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.”
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“Pre-school teachers, therefore, also receive training in these areas through MOE's workshops. Through these efforts, the pre-school sector has been making significant strides in quality over the years. In 2000, an estimated 31% of pre-school teachers were certificate or diploma-trained, and 14% of principals were diploma-trained. Since minimum requirements were introduced by MOE, 82% of pre-school teachers are now certificate or diploma-trained, and 70% of principals diploma-trained. Pre-school centres are also adopting innovative new curricula and programmes. To quote a recent article from the Straits Times, "there is a real buzz in the pre-school scene here". Sir, MOE is continuously reviewing how we can further improve the quality of pre-school education. I am pleased to inform Mrs Josephine Teo that we have started to place more relevant information about kindergartens on our website, which would be important to parents in deciding which kindergarten to send their children to. We currently indicate the kindergartens that have trained principals. Starting from April this year, we will also indicate the kindergartens that have met our requirements for trained teachers. We are further exploring additional types of information that we can include, such as the pupil-teacher ratio. Another initiative that MOE has been working on is to assist kindergarten pupils with English. In August last year, MOE introduced a project called the Focused Language Assistance in Reading, or FLAiR, in 10 neighbourhood kindergartens. This was to provide intensive assistance in the English Language to selected K2 children, to address a difficulty faced by children from lower-income families, who may not have sufficient exposure to the English language.”
“To Mrs Josephine Teo's question, there is also Government funding to help middle-income families. All families receive a subsidy of up to $150 per month a child for childcare. Parents can also use the Baby Bonus Scheme. The Government's cash gift of between $3,000 to $6,000 per child is more than sufficient to pay for two years of kindergarten fees. Parents can also use their Children Development Account, or CDA. In fact, for $100 monthly, middle-income parents, who top up $25 a month for the first four years after the child is born, will benefit from the 50% subsidy from the Government through the CDA. Based on what parents contribute to the CDA, the Government contributes a matching grant. To date, the Government has contributed $270 million, which, in turn, translates to 69% of the activated CDAs that have already been used for kindergarten or childcare fees. The Government also plays an active role in helping to improve the quality of pre-school. The Government has set minimum requirements for the qualifications of pre-school principals and teachers to ensure that they are trained for the job. To Mr Teo Ser Luck's question, MOE has also formulated a kindergarten curriculum framework and almost 90% of kindergartens have adopted this framework. Since 2003, more than 7,000 teachers have attended workshops conducted by MOE to help with the drawing up of the curriculum. Mr Wee Siew Kim would be glad to know that one of the developmental areas emphasised in MOE's framework is helping children to acquire self and social awareness. Self awareness includes teaching children to be aware of their feelings, and being able to communicate these feelings to adults. Social awareness includes learning how to work and play in a group.”
“Through the efforts of the community, we will aim to reduce the number of children not attending pre-school by at least half in the next five years. Sir, once we get these children into pre-school, we must then ensure that pre-school is affordable and of good quality. I would like to update the House on the Government's continuing efforts to ensure this. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang had previously asked if pre-school education can come under MOE. Parents currently can choose from a wide variety of pre-schools. This diversity is actually healthy. It allows for innovation and different types of programmes to develop from these pre-schools for children with different needs. Instead of taking over the whole pre-school sector and taking away this diversity, what the Government has chosen is to play an active role to ensure its accessibility, affordability and quality. The Government provides development funding to eligible kindergartens and childcare centres. MOE also provides recurrent funding to eligible kindergartens to improve their quality and has so far provided around $62 million. This injection of funding from the Government helps to keep pre-school fees affordable. Specifically and in addition for children from lower income families, there are Government financial assistance schemes, including the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) and the Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC). Each year, around 16,000 children benefit from around $16 million worth of funding or financial assistance and the Government has just announced further increases in subsidies under both schemes. Families can also tap on community-based financial assistance schemes, such as the Education Trust Fund (ETF) that was established by Mendaki.”
“For children that the community is not able to successfully reach out to through this effort, we will provide another net to catch them just before P1. In 2006, the self-help groups had collaborated with MOE on a pilot project in 12 primary schools to identify six-year-olds who were not attending pre-school during the P1 registration exercise. The Self-Help Groups reached out to their families and encouraged them to send their children to pre-school for the remaining part of the year. 4.45 pm One of these children, Wan Ni, had been identified during the P1 registration exercise and subsequently enrolled in a kindergarten in August before starting P1. While Wan Ni had initially not been comfortable speaking English when she first joined the kindergarten, by the time she entered P1 a few months later, she was able to follow her lessons. Wan Ni was able to communicate with her teacher in simple English. While it will be beneficial to have the children placed in pre-school much earlier, this exercise to encourage the remaining children to attend pre-school even at the point of the P1 registration is still valuable. MOE will, therefore, be extending this to all primary schools this year. The effort by the community to persuade parents to send their children to pre-school will be difficult. Some of these families may not be contactable. It may be even unpleasant to have to convince some parents to send their children to pre-school. Some families may have problems so deep-rooted that it will require a long process to work through solutions with them. Hence, it will not be immediately possible to convince every parent to place his child in pre-school.”
