Ng Eng Hen
Singapore
“I think we try to keep this virtuous state of affairs as long as we can to make sure that we can invest steadily. Year-to-year fluctuations would occur, whether it is economic, not so much in COVID-19, but remember the Global Financial Crisis? Everybody needs to take a haircut. If you have to take a haircut, you have to take a haircut.”
“Mr Chairman, as the World around us becomes more unpredictable and changes, the more we need to keep the strongest commitment to strengthen our own defences and, if needed, we must be willing to do more. Singapore celebrates 60 years of Independence this year.”
“MINDEF will continue to work with partners to encourage Singaporeans to raise their digital literacy, develop and maintain good cybersecurity habits, protect sensitive data and guard against scams, fake news and disinformation so as to make the digital domain a safer and more secure space.”
“The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) conducts regular mobilisation exercises (MOBEX) of our National Service (NS) forces. In a silent mobilisation, NSmen are notified through their personal contact numbers. Open mobilisations include the broadcast of unit code-words through mass media.”
“In 2020, the Ministry of Defence replied to a Parliamentary Question on this matter that the relocation of Paya Lebar Air Base (PLAB) would likely occur around 2030 or beyond, after Changi Air Base and Tengah Air Base have been expanded to house the existing assets at PLAB.”
“When incidents or near-misses happen, as it did where one Hunter armoured fighting vehicle rear-ended another during Exercise Wallaby in Australia, thorough investigations are conducted and lessons learnt shared across the units.”
The complete record
Every one of 2,266 lines we hold for Ng Eng Hen, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 36 of 46.
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, this Bill seeks to amend the CPF Act to enable the privatisation of Dependants' Protection Insurance Scheme (DPIS) as announced in June last year. The Bill also seeks to amend the Act to allow for the MediShield reform changes announced by the Minister for Health, in particular the privatisation of the MediShield Plus scheme. Privatisation of the DPIS The DPIS provides financial help to the families of insured CPF members who pass away or become permanently disabled. Since 1989, more than 28,000 families have received benefits totalling about $1 billion from the DPIS. The Economic Review Committee (ERC) recommended in 2002 that the Government devolve CPF-based insurance schemes to private insurers. It was hoped that healthy competition would bring about greater efficiencies and benefits for members. This was the specific outcome to be achieved as the CPF Board evaluated submissions from private insurers. I am happy to report to this House that the insurers appointed to take over DPIS, namely, Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited (Great Eastern Life) and NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Limited (NTUC Income), are able to offer better terms to all members currently under DPIS. After privatisation, all members will enjoy an immediate increase in coverage from the current $44,000 to $46,000 with premiums unchanged. This is for existing and new members. In addition, members who are aged 55 or older will enjoy a reduction in premium from $360 per annum to $260 for the same level of coverage. This reduction replaces the existing loyalty premium discount given when members reach the age of 55 under the current scheme.”
“On the point of MA to SA overflows, rather than OA overflows, I thank the Member for her concurrence. We think indeed that this is a good prudential measure. In terms of education, let me also add to the Minister for National Development's point, ie, CPF on its own will also educate members. In other words, a lot of members do not realise that when we say 120% withdrawal limits, it may be X number of years beyond which you cannot use your CPF if you reach that amount. Indeed, we do advise members that this is the case, and we will continue to do so. CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 4.51 pm”
“Let me address the Member's questions about the change in the minimum lease period (MLP). The original intent of the MLP is that we wanted to facilitate long-term ownership by members who use their CPF funds. That intent is still preserved. In other words, even as we allow CPF to be used for properties with 30 to 59 years, it will not be for all members. There will be two qualifications. One is that the remaining lease of the property to be purchased must cover the member at least up to the age of 80 years. Put simply, in other words, if the property is 40 years, the lease is 40 years, you must be 40 years or older before you can use your CPF. So that is preserved. Secondly, on the withdrawal limit, how much you can use your CPF. As Members know, for properties 60 years and above, we said that the withdrawal limit for housing expenditure will be 120% of the valuation limit by 2008, and that remains unchanged. That is a safeguard in terms of prescribing prudence into our system. For properties that are 30 to 59 years, they will have lower CPF withdrawal limits based on the residual value of the property and the member's CPF withdrawal age of 55. What it means is that depending on the buyer's age and the remaining lease, the shorter the lease as we projected to be, the remaining lease at 55, there will be reduced withdrawal limits. Basically, it is a straightline depreciation curve that we will use. So there are these two additional safeguards to preserve our original intent: one, we should facilitate members to buy properties that will last the average life expectancy; two, we preserve the investment value, and make sure that they do not over-consume in their CPF accounts.”
“Sir, as the Minister for National Development says, this is a package of policy changes and not to move the market in any particular direction. There are a number of things we wanted to achieve. First, we did want to facilitate home ownership and yet, at the same time, we wanted to facilitate for members to put aside enough for their retirement adequacy. For the non-residential property scheme, this does not really fit into our overall scheme of home ownership. These are commercial properties. The fact that there were a few participants made it easier for us to align this policy with our wishes and, therefore, we have decided to phase this out. Also, there are other options for members, if they do want to invest in property-related stocks. We take that investment options are available and the framework of investments for OA and SA funds in the NRPS scheme does not feature greatly in terms of achieving our objectives.”
“WDA has also worked with the Media Development Authority (MDA) to train digital media workers to create cutting-edge animation and special effects, and with The Logistic Institute - Asia Pacific (TLIAP), to develop the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Executive Upgrading Programme. *June 2004 data is the latest for which a breakdown by industry and occupation are available. June 2005 data will only be ready upon completion of the General Household Survey 2005. OFF-PEAK CAR SCHEME 34. Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the current percentage of registered vehicles that are registered as off-peak cars; (b) has the Ministry monitored how frequent these off-peak cars have purchased day-licences so as to be used outside the "hours of free usage" as stipulated in the off-peak car scheme; (c) has the off-peak car registration increased or decreased since its implementation; (d) has this off-peak car scheme served its intended purposes; and (e) is this off-peak car scheme still necessary with the current wide use of ERP.”
