Melvin Yong Yik Chye
Singapore
“But with greater autonomy must come stronger support and safeguards, especially for those who may be less equipped to navigate these decisions. At CASE, we strongly believe that consumer empowerment must go hand-in-hand with consumer protection.”
“Thank you, Sir. I have three questions on the balance between punishment and rehabilitation. One, how will schools be guided to balance disciplinary action with counselling and restorative practices? I think the Minister mentioned it. Whether MOE will track recidivism rates to assess if these rehabilitation efforts are effective?”
“Sir, I thank the Minister of State for his reply, and we are heartened. The Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE) will be happy to work with MAS on consumer protection measures. For consumers, we often use GIRO when we want to so call, "set and forget", recurring payments.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary have we done a study on the profiles of those PMETs who have been retrenched and also, what are the types of jobs that the market is looking for?”
“Unlike support for persons with disabilities, there is currently no dedicated funding mechanism to incentivise employers to provide workplace accommodations for workers returning to work after serious non-work-related illnesses or medical conditions.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for her answers. I have two questions. First, whether IMDA currently mandates stress testing or simulation of failover systems under peak or adverse conditions and if not, whether such requirements will be introduced following IMDA's review.”
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“With the strong support of our tripartite partners, what started with the cleaning sector has now expanded into nine sectors and occupations, covering more than 155,000 lower-wage workers. More importantly, this has translated into actual wage increases. From 2017 to 2022, PWM workers in the cleaning, security and landscape sectors saw a cumulative wage increase of 11%. This is higher than the median worker in the same period. Beyond just wage growth, workers are also leveraging PWM as a catalyst to actively advance their career and upgrade their skills, ensuring that they are well-equipped for better job opportunities and higher-paying job roles in the long run. I call on the Government to continue its strong support for PWM. Let us jointly uplift our lower-wage workers by providing them with stable jobs that have a progressive wage ladder and good career prospects. NTUC will always stand alongside our lower-wage workers, taking action to uplift their wages and work prospects to ensure that no worker is left behind. Mr Speaker, Budget 2025 comes amid an extremely uncertain geopolitical environment. Tensions between big global powers are rising and trade wars loom on the horizon. The use of tit-for-tat tariffs by major economies as a foreign policy tool will impact Singapore's open and trade-dependent economy. I am heartened that Budget 2025 takes decisive steps in helping Singaporeans navigate through the uncertainty by investing in our workers and in providing a slew of cost-of-living support to all segments of Singapore. As we spend prudently to support our nation, we must remember the importance of enhancing consumer protection and price transparency. We must help consumers make informed purchasing decisions and not fall prey easily to unscrupulous businesses.”
“Unit pricing helps consumers see through pricing gimmicks quickly and easily. Several countries have long implemented unit pricing, such as the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Locally, the Price Kaki app launched by CASE has already implemented unit pricing in 2023. We now have unit pricing on the app for over 6,000 items, including groceries and household products. Since its implementation, we have received much positive feedback on the usefulness of the unit pricing feature; and I am of the view that the time is now right for unit pricing to go beyond the Price Kaki app. I urge the Government to mandate the display of unit pricing in all major online and physical retail stores. As a start, we could adopt the same parameters as our Disposable Carrier Bag Charge, where only larger players need to comply with the requirement. The implementation of unit pricing will help consumers combat shrinkflation and allow them to stretch their dollar when shopping for groceries and other essential items. Sir, while inflation is important, the most sustainable way to help our workers cope with the cost of living is to ensure sustained real wage growth and better job opportunities. Mr Lim Swee Say puts it best, when he said that "a job is the best welfare and full employment is the best protection for our workers." While I am heartened that Singapore's Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality, fell to a record low in 2024, we must continue our efforts to uplift our lower-wage workers. Last year, we celebrated the 10th anniversary milestone of our Progressive Wage Model (PWM), a unique Progressive Wage Model. From the very beginning, NTUC championed the idea of a wage ladder that would correspond to workers' skills, productivity and job responsibilities.”
“According to the annual complaints statistics by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE), consumers suffered close to $2 million in pre-payment losses in 2024, this is more than quadruple, four times of the losses reported in 2023. These losses were driven primarily by industries with large, lumpy expenses, such as renovation, bridal and the beauty and spa sectors. Beyond pre-payment losses, e-commerce related complaints also reached an all-time high, surpassing even the peak brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. These are deeply troubling trends and we must take decisive actions to foster a more trusted business trading environment and protect consumers from losing their hard-earned monies to unscrupulous businesses. Mr Speaker, the last major amendment to the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act was in 2018. This was well before the boom in e-commerce, an industry that had its growth supercharged by the COVID-19 pandemic. As president of CASE, I urge the Government to convene a panel to comprehensively review and update our consumer protection laws. CASE stands ready to lead this effort. We will engage extensively with the business, legal and academia communities to ensure that a right balance is struck between protecting consumers while balancing Singapore's reputation on ease of doing business, when proposing both legislative and non-legislative changes. Sir, we must also improve price transparency in the marketplace. Over the past few years, I have advocated for the nationwide implementation of unit pricing in Singapore. I first raised the issue in this House in 2022, speaking about the need to use unit pricing to combat "shrinkflation", a phenomenon where retailers keep the price of a good unchanged, but shrink its volume or shrink its quality.”
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our generous sponsors and community partners, for working together with me and my team to help our most vulnerable residents. In his Budget speech, the Prime Minister announced that over $600 million will be set aside by the Government and Tote Board to match donations made to charities and social causes, in an effort to encourage philanthropy. I fully support this. But we should do more to encourage philanthropy in all forms, beyond just monetary donations. I hope that the Government will encourage a more caring Singapore and encourage more ground-up initiatives, like what we have started in Radin Mas, across our nation. Beyond Government initiatives and community-led programmes, the private sector too must play its part in our whole-of-nation effort to help curb rising cost pressures. NTUC and our enterprises are committed to do our part in ensuring that essentials remain accessible and affordable for Singaporeans. Between 2019 and 2024, the NTUC FairPrice Group provided approximately $330 million in Pioneer Generation, Merdeka Generation, Senior Citizen and CHAS discount card holders, as well as LinkPoints rebates to help ease the financial burdens on households. Over the same period, FairPrice has also returned more than $250 million in rebates to NTUC union members and FairPrice members. But, Sir, we must ensure that Singapore has a robust consumer protection regime and a price transparent market, to ensure that consumers fully reap the benefits of Government and community-driven initiatives to cushion our rising cost-of-living.”
