Ong Teng Koon
Singapore
“As the old adage says, "A sunken ship watches a thousand boats pass by it, a withered tree sees ten thousand saplings blossom beyond it. (As the old continue to wither away, the new will blossom and lead the way.)" Sir, we will be able to find a new way of polling that will adapt to the new information age.”
“Mr Chairman, the BuildSG Transformation Fund has catalysed many productivity innovation projects last year. In the construction sector, there was a focus on offsite prefabrication to improve productivity.”
“Mr Chairman. I wish to thank the Minister, on behalf of the residents of Blocks 115 and 119 of Marsiling Rise for his kind and compassionate consideration of the situation with the introduction of the Lift Access Grant.”
“But I feel that financial prudence should be about not overspending above a projected cost, a certain limit. It cannot be, but HDB has been telling me this and it is not about putting an arbitrary limit on the costs without taking into account our residents' well-being.”
“Mr Chairman, with the on-going COVID-19 outbreak, we have seen destabilising falsehoods that have hurt our nation. These range from the false closure of Woodlands MRT station; seven countries banning travel to Singapore; to an online falsehood regarding the death of a man in Singapore from COVID-19, when no such death had occurred.”
“Trade associations can also help to mobilise the workers. Our emphasis on lifelong learning will provide a skilled workforce of craftsmen and domain experts. Perhaps what we really need is for the Government to invest in a Mittelstand fund or to start a Mittelstand development bank to catalyse the entire SME ecosystem.”
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“There are some local part-time job portals like Freeboh or MyWorkSG that are gaining a lot of traction, as even more workers report their willingness to partake in the gig economy. While the gig economy increases our resilience of the workforce as a whole by matching workers with new opportunities, there are some concerns. And we hear Deputy Prime Minister Tharman saying that he is not yet a fan of the gig economy. For me, there are two concerns. The first is that these freelancers may not develop and grow their skills and end up doing the same role forever. There is nothing to incentivise them or there is nobody looking out for the freelancers in terms of their career progression. The other concern that I have is that the gig economy essentially transfers the risk from company to individuals. Freelancers do not enjoy statutory benefits like the full-time work people do, such as annual leave, maternity benefits, In-camp Training reimbursements or paid medical leave. They also lack group medical insurance that most full-timers enjoy. Although MediShield Life provides hospitalisation coverage, freelancers still lack accident, life and especially outpatient benefits that many companies currently provide. The trend towards part-time and freelance work is gaining momentum. The gig economy will allow workers to work in a variety of roles and pick up new skills. This supplements or bolsters training or retraining like what we are trying to do in the SkillsFuture. But instead of the classroom, the gig economy will let them try and learn in real life. Let me begin to draw my remarks to a close. The role of the Government here is to ensure that worker welfare is sufficiently protected in this brave new world.”
“For years, we have been trying to raise productivity in Singapore companies. This is the critical step towards building resilience and robust businesses to try to allow businesses to thrive in tough times. However, for many workers, this can sound ominous. They think that they will be replaced by robots or do double duty as their teams are "downsized". Looking ahead, technology will threaten other jobs further up the value chain, and at a much faster pace than anticipated. Autonomous vehicles will displace drivers, and that we know. But increasingly, trading algorithms have started to displace trading professionals, many armed with Masters and PhDs. And in the future, artificial intelligence might replace human lawyers, doctors, accountants and even civil servants. No one is immune. According to one research, 50% of the jobs could be lost to automation within 30 years. Of course, history shows us that as old jobs disappear, new ones will rise to take their place. But this is cold comfort for each individual worker who worries about his job being replaced by robots. There is a parallel to the rise of protectionism here. Free trade benefits the economy as a whole, but specific workers lose their jobs, as they see their wages being depressed. To them, "the greater good" is mere words, whereas their own pain is immediate and tangible. Given these concerns, it is not surprising that many are turning to what we now term as the gig economy, doing freelance or part-time work to supplement their income. There are even full-time part-timers who do a portfolio of different jobs. Already, in the US, 33% of workers are freelancers, and are expected to rise to 40% in 2020. Singapore is not there yet, but we are certainly moving in the same direction.”
“Mdm Speaker, I support the prudent Budget put forward by the Finance Minister. Today, I would like to focus on issues that have not been directly addressed in this Budget but which are, nonetheless, top of mind for many Singaporean workers. From my interactions with residents and their industry, I hear a rising concern about their livelihood. At the policy level, I am confident that the Government is doing what it can to protect the welfare of our workers for the long term. However, from my discussions, the man on the street has a different perception. The question is how do we communicate the meticulous efforts in this regard by the Government to the public? How do we assure the worker that his welfare is front and centre of the Government's priority? There is a perception on the ground that the Government is not as worried as it should be, that there is a disconnect between the fear that workers are feeling and the optimistic, forward-looking messages that they are hearing. In my view, the Government needs to calibrate the message so that it is empathetic and realistic, that people can relate to, and to also serve as a rallying cry so that people can take the steps to prepare themselves for this future. It is not difficult to understand why people are worried about their livelihoods. Globally, 2016 was a year filled with surprises and, very often, not pleasant ones. This has created a cloud of uncertainty over global economic growth. There has been a marked rise in protectionist and anti-trade rhetoric, and this discussion has alarmed Singaporeans who are acutely aware that their prosperity is intricately linked to global trade and economic growth. Global uncertainty is not the only thing on their minds. Other local trends are also causing concerns.”
