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.”
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“I could feel the resonance when he retold the story. Indeed, the Nantah spirit lives in many people and in many forms as we see it today. I also thank him that he agrees that NTU today, because of its transformation, has changed dramatically, and is very different from the previous Nantah, and it has served it well. However, the issue of naming is really linked to what kind of university the NTU aspires to be. This is something that should be decided by NTU, the NTU community, the students, the Alumni, and the faculty as a whole. 5.15 pm Dr Ong has asked why we are separating the existing medical school from the new provisions of Medical and Allied Health Science Education at NUS (Outram). There are several reasons. First, the current medical school is quite large by international standards, and any scope of future expansion will be limited. Second, the proposed graduate medical programme will have a curriculum distinct from the present undergraduate medical course. A distinctive GMP teaching methodology will inject greater diversity into our local medical training and, in the longer term, the local medical profession. This, we felt, was best achieved by the setting up of an institution separate and independent of the MBBS programme currently offered by NUS (Kent Ridge). Third, as he rightly alluded to, the involvement and close proximity of the Singapore General Hospital to NUS (Outram) will allow the programme to leverage on SGH's considerable clinical expertise for teaching, as well as for the School of Health Sciences. This would foster and spur more translational and patient-oriented research that is essential for both healthcare needs and the nation's biomedical science initiatives. This will complement and synergise with the parallel development of the Biopolis.”
“NUS will expand into a multi-campus university, with two additional national institutions specialising in Life Sciences, and a second in Science and Technology. Members, including Mr Iswaran and Dr Wang Kai Yuen, have expressed concerns whether this multi-campus concept would lead to diversity. They have asked about the governance structures and what it means to be autonomous. Sir, these institutions will allow for greater diversity, because of the way we will position both the expertise, the complement of students and the type of faculty we will admit. We will create governance structures so that they will have a certain degree of autonomy to be able to meet this objective. But I agree with Members that implementation details are important to allow us to reach that objective. We presented these views to both the academia and the industries, and to certain focus groups of students. These proposals were warmly endorsed by the Presidents and the academics of NUS and NTU. Many polytechnic students also welcome this proposal as they too have concerns regarding the image and acceptance of the fourth university concept. Mr Zainudin Nordin has asked whether NTU will gain momentum from the proposed changes or slide back. I must say that since the proposals were released, NTU has responded to these proposals with a relish and enthusiasm of a dolphin thrown into a bigger lake. How far it succeeds, of course, will ultimately depend on how NTU can exploit the new possibilities as it broadens its educational provisions. Mr Zainudin Nordin has also proposed that NTU find a new name to reflect its identity, and this view was also shared by Mr Ang Mong Seng. I thank Mr Ang for the description of the Nantah spirit and the historical evolution.”
“These questions were also asked by Dr Wang Kai Yuen and Mr Iswaran. The fourth university was a mode suggested by Mr Chen's Committee to accommodate that expansion. Perhaps, the two different Committees were bred under different circumstances and, therefore, presented different options. In particular, my Committee conducted its review in lean times, and we were also concerned as to how stakeholders would accept the fourth university. This new entity would be without the benefit of an established name or track record. Even when the students, by all indicators, will be of equivalent standard to those entering existing universities, my Committee feared that it will take a long time to achieve equal acceptance compared to existing universities among students, parents, the academic community and, more importantly, the employers. We must not also forget that unlike and indeed perhaps similar to broadcast channels, the new university not only competes with our public universities but also with foreign universities that have already established their presence here or in their parent campuses. Substantial resources will be required to overcome prejudices inherently against fledgling institutions. We felt that those resources will yield greater results if we leverage on the excellent reputation of existing universities. It was not, as Dr Amy Khor implied, for cost-cutting reasons that we propose this structure. We therefore propose that NTU expand into a comprehensive university with greater complement of disciplines to take in more students. This will extend NTU's capabilities and provide a broader and more comprehensive undergraduate education to its students.”
“It was an important and useful study which highlighted that there exists a sufficiently large pool of good quality students to sustain a high-quality university education at the 25% cohort participation rate (CPR). Sir, my University Sector Review Committee concurs with this recommendation. From 1995-2000, there was a steady rise in the 'A' level performance of our JC students. At the same time, our polytechnic students, as highlighted by Mr Zainudin Nordin, also improved in academic quality. The number of 'O' level students, who are eligible for admission into the Junior Colleges but opted to go to the polytechnics, increased from about 3,600 to 3,900. Mr Chen's Committee then recommended that proportionately, more polytechnic good students could be admitted to our universities. In terms of basic academic quality, the group of 3,900 students who could enter JC but chose polytechnic education would be similar to our typical JC cohort. Mr Zainudin Nordin has asked how far our proposed expansion addresses these aspirations of polytechnic graduates. Dr Wang Kai Yuen has also similarly expressed this view. Arising from Mr Chen's Committee proposal, we anticipate that the proportion of polytechnic graduates admitted into our universities will increase three-fold after the restructuring of the university sector. As for working adults, our universities will continue to offer degree upgrading opportunities through continuing education as well as full-time study. Some Members have expressed concerns about our proposed restructuring of this present Committee, as recommended by the present Committee. Dr Amy Khor asked about the pros and cons of setting up a fourth university, as contrasted to our present proposal.”
“Members will have a sense of the contrasting views expressed by Dr Amy Khor on one side, and Dr Ong Seh Hong and Dr Wang Kai Yuen on the other side, that there is a delicate balance, and indeed, a tension, that exists between quality, expansion and quantity. Dr Amy Khor has asked whether the targeted university cohort participation of 25% is the correct number. Our dictum and premium on this, which perhaps is apt for her coming from the property sector, continue to be quality, quality, quality. We begin with this premise that any expansion to the university sector must not dilute present standards in Singapore. Indeed, wherever possible, quality should be enhanced. The proximate indicators, such as entry scores at 'A' level or polytechnic students' results and their 'O' level grades indicate that we can still maintain standards as we expand to 25%. But let us make no mistake, as was assumed by Dr Wang Kai Yuen, we would not be reluctant to decrease cohort participation rate if standards fall. MOE will continue to monitor the attri- tion rate that Dr Ong spoke about, grades and other outcome indicators, even as we expand the cohort participation rate. Dr Wang Kai Yuen and Dr Ong Seh Ong are, therefore, rightly concerned with the standards of our graduates, and how competitive they will be, even as we expand our university intake to 25%, and what that does to the overall quality of our university sector. Members may recall the Committee, and they have alluded to it, chaired by Senior Minister of State, Mr Peter Chen, to review upgrading opportunities at the degree level.”