“Sir, I thank the hon. Members for their thoughtful questions on pre-school education. The vast majority of our parents recognise the value of pre-school education and an estimated 95% of children are already attending formal pre-school education. The reasons why the remaining 5% of parents do not send their children to pre-school are not straightforward. Dr Amy Khor, Mdm Ho Geok Choo and Dr Lily Neo have asked about measures to help lower-income families to send their children to pre-school and to reach out to them. Our own data indicates that pre-school education is particularly helpful in allowing children from low income families and non-English speaking families to catch up with their peers. To help these children, I am therefore glad to announce that the grassroots organisations have embarked on an effort to reach out to their families. Starting from February this year, grassroots leaders have started conducting visits to families with children not attending pre-school, to share the benefits of pre-school and encourage them to send their children there. For more straightforward cases where the parents need financial assistance or a place in a pre-school, the grassroots will assist accordingly. For more complex cases, more customised solutions will be required, including directing the families to seek help from social service agencies. The grassroots are also bringing in other members of the community to encourage these families, including the self-help groups. MOE and MCYS will work closely with the community to support them in this effort directed at all children of all races and backgrounds. This exercise is primarily intended to reach out to five-year-old children, to provide them with one-and-a-half years of pre-school at least.”
“MOE will also continue to study whether we would need to create more platforms along the broad objectives of Northlight so as to reach out to more students. Dr Maliki also asked about the admission of school drop-outs. Despite our best efforts, some students still leave the system early. We, therefore, need to put in place a responsive process to facilitate the re-admission. In 2006, we enhanced the Student Re-admission Policy for this objective. Among other changes, schools now have more discretion to re-admit students, and develop a Re-integration Programme for them. Hence, we saw an improvement in 2006 when 107 students who had previously dropped out successfully re-entered our schools, which is about 80% of the students who had applied to re-enter our schools that year. The percentage in 2005 in comparison was 65%. In conclusion, Sir, while globalisation will bring tremendous opportunities for many Singaporeans, it will also bring challenges for those without the right skills. The Government's strategy to help these Singaporeans is by investing in them through education. Hence, MOE will focus our efforts on helping these children to stay in school, so that they have the opportunity to escalate to post-secondary education. In this, our schools have been doing good work thus far. In the next phase of our study, we will look at bringing in other relevant stakeholders. The community, families, MOE and other agencies can work together to get these children to the starting line.”
“This allows them to identify potentially at-risk students early and provide a familiar face to deal with personal issues. We have already seen positive results. Ms Michelle Lee of Tanglin Secondary School convinced five students to return to school in just two months. Her efforts included picking up a student from his home in the morning and accompanying him to school by bus. The student ended up coming to school regularly, developed great interest in his studies and was promoted to the top Secondary Three NA class in his school subsequently. At the primary school level, the majority of students drop out during Primary Six and are from EM3. Northlight School, as mentioned by Dr Khor, was set up to address this group as well as the group that drops out during the transition from primary to secondary school. It gives them another chance and places them in a different setting. The school opened its doors in January, taking 224 students, including students who have failed their PSLE twice and students who have dropped out of school. Feedback from the students has been positive thus far. What is important is that Northlight has also struck a chord with the wider community in helping students at risk. Many have come forward to lend their services to this school. For instance, many volunteers give their time to interact with Northlight students at the school students centre. The example of Northlight reinforces what we already know - that the community has a critical role to play in helping to engage students at risk and must be involved to provide sustainable support to these students. The progress at Northlight has been encouraging so far. MOE is exploring admitting students who have failed their PSLE once in the long term.”
“The boys are also sent to OBS to build their resilience. I may have over-simplified the efforts done by the school, but last year, in 2006, they had zero drop-out. It will be difficult to maintain this. I wish them well in the hope that they maintain this standard. Turning to specific measures, in the context of dealing with issues as upstream as possible, our schools already help students potentially at risk through the Learning Support Programme (or LSP) for P1 and P2 students. Students who are not school-ready when they enter P1 are given dedicated assistance and taught in small groups. The LSP for English has been implemented in all schools since 1998. Building on more than 10 years of experience, we have recently decided to enhance the programme. Within this group of students, there are different learning needs, and we will now group these students accordingly so that they can receive differentiated instruction. Our pilot showed a positive impact and we rolled out the enhanced LSP in English to all schools this year. We have also introduced a new Learning Support for Mathematics for all schools starting from this year. To Dr Amy Khor's query on extending the LSP beyond P2, schools will continue to give these students focused attention even after they leave the programme while allowing them the opportunity to interact with a larger group of their peers after P2. At the secondary level, the majority of students drop out during Secondary Three are from the Normal (Academic) course. Dr Neo and Dr Khor will be happy to know that we provide targeted support for these students since introducing full-time school counsellors. To date, there are 306 such counsellors either deployed or slated to be deployed in our schools. They are on-site and always present.”
