Ng Chee Meng
Singapore
“I note the intent of the OJT and agree with the objectives behind the proposal, and it will be studied, considered in our NTUC's work, even as we chart possibilities in career counselling for the youths, and do possible pathways to innovate with the IHLs in career guidance and matches into internship and other possibilities.”
“I began this speech with the questions on many workers' minds: how can I take part in the AI growth and benefit from it? How can I translate into fair opportunities for me? Singapore has invested much in education and the skills of our workforce.”
“Mr Speaker, I thank the Government for responding to NTUC's and our Platform Work Association's calls to support sectors most affected by the recent fuel price increases. The measures announced for platform drivers and riders will go some way in easing the pressures on their livelihoods. I have two clarifications.”
“Family members who have mental health conditions or degenerative diseases, such as dementia, which is becoming more common, who may require high supervision but may not necessarily qualify for the three ADL criteria today. Preventive Healthcare in the Community”
“However, there is one group that I am particularly concerned about – the 13,000 or so who are out of the workforce to care for their elderly. I note from MOM's data that this group is largely female, single, 50 and above, non-tertiary educated and do not have any or any recent work experience. We think that there is scope to do more.”
“Chairman, our young graduates are entering the workforce at a time in a disrupted age. AI is becoming more advanced, even at entry-level tasks. And throughout their careers, they will need to adapt and pivot several times, as the pace of change and skills obsolescence increases.”
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Every one of 434 lines we hold for Ng Chee Meng, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 9.
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) places great emphasis on the security and well-being of students and staff in our schools. A three-pronged security approach is adopted. First, schools are fenced and equipped with closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance systems and gate barriers manned by security officers to control access. Second, there are security protocol and procedures to regulate movement within the schools. Third, the school maintains close partnerships with the Neighbourhood Police and the community at large. School staff and students are reminded to be vigilant and to alert the authorities in the event of any suspicious activities or intruders. The Police also engage schools and communities through outreach programmes and disseminate security-related advisories. These school security measures are appropriately calibrated to the overall security environment of the country based on the threat assessment provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). MOE routinely reviews our security measures for effectiveness to ensure the robustness of our school security measures. The effort to prepare schools for emergencies has been put in place for some time now since the 1990s. It is part of the national programme to prepare for civil emergencies and contingencies. All schools have a School Emergency Structure to deal with emergencies to respond, recover and restore the situation back to normalcy. School leaders, staff and students take part in regular emergency training exercises to practise how to handle emergency situations in the school, including security incidents.”
“The basis of the benchmark for madrasahs remains unchanged under the new Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scoring system. It is pegged to the average PSLE score of Malay pupils in the six lowest-performing national primary schools who take four Standard-level subjects. Since we announced the new PSLE scoring system last month, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has engaged school leaders, including the principals of the four full-time madrasahs offering primary-level education, to explain the new scoring system. We will continue to work with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) to ensure that any queries or concerns that the madrasahs may have are adequately addressed.”
“I thank the Member for the question. We are monitoring the situation closely, gathering data on commuters' preferences and the availability of taxis on the roads. So, where appropriate, we will further level the playing field for the industry and we will, as I said earlier, review the taxi availability framework with a balanced view towards commuters' needs and also the welfare of taxi drivers. We expect to be able to say more towards the end of the year when we have gathered sufficient data for a comprehensive review. 3.00 pm”
“Mdm Speaker, the average monthly gross earnings of taxi drivers, before netting off rental and fuel costs, have remained relatively unchanged since 2013. Average monthly net income has, however, increased by about 5% in real terms due to lower fuel costs. The taxi availability standards benefit the street hail customer. Today, about 80% of all taxis are able to meet the daily minimum mileage requirement of 250 kilometres per day. Of these taxis, more than three quarters ply more than 300 km per day. In addition, the proportion of two-shift taxis has increased from 53% to 68% since the introduction of the standards. This means that there are now more taxis available on the road for the commuter. I should also point out that the standard for daily minimum mileage is not meant to be achieved at the individual taxi level, but at the company's fleet level. For example, during weekends, the standard is that 75% of a taxi company's fleet must meet the daily minimum mileage. With the growth of hailing apps and the private hire car industry in recent years, there may be room for us to adjust the taxi availability standards. As I had updated Parliament earlier, we are monitoring the situation closely and will review the standards at the end of this year.”
“On the Member's query, MOE has previously explored conducting admissions tests overseas, but the demand was low. Thus, we decided to conduct SPERS twice a year for the convenience of more returning Singaporeans and to ensure that the tests are administered by trained invigilators so that placement outcomes are fair and educationally sound. In summary, there are sufficient routes of admissions to cater to returning Singaporeans seeking re-admissions at any time of the year. I would like to assure the Member that MOE's commitment is for every returning Singaporean family to reintegrate smoothly back into Singapore society.”
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) is committed to helping returning Singaporeans re-enter our schools smoothly. We have made available several admissions routes, to cater to different circumstances and preferences. The first option is via the centralised School Placement Exercise for Returning Singaporeans (SPERS), which caters for admission into secondary schools and junior colleges. SPERS offers families the convenience of a single round of tests. Based on their performance, returning Singaporeans could indicate their school preferences and would be offered places in schools based on their results, choices, and school vacancies. SPERS is conducted twice a year to cater to the different timing of return for overseas Singaporeans. Nevertheless, MOE recognises that not all returning Singaporeans are able to time their return to one of the SPERS cycles. A second option is for such returning Singaporeans to approach MOE for help to obtain a school place. MOE will do our best to match the child to a school with a vacancy that is near his or her home. The school will usually require the child to take a placement test and, based on the results decide if it could offer the child a place and at which educational level. A third option is also available to families who already have a specific school in mind and want to approach that school directly to be considered for admission. Again, the school will require the child to take a placement test and can offer the returning Singaporean child a place if it has available vacancy. Most returning Singaporeans will make use of the centralised SPERS option as it is most convenient for them, where they only need to take a single set of tests and be assured of a posting Page: 162 by MOE to a suitable school.”
