Homes will help to link them up with internships or job placements.”
“Children requiring care, protection or rehabilitation may stay in Licensed Residential Homes operated by social service agencies, or Youth Homes operated by MSF. MSF places a strong emphasis on reintegrating these children with their families. During their stay in the residential facilities, there are programmes to restore the relationship between the parents and children. Residents are also encouraged to keep in contact through parent visits and leave schemes that allow them to return home. Nonetheless, for some children or youths, it may not be conducive for them to return home to their families, despite the best efforts of all parties. MSF will support them in exploring kinship care arrangements to stay with relatives, where possible. Our Homes also prepare them for independent living by providing them guidance on key areas like education and employment, facilitating referrals to community agencies post-discharge, and connecting them to rental or hostel options. Residents of MSF’s Youth Homes are also provided post-care support up to a year to smoothen their transition and reintegration into the community. During their stay, the children in Licensed Residential Homes continue attending school. Some residents of MSF's Youth Homes attend on-site lessons based on MOE syllabuses and taught by MOE-trained teachers. Due to the smaller class sizes, teachers at the Homes are also able to provide additional attention to residents who require more academic and pastoral attention. Residents who satisfy certain conditions may continue to attend their existing schools outside the Homes. Vocational studies are also available for older youth and school leavers.”
“While the overall situation shows ample supply, there remain pockets with waitlists. This could be due to several factors. Examples include, location mismatches and parents increasingly wanting preschool places closer to their homes. While we are building new preschool places closer to families, it is not always possible for all families to have a preschool at the same block or within a few blocks of their homes, due to space constraints. The Government remains committed to ensuring that every child who needs a preschool place will be able to have one. ECDA will develop another 20,000 new infant and childcare places by 2023, mainly in planning areas with upcoming HDB developments for new families.”
“To meet the preschool needs of young families, Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) regularly projects demand across regions in Singapore, taking into consideration factors such as population size, demographics and enrolment trends. Families’ decisions on where to live, which affect projections, can also change over time and need to be continually reviewed. ECDA then works closely with agencies such as HDB, to develop new preschools in tandem with new housing developments, and URA, to set aside space for preschools through the Government Land Sales programme. Nationally, the supply of infant and childcare places has increased significantly by almost 50% since 2015 to 180,000 places, to meet rising demand. Of this, 10,200 are infant care and 169,800 are childcare places. Of the new preschool places added, many are in areas with more young families. For example, in the two newer planning areas, Punggol and Sengkang, there has been a 90% increase in the number of infant and childcare places since 2015. Over the past five years, there was an average of about 33,000 Singaporean citizen births annually. Even if we assumed that every one of these 165,000 children born over the past five years attends a full-day preschool, there is sufficient capacity nationally to meet their needs. Surveys have shown that most parents still prefer for their infants to be cared for at home by family, rather than opt for infant care services. Nationally, about 73% of childcare places have been taken up by enrolled children. The enrolment rate for infant care places is lower at 66% of available supply. Even for the newer planning areas such as Punggol and Sengkang, the infant care enrolment rate is about 61%.”
“The Member has the Ministry's and the Minister's support. The answer is yes.”
“Certainly, for those who have come forward and ask for help, we will render the help. But if Members know of anyone in their wards who may not be coming forward to ask for help, we will be happy to hear from you.”
“I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. For the first question, we will work with MOM to see whether it is something practical. Because to get the data on unemployment or employability, all these have certain angle of statistical reliability which, in the case of the PWD, is a very small segment. It is not like male and female – that is statistically significant. Therefore, we may need to customise how we get this data and how we report this data. But nevertheless, as I had mentioned if there are any complaints that may arise from their parents or the disabled themselves that they were unfairly treated either through retrenchment or employment practices, MOM, as well as MSF will take action. Secondly, on the efforts of building this spirit of inclusivity in our community, it is something that we will never stop getting this work done, we will never stop doing this work. I think for the longest time, we have been putting out awareness campaigns, but we also put in enabling courses that employers can get involved in. As an example, there is a training grant under SG Enable curated training courses where we support up to 90% of co-workers to build up their capabilities and confidence in hiring and integrating PWDs into the workplace. This is amongst a few incentives and framework with which we are putting to the employers to enable and encourage them to be inclusive in hiring PWDs.”