“The additional $800 in CDC Vouchers, additional U-Save rebates, increase in ComCare assistance schemes and the new SG60 Vouchers, will certainly help Singaporeans from all walks of life better cope with today's higher prices. In Radin Mas, we have rolled out various community initiatives last year to help our own residents cope with cost pressures. We launched the "Radin Mas Care For You Vouchers", where each month, a set of local discount vouchers is distributed to 3,000 eligible households residing in Radin Mas. Led by our three hawkers' and merchants' associations, the participating hawkers, merchants and market stallholders have contributed more than $500,000 worth of discounts to our residents in the past seven months. We opened JamPacked@Radin Mas, a community minimart to allow lower-income residents to redeem $50 worth of groceries monthly. These daily essentials are contributed by our supermarkets and kind donors. But instead of distributing pre-packed bags of groceries, residents come down to the minimart to redeem what they need. This cuts down on waste, which in turn, encourages more frequent and generous donations by donors. We also set up a community fridge at Telok Blangah Crescent, to allow residents to collect free fruits and vegetables, which have been rescued from the nearby markets. Since we launched what we call "the Magic Fridge" in November 2024, we have given away more than 1,000 kilogrammes of free fruits and vegetables. Sir, these initiatives are made possible because of the generous donations and contributions by individuals and organisations. In Radin Mas, we have a strong community spirit where those who have more, chip in to help those who have less.”
“Mr Speaker, I stand in support the Budget, which seeks to help Singaporeans tackle cost pressures and address anxieties related to inflation. Sir, I was happy to read that real income increased in 2024, following a decline in 2023. This shows that the measures put in place by the PAP Government, which includes bringing in good investments and creating good jobs, keeping the Singapore dollar strong to combat imported inflation, expanding the Progressive Wage Model to uplift wages of lower-income workers and various other schemes, have borne fruit. While inflation this year has eased and is expected to average between 1.5% and 2.5%, the price increases of the past will not go away and we will have to adapt to the new reality of higher prices. This is why I am glad that the Government has taken decisive moves to help Singaporeans cope with higher prices. In my speech today, I wish to highlight how we must improve consumer protection, so that consumers can reap the full intended benefits from the various support measures provided by the Government. We must not allow unscrupulous businesses to profiteer from these support measures, at the expense of our consumers. I will also highlight how we can do more to uplift the wages of our lower-income brothers and sisters, so that they do not get left behind as Singapore progresses. Sir, in NTUC's latest survey on economic sentiments conducted from November to December last year, more than half of the survey respondents felt that their income had not increased sufficiently over the past 12 months to meet the rising cost of living.”
“I first raised concerns about this at the Committee of Supply last year and had asked if MSF could do more to support children from lower-income households to attend preschool. Sir, our children's foundation years set them for success and more support should be given to lower-income families to help their children attend preschool and build a good foundation for them to excel in school for years to come. I urge MSF to provide greater preschool subsidies for our lower-income families and improve their accessibility to parenting resources. I was glad when MSF incorporated preschool requirements under the ComLink+ Progress Package to encourage participating families to send their children to preschool. Can MSF provide an update if this has helped to increase the preschool participation rate for these families? Mr Deputy Speaker, it takes a whole-of-nation effort to raise Singapore's TFR and to encourage more couples to have children. While we acknowledge that the Government has done much over the years in supporting Singaporeans who wish to have a family, we can do more to help address some of the structural issues that discourage Singaporeans from having children. Special care must also be taken to help our lower-income families. This year is SG60, an important milestone year in our nation's history. I would like to reiterate my calls for parents who have babies born in the first quarter of 2025, to enjoy the same benefits as all other parents with SG60 babies. They should be accorded with benefits under the enhanced marriage and parenthood measures that will come into effect from 1 April 2025. Parents with children born in the first quarter of 2025 should also be entitled to the same SG60 baby bonuses that have yet to be announced. Sir, every SG60 baby matters.”
“We can, and we must, do more to increase the supply of preschool teachers, which would directly result in higher quality preschool education. On this front, I would like to commend MSF for taking on the many suggestions to make early childhood educators a profession of choice. In addition to the Relief Staff Pool initiative and the removal of mandatory Saturday classes, the pay for early childhood educators has also increased in recent years by between 10% and 30%. But we do need to continue to pay close attention to the hygiene factors at the preschools that cause our teachers to leave. We must also ramp up the supply of preschools in towns where we expect an influx of young families. Even mature towns like Radin Mas would require a ramp up of preschools, as the Government redevelops estates, like Redhill, through the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme programme. Supply must be built well ahead of demand, so that parents do not need to worry about infant care and childcare when they move in and start their families. Sir, I am also concerned about the 10% of households who do not enrol their child in preschools. According to statistics by MSF, nine in 10 children aged three to four years old are enrolled in a preschool. That means that one in 10 children do not attend preschool. Does the Government have data on the profiles of households who are not sending their children for early childhood education? Do we know the reasons behind their reluctance to send them to school? How can we better support the families to send their children to preschool? When it comes to children from lower-income families, the preschool participation rate drops to eight in 10 children.”
“I will cover the need to improve the quality of our preschool education and the need to ramp up supply of preschool placements in areas where many young families are moving in. I have said this many times: being an early childhood educator is tough work. In addition to caring and handling a class full of energetic toddlers, preschool teachers today also do lesson preparation, administrative work, classroom set-up and attend training. To manage cost, many preschools operate on a lean workforce. In preschools that are constantly short-staffed, some teachers tell me that they even find it hard to find time to go to the bathroom or to have their lunch during working hours. I was, therefore, glad when ECDA launched the Relief Staff Pool initiative to help preschools access affordable and reliable relief staff services. I would like to ask, how many preschools have adopted this initiative? I understand that hiring relief staff adds cost to the preschool operations and some operators may be reluctant to do so. Previously in this House, I asked about ECDA's efforts to ensure that all our preschools are adequately resourced. I would like to add on to ask, when was the last time that MSF reviewed the teacher-to-child ratio for our preschools. According to a 2015 research paper that studied the impact of students per teacher on student achievement, lower teacher-to-child ratios are beneficial for children. ECDA had also announced, in 2021, new initiatives to establish more inclusive classrooms and equip our preschools with the necessary resources to better support children with developmental needs. I, therefore, urge MSF to review and to lower the teacher-to-child ratio, so that more teachers and more para-educators will be required at each preschool.”