“These activities are planned after due consideration of the students' learning and developmental needs. For example, the June holidays may be an opportune time for teachers to address students' learning gaps identified during the mid-year examinations through the provision of small group remediation to those who may benefit from it. Part of the school holidays may also be used to organise activities for CCAs that may not be easily conducted during term time, such as camps and leadership courses. Given that there are different student profiles and needs across the schools, it may not be meaningful to set a limit on the number of hours a student can spend in school during the school holidays that can be universally applied to all students. Nonetheless, we agree that the school holidays are an important time for the students to take a break from school. In planning holiday programmes, our schools are mindful of this and have processes in place to monitor and coordinate holiday homework and activities. School holiday programmes are usually not compulsory, and students do have a choice to opt out of them. Schools are also reminded to inform parents of planned school activities early to facilitate their holiday planning. MOE will continue to monitor that schools are judicious in their planning of holiday activities and to be mindful of the students' and teachers' need for a restful break during the school holidays. MOE will also continue to engage School Leaders in their review of programmes to maximise vacation time beyond the baseline protected time for teachers and students while striving to meet the developmental needs of teachers and students.”
“The well-being of our teachers is important and we have put in place various initiatives to support their work-life needs. A set of guidelines is provided to schools to support and guide them in managing their teachers' workload and well-being. One of these guidelines is the provision of protected vacation time during school holidays to ensure that teachers have sufficient time to rest and bond with their families. The baseline protected time in the school vacation comprises at least two days in March, two weeks in June, two days in September and three weeks in November/December. Under the guideline on protected vacation time, teachers are to be given at least two weeks off in the June holidays and this has been observed by all the schools. As this is a baseline provision, schools do, in most cases, give their teachers more than two weeks off in the June holidays. While setting this baseline provision, the Ministry of Education (MOE) is mindful of the need to accord schools some flexibility to meet their specific needs, for example, to support teachers' professional development programmes as well as programmes for their students. In principle, schools seek to Page: 157 optimise the holidays to ensure that their teachers get a sufficient break to rest and recharge. Similarly, schools seek to ensure that students are also given adequate time off during the holidays to rest and spend time with their families and pursue their personal or recreational activities. Unless necessary, students are not required to attend school during the holidays. However, schools may use part of the school holidays to conduct remedial or enrichment classes and co-curricular activities (CCAs) for specific groups of students.”
“Since the 1970s, the student-teacher ratio, or what is known internationally as the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR), has improved across all levels. For the primary level, the average PTRs of each decade in Government and Government-aided schools improved progressively from 30 in the 1970’s, to 28, 26 and 23 in the subsequent decades, and to 16 in 2015. A similar trend also took place at the secondary level, with the average PTR improving over each decade, from 25, 22, 21, 19 to 13 in 2015. Data for junior colleges (JCs) was not available in the 1970s, when the JC landscape was in its nascent stage. From the 1980s till now, the average JC PTRs over each decade have improved from 25, 15, 12, to 10 in 2015. Our PTRs are comparable to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation average of 15 and 13 for primary and secondary schools respectively. PTR is an aggregate measure that compares the total number of teachers to the total number of students, and reflects our increase in investment of teacher resources over the years to bring out the best in each child. Besides the general increase in resources for every student, we have also invested resources in developing customised programmes for those requiring special attention. This includes lower primary students, students weak in literacy and numeracy, as well as students with special education needs. Through our continuous efforts, we have achieved progressively good outcomes for our school-going cohorts over the years. One indicator of this would be the extremely low dropout rates of students who did not complete secondary education, at less than 1% of the Primary 1 cohort.”
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) regularly reviews the demand and supply trends at the national and regional levels to ensure that there are sufficient school places for school-going children. Our school planning takes into account the current and projected population and planned housing development programmes to ensure that there are sufficient school places to meet the needs of each residential area. While MOE tries to ensure that every child of school-going age in Singapore has a place in a school reasonably near his or her home, it will not always be possible to do so. Every new school needs to have a sufficient catchment of students, over a sustained period of time, to enable it to mount a range of activities for the benefit of the students and to be run efficiently. There are currently two primary schools, Sengkang Green Primary and Fernvale Primary, in Fernvale estate. MOE has plans to build a third primary school near the Kupang Light Rail Transit station to meet the needs of residents moving into this new estate. Construction of the school is expected to start soon, and we will provide more details of when the school will be opened in due course. There are currently six secondary schools – Pei Hwa Secondary School, Nan Chiau High School, Compassvale Secondary School, CHIJ St Joseph's Convent, Seng Kang Secondary School and North Vista Secondary School – located in Sengkang. There are also other secondary schools, for example, Hougang Secondary School, Xinmin Secondary School and Monfort Secondary School, which are located near Fernvale. As there are sufficient secondary school places in this area, we have no plans to build any new secondary school in Fernvale. There are no plans to build a new junior college in Sengkang.”