“There were 12,800 unemployed professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) aged 40 and over in June 2004*. They constitute 14% of the total of 94,600 unemployed residents who had previous working experience. The unemployment rate of mature PMETs was 3.8% in June 2004, which is lower than the overall average of 5.5% among residents (excluding those without previous working experience). About 8,800 (69%) of mature unemployed PMETs were previously employed in the services sector, 2,800 (22%) were from manufacturing and another 1,100 (9%) from the construction sector. Within services, these PMETs mainly came from business and real estate (2,400 or 19% of all mature unemployed PMETs), community and personal services (2,300, 18%), and wholesale and retail trade (1,700, 13%). WDA adopts a multi-pronged approach to enhance the employability of mature PMEs. Unemployed PMEs are offered advice and career coaching services at the Distributed CareerLink Network of job centres. In addition, there are conversion programmes to help PMEs take up a new career in other sectors. For instance, the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme (SMCP) for healthcare prepares mid-career PMEs to make career switches to become registered nurses through an accelerated 2-year diploma programme. Some 355 PMEs have been successfully placed within various healthcare institutions since the programme started in April 2003. WDA also works with our industry partners to provide in-employment upgrading for PMEs in various sectors. For instance, WDA had worked with employers and the Singapore Hotels Association to develop customised Executive Development Courses to upgrade the skills of executives and managers in the Hotels and F&B sectors.”
“Sir, the short answer is yes. Now that we have decided to proceed with the IR, we must make sure that it succeeds. We have to build the IR, but that is not a guarantee to its success. The real issue is our service culture. We have to make sure that those who come to Singapore do have a good time and enjoy the experience. And that really starts from the moment they arrive - they may come by air, land or sea - to the moment they leave. It may be in the greeting, it may be our taxi drivers, it may be how they are greeted, the concierge or what entertainment there is. So that is a broader issue. As I mentioned, there is an inter-Ministry team working at how we can upgrade the service standards. So for specific jobs, yes, we are working with various agencies, in terms of manpower plans, to see what skills are required. It may also mean bringing in expertise that we never had to teach, whether it is Disney or some of these entertainment companies, to help others enjoy themselves.”
“Sir, as I have said in this House before, it is quite wrong to say there is a plus and minus, there is a win-lose situation, in other words, one foreign worker who comes into Singapore takes away a Singaporean job. If I may illustrate what Mdm Ho brought up, in terms of the aerospace industry, we started and became a hub for MRO, or what we call maintenance-repair-and-overhaul industry, when we had no indigenous capacity to support their hub in the first place and we could only do that when we brought in a number of foreign technicians to jump-start the industry. And now that we have an established MRO industry, it creates job opportunities for Singaporeans. But the polytechnics need certain timeframe to get students, to train them and, when they graduate, to go into the industry to get the necessary experience. So to cast this debate as "I win, you lose" is entirely unrealistic. It does not show the point and it is not true. As we have mentioned often, if we do not have certain foreign workers to do the night shift which our local workers do not like to do, and some with good reasons, then a lot of factories cannot operate. So I take it that this is a healthy balance. The challenge is to make sure that there is an optimal mix, to make sure that there are adequate job opportunities for Singaporeans, which we will continue to do because, at the end of the day, we are using foreign workers to help our Singapore economy grow and Singaporeans will benefit.”
“In other words, there are both the content expertise as well as the general expertise, in terms of work skills.”
“Sir, the National Manpower Council meets annually to review papers that are put up. But the agencies that are involved have ongoing discussions. Basically, the job is to, within the limits of information available to the NMC from companies, from our economic projections, from our economic agencies, if you like, form a masterplan for our manpower development needs. Not only are we collecting information, we are validating previous projections. So, for example, the polytechnics and universities conduct standardised labour market surveys on employability of the graduates six months after they graduate, not only across the board, but by specific occupations, so that we know, for example, both specifically and over a time trend, whether our projections have been correct. In other words, if it is a creative industry or a growth industry, then we want to see whether indeed they are employable. This information is fed to the NMC, to the companies as well as to subsequent cohorts of students who are going to apply for these courses because we want to provide choices by giving more information. As to how we can prepare them for the younger students and those entering the labour market with the right skills, this is an issue which our educational institutes are very much seized with. So in line with also the employability surveys, they are also asked qualitative surveys - to ask them what they need. Many of our institutions have now responded to this, in terms of hybridised courses, in other words, there is a business component in engineering, for example, or people can take double degrees, or they can take particular modules. Indeed, that proportion of common items, in terms of skill sets, is larger historically, as compared to the past.”
“To make sure that our projections are relevant, the Post-Secondary Educational Institutions conduct detailed employability surveys of their graduates, and their results serve as inputs to the NMC to further refine their manpower planning. Second, the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) is tasked with upgrading the skill sets of the existing workforce and retraining the unemployed, equipping them with the right skill sets and competencies to take on the new jobs. WDA has developed the National Continuing Education and Training Framework (NCETF), which is an integrated and coherent system that facilitates flexible adult learning, improves access to skills upgrading and provides clearer progression pathways for workers. WDA works with partners, such as NTUC, to reach out to workers, especially the lower skilled, and their companies, to facilitate skills upgrading. MOM and WDA have also been producing and disseminating labour market information reports on potential job opportunities to help students, workers and employers make better-informed decisions in choice of study or skills upgrading.”