“In 2023, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) enhanced the Tripartite Advisory on Mental Health and Well-being at Workplaces to include the establishment of an after-hours work communication policy. I would like to ask, how many employers today have adopted such "right to disconnect" policies at their workplaces? Since 2020, more countries have adopted their own "right to disconnect" legislation. In addition to European countries like France, Belgium and Spain, Australia, too, passed laws in 2024 to allow workers to disconnect after work. The momentum for clear "right to disconnect" legislation is growing globally. Employers play a key role in providing work-life balance. I urge all employers in Singapore to implement a "right to disconnect" policy at the workplace. I hope that we can show the world that we do not need legislation for workers to have a basic "right to disconnect" from work, to be able to spend quality time with their family and, more importantly, so that our parents do not need to leave their young children for extended hours at the childcare centre and as the hon Member Miss Rachel Ong aptly put it, "let us disconnect to connect." So, how can we provide better support for parenthood? What can we do more to help working parents better cope with the stressors of balancing between family life and work? The quality and accessibility of preschool education is a key form of parenthood support. Today, many working parents send their young children to preschools, preferably one that is affordable and near to home. The hon Member Mr Xie Yao Quan has touched quite extensively on preschool affordability.”
“During my regular house visits and community engagements in my Radin Mas constituency, I have spoken to many young couples and grassroots volunteers about what we can do better to encourage more Singaporeans to start families, to have babies, to have more babies. One common theme has surfaced, which is the importance of having work-life balance, so that they can have enough quality time with their spouse and their children. Such sentiments are also reflected in the findings by NTUC's Youth Taskforce, which found that work-life balance ranks top of the list of concerns for our youth workforce. A survey by the NTUC-Singapore National Employers Federation Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) Taskforce similarly found that the lack of a work-life balance was one of the top three challenges at work cited by our PMEs. According to a November 2024 policy brief from A*STAR's Institute for Human Development and Potential, preschool children who spend extended hours – and that is, over 40 hours a week – in preschools suffer in terms of their academic performance. The brief reported that close to 40% of preschool children in Singapore spend more than 50 hours a week in preschools, due to their parents' long working hours. Sir, we must do more to improve the work-life balance of our workers, so that they can spend more quality time with their children during their critical early years. Not just quality time, but more quality time. Since I first raised the issue of the "right to disconnect" in this House in 2020, I am glad that the Government has taken steps to help provide workers with avenues to improve their work-life balance.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak. I fully support the Motion. Sir, it has been almost 20 years since Singapore first formed the National Family Council in 2006 to champion and promote resilient families. Over the years, the council renamed itself as the Families for Life Council, to better reflect its evolving approach to connect with Singaporean families. The Families for Life Movement rallies community partners and employers in promoting marriage and parenthood programmes in the community and at workplaces. The movement has since expanded to 18 towns, allowing many families to benefit from an extensive range of marriage and parenting programmes and resources. I commend the work that the MSF has put in, in helping to grow the Families for Life Movement. However, we must also acknowledge that more can be done, given how Singapore's TFR has continued to trend downwards, despite the various initiatives to encourage more Singaporeans to have families. Over the years, I have provided various suggestions in this House on how we can strengthen marriages and ease the anxieties that many young couples face when making the decision on whether to start a family. I wish to use this opportunity to reiterate my various suggestions under three buckets. They are: one, providing families with greater work-life balance; two, provide better support for parenthood; and three, more support for lower-income families. Let me elaborate. First, on the need to provide workers and their families with greater work-life balance.”
“Sir, guidelines will simply remain as guidelines when there is no one assigned to act on it. I would therefore like to, once again, call on the Government to mandate the need for a WSH representative in all companies. I have been repeating this proposal for many years. The last, I think, was in 2017. Having a mandatory WSH representative in all companies will allow MOM to impose an audit requirement, where every company, no matter how big or small, would need to take time to take care, just to borrow the tagline of the WSH Council, to examine if the work that they do can subject their workers to the risk of OD. Sir, as Singapore becomes a super-aged society, we must do all we can to prevent OD from taking root, amend our existing regulations to be able to better detect OD early and put in place measures to allow workers to seek early treatment of ODs before their conditions worsen. We must also tap on existing expertise to develop more targeted, industry-specific guidance to reduce OD across all industries. In the area of WSH, our emphasis has always been on safety, as any mishap there can be immediate and acute. However, ODs, if not dealt with, can have a long-lasting impact on workers’ productivity and health span. Workplace safety and health; it is time we pay equal emphasis on health as we do in safety. The Labour Movement stands ready to partner with all our tripartite partners to tackle ODs for a healthier workforce.”
“As such, I call on the Government to provide more funding support for more companies to innovate and adopt technological solutions to reduce workers’ exposure to OD risks. Sir, we must also do more to raise awareness of OD among employers and workers. This is especially important for workers, who might not understand the impact that their jobs have on their health. We must educate our workers on the dangers of OD and place an emphasis on younger workers before prolonged exposure to OD risks causes irreparable damage to their health in the years ahead. The WSH Council currently has a set of guidelines on the diagnosis and management of ODs. However, it has been 10 years since the guidelines were last updated in 2015. Therefore, it is timely to review and update these guidelines to ensure that they remain relevant and effective. Singapore has numerous medical facilities and research institutes specialising in occupational health and disease. The Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health at the National University of Singapore and specialised clinics at Singapore General Hospital that focus on treating ODs, such as lung and skin conditions, are key examples. I propose for the Government to consolidate our all current expertise in OD to create a national Centre of Excellence for Occupational Diseases. This Centre would serve to galvanise all research on the various ODs, with a focus on our local context and, more importantly, consolidate resources for more effective public education on OD. I hope the Government will also ramp up efforts to educate employers and workers on the long-term dangers of OD, and I invite employers to work with NTUC to identify and address OD risks at your specific workplace.”
“The use of technology can aid the early detection of OD risk factors at work and improve work processes to reduce workers’ exposure to OD risks. This includes the use of automation to limit human exposure, as well as preventive surveillance of risk factors. As the popular proverb goes, “prevention is better than cure.” We must start by trying to prevent ODs from occurring in the first instance. Employers have an onus in preventing ODs, by providing workers with the appropriate equipment and a safe working environment. This is a widely accepted principle in many countries, such as the United States and the UK, where obligations are placed on employers to help workers deal with the inherent risks associated with the work that they perform. Here, I would like to highlight the proactive efforts of KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) as an example of such preventive surveillance. The hospital has identified work-related musculoskeletal disorders as an issue affecting its healthcare workers and took measures to address this using technology. In collaboration with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), they will pilot a surveillance programme using thermal sensors to detect improper postures of workers during their work. Thermal imaging has no known negative health side effects, but it adds also a layer of privacy as it does not allow for the identification of an individual. This allows risk factors leading to the disorder to be detected without compromising privacy concerns. Such projects and innovations can help to uplift the safety standards, but I acknowledge that not all companies have the same investment capabilities as KKH.”
