Ong Ah Heng
Singapore
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Chairman, in 2010, there were 54 deaths due to workplace accidents, down from 70 deaths in 2009. This is despite a 14% surge in construction projects worth close to $26 billion. Death at the worksite is a painful incident. Even one death is one death too many.”
“I urge the Ministry of Manpower to come up with a system to systematically monitor work hours – both formal as well as informal hours. We must have reliable data on overtime work – especially unpaid overtime. With available data, we can then investigate why Singaporeans overwork.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Chairman, Singaporeans are living longer, with many living beyond 80 years old. If we retire at the current retirement age of 62 and live to 72, there is still a good 10 years of our life. We must make good use of the time after our retirement at age 62.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to *Cols. 3833-3834. Appendix A*.] Madam, the working adults spend more than half their waking hours at the workplace. The workplace is also where most people identify as the source of their stress. A healthy staff is an asset to any organisation. This is a fact well-recognised by all companies.”
“Workplace directly influences physical, psychological, economic and social well-being of workers which, in turn, affects the health of their families, community and eventually society. A health promoting workplace can now become a pre-requisite for sustainable social and economic development.”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.] Mr Speaker, it is not because I am a PAP MP that I support the Budget of the Government. Just now, I gave my views on anti-terrorism, for example. I think we are too complacent and not thinking enough of potential dangers.”
The complete record
Every one of 272 lines we hold for Ong Ah Heng, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 6.
“Sometimes we do not know who is telling the truth and who is lying, and whether they have actually received the summonses or not. I hope that the Minister can spell out clearly in the law the Government's stand on the issues relating to how the notices or summonses should be served. I propose that under section 131A, we should at least cover two key principles. First, all summonses, notices or orders deemed to be duly served on the intended recipients by any of the channels as provided for under the new section 131A shall be deemed to be duly served on the defendant concerned. Secondly, it is the responsibility of the individual to ensure that all official documents sent to the address registered by him with the National Registration Office or the Land Transport Authority are duly acknowledged. In other words, the last known address shall suffice for the purpose of this section. This will send a clear signal to the members of the public that unless it is for exceptional and valid reasons, they cannot claim that they have not received the notices or summonses, and use this as an excuse for not paying the composition fine before the due date. Then, the people will have to accept that the summonses have been duly served on them, and they have to pay the fines. I hope that my above suggestions will be duly considered by the Minister. With that, I support the Amendment Bill.”
“I propose that the authority should at least notify the vehicle owners in writing of its intention to dispose of or sell the vehicle to recover cost, and this is similar to that of subsection (4). Next, I would like to touch on a few issues relating to the new section 131A. I can appreciate that the proposed new insertion aims to provide the authority with more ways to serve its notices and summonses on the people concerned. However, it does not adequately address the difficulties arising from the service of these notices or summonses. The most common complaint from the people on the ground is that they did not receive the notices or summonses in the first instance due to many reasons, and as a result, they had to pay heavier penalties. In the case of summonses sent through registered mail, the problem is that most of the time there is no one at home and the intended recipient of the registered letter has to go to the designated post office to collect his notice or summons, and they have to go during working hours. If he drives, he has to find a parking lot, and if there are a lot of people, he has to queue up to just collect the summons. As a result, you have a very angry man there. On the other hand, in the case of the summons not collected by the intended recipient, the authority will have to send another registered letter or resort to other ways of serving the summons on him. To the best of my knowledge, if a registered letter is not collected, the relevant authority will summon him to court. So most people feel that the whole process is an unnecessary waste of time, money and resources. Whether it is in the court or at our meet-the-people sessions, much time is spent on ascertaining the reason why the defendants did not receive the summonses.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill keeps our legislation relevant to the support of the development in land transport technologies, and is in keeping with our on-going efforts to improve procedures for better administration and more effective enforcement. However, I would like to comment on the proposed new section 123A, subsection (9), which states that the surplus from the sale or disposal of the vehicle under subsection (8) shall be forfeited by the Government when it is not claimed by the vehicle owner. My suggestion is that the surplus be donated to charity, as is the case of unclaimed lottery prizes. This will send a clear signal to the public that the primary intention of the Government is administrative, and it is an effective solution to the problem at hand. It is not just that Government is after their money. This would also avoid criticism that the Government has actually profited out of the convenience of the legislated laws. Members of the public who fail to collect the sum of money due to them would be less unhappy with the Government because the money has actually been turned over to charity as provided for under the law. Should the Minister agree that the unclaimed surplus go to charity, then there should be corresponding amendments to section 123, subsection (5) of the principal Act which also deals with a similar issue. I would also like to comment on the new subsection (8) of section 123A. It provides that if the Government wants to sell the vehicle under subsection (2), it has to give one month's notice in the Government Gazette. On this, my personal view is that most of our people do not have access to the Government Gazette. They do not read the Government Gazette at all.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Of course, I understand that we are short of teachers, but I think we can recruit more teachers so that we can help these students with their studies and their work by giving them remedial classes, etc. But I still hope that the Ministry can step up efforts in recruiting and training of teachers. The schools can also look into the possibility of recruiting part-time tutors to provide proper guidance and conduct useful activities for these children. We know that if we do not invest in our young now, it will eventually lead to more serious problems later on. Of course, I am not saying that the parents should push their responsibility to the schools in the education of their children, but I know that the schools can play an important and critical role in educating the children.”