“It is encouraging that despite the challenges of COVID-19, many employers are still committed to inclusive hiring and over 140 organisations have signed the President's Challenge Enabling Employment Pledge since it was launched in March this year. While many PWDs and their care-givers tell us that they are temporarily exiting the workforce due to concerns over contracting COVID-19, we will continue to engage them and strive to serve more jobseekers as the situation stabilises and more activities resume. We are also working through the National Jobs Council to provide further support for those who need it, and we will announce these plans when ready.”
“Job support initiatives are offered online as far as possible, while considering the accessibility needs of PWDs. SG Enable's Virtual Career Fair held from April to May 2020 offered over 100 job opportunities, and another 150 job opportunities were advertised during their online Training and Career Fair in September. To facilitate e-learning, SG Enable helped training providers to convert lessons into online modules. Where training cannot be conducted virtually, SG Enable has put in place safe management practices to ensure that the health of clients and trainers are not compromised. These additional efforts to support PWDs come on top of existing training and job placement and job support services that SG Enable provides under the Open Door Programme. The Open Door Programme training grant was recently enhanced in July, with more course fee subsidies and training allowance, as well as a new training commitment award of $100 per completed eligible training course. We will replace the wage offsets for employers of PWDs under the Special Employment Credit or SEC and Additional SEC with the Enabling Employment Credit or EEC, when the former expires in December 2020. The EEC will provide employers that hire Singaporean PWDs earning below $4,000 a month with wage offsets of up to 20% of the employee's monthly income. Employers hiring PWDs who have not been working for at least six months will receive an additional wage offset of up to 10% for the first six months of employment. This is in addition to the Jobs Growth Incentive or JGI announced by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat yesterday. Under the JGI, employers will receive the highest tier of 50% wage support for additional new hires of PWDs from September 2020 to February 2021.”
“Thank you. Based on the latest available survey data from MOM, there were 4.9 residents retrenched per 1,000 resident employees in the first half of 2020. This is higher than the incidence rate for the same period a year ago, which was at 2.5 residents retrenched per 1,000 resident employees. The re-entry rate of retrenched residents in the first half of 2020 was 61.4%, lower than that in the same period a year ago, which was at 63.2%. MOM does not have a further breakdown of these indicators by persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities. Similarly, we do not track statistics on complaints of "disguised retrenchments" from persons with disabilities, or PWDs. That said, I would like to assure Members that as the Minister for Manpower explained to this House on 4 June this year, MOM will take appropriate actions against employers who disguise retrenchment to avoid fulfilling their contractual obligations. To help retrenched workers secure new jobs, the Taskforce for Responsible Retrenchment and Employment Facilitation proactively reaches out to them to provide timely employment support. This includes matching them to suitable jobs and training opportunities under the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package. In the first half of 2020, the Taskforce reached out to about 8,200 affected workers. The Taskforce will continue to engage retrenching companies on responsible retrenchment practices. SG Enable and its job placement and job support partners have implemented additional measures during this challenging period. SG Enable has reached out to PWDs who stopped working since the start of the year, to encourage them to sign up for employment support services.”
“Mr Speaker, can I take Question Nos 16 and 17 together, please?”
“Muis takes a serious view towards the allegations made earlier this year against Muis by foreign online media in relation to the recognition of Foreign Halal Certificate Bodies (FHCBs). Muis has since set up an internal investigation team, led by Deputy Chief Executive, Dr Albakri Ahmad. An Independent Review Panel (IRP) was also formed to investigate the complaint and review the findings of the investigation team. The IRP comprises members who do not have any executive roles in Muis. The IRP is chaired by Muis Council member and retired audit director from the Auditor-General’s Office, Mr Abdul Hamid Abdullah.”