“Students with special educational needs (SEN) are enrolled in both mainstream and Special Education (SPED) schools. Currently, there are about 18,000 students who have learning difficulties or mild SEN enrolled in mainstream schools, comprising about 75% of all students diagnosed with SEN. Those with moderate to severe SEN are supported in SPED schools run by Government-funded voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs). These schools are equipped with special facilities as well as specially-trained teachers and allied professionals to meet the needs of their students who require a customised curriculum and specialised interventions. As part of the continual effort to meet the evolving needs of children with special needs and enhance the learning environment in SPED schools, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has over the years supported and funded the setting up of new SPED schools and the expansion of existing ones to enhance accessibility to quality SPED. The 20 Government-funded SPED schools run by VWOs collectively serve a range of disability profiles and are organised primarily by disability types and the programmes they provide to meet the needs of their students. The SPED schools are geographically distributed across Singapore and the majority are currently located in public housing areas with access to public transport. MOE will continue to work closely with the VWOs in monitoring the SPED school vacancy and infrastructural situation to ensure that students with disabilities have timely access to SPED. Where there is a need for additional school campuses to cater to students with specific disabilities, we will continue to site them in locations where there is ease of access by students and their parents/caregivers.”
“Spanish was introduced in 2014 as one of the foreign languages available to eligible students. Currently, about 100 students would offer Spanish as a third language each year at Secondary 1. This intake level is typical of foreign languages that are newly introduced. The Secondary 1 intake size for other foreign languages varies, ranging from about 240 for German to about 550 for Japanese.”
“Recent newspaper reports based on a study on adolescents having sex with sex workers in Singapore may have given the misimpression that there is an increasing trend for all youths. The study did not demonstrate such a trend and was not designed to do so. The participants for the study were adolescents seeking treatment at the Department of Sexually Transmitted Infections Control Clinic. It was not a time-trend study of a representative sample of the youth population in Singapore. Nonetheless, the issue raised by the Member and the study about youth sexuality are important and should be taken seriously. The Ministry of Education's current Sexuality Education programme already has elements to mitigate youth paying for sexual services. The programme seeks to equip all students with knowledge, skills and attitudes to: (a) understand their physiological, social and emotional changes as they mature; (b) develop healthy and rewarding relationships; and (c) make wise, informed and responsible decisions on sexuality matters. This includes information about sexuality transmitted infections and how one can be protected from them. Schools also provide additional support, such as one-to-one counselling, to students at risk of sexual experimentation or are already engaging in sexual activity. As parents play a key role in sexuality education, schools will also engage parents to discuss joint intervention plans. Where required, schools will engage community partners and external agencies with specialised expertise.”
“Despite all efforts to engage our students and keep them in schools, some students still drop out of schools, and the reasons for their dropping out are complex. MOE thus taps on the expertise and networks of relevant agencies such as Central Youth Guidance Office, the Ministry of Social and Family Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore Police Force, Central Narcotics Bureau, self-help groups, family service centres and voluntary welfare organisations to support at-risk students. Parents are an essential partner in supporting the efforts of schools. They help to instil and reinforce the right values in our students and provide support and encouragement to them. Schools will continue to engage parents through various platforms and partner them to support their child's needs.”
“Our schools closely monitor students’ progression and their completion of secondary school education. The overall proportion of each Primary 1 cohort who dropped out at the secondary level has remained low, at less than 1% in the last five years. Schools have done well to keep the number of dropouts low over the years. To engage students in their studies and motivate them to learn and grow, our schools proactively build caring and supportive environments. They put in place programmes that enhance the quality of school experience for students. They also provide good pastoral care, Education and Career Guidance, and Character and Citizenship Education that help students learn, grow and develop a desire to lead a purposeful life and make informed choices about their future pathways. Schools closely monitor students at risk of dropping out and put in place intervention measures to support them. For example, schools organise the Time Out Programme, which provides enhanced guidance and support for at-risk students who are disengaged in schooling. Students are taken out of their regular classes and provided with a customised programme that aims to rekindle their desire to learn and help them develop goals and purpose in their educational journey. The programme also helps them to cope with and overcome any personal, family or social problems that they might be faced with, before they rejoin their regular classes. The Ministry of Education (MOE) provides additional support to schools to strengthen the engagement of and support for students. This includes counsellors and Student Welfare Officers who help students with school attendance issues and motivate them to return to schools.”
“The Compulsory Education (CE) Act requires all Singaporean children above the age of six and below the age of 15 who are residing in Singapore to regularly attend a national primary school, unless they are exempted from doing so. We hold parents accountable for this, as well as their children's participation in the Primary 1 registration exercise in the year the children turn six. Most parents dutifully register their children in our national primary schools unless they are exempted for valid reasons. For instance, some children have special educational needs or are enrolled in designated schools. A small number of parents also obtain approval to home-school their children. To date, we have not found it necessary to resort to prosecution. No parents have been charged under the CE Act since its inception.”
“Schools have measures in place to identify students with learning difficulties and provide timely and appropriate intervention. Upon entry into Primary 1, schools conduct early literacy and numeracy screening to identify students who need additional support to level up their literacy and numeracy skills. There are learning support Page: 114 programmes to help these students acquire the basic literacy and numeracy skills. Support in these programmes is extended all the way to Secondary school levels if the child needs it. In addition, students with dyslexia may attend the School-based Dyslexia Remediation (SDR) Programme or the MOE-aided literacy remediation at the Dyslexia Association of Singapore. MOE also provides resources for parents to support their children with dyslexia on the MOE Social Media Platforms, such as Schoolbag.sg. Students with learning difficulties may also be referred to MOE psychologists for further assessment and consultation on follow-up support. There are also trained personnel, such as Teachers trained in Special Needs, Allied Educators for Learning and Behavioural Support, and School Counsellors, to provide case consultation and intervention for students with learning disabilities, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or mild Autism Spectrum Disorder. MOE also collaborates with the Institute of Mental Health to make available the Response, Early Intervention and Assessment in Community Mental Health (REACH) services where students can be assessed for further support and intervention, including advice for parents and caregivers.”