“We cannot expect the maid to perform the role of the mother in nurturing the children and supervising them in their studies. As a result, these children have so much time at their disposal that they end up loitering at shopping centres, video arcades or even lazing around the neighbourhood and get mixed up with some bad hats and become juvenile delinquents. This will eventually lead to more social problems. The Government has started experimenting with single session schools. But I understand that such single session schools are mainly independent schools. In most of these independent schools, the children usually come from families with better educated parents who are professionals themselves. More often than not, these parents know how to nurture and educate their children. My concern is more on the neighbourhood schools. I would like to urge the Government to introduce and expand the single session schools to as many of these neighbourhood schools as possible. They are schools with children from the lower-income families. Usually, the parents have low education and probably have to spend the whole day working, and have very little time or no time to spare. Even if they would like to teach their children, very often they are limited by their low education and knowledge, and they are unable to be of any help to the children. So the introduction of single session schools will keep the children occupied with useful and beneficial school activities instead of indulging in unlawful activities. 4.15 pm Schools can also use the time available to inculcate the virtues of moral uprightness, respect for the elders, etc.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L of the Main Estimates be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LA 1500. (In Mandarin): Sir, since independence, our Government has done a remarkable job in raising the standard of living of most Singaporeans. We have been the envy of many other countries. However, we have paid a high price for our prosperity and economic success. If you observe carefully, many Singaporean married couples today have to work and more often than not, both the husband and wife have to work to sustain their living needs. Of course, some choose to work because they want to be financially independent. While most choose to work because they have little choice as they need to maintain and sustain their high standard of living, many also want to provide their children with the best possible facilities and benefits. As a result, many parents have very little time because they usually leave their home early and come home late. Worse still, some even spend their weekend working instead of spending quality time with their children, not to mention fruitful communications with them. As such, over time, children would become detached and bear little feeling of closeness to their parents. Many would not even want to share with their parents when they have personal problems. It would have a very serious impact on our social life if this trend is not addressed. Sir, in recent times, we notice that a growing number of children are being looked after by domestic maids. This is not completely bad, but it does have undesirable effects on these school-going children. As most schools are still run on a half-day basis, these children will go home either to face the four walls of the house or the maid.”
“If we compare it with the tasks that the Singapore Sports Council needs to undertake to meet the increased demands, I think this is very negligible. This increase in budget is mainly provided for the subvention of land cost, provision for the operating of Jurong East swimming complex, salary revision and CPF adjustments of the staff. As for the national sports associations, they were totally neglected in this year's budget provision. Are we saying that the national sports associations have to survive on their own? Under such circumstances, how can we expect these national sports associations to carry out their mission, not to mention the promotion of sports activities and the advancement of sports? Nowadays, many of the national sports associations are struggling in their fund raising efforts. Willing sponsors are increasingly difficult to come by, as national sports associations need to compete with so many other activities to fight for a slice of the sponsorship pie. We all know that not all the sports associations can be as lucky as the Football Association of Singapore, which has a very huge sponsorship. Many associations need to get grants from the Singapore Sports Council to promote their cause. So I strongly call upon the Minister to consider increasing the budget in line with the increased tasks and responsibilities that are expected from the Singapore Sports Council. Meanwhile, I would urge the Government to increase the subsidy to the national sports associations. I hope that the Minister will consider giving an off-budget subsidy to these national sports associations. Then, with all the support and infrastructure in place, this will be the right time for us to correct the negative perception and enhance the image and status of sports in Singapore.”
“Sir, as we progress in the 21st century, Singapore has begun to place more importance on the other aspects of life. We begin to be more concerned with the lighter parts of our life, such as the arts, sports, etc. All the time, we have high expectations of ourselves, and whatever we do, we must do well. In sports, I think we should also have some achievements, because sports is a very important aspect of our nation building. Sir, Singaporeans are now better educated and they are more mature. Now they would want to have better quality of life in order to balance off the stressful city state life, because sports is a good way to help Singaporeans digress from their stressful life. The promotion of sports is gradually falling into place, particularly with the formation of the Ministry of Community Development and Sports. Now, all the national sports associations come under the purview of the MCDS. Already, we have seen many great sporting events being held in Singapore, such as the Singapore Golf Masters, and we have the Soccer 2010 Vision, etc. Of course, we need to improve on the facilities for all these sporting activities. Recently, a conference was organised by the Committee on Sporting Singapore to review and present the findings from its various sporting committees. We need to build a culture among Singaporeans to appreciate and accept sports as another worthwhile endeavour and achievement. In all these presentations, there were many creative and useful recommendations that could raise the awareness and standard of sports in Singapore. Sir, in this year's budget, the Singapore Sports Council is only allocated $45.59 million. This is only 4.1% or just $1.8 million more than last year.”
“Perhaps the Ministry of Manpower should examine our existing recruitment policy and guidelines on older workers employed in the public service and statutory boards. Although our leaders have helped these older workers to seek other jobs, very few concrete measures have been formulated to help them. I hope that we will not just talk about it. Therefore, I would urge MOM to take this lead to coordinate with the relevant Ministries and statutory boards to set a good example by taking concrete measures to recruit older workers in their departments.”
“Sir, my main concern is the training of our older workers. All along, our leaders have called on our workers, especially older ones, to upgrade their skills because they are usually the ones with higher risk of losing their jobs. While we fully understand the importance of skills upgrading, we must also be sensitive to the needs of older workers. We must have read many times in the papers how our older workers, despite having taken up advice to upgrade their skills, are still turned away at job interviews. In many cases highlighted, it is not that they do not possess the right skills or mindset, but more often than not, it is their age which prevents them from securing a job. Many employers though will not openly admit this. Although at the height of the recession in 1998, the tripartite partners did come up with some form of guidelines not to discriminate against older workers, it seems this has fallen on deaf ears. Many older workers now want to know what the Government has done or is planning to do to address the above worrying trends. From my feedback, individual Ministries have also embarked on outsourcing their operations to private contractors, for example, the Ministry of the Environment has farmed out some of its cleaning work to private contractors. Many older workers are definitely affected in such a situation. Will these private companies continue to re-employ these older workers? If these older workers are not re-employed, what happens to them? Does the Ministry show any concern to these workers or help them find alternative re-employment with these new private contractors? If these contractors refuse to employ these older workers, does it mean that these private contractors will go to recruit younger foreign workers?”
“With all the good intentions and efforts that have gone into putting together schemes for skills upgrading, I am sure some additional attention to addressing obstacles to the utilisation by target groups will be well worth the effort.”