“This will involve early identification of children who are likely to be at risk and early intervention for them. I will elaborate on this in a later speech. Second, this issue necessitates a "many helping hands" approach. While MOE can help to address learning difficulties, the family and the community must come in so that we can have a wide reach and ensure that the child does not fall through any cracks. The community has been doing good work in this regard thus far. We want to tap on their expertise and that of other agencies to develop a coordinated multi-agency framework to support these children. Third, MOE will continue to refine our strategies to help at-risk children while they are in school. For this, our study is still work-in-progress and we do not want to rush into new recommendations. But I would like to update the House on what our schools have been doing to address this issue thus far. Before I go into the specific measures, I would like to address Dr Maliki Osman's query on the fit between our students and the school system. We have moved towards measures in recent years that would allow our schools to even better customise and tailor their programmes to fit the needs of each child, so that all our children may find something meaningful and engaging in school. I would like to point out one example. Tampines Secondary School makes a point for all staff, teachers, counsellors and the principal himself to reach out to pupils, especially those who are missing at the assembly or in classes, through any means: by phone, by email, even home visits. When back in school, they focus on building relationship with these children, first, to strengthen the human ties rather than focus on their bearing or even their studies.”
“What more with the top-ups into the PSEA of every Singapore citizen child and a fee subsidy to pursue education at the post-graduate level. The top-ups and fee subsidy will certainly facilitate further the attainment of that level of education. Education is the best platform for us to enhance the standing of the community and gives the future generation ways and means through which they can improve the standard of living. With the appropriate level of education, we are more confident that our children would be able to face the globalisation wave which continues to bring about significant changes to all economies. This is in tandem with Dr Lily Neo's call in her opening speech earlier. I would like to urge, especially the Malay community, to give their support to the close collaboration of the Government and the Malay-Muslim organisations. Without adequate level of attainment in education, we will not be able to realise our vision of becoming a community of excellence. * Cols. 3239-3240. (In English): As mentioned last year, MOE is therefore studying how we can reduce the attrition rate to 1.5% in five years. Our solutions will also benefit the group of students who may not eventually drop out but are still potentially at risk. Based on our research and experience, we have found that students drop out of schools because of multiple factors. Hence, our solutions will similarly need to be multi-pronged. In addition, as the causes for students dropping out emanate from outside the schools, MOE alone cannot address this issue satisfactorily. We will therefore explore three broad strategies. First, we will take a more integrated approach that would address issues upstream long before the child drops out.”
“Statistics from MOM also show that among the workers retrenched in 2005, those who did not have or did not complete secondary school are the most affected and have the lowest re-employment rate. Given the importance of further education, the Government would be providing a post-secondary account to every Singaporean. And our post-secondary institutions are world-class in every area - ITE, polytechnics and universities. But in order for Singaporeans to be able to access this, we must first get them to the starting line and ensure that they stay in school and have at least 10 years of education. Mr Chairman, in Malay, please. (In Malay): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.] The Malay community should seize the opportunities arising from Government's policies which support educational enhancement of our children. We have to ensure that our children get to the starting line of education as early as possible, stay in the race, and compete for places in the post-secondary institutions. With the collaboration of Yayasan Mendaki and other Malay-Muslim organisations, we have made significant progress in education over the years. The percentage of Malay students who completed their secondary school education has increased from 80% in 1996 to 90% in 2005. What is important is that the percentage of Malay students who pursued their education at post-secondary institutions has increased from 50% in 1996 to 82% in 2005. Perhaps, the percentage of them achieving university education is still below the national average and we have to continue to escalate this progress. However, the post-secondary, even in ITE, is very beneficial and important as this allows our students to pursue further education in the future.”
“Mr Chairman, various MPs have asked about how we can further reduce the attrition rate in schools. Let me first set the context. The number of students who drop out of our schools is actually very small. Based on the latest figures, this is around 2.5% of the cohort. To Dr Maliki Osman's question, around 0.2% of the cohort drops out during primary school, 1.6% drops out during secondary school, and 0.7% drops out during the transition from primary to secondary school. The attrition rate has also fallen over the years, from 3.6% three years ago to 2.5% today. With compulsory education for primary school since 2003, the number of students dropping out should be further reduced. So far, one child under compulsory education has dropped out. In this particular case, the family was untraceable even with the help of the police. That there will always be a few cases like these, despite compulsory education, is not surprising. Compulsory education does not in itself solve the root problems of non-attendance. And in deciding to impose compulsory education, the Government has always been clear that the responsibility for sending children to school and ensuring that they stay in school should still be with the parents. By any international comparison, this group of children that drops out is very small, but every child matters to us. We want to help every child to stay in school for as long as possible to develop his potential to the fullest, as mentioned by many Members in the House, and have the best chance of doing well in life. I also mentioned in the Budget speech that a post-secondary education is a basic requirement to meet the challenges of a globalised economy and is critical today.”