“MOE’s primary focus on cycling is on safety. As part of the Physical Education curriculum in Primary schools, students learn about personal safety and safety of others as a cyclist as well as a pedestrian. This is taught in Primary 3. In addition, MOE is collaborating with LTA to offer a cycling safety enrichment programme to students in Secondary schools who are able to cycle. This would be a voluntary programme where students would be taught safe cycling practices. We currently have no specific plans to offer cycling lessons in our schools beyond this cycling safety enrichment programme. MOE has not carried out any survey on the number of students who cycle to school. From schools' observations, this number is small. Nevertheless, MOE will continue to work with partner agencies, such as LTA and Traffic Police, to improve road safety infrastructure around schools to keep our students and other road users safe, including students who cycle to school. MOE will also continue to monitor the traffic situation and design programmes to promote student safety.”
“Examinations are useful for students to gauge their learning and for teachers to check on the effectiveness of their teaching. Schools adopt a student-centric approach, taking into consideration the profile and needs of the students and the schools’ contexts when scheduling the examinations. The practice of having examinations after the June holidays is more prevalent among the Junior Colleges (JCs) in view of the school year for JC1 students starting in end January or early February. There would be limited time for students to consolidate their learning before the examinations if examinations are held in May. Many of the JC students are also participating in the Singapore Youth Festival for performing arts and National School Games in Page: 80 April and May. The decision to schedule the mid-year examinations for JC students in Term 3 after the June vacation will allow the students to better manage their revision and to ensure they would still have some time during the June vacation to have a break and pursue other recreational and social activities. Similarly, a small proportion of schools at other levels may also conduct some form of testing after the June holidays for their students in graduating levels, to help them consolidate their learning in June and pace their revision leading up to national examinations. Our schools are mindful of the need to strike a balance between catering to students' academic and CCA needs, as well as their socio-emotional well-being. The decision to have examinations after the vacation is made after considering the different options available to address their students' overall needs and also to minimise stress.”
“They are not allowed to offer their services via Uber and GrabCar as sole proprietors. If they work in a company, which does not exist today, that is a possibility.”
“Mdm Speaker, I thank the Member for the question. This was considered in our initial design of the system. It is possible, but at the moment, we think that two categories would be in better service of the three principles I have articulated. Breaking them up into different parts would mean limo drivers versus private hire car drivers; you will have too many categories. Many of the limo drivers that I meet at our discussions are also part-time Uber or Grab drivers. Like how we designed the Taxi Driver Vocational Licence versus the PDVL, we allow cross-licensing. This is part of the review to make it not too cumbersome with too many regulations and for the drivers to not need to jump through too many hoops. It is early days yet. We have not implemented the licensing regime and done a post implementation review. We will take a year to implement. So, we will take your views into consideration.”
“On the age limit, we think that safety is better ensured based on an estimate of how good a person is as a driver. So, we think that the requirement for at least two years of driving experience is adequate and we will continue to monitor the situation. As to the age limit of taxi drivers being set at 30, it was for a different set of reasons. We are open to reviewing this if the taxi industry is requesting for minimum age requirements instead.”
“I thank the Member for the questions. With regard to a level-playing field, I will break down the answer into two components. First of all, in terms of the licensing requirements and so on, it is in accordance with the current practice. In terms of the need for a Taxi Vocational Licence or a Private Hire Car Driver's Licence (PDVL), there are different conditions. We follow industry practices as best as possible. When it comes to the impact on taxi drivers and commuters, these were the stipulated principles of how we address the private-hire car industry. For most, it is commuters' interest; thereafter, the welfare of taxi drivers and private hire car drivers; and the third principle was to allow a transition for the companies, given this disruptive technology in Singapore. If we really want to level the field completely, there are two major issues that may not bear the outcomes that we desire. Today, 80% of taxi trips are by street hail. If you completely level the playing field, it means that the private hire cars will have street hail privileges as well. This will not bring necessarily the outcomes desired, if it is a complete level playing field. So, in terms of welfare, transition for the taxi drivers, impact on income, we do not want these to be disrupted overnight. For commuters' interest, if you completely level the playing field and chauffeured service companies and taxi companies become homogenous, then, we will not be able to have the innovative disruption that private hire cars bring to the industry. In the morning peak hours, when we have an inadequate supply of taxi drivers, the commuters' interests are served because there is a supplementary group of drivers that come in the form of Uber and Grab. They are mostly part-time drivers.”
“Secondly, from the commuters' point of view, with Uber and GrabCar, the overall service given to commuters should improve. I would like to ask the Minister whether there are any statistics, feedback and measurement to show that Uber and GrabCar bring positive impact to our commuters. If not, why should we have them in Singapore and create so much unhappiness amongst the taxi drivers? Finally, the Minister mentioned earlier that there is no minimum age for Uber drivers. I would like to ask why it is so. For the safety of commuters, why can we not specify that there is a minimum age for Uber drivers?”
“As announced during the Ministry of Transport (MOT)'s Committee of Supply debate recently, there will be no minimum age requirement for private hire car drivers. However, they must have held a driving licence for at least two years. The maximum age for private hire car drivers will be 75 years, like for taxi drivers. Today, traditional limousine companies and car rental companies employ Permanent Residents and Work Pass holders as drivers. Work Pass holders are subject to Work Pass conditions stipulated by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). They provide chauffeured services that can be chartered for trips like airport transfers and ferrying of VIPs at events. In order to not disrupt traditional limousine companies and car rental companies when the new regulatory regime is implemented, these Permanent Residents and Work Pass holders will also be able to apply for the Private Hire Car Driver Vocational Licence. However, Permanent Residents and Work Pass holders can only provide chauffeured services in the course of their employment under these car rental or limousine companies. This is unlike for Singaporeans, who can be Uber or GrabCar drivers as long as they are sole proprietors of a chauffeured services company. As we understand it, there are no Work Pass holders driving for Uber or Grab today. Page: 12 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, I thank the Minister for the comprehensive answers. I have three supplementary questions. I have residents who are taxi drivers and their feedback is that they hope to see a more level playing field. To get the vocational driving licence, they have a certain minimum number of hours that they need to drive and clock in. They think that with these Uber and GrabCar drivers, the playing field is not level.”