“That the Government is committed to encourage and assist our workers to meet this challenge is clear, from the funding it has been willing to put to this cause. For older and lesser educated workers, particularly, hundreds of millions of dollars have been committed to the Skills Redevelopment Programme and the Manpower Development Assistance Scheme. However, as it has been noted by speakers before, and also the Minister of State for Manpower, in response to a Question in the House last year, our biggest challenge now is not so much in finding funds for upgrading, but encouraging both employers and workers to come forward and utilise these incentives. Indeed, Sir, having made all that money available, have we thoroughly investigated all the obstacles that are holding people back from accessing skills upgrading, and made a concerted effort, including perhaps signing a small portion of the fund to find ways to overcome them? A couple of routes come specifically to mind. Firstly, older workers for whom we may have classified as plain poor attitude may indeed be real psychological barriers and anxiety and who may benefit from better structured encouragement and counselling. Secondly, workers who are holding down more than one job to make ends meet. How can they be assisted to find the time or get financial assistance to tide them through during the duration of the course? And finally, single parents with child minding responsibilities, mainly women. Can simple baby-sitting arrangements, for example, at the place of instruction be made so that this group who would otherwise not be able to attend, especially for courses held in the evenings, can now have the opportunity?”
“In other words, the workers can apply to the NETF to finance their training on some courses which are not directly related to their work. The Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund is a laudable project. But the question is: how will the scheme operate and how can workers benefit from such a scheme? I hope that the Ministry of Manpower and the relevant agencies will quickly work out proper guidelines, incentives and operational schemes so that our workers can tap into the fund for their skills upgrading purposes. On this point, I hope that the scheme will be operated in different directions. We should also consider allowing every eligible Singapore citizen to apply directly to this Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund to pursue their skills upgrading courses. While most of our employers are generally supportive of training the workers, it is just not possible for our workers to go for training. At the same time, there may be some workers who may want to attend courses which, in the view of the employers, are not directly relevant or useful to their future career development. As we move towards the new economy, our workers' skills and knowledge will become obsolete very fast and they are constantly put to test. As such, the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund should be operated in a flexible manner in order that it may enable our workers to be quickly trained and retrained. Dr Jennifer Lee: Sir, I also read the Ministry of Manpower's Millennium Report and it is indeed a very impressive report. I particularly like the transformation of the idea of Singapore as a little red dot to Singapore as a hot spot for talent. The Report speaks of the rapid advances in technology and intense global competition that will require our workers to develop new skills throughout their lives.”
“Sir, the most valuable asset of Singapore of course is our human resource. Because this is one of our key building blocks in ensuring the continued competitiveness and survival of our economy. This is even more so now in the new Internet-driven economy which is largely determined by the quality and brain power of the human resources. Over the years, the Government has poured in substantial amounts of public funds to set up various training and retraining schemes. The Government has allocated $200 million for the Manpower Development Assistance Scheme (MDAS), $100 million for the Skills Development Fund (SDF), and another $200 million for the Skills Redevelopment Programme (SRP). Recently, the Minister announced that another $500 million will be added to the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund, making a total of $1 billion. This Fund is set up to train and retrain our workers to upgrade their skills and knowledge. We must also not forget the billions of dollars invested in our school education system to ensure that our new generation of workers are specially trained and possess the relevant skills for the new economy. Sir, the setting up of the various schemes is a move in the right direction to upgrade the skills and knowledge of our workers. However, I must point out that SDF and SRP schemes are essentially employer-based. In other words, the courses that the workers would like to go to must be relevant to their work only. Only then will the employers be willing to allow them to go for training or retraining. It is precisely for this reason that the NTUC set up the NTUC Education and Training Fund (NETF), with the support of the Government, to train union members on an individual basis.”
“However, for us to continue to achieve economic success, such value system of togetherness and bonding must be deeply ingrained in every Singaporean, so that we can ride out the challenges ahead.”
“Despite our efforts over the years to build a cohesive and unified society through various schemes and programmes, there are still pockets of Singaporeans who feel otherwise, in particular, the younger group. Not only have they become materialistic, they have come to expect what Singapore should offer them, rather than how they could contribute to the growth of the society and country. Are they wrong? We cannot really say so. One of the key points to note is the sense that they have nothing to do with the achievements of Singapore. They felt that they could do very little or they have no role to play. This is a real concern because many perhaps have taken the good and high standard of living that they enjoy now as their right and entitlement, instead of a privilege. Their better education and our open economy have enabled the younger generation unlimited access to information of the world. This has perhaps shaped their thinking and created high aspiration and expectation. 1.00 pm Singapore 21 has set out a grand vision for every Singaporean in which everyone of us has a role to play in sustaining and ensuring our success and survival. It is a pity that after its grand introduction, somehow the vision has been forgotten. While it is important to emphasise economic success, we should also not forget the very fundamental values of society and family. It is these values that will bind our people together in a crisis and to carry our nation through thick and thin. Occasionally, we can see such feelings and emotions of togetherness and closing of ranks among Singaporeans when we deal with issues such as the SQ 006 crash and the occasional bashing from Malaysia. We can see such feelings and passion for Singapore.”
“The provision of basic amenities, such as medical healthcare services, housing, education, public facilities like parks, playgrounds, etc, should serve as a means in bridging the income gap. We should continue to leverage on providing such basic facilities at an affordable rate and make it accessible to every Singaporean regardless of their status in our society. Ensuring that every Singaporean has ready access to each of these services regardless of race, religion and their position in society is the only way to create a level playing field for all Singaporeans. Sir, my next cut is on the identity crisis - my role as a Singaporean. Our Government has always been mindful and sensitive in devising our policies and approaches. Many good programmes and schemes, such as making funds available for skills training, asset enhancement, CPF top-up, rebates on utilities charges, etc, have been initiated over the years by the Government in an effort to "level up" our society and to share the fruits of success. While such schemes should be encouraged, should we not be mindful of the ill effect they may impose on Singaporeans, especially on items such as rebates and CPF top-up? In fact, many have taken these for granted and that they no longer consider them as a privilege. What if our economy turns bad? What will happen? Will Singaporeans still expect to receive their privileges? What happens if they do not receive? A recent survey on younger Singaporeans revealed that their pragmatism and lack of passion for Singapore will make them leave Singapore for greener pastures without any hesitation.”