“Mandatory health screenings will also go a long way in tackling the issue of under-reporting of OD cases. According to global research on ODs, there are many reasons for under-reporting of OD. For example, workers may not seek immediate medical attention from their workplace doctor because of a mild discomfort. Workers may also turn to a GP for temporary symptom relief, not understanding that the root cause of their pain was due to work. The potential hefty costs of having to see a specialist is another possible reason that could deter some from seeking treatment early. We should conduct local studies to examine the prevalence of under-reporting of ODs locally. I hope that MOM will study and investigate all possible reasons for under-reporting of OD cases here in Singapore and take measures to plug the gap. Sir, other countries are utilising additional data sources to provide a more representative picture of the prevalence of ODs. For example, the United Kingdom (UK) collects its WSH data from a wide variety of sources, including voluntary reporting of anonymised cases by specialist doctors and self-reported data through its labour force survey. This is in addition to data from its compulsory reporting regime. Through these, the UK was able to report in 2024 that it had an estimated 543,000 workers suffering from work-related musculoskeletal disorders, or a rate of 1,600 cases per 100,000 workers. We can learn from the UK and other countries how they collect and use additional data points to investigate the prevalence of OD. I hope MOM will review how we in Singapore collect data on OD cases, with a view of reducing under-reporting. Timely, relevant and accurate data is crucial to help us assess the extent of OD in Singapore.”
“I therefore urge MOM to expand WHS+ to require more companies and industries to undergo surveillance for excessive noise. Surveillance under WHS+ should also be expanded to cover other types of OD, beyond noise. One example is what I have described earlier, work-related musculoskeletal disorder, the second-highest reported OD category in Singapore over the past three years. Work-related musculoskeletal disorder is not restricted to any sector but can affect workers across diverse work environments. Office workers may unknowingly suffer from this disorder due to poor posture and doing repetitive activities. In healthcare, workers are subject to heavy loads due to shifting and assisting patients, which can lead to back injuries. Our taxi drivers and bus captains also tell me that they experience back pain from prolonged sitting. Expanding the scope of surveillance to include other ODs would enable early detection and facilitate timely treatment of conditions before they worsen. Sir, we can do even more to detect ODs early. Today, the Workplace Safety and Health (Medical Examinations) Regulations specifies certain occupations in the First Schedule that are subject to periodic medical examinations due to the risks of ODs. The policy position taken in the Medical Examinations Regulations differs from that of the Work Injury Compensation Act, which states that ODs can happen from any occupation. We should therefore amend the First Schedule of the Medical Examinations Regulations by expanding mandatory health screenings to all high-risk industries. In doing so, the Government can leverage the wide network of Healthier SG general practitioner (GP) clinics to ensure that our healthcare system would not be overloaded.”
“The increase in the number of reported cases over the past two years is the result of ongoing efforts to detect OD cases through enhanced surveillance and increased awareness in reporting among doctors and employers. I commend MOM for these efforts. However, the Labour Movement is concerned that we have barely scratched the surface and that there remains significant under-reporting of OD cases in Singapore. Often, the worker's condition and symptoms will only show at a later stage after prolonged exposure to workplace risks and some could be mistaken for the side effects of ageing. I will elaborate more on this later. Today, I wish to present some suggestions on how the Government and the industry can better prevent, detect and deal with OD cases at the workplace. First, workplace health surveillance efforts should be expanded and more stringently enforced to ensure early detection and to tackle under-reporting of ODs. I earlier mentioned that Singapore was seeing a rising trend of OD cases. MOM has attributed the increase to the Enhanced Workplace Health Surveillance efforts, also known as the WHS+. I believe that the increase in OD cases that we have seen is only the tip of the iceberg. Let me explain. WHS+ is currently focused on workers' exposure to excessive noise and chemical hazards. Sectors surveyed are limited to those in industrial settings, such as in construction. But we must not forget that workers in other workplace settings, such as food and beverage outlets that play persistent loud music, and call centres where the operators have to put on headsets throughout the day during work, may also be exposed to excessive noise, as experts have recently reported in a CNA article.”
“Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to table my third Adjournment Motion related to workplace safety and health (WSH) and it is not on the right to disconnect. In August 2022, I spoke about the need for us to prioritise the safety of every worker, as companies sought to clear the backlog of work caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2023, I spoke about the importance of keeping workplaces safe beyond the heightened safety period. Since then, thanks to the work put in by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the unions and our employers, our workplace fatal injury rate has dropped to 1.0 per 100,000 workers in 2023 and this continued into the first half of 2024. My speech today will focus on an aspect of WSH that is often overlooked. This aspect of WSH is not as acute as workplace injuries and fatalities but can become as debilitating as injuries and mental health issues. I am referring to Occupational Diseases (ODs), a "silent terror" at the workplace. ODs are health conditions caused by risk factors at the workplace. ODs not only cause debilitating effects but can have lasting negative effects on a worker's earning ability, productivity and employability. Some examples of ODs include noise-induced deafness due to exposure to excessive workplace noise and work-related musculoskeletal disorder due to physical factors, such as lifting heavy loads or working in awkward postures for extended periods of time. These two types of ODs made up more than 90% of our local OD cases reported in 2023 and the first half of 2024. According to national WSH statistics released by MOM, there were over 1,200 cases of OD reported in 2023, a 17% increase from 2022; and about 473 reported cases in the first half of 2024.”
“I thank the Senior Minister of State for her very short answer and I note that the roll-out is on track. My supplementary question is on the third-party applications. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) released this software development kit to encourage third parties to develop applications that can complement the roll-out of the ERP 2.0 system. As a driver, in fact, I am one of the early adopters of the ERP 2.0 OBU, I am appreciative of some of the third-party applications, such as the real-time information on parking availability. So, I would like to ask how many of these third-party apps have since been developed for ERP 2.0? What are some of the new features that drivers can look forward to and when will these be rolled out? Does LTA have any plans to further encourage the development of such apps to further improve the robustness of ERP 2.0?”
“I can understand this. However, I would like to ask how MOM would treat companies that deliberately set up multiple business entitles, all controlled by a single director and his associates, to get around such legislative requirements during the transition period. Today, there exist companies that seemingly operate under a single brand name but in reality, they are made up of multiple smaller business entitles. How would MOM ensure that workers working for such companies have their rights protected during the transition period? Sir, in closing, I would like to commend the Government, in particular, MOM, for working closely with NTUC over all these years to better protect workers from discrimination. Mental health issues can be a difficult and complex topic and I hope that the Government will consider an expanded definition of a mental health condition under this Bill to safeguard more workers. I also hope that the MOM will protect workers working in small businesses during the transition period. Mr Speaker, notwithstanding my questions and suggestions, I support this Bill.”