“Mdm Speaker, the insurance requirements imposed on taxis and private hire cars are the same. The Motor Vehicles Act requires all motor vehicles, including taxis and private hire cars, to be insured against third-party liability risks, which include death or bodily injury to passengers. Specifically, this means that passengers in a private hire car that is involved in a motor accident can claim compensation from the owner of the private hire car or its insurer. Both taxis and private hire cars are required to procure insurance which covers the use of the vehicles for hire and reward purposes. The inspection requirements for private hire cars are the same as those for private motorcars, while taxis have to go for more frequent inspections. This is because the Land Transport Authority (LTA)'s data show that, on average, currently, taxis run about 145,000 km annually, about five times the annual mileage of private hire cars. LTA will review the data regularly to see if there is a need to adjust the inspection frequency for private hire cars. After the upcoming revamp, the taxi driving course will be shortened to about 25 hours, whereas the chauffeured services course will be about 10 hours long. The difference in training hours is mainly because taxi drivers can pick up street hail jobs, while private hire car drivers are not allowed to do so. Street hail jobs comprise 80% of all taxi trips, and the additional navigational and route planning components of the taxi driving course train taxi drivers for this. Taxi drivers must also be able to use a taxi meter correctly and be familiar with the various regulations concerning fare collection.”
“Some preschools plan activities and make use of everyday teachable moments to help children learn about body safety, including programmes in partnership with community partners. The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) is also exploring how preschools can be further supported to teach body-safety skills in an age-appropriate manner to children. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and ECDA also have in place a reporting and support system to guide pre-school teachers who have concerns over a child's safety or suspect child abuse. Preschool teachers can approach ECDA or MSF for advice on appropriate actions to take. In addition, the Ministry of Education's Nurturing Early Learners (NEL) Framework includes guidelines for pre-school teachers to help their children develop a positive self-concept and learn values and socially acceptable behaviours. The NEL Framework covers topics on general safety and how to help children to talk about their feelings and seek help from adults, including their teachers and parents, when they feel hurt or unsafe.”
“Madam, I thank the Member for clarifying. I apologise if I got him wrong when he articulated the question. I could not hear the question clearly. In terms of the engine power, 70% of the motorcycle population are motorcycles below 200cc, and about 30% are those above 200cc. There is a 70:30 split. But if we were to split the COEs into smaller categories, it will bring in rigidity and the subsequent effect will lead to higher volatility of COE prices for motorcycles. That is something we want to avoid. And for the point on assistance to the lower-income, which I now recall the Member asked as well, can I suggest that we take a more targeted and needs-based approach towards assisting the lower income, outside of the COE system? Because, ultimately, as I have said, the COE system is to allocate the scarce resource of vehicle needs for Singaporeans in a land-scarce Singapore.”
“I thank the Member for the clarification. On the charging model that Mr Perera had asked about, it is too early to say. We are in the preliminary stage. The primary objective of ERP 2.0 is for congestion management; it has never been to raise revenue. Given the vast amounts of things that we have to study, whether eventually there will be more or less revenue collected, it is too early to say. Let me assure the Member that the primary objective of ERP 2.0 is for congestion management. Page: 44 On the second point on the composition of the taxi fleet, when the demand goes up, we will be encouraging the taxi fleet to answer to these needs. As for the affordability part of it, MOT, together with MSF, has different programmes for the lower income groups to access certain grants so that they are able to afford such point-to-point services, should they need it.”
“I thank the Member for the clarification. Indeed, I do agree with the Member. The quality of service standards and the taxi availability framework is currently undergoing review and would be consistently reviewed to make sure that it is updated and relevant to the evolving market and industry landscape.”
“Mdm Chair, I will keep it short as well. We will let the market decide. Ultimately, even though there are imperfections, the current COE mechanism is the best that we have today. As the Member rightly pointed out, where Cat E COEs have been moved to Cat B, that is the market's decision. If we come back to the fundamental reasons for this allocation, well, I will keep the answer short as well − let the market decide.”
“As Minister Khaw and Senior Minister of State Josephine Teo have stated, we have started the journey and, together, we ask Singaporeans to come along this journey with all of us to make our transportation system better and greener for the future. Strategic Air and Maritime Hub”
“This means that the owner of the ETS-eligible vehicle would already have a COE obtained in this manner and would not need to bid for a fresh COE for his or her new vehicle. In fact, what we have observed is that Cat C COE prices have seen a slight downward trend generally since the introduction of the ETS in April 2013. Mr Ang Wei Neng also asked if we should consider smoothening the supply of Cats A and B COE quotas in the coming year. We have studied this issue extensively. It is really difficult to determine the optimal amount of quota supply to hold back and determine the right time to release the withheld quota back into the system. The risks of inadvertently causing even more volatility in COE premiums are very real. In any case, even our projections were not right on target. Recently, many more car owners have decided to renew their COEs and this has tempered the previously expected increases in Cats A and B COE supply by more than 10% in the last two quarters. Hence, we feel that it is better that we leave it to the market to determine the supply of quotas. To conclude, a car-lite Singapore does not mean a carless Singapore. Car-lite is about creating an ecosystem of transport options in the form of good quality public transport, first-and-last-mile options and point-to-point services like taxis and chauffeured services, so that Singaporeans feel that their commuting needs can be met without owning a car. Importantly, it also requires a change in mindset, lifestyle and culture to one of sustainable, smart and green mobility.”