“Between 2017 and 2019, a total of 70 appeals against the Syariah Court (SYC) decisions on divorces were made to the Muis Appeal Board. There were 26 appeals in 2017, 20 appeals in 2018, and 24 appeals in 2019. The most common reasons for appeal were on the division of matrimonial assets, and disputes regarding monetary orders made by the SYC, such as the quantum of nafkah iddah and muta'ah award to wives. During this 3-year period, there was a roughly equal number of male and female appellants.”
“Our community has also demonstrated a spirit of compassion and charity to support others in need. (a) Zakat contributions remain strong this year, with 96% of contributions made through digital transactions and cheques. (b) On Hari Raya Haji, the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation, in collaboration with Muis, Free Food for All and New Life Stories, delivered meals to almost 6,000 migrant workers staying in Factory-Converted Dormitories. This brought comfort to the migrant workers away from home during this significant religious occasion. Our collective response during this pandemic has shown that we are a resilient and adaptive Muslim Community of Success. As Singapore steels itself for a long fight against COVID-19, I am confident that our community will continue to adapt and support each other, so that we can safely preserve our religious life and emerge stronger from this pandemic with fellow Singaporeans.”
“Muis will take into account the community’s feedback as it enhances the booking system for Friday prayer spaces. Muis has also worked closely with the mosques and asatizah to introduce new ways to support the community’s religious needs. Let me share some examples. (a) SalamSG TV web-based channel provides religious and lifestyle content to the Muslim public. It has programmes for different age groups, from storytelling for children to Quran recitation guides for adults. During Ramadan, the programmes on SalamSG TV have received a total of 630,000 unique views. (b) We added online components to aLIVE (Living Islamic Values Everyday) classes for children and ADIL (Adult Islamic Learning) for adults. 9 in 10 of parents surveyed agreed that their children enjoyed the home-based learning (HBL) component of the aLIVE programme. Muis has also provided a two-month 50% fee subsidy for aLIVE students who cannot afford the full fees. Muslim adults attending ADIL have welcomed the online courses and some even requested for more courses. (c) We introduced more digital religious content to engage the youth and others in the community through videos and podcasts on the MuslimSG mobile app and various social media platforms. Many in the community have also reached out to those who are less digital-savvy, such as elderly family members. We heard stories of how children assist their parents in making donations to the OurMasjid.sg crowdfunding platform to sustain mosque operations, while others set up IT systems at home so that their grandparents are able to attend home-based Quran recitation classes via video-conferencing platforms. These efforts allow the elderly to continue their religious practices even while they heed advice from our asatizah and medical experts to stay at home.”
“As part of the national fight against COVID-19, the Malay/Muslim community, alongside other faith communities, has made important adjustments to their religious life. Both the young and old within the community recognise the need to adopt safe management measures in our religious activities, whilst coming forward to help those who are more vulnerable and in need. Our mosques are central to the religious life of the community. Our religious leaders have worked closely with healthcare professionals through the Malay/Muslim COVID-19 Working Group to proactively provide guidance on how we can adapt our religious practices to be COVID-safe. (a) Mosques closed before the Circuit Breaker. Especially during Ramadan, families in the same household gathered to perform their prayers together. (b) The religious leadership, in consultation with MOH, made the early decision to defer this year’s Haj pilgrimage to the following year for the health and wellbeing of our pilgrims, while also protecting the wider community in Singapore from the risk of infection. (c) As the public health situation improved, we have progressively resumed Friday congregational prayers and worship services in a safe manner since the start of Phase Two. As of 25 September, 40 mosques have been cleared to provide 100 spaces for Friday congregational prayers. In addition to this, funeral prayers have also been allowed to be conducted at designated mosques, with the necessary safety measures in place. We will gradually allow more mosques to expand their worship services when they are ready, and the level of community transmission remains low. (d) I thank the community for their understanding on the limited prayer spaces and their cooperation with the mosques’ safe management measures.”
“MSF reviews the ComCare eligibility criteria every two to three years to ensure that ComCare objectives are being met. The last review was conducted in 2019. We do not have plans to review the income criteria in the next 12 months.”