“The Singapore Psychological Society today already runs a voluntary register of psychologists. The Ministry of Health could amend the Allied Health Professions Act to make registration among psychologists and counsellors mandatory, which would then allow us to expand the definition of a mental health condition under the Workplace Fairness Legislation to include diagnosis by these allied health professionals. Sir, tackling mental health stigmatisation requires us to understand that workers with mental health issues should be allowed to seek treatment beyond a clinical setting. I hope that the Government will seriously consider this proposal. Sir, my next point pertains to employers enquiring about employees’ mental health conditions. Under clause 20 of the Bill, employers will need to have genuine job requirements in order to consider protected characteristics when making employment decisions. I would like to seek clarification on how MOM will operationalise this. Would there be white list of jobs provided by MOM, where certain protected characteristics, such as mental health conditions, should be considered? Without any clarity, I worry that some employers will insist on asking their current and prospective workforce in declaring mental health conditions, even when there are no good reasons to do so. How would MOM police this? Next, I would like to highlight the importance of ensuring that workers working in small businesses do not fall through the cracks during the transition period. MOM plans to exempt businesses who employ fewer than 25 workers from the requirements of the WFL for five years after the legislation comes into effect. This is to ensure that smaller companies have sufficient time to transition and adjust to the requirements of the legislation.”
“According to a survey by MOM on Fair Employment Practices, mental health discrimination was the most common form of discrimination faced by employees in 2022 and was one of the top four main forms of discrimination in 2023. In NTUC's own #EveryWorkerMatters Conversations, young workers shared with us that, while they felt mental health support was important, only about a quarter of them felt that there have been improvements in the way society and the workplace treat individuals with mental health issues. Sir, I have repeatedly raised in this House about the importance of addressing the stigmatisation of mental health at the workplace and I am very glad to see that the Government is making a timely move to legislate and to protect workers who face mental health challenges. However, I have some questions and some suggestions. First, clause 16 of the Bill states that the protected mental health condition, in relation to an individual, means that the individual has been diagnosed with any mental disorder by a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act. In effect, this would mean that workers with mental health conditions are only protected from discrimination if they see and are treated by a psychiatrist. I would like to urge the Government to review and expand this definition. There is a wide array of mental health conditions, with a range of treatment options, depending on how early someone seeks assistance. Beyond the clinical environment of seeing a psychiatrist, some workers with milder mental health issues would benefit greatly from seeing a therapist or a psychologist. Could the Government recognise allied healthcare professionals in the mental health space, as part of our push to protect workers from mental health discrimination?”
“Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill, which seeks to set out the key principles of discrimination, lay out fair employment practices and prescribe the relevant dispute resolution processes and penalties for breaches. Sir, my fellow Labour Members of Parliament have already spoken about NTUC's support for this Bill, particularly in the areas of protecting vulnerable PMEs and our older workers. My speech today will touch on the importance of protecting workers with mental health conditions and to ensure that workers working in small businesses do not fall through the cracks during the transition period. Sir, mental health issues at the workplace are becoming commonplace. According to a June 2024 survey by Telus Health, almost half of the 1,000 workers surveyed in Singapore reported feeling exhausted after a day's work. The company which commissioned the survey said that these findings point to the growing risk of burnout among workers and highlighted a need for greater mental health support. According to a 2022 study by The Instant Group, Singapore was found to be the most overworked country in the Asia Pacific region. The Straits Times also reported recently in November 2024, that stress bragging, that is bragging of overworked, was becoming more prevalent at the workplace, with negative consequences on workplace culture and relationships. Despite this, unfortunately, many workers remain afraid to speak up or seek help for their mental health issues, because of the perceived negative attitudes and reactions from others. Some also worry that they will be discriminated against during employment decisions.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister of State for her response. I share Ms Denise Phua's concern about manpower manning. I have received feedback from some preschool educators that they are not being allowed to leave their centres to have their lunch. They are required to eat in and at the same time, keep an eye on their charges. I think this possibly due to manpower shortages. Is ECDA aware of this situation, and if so, what is ECDA doing to help some of these operators to beef up their manpower? Because I think that working conditions are often crucial in retaining staff and I believe that having a proper meal break is important.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. I agree with the Senior Minister of State that we must step up our efforts to improve safety in the construction sector. I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State if MOM has analysed the profile of the construction companies that caused the unfortunate increase in the workplace fatalities in the second half of 2024. Were these primarily by large construction projects or by small- and medium-sized projects? I recall that there was a period of time when there were many sub-contractors working within the same worksite. And if there is a clear trend, we should double down on our efforts to engage the specific sub-sector so as to better address the rise in the construction-related work fatalities.”
“Today, maternity insurance is not compulsory and insurers are allowed to reject applicants with pre-existing health conditions. Unexpected pregnancy complications can sometimes completely drain a couple’s finances. I hope that the MSF could work with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to engage insurers to create a universal maternity insurance scheme where all mothers-to-be can subscribe to. Under such a scheme, we can sufficiently risk-pool and mothers with pre-existing health conditions will therefore not be denied coverage. In closing, I would like to commend the Government for continuing to make bold and decisive moves to enhance both marriage and parenthood benefits. I am confident that these measures will help make Singapore more family-friendly and hopefully encourage more couples to have children. I hope that the Government will continue to evolve the scheme and also consider my suggestions to help young parents better cope in the early childhood years. Sir, I support the Bill.”
“Sir, as a father of two, I vividly recall the struggles that my wife and I faced in our children’s early years, particularly in preschool when they tended to fall sick more often. I also commonly hear from my grassroots volunteers that they sometimes utilised much of their annual leave to care for their young children who have fallen ill. Some even had to take unpaid leave, if their child has lower immunity. The Government currently provides up to six days of Government-Paid Childcare Leave for parents who have children below seven years old and two days of Extended Childcare Leave for those with primary school-going children. According to parents that I have spoken to, this is inadequate and they hope that more support can be given in terms of childcare leave. Could the Government consider staggering the number of Government-Paid Childcare Leave? For instance, more paid leave days could be provided to parents when the child is in infant care and nursery, and this tapers off gradually as the child enters kindergarten and primary school. Having more paid childcare leave when the child is youngest and requires the most care, will certainly go a long way in helping parents cope with the inevitable healthcare challenges in their children’s early years. Sir, the decision to have children is a deeply personal choice and young couples often weigh the potential impact that having children would have on their career aspirations and on their finances. As we enhance marriage and parenthood benefits and continue to provide hefty Government subsidies for preschools, we can do more to alleviate any anxieties that might serve as an impediment to prospective parents.”