“Of course, I am not suggesting in any way that we should give hand-outs and welfare to those who are unable to make the leap. We must acknowledge that despite all our efforts to motivate and encourage fellow Singaporeans to upgrade, there will always be a group who will find it difficult or unable to cope. This group of people will continue to earn low wages, while the rest will ride the Internet wave and earn good wages. Our meritocratic system has served us well. The good and the able will be rewarded handsomely, whilst the less able will be treated fairly. It is precisely in this area that our Government should continue to play a proactive role. While we cannot and should not arbitrarily manage and bridge the widening income gap, we can offer other means to level up. Over the years, the Government has been generous by offering periodic CPF top-ups for the lower income groups and the aged, and asset enhancement through shares, Edusave scholarships, etc, all in an attempt to ensure that the less privileged and the lower income family will feel and enjoy also the fruits of our success. These are good schemes and should be encouraged, continued, and more should be introduced. Nevertheless, I must stress that ensuring our social cohesion goes beyond just providing occasional CPF top-ups or, in simple terms, material benefits. These are not enough. Lower income and the less privileged groups, which may grow in numbers, should not be left to feel that they have been deprived or, worse still, unable to gain access to certain basic amenities due to their inability to afford the cost. It is in this respect that our Government has a pivotal role to play.”
“Sir, we have been successful over the years in raising the standard of living of most Singaporeans. In fact, it has become the envy of many nations around us. However, in our relentless pursuit, like many developed nations, we will have to grapple with issues such as widening income gap between the higher income group, the rich, and the lower income group, the poor. This phenomenon will be further accelerated by our open door policy to investments, inflow of foreign talents and today's Internet-driven economy. They call it the great digital divide. This digital divide is a serious problem. Those who can capitalise on the growth of the Internet economy will benefit immensely, whilst those still lagging behind in the old economy will suffer the fate of dwindling income or stagnation. Unlike developed nations with vast resources, our prized asset is our human resource as our capital. We are only a red dot on the map. We know that we cannot and are not capable of reversing this international trend. As a small country, we cannot afford social disorder and a collapse within our social fabric. Therefore, we place a high premium in ensuring our social cohesion, racial harmony and integration among the various races, and unity among our people. Like our world-class infrastructure, social cohesion can be ranked as one of our key pillars supporting our continued competitiveness and survival in today's globalised economy. As such, the great digital and income divide issue has to be addressed with great care and sensitivity. While we continue our drive to attract the best investments and talents to Singapore, those who are unable to keep pace with this drive should not be left behind to fend for themselves, or made to feel severely handicapped.”
“When they seek specialist treatment, the amount should be a token sum as a gesture of goodwill in recognition of their past contributions to the society during their younger days. In this way, they will know that their charges are capped and they would not have to worry whether they have the financial resources to pay for continual treatment.”
“Sir, I would say that the Government has done well in providing healthcare for the elderly. Recently, we announced the subsidized health screening for the elderly costing the Government $6.6 million and also a provision of $11 million basic MediShield plan for the elderly. All these schemes are intended to ensure that our elderly are well taken care of in the event they have to be hospitalised. However, I am concerned over the recent increase in charges for specialist treatment in hospitals. Will the increase in charges make it more difficult for the elderly to seek treatment? Even if their children are willing to pay, it would cause undue financial burden to them, especially if they come from lower-income families. This is especially so when the elderly are more prone to illness due to their old age. As a result, they may require more extensive and long-term treatment. Our polyclinics have done well by providing affordable outpatient treatment and by giving the elderly sick concessionary rates. However, in hospitalisation cases, the MediShield plan should be able to take care of the main bulk of the cost, while, in certain extremely difficult cases, Medifund will chip in to help. My main concern is how we can make sure that in the event the elderly patients need specialist consultation at the hospital after referral from the polyclinic, they will not stop seeking treatment due to the high cost of such treatment. If they do not want to burden their children, they will cite reasons such as high cost or others, and ask for traditional and cheaper types of treatment. Therefore, I would urge the Minister to consider imposing a cap on the amount that could be charged.”
“Naturally, workers would expect the Budget to get better each year. We may not be able to repeat the performance of the year 2000 in 2001, and instead there may be a slowdown in our economy. If that happens, can the Government convince the people to accept something less? Whilst material gains and benefits are important in levelling up our people and sharing our fruits of success, it is not the only thing. More crucial is to cultivate a sense of identity and sense of belonging to our country, which ultimately will ensure our social cohesion and unity in time of crisis as our nation progresses. Therefore, I would like to urge the Government to put in more resources and effort to inculcate this sense and the spirit of nation-building among Singaporeans, and hope that future Budget statements will better reflect this growing need in the difficult times ahead. Hopefully, with this approach, we will be able, over time, to change the mindset of our people and that they are able to bond together and go through the thick and thin of times. Sir, I congratulate the Finance Minister for his excellent Budget. I also commend him for his understanding of our people's expectations. On this note, I fully support the Budget for 2001.”
“I am glad a Tripartite Working Committee on Work Redesign has commenced to look into restructuring jobs in the hotel, marine and cleaning industries. I hope that they will look into the issue of how older workers can be fitted into new jobs, rather than focusing too much on increasing productivity. While striving to maintain investors' confidence in our economy, to that end, the National Wages Council had endorsed the monthly variable component (MVC). The MVC is targeted to form about 10% of total wages. It acts as a first cushioning effect before a CPF cut is considered. However, the progress in implementing the MVC in companies has not been encouraging. As a result, we may not be able to achieve such wage restructuring in time to come. The slowdown in the US economy will have some spillover effects on our economy. Can our workers still look forward to a full restoration of the employer's CPF contribution or will they face the prospect of another cut in CPF if the economy worsens? Sir, the issue of the cost of living has been discussed many times. However, it is a subject that touches the heart and soul of every Singaporean, especially the lower income group. The recent increase in electricity tariffs had sparked a huge uproar. This was made worse by wrong billing. The continued increase in petrol prices also led many Singaporeans to believe that this is the result of monopoly in the industry. I urge the Government to monitor closely the increase in prices in these companies with particular regard to the basic essential items, such as electricity, water and other basic amenities. Sir, this is one of the most generous budgets, especially for the individuals. In fact, Singaporeans have been looking forward to it.”