“ComCare provides assistance to low-income households for their basic living expenses. ComCare Long-Term Assistance (LTA) is provided to those who are permanently unable to work due to old age, illness or disability, and have little or no means of income and family support. Applicants who are unable to work and receiving some income such as allowance from their children or CPF-related payouts may also qualify if their income is insufficient for their basic needs. ComCare Short-to-Medium Term Assistance (SMTA) and Interim Assistance (IA) have income eligibility criteria of a monthly household income of $1,900 and below or per capita household income of $650 and below. The number of applications for ComCare SMTA and IA where the applicant has exceeded the income eligibility criterion is summarised in Table 1. The income criteria for ComCare schemes are not hard thresholds. Each household that applies for ComCare assistance is considered on a case-by-case basis, to ensure that they receive the assistance that they need for their basic living expenses. For applicants who exceed the income criteria, we consider their respective circumstances and exercise some flexibility where warranted to provide ComCare or connect them with other relevant assistance. For example, households with higher essential expenses such as housing rental or children’s special education expenses may be provided ComCare even if their household income exceeds the criteria. The Social Service Office may also connect them with other assistance schemes and community organisations that can provide additional assistance or in-kind support to help them cover their expenses and address their needs.”
“As at 31 August 2020, there are 93,398 registered Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs). More than half the applicants who have registered their LPA are within the age range of 50 – 69. The breakdown is in Annex A. As part of the overall digital transformation effort of the public service to better serve Singaporeans, we intend to allow LPAs to be made and registered online. We also intend to amend the Mental Capacity Act to allow this. We will share more details when ready.”
“We have also set up the Inclusive Preschool Workgroup (IPWG) to develop recommendations on how to better support children with moderate to severe developmental needs within preschools.”
“The Enhanced Pilot for Private Intervention Providers (PPIP) involves private sector operators who provide developmental and therapy services for preschool-aged children who are at risk of moderate to severe developmental delays. It serves as a complement to the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) run by social service agencies. Parents whose children are referred to EIPIC can choose to enrol their child in an approved PPIP programme, and children generally receive the same Early Intervention (EI) subsidies regardless of whether they enrol in PPIP or EIPIC. In 2018, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) increased the number of PPIP providers from 6 to 10. In 2019, to ensure that more children are able to access PPIP, MSF also worked with the PPIP providers to increase the number of PPIP places, based on the demand in their centre(s). The number of children served in PPIP therefore doubled from an annual average of 130 children for 2017 and 2018, to 266 children in 2019. MSF strives to ensure the adequate provision of EI services and to enhance our support for children with developmental needs. In addition to working with providers to maximise the current PPIP capacity, we are working on expanding the number of EIPIC places to serve children with moderate to severe developmental needs. We have also expanded the range of EI services within preschools to support more children with developmental needs. For example, we introduced the Development Support Plus (DS-Plus) programme last year, to cater to children who have made sufficient progress under EIPIC and are able to transit to receiving EI services within preschools.”
“The KidSTART Home Visitation Programme aims to (a) help families optimise child health and developmental outcomes, (b) improve parents' knowledge and skills on child health, nutrition and development, and (c) promote parent-child bonding and positive interactions. Regular screening of the child’s developmental milestones as well as maternal well-being is also carried out to identify and address any concerns early. To carry out this work scope, practitioners in the KidSTART Home Visitation Programme are professionals with backgrounds in early childhood, psychology, nursing, social work, counselling, or other related fields, and have relevant experience in the early childhood or social service sectors. They are hence skilled in advising on child development issues, conducting child developmental and maternal mental health screening, as well as a holistic assessment of the needs of children and families. In addition to case management and building rapport with the families, practitioners must also work collaboratively with community and social service agencies, and participate in multidisciplinary case reviews in order to provide child-focused support for the families. Over the next three years, in line with KidSTART's expansion plans, the number of practitioners in the Home Visitation Programme will increase from 19 today to 45. We will step up the recruitment for this group. Given the positive community interest to support KidSTART families, we are also looking to engage volunteers who are prepared to commit to supporting KidSTART families to complement the efforts of the practitioners.”