“But, Sir, we will celebrate SG60 next year and those born in the first quarter of 2025 will be our first SG60 babies. I would therefore like to call on the Government to extend the enhanced marriage and parenthood measures to these parents. I hope that the Government would accord parents whose children are born in the first quarter of 2025 with the Shared Parental Benefits and provide them a cash benefit equivalent to two weeks’ worth of additional SPL. This would mirror the additional two weeks of GPPL for fathers. I am sure that couples with children born in the first quarter of 2025 would deeply appreciate this. Sir, I also fully support the Ministry’s proposed amendments to clarify applicable limits on reimbursement and payment entitlements to be on a “per parent” basis and to provide parents with multiple employments with an entitlement to paid leave with all their employers. This reflects the broader trend of fractional work, where an employee works for multiple employers, but on a shorter schedule. I am therefore happy that the Ministry is clarifying the Act to ensure that the total amount of reimbursements to employers of a working parent with multiple employments would be the same as the total amount of reimbursements made to the employer of a working parent with a single employment. However, having multiple employers will result in greater complexities and potential disputes in the event that one employer finds themselves paying more than others. I would like to ask if there would be guidelines provided to ensure an equitable sharing of employer-paid portions of parental leave for fractional workers. Having clear guidelines will reduce potential disputes and protect our fractional workers from being discriminated against, due to their pregnancy.”
“Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill, which seeks to effect the enhanced Marriage and Parenthood measures that were announced at this year’s National Day Rally and also to amend the Child Development Co-savings Act for greater operational clarity. Sir, Singapore’s total fertility rate (TFR) reached a historic low of 0.97 in 2023. This reflects a broad societal trend that young Singaporeans want better familial support, before they commit to having children. I am glad that the Government has, in response, made big moves to foster a more family-friendly Singapore. In particular, I have heard from young couples living in my constituency, Radin Mas, that they were most excited about one, the additional two weeks of GPPL for fathers; two, the new SPL scheme that will encourage more fathers to take their parental leave; and most certainly, the increase in the number of shared parental leave to six weeks from 1 April 2025, and a subsequent increase to 10 weeks from 1 April 2026. I also welcome the new Shared Parental Benefits, a cash benefit-equivalent scheme for parents who are not eligible for the SPL due to their employment arrangements. This would ensure parity for those who work as short-term contract workers. While the changes will help to create a more family-friendly Singapore and encourage more couples to have more babies, one segment of couples have felt left out, as the changes will only take effect from 1 April 2025. I am referring to, of course, couples who are already expecting, with their estimated delivery dates sometime between 1 January and 31 March 2025. I understand that Government schemes must start from a certain date and that there will inevitably be some that will be left out as a result.”
“Thank you, Sir. I thank the Minister of State for his response. I think we can all agree that finfluencers do hold significant sway over their viewers. This is often despite finfluencers stating that their words should not be construed as financial advice. As an unregulated sector, consumers are at risk of hefty losses. I think in the United States, this was the case when finfluencers were promoting the FTX platform, which subsequently collapsed. So, in such a situation, the consumers' only recourse would be pursuing a civil claim against the finfluencer. To my understanding, there has been no such precedence in our local courts. Given this, I would like to ask if MAS do have a position on whether finfluencers have a duty of care to their viewers when promoting financial products online and then, in the same breath saying, "Please do not construe my words as financial advice". Could MAS work towards a set of industry guidelines to provide both the finfluencers as well as consumers on their respective roles and responsibilities and the due diligence that each party should conduct? By doing so, I believe that we can continue to leverage on these influencers to grow our financial literacy among consumers and especially while safeguarding vulnerable consumers.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister of State for her reply. My focus is more on the early childhood educators. Sir, the impetus of removing the mandate on preschools having to operate on Saturdays was meant to improve the working conditions of our early childhood educators by allowing them to have a five-day work week. I fully support this. But I note that with the removal of Saturday services, work that the preschool teachers used to do on Saturdays would now need to be done on the weekdays. I understand that this would include lesson preparation, administrative work, classroom set-up and even attending training. Sir, the handling of a class of toddlers for a full day is already very challenging. So, beyond the physical working hours, I am quite concerned about the hours that our early childhood educators spend outside of these official working hours, in particular, attending to parents' queries. This is a common issue that teachers face. I note that the Minister for Education had recently stated that the Ministry of Education teachers are not required to respond to work-related messages after school hours. I would, therefore, like to ask if ECDA could provide early childhood educators with a similar right to disconnect, so that they can have protected rest time outside of their work hours.”
“Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. A 2020 study published in the Singapore Medical Journal found significant barriers to the delivery of healthcare to migrant workers. They face difficulties navigating a foreign and sometimes complex healthcare system, and lack adequate knowledge about their healthcare coverage and entitlements. I would like to ask what are MOM's plans to ensure that our migrant workers are aware of the various medical schemes that are available to them?”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have two supplementary questions for the Minister. The first relates to car usage patterns. The LTA had cited reduced car usage patterns, in part, driven by flexible work arrangements as one of the reasons that we are now able to inject an additional 20,000 COEs. With companies making moves to mandate a return-to-office policy, how would this affect LTA's planning assumption? That is my first question. The second question relates to distance-based charging. I understand the Minister has already said that it is still being studied. But what are the key considerations in deciding to implement or not implement distance-based charging, given that ERP 2.0 already has the capacity to do so?”
“Sir, I thank the Minister of State for his reply. According to statistics from the MAS, bad credit card debts and credit card rollover balances are increasing. While I note from Minister of State's reply that the correlation between such unsecured debt and bankruptcy remain stable and is manageable for now, I would like to highlight that it is important for us to look at the entire suite of credit card and credit card-like facilities. I would like to ask if the MAS could include debts from Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services into its monitoring of bad credit card debts as these services provide a line of credit to some who would otherwise not qualify for credit card. Essentially, what we deem as vulnerable consumers. We should track BNPL schemes just as closely as credit card debt, given that they provide similar credit facilities.”
“Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his response. In the past few months, we have seen a wide variation of erratic weather conditions in Singapore, from extreme heat to extreme rain. These erratic weather patterns are set to become a norm due to climate change. First, how will MOM manage unwanted consequences due to delays from all these adverse weather conditions and to ensure that employers do not compromise on safety due to the need to then catch up and meet deadlines? Second, does MOM have any plans for long-term measures to better protect workers against these erratic and adverse weather conditions, such as updating building codes and also other workplace protocols? Thirdly, I would like to ask if the MOM would study the health impact of long-term exposure to such erratic weather patterns, especially for workers who are performing outdoor work?”