“Sir, I congratulate the Ministry for developing a comprehensive and sound water strategy for Singapore. The four taps strategy, namely, the local catchment, imported water, desalinated water and reclaimed water, has put us on the map as a country and a city that many others are studying in managing potable water management. More so because Singapore itself has no natural rivers or lakes to tap on. In fact, it is no easy challenge to store all this water and yet balance the need to keep our urban habitat as flood-free as possible during storms. My questions for the Ministry are: is the projected volume of imported and reclaimed or processed water sufficient over the future horizon and consistent with and sustainable to a city planned for 6.5 million people with all its drinking and hygiene needs as well as supporting industry and economic activity? How are we, in terms of water usage or consumption per capita, when compared to other urban areas in the world of comparable affluence and does this reflect a consciousness of water as a valuable resource? How prevalent is the use of water-saving devices in our taps at home and in the offices? Will the Ministry consider water-efficiency rating labels for appliances like washing machine and dish washing machine? Water Pricing”
“Sir, I will not belabour the House much more on the littering problems, as I have already stated them in my Budget speech. Therefore, I will only ask the following questions of the Ministry and perhaps just reiterate the relevant points. I am sure that there must be no lack of programmes and engagement with the community to keep Singapore litter free. However, the doubling of offenders in 2006 to 7,000 seems to hint at fatigue by the public with the campaign or show that the message is not heeded by a sizeable group of the public. Anecdotally, our HDB estates suffer more littering than ever. 12.30 pm Therefore, what other initiatives will the Ministry embark on to inculcate ownership and care for the environment other than stronger enforcement of the law? Would the Ministry consider alternative programmes that would instead provide incentives to the public who participate and contribute to a more cost-effective way to keep our surroundings clean and litter free?”
“It was not only inconvenient; it was expensive and the stigma was quite unbearable. Given the probable large impact it will make to Singaporeans and Singapore's economic outlook, my questions to the Ministry are: (1) What is the level of threat that the current avian flu outbreaks pose to Singapore? (2) Is mutation of the virus to human-to-human transmission established? (3) Given the outbreaks in our neighbours and import of our poultry and eggs from these areas, how are we cooperating with them and international bodies in the fight against avian flu? (4) How have we prepared ourselves for a possible avian flu outbreak in Singapore?”
“Madam, WHO, on its website, says: "The current outbreaks of the avian influenza which began in Southeast Asia in mid-2003 are the largest and most severe on record. The H5N1 virus has caused death or destruction of an estimated 150 million birds." The virus has now spread seemingly through bird migration to Egypt and various other countries like Turkey and parts of Europe. Two weeks ago, an outbreak happened again in Laos where more than a hundred birds were found dead. Our neighbouring countries continue to struggle to bring the spread of the virus under control. This is understandable, as these countries are vast and many depend on backyard poultry farming to supplement their food or income. There are at least 167 known deaths in humans infected by the virus. I understand that humans get infected when they are in direct contact with infected poultry or surfaces and objects contaminated by their faeces. Exposure is also considered most likely during preparation of poultry for cooking. Avian influenza is not transmitted through cooked food, but runny yolks and juices from raw poultry may be risky. Other than an attack by terrorists, a pandemic spread of the avian flu virus is a known possible setback to our economic prospect. The scale of the problems is probably comparable if not bigger than the situation we faced during SARS in 2002 and 2003. I was not in Singapore then. But even when overseas, many Singaporeans during this period faced hardships. I was in Australia at that time, and my Australian colleagues were extremely wary of Singapore visitors. We finally agreed on a procedure to get visitors from Singapore to be certified fit by the doctor daily for 10 days each day before they come into the office.”
“Is there also a possibility that a dying shopping neighbourhood be turned over to a management company to change it into a themed shopping neighbourhood, much like the hip and happening Holland Village or a town to buy and bargain for the latest electronic gadgets like Akihabara in Tokyo or to a place where they can buy fresh fish, like the Sydney Fish Market?”
“But the services they provide to residents and the character they lend to our towns, they are worth helping to continue to evolve and thrive. Recently, after Courts and IKEA opened in Tampines under WRS, the Tampines Business Council got retailers together and launched a counter-promotion exercise during the Christmas and Chinese New Year periods with light-ups, lucky draws and mini-concerts to retain and draw the crowds. During my walkabout, I know the neighbourhood shops are very happy with this campaign. Bringing them together and collectively executing programmes to counter competition is one way to inject new strength and level of entrepreneurship to these retailers. We should also not underestimate the strength of the merchant associations. In my constituency, the Merchant Association formed by Mr Yatiman in 1990 got together with the grassroots to revive a failing wet market and neighbourhood. Together, they relocated the many small illegally sublet stalls in HDB shops into a well-organised centralised wet market. Today, it is thriving and a great weekend hangout for food and socialising. My question to the Ministry is: other than the RPS, what other assistance is the HDB offering to the retailers to help in their business, namely, is HDB well engaged with the retailers and hear them and review policies that may be counter-productive to their business? Secondly, how can they be trained and upskilled to reorganise and meet the new service level demanded by new shopping habits and the HDB heartlanders?”