“Sir, the National Manpower Council (NMC) was convened in 1999 and this is the body that reviews periodically at a centralised level our manpower needs. The NMC comprises top officials from various Ministries and economic agencies, including MTI, MOE and EDB, to identify the skill sets and competencies required by the economy, especially growth industries, and this is for the medium and long term, in other words, five to 10 years. How is this done? This is done through projections, surveys of employers' projected manpower needs, consultants' reports and then validation through company visits and other feedback channels. For instance, the National Manpower Demand and Skills Needs Surveys were conducted to obtain qualitative and quantitative data from companies in the manufacturing and selected services sectors for the manpower needs and demands for each occupation over the next two to three years. We work closely with individual agencies to develop sectoral manpower plans. For example, we have been working with EDB on the needs of the manufacturing sector, with the Singapore Tourism Board on the requirements of the tourism-related industries, and with MICA on the emerging needs of the creative industries. There are two key ways in which MOM prepares the workforce to take on these jobs. First, we work with MOE and the educational institutions to help train students to the right skill sets and competencies for these new jobs. MOM sets Pre-Employment Training targets for the various Post-Secondary Educational Institutions (PSEIs) to ensure an indigenous capacity to meet the needs of strategic growth industries.”
“Sir, the answer must be economic growth. You cannot create jobs if there is no market value because then you are just subsidising them. That is not a job. Therefore, we must continue to focus on our fundamentals, make sure that our workers can command the premium and the salaries that we pay them, continue to attract investments and continue to make sure that Singapore is a designation that people want to come. Within the ambit of a market-based economy, I think there are also pockets where we can help Singaporeans find those jobs, be productive in those jobs, and this is the focus of the Job Redesign Programme. But let me go back to the fundamental assertion that it is a growing economy that produces jobs. STOCK OF MANPOWER (Status report) 8. Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Manpower if he will provide a status report on how the Ministry is preparing the stock of manpower required by the Singapore economy in the next 10 years so as to ensure that, internally, Singapore will have a stock of manpower with the right skill sets, competencies and right mindsets for the economic success of our industries.”
“Sir, let me just caution that we should not read too much into the particular answer about why. My point was that this was conducted at a time when there was the Iraqi war as well as SARS, and they would have some impact. The Member is quite right that because there was an aberration, we cannot quite find out what the reasons are. But, broadly, what we see, not only from 2002 and 2003, which was across the last seven to 10 years, is that the upper quintile, if you like, the wages were rising and, for the bottom 20%, there were some wage deflationary aspects and somewhat stagnant. This was quite different from the 1991 to 1997 era where the economy did well and all groups rose between 8-10%, in terms of compound annual growth. In terms of relooking everything, we have to look again with some equanimity, this is a particular group where there are certain things that we certainly need to do, but we do not need to re-fix the wheel because it is not broke. I agree with the Member that we have to look at certain aspects, and part of our objective is to see how relevant they are assuming, and quite rightly assuming, that the trends that we are seeing are structural.”
“I thank the Member for those very practical questions. Yes, MOE is represented on the Committee. Together with the other agencies (like MCYS), one of the key roles is to break the poverty trap. As the NMP rightly pointed out, we do not want to perpetuate a permanent underclass, and we have to recognise that, and all the facts and surveys showed us that. Because their socio-economic background can disadvantage them and because their children cannot take advantage of the education opportunities. So this is a big area that we are looking at. This will include probably mentoring schemes. I think we want to consult widely. I do not think the Committee wants to go into this thinking that it knows the entire nature of the problems, that it knows all the solutions. We want to consult widely with social workers, with VWOs, to try to understand what the root problems are and see how we can make effective and targeted measures. From that point of view, I do not really want to rush the Committee for quick and pet answers. I want solutions that are sustainable. But I think more important also for the Committee is to articulate a philosophy of how we are going to respond to these figures because these are structural challenges. What is Singapore's answer to these problems that other countries have faced for many years, and their solution is welfarism which does not work? What is Singapore's solution? I think that is a more important aspect. So the Committee will come up in due time and in good course, but neither should we rush this process.”
“I think each job in the economy should have a market value so that we can continue to be efficient and competitive. Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim: Sir, just now the Minister said that, excluding students, seven in 10 have primary or below education level. Given that our education is a dominant avenue for social mobility, will the Ministerial Committee consider implementing schemes to help the next generation of these people to break out of the poverty cycle, such as implementing special programmes in the education system? My next question is: can we have a time-line? When do we expect the recommendations from the Ministerial Committee to come about?”
“Sir, let me, first, answer the questions that I can remember. In terms of whether we want to provide more financial assistance for those to go for training, the answer is yes. In fact, I do not think that is the issue. The issue is not really that they cannot afford it, because we do subsidise 90% and so do sometimes employers or other self-help groups. The cost of the training is actually 100%, so that they do not have to bear the cost. On top of that, we have what they call an absentee payroll. In other words, you leave your job, you are actually paid in a sense, in lieu of your wages. So you are actually getting something while on training. The bigger issue, as the Member has pointed out, is relevancy of their training. As I have mentioned, yes, we will scale up. She has mentioned social workers. These are actually case workers to help them find meaningful jobs at the end of it. I think that is important. What about those whom we find do not have the aptitude? Our first focus is to make sure that we will find them a job within the market-place economy. There is an economic worth to the job and which will bring you up. I do not think we quite want to move towards what other countries do. Basically they are inefficient jobs, they are called work jobs. They are not really work; they are jobs created so that people can say that they have work. In one of the trips I attended, it is counter intuitive and counter effective. You just have a hedge and see the maximum number of people you need to trim the hedge, and that is the key performance indicator (KPI). And the more people you have to trim the hedge, then the more success you have. I do not think we want to move towards that.”