“My Ministry will press on and improve on all sectors related to the post-secondary education. Last year, many Members took up the Minister's invitation to visit ITE and many of you had expressed the admiration following that visit. You have seen for yourselves the quality of the training and infrastructure. But ITE will not be resting on its laurels. For its next phase of development, ITE will regroup its current 10 campuses into three regional campuses over the next 15 years. The larger campuses will be able to offer a full range of courses and provide cross-disciplinary training. The Government will invest a total of $800 million, excluding land cost, to develop three regional campuses. As the Minister has said, our fifth polytechnic, the Republic Polytechnic, will open its doors this year. Besides increasing capacity, this institution will offer more choices to those who wish to pursue a polytechnic education. Since 1999, the Government has provided funding to Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts to develop their strengths in the western and contemporary visual arts and traditional eastern arts respectively. Both institutions are currently being redeveloped and are expected to move into their new campuses in 2004 and 2006 respectively. The two arts institutions - the recommendations for NTU to have a school of design, media and arts - will train the creative and artistic manpower to fuel and fill the growth of the creative industry, as recommended by the ERC. Similarly, the university sector will continue in its efforts to improve. Let me now address the comments and queries raised by several Members on my Committee's proposal to restructure our university sector.”
“Madam, allow me to make some general comments regarding higher education before replying to some specific points raised by Members. We have, currently, a strong and diverse post-secondary sector comprising ITE, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, polytechnics and universities. I thank Dr Michael Lim for sharing with us the wonderful feedback he has got on Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Indeed, we do get very good feedback regarding our polytechnics. Our institutions of higher learning offer an array of academic and technical options to students. Despite this economic downturn, the fears which have been highlighted by Mdm Halimah, our institutes of higher learning continue to be relevant and responsive to our long-term economic and social goals for the future. Mdm Halimah asked whether MOE consults other agencies and, indeed, we do. We do it in the context of the National Manpower Council, and a number of agencies, including MTI, MOE, EDB, and other agencies sit together. Our manpower projections indicate that in 2010, the types of jobs required will require 65% of our workforce to have post-secondary qualifications. The corresponding figure at present is only 39%. We must continue to educate our population. We should not be myopic and wrongly conclude from this current slowdown that education will count less in the future. I understand Mdm Halimah's concern which was also expressed by Dr Wang Kai Yuen about the employability of tertiary graduates. But an educational cache will outlast this recession and pay dividends later. Therefore, to meet these challenges, the post-secondary sector will need to sustain its quality, achieve greater diversity and expand educational opportunities.”
“My answer to all three questions is: yes, yes and yes.”
“Sir, the new CET statutory board will also work more closely with community-based organisations, such as the CDCs, to bring lifelong learning to the heartlands. Nevertheless, I think the only point that I, and probably this House, will want to take home from Mr Seng's question is that we should incorporate him in next year's Lifelong Learning Festival. We will invite him to be on our festival.”
“Sir, "foreign" means not local, and "talent" means the opposite of non-talented.”
“Sir, Mr Low starts with an assumption of his own making and ends up to a position that he himself makes. Talent is best decided by the employer and this has to be so. But he has said: do we protect our workers enough? Let us take the point that we are making in terms of professionals. Indeed, the greatest protection is the restriction we have already imposed on the market. In terms of salaries, we have raised it from $2,000 to $2,500. That, in itself, is the industry's nation-wide measure which regulates the entry. And as I have mentioned, when the economy went down, the EP holders were reduced by 25%, a dramatic reduction, which shows that it is enough of a protection for our local workers. So it is not, as he has implied, that we do not protect our professionals and that we use them to depress wages. The salary criterion of $2,500 is a very effective regulator. And if you look at our job surveys, in terms of NUS and NTU graduates who have recently come out, they suffer salary decrements of about 5%, and measured on a global scale, in terms of this economic climate, that is not something that is way out in terms of international benchmarks. If you look at our polytechnic graduates, some of them have pay rises. I will dispute the point very strongly with the facts, that we are not protecting our professionals. But I would also say that protection needs to be calibrated because foreign workers, whether at the unskilled or skilled level or EP level, add to our vigour, our vibrancy and our competitiveness.”
“97% of the 2,405 affected workers from these companies received retrenchment benefits, the majority receiving benefits about a month per year.”
“There are about 38 fatal accidents in construction work sites last year. MOM will continue its concerted efforts to improve safety and we will continue to launch a number of initiatives. At the same time, on enforcement and regulation, we will take contractors who flout the rules to task and those with poor safety records will be barred from employing foreign workers from non-traditional sources for one year. Safety training for personnel will be made compulsory in a number of sectors and new regulations to address safety concerns, such as poorly erected scaffoldings, will be implemented. He spoke about hand and finger injuries. He is quite right. They are the most significant reasons for injuries - about 2,200 cases in 1993. But it has dropped to about 1,600 cases last year. The metal-working industry intuitively does indeed suffer more injuries and we have introduced new provision to require all supervisors and workers in this industry to undergo proper safety training. This will take effect on 1st June 2003. On noise-induced deafness, it has declined in 2002 to the level of that in 1998 as a result of our enforcement and promotional efforts, including the Noise Control Awards. We will set a new Singapore Standard: Code of Practice this month. Mdm Halimah has asked for retrenchment benefits. In 2002, a total of 18,900 workers were retrenched. In that same period, 193 retrenched workers sought the Ministry's assistance to secure payment of retrenchment benefits. Of these, 40% was successful in their claims and the remaining 60% settled on their own. In general, companies do pay retrenchment benefits to their laid-off workers. This is reflected in a study involving 58 companies which notified the Ministry of their retrenchments.”
“As I have said in this House before, it is not practical to regulate domestic work in regard to hours of work, rest day and overtime work in a home environment. It is difficult to do. Notwithstanding this, the Ministry encourages employers and their foreign domestic workers to work out the terms and conditions of employment based on mutual agreement. With the help of their embassies or employment agents, most foreign domestic workers do enter into written employment contracts with their employers, covering core employment terms such as salary, rest day, medical benefit and a description of their duties. The Ministry of Manpower is happy to conciliate if there are disputes. It is not uncommon for employers to provide at least one rest day in a month and to purchase the medical insurance policies for their foreign domestic workers. Ms Braema Mathiaparanam has spoken on foreign domestic worker levy to be used for other purposes. The purpose of the levy is to regulate the demand for foreign domestic workers and should be used as such. However, employers who feel that their maids deserve higher pay and benefits are encouraged to do so. We would encourage employers to reward them, including paying them bonuses, air fare, paying for their courses, if they choose to. She asked what happened to the $50 million that the Ministry collects and what it is used for. My answer to her is that it goes into the consolidated fund and it is returned to the public in terms of ERS, utility rebates, rental rebates. There is not one-to-one correlation. It does not go straight into the pockets of our Ministry officials or Ministry members. It goes back to society at large. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang has spoken on safety at construction sites. We share his concern.”