“We have also introduced greater flexibility for low-income households to qualify for ComCare financial assistance. Existing ComCare beneficiaries whose assistance ends between May and October this year would have their assistance extended by six months automatically. New Comcare recipients have also been provided a longer runway of six months’ assistance to regain stability. These measures have worked with other governmental financial assistance schemes to give much needed urgent support to those facing serious financial stress. Social Service Offices have also been facilitating affected individuals to gain access to broader employment and training opportunities by referring them to the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Programme, overseen by the National Jobs Council (NJC). With the impact being more acute for low-income families, MSF has accelerated our outreach to the low-income/vulnerable households since June 2020. Volunteers and community partners from our SG Cares Community Networks have been proactively reaching out to the residents, checking in on their well-being and offering additional support where required. In less than three months, close to 900 volunteers and community partners have reached out to about 13,000 households, successfully engaging over 6,300 households and referring about 2,300 households for further help. As we continue to fight against COVID-19, many Singaporeans have stepped up to show care and support for one another. We are grateful to many volunteers, community partners and everyday neighbours who have selflessly and tirelessly stepped forward to provide resources, care and support for other Singaporeans. We must continue to look out for one another. Let us continue to stand together, and emerge stronger as one people.”
“Most of them were related to family tensions with no incidence of violence. We encourage families to seek and receive help early, so that they do not escalate to violence. Together with our community partners, MSF will continue to keep a close watch on family violence and provide counselling, intervention, and refuge to those in need of services. Families facing marital, divorce, and parenting stress can also approach any of our 48 Family Service Centres (FSCs) or an online counselling service set up in April 2020 by MSF with the Community Psychology Hub. In the past five months, this service has supported over 700 clients while the FSCs have seen a stable flow of about 1000 clients for parenting and marital issues during the same period. To help families juggle working from home while caring for their loved ones, Families for Life (FFL) launched the #FFLShareTheCare online video series during Circuit Breaker. The series covers topics such as parenting, relationship and communications, and caring for newborns. These videos have been well received, with 2.4 million views so far. FFL is also offering Triple P online, an evidence-based parenting programme, free of charge. Triple P has been proven to be effective, with parents reporting sustained reduction of around 20% in both their children’s problematic behaviour scores and parenting stress scores three months after completing the programme. FFL will continue to promote family bonding and nurture resilient families through its annual family campaigns. To provide financial support to middle- and lower-income individuals adversely affected by the economic impact of COVID-19, MSF rolled out the Temporary Relief Fund in April 2020 and the COVID-19 Support Grant (CSG) in May 2020.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant disruption to our lives. Many have experienced life stressors, at home and at work, including changes to care arrangements for their dependents, or suffered job or income loss. During this trying period, we are also paying particular attention to vulnerable individuals and families who face more acute challenges in their lives. This crisis has led to emotional, psychological and financial distress for many. In the face of crises, we have rallied together stronger as a society. Many citizens have stepped forward as volunteers to proactively reach out to vulnerable persons – ranging from providing for the food and medical needs of isolated seniors, to checking in on the well-being of low-income and other vulnerable households. To offer emotional and mental health support to individuals and families, MSF and MOH jointly set up the National CARE Hotline (NCH) in April 2020, which is manned by trained personnel who provide support to callers impacted psychologically or emotionally by COVID-19. Close to 900 trained volunteers have managed over 27,900 calls to the NCH since its launch, offering callers advice, referrals for specific assistance or just a sympathetic listening ear. MSF also runs other Carelines for Persons Under Quarantine (PUQs) and under Stay-Home-Notice (PSHN), to provide them with emotional support. Aside from providing direct psychological support, callers also received information on and referrals to additional resources where needed. Additional stressors during the COVID-19 period may cause domestic friction and potentially family violence. During the Circuit Breaker period, MSF’s Adult and Child Protective Services received about 10% more enquiries on average, compared to before the Circuit Breaker.”