“Sir, what the Member has illustrated through questions is that this is a multi-faceted problem and that is why a number of Ministries are involved. We will ask the various Ministries to look at specific target groups. The Member also mentioned that we penalise those who want to downgrade. I do not think that is quite fair. The issue of subsidy has been raised many times in this House, and we do not really penalise them. This is an issue of subsidy. But if they have right-sized in their housing, and the timing in terms of the property market is wrong, then they are just bearing the brunt of market forces. It was neither the intention nor the outcome desired by the Government that they are so-called penalised, and we do not penalise them.”
“Just on the specific figure, I said 50% live in 3-room flats or smaller. The converse will be somewhere there, but the specific figure needs to be checked. Yes, it is an issue that the Ministerial Committee is looking at. In other words, how do they monetise their assets. I do not think it will be quite right to say that we have an explicit policy to discourage downgrading. I think the Government has many times said that you should right-size your housing. In other words, you should live in houses that you can afford, and we leave it to members to be prudent about. As to whether we should avail members more avenues to help them monetise their assets, I think that surely must be one of the means in which they can fund their retirement. So, yes, we are looking at that.”
“I do not have specific breakdown, but this was a household expenditure survey. So this survey was based on households. As I have replied, out of the 20%, eight in10 working persons in this 20% of households were holdings jobs in clerical, service, sales and production sectors. I assume 20% were then in PMETs. As to specific measures for PMETs, I think the Member has filed a separate question and I will leave it to that occasion to answer it.”
“Sir, this touches on the issue of retirement adequacy for those who are already retired. I understand that MCYS conducts a national survey in terms of focusing on this group. The last one was conducted in 1995. There is currently one on-going. What it did show was that, in terms of what we put aside for CPF retirement, and this is a retirement account, a significant number of retirees, although they own properties, they may be asset-rich and cash-poor. But that survey also showed that about 80% of retirees received income from their children. The majority said that it was adequate for living expenses, which meant that the family support is very important and another pillar which families do help each other out even in their retirement. But raising the retirement age is still an important goal, both the effective and legislative retirement age, because we will need to help. In other words, if this current cohort can work longer to support their own retirement, then I think the family structure is strengthened. I do not think that they are discrete aspects. I think they are interlinked. The Committee will have to look at the number of measures. As I said, there is a tripartite committee on extending employability as an important issue. We will have to see what can be done. But it is very clear that in order for us to save more, we have to work longer. So, the solutions are not difficult, but the implementation and how we can achieve them will need widespread consultation and practical measures to apply.”
“It is called contextualised literacy - I do not need to teach you the whole breadth of the English language, I just need you to be able to read a few signs and understand how to do it, and that was very effective. It was for a small number, but it helped them understand the English words, to be able to work the automated devices. So, that is an example, and we will continue to expand these programmes. The Household Expenditure Survey also had good information about expenditure and cost of living. It basically showed that in the bottom 20 percentile, yes, there was a loss in earnings. But it also showed quite clearly that it was with the Government rebate that they ended up still net positive. And I think these were in real terms. So I think the message is, yes, we will have to help them increase their skills and be able to earn more. Yet we have to also admit that it was because of the SC&CC or the number of Government financial assistance schemes that they are quite dependent on them, and we have to see how we can better tailor them for some.”
“What are the assistance plans that will be provided to those who are too old, illiterate or do not have the intellectual capability or even physically or mentally disabled to be reskilled? Would the Ministry consider categorising or reserving certain groups of jobs for this group of people? The second question is this. To put in proper perspective, besides looking at the decrease in the income, does the Ministry look at the increase in the cost of living from 1998 to 2003? How much has this rise in the cost of living actually offset the income increase or income decrease, so that perhaps we should be looking at maybe the bottom 25%, instead of just the bottom 20%? Dr Ng Eng Hen: Sir, the Member has asked a number of questions which encompass quite a lot of groups. For the ones with disabilities - they have special needs - we have targeted programmes for them. In a situation where the labour market is soft, sometimes it is difficult. But, nonetheless, we will work with specific employers to see whether there are opportunities for those who are disabled. On certain groups, what do we do if they are illiterate or do not have language capability. I am not sure what the exact words the MP used, but I think it was inadequate intellectual capability. But let us assume that they can be trained. I think it is important that we can overcome language restrictions. For example, we have done that in a particular plant, and I told the House this past occasion. Say, for example, in Baxter Healthcare, when they were modernising and automating their machinery, a programme was introduced.”
“Sir, we recognise, as the Member has mentioned, that certain workers who go for training find that at the end of the training either they cannot find a job or that the training they received is not recognised by the employer or at his job place. Yes, we can improve it by ensuring that the training he gets has some relevance to his job as well as making sure that the training he goes for is relevant to the next job that he is going to take. That explains why we have shifted some of our strategic concerns. We used to have train-and-place; in other words, we encourage workers to train and after they have acquired the skills, we try and find a job for them. We have moved away somewhat from this original strategy to place-and-train. In other words, we want to find you a job. That includes sometimes job preparation exercises. Some Members may have heard of NTUC boot camps where, basically, they bring together certain workers who have been disrupted from their employment. They counsel them in terms of how to go for interviews and other aspects. At the same time, once we have identified a particular job which we think you are suitable for - and this may involve pre-screening interviews and assessments - then we train you for the job. I think this makes the training more realistic and there is also a greater value at the end of their training. This obviously takes a lot of attention and time because we are dealing with individual cases. But it is our aim and we are building up capability among the various job centres in the CDCs and self-help groups to be able to apply this strategy more effectively. Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim (Nominated Member): Sir, I have three supplementary questions. The first question is with regard to reskilling.”