“What this shows is that, under difficult conditions, our policies were not weighted against our own professionals. Indeed, foreigners have suffered retrenchments even more so, and were not spared from the adverse labour market conditions. This gives us no joy for commiseration. When expatriates leave, the service sector suffers too, even though the expatriates may be in the manufacturing sector: rents, the restaurants they patronise, the shops they buy from, there is a knock-on effect. So, this is no cause for joy for any of us. We need to view our global workforce in its entirety: both local and foreign workers adding value and competitiveness to our industries. I agree with Ms Olivia Lum that technological changes will blur industry boundaries, and she is quite right. It is difficult to have cut-and-dry industry classifications or qualifications because of these changes. However, there must be opportunities for Singaporeans to fill these jobs too because, if the sector does well, it is an employment creation sector that we want to focus on. Therefore, we have the Manpower Development Assistance Plan, which is a scheme that helps companies and organisations develop training programmes, project forward for critical skills in industries, and especially growth industries, where there is a lack of training, to try to help Singaporeans become competitive. 3.30 pm Nevertheless, I have taken note of her concerns and MOM would be happy to work with these industry players like her in the environmental technology and water treatment industry, to address the specific needs of the sector. Mdm Halimah has asked for better regulation of foreign domestic maids.”
“Dr Wang Kai Yuen earlier asked whether we were certain that our figures were correct. If we look at our figures in the last year, local employment actually rose. There was a net decrease in overall employment but, for local residents, the number employed went up by 20,000. For foreigners, there was a loss of 60,000. However, I agree with Members that the current $30 skill levy is too low to regulate inflow. It was set in 1999 when the Government substantially reduced the foreign worker levy to help business tide over the Asian financial crisis and, as Deputy Prime Minister Lee has announced, the Ministry will review this later this year. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang has spoken about welfare of our foreign workers. He has asked for the number of maid abuses. I will give just two figures. In 1997, it was 157 offenders. It has dropped to 43 last year, on the back of an ever increasing population of foreign domestic maids. In terms of housing, we have said that by mid-2004, all foreign workers who are housed off-site would have to be accommodated in proper and authorised accommodation. We will continue these efforts to treat our foreign workers with decency. With regard to Employment Pass holders, Mr Low Thia Khiang and Mr Steve Chia implied that our policies disproportionately discriminate against locals. The most recent change was in the raising of the salary criterion for Employment Pass holders from $2,000 to $2,500, from 1st December 2001. Since then, we have witnessed a sharp decline in the number of Employment Pass holders over the past year, from 90,000 in 2001 to about 70,000 by the end of 2002, a 25% reduction. I assure Members that we did not have a similar reduction in terms of our local graduates. The unemployment of our graduate degree holders is still around 4%.”
“If the Government makes it difficult for companies to find sufficient manpower, they will lose contracts or, worse still, may relocate their operations to other countries, and locals employed by them would end up losing jobs as well. Supporting industries would see their businesses decline. In this light, Mr Steve Chia's definition of talent is an artificial one. Would not an employer consider a hardworking worker, whether local or foreign, willing to learn, helping to meet deadlines, talent? Restricting access to foreign workers through stricter quotas with more rigidities to our labour market, as suggested by some, would only hurt us in the long run. Therefore, the Ministry takes a judiciously calibrated approach in balancing between helping unemployed Singaporeans to find jobs and meeting business needs for foreign workers. Nevertheless, while we continue to manage this inflow of foreign workers through an appropriate levy and quota, we must simultaneously help Singaporeans to compete. And this is the gist and thrust of our Continuing Education and Training statutory board. We must help Singaporeans to be more competitive by re-adapting mindsets, retrain, re-deploy as well as redesign industries, as Mdm Halimah has also suggested. I fully agree with Mr Yeo Guat Kwang that ultimately it is the competitiveness of our industries, with their mix of local and foreign workers, that will determine our overall productivity and value-add. Indeed, the recent changes in the construction manpower policies were made with this very end in mind, and we will extend this policy and the measures to other industries. As to the possible changes to the foreign worker levy, there is no need to increase the levy at this point, as the numbers have not escalated.”
“Last year, many Members, including many of the Mayors in the CDCs, profiled the marine industry, together with me. We went on a roadshow to say that it had one of the best safety records, wages were decent despite what Mdm Halimah says about low wages. We said that in the marine industry they can earn up to about $2,000 with overtime and a stable career path. We donned hard hats, walked up ramps, got hoisted onto ship decks, and toured their shipyards. Particularly memorable was Mdm Yu-Foo Yee Shoon in a yellow pantsuit and hoisted up onto the ship deck. We had excellent press coverage. We continued those efforts for about a year. The result? Less than 300 workers signed on for an industry that has 2,000 vacancies even now. We will and we must continue these efforts, but we need to be realistic. It will take some time before mindsets change. Likewise, hotels have had to hire foreign workers to ensure that they are able to operate smoothly over peak Christmas, Hari Raya and Chinese New Year holiday periods. And there is no shortage of schemes profiling the opportunities and the better image of workers in the hospitality industry. If they do not have ready access to willing workers, customers like you and I complain and may not patronise their restaurants again. Similar examples exist for technical jobs in the aerospace and petrochemical industries. Sir, even in our present high unemployment situation, many locals are not willing to take up available jobs in industries. It is not, as Mdm Halimah says, that we are castigating or selective. I have already mentioned that the unemployment rate is 4%. 96% of the willing take up jobs. It is these select few that we must not allow to tarnish the whole industry.”
“Mr Steve Chia asked whether we would allow foreigners to come to Singapore to compete with us in political office. We indeed do. There are Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Ms Irene Ng and Ms Olivia Lum. Sir, a number of speakers have alluded to our foreign worker policies, and I think it is important to address it, because it is a fundamental pillar of our labour market policies. Many of the Members' comments - and these are comments from Mr Steve Chia and Mr Low Thia Khiang - assume that the mathematical model for foreign workers and Singaporeans is one of displacement, ie, if we disallow one foreign worker into Singapore, we create one job for Singaporeans. This is flawed thinking. Indeed, on a net basis, the entry of foreign workers is additive, ie, it creates more jobs for Singaporeans and, correspondingly, their exclusion would result in even more unemployment. My Minister has touched on this but I will elaborate. Foreign workers help to fill manpower gaps within our economy, which locals are not willing or able to fill. They also help to moderate the cost of business and improve the international competitiveness of our companies and allow them to function, win more contracts and employ more Singaporeans. For example, the transport equipment industry, which includes the marine industry, grew rapidly in 2001, and saw an increase in employment of over 20,000 jobs. Given the sudden upturn in the industry, the sector had to turn to foreign workers to quickly ramp up its workforce. Without this ready source of foreign workers, the companies would not be able to take on new orders, thus losing the opportunity to create jobs for Singaporeans as well as foreign workers. Members might ask why did the marine industry not turn to Singaporeans.”