“For the Additional Subsidy, we had raised the qualifying household income ceiling to $12,000 from January 2020 to benefit more families. Over the medium term, we aim to further enhance affordability in childcare centres by lowering fee caps. Taken together, all childcare centres and Anchor Operator and MOE Kindergartens currently serve more than 85% of Singaporean children enrolled in preschool. The vast majority receive subsidy support. Beyond preschool subsidies, parents can tap on the Baby Bonus Cash Gift, as well as the Child Development Account (CDA) First Step grant of $3,000 and government matching contributions, to offset their children's preschool fees. The Government is committed to investing in early childhood education. Within the next few years, we will double our spending on preschool to over $2 billion per year, up from about $1 billion in 2018. We will continue to improve preschool quality, affordability and accessibility, to ensure that every child has a good start in life.”
“The Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) is a means-tested subsidy for families with (i) household incomes within the qualifying income ceiling, and (ii) children enrolled in half-day kindergartens run by Anchor Operators and the Ministry of Education (MOE). Families are prompted to apply for the subsidy during enrolment, and all families who meet the criteria for KiFAS will receive KiFAS support upon enrolment and subsidy application. From January 2020, we had raised the qualifying monthly household income ceiling for KiFAS from $6,000 to $12,000 and increased the subsidy amounts, so that more families benefit from KiFAS. The number of children receiving KiFAS has thus increased by one-third, from an annual average of around 9,000 between 2016 and 20191, to 12,000 this year. Anchor Operators and MOE Kindergartens offer accessible, affordable and quality programmes, and are well-distributed across various locations in Singapore. Anchor Operator kindergartens are further required to charge no more than $160 per month for half-day kindergarten to ensure affordability, and must meet ECDA's quality requirements. MOE Kindergartens charge similar fees and operate under strict MOE oversight to ensure quality. While we have made efforts to enhance affordability of kindergartens, the priority is to enhance affordability of childcare centres as the majority of children increasingly attend full-day childcare programmes, which better serve families' needs. Childcare subsidies are provided to children enrolled in all ECDA-licensed childcare centres. Children enrolled in childcare programmes receive a universal Basic Subsidy and, if eligible, a means-tested Additional Subsidy.”
“The Government supports and encourages Singaporeans to fulfil their marriage and parenthood goals as early as possible, to increase the chances of conceiving naturally and reduce age-related problems. Currently, licensed assisted reproduction centres in Singapore are only allowed to freeze eggs when there are medical reasons. For instance, before a woman undergoes chemotherapy treatment that will adversely affect her ability to have a child. Some have asked that egg freezing procedures be extended beyond medical grounds. We are carefully reviewing this. Social egg freezing may benefit some women because of their personal circumstances, for example, they may not be able to find a partner when they are younger, but may want to preserve their chances of conceiving if they marry later. However, we also have to take into account the ethical and social concerns over legalising social egg freezing, including inadvertently causing more to delay marriage or parenthood based on a misperception that they can have a child whenever they wish to. The risks of developing complications during pregnancy also increase with age, even if the child is conceived through a frozen egg. The Ministry does not track or have information on the number of Singaporeans going overseas to have their eggs or sperm preserved.”
“The Development Support (DS) and Learning Support (LS) Programme is one of a suite of programmes which provides additional developmental support for preschool children. The DS-LS Progamme is currently designed to support preschool children aged 5 and 6 identified with mild developmental delays or learning needs. The DS-LS programme is currently offered at about 550 preschools. Children on the DS-LS programme are given the necessary support such as pull-out sessions with Learning Support Educators or therapists to address their developmental and learning needs. For the younger nursery children, there are issues of whether identifying children with mild developmental delays or learning needs at these earlier ages is appropriate and if intervention via the existing DS-LS programme is suitable. ECDA is studying these issues with agencies. For nursery children with clearer moderate to severe developmental delays, preschools can already identify and refer these children to KKH and National University Hospital as well as the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) where more intensive support can be provided. At the same time, ECDA is scaling up KidSTART to support more low-income families with the development of their children from birth. This will support the development of these children from these families, regardless of whether there are development delays. Taking ECDA's KidSTART programme, DS-LS programme and the EIPIC programme together, these form the range of assistance available to provide additional developmental support for preschool-age children and their families.”