“The Ministerial Committee will consult widely with relevant stakeholders and community organisations to better understand the problems faced by low wage workers, and to develop effective ways to help these workers achieve greater self-reliance over the long term.”
“The Government has set up a Ministerial Committee on Low Wage Workers to address the challenges to the employability and income security faced by workers in the bottom 20 income percentiles. The Ministerial Committee will develop and implement a holistic package of policies and measures to help these workers and their families. As the issues surrounding low wage workers and their families are multi-faceted, the Ministerial Committee will study the profile of these workers and their families to understand the problems they face in employability, and develop targeted solutions to help each group. We also need to ensure that the solutions are sustainable and holistic. Besides looking into measures for more responsive social assistance to help them tide through difficult times, the Ministerial Committee will also recommend measures to assist them to take up jobs, and for those who are employed, to enhance their earning potential, whether through job re-creation or skills upgrading and retraining. The Ministerial Committee will also look for ways to help their children stay in school longer, so that they can acquire the academic foundation for further learning and employability. A Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers is currently looking into the broader issues of older workers' employability. This includes having older Singaporeans work longer and raising the effective retirement age. As I have mentioned, raising the legislative retirement age remains our medium term goal. In our system, the age in which the CPF payout starts is linked to our legislative retirement age. Given that the majority of low wage workers are aged 40 and above, the Tripartite Committee's work will complement the work of the Ministerial Committee.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Members have asked for some updates and data since the release of the Household Expenditure Survey and certain related facts of the lowest 20% household income group. Let me give what we have available from a number of sources. Based on the data from the 2002/2003 Household Expenditure Survey conducted by the Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS), the average size of households in the lowest 20% household income group was 3.6 persons and the average age of persons in these households was 34 years. About half of the households were in HDB 3-room or smaller flats, which means that the other half were in 4-room or larger accommodations. Excluding students, about seven in 10 persons in these households had primary and below education level - 70%, and eight in 10 working persons in this group were holding jobs in clerical, service, sales, and production. The per capita household income for the lowest 20% household income group ranged from $0 to $480. In the next quintile income group, about 5% of the households had per capita household income of between $480 and $500. Sir, the negative growth in the per capita household income for the lowest 20% income group could be due to a variety of reasons. The Singapore economy was hit by several negative shocks such as the Iraqi war and the SARS outbreak during the period when the Household Expenditure Survey was conducted. Remember that is the the 2002/2003 Household Expenditure Survey. In addition, globalisation has led to increasing competition from emerging countries like China and India for lower end jobs, causing wages for such jobs to stagnate. There was also an increasing number of retirees due to our ageing population.”
“Sir, with your permission, may I take Question Nos. 5, 6 and 7 together as they are related?”
“Under the US Immigration and Nationality Act, exchange visitors to the US on a J1 Visa have to fulfil a two-year home residency requirement before they can return to the US on a non-tourist visa or apply for permanent residence in the US. This home residency requirement can be waived by the US State Department if the J1 Visa applicant is able to obtain a formal letter of "no objection" from his/her home government. MOM is the agency responsible for vetting requests for letters of "no objection". MOM has been issuing such letters liberally as the Government has no desire to hold back Singaporeans from honing their skills and knowledge overseas on exchange programmes. The experiences and skills that Singaporeans acquire globally will help enrich our skill base and experience when they choose to return to Singapore. MOM has reviewed this practice and decided to do away with it. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will therefore approach the US State Department to inform them that Singapore has no objections to any Singapore citizen renewing their J1 visa. The Exchange Visitor Skills List will then no longer be required. APPENDICES”
“So, yes, we will pay special attention to these areas in preparation for the integrated resorts. PUBLIC TRANSPORT FARE HIKES 4. Ms Indranee Rajah asked the Minister for Transport whether there is any justification for transport companies to consider raising transport fares at this time. 5. Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Transport (a) if he will provide an update on the considerations made when deciding on public transportation fare hikes; and (b) whether there are guidelines to ensure affordability of public transportation, particularly with lower-income earners.”
“Sir, the short answer to all three questions is yes. Let me briefly elaborate on what the Member has asked. We thank her for her comments and fundamentally we agree that, taken at a broad level, we can upgrade our service culture. I said that we lack the service DNA but, as a scientist and a biologist, I would tell you that we can do many experiments to incorporate the DNA that we need. That is what we need to do. We will have to ramp up our attention to this broader aspect. In other words, while the building of IRs and other tourist attractions that we will need to focus on in the coming years will be the necessary condition, it may be insufficient if we do not follow it up with helping tourists leave Singapore with a positive impression of the Singapore experience. Yes, we will have to engage, as the Member has said, our training providers at the ITEs, polytechnics and the various service providers in the many areas of tourism hospitality. This is the focus of the inter-Ministry team involving staff members to look into these issues. We will also identify skill gaps and specific occupations. But on that point, let me just reiterate what the Secretary-General of NTUC and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Mr Lim Boon Heng, had nicely recounted. If you think about it, NTUC actually runs an IR already. It has Downtown East and it has many social clubs which are supported really in part by the jackpot room. The staff within the gaming component is less than 10% of all the other staff that the jobs provide, in other words, the rides and social amenities. So a similar concept will apply to IRs, in other words, the many jobs that it will bring will be in food and beverage, entertainment and tourist industries, and these are the areas that we can ramp up.”