“Sir, in direct answer to Mr Low whether Singaporeans can do the job, my answer is that Singaporeans can do any job they chose, and they have the ability. But we will let the markeplace decide and we will not erect barriers to distort the market. Because example after example have shown that when countries close their doors, whether it is the celestial empire or the Ottoman empire, they ended up losers in the long run. Is it fair in the long run? Indeed, it is, because it creates jobs for our economy.”
“We even have one report of Indian laborers placing barrows on their head rather than wheel them. Presumably such resistance reflected a desire to spread the work and increase employment [to their locals], especially to women and children." This is self-serving; this is self-diminishing. Among all our efforts, there is one thing that we should not do and, indeed, would prove futile, ie, to hold back barriers and erect barriers. We are in an open export-driven economy. We depend on free trade to thrive and, with that, we expose ourselves to international standards of productivity, processes and practices. Mr Low's suggestion that we keep our markets closed would diminish us all. Sir, we must ride this wave of progress and globalisation, and we will come on top, as we have before.”
“It is particularly because of that that we have created schemes that will help us to be competitive in the long run. He implies that if we only restrict work opportunities to Singaporeans our economy would do better and the problem solved. My Minister dwelt on that a long time, but it seems that the point needs reiterating. Which nationality would he exclude? In every industry, there are ample examples, without me having to name them, of luminaries - there are many in this House - that the vitality, the verve, the competitiveness, the ability to attract investments is because of our multi-national representation. Would we be better served by having a company full of Singaporeans with a limited talent pool diminishing the pie, equal misery? The pie shrinks, salaries drop and more are unemployed. Sir, a quote from The Wealth and Poverty of Nations will be suitable at this point. This is a book written by David Landes, Emeritus Professor of History and Economics at Harvard. For those who want to refer to it, it is in pages 225, 229-230. He was trying to compare and ask himself why some countries progress and others did not. In this particular chapter, he asked: "Why no industrial revolution in India? After all, India had the world's premier cotton industry in the 17th and 18th centuries, unbeatable for quality, variety and cost." Among the many reasons, one which was a closed mind, he cites one particular poignant example and I quote: "The British engineers who built the Indian railways understood that Indian labor, cheap as it was, would move earth and rock by hand; but they also took for granted that the Indians would use the wheelbarrows. Not at all: the Indians were used to moving heavy burdens in a basket on their head and refused to change.”
“The Minister said that as at February 2003, the programme has some 4,000 participating companies. In other words, employers are responding and this has benefited some 9,000 mature employees. The Ministry understands and appreciates the difficulties faced by older workers. Together with the employer organisations and trade unions, we are stepping up our efforts to assist Singaporeans who have difficulty seeking employment, including the implementation of the tripartite guidelines on Non-discriminatory Job Advertisements and the Code of Responsible Employment Practices jointly issued by NTUC and SBF/SNEF to change the mindset of employers on older workers. I fully agree with Members. I think the elderly and the mature workers, which Members here also fall in the group, are getting a bad rap. Many employers, I feel, will rue the day they did not capitalise on this soft labour market to employ such workers. And I agree with Ms Irene Ng that this is a business aspect, not an altruistic bent. There are some enlightened employers like Jennifer Lee and Ms Irene Ng's example of an owner who understood that mature workers have a cachet of experience and networking and they are likely to stay with the company longer. The image and fear of mature workers falling ill more compared to younger workers is over-rated. Statistics show that the majority of medical consumption occurs in the last 10 years of life, ie, it occurs in the majority after our mandatory retirement age. Sir, Mr Low Thia Khiang tells us not to forget that Singaporeans voted the Government in and, therefore, we have a responsibility to find them jobs. I would reiterate to Mr Low that we have never forgotten.”
“We will continue to provide job matching services to retrenched executives complemented by industry and community job fairs. There are nearly 1,000 jobs available in MOM's job bank for professionals and executives. She asked what are the programmes in terms of the strategic manpower conversion programmes. Indeed, there are many. We have started training in sectors of infocomm, logistics, community and social services, healthcare nursing, intellectual property and internationalisation sectors. It is not that we did not heed. We did heed. It is just that the fund is not called by the name she suggested. It is called the Strategic Manpower Conversion Programme. We may try to think of how we can change it to suit her acronym, but it might take us some time. However, other economic agencies such as EDB, MAS, IDA and IE Singapore have also provided training support to professionals. In 2002, these agencies helped train over 13,000 executives and professionals to support the industry capability and developmental thrusts. I do agree with Dr Tan Boon Wan and Dr Ong Seh Hong on the need to change mindsets. We need to help Singaporeans transit their mindshifts, and we will do that. We have had 15 good years. It takes some time and we will continue to emphasise this. Many Members would have come across our Jobs Task Force's public education programme. It is a 9-month programme, and we will continue to spend time on it. Has it worked? Yes. The fact that 72% of retrenched workers found re-employment in 2002 indicates that we have some limited but early success. Ms Irene Ng spoke about the mature workers. To encourage and incentivise employers, we talked about the People-for-Jobs Traineeship Programme (PJTP).”
“These sectors have existing vacancies, but locals are generally not keen to consider them for a variety of reasons, like low wages, perceived poor image, long training periods and structural impediments like shift work and work conditions. We will slowly tackle the problems, one by one, deliberately. 1.00 pm For these sectors, MOM is currently looking at the whole value chain of the workforce development. We agree that there is potential here and, therefore, we want to focus on this. This is one of the efforts of the CET board. The aim is to ensure better coordination of industry development with manpower development strategies and, hence, better match between the skills of our workers and industries' needs, as some Members have said. In fact, as of December 2002, there were some 5,000 job vacancies in goods-producing industries, while there were another 8,000 job vacancies in services industries. All in all, MOM, EDB and SPRING have identified employment opportunities in 12 sectors that we will focus on, and we will engage key stakeholders. Mr Ahmad Magad suggested that we should focus on the service industry - he indeed has a point - and we are doing that. We have sponsored NTUC Fairprice training, and we are working with the Retail Academy as well as some healthcare providers like HMI. Mdm Ho Geok Choo has asked what aid is given to professionals, managers and executives. We have not neglected them. For workers who are keen to set up small businesses and be self-employed, the existing Self-Employment Training Programme, which was launched in April last year, will equip them with the knowledge and pre-requisites. In fact, 4,000 places were taken up last year. And 56% of the participants who completed training indicated that they would like to start small businesses.”