“And beyond systems, how have LTA and SMRT invested in developing our engineering and technical talent to ensure that our MRT remains safe and reliable for all of us?”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I first declare my interest as the Executive Secretary of the National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU). I therefore thank the Minister and many Members who have stood up to express their recognition and appreciation for our public transport workers, who have worked very hard following the incident. I would also like to take this opportunity to assure Members that the union takes the safety and welfare of our public transport workers very seriously. We work very closely with the LTA, the Ministry and the public transport operators, to ensure that their safety and their welfare were never compromised. As the Executive Secretary of NTWU, I can also vouch for the SMRT Chairman, Mr Seah Moon Ming, when he said that there had been no under-investment in maintenance. In fact, our SMRT workers have been working hard, if not harder than ever before, in ensuring that our rail system functions smoothly every day. The MKBF statistics that the Minister has highlighted can testify to the improvements in rail reliability over the years. So, my question relates to maintenance, in addition to the hefty investments in rail replacement projects, part of the success in maintaining this high MKBF threshold can be attributed to investments in predictive maintenance tools and systems. During the disruption, some online commentators were understandably concerned that we have swung too far in relying on such predictive tools. So, I would like to ask the Minister if the EAP will review whether our current predictive maintenance systems are performing optimally, especially why it was not able to predict the occurrence of an axle box failure.”
“Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply and I am glad for the new measures to better support our hawkers. I would like to focus my supplementary questions on the high rental bids. Sir, I have spoken to veteran hawkers regarding this phenomenon of new entrants bidding high rental prices. They shared that it is common that these hawkers would, therefore, have to charge higher food prices to make up for the high costs. In some cases, other hawkers in the same hawker centre would then see this and take this as a signal that they can also increase their food prices, therefore, causing a price increase ripple within the same hawker centre. My first question is: does the Ministry track if food prices have, indeed, increased in hawker centres where there had been an abnormally high rental bid? My second question is: could the Ministry consider modelling its tender bid system after the Housing and Development Board's (HDB's) resale portal and alert prospective bidders if the rental bid that they have submitted exceeds the median rent in the same hawker centre, by say, about 10%? Doing so can possibly help prospective hawkers place more realistic bids, but more importantly, I hope that this can help moderate food price increases as a result of high rental bids.”
“Beyond the Bill's proposals, I hope that we can widen our suite of enforcement tools to prevent vulnerable individuals from receiving unsolicited gambling advertisements. Whenever there is a big global sporting event, such as the recent resumption of the English Premier League, it is common to receive unsolicited text messages encouraging a person to place big bets on unlicensed betting websites. Advertisements that are programmatically pushed to viewers on social media also frequently feature online casinos and sports betting pages. I hope that the whole ecosystem, from telecommunications companies to social media companies, can lean in to aid both the GRA and NCPG to combat the issue of problem gambling and prevent vulnerable individuals from falling prey to gambling syndicates feeding on their gambling addiction. Mdm Deputy Speaker, this Bill will enhance the effectiveness of our casino regulatory regime and also strengthen protection for vulnerable groups. As new forms of gambling arise through games and illegal websites, it is important that GRA is able to respond to these changes so that we ensure that illegal gambling and its ills will never take hold in Singapore. Madam, I support the Bill.”
“In an article published just last month in The Guardian that examined the relationship between online gaming and gambling addiction, the experts interviewed said that research shows that children who play games with loot boxes are much more likely to experience gambling problems when they enter adulthood. This could be because the odds in these games are better, causing them to think that they will have the same likelihood of success in the online gaming world. I hope that MHA can study this in our local context and examine if we need to take a tougher stance on regulating loot boxes. Madam, I also support the Bill's proposal to enhance protection for vulnerable groups by criminalising the breach of a Family Visit Limit for casinos. Family Visit Limits are applied when family members are worried about their loved one's potential affliction by gambling and it makes sense to align the breach of these limits to existing Exclusion Orders. I also fully support the proposal to provide the NCPG and its committees with the operational flexibility to immediately substitute an Exclusion Order with a Visit Limit and vice versa to protect individuals struggling with curbing their reliance on and addiction to gambling. While we provide NCPG with the operational flexibility to protect vulnerable individuals, we must also ensure that there is an avenue of appeal should the individual disagree with the NCPG's decision. I would like to ask the Minister if the appeal framework for Exclusion Orders and Visit Limits would change in tandem with these new operational flexibilities. Madam, innocent family members are most affected when a person develops an addiction to gambling.”
“Mdm Deputy Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill which seeks to enhance the effectiveness of our casino regulatory regime and strengthen protection for vulnerable groups. However, I have some questions and suggestions. Madam, the Government has done much since the two casinos were established to ensure that casino-related crimes in Singapore are under control. According to statistics by MHA, casino-related crimes constitute just 0.2% of all crimes reported in Singapore. This is a stark contrast when compared to the findings of a January 2024 report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which reported a proliferation of organised crime in the rest of Southeast Asia due to the casino industries in the region. The United Nations (UN) report also highlighted various trends in illegal gambling activities, including the increasing popularity of illegal online casinos using cryptocurrencies and other forms of virtual tokens in an attempt to evade local law enforcement. I therefore support the Bill's proposal to future-proof our regulatory ambit by providing the GRA with the scope to regulate the entire suite of gambling activities in the casinos, including the ability to prescribe any instrument or thing to be considered as a wagering instrument. But Madam, our authorities currently do not regulate chance-based loot boxes as gambling as long as there are no in-game monetisation facilities. A loot box is inherently gambling disguised in the form of a game. In the future, games could incorporate the concept of loot boxes and virtual tokens to allow players to gamble for a large sum of the token, which could then be converted into money through a roundabout manner.”
“As ride-hailing customers, we should be upfront and declare when we have young children travelling with us. NTUC has received feedback from private hire vehicle drivers that some customers do not declare when they have accompanying children below the age of seven. Only taxis can ferry such passengers without a child seat. So, by failing to declare, it leads to a wasted trip for our platform workers. The customer also feels frustrated and it is an unpleasant experience for everyone involved. As merchants and senders, we can pack our food and goods properly and honestly declare to the platform the correct weight and size of the item that we intend to send. Sir, the work to improve the WSH outcomes for our platform workers will not end once this Bill passes Parliament. In fact, it signals the next mile in the Labour Movement's effort to improve the lives of our brothers and sisters in the gig economy. The Labour Movement has and will continue to champion the interests of our platform workers because every platform worker matters. And we mean it. Sir, I support the Bill. [Applause.]”