“Madam, the unique feature living in our heartland is the accessibility to retail shops. There are about 17,883 commercial establishments in 2005, comprising shops, eating houses, offices, kiosks, and so on. This is no small number. I have lived in three countries, each for a protracted period and in all these countries, you had to have a car to shop at the nearest grocery or supermarket or eat at a restaurant. Unless you have been subjected to this inconvenience, you will never appreciate the service provided by the proximity of HDB shops to residents, in terms of convenience and saving of transport costs and storage. For some, the shopkeepers are familiar faces of the neighbourhood and a source of friendly social chats. To the elderly, these are the familiar things that they cling to as the environment changes around them. Our HDB shops are, however, challenged by changing shopping habits and new forms of competition. The Economic Restructuring Committee's report in 2003 highlighted many problems faced by the HDB retail setup. One of the three recommendations is to correct the over-supply of shops and this has been acted upon by the HDB through its restructuring programme for shops in 2005. But this alone will not help them to keep alive in the long run. Departmental stores and large supermarkets are now co-located with them in the heartland. The warehouse retail scheme in Tampines, combined with good roads, ample and free parking and cheaper COEs, is yet a new challenge to our heartland retailers. The RC correctly pointed out that these shops lack marketing savvy, have no scale individually, employ untrained staff and usually have strong resistance to change. Individually, without help, they would probably not survive in the long term.”
“Although our environment is clean, we have to differentiate between being clean and being cleaned. Our schools have inculcated the love of the environment in students but this habit seems to be lost when we grow up. Perhaps, we can consider having incentives and not just penalties to sow this feeling of love for the environment. If we clean up our corridors and five-foot *Cols. 2045-2046. ways and are proud of the cleanliness of our surroundings as these are the places we live in, we will be able to reduce the cost of cleaning the surroundings. Tourists too will do as what the locals do. Just look at the toilets in our major hotels. They are clean not because there are people cleaning them, but because the users are motivated not to dirty them. I hope that as we move into becoming a First World City, Upper Tier, we will have programmes so that we will not remain as people who have the habit of littering. 5.16 pm”
“Organisations like the People’s Association should use this opportunity to rally the young especially to take up this cause. The media should give the NGOs who constructively add to this effort more airtime. In conclusion, when it comes to hygiene, tourists will behave the way locals do. Just look at the toilets in our big hotels. It is clean not because someone cleans it only; it is because it demotivates people from messing it up. But we have to be clean out of habit, rather than our current state of paying for someone to clean up for us. I hope, as we move to become a First Class City, Upper Tier, we must also have programmes and resources so that we do not remain a people with Third World littering habits. Mdm Deputy Speaker, in Malay, please. (In Malay): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *. ] I am happy with the optimistic outlook of Singapore’s economy as provided by Second Minister for Finance, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Singapore’s economy is expected to grow 4.5% to 6.5% and the tourism industry is expected to grow by 10% or 13.6 billion in 2007. Tourism is the key contributor to the economic growth. We have to be concerned about the attractiveness of Singapore as a tourism destination. All tourist destinations are built on the concept of a clean and green city that can be enjoyed by tourists and our own people. Minister Mentor has reflected on Singapore's ability to be a First World City, Upper Tier and the ABC programme as the main pillar of this vision. Minister Mentor hopes that we ensure that our waterways are clean. However, PUB still has to clean up 15 tonnes of rubbish every day and this is my concern. Tourists will leave our city if our city is not clean.”
“If we do this in our corridors, our compounds, and take pride and ownership in the cleanliness of our surrounding because we count them as our home too, we will incur less cost in our cleaning crew. This may even translate into lower conservancy fees and perhaps more budget surplus. In private houses, if we separate bulky items, paper and food in our trash, we actually need them to be collected only once a week. Do you notice that our private houses have a trash can each adorning their front gate like part of their landscaping? Because garbage collection happens every day. Perhaps we should look more at incentives and not just fines to inculcate care for the environment. Perhaps we should have a No-Trash Week in private estates especially, and get ourselves to separate our bulky trash like paper and cartons, and squash our cartons and bottles from the food wastes in separate bins, and think before we buy anything that we will throw later. When I was living in Australia for three years, garbage was only collected once a week. Perhaps we can do it in Singapore twice rather than once a week, for a start. Many crises have since passed and, like the Minister for Finance said, the future is bright. This is therefore the best time ever to dedicate effort and resources to build in ourselves a consciousness about the environment, something previously not urgently addressed in view of the recent difficulties in our country, but it has never been unimportant. This era, indeed, is one where it is hip to be environmentally-caring. We should ride this wave. The community and not just schools should provide opportunities for students and our young to participate in activities that will heighten their awareness for environment care.”
“In fact, there were no janitors around picking up litter along the many remote nature tracks. It would be impossible to do so. This is not the same when I went hiking up a mountain in a developing country which I will not mention. There was trash along all the way, even though there were enough trash cans around. In many developing countries people litter indiscriminately and nobody picks up after them. We are fortunate that, in our country, we do not see as much litter around; but the reason is that somebody is paid to clean up after some of us who litter often. I think it is sad that we need to spend a lot of money to clean up after our messy habits. It is even sadder that about 7,000 people were fined last year, double the number in 2005, and that we still need to enforce Corrective Works Order to about 120 of them every year for the last three years to ensure a clean environment. The schools take a lot of time inculcating care and a healthy concern for the environment, but somehow this habit seems to get lost along the way when we grow up. Like Ms Indranee and other colleagues in this House, in my walkabouts, I always get complaints about litter in the corridors, common areas and, worse still, those thrown from the higher floors. In fact, on my way to work, I could still see some streets littered with empty bottles and cans. Let me share with you an anecdote from Mr Mah Bow Tan. He was at the World Cup football match in South Korea. The crowd was cheering and, of course, in a crowd like that, people were littering away and throwing confetti and such. But as the match ended, everyone took out a plastic bag and cleaned up the area around them without regard to who littered in the first place. There was no need for a big squad to clean the mess up after a match.”