“However, I agree that there is room for review, if need be, as to where the base salary level should be. And I am also not keen on this idea because I think there is more to it than just fundamentally CPF contributions. For example, our PJTP scheme that my Minister spoke about provides very generous wage adjustments, if you like. We sponsor 50% of those salaries in the first six months and, even with those generous schemes, people are not hiring. I suspect that many employers are reluctant to hire because of the uncertainty. First came September 11, then the current Iraq crisis. Until visibility improves, we will have to stick to this situation and not adjust precipitously. Mr Ahmad Magad has suggested that we increase efficiencies by formulating or formalising contract manpower industry. He will be happy to note that indeed it has already happened without any of our measures and that there is flexibility in our labour market. In 2002, 70% of contract workers found employment through this industry. I thank Members, among which Mr Heng Chee How, Mr Nithiah, Dr Ong Seh Hong, who have given suggestions on how we should help those with lower skills and at higher risk of structural unemployment. I know that they speak from experience, having personally helped the retrenched, and they are realistic proposals. They have suggested the potential of non-tradable jobs. MOM agrees. Several sectors - healthcare, hospitality, infantcare, eldercare, public cleaning, domestic cleaning, restaurants and retail - have already been identified by MOM, EDB and SPRING because they have either good growth prospects or great propensity to absorb local workers.”
“Yes, workers have to adjust their mindsets and expectations but it can be done. My Minister mentioned that for year 2002, 72% of those retrenched in the first three quarters of the year found employment by December. Seven out of ten Singaporeans proved that it can be done by finding work six months after retrenchment. Therefore, our approach has been that we should enable those who want to remain employable through reskilling or to counsel them in job opportunities. But let us not mistake and say that we need to give guarantees. There are no guarantees. The only person who can guarantee success is the worker himself. All schemes come to nought without the determination and effort of the individual. So I welcome the endorsement and the support of Members for the CET board which is the right direction we are taking. I also fully agree with other Members that we should facilitate more the take-up of jobs. Mr Steve Chia asked whether we should allow employers and employees to negotiate their CPF contributions. Sir, the ERC recently recommended that we should raise the employee CPF wage bands for lower income workers from $200-$363 to $500-$750, so that lower income employees, especially part-time workers, will be able to take home higher salary while their employer's CPF contribution remains unchanged. This would increase the incentive for more people to re-enter the workforce, particularly to do part-time work. However, we would not want to completely waive the contribution requirement for this group, nor waive the employer's CPF contributions. There is a need to strike a balance between building up sufficient CPF funds for old age, on one hand, and encouraging more people to enter the workforce.”
“Our figures are very robust. They are from figures that we take from about 25,000 households and they are trend lines as well which convince us that they are indeed robust. In fact, last year, our local employment grew by 1.3%. It did not shrink. Yes, there was a net loss in unemployment, the amount of which was due to foreigners leaving, both with Work Permit and Employment Pass, but our local employment grew by 1.3%. Should we start saying that there are not enough jobs, that the situation is imperfect? Where should we place our efforts and resources? Do we deprive those who have a good attitude or do help those who place themselves `furthest from the job market' - this was another term we learned on this trip? Do we pile even higher the table for those who feel that the existing food on their table is not appetising? Do we take away food from the table for those who by their own efforts feed themselves? There are no easy answers, but we cannot be naive. It will undo us. In all our asking and angst, we should first get wisdom. The third lesson was that those who fail to plan and provide for the future have planned to fail. I know it sounds axiomatic but, nonetheless, remains true. Governments all around the globe are grappling with the adequacy of pension funds as life-expectancy increases and populations age. First generation Singaporeans build up substantial reserves which have created stable conditions and a strong currency. In October 2001, Deputy Prime Minister Lee indicated that the Government would consider the withdrawal of CPF in extremis, but now is not the time. The recent ERC has concluded that the CPF system should be refocused on the three basic needs of retirement, housing and healthcare. And, the CPF system stay focused. Sir, there are jobs available.”
“Let us not forget that 96% of those that have jobs will themselves to work. Sir, work is not fun and glamorous every day. There are days for every person, and I am sure for all Members in this House, where you choose to work whether you feel you like it or not. There is no fanfare or stardust outside your door. It is a conscious choice we make. I mentioned my study trip and the lessons learned, and one particular poignant vignette was obtained from a senior official who has been helping the unemployed for decades. He has lots of experience as their unemployment rates were in the teens for many years. Those requiring employment assistance, he has concluded from years of experience, fall into three groups. The first group has skills and attitude, and are self-starters. Many of them get information on their own and need little, if any help, to get re-employed. The second group needs training indeed for new skills to get jobs. The third group, he graphically portrays, needs to be reminded that they have an interview the next day. Indeed, officers in his agency actually call on the day of interview to wake this third group of members to remind them! He did not recount his conclusions with bitter cynicism or disillusionment. He said so with a matter-of-fact tone and with a sense of acceptance and equanimity. His realistic appraisal would help his organisation to be more effective in their role, he added. Mr Low Thia Khiang has asked what has Government done to create enough jobs. He has said whether they were the right types of jobs. Sir, other Members have expressed, despite jobs being present, as Dr Wang Kai Yuen has said, whether Government has underestimated the extent of the problem. In these times, it would be prudent for us to look inwards as well as outwards.”
“Alternatively, if we allow members to use their own or future CPF funds, they would deplete their retirement savings. I would caution us moving that way. Like MPs who have weekly meet-the-people sessions, I share Members' concern over the plight of retrenched workers, and our more targeted approach to assist them is the right one. We have many benefits as enumerated by Deputy Prime Minister Lee as well as financial assistance schemes in our CDCs and CCCs. Deputy Prime Minister Lee spoke on the sensitivity of our grassroots schemes. We should not underestimate the effectiveness and value that our various grassroots schemes have. My CCC welfare committee, like yours, I am sure, is a veritable fount of local knowledge. I have one particular lady who has lived in the estate for over 20 years. Sometimes, I almost believe that she knows every elderly or down-and-out constituent. She knows, for example, in detail what cars their children drive, what they eat and how much they eat. Occasionally, she will bring hardship cases to my MPS with specific details of family feuds and how the appellant has suffered. Other times, she will disagree on certain persons that we have chosen to help. "They use the money to treat their friends at coffee shops", she tells me. Or, "her son drives a big car and they are still getting PA allowance." Their local knowledge in our community-based assistance scheme is invaluable. They serve as brakes or lubricants, to be appropriately applied. And, these schemes are better than any other bureaucratic schemes I have seen today. Secondly, we should be prudent that in our efforts to help those retrenched, we do not unwittingly undermine the efforts of the willing. What do I mean? Yes, the unemployment rate was 4.2% in the last quarter.”