“It would also inadvertently penalise households that are larger. LTA had, therefore, decided not to Page: 33 implement such a measure back in 2013 after extensive consultation. All the considerations and findings had been shared and discussed with Singaporeans. Mr Ang Wei Neng and Mr Yee Chia Hsing have offered suggestions to address the trend of Cat E COEs being used mainly to register Cat B cars. The Cat E provides flexibility in the COE system by allowing the vehicle mix to evolve in response to market demand. While most of the Cat E COEs in recent years have gone to Cat B, this has not been the case always. For instance, Cat E COEs were routinely used to register Cat C vehicles between the years 2008 and 2010, when Cat C COE prices exceeded that of Cats A and B COE prices. We also saw this in recent COE bidding exercises just this year. 1.30 pm Nonetheless, to maintain a more stable supply of COEs in each category, we had lowered the Cat E contribution rate from 25% previously to 20% back in 2012 and further to 15% in 2013 and to 10% in February last year. We are not keen on lowering the contribution rate to zero as it is still helpful to keep some fluidity within the system, so that COEs can still move across different categories to meet demand. Again, the COE system, as I have said, is one area that LTA monitors closely and we will continue to study this area with all the suggestions that are given. On the impact of the Early Turnover Scheme (ETS) on Cat C quotas and premiums, while the ETS reduces the quota available for bidding, it also reduces the actual demand for new Cat C COEs. This is because when an ETS-eligible vehicle is deregistered, that COE can be used to register a new vehicle within a one-month period.”
“On the specific suggestion of allowing Cat D owners to have unlimited shorter-term renewal, currently, COE tenures are all fixed at 10 years for all categories and, as a concession, vehicle owners are allowed a five-year renewal on the condition that they deregister their vehicle thereafter. Allowing repeated short-term renewals for motorcycles, however attractive, favours the incumbent owners and delays timely deregistration, and this reduces the quota for potential new buyers of motorcycles. It can also lead to older and potentially more pollutive motorcycles remaining on our roads. This is a phenomenon that we actually see today, where older motorcycles are kept on the roads for a long time, polluting the air. While these suggestions are on the table, we will continue to study this and see how we can make the Cat D framework better. But, ultimately, the COE system is designed to help control Singapore's vehicle population, given the land constraints. As Minister Khaw has explained, there is very limited room for us to grow the overall vehicle population, whether it is for cars or motorcycles. We should, therefore, be very cautious about increasing the COE supply in one form or another. Instead, we should be encouraging Singaporeans to move towards public transport. Having said that, I do know that COE is a hot topic and LTA does regularly review the COE framework to keep the system updated. Assoc Prof Daniel Goh suggested levying a COE surcharge on multiple COEs registered to a household. Indeed, he pointed out that this is not a new suggestion. MOT has consulted the public extensively in 2013 on this issue and the outcome of the discussion was that this form of surcharge or the form of proposal given by Assoc Prof Daniel Goh would be very easy to circumvent.”
“There is, of course, potential to offer added-value services to motorists, such as using it to replace the paper coupon usage for roadside parking, getting more accurate and real-time traffic information, providing such real-time information to motorists and also including enhancements to the Off-Peak Car schemes. Mr Perera also raised concerns about privacy under the next-generation ERP. LTA takes this issue very seriously. For the purposes of traffic management, only aggregated data will be used by LTA and we will also ensure that the appropriate data security technologies and controls are put in place for all data use. MHA has already addressed the ERP 2.0 for security uses and I will not go further into that. Mr Perera has made some good suggestions that MOT will also take on board to study as we look at the renewal of the ERP system. Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap shared his concern regarding COEs for motorcycles and suggested different forms to make the Cat D motorcycle COE framework better. Mr Henry Kwek suggested riding on the introduction of the next-generation ERP system to consider increasing COE quotas for motorcycles, on the basis that ,being smaller in size, they contribute less to congestion. First, I would like to point out that the lesser contribution of motorcycles to congestion is already accounted for in the lower ERP rates they pay, compared to other vehicle types. In addition, owners of motorcycles enjoy several concessions, such as lower taxes, compared to car owners.”
“They will only need to undergo a short briefing on the chauffeured services industry and regulations unique to the industry. This will allow them to easily switch between taxi driving and providing chauffeured services using private hire cars. The Singapore Taxi Academy will continue to be the training provider for the TDVL. LTA will later decide on who would provide the PDVL. In order to strengthen enforcement against errant drivers, private hire cars providing chauffeured services will have to be registered with LTA and they will display a distinctive, tamper-evident decal that will be visible from the car's exterior. This will also help to assure commuters that the vehicle is, indeed, registered with LTA. LTA will make more detailed announcements later today. We have taken a practical, balanced and minimalist approach in these new regulations. They will ensure that we meet our key objectives of protecting commuters' interests and safety, allowing the point-to-point transport industry to continue to grow and innovate and also, at the same time, helping our taxi industry adjust to new and disruptive "sharing" technologies. Page: 32 Let me now turn to the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) and Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) policy questions raised by Members. Mr Leon Perera asked about the next-generation ERP system. As LTA had announced, the system is being developed and will be implemented from 2020. This new system will open up many opportunities to improve our transport system, beyond congestion management.”