“In these sectors, many new and skilled jobs will be created. However, how can we channel retrenched workers into these sectors? Do they possess the necessary skills to take up these jobs? We need to address the issue of skills mismatch among our retrenched workers. The Government adopted several initiatives through the Manpower Development Assistance Scheme, SDF and the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund to address the issue. NTUC has the SRP and N-ETF to upgrade skills of our workers, so that they will remain employable and, in the event of retrenchment, they are able to take up higher skill jobs. While it is necessary to put in place these schemes, it is insufficient to deal with the problem of structurally displaced workers. However, other than these schemes, the retrenched workers themselves must be willing to be retrained and take up jobs in the high growth sectors. After training, the next challenging task is to match these workers with the new jobs. To achieve this end, a better job matching system, coupled with constant contact with the retrenched workers, must be put in place. Equally important is the willingness of our workers to be retrained and take up jobs in these new industries. However, what is causing concern is that many retrenched workers choose to drive taxis rather than take up training and move into these new jobs and industries. Mr Speaker, Sir, another challenge that we face is the training of our older workers. Even when some of these older workers accepted our advice and went for retraining, more often than not they were turned away at job interviews. Many employers cited age as the main reason for rejecting them. With scarce human resources and the longer life expectancy, we need to make better use of our workers.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Budget 2001 has been hailed, as many colleagues have said, a good Budget for the people and businesses. Under the able leadership of our Government, we have managed to achieve a budget surplus. Our economy performed remarkably well in the year 2000. This was due to strong external developments, sound economic policies and, more importantly, it was due to the sacrifice of our workers. The cut in CPF in 1999 has restored our competitiveness and has gained investors' confidence. For this, full credit must go to our workers. CPF contribution has been progressively restored since January 2000, bringing the employer's CPF contribution rate to 16%. Many people think that this is an election year Budget. However, facts had shown that our economy indeed grew remarkably in the year 2000. It was our workers who had borne the major brunt in the economic recession in 1997/1998. It is only fair and timely that they should be recompensed for such sacrifice. There are clear signs that the economy is slowing down. In particular, the US economy is heading for a slowdown. We have projected growth of between 5-7%, if the US economy grows by 2-2.5%. Dr Richard Hu cautioned that any negative growth figure in the US will mean that we will be hit hard. Does the Government have other off-Budget measures it had introduced during the recession in 1997/1998? We agree that we must be prepared for difficult times ahead. Growth in global electronics has slowed significantly. As the US is our major electronic export market, to what extent would the slowdown affect our workers' job security? Therefore, it is right for the Government to promote other high value added industries as we move forward into the New Economy, such as the life sciences and infocomm industries.”
“The politics of meritocracy not only enables the top talents to scale the peak but also continues to provide the lower-income people with the hope and the twilight that they and their children will be led to enjoy a better standard of living. EXEMPTED BUSINESS (Motion) Resolved, That the debate on the Statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister and the remaining items on the Order Paper for today be exempted at this day's sitting from the provisions of Standing Order No. 1. - [Dr Lee Boon Yang]. CIVIL SERVICE NWC AWARD, PUBLIC SECTOR SALARY REVISIONS, AND REVIEW OF SALARY BENCHMARKS”
“Of course, we can each pay 10 cents a year to get a helmsman, but that helmsman is a helmsman of a tongkang or a sampan. And a sampan or tongkang cannot carry four million people. When I re-read Senior Minister Lee's Memoirs, my belief in the importance of good Government leaders is further enhanced. From the time we entered Malaysia and the time we were separated from it, if not for the Senior Minister's wisdom and sharp political judgment, we would be sitting here today as a city council and not Parliament, and the issues we would be discussing would be to get more financial allocation from the central government or to get loans from the IMF. Mr Speaker, Sir, I am saying all these just to tell the people of Singapore that what we should worry about is not pay increases for the Ministers, but whether we can get the best people to become our leaders and to practise the system of meritocracy. We must retain the best talent in our civil service and Cabinet. If we lose them, it will be a loss to the nation. Of course, of equal importance is that we should not forget those low-income earners who work hard for the nation. In this respect, I am glad to hear Minister BG Yeo once again assuring the House yesterday that the Government would continue to provide affordable housing and healthcare to the lower-income group, and would continue to invest heavily in education and training, thereby ensuring the employability of the workers. A good government will ensure that the children of all Singaporeans, rich or poor, will have equal opportunities to be educated and to be promoted to a better standard of living. Good leaders will make the lower-income people feel, at all times, that whenever they encounter difficulties, the Government would be around to lend them a helping hand.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the pay revision for civil servants tabled by DPM Lee. This is done in order to maintain, strengthen and continue the system that has stood us in good stead. In the past few decades, our system has brought about an improvement in the quality of life of our people. Ours is an open, transparent system which practises meritocracy. Under this system, our leaders are not allowed to abuse their powers and to amass a great amount of wealth for themselves. Unlike other countries where greed and corruption have become rife and rampant, in Singapore, there is no room for money politics and Ministers do not have dubious extra benefits. It is pragmatic to link Ministers' pay with those top earners in the private sector as their salaries should not lag far behind those top earners in the private sector. We should attract the most capable and talented people to come forward to join the Government by ensuring that their salaries should not lag far too behind those of their friends in the private sector. We must attract the best and the most competent to enter politics. Of course, they should not be motivated by greed. They should come out spontaneously to take part in the process of renewal of our political leadership. After the pay revision, our Prime Minister's pay is $1.94 million, which is equivalent to the pay of the 63rd top earner in the private sector. Prime Minister Goh and his team have led the people through the financial crisis and they have been able to turn a deficit of $5.1 billion into a surplus of S$3.2 billion. The Prime Minister's yearly remuneration of $1.94 million is about 50 cents for each of the 4 million people. This is the negligible amount they have to pay to hire a helmsman. Is 50 cents too high a price to pay?”
“There should be enough activities in school to let our young learn these values in life. Only then can we say that education in Singapore is a success. I must commend the Ministry for having begun the process of revamping the education system to meet the needs of a knowledge-based economy. One of the measures that I cannot agree more is the implementation of the double-degree programme at the NUS this year, allowing undergraduates to earn two degrees from separate faculties at the same time. This paradigm shift, according to NUS, is to give students a more well-rounded and broad-based education. This is a good start. I hope the Ministry does not stop here, but allow such a programme to be extended to other universities. Also, the Ministry should consider allowing Singapore or even overseas graduates to take up second or even third degrees at our universities. The rationale for this proposal is the same as the one for the double-degree programme for existing undergraduates. The benefits are many. Graduates can acquire more broad-based knowledge that they need at work. The option helps them to become all rounders. Graduates who want to pursue a second career can do so, without having to spend a lot of money overseas or leave their families. Undergraduates can learn from those who have been exposed to the workforce before. We need to open up our universities to provide more options for Singaporeans if we want to inculcate a culture of a lifelong learning in Singapore. We have arrived at a stage where the university is no longer a place to acquire knowledge alone, but a place to search for further knowledge and development. More changes and flexibility have to be introduced to bring this about.”