“Even with their vast intellectual resources and the realisation that change has to be made urgently, they find it a stupendous task to ameliorate, let alone reverse, the increase in spending on assistance related to unemployment. So, in some countries, they end up spending as much as 3% of their GDP on social assistance schemes. This is more than three-quarters of our Education budget, which caters for 550,000 people, but they spent it on social assistance schemes. Their corresponding cost of government is about 40% of GDP, compared with 19% in Singapore currently. GST, in these countries, is in the double digits and corresponding marginal personal and corporate tax rates twice that of ours, as they have to raise by taxes and revenues 40 cents just to generate one dollar of turnover. Predictably, these countries lose their competitiveness and the negative spiral begins, and continues. Sir, if we ever choose to follow suit, this will be a load that will sink us all. Perhaps, some MPs might say that we can benefit from the wisdom of hindsight and avoid the excesses that these economies have been encumbered with. Are we so certain? Should we venture into the water when there are many signs telling us to beware of the strong undercurrents? There have been a number of suggestions, both from the speakers during the Committee of Supply and the Budget debate, in terms of Government loans, retrenchment, endowment, and `heed' funds. Sir, they are well-meaning, but I would caution, eg, loan funds and retrenchment funds, how would Government enforce repayments if we use their houses as collaterals? For borrowers who are at default, Government would not be keen to repossess their houses.”
“Sir, let me thank Members for their suggestions to assist retrenched and unemployed Singaporeans as well as cogent recommendations to improve our unemployment situation. Sir, the points they have brought up are indeed important, as many analysts predict that this more disruptive economic climate may persist for some time. In other words, how globalisation will pan out, the backlashes, how our economic conditions would be, even following the impending war if there is one, remain uncertain. These are fundamentally turbulent times and we are not quite sure when visibility will improve and what the climate or the scenarios will be, after visibility has improved. Therefore, it would be important for us to examine our fundamentals for policy decisions. Our responses to existing challenges are underpinned by prevailing principles and, if you like, philosophies. Through our meetings with other Government officials and comparison with other systems, we consistently subject our beliefs to scrutiny. Singapore, if you believe in equal commiseration, is not the only country facing unemployment. Others have had it much tougher and for a longer time. Recently, I led a delegation to some European cities to study how they address their problems of unemployment and assistance. The trip shed much light and I will share some main take-away lessons. The first lesson is that temporary assistance schemes, indiscriminately applied and started with the best of intentions, degenerate very quickly into permanent schemes and hurt the overall economy. Please note that these are systems in developed countries run by seasoned bureaucrats with their armies of think-tanks and policy makers.”
“Mr Steve Chia's question, Sir, implies a zero sum game, and that is not here at all. We have very strong economic data to suggest that our employment pass workers increase our overall pie. If we did not have them, well, you might have more representation of our local workers in our economic sector, but of a much smaller pie. So we cannot run away from the fact that, even though we have foreign workers within the midst of our industries, they do indeed create more jobs on the whole because they make us more competitive. And we will continue to stick to that strategy. We should not allow short-term situations to skew or to mar our responses to what is a viable and very reasonable and important long-term strategic drive. INVESTMENT AND JOB CREATION OUTLOOK 9. Mr A. Nithiah Nandan asked the Minister for Trade and Industry what is the investment and job creation outlook for 2003.”
“Sir, Mr Loh Meng See has crossed into education now. But I will answer that question. The employability of our polytechnic diploma holders and graduates, in terms of three months or six months after they graduate, is still around about 70-80% in this time. What was the reason that we have this? And you are right. Previous recessions affected more line operators and production operators. But this current recession affects diploma holders and graduates. They have not been spared. It is the pace of globalisation, in other words, sectors which are affected all across, and even foreign workers, for example, we had a 30% reduction in our employment pass. The reason is that there is uncertainty in the global economic climate, there is less visibility and people are not hiring. But I am less worried for this group, because once the economy picks up, they are the ones that will be absorbed quite quickly.”
“Yes, we do. Sir, that is a very good question. We have particular schemes, in fact, for example, the Place, Train and Incentivise where, especially in the hotel line, because that is one sector where there are jobs which we think that Singaporeans should fill in, but we have got anecdotes where they go for training, take up the training course and then go on the job, but after two days, they leave. So we have added another component that if you stay on, I think, for three to six months, we will give you another $500 incentive for you to stay on. So we are tweaking the system to see how we can make it sustainable. And you are right, we need to find out not only in terms of job placements for a day because that does not make sense, but long-term sustainability. Another part of our effort is to work with industry, in fact, to re-engineer certain of the jobs so that they are more attractive to the extent as possible. But, you know, in wafer fabs, there is a limit. It is a 12-hour shift. You need to don suits. Mrs Yu-Foo said that initially there was a wrong impression that you donned suits to protect yourselves, that there was something wrong in the environment. So we have to go on this campaign to say, "No, no, we are actually trying to protect the product from you." Then, they understood. But these are little things that you find out on the ground and you adjust to it.”
“Sir, the question implicitly implies that we have not been open, and I do not think that is true. We judge it on its merit. Government will create programmes that are general and enabling. Under this particular People for Jobs Traineeship Programme, we have said that for the first six months, Government will provide $2,000 or 50% of your salary, whichever is lower, and that is a very strong signal that Government, including the civil service, would like to enhance the employability of those above 40. Dr Chong Weng Chiew (Tanjong Pagar): For those who are successful in being placed in jobs, does the Ministry monitor whether they are able to hold their jobs and, if not, for how long? The reason why I ask is, I think, this figure would give us a good indication on the quality of job-matching being offered.”