“Therefore, our taxi drivers are not in heavy debt, unlike some in Paris or Florence where a taxi driver must pay anywhere from €200,000 to €300,000 euros just for the privilege or the right to provide taxi services. We have opened up our industry and deregulated fares for many years now and so the industry in Singapore has remained competitive and market-responsive. With our good foundation, we are better able to move with the times and reap the benefits of technology improvements and innovations. Nevertheless, with the growth of apps like Uber and GrabCar, some basic regulations are needed to ensure that the commuters' interests, particularly safety, are taken care of. Hence, LTA will introduce a new Private Hire Car Driver Vocational Licensing framework (PDVL). Like for the Taxi Driver Vocational Licence, this framework ensures that drivers providing chauffeured services undergo sufficient training on safety and the regulations for providing such services. Applicants will also undergo background screening and be subjected to a demerit point system for errant conduct, like touting or soliciting street-hail jobs. As the profile of private hire car drivers is quite different from taxi drivers, the eligibility criteria for their respective licences will not be exactly the same. As per current criteria, private hire car drivers must either be employed as a driver in a limousine company or be registered as an owner of a chauffeured services company. For the safety of commuters, applicants for the licence must have a minimum driving experience of two years. We recognise that the TDVL curriculum covers a substantial part of the PDVL curriculum. Hence, we will make it easy for taxi drivers to convert their TDVL to a dual TDVL-PDVL licence.”
“Many commuters I have met have told me that they really appreciate how chauffeured services supplement taxi services, especially during periods when taxis are in short supply. Most of the drivers providing chauffeured services are part-timers. One such driver, Mrs Rennu Mahajan, a mother to two sons and also a real estate agent, shared that she has been a part-time GrabCar driver since August 2015. She explained to me that she enjoys the flexible hours where she can have her time with family while also earning some extra income in a rather quiet real estate market. The growth of chauffeured services has benefited commuters, but the new competition has understandably caused some disquiet among some taxi drivers. While Mr Ang Hin Kee did not quite raise the issues in Parliament today, in our course of discussion when he was representing NTA, we had discussed many pertinent points about the disrupting effect on the taxi drivers, so I will take the time now to address some of these points. Page: 31 The responses from some cities like Paris, Brussels and Rio de Janeiro have taken what I think is the wrong approach, by creating protectionist regulations or banning chauffeured services entirely. Such an approach ultimately leads to a poorer outcome for commuters and risks fossilising the taxi industry. Fortunately for us, we are in a much better position. Our taxi industry has generally been well-run, based on sound market principles and not excessively regulated. We do not rely on a medallion system or an expensive taxi permit licensing system to limit the entry of new taxis or drivers.”
“Indeed, taxi drivers' incomes have increased continuously over the past three years. However, not all the levers for responding to the new environment are in the taxi companies' and drivers' hands. The Government will play its part. One common feedback I receive from taxi drivers is that the training curriculum for the Taxi Driver Vocational Licence (TDVL) should be updated to reflect technological developments. I agree. For example, we should no longer focus as much on memorising the street directory for route planning. We should instead also teach our drivers to use GPS and online navigational tools. In addition, we can deliver more training online, rather than in the classroom. I have, therefore, asked LTA to shorten the TDVL course with appropriate modifications. I have also asked LTA to exempt good drivers who do not have any demerit points from having to attend mandated refresher courses. I hope this incentive can lead to better services which would, ultimately, benefit commuters. It will be a win-win situation. Technology has also transformed chauffeured services to become an attractive alternative to taxi services. The entry of Uber and GrabCar has made chauffeured services more accessible to the general public. They have disrupted the industry. Mobile apps can now match individual passengers with a chauffeured car service quickly and on a per-trip basis, rather than on a per-hour basis or perday basis, as it was previously in the chauffeured industry. Today, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 drivers provide chauffeured services during peak hours. This has effectively increased the supply of point-to-point transport services by about a third during these hours.”
“Mdm Chairperson, I thank Members for their questions on car ownership, and taxi and chauffeured services. As Minister Khaw noted, the emergence of new technology is transforming our transport system. Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of point-to-point transport services, especially in the area where taxis are providing this service today. Since I joined MOT some six months ago, I have had the pleasure of getting to know some of our 55,000 active taxi drivers. Our taxi drivers take great pride in their profession. Good taxi drivers know their routes and where and when customers are likely to be waiting. They plan their routes well, try very hard to avoid traffic jams and provide good customer service. Singaporeans recognise that, generally, our taxi industry has served their needs adequately. For the past three years, in our annual Taxi Customer Satisfaction Survey, more than 90% of respondents say that they are satisfied with taxi services. This, of course, is, in large part, due to Page: 30 our taxi drivers. 1.15 pm Our taxi drivers are embracing new technologies. For example, more are taking bookings via apps. The number of pre-booked taxi trips has increased by 50% over the last three years, with the bulk of this increase coming from bookings via apps. This is partly because our taxi companies have improved their own booking apps, with smarter algorithms to match commuters' needs with the drivers. They have done this more efficiently and better. Third-party taxi apps, on the other hand, have helped to aggregate supply and demand at the industry level. As a result, both taxi commuters and drivers have benefited. Taxi drivers, especially those from the smaller taxi companies, tell me that they get more jobs from bookings and earn more.”
“I thank the Member for the question. With reference to school mergers, falling cohort size is a reality. Enrolment is coming down across the different schools. It would not be right to roll back enrolment in a healthy secondary school to bolster up the lowered enrolment in the other secondary schools because this would lead to a distortion of outcomes. In our philosophy, when we look at merging schools, we want the students to have the best opportunities to explore different programmes. If you do not have the critical mass in low enrolment schools, we will not be able to afford the programmes, the CCAs that Members have also mentioned. If it is 400 students versus 1,200 students, you can see the potential differences in opportunities to be given to the 400 and the 1,200. So, we do need a certain critical mass and there is a certain design in our school system that affords us these resources for them to run all these different CCA and so on and so forth.”