“Sir, for many years, academic performance has been the focal point in our Singapore education system, as what Dr Wang has said just now. Examination scores are more important than anything else. This is what matters most in admission to the junior colleges, universities and even jobs, especially in the civil service. School rankings depend on it, so does the assessment of teachers. Academic performance by examination scores is the easiest to measure, just like output of workers. Perhaps that is why such yardstick has been around for so many years. To meet the needs of the new age of technology, the Ministry is working out a new school excellence model that is not only concerned with academic achievements, but also achievement in areas like arts, sports, uniformed groups and physical fitness. The new model widens the scope for schools to be assessed - not just in their academic results, but also in other areas. With these new criteria, it means that schools can encourage students to excel in other areas. This is a major leap and I applaud the Ministry. Having been steeped in the culture of academic excellence, it will take some time for teachers and parents to re-orientate themselves to the new possibilities, especially when academic performance continues to matter most when it comes to admission to universities, junior colleges and jobs. Also, in any education system, we must always bear in mind that the aim of educating our children is to enable them to contribute to the community. There is no point nurturing wizards who end up caring for themselves. Let us have competition, but not at the cost of neglecting other areas of life - the camaraderie, the need to care for others, the need to contribute to community.”
“If the Government could grant the subsidy, it will encourage more private operators and cooperatives to play a larger role in providing affordable services to those who need such services. Hopefully, more day care centres would be set up for the benefit of our senior citizens. The Government has introduced the studio apartments for our elderly to have more choices in their housing options. This is something which is very good. HDB has also promised a "complete living environment" so that the elderly will be able to live near their children and other elderly people in an estate with easily accessible amenities. Can the Government inform us on the types of facilities and services which will be provided for residents of the studio apartment? Will the service providers be confined to the voluntary welfare organisations? Can private operators also be given the opportunity to provide such services?”
“Sir, I am pleased to note that the Government will increase tax reliefs for those who live with their aged parents by $500 to $5,000. I am also pleased that the Government is extending the CPF's top-up scheme to include the grandparents as well. The above measures will encourage more young people to live with and take care of their aged parents, promote inter-generational ties and strengthen family bonding and filial piety among the children. Singapore's population is ageing rapidly. It is a matter regarded as very serious among all our people. In 1998, the Government formed the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Ageing Population to lead a coordinated national response to address the challenges of Singapore's rapidly ageing population. The Inter-Ministerial Committee has finalised its recommendations and has submitted its report to the Government. Perhaps, the Government could enlighten us on whether there is any timeframe for the implementation of the various recommendations of the report, as many of the Members who spoke before me have also expressed interest in it. The Government provides childcare subsidies for working mothers to send their children to childcare centres of their choice. Of course, the children are the future masters of our nation. There is nothing wrong with such subsidy. However, for our elderly, who had worked hard and contributed to our nation during their younger days, we should consider giving similar subsidy for working couples to send their elderly in the family to some elderly day-care centres, irrespective of whether they are run by the voluntary welfare organisations, or by private operators, or cooperatives.”
“Sir, as far as the media is concerned, there is no free market. It is a monopoly. Therefore, I ask whether the Ministry can control the prices of advertisements.”
“Sir, advertisers always feel that it is expensive to advertise in the newspapers. Could the Ministry control the prices of advertisements in the newspapers so as to make it more affordable?”
“Sir, I support the appeal by Dr Vasoo. We should give more help to the voluntary welfare organisations, because feedback from many voluntary welfare organisations indicate that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to raise funds to finance their activities and projects. Based on the report on the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Healthcare for the Elderly, the VWOs are encouraged to continue providing long-term care services at community hospitals, chronic sick hospitals, nursing homes, day-care centres and in the elderly people's own homes. In view of the increasing needs of an ageing population, VWOs are needed to provide more such services to accommodate the increase in demand. Not only are more VWOs needed, the services that they provide must also be of high quality. To ensure that the care they provide is of good quality, the VWOs are expected to actively explore and implement various assistance programmes to help to improve the process and outcome of care for the elderly. To carry out these programmes, much time and efforts are required from them. This leaves them with little time to raise funds to run the services. In order to ease the burden of the VWOs and to encourage more VWOs to provide services for the elderly, the Government should provide more funding to them, even more than before. In view of this, perhaps the Government would like to consider reviewing the current funding principles of up to 90% for capital expenditure and up to 50% of the recurrent expenditure or the VWOs' deficit, whichever is lower. This would help to reduce the burden of fund-raising for the VWOs to enable them to concentrate on their core activities.”
“Could the Ministry of Education come out with a list of recognised long-distance institutions of learning so that our people will have some guide? RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Sir, I have explained this before and I will do so again. There are many institutions which offer qualifications of various kinds, including degrees. They can be offered by long distance, as the Member has said, they can be by twinning programmes. They can be offered over the Internet. They can be offered by correspondence. The Ministry of Education is not in a position to accredit or to make a judgment on the quality of any of these qualifications because they can be offered by institutions in a number of countries. So it will have to be left to individuals to decide for themselves, when they take up a particular programme, on the quality of the offerings of that particular institution, and it will have to be left to the employers to decide, when they are employing particular individuals, what are the qualifications of the persons who are applying for the job. That is the only practical way of dealing with the situation when there are large numbers and varieties of qualifications that are on offer. ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 2000 TO 31ST MARCH, 2001 (Paper Cmd. No. 2 of 2000) Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [6th Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] Head P (cont.) - Amendment moved [13th March, 2000], "That the total sum to be allocated for Head P of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100." - [Mr Bernard Chen] Question proposed.”