“I did answer, but not in detail as he wanted. I mentioned the result of 6.4%, which is about half the average of the entire Distributed Careerlink Network. I did not want to go into the specifics of each group because I think that they would detract from the problem, and it is not quite fair because they are dealing with different groups. What is the message that you want to send to them? They will know it internally. What is the message that you want to send to the public? Don't go to this group? So, I think we have to be careful in our nuancing, in terms of what efficiencies there are. As I said, the overall population of retrenched workers (67%) gets jobs within six months. In other words, the personal responsibility of a person who gets retrenched must continue to be enhanced. Government cannot replace that role. We will provide the training opportunities. We will provide where efficiencies are. But the fact that nearly 70% do get jobs means that many people know how to do it. There will be a select group which will be harder, and this group will change with the various characteristics. That was the reason to have a Distributed Careerlink Network in the first place, because we knew that there were differences in different sectors of society. Where there are efficiencies to be enhanced, as Mr Charles Chong has said, we will learn from those who have been more efficient. But, even then, we will compare why they have been successful, and there may be different reasons. Certain CDCs are more efficient in that sense, because they are geographically located nearer certain sectors. So, I do not think we want to micro-manage, but we do want to make everybody more efficient. But, as I cautioned, let us not exaggerate the potential of that impact.”
“Absolutely. I agree completely with the MP that we should level up and not level down. There was no intention ever to level down. If Mr Charles Chong and his Pasir Ris-Punggol MPs can level up the system, it is wonderful for all of us! We will learn from him. Among the various CDCs and self-help groups, there are varying results. Yes, we should share the information. I have already asked my Ministry's members to contact those agencies which have been more successful than others and, indeed, that will be the direction to go.”
“I would strongly debate the point with Mr Sin that these figures are elusive. He may not be aware of the conditions on the ground. We have an aggregated job link, which means that the various CDCs' and MOM's pool of jobs is computerised on-line. In other words, with all the CDCs and the self-help groups, and the DCN is an aggregated job bank on-line, the information is there. It is not that the information is not there. The fact that we have 117,000 visits to our DCN partners means that access is not such a big problem. Even if you assume one person makes two visits, you have 50,000 unemployed who go there. And as many MPs know on the ground, when they approach you for job assistance, the path to the DCN partners or the path to the Mayors is not strewn with impediments. Most of them do get to DCN quite simply and to the CDCs especially, and they are very responsive, if I may say so. Job information is certainly one area. But it is certainly more than that. As I have said, I have enumerated many reasons, and we will continue to work at that. But where there are efficiencies to be derived, we will continue to update the job bank and specific aspects, in terms of matching. We are trying to enhance the matching capability, as it were, and this is another phase of our job career development.”
“When I read about the initiatives of Mr Charles Chong and Mr Ahmad Magad, and his Tampines GRC MPs, I was cheered, because of their job programmes which have 1,500 vacancies. I think such measures are to be commended. MOM is willing to work with MPs who would want to serve their constituents better, and give them the information that they need. But we should not exaggerate the impact of that potential. There are jobs available. We will try to increase our efficiency and where we can, we will continue to work at that.”
“Sir, I did not choose to nit-pick and give details of 13 agencies, not because we do not have the data, we do have the data. But I wanted to be clear, to send the signal, which I think the question implied more than what was asked. I am sure that the hon. Member is not obsessed with details. What I wanted to show was the four groups, which tend to different sectors of workers, have different results, and you can see from even within the four groups that there are different measures of success, if you like. I also wanted to emphasise that in the overall universe of those who were retrenched, that it was about 67%. In other words, the majority of people who lose their jobs know where to look for the information and get it. More importantly, I wanted to emphasise the point that it may be wrong, and we would arrive at erroneous conclusions by comparing different members in different agencies, because the people that they tend to are different - different employability, potential, different educational and training skills. Another point which I also want to emphasise is that while it is useful and, indeed, it should be commended, that there are efficiencies to be gained from enhancing our job-matching skills, we should not exaggerate the potential of that impact. The answer to job creation is to make our economy more attractive so that we can increase the overall pie. MOM and its DCN partners must, of course, continue to work in this current climate, to make sure that where there are jobs available, we should help people to get them and, indeed, as Mr Sin says, there are jobs available, about 17,000 vacancies.”
“Sir, I have provided detailed figures, in terms of the job vacancies, and these are data collected from current job vacancies. HR personnel and other related streams of information tell us that these are the jobs available. So, these are hard figures. As to how to make Singaporeans take up these job vacancies, there are many factors why they do not in the first place, and you have to address them one by one. Some Members may have come across a number of mind-changing initiatives that we have tried to undertake to help them adjust to new job market conditions. And as I have said, we will continue to tackle these issues by working with industry and our related partners to try to increase their acceptability.”
“Under this new system, although there are a lot of recommendations, which are structural in nature, we must also look squarely at the existing weaknesses in our existing system. If these weaknesses cannot be resolved first, it would be difficult for the new system to attain the objectives set out in the White Paper. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion.”
“Now, in JC 1 and JC 2, if all the students spend two years doing these projects, this would mean that, at any one time, there would be about 24,000 projects being carried out simultaneously, and we can expect a lot of duplications. I would like to know whether or not we have any means to prevent the students from copying from one another or duplicating the work of others. Some years later, the colleges will have received more than 10,000 reports on the project works conducted by the students, and they are probably quite easily accessible to the other students. The good students would use them as reference, and the weaker students would just copy from them. If this becomes a trend, then this project work will become like a joke, because everyone would be plagiarising to get admission to the university. Besides, if every one of the students has to do project work, a lot of space and facilities in the school would be needed. Do our JCs have enough facilities to satisfy the needs of the students? If there is not, then the chances are more students will go for the software-type of projects rather than the practical ones which involve more hardware. We will end up with a lot of students doing theoretical work rather than practical work. So, we can see that this recommendation for project work will have a lot of problems, and it is quite different from the traditional subjects. If we cannot resolve this problem on the project work, it will be an obstacle for us to attain the target that we have set out to achieve. No doubt, our existing JC system is not a perfect system. There are inherent shortcomings and these shortcomings are reflected on the weaker students, in other words, those who are unable to communicate, unable to analyse, unable to have creative thinking.”
“Although it is recommended in the report that we want to improve the standard of English communication of our students, I think we have to endeavour to create an environment conducive to the students to communicate in English. Apart from our bilingual principle that cannot be changed, we have at least to create an environment in the campus whereby English would be the main language of communication. I also feel that the science students are weaker in expression than the arts students because when they are learning the science subjects like mathematics, physics and chemistry, not much language skills are needed. They just need to know the equations and symbols. Under such circumstances, the power of expression does not improve with their subjects. Perhaps the writing skill is stagnated before the JC level. In JC, the only subject that involves writing is the General Paper for the pure science students. As far as I know, the students write less than one essay a month. So how could the science students in the JC possess good communication skills? Although it is recommended in this report that the communication skills of the students be improved, the only subject reported to have some links in achieving this objective is the Project Work and not very much elsewhere. I hope the new amended curriculum would create more opportunities for our science students to be trained in this skill. They should be given more chances to write and to express. Fourthly, improvement of creative thinking and writing skills. In the project work, generally, a lot of technicality would be involved.”