“As with Hong Kong Disneyland, there will be skills gaps in our local workforce for which the IRs would need to augment with foreigners who have the specific skills. In such cases, the IRs, like all other companies in the services sectors, would have to comply with the prevailing foreign worker employment policies and quotas. Under our current foreign worker employment policies, for every 100 jobs within the service sector (excluding foreign domestic workers), 89 are performed by locals. In other words, the foreign worker dependency is only about 10%. Therefore, if we can enhance our attractions and increase the number of tourists, we can expect that the overwhelming majority of jobs will go to Singaporeans.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, when the two Integrated Resorts (IRs) are in full operation, they will have significant economic spillover to the rest of the economy. Based on the Request for Concept (RFC) proposals and studies on projects of similar scale abroad, MTI expects that about 10,000 jobs would be created within the two IRs. Most of these jobs would be in the non-gaming areas such as food and beverage, retail, and accommodation. MTI expects that the IRs will also create 25,000 jobs in the rest of the economy, mostly in services industries such as hotels, retail, food and beverage, entertainment, travel and transportation. As the vast majority of the jobs in the services sectors are done by locals, we expect that this will continue for the jobs created and supported by the IRs. We will seek to maximise for Singaporeans every job opportunity that comes with the IRs. MOM and the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) will work with MTI and the Singapore Tourism Board, the training institutions as well as the successful developers of the two IRs, to train and equip Singaporeans with the skills required for occupations within the IRs. WDA has already been training Singaporeans for jobs in the tourism related services sectors, such as retail, hotels and restaurants. But this effort will need to be extended to equip Singaporeans with a stronger "software" for service excellence. Therefore, in tandem with preparing our workers to take up jobs in the IRs, an inter-Ministry team involving MOM/WDA, MTI and relevant agencies, will also look at the broader issue of improving Singapore's service culture in order to enhance the competitiveness of our services industries and our attractiveness as a tourist destination. The Member alluded to Hong Kong Disneyland.”
“Sir, I completely agree with Mdm Halimah on that point What she is saying is that there can be forms of discrimination which you cannot protect against and yet still occur in the workplace. In other words, you do not give equal opportunities to someone because she is pregnant, or you do not give opportunities to someone because of the colour of the skin, gender, etc. As I said, this is a larger problem. We will have to continue to work at it. I think the business case to argue for most employers is that it does not make sense to do so, because they can get the most out of their employees. We will continue to promote good HR policies, to allow iconic CEOs to portray them, to publicise their efforts, so that others will follow. These facilitation measures are quite serious, and that is why I set up a fund to help companies change. USE OF WEEKEND CARS ON SATURDAYS (Lifting of restriction) 19. Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Transport whether his Ministry will consider removing the current restriction on the use of weekend cars on Saturdays by allowing their usage for the whole day instead of the current 3.00 pm commencement time as many private sector companies as well as the public sector are now working on a five-day week and lifting the restriction will help to promote greater family togetherness.”
“The short answer is, yes, we will monitor this and take the necessary action. But let me put this in perspective. We received 20 maternity cases in the first three months of 2005, and an average of 20 maternity-related cases each year in 2002 and 2003, out of our female workforce and pregnant workforce. I assume it is not a large problem. It is increasing, slightly more of this in the first quarter. Let me monitor the figures. There are few obviously very errant employers and we will teach them the wickedness of their ways. But I think that the greater challenge is to help our womenfolk who want to balance family, not during pregnancy but after pregnancy, to be able to fulfil both their roles and responsibilities within the workplace and at home. I think that is the bigger challenge.”
“We have no cases, after investigations, where we had to bring the employers to court. As I have said, many of them who have clearly violated the prescribed benefits recognised the errors of their ways and made restitution. We are quite persuasive in that regard. What happens to female employees who are terminated a day before and, indeed, even within the three months' period, where employers imputed the dismissal not to the pregnancy, but to their performance? I think it is a grey area and I recognise that the law protects them up to three months before delivery. In many other countries, the protection can vary. I think it would be difficult for the law to hardwire such that protection is fool-proof. In this regard, I think we have to approach this problem from a number of ways. One is the legal protection, where it is clearly violating. I think we would have to take measures. But I take that could bring us to a certain point. We would also need to work very hard in terms of facilitating enlightened employers' attitude. And from the companies that we see, there is no shortage of companies in Singapore who could recognise that someone, regardless of his condition, whether she is a female, whether he is elderly, whether he has got particular aspects not attributable to his work performance, that there is no discrimination. So I accept the Member's view that there may be grey areas. For those that are clear-cut, we will take action, but I take that we would also need to engage the other fronts, which is why we set up the WOW fund, which is why we continue to promote good employers, which is why we continue to engage with employers to change their HR policies and processes.”
“This fund can be used to defray the costs of training, implementation, staff time and consultancy in developing a work-life strategy to promote marriage and procreation. We will continue to work hard to help employers adopt an enlightened approach in dealing with their pregnant employees. There are many positive examples of successful organisations which can remain competitive despite having pro-family policies. Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: Sir, I would like to ask the Minister, whilst the number of complaints has risen, whether there were actually any cases where the employers were found to have been guilty and, therefore, penalised for discrimination. And, if there were, how many were there? The other question I would like to ask the Minister is that the Minister said that pregnant employees who were actually terminated within three months of delivery could appeal to MOM for compensation or recourse. What about employees who were actually terminated way before the three months of delivery? Are they also covered?”