“In the papers today, we find many advertisements on external degrees which are offered by the various institutions of learning. The costs of pursuing these degrees are very high. Very often students who ---”
“As the objective of life-long learning is to ensure the workers' employability, it is the employers who should undertake such a task as they know better what their workers need. But many employers are not taking the initiative. We have many excellent managerial people. This is evidenced by our ranking by the World Economic Forum and other independent organisations. Therefore, our managerial staff can upgrade themselves, particularly in areas such as business strategies, decision-making and human resource management. Sir, I would like to remind this House that while urging our workers to upgrade themselves, we should provide them with the necessary information and incentives and should not resort to applying pressure on them. In this way, they will be more interested in learning a new skill and feel that it is to their benefit that they do so.”
“He wished to pursue an external Masters degree on IT for non-IT savvy people conducted by a private institution. After reading the prospectus for the course, he felt confident that he could complete such a course. However, his friend advised him not to pursue such a course because it was meant for senior managers who need IT knowledge to help them formulate policies. It was not a course on how to use IT. Eventually, he chose a diploma course. Another example concerns a worker in his 40s. Like other workers, he was eager to upgrade himself by attending a personnel management course which had nothing to do with his present job. Having completed this course, he was still doing the same job and he felt that it was a waste of time getting such a diploma. Sir, I believe that there are many people who have had such similar experiences. Life-long learning is not a new concept. In the past, we have adult education courses for people who, for some reasons, could not complete their formal schooling in their younger days and would like to catch up with their studies, and for those who have finished a certain level of their formal education but would like to upgrade themselves professionally. But today, life-long learning is no longer the pursuit of formal education but an effort to ensure one's life-long employability in the changing labour market and to stay competitive. As such, our national life-long learning concept should encompass workers in all sectors to enable them to upgrade their skills and to change jobs. Employers should be involved in training their workers and when they have learnt certain new or better skills, due recognition should be given to them, though not necessarily in monetary form. I would like to raise a related issue.”
“Sir, with the rapid advance in IT today, we must consistently upgrade ourselves, otherwise, we will be lagging behind others. We should therefore encourage our workers to learn and continue to learn and to cultivate the concept of life-long learning. Some workers who are aware of the need for continuous learning have gone to attend classes to upgrade themselves and hence enhance their market values, while others have not seen such a need. Some do not even know where to attend such classes and maybe there is no impetus to motivate them to learn. The Manpower 21 plan formulated last year aims to promote life-long learning and to set up a national institute to realise such a plan. But I am particularly concerned with workers who are in the service sector. They urgently need such upgrading but they lack the necessary encouragement and information on how to go about doing it, whereas in the manufacturing sector, a lot has been done in this area. With the participation of some companies, a series of technical courses have been designed and conducted. Moreover, there is a comprehensive range of standardised courses for the workers. But workers in the service sector have been neglected. How do workers in the service sector upgrade themselves? What suitable courses are available for them? What types of jobs would no longer be available? What new skills must they learn? All these questions should be comprehensively addressed in the report on life-long learning. Let me cite an example. I know of an unemployed student who has studied mass communications in an overseas university. He would like to work in the IT industry. He consulted a professional who worked in the IT industry on what sort of IT courses he should take up.”
“In the past two years, we saw a lot of developments . New Internet start-ups, retailers going online. Big players merging to become even bigger - all clamouring to position themselves for a share of the Internet market. As companies deal directly with customers on the Internet, there is talk that the middlemen may be sidelined. What is the impact on the small businessmen in Singapore? What is the impact on the Singapore worker? There is a need to prepare ourselves for the onslaught. New IT training, new and innovative marketing strategies. Net technology is still developing. What you learn today may be superseded by advancements tomorrow. Just take an example. HTML (Hypertext markup language) that the Internet depends on initially is now no longer enough. You have new developments like Javascript, Vbscript and so on. How soon can training institutes catch up with and impart the skills to our workers? Sir, these are issues that the new Manpower 21 Committee should address.”
“Sir, the downfall of communism, the opening up of many countries in the region and in the world to trade and foreign investment, and recently the advent of the Internet, all have an impact on the Singapore economy. The Internet, especially, has speeded up the development towards a global economy as it becomes possible to communicate with anyone in the world and at any time with the click of a mouse. To deal with the challenges posed by emerging economies, like China and Thailand, we have begun to move away from low-cost manufacturing where we have become less competitive to high value-added industries where we are in a better position to compete. In the process, many of our workers from these low-cost operations have been retrenched. We need to re-train them for jobs that new high value-added investments are bringing in. But while our intentions are good, not many workers seem prepared to go along with it. Workers have cited many reasons: working place is too far, shift work, pay is too low, employers want younger workers, having to re-learn and so on. Whatever the reasons, I feel that there is a need for re-training to begin as early as possible, not at the stage when workers have been retrenched, or about to be retrenched. Maybe this will make the transition easier. Workers will feel more confident about taking on new jobs because they already have some basic knowledge of the technology acquired some time back. Is there a way to identify industries where re-training can be intensively pursued? It is said that employers who can rely on foreign workers also tend to be the ones who do not want to hire older Singaporean workers. Perhaps some incentives can be given to them to encourage them to do so. As for the Internet, its actual impact is still unknown.”