“If I may quote from a report from Today, the Minister Mentor is optimistic of Singapore becoming what the paper quipped as a First World City, Upper Tier. Today described this new city in these terms: "Think Paris, with its beautiful 19th century buildings, its cafes and kiosks and the life bustling along its boulevards. Or London, teeming with scores of nationalities that give it such an international flavour ... " Because the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources' ABC Water plan will be a large part of this plan towards the city, MM also beseeched us to do our part to keep our waterways clean. Indeed, PUB has to remove 15 tonnes of litter daily from our various river sources. The weight of this is the same as three new army 5-tonner trucks. I do not know what volume this translates to but, if you imagine the equivalent weight in water, a water tower of one metre square in cross section, will be 15 metres high, which is litter stacked up six storeys high everyday! This is my concern. Tourists will abandon our city, if it is also not clean. But you will say that we are clean. I think we have to make a clear distinction between being clean and being cleaned up. We know we are probably more of a green and cleaned city than a clean and green city. My family and I took a campervan holiday in New Zealand some time back. What was outstanding was the pristine state of the natural environment and the strong concern and care of the population to maintain it so. While there were many campervans travelling everywhere, nobody dumped their waste or litter indiscriminately, everyone did it in designated places. They kept it in their campervan all along the routes. There was no litter around.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of the motion. I am happy with the optimistic outlook of the Singapore economy that the Second Minister for Finance, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, has stated. Singapore is set to grow a good 4.5%-6.5%. Yes, the times are good and the outlook is too. But if the analogy for the NCMP requires a more elegant treatment, as given by Ms Lee just now, we should not be the proverbial grasshopper which consumed away the good stuff thinking it would yet last. The Government is the proverbial ants who take advantage of the good times so that we are always ready to protect our citizens when the bad times come. And today, the cycle between boom and bust is shorter and more frequent. Mdm Deputy Speaker, our growth will be contributed by the tourism industry. Mr Lim Hng Kiang announced in February that an increase of 10% in tourism receipts is targeted for 2007 or $13.6 billion. This augurs well for our retailers and service sectors. Arrivals are also expected to reach 10.2 million visitors or up 5% from last year. Tourism is rightfully "a key contributor to economic growth." While manpower, hotel rooms, and service quality will remain to be the key concerns of the tourism authority, we must be equally concerned with the underlying attractiveness of Singapore as a tourist destination. We do not have natural resources that will attract eco-tours nor ethnic cultures we can showcase as different from the region. Whatever we have created, we have built it on a clean and green city concept, which tourists admire and our population enjoy. In years to come, Singapore is going to be an even better city to visit.”
“It is certainly not the same, the way funding is given. The funding for primary education is quite separate from compulsory education. Compulsory education compels people to attend school. It does not actually mean free education. So it is quite a separate issue altogether. The funding for pre-school is targeted at this point of time for the primary needs of those in need as well as to upgrade the skills of the teachers in the industry. So there have been a lot of efforts to put in resources to upgrade the teachers' skills, qualifications as well as the curriculum framework to help all children attending pre-school education to attain the same good standards for all. MEDICAL PLANS FOR AN AGEING POPULATION 8. Mdm Cynthia Phua asked the Minister for Health (a) how are our medical training programmes and facilities at hospitals oriented towards coping with the needs of an ageing population; (b) how many of our doctors are trained in gerontology; and (c) whether there are plans to set up a special centre for gerontology in Singapore.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, my answer remains the same. It is a targeted approach. It is a question of how we target our approach, giving subsidies to everybody or giving financial aid to those who really need help. The structures and the schemes are already available through the KiFAS, the self-help groups as well as other schemes under the CCC or other conditions that may be able to help this group of children.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I will re-emphasise that the MOE is committed to the pre-school scene, although the efforts are directed at this point of time and emphasis is given in helping to level up the children who are needy. So, it may be indirect in the form of curriculum and teacher upgrading, where they go most, and it is also more directed to the students in need in terms of financial assistance schemes. I do not believe that the ground reflects that the schemes are inadequate. I think we need to go for more. The Many-Helping-Hands scheme that MCYS has put in place would be adequate to meet the needs of the children at hand. However, I believe the review to see whether these schemes are adequate or not will continue to be a process that MCYS as well as inputs from MOE will continue to have.”
“Sir, the Government has put in place the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) to subsidise the fees of eligible kindergartens for children from low-income families. As a criterion, the net household income should be $1,500 and below. And the KiFAS provides 75% subsidy of the fees up to a cap of $65. In addition, for families receiving KiFAS who are assessed of extra need, they can also be given a $200 start-up fund as a grant for attending pre-school. There are also other community funds available from self-help groups as well as committees such as CCCs, ComCare funds, Home Ownerships Plus Education (HOPE) scheme, and Mendaki's Education Trust Fund (ETF) for these families. SOUTHERN JOHOR ECONOMIC REGION (Impact of development on Singapore) 8. Ms Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what is the impact of the development of the Southern Johor Economic Region on Singapore and whether there are any Singaporean investors who have shown interest in any of the projects.”