“Most employers usually make immediate rectification upon our advice. We have also encountered cases when the employer does not communicate performance problems to the employee in a clear manner. This could cause the employee to surmise that the cause of her dismissal was due to her pregnancy rather than her performance. Hence, in these cases, we have advised employers in such cases to review their performance management practices accordingly. The majority of employers are reasonable and would not want to lose a valued employee, even if she is pregnant. However, MOM recognises that some concerns of discrimination at the workplace are valid. MOM reiterates that the law protects the rights of the pregnant employees to work and to take maternity leave. We will step up efforts, together with unions and employer organisations, to disseminate information on the legal rights of pregnant employees to companies. Unionised employees who feel that they have been discriminated against can take up their complaints through their unions or directly to my Ministry. Non-unionised employees can lodge a complaint directly with MOM. And, as I said, we will investigate the complaint and take appropriate action against the employer, if the law has been violated. The extended maternity leave is a newly introduced policy as part of the package of marriage and parenthood measures. We recognise the operational challenges to organisations from these enhanced benefits. This is why MOM set up the Work Life Works scheme (WOW), to help companies adjust their HR policies and processes. Private sector and non-profit organisations can receive up to 70% funding, subject to a cap of $30,000 for each organisation.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, from 1st October last year, Members will remember that maternity leave benefit for working mothers was extended from 8 to 12 weeks. Subsequent amendments were made to the Children Development Co-Savings Act and the Employment Act. Under these two Acts, female employees, regardless of their position in the company, are entitled to this benefit. Under both Acts, it is an offence for an employer to dismiss a female employee during her maternity leave period. If found guilty, the employer can be fined up to $1,000 or imprisoned for up to six months or both. An employee who has been dismissed within the three months before her delivery has a right of appeal to the Minister for Manpower. The Minister has the power to order reinstatement, or make an award for compensation. Any employee who feels that she has been unlawfully dismissed should write to MOM, which will investigate the complaint, and take necessary action. For 2002 and 2003, MOM received an average of 20 maternity-related complaints each year. The complaints increased to 36 last year, and were related to termination of the employee's services, questions on eligibility to entitlements or under payment of maternity benefits. In the first three months of 2005, we received 20 complaints. In other words, there has been an increase since we moved on to the new maternity leave benefits. Indeed, this increase was anticipated. We expected this increase because we enhanced the benefit as well as the accompanying heightened publicity to raise public awareness about the protection provided for under the new law. From investigations into past cases, we found that some employers were unclear of their obligations. For these, MOM has intervened and advised them to pay the female employee what is due to her.”
“Nonetheless, I agree with Dr John Chen that in divorce cases, we should also take into consideration the retirement adequacy of the ex-spouse. I have thus asked the CPF Board to review whether these retirement needs of the ex-spouse could be taken into account when applying the CPF withdrawal rules. PAYMENT OF SALARY ARREARS BY EMPLOYERS 16. Mr Ong Ah Heng asked the Minister for Manpower, in the case of workers who are owed salaries by their employers (a) why does the Ministry require the employers to issue cheques in the names of the workers concerned, who are the claimants, instead of to the Ministry as in the past; (b) whether the workers are given up to only seven days to collect the cheques from the Ministry, after which the Ministry will return the unclaimed cheques to the employers; and (c) whether this is a responsible solution in helping the workers or it is just an easy way out.”
“Mr Speaker, Dr John Chen has asked whether we could review the CPF regulations to allow the transfer of CPF monies from the husband's account to that of the wife in divorce cases, where the Court has ruled that matrimonial assets be shared between the husband and wife. Let me first say that the CPF monies saved by a couple during marriage do form part of matrimonial assets. This was affirmed in the landmark case of the Central Provident Fund Board v Lau Eng Mui in 1995. However, there is currently no provision in the CPF Act to enable the affected spouse - this is not gender biased, it is either spouse - to withdraw the amount to which he or she is entitled under the court order, or for the amount to be transferred to his or her CPF account. Neither can the Court authorise or direct the CPF Board to do so, because under the CPF Act, withdrawal of CPF savings can only be allowed upon application by the member himself, and a member can only withdraw his or her CPF savings if certain events specified under section 15 of the Act occur, primarily when the member turns 55 years old. A charge placed by a court order is not one of the specified events. Where the Court has imposed a charge on one spouse's CPF savings, what CPF Board would do is that it would reserve the spouse's entitlement under the charge, until the member turns 55. When the member turns 55, the CPF Board would first set aside the amounts as prescribed by the prevailing CPF Minimum Sum and Medisave Minimum Sum rules. The ex-spouse would get his or her entitlement from the balance that the member is allowed to withdraw. The current principles are based on the objective of ensuring that each individual member's retirement needs are met first.”
“Mr Speaker, Mdm Ho asked if the privatisation of the Dependants' Protection Scheme, after it is privatised, how would the increase in premiums be protected. Indeed, the privatisation of the DPS enhances the benefits and services enjoyed by CPF members. After the Dependants' Protection Scheme is privatised, members within the scheme will enjoy an immediate increase in the sum assured. Currently, it is $44,000. Under the two private providers whom we have contracted it out to, the sum assured would increase to $46,000, with the same premium. In addition, members aged 55 or older will enjoy a reduction in premiums, which they are currently paying, which is $360. They will pay $260. Even after it is privatised, the CPF Board will continue to ensure that the premium levels remain affordable and members' interests are protected. Increases in premiums would still be subject to the Board's approval, and it would only be allowed, if both insurers are running losses for at least two years, and it is actuarially established that the premiums cannot be sustained in the long run. In other words, when we asked private providers to bid, there were terms and conditions which they had to comply with. CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND (Division of matrimonial assets) 15. Dr John Chen Seow Phun asked the Minister for Manpower whether he will review the Central Provident Fund (CPF) regulations to allow the transfer of CPF money from the husband's account to that of the wife in divorce cases where the Court has ruled that the matrimonial assets be shared between the husband and wife.”