“Operators must be required to ensure that the design of their reward and incentive policies do not inadvertently induce their platform workers towards unsafe behaviours, such as driving long hours or rushing to complete jobs. Sir, it is good that the WSH Council is working with tripartite partners to establish an Approved Code of Practice for Platform Services. The code will address safety concerns in platform work and provide clarity on the reasonably practicable measures that operators can take to fulfil their WSH duties. However, the current draft code still allows flexibility for platform operators to set incentive targets that may be unreasonable and potentially unsafe. I, therefore, ask for the code to codify what would be deemed as a safe incentive and reward structure so that operators do not set unrealistic incentive targets. I also call on the tripartite workgroup to study the best practices in other countries, such as Australia, where a series of reforms passed earlier this year will allow employee-like workers in the gig economy to enjoy similar workplace protection as regular employees. According to news reports, Australia started on this journey after a spate of road fatalities involving gig workers. The local government there is seeking to put in place minimum safety standards for gig workers. I am confident that there will be parallels from which we in Singapore can learn. Sir, beyond what the Government and platform operators can do, we can all play a part in helping to keep our platform workers safe as merchants and as consumers. As consumers, we can be patient with our delivery workers when there are genuine reasons for delays. They are trying their best and many of them are braving weather conditions and obstacles to reach us in good time.”
“They want to earn a decent living and return home safely to their loved ones. To enhance protection for our platform workers, we need to implement measures that prioritise their safety and well-being. One such measure is to ensure that all delivery workers have access to proper training on road safety and the safe handling of packages to prevent injuries. Platform operators must also provide adequate safety equipment, such as reflective vests and helmets, to protect delivery workers while on the job. More importantly, platform operators must not penalise platform workers for reporting work incidents, such as road traffic accidents. Platform workers should be allowed to prioritise their own safety without having to fear that they would be subject to unfair disincentives or penalties. Sir, I have been lobbying for more to be done to safeguard the safety and health of our platform workers since 2021. This includes the need to review incentive structures which may lead platform workers to rush to meet targets and risk getting into an accident. I, therefore, fully support the provisions in this Bill which make clear that platform operators have a duty to provide measures to safeguard the safety of platform workers who work for them. I call on all platform operators to take concrete steps to mitigate the risks to the safety and health of their platform workers. While I can understand that platform operators may not be in control of the physical environment that platform workers operate in, but operators can and should set policies that influence and drive platform workers' behaviours.”
“Beyond coverage by WICA while at work, we should recognise that many of our platform workers spend substantial periods of time on the road waiting for or travelling to destinations to seek their next job. To them, this is time spent at work. Yet, the definition of workplace under section 2 of WICA does not include such waiting or travelling periods. If platform workers get injured during such time, they will not be covered by WICA. Sir, the International Labour Organization's position is that there should be recognition of some of the time that a worker spends on call. I urge the Ministry to consider including such waiting time under WICA in order to fully cover the range of work activities by a platform worker. In addition to adequate insurance coverage, we must also move upstream to mitigate the risk of platform workers getting into an accident in the first place. Platform workers enjoy the ability to work in a flexible environment that best caters to their life's circumstances. But this comes with some downsides. To earn a decent wage, they spend long hours, often on the roads and, sometimes, in treacherous weather conditions. One key concern for platform workers is road safety. The report by the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers found that from January 2021 to October 2022, there were eight work-related traffic fatalities among platform workers. Earlier, the Senior Minister of State also cited a 2022 study by the Institute of Policy Studies, which found that one in three food delivery workers has been in at least one accident that required medical attention. That same survey also found that around 44% of drivers reported worsening health levels since they started driving. Sir, our platform workers want to be responsible road users.”
“Mr Speaker, I stand in support of the Bill, which seeks to give effect to the recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers. Platform workers, from our ride hailing drivers to our food delivery and package delivery riders, play an essential role in point-to-point transport, and in ensuring that food and goods reach our doorsteps promptly and in good condition. Well, we do want our cupcakes to come with the cream and the toppings intact. However, their job often places them in dangerous situations that can compromise their safety and well-being. My speech today will touch on the importance of ensuring that our platform workers are well and properly covered by insurance, and the need to ensure that they have good workplace safety and health outcomes. Sir, platform workers today lack an adequate insurance coverage. According to the 2022 report by the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers, the typical coverage for death or total permanent disability of platform workers provided by platform operators lies largely in the $10,000 to $30,000 range. This pales in comparison to the limit of $289,000 for employees under the WICA. I, therefore, fully support the Bill's proposal to provide all platform workers with the same work injury compensation coverage as employees. In the event of an unfortunate accident, a food delivery rider working for a platform should not have to face poorer insurance outcomes than a comparable food delivery employee employed inhouse by a restaurant. It is the right thing to do and I am glad that we are removing this unfair and artificial distinction.”
“Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. I would like to first acknowledge the good work of the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) and SFA in recent years to incubate and also grow our local farms. As consumers, we must support locally grown produce so that our local agriculture sector can flourish and also act as a buffer when food supply disruptions happen periodically. I have two supplementary questions for the Senior Minister of State. First, I would like to ask for an update on the utilisation rate of the $60 million ACT fund, which the Senior Minister of State has mentioned, and whether the Ministry could consider extending the use of this grant to offset high operating expenses, such as the rising electricity costs. Second, the survivability of our local farms hinges on a predictable and consistent demand as this impacts their cash flow. So, I am very glad to hear that the National Environment Agency and SFA have partnered associations, such as SAFEF, to create a demand aggregator. My question is: can this collaboration be extended to supply a collective pool of local produce to our local hawkers? We can work through the hawker associations. This can result in a win-win outcome where farmers get more certainty in demand and our local hawkers get fresh quality local ingredients.”
“Sir, I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his answer. I declare I am the President of the Consumers Association of Singapore or CASE. Sir, in the first half of 2024 alone, CASE received 10 complaints regarding strong chemical odours emitted by new furniture, such as mattresses, sofas, wardrobes. Some consumers reported experiencing symptoms such as headache, dizziness and coughing after being exposed to what they suspect to be formaldehyde. I would like to ask would the Ministry consider regulating formaldehyde levels in furniture, in addition to, as the Senior Parliamentary Secretary said, for paints. Since that regulation has not come on board, can we include furniture as well in the regulations? As what Miss Cheryl Chan had said, beyond what you can do after the furniture and renovation have been completed, I think what we can do is to go upstream and educate consumers on what are the furniture that have these levels of formaldehyde, so that they can make a considered decision on whether to purchase them or advise the contractors what they can use and what they should not use.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have two questions for Minister Chee. First, I would like to ask how effective was the predictive modelling used by MPA when trying to predict where the oil spill would move, based on tidal predictions and real-time weather data, which would then have informed and guided their decisions on where to deploy the skimmers and the oil booms. My second question is regarding one of my PQs, which asked whether the whole-of-Government response is coordinated with those of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the volunteer groups. I think the Minister mentioned that there are regular oil spill exercises and the next one being in October this year. My question is, are these NGOs invited to participate in the exercises, including the volunteer groups; and if not, would they be invited to do so?”