“I thank the Member for the question. I am confident that our school system will do our very best to provide those opportunities and create that environment for our Page: 71 kids. But as I have said in the speech, it is a collective paradigm shift. MOE cannot do it alone. Stress is something that is an aggregate of different factors. In our school system, as the Members would know, ultimately, there is a personal choice involved: what the students may want to do, what the parents may want him or her to do. We must make this collective shift together, otherwise, the likelihood that it will just continue with a high-stress, high-focus emphasis on academics will continue. 3.45 pm For us to move out of this as a society, I have put up the proposal for us to really look at the totality of education. Do not just overly focus on academics because there are other areas that will be equally important that would lead to good life outcomes, whether it is leadership skills, the ability to take initiative or the tenacity to carry on despite setbacks. I recently met a group of industry leaders for lunch. They tell me that they are very confident about our Singaporean workers, in that they have the ability, the intellect. But they hope and they gave feedback to us that they hope that our Singaporean worker or graduate from our school system would demonstrate some other abilities or attributes, especially initiative, how to seize opportunities and not just solve problems that are given to the Singaporean in the workplace. Hopefully, through these steps that we are taking and, over time, with patience, we make a collective paradigm shift that would be needed for the next step of Singapore's development.”
“I thank the Member for the questions. Perhaps, I will just give an update to Assoc Prof Daniel Goh. When we do a needs-based approach, we provide the necessary resources to disadvantaged students. In Primary 1 and 2, as I had mentioned, if students joining our schools are not able to catch up, we take them out of the form class into a smaller size of maybe eight to 10 students and we provide dedicated teaching resource, one or two teachers, to level them up in English or literacy or numeracy skills, for up to two years. In the time that I have been in MOE, if I recall the numbers correctly, about 6% of our students benefit from these programmes. They do graduate out of these support programmes. So, it is very tailored, as per our philosophy, where there is need, we will put in the necessary resources to level our children up. For the posting suggestion that Assoc Prof Goh mentioned, when I visited Spectra Secondary School in Woodlands, I was very impressed by one teacher. She was a teacher at Raffles Institution. But because of her deeply ingrained desire to make a bigger difference to children with low progress, she decided to ask for a transfer to Spectra. As I had mentioned in my speech, in the context of Singapore, through NIE, we have a central institute, if you will, to train teachers to a very high quality. In this central system, we do allow these transfers for teachers with the passion that Assoc Prof Goh had mentioned.”
“I thank the Member for the question. There is really no easy straightforward solution, no silver bullet answer that I can give for cause-effect outcomes. As I have tried to articulate just now, it requires a collective paradigm shift involving all of us, what we do for Page: 69 the student, so on and so forth, including societal definitions of success, things that Acting Minister Ong Ye Kung spoke about. So, we do require a partnership with parents and students with the community and, ultimately, in the workplaces as well, on what would people eventually value. That is why in my speech I said that it would take time. MOE has taken some steps and we are taking bolder steps to review many of these structures and policies. We want to take the step to reduce fine differentiation so that we, at least, free up some space for the students to smell the flowers, as I have mentioned. MOE, however, cannot do any of these alone. We need all the different stakeholders to come on board with us, to value other areas beyond academics. The three areas that I have spoken about, we should look at them in totality and embrace them to reduce the emphasis on academics, more emphasis on non-academic areas, including character and values, and also provide, over time, a realisation of the possibility of every school being a good school, to open up choices and opportunities for students to pick and choose schools that will best meet their needs. I think this paradigm shift is needed and, again, I do apologise that I do not have a silver bullet answer, a simple one that will be able to move us into the realm that Ms Denise Phua has mentioned.”
“Mdm Chair, can I have your permission to answer the second part?”
“I thank the Member for the question. I appreciate the concern raised. But an equally important point in our education system is that, at the PSLE juncture, we would like to determine, after six years of education, how to tailor the secondary school curriculum to the needs of the individual child. As we know, each individual child has different abilities, learning paces and learning needs. PSLE, together with streaming, has allowed us to place students into the appropriate courses to best cater to their learning needs. I have joined the Ministry for about six months and I looked at the history of our education. In the long past, we lost about 40% of our Primary 1 cohorts who started but did not finish secondary education. With the combination of different things that we have done, we have reduced dropout rates to less than 1%. So, this tailoring, while I do understand some of the potential downsides, does have its important educational outcomes. Page: 68 But I hear the Member. Over time, the educators have also tried their very best to do different things to allow lateral transfers, across streams. Even where we have, let us say, a Normal (Academic) student who has done well, we will permit transfer to the Express course. For specific subjects, under subject-based banding, if we see a student who is very good at Mathematics and may be in Normal (Academic), we do permit and encourage him to take Mathematics at the Express level. These things that we are doing allow porosity. We try our very best to afford the opportunities for the student to excel in whichever course he may be in. This will always be evolving and we will be continuing to study the Member's proposals to see how we can further improve.”
“Yes, Mdm Chair, I would like to reply to Dr Intan's question to me.”
“I thank the Member for the questions. What I said in the speech is that on class size, according to research, on a systemic basis, there is no conclusive evidence. But we do go on a needs basis to tailor our education programmes for specific needs, whether it is GEP or for Normal (Technical) classes. Where the class size of Normal (Technical) is concerned, in Spectra and Crest secondary schools, we go down to 20 per class to meet those needs. So, it is not just an issue of having a smaller class size for GEPs but according to the needs. Both ends of the spectrum. On OE learning and physical disabilities, we are running a pilot programme and it will be implemented in 2017. I would like to update that, just last evening, we were talking to Ms Denise Phua about how to have this inclusive programme for children with different disabilities. So long as they can meet the criteria of certain programmes, we would like to include them in those OE opportunities.”
“I thank the Member for the questions. The answer is yes, it is implemented across all schools and if there are instances where there is unevenness in the implementation, we would appreciate if the Member can let us know and maybe we can look into that. On the rest of the issues that the Member has mentioned, I do not have those details today. If the Member does not mind, I can take it offline with her to clarify those specifics.”