“The burden then falls on the issuer to prove that it is innocent by undergoing the full suite of regulatory due diligence. All further activities in this issue must cease and all monies collected since must be held in escrow until regulators are satisfied. The committee acts as a "rapid response force" to flag suspicious activities, giving the regulators more time to respond to it fully. Speed is of the essence here as we must stop fraudulent offerings before too many people get affected. My final point relates to helping hands. Ultimately, individual investors need to take responsibility for their own actions. But given the asymmetry of information, they need help to decide. A classification scheme that indicates the likelihood of capital loss and the size of losses as well as the technical complexity of the product, would help retail investors avoid unsuitable products. In one of the consultation papers, there was mention of this complexity versus risk framework which personally I thought was a good idea. The only challenge was that it required a high degree of technical expertise to execute well. This would require additional regulatory resources, which I would like to encourage and support. Madam, in conclusion, engaging and competing with the market to make a successful investment is an honourable pursuit. But that is often not what is happening. There are many unprincipled, immoral people whose sole expertise is to scam money from the general public, exploiting ignorance and asymmetry of information. I take great umbrage at these people for giving the finance industry a bad name. I am pleased that this amendment takes a significant step towards addressing this scourge. With that, I support the Bill, Madam.”
“The goal is to make this as simple and as painless as possible, to encourage people to highlight any products where malfeasance may be suspected. While this may create false positives, it is more important here to avoid the converse problem of false negatives resulting in significant losses for investors. Brains. Regulating new financial products is a challenging task. On one side, you have some of the smartest people in the world who are so incentivised to create new products and very complicated products to make as much money as possible for themselves. On the other hand, you have overburdened regulators trying to stay on top of new innovations over multiple asset classes. One solution could be to create a committee that convenes to assess the complaints and determine if new structures and products are fraudulent. This should be staffed by industry experts drawn from leading financial institutions, who would be called upon on a regular basis. Teeth. The regulator must have "bite". This means empowering them to make immediate and decisive action, including blacklisting or even shutting down entire asset classes. It could also define which investor types are allowed to invest in a particular asset class. Again, there might be "false positives" where the asset class ultimately proves to be legitimate, but the focus should be on protecting retail investors. Putting these three angles together, I propose to introduce a structure whereby the committee considers suspicious offerings highlighted by the public. And if the expert panel judges that there is reason to believe that it is fraudulent, that it does not pass muster, then the committee puts it on a blacklist.”
“We cannot and should not insulate investors from market risks because that is the natural order of things. We must, however, seek to protect them from fraudulent scams. I am concerned that the policeman is always chasing, but never catching, a shape-shifting thief. The profit incentive strongly motivates financial innovation − new products, both good and bad, are being created all the time. Backward-looking regulation can only prevent a recurrence of the previous crisis, but not to prevent the next one. It is telling that elements of this Bill, similar to many Bills around the world, are still reacting to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, a full nine years ago. What do we need to put in place to prevent the next crisis, the next scandal, and the next hit to the retirement finances of our loved ones? In my humble opinion, a successful regulatory regime should have the following components. One, eyes and ears: multiple channels that make it easy for the public to report suspicious activities, lodge complaints or become whistle-blowers. Two, brains: a team of highly qualified experts who can quickly assess the risk profile and complexity of any new products, and flag potential risks. Three, teeth: the power to act swiftly to blacklist or shut down any activity that is proven to be fraudulent or deemed to be highly dangerous. And fourth, helping hands: tools that help retail investors make the right decisions. Let me first elaborate on eyes and ears. Financial products can now be distributed through multiple channels, not all of them visible to the authorities. To counter this, we should enlist the help of the public to flag any suspicious offerings.”
“Mdm Speaker, I rise in support of the Bill. The proposed amendments to the Securities and Futures Act are an important step towards strengthening Singapore's position as a global financial centre and protecting our citizens' hard-earned savings. I would, first, like to thank our colleagues at the Ministry of Finance for putting together numerous consultation papers which culminated in this very important Bill. This Bill builds on the amendment Bill of 2012. At that time, I had spoken in support of the Ministry's move to impose a principles-based approach to the regulation of OTC derivatives. Today, I would like to focus on measures to protect investors and, in particular, retail investors, like the many uncles and aunties who are just trying to have a comfortable retirement. In this low interest rate environment, they are trying their best to make their money work for them. But they often lack the financial knowledge to determine if a product is right for them. We still remember the heart-breaking stories of the many retirees who lost their entire life's savings during the Minibond debacle. It is, therefore, heartening to see that measures to enhance the regulatory safeguards for retail investors are a central component of the amendments. The amendment seeks to expand the scope of regulatory oversight to non-conventional investment products and this is critical. Flip open the Straits Times today and you will see so many new, fangled investment schemes purporting high returns and low risk. Some deals seem too good to be true and, indeed, they are, or they are nothing but scams designed to separate the ordinary investor from his money. I understand that risk is an inseparable part of the investment process, that higher returns necessarily involve higher risks.”