“Sir, there are a few issues. One of the specific circumstance is where couples split up, what goes to each party, that is a specific question. Let me look into the details. What the Nominated Member of Parliament may be alluding to is that for individual spouses, the amount that was used from the CPF to purchase the flat, even after divorce, goes back to the individual member. This would be no different, for example, when we protect the CPF even from liability from creditors. So let me look into the issue because it is a specific question. I do not have the answer at hand. It is not our intention to disregard homemakers. We value them. But as she rightly pointed out, it stands as an individual account. But we do make provision for members to contribute to their family members in a number of ways. For example, you can use Medisave for relatives, you can use CPF to buy jointly for houses, as I showed you the figures, they indeed do. And 94% of spouses own the assets from which the funds may have come predominantly from the other partner. [Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr S. Iswaran) in the Chair] 4.30 pm The third point is that we do a lot of top-ups, both from your CPF and cash amounts. But because it stands as an individual account, we say that you have to put aside enough for yourself before you can do top-ups. So I think the philosophy is correct. Whether we can move at the margin, I think we can. There will always be room. As for the specific question, I invite the NMP to raise a specific Question for Oral Answer so that I can have more of the facts at hand to answer.”
“We will be sending safety officers for longer attachments to places with better safety records - Sweden, UK - for them to learn how to regulate in this new framework. I am confident that if we put this framework into place, we can build a safety culture. But we will provide periodical updates. The Workplace Safety and Health Council will give annual reports so that we all know where we are headed and whether we have improved.”
“Let me thank Mayor Teo Ho Pin for his points. Let me take them individually. In terms of reducing risks, he is right. That is one of the cardinal principles which we enunciated - first principle that we should reduce risk at source. Specifically, the UK has what they call the construction, design, management (CDM) legislation, which basically means that you should try to design out risk. When we visited these corporations during our trip, they said, "Yes, let's build it into the legislation." So I teased them and said, "If Norman Foster decides to build a weird gherkin, will you speak to Norman Foster?" They said, "Yes, we have done so, and he has changed the design." So, in their system, they have internalised these aspects and they have designed out risk, not only to build but to maintain. How long will we take to get there? I think it will take some time. We will build the legislation for that but we need to involve our stakeholders as well. On the second point about ownership, what framework do we want to put in? I agree with him that it cannot be done in vacuo. We will have to build a structure and a platform that the industry and partners can congregate and move from. And this is exactly the idea that we have started in terms of the Workplace Safety and Health Council. The Council will comprise representatives - top management - who will steer and drive reforms, and they will be the ones who will set standards and advise the Ministry on what needs to be done and what can be done. The Ministry will still continue to set standards and overall targets. For enforcement, I agree with him that capabilities will have to be built as we move into this new framework. That is why we are stepping up our own MOM's enforcement agency.”
“Sir, Dr Loo may have misunderstood the system. That restriction does not apply to nurses and technicians. In fact, for those who are brought in currently under Q and S passes, there is no marriage restriction. This policy is not applied unthinkingly. As I said, it is a practical approach. Those whom we feel can sustain themselves and their families in Singapore, we do liberalise and do not apply any marriage restrictions. But for those whom we feel that, both by the numbers and their ability to support themselves in our society will make it difficult, we apply a practical approach.”
“Sir, I will put that suggestion to the tripartite committee. At face value, it seems sensible for us to promote employers as well as for Government to take the lead.”
“Sir, our current CPF system pays interest to the Ordinary and Special Accounts. These interest rates are in terms of Singapore Government special securities provided by MOF. So what Mr Low says is not true - that CPF money is put into SGIC specifically to invest and there is one to one market-based return for the interest rates. Indeed, for CPF to pay 4% and 2.5%, as Members have previously explained, sometimes it is above the market yield. So if we look at the 10-year bond yield, 4% is certainly much higher than our current 10-year Singapore Government securities yield. We have said that in the longer term - and we have said this publicly - we should move towards this long-term yield, and we need time for our own instruments to mature before we know what the right rate is. Currently, we pay 2.5% as a guaranteed floor, and 4%. As to Mr Low's specific question on whether we should put it to SGIC to manage, I think it is theoretical. What we are studying is a particular framework which members can tolerate risk levels and which may provide higher yields than fixed-term instruments. This is a complex situation. I do not think we can do it without broad consultation and to bring to the House. So I would say that we are looking at issues but nothing has been firmed up yet.”
“Sir, I think that is a sensible approach. But we can do that after the fact. And we do not want the whole group of foreign workers saying, "Let me fall in love. Let me marry and then try. Even if I marry and have no children, then let me try harder." We want to give a very strong signal - please don't because it will make it difficult for you. It will make it difficult for us. Please understand our position. In reality, when things happen, we are not uncaring and not unseeing. We do say yes sparingly to maintain the policy, but we do. So we have to implement this policy in a humane way, and yet be able to understand and be realistic that these large numbers can change our social fabric.”
“Sir, I do not propose to wax lyrical about the quest for love, despite the amount of time we have. It is not our intention to separate families. That is certainly not the thrust of our policy. In no way do we want to be that inhumane. But I would approach this practically. We do have 600,000 foreign workers, and if we liberalise, we must liberalise surely, even if for a small group, hundreds of thousands. This is because the stock accumulates. If we say that it only affects you when you are here, and when you leave, the stock out there, and the stock in here, is increasing aggregately all the time. So after a while, you may have actually a few million people that could churn and change your society. So we accept that we are a small country and that there needs to be some restriction. It is a practical approach. We are not ideologically bound by it, but it is a practical approach. What we do say to the foreign workers is that, "If you do want to come and work here, these are the rules. It is transparent. You agree to abide by them. If you do not, then thank you very much. Please understand our position and you may choose not to work here. If you choose not to work here, you are free to marry." Singaporeans are free to go anywhere they want to look for spouses. In fact, that is part of the entrepreneurial spirit. So I would say that our foreign worker policies are guided more by practicality rather than ideology, and it is just one way that we have to manage a large proportion of foreign workers. 4.15 pm”