“So long as they can pass the examination, it is not their concern whether they have succeeded in enhancing their power of analysis, their power of thinking and power of problem solving. To them, all these are not important. On one occasion I asked a physics lecturer in a junior college why is it that the junior college students are weak in their power of analysis and problem solving. His answer came as a great surprise to me. He said, "Oh, of course, it should be that, because in the junior college it is the teachers who do the analysis and problem solving, not the students." In my view, the recommendation of enhancing the student's thinking skill would only be achievable if we do have a major reform to our assessment methodology. We must place attention to the process of learning and not purely based on the assessment on the paper and pen examination. This is particularly important if we wish to enhance the thinking skill of the weaker students. Thirdly, the communication skills of our students. Generally speaking, if we want to compare the level of English of our students with English in the UK and US, I think we cannot compare with them because English is their mother tongue and they have a much better learning environment for good English communication skill than that in Singapore. In our case, we have to learn two languages and the students generally use Singlish in their casual conversation. On other occasions when they are discussing more serious matters, like their homework, they use their mother tongue. Among the students in our universities, some come from China. In order to accommodate them and to show that they are not a "banana race" (yellow outside, white inside), many of our students use Mandarin as their means of communication.”
“So Philip Yeo's point really hits the nail on the head, because if we want to go into this economy where it is knowledge intensive, we have to be specialists rather than generalists. The Provost of NUS, Prof. Chong, was reported as saying that the NUS would run their own JC in mathematics and sciences to train the students with the right aptitude to meet specific NUS requirements. He meant students with the depth in mathematics and science knowledge and not the breadth. So this recommendation to broaden the scope of curriculum would definitely reduce the standard of the students. Even if only 10% of the students read their subjects at H3 level, the standard of the other subjects at H2 level would definitely be lower than before. The trend nowadays seems to be that, not only in the junior colleges, even in the university, we are going for this broad-based education. I doubt this is really beneficial to our students, and wonder whether it will satisfy the needs of our knowledge-intensive economy in the future. Secondly, the promotion of thinking skills in our curriculum. I come from the science stream. By learning the science subjects, it is already a good training for our logic analytical skills. In the university, those who are stronger in their studies will have no problem in their thinking skills. But for those who are weaker, the thinking skill is actually very, very low. But why is it that there is such a phenomenon? I believe this has perhaps something to do with our system of assessment in our education system. For the weaker students, they are not so concerned with the process of learning but concerned only with examination results.”
“I suppose if we accept the said two main arguments, I would say that this White Paper provides a very comprehensive and very thorough solution for our future needs. It also takes care of the likely queries and doubts resulting from the newly proposed JC structure. It could be said to be an almost perfect White Paper for the JC educational reform. However, after having carefully read the White Paper, I feel that there are many points which are debatable. Firstly, in order to satisfy the needs of the knowledge-based economy, do we really need to have a very broad-based education? If it is going to be broad-based, that means there will be no avenue for specialisation. Except those subjects in the H3 level, most of the subjects in H2 and H1 levels will have lower standard after the recommended reform. The results of the reformation will be contrary to the requirements of the knowledge-based economy which requires people of specialised and in-depth knowledge in specific fields. This is because in the knowledge-based economy, we must have some unique or specialised knowledge which other people do not have, so that other people would be prepared to pay a premium for the access to the knowledge or in order to benefit from the knowledge. So who are the people who can claim to possess this specialised knowledge? I think they must be the specialists. They are certainly the jack of all trades, and master of none. Mr Philip Yeo, Chairman of A*Star, made some highly controversial remarks recently. His remarks coincide somewhat with the point I am trying to raise here. He said that in the field of bio-medical research, a basic science degree qualifies a person only to wash test tubes, a Master's makes him an advanced washer. A PhD makes him an ordinary worker.”
“I do, however, agree with Members who feel that these changes may not reduce the workload. Regardless of the system and beyond educational goals, students will still want to go that extra mile, put in that extra hour of mugging to be one up on his fellow students, to enter into a top university. How and should we ameliorate this drive? Realistically, we can only aim to influence not how much but what they spend their time on. That is why the JC review calls for a contrasting subject to achieve breadth and for co-curricular activities to be considered in university admissions. A recommendation which the hon. Member John Chen, I am sure, would fully support, as it would have enabled his `borderline example of a badminton player' who excelled in sports to enter university. Sir, let me reiterate that these changes do not in any way signal that we are going to neglect the majority and focus only on those who are more able. We continue to be guided by the vision of to each his ability, so that we can get from each his best. Sir, I support the motion. Assoc. Prof. Low Seow Chay (Chua Chu Kang)(In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the main recommendations made by theWhite Paper are: (i) Introducing broad-based education and asking students to study both science and humanities subjects. (ii) Emphasising on thinking skills and not on contents. (iii) Enhancing students' communication skill and to be more creative. The main arguments in support of the recommendations are: (i) To remedy the problem of a lack of communication skill among our students. (ii) To prepare the students with necessary qualities needed by the new era of knowledge-intensive economy; namely, independent thinking, broad-based knowledge and creativity.”
“The University Sector Review is also concurrently underway and the recommendations will be presented in January. The recommendations will reinforce and be aligned to the objectives of this present preview. And I believe to start at the end is a smart thing to do. If we chose to start at the primary one level, we would have to systematically train and enable all 45,000 of students and their teachers to effect these changes. I have said educational reforms take quite long to effect, but some of us would wish to see changes in our children's lifetime! I also think it will work because Singaporeans, by their very nature, respond to clear signals. Take project work in schools, for example. Even though it is not yet implemented as a criterion for university admission, already project work has been introduced at the primary school level, as every parent who has to spend nights preparing his child's project work will testify. Similarly, the JC/Upper Secondary recommendations, while physically affecting only 10% initially, will have a leavening effect on the entire system. For example, once the specialised sports school is well established, I foresee students who excel in sports, but are continuing in the mainstream schools, participate in and upgrade through events in the sports school. Similarly, the Arts school, the Science and Mathematics schools will have spillover effects. Indeed, the training of teachers to facilitate these programmes that we have talked about will also have an uplifting effect. Singapore is small and teachers meet regularly and interact. They will discuss new methods and challenge outdated ideas. A change in the overall educational milieu will result and will make it easier to effect changes in the mainstream schools.”