“Mdm Speaker, I thank the Minister for shedding light on this matter of public interest. Will he also assure us that this disruption was not due to any form of cyber attacks and that the Ministry is fully capable of dealing with any form of cyberattacks? Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Madam, on the particular incident, we have no reason to believe there was a cyberattack, but we will continue to monitor the situation. As to whether or not we have the ability to deal with cyberattacks in future, we will have to continue to build up our defences. This is something which CSA is committed to and we will work with all the sector leads to ensure that they have put in place programmes, and more importantly, mitigation efforts to deal with any disruption that occur.”
“At the same time, we need to maintain the effectiveness of assets to foreign investors. The telecommunications industry is fast-moving. Winners today are often forgotten tomorrow and cross-border investment is common, which can be beneficial. Our own telcos themselves are Page: 26 significant regional players. How does IMDA intend to balance these two contradictory tensions – the need to protect national interests, while also extracting the benefits that cross-border investments could bring? How do we ensure that greater enforcement will lead to greater welfare, broadly defined? The same considerations apply at the CEO or Board level. On what criteria will IMDA decide to not approve a potential CEO or board member? Will companies have sufficient insight into the process to adequately prepare their positions? Madam, in conclusion, these amendments are important to safeguard critical communications infrastructure. The introduction of an ADR, clarification of rooftop space usage and strengthening of the oversight mechanism are important steps to create a more robust framework for the telecommunications sector in Singapore. This Bill will help to advance Singapore's position as a Smart Nation and leading telecommunications hub in the world. Therefore, Mdm Speaker, I support the Bill.”
“Many rooftop installations are long-term infrastructure assets that cannot easily be removed. Commercial rooftop solar panels make this more complex. Space for services means forgone revenues – a quantifiable opportunity cost. How does IMDA intend to protect the property rights of the building owners? Second, how will space be allocated amongst various telecommunications providers? How will we ensure that such arrangements survive future developments, such as new market entry? We have seen infrastructure and network sharing arrangements become standard industry practice in many countries. Telcos can choose to share only the passive elements, such as towers and masts, or include the network elements in the sharing arrangements. Would IMDA consider encouraging our telcos in this direction to mitigate the space constraints that we face? Apart from space allocation, there is also the issue of costs. Building owners may have improved their rooftops, for example, through waterproofing. The deployment of mobile assets may affect or damage such arrangements. How does IMDA intend to establish reasonable cost allocation measures? The amendments require telcos to pay "appropriate costs of deployment", such as increasing load-bearing capacity or improving aesthetics. How will IMDA define "appropriate costs"? What happens if there are disputes? I think a clearer set of rules at the outset will help to minimise this problem in the future. Finally, I would like to discuss the enhancements to strengthen the oversight of the telecommunications industry. It is prudent for IMDA to closely regulate mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications industry. As previously noted, telecommunications services are an essential service and national infrastructure must be safeguarded.”
“They might worry about costs or about complex arguments, especially if their primary language is not English. ADR must be simple enough such that aunties and uncles from the heartlands can navigate without fear. IMDA must create a standardised process for dispute resolution with clear guidelines. For example, will there be a fixed timeline, to prevent either side playing for time? Conversely, we need Page: 25 to safeguard against frivolous or vexatious cases. Consumers who lodge clearly baseless cases could be penalised, but what qualifies as baseless and how will IMDA set the bar? A second aspect of the proposed amendments to the TA deals with Mobile Deployment Spaces on rooftops. Mobile services are integral to our daily lives. We now expect to stream high definition video while sitting in an MRT train. This demand for bandwidth will only continue to grow as services and consumers get more sophisticated. An adequate network is the necessary foundation. I, therefore, laud the IMDA for securing rooftop space for deploying national infrastructure. As we always do in land-scarce Singapore, we will need to balance competing demands for rooftop space, and rooftop space is already hotly contested. Essential utilities like water tanks, recreational facilities like rooftop gardens, and clean energy sources like solar panels – these are all potentially valid alternative uses. IMDA needs to navigate the balancing act on two levels. First, between alternative uses of the space. How will the allocation of Mobile Development Space be determined? How will IMDA work in tandem with the other relevant agencies, such as HDB, EMA, URA and others, to determine the optimal allocation of space? And how does IMDA intend to "future proof" this?”
“Mdm Speaker, I support the Bill. Given the rapid developments in the telecommunications and media industries, the proposed amendments to the Telecommunications Act (TA) and Media Development Authority of Singapore Act (MDAA) are, indeed, timely. Allow me to first talk about the proposed amendments to the Additional Dispute Resolution mechanism. It is laudable that IMDA is taking proactive steps to strengthen consumer protection. I have been approached by many residents who have outstanding issues with the telcos. For various reasons, they did not or could not use the current dispute resolution mechanisms. Therefore, I think it is useful to create an alternative. A meaningful dispute resolution mechanism needs to: be affordable for individual complainants; accommodate consumers of all language and educational backgrounds; run efficiently, with conclusions