“Sir, I would also urge the Government to revise certain labour laws to allow trade unions to represent casual, contract or part-time workers who are paid by the companies on a project-by-project basis. Tougher economic competition will force companies to downsize their workers to cut cost. This trend will grow in future and those without the skills needed in the labour market may be forced to become casual or part-time workers. They will move from one project to another without getting CPF contributions paid by the employers. When they retire, they will have no CPF or medical savings to take care of their old age requirements. Singapore is marching into the 21st century. It will be a different Singapore from that in the past century. With technology advances and the Internet revolution, many existing jobs and skills will become redundant. But, at the same time, new jobs requiring new knowledge and skills will be created. As such, it will be unavoidable that the wage gap between the IT literates and those with lower education and skills will widen. Besides urging workers to change their mindsets to one of life-long learning in order to surf on the wave of changes, I wonder whether there are any other plans to help those lower skilled workers adapt to these changes. I think it is timely for the Government to study these implications and to make extra effort to help these lower income earners keep pace with the change. In short, this is to help them increase their incomes so that they can enjoy a better standard of living. Simply put, the Government should think of ways to help the low income workers so that they will also be able to ride on the trend and to enjoy a higher standard of living. 6.30 pm”
“The $250 CPF top-up in the new Budget is a good way for the Government to tell these Singaporean workers that this is good news for them. It is a good way for the Government to tell them that it cares for them and appreciate their sacrifices during the recent recession. It is also a good idea for the Government to make these top-ups whenever there is a surplus in the annual Budget. Because of their low income, many workers do not pay income tax and therefore do not enjoy tax reliefs. With all these kind gestures on the part of the Government, it will be easier for the Government to convince them to accept wage cuts if there is another recession in future. Sir, there are other ways to reach out to the hearts and minds of the rank and file workers. Many of them would want to know when they can get back the full 10% cut in CPF contributions by employers. The first restoration of 2% will be made on 1st April this year. Will the next instalment be made next year if the economy grows by 4.5%-6.5% this year, as expected by the Government? If the growth is sustained in this way, how long will it take for the Government to restore the full 10% that was cut? The Government can also provide more funds to step up skills upgrading for those with low education and skills. Perhaps in the years to come, when there is a budget surplus, the Government could explore the idea of having a similar $250 CPF top-up but in a skills upgrading account instead, to encourage our workers to use this fund to upgrade their skills. The Government can also consider giving more funds to Community Development Councils and town councils to help retrenched workers and their families.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to speak in support of the latest Government Budget. I am particularly pleased with the $250 top-up of workers' CPF ordinary accounts and the rebates for rentals and HDB conservancy and service charges. These benefit workers and their families directly and will be especially useful for those in the low income group. Other Singaporeans and those in the low income group have also accepted the 10% cut from the employer's CPF contribution and wage cuts last year to pull Singapore out of the recession. It is painful for those earning low salaries to accept the cuts, but their sacrifices have not been in vain. It helped companies to cut cost and saved many jobs. Last year, the number of retrenched workers fell to 14,600, about half the figure of the previous year. But we must not forget that less than half of Singaporeans above the age of 40 have secondary and higher education. They were born before 1960. At that time, we were living under the colonial rule. We grew up in poverty. There was no opportunity for us to learn English or to go to the secondary school. Therefore, this group of people did not receive good education. If this group of more than 800,000 people, or 42% of our total workforce, could not upgrade their skills because of linguistic problems, they are likely to lose their jobs. Many do not have computers at home or at work and are practically IT-illiterate. They can easily be replaced by younger and more computer-savvy employees who are cheaper to hire and are more trainable. If these older folks lose their jobs, they will have no income to support themselves and their families. They will also lose medical and other benefits provided by their previous employers.”
“Sir, the Government has kept faith with workers by restoring the CPF contribution rate and an increase in bonus for civil servants. Our workers supported the cost-cutting measures to help the economy to turn around. From the DPM's statement, I guess that the Ministers and top civil servants will receive a big pay rise. Could DPM enlighten us on this?”
“Hence the trilogy gets played again, and again. Isn't this our rondo? I think you may find it gloomy to listen to so much of hardship and woes. But then this was exactly the experience of Singapore 65. In 1965, we became independent. We suffered much hardship, much more than now. But our forefathers, led by our first generation leaders, all sang this trilogy of hardship, and built up a peaceful and prosperous Singapore for our enjoyment. Now, in 1999, we placed emphasis on the Singapore 21 vision. Like our forefathers, we want to create opportunities for our next generation. Let us see Singapore 21 as a continuation and extension of Singapore 65. We are now much stronger than we were in 1965. So if we could do it in 1965, why can we not do it in the year 2000? We have gone through the trilogy of hardship. We are now entering the next trilogy in our rondo. Having sung the first trilogy, we should be more confident about the second. So let us get on with it. I feel that this is the great inspiration that we can derive from the President's Address. This is the challenge that the President's Address has outlined for us.”
“But, on the other hand, we need not suffer the hardship in silence or suffer it alone. In a traditional society, we have happiness to share, we have hardship to share as well. So long as we have strong family, it will give us strength. We also have friends to rely on, and the community can remain cohesive, then all of us will be able to suffer the hardship as well as share the happiness together. In this process, we will be able to give one another the much needed support, so that in our failure we get sympathy, we get the support from our friends, and remain strong and unbroken. When we succeed, we have also encouragement from our friends and people to share our happiness and joy. This makes life rich, meaningful, and interesting. When everyone is ready to suffer with us and enjoy together, we will be able to find courage to risk and face failures. We will then be upright, strong, principled, and courageous. We could then claim to have the spirit of a world-class nation and a world-class citizen. So after all these struggles, and after all the hardships, we will succeed. We will reach the end of hardship and taste the sweetness of success. This is something that we should treasure. So we completed the trilogy. However, we must also remember that we should not indulge in and drown ourselves in sweetness. We should not be arrogant and complacent. We must remember that we have to continue to look for, face, and overcome new challenges. And in the struggles and facing the challenges, we will set new targets, new goals and new objectives, so that we go through the same process of hardship again to achieve further success. We will go back to the first step of hardship, share that with our community, and then achieve success again.”
“But we have to uphold the spirit of "failure is the mother of success", draw experience from our failures and never say die! We have to inspire our people to build up the courage to face failures and anticipate failures. This reminds me of the story of "The King and the Spider" which I read in primary school. Once upon a time, when Scotland was at war with England, the King of Scotland lost six battles successively against England. He took shelter at a broken house. There, he saw a spider making its web. When the web was half way through, the wind blew and the web was broken. The spider tried again, but the same thing happened. It kept on trying and trying, until the sixth time, yet it failed again. The king who was taking shelter there said, "Poor spider, you are like me. I have also lost six battles. I do not think I should try again." But the tiny little spider refused to give up, and on the seventh time, it succeeded in completing its web. The king jumped up in joy and called up all his subordinates to prepare for a new battle. As it turned out, he won! This story tells us how we should face our failures. I asked my children whether they have read the fable. Both of them said no. We should create opportunities for children to read this kind of story. If we are used to always live in peace and comfort, afraid of losing, afraid of dying, afraid of uncertainty, afraid of failure, we will have no fighting spirit to face the challenge of our future. We must always aim to move forward. We must have the courage and determination to be creative, to innovate and to find new ways and solutions to our problems. Only then can we find the new Promised Land. So we must be able to suffer the greatest of hardship, to be up and coming.”