“Sir, the last curriculum was issued in 2003.”
“The percentage of Malay students who progress to post-secondary educational institutions or other forms of post-secondary education has increased from 70% in 2000 to 81% in 2005. This is significant progress and can be bolstered further if the community continues to work with the Government to get more Malay children to attend preschool and to stay in school. Being part of the solution together Mr Speaker, Sir, MOE is willing to put in the resources and efforts to give extra help to those who need it most, because education must continue to be a social leveller. However, because we are chasing the small numbers, the reasons why these children and their parents, finally, still do not choose to access the education available to them, are likely to be very complex issues. Systemic solutions alone might not be sufficient without the community likewise putting in the resources and efforts to help those among us that are getting left behind. As a country, we need to commit the time and energy to helping these children on their road to levelling up. As a society, we have to take ownership of the problem and be a part of the solution together. There is much that the community can do together, to complement Government efforts to ensure that all Singaporeans have the chance to level up in life. Sir, I support the Motion of Thanks.”
“Reducing attrition in education Mr Speaker, Sir, another group that requires extra help is the small group of children who drop out of school before completing secondary education. Many of these students dropped out citing loss of interest in their studies and family problems. Ensuring that our children stay in education for as long as possible is an important component of helping them to level up. Hence, the Prime Minister has set a target for MOE to reduce the attrition rate from 3% to 1.5% in five years. We will study the issue as far upstream as possible, and come up with solutions to help at-risk students to stay in school. I intend to consult students and stakeholders widely to deepen our understanding of the issue. We will also study the profile of these students who drop out. A critical component would be to involve the community in helping these students to stay in school. We will explore how the community can better support these students, as well as coordinate the efforts of our schools and the community, and tighten the linkages to ensure that there are no gaps through which such students can fall through. The Malay community too should ensure that Malay children do attend preschool, stay in the race, and compete for places in the post-secondary educational institutions. This is a key leverage area which is worthwhile to focus on. The Malay community organisations, such as Mendaki, together with the Government, have already contributed much towards helping Malay children make significant progress in education over the years. The percentage of Malay PSLE students who qualify for secondary school has increased from 88% in 1995 to 94% in 2005.”
“Children from middle to higher income families, especially those from English-speaking backgrounds, are more likely to have received adequate home support to build their confidence in communicating in English, for example. Conversely, children from lower-income families, especially those from non-English speaking homes, would tend to lack such support. To give children from lower-income families a good foundation and a good chance to succeed in life, we should get as many of these children as possible into pre-school education. I am therefore chairing a Committee to look into getting more of these children who are not attending pre-school to do so. This again will be a “many helping hands” approach, but coordinated, where we will work with the various community organisations to reach out to the families, persuade them to send their children to pre-school and find different ways of helping them, based on what is most appropriate. It is likely that we will tap on the People’s Association and their various grassroots bodies. The self-help groups have also been doing good work in this area and we will want to bring them on board for this effort as well. Through this process of outreach to the families, we also hope to better understand the nature of this issue and find better and more creative solutions as we go along. It will require dedicated and focused effort on the part of Government and the community. It might even be difficult and unpleasant to have to convince some parents to send their children to pre-school. Nonetheless, for the good of the children, it is critical that we commit the time, energy and resources towards this endeavour.”
“Over the years, the Government has put in place measures to regulate and improve the quality of pre-school education, ranging from curriculum frameworks, to funding, to putting in place qualifications required of pre-school principals and teachers. There are also Government schemes, such as the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme, to help with kindergarten costs, in addition to other community-based financial assistance schemes. Hence, low-income families can readily access good quality pre-school education at affordable fees should they choose to do so. Remedies would therefore need to go beyond the simple issue of access. In this regard, there is scope for us to dedicate and focus efforts on this 5% of children. We will need a targeted and nuanced response. For instance, a broad-brush approach of placing pre-schools under Compulsory Education would be unnecessary, and not a good use of resources. The vast majority of children already attend pre-school on their own accord, and enjoy a diverse range of options to cater to their different needs and expectations. Some parents prefer their children to attend pre-schools that use pedagogies they prefer, such as the Montessori way of teaching. Some parents prefer their children to attend pre-school conducted by religious organisations, or even prefer home schooling. Different strokes for different folks. The diversity in the pre-school landscape offers a good complement to formal, standardised education starting from Primary 1. We should concentrate our resources on those who need the most help. We have observed that among children who did not attend pre-school, a higher proportion of children from lower-income backgrounds were not school-ready.”
“However, it is still critical for us to chase after the remaining small numbers of children who do not take advantage of the opportunities provided in our education system. However seemingly small these numbers might be, we should continue to chase these numbers, because every child matters to us, and we should leave no one behind. There are two groups in particular that we would like to pay closer attention to; and we will partner the community in helping them to access education as a means of levelling up – children who are not attending pre-school, and children who do not complete secondary education. Accessing pre-school education One of these groups that requires extra help are the children who do not attend pre-school. Each year, there is a small group of children who do not attend pre-school, around 5% of the cohort. The reasons behind this are complex. Although there are many avenues for financial assistance from Government and the community to offset the costs of pre-school, some families are still not aware of them. Those are actually the easy cases. The more difficult cases are that some may not even want to ask for, or accept help. Some of them do not recognise the importance of sending their children to pre-school, just as we have to admit that there are some who are not much concerned when their children drop out of school. Some families might also be undergoing exceptional difficulty, such as parents going through divorce or absent parents, such that pre-school education is not the foremost priority. The issue is not one of accessibility.”
“Although the school is fully supported by the Government, the community has responded strongly to this school, with both public and private sector stakeholders spontaneously coming forward to offer their assistance to these children. Such efforts have a tremendous impact on those who are being helped and help to tighten the bonds within our society. Education as a social leveller Mr Speaker, Sir, there is much scope for the community to similarly engage in work to help more of our children access education. I stress the role of the community in working on education, in particular, because a good education is ultimately the best social leveller. It gives our children the best chance of succeeding, grants them the independence to do what they want in life, and thereby creates hope for the future. I am, like the Member of Tanjong Pagar GRC, Mr Sam Tan, one of those who have personally benefited from getting, as the Australians would say, a fair go at life through education. It is my objective to put in more resources in education for those of our children who need the most help. They say it takes a village to raise a child. Indeed, over the past 41 years, through concerted effort by parents, the community and the Government, we have gotten the “big numbers” right in ensuring that our children access and stay in education. Almost all Singaporeans access the quality education that is available to them, in our kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools. In fact, the majority of our students complete at least secondary education, with a 3% drop-out rate currently. Taken as a whole, the situation in Singapore is generally very good.”
“The community organisations are also well-placed to come up with local innovations that are customised to the needs of individual families. In the Ministry of Education, there is a saying, to give schools "top down support for ground up initiatives" because they believe that schools on the ground are best placed to respond to the individual needs of students. Likewise, I believe that some form of "top down support" from Government for the community to exercise "ground up initiatives" is useful. The "many helping hands" of our community organisations have done good work, many of them driven by the individual passions and beliefs of their leaders and members. However, even one pair of hands will need good eyes and ears to guide and align their effort, what more with "many hands". Sometimes, passions and beliefs alone do not coincide neatly with needs nor directed where they are needed most. We can certainly further magnify the impact of these "many helping hands" and create a better and more symbiotic relationship with the Government. First, through better coordination between the different organisations and better coordination between the organisations and the Government so as to ensure that our individual efforts support and strengthen one another's. Second, through giving the community organisations greater information and insight into national priorities to ensure alignment of goals. Third, through plugging the gaps where community organisations currently do not reach. Society benefits the most when the community rallies to support itself. Take the recent establishment of NorthLight School, an effort by the Ministry of Education to provide an alternative pathway for children who have difficulties accessing the mainstream PSLE curriculum.”
“We receive constant reminders of the importance of this, in the example of other societies which have been torn apart by economic divisions; where the gap between the rich and the poor and the frustration of those who feel that there are no opportunities for them has led to social unrest and the triggering of racial fault lines and, in future, the digital fault lines. Singapore cannot afford this. Importantly, we must also provide opportunities to level up so that this is a place which Singaporeans are proud to call home. We want this to be a place where every Singaporean matters, and is given a chance to succeed in their respective fields. The strength of a country is measured not just in the opportunities that it provides to the strongest, fittest, and ablest among its citizens, but also in the helping hand that it extends to its citizens who require the most help. Engaging the community Mr Speaker, Sir, I believe the community has a large role in helping their fellow citizens to level up. Since my student days, I have been active in volunteer organisations and can say with conviction that the role of the community in helping disadvantaged Singaporeans to level up is consequential. The "many helping hands" approach is a sound one, which we should continue with, moving forward. We need the help of the community organisations, such as People’s Association with its grassroots being ubiquitous and the self-help groups on the ground, even if the Government can provide good broad support and policy direction. These community organisations are well-placed to delve deep into the complexities and racial or religious nuances behind why certain families are left behind.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion standing in the name of the Member for Jurong GRC, MdmHalimah Yaacob, to thank the President for his Address at the Opening of the Eleventh Parliament. I welcome the President's reminder to build an inclusive society which leaves no one behind. I am sure this phrase will reverberate in this Chamber. I do not believe I will be the last to mention it. Indeed, our rapid growth of the last 41 years has been sustainable because we have been vigilant in ensuring that social cohesion is not compromised in the process. The Government, in concert with the community, has provided financial assistance and opportunities to help the disadvantaged to level up. No society can bring about the equality of outcomes, even with the equality of opportunity. In helping the disadvantaged, we are reminded in the President's Address too, to be cautious to avoid swinging to the other extreme, leading them to rely entirely on the Government, and taking away the motivation and will for them to strive for themselves. But we should, and must, ensure that those from lower-income backgrounds have a good chance to uplift themselves, and that there is social mobility. Because we have done this well and in this way, Singapore has been able to do better than many other countries in avoiding the segregation of our society between the "haves" and the "have-nots", and avoided the formation of a permanent underclass. This has been a key focus of the Government and must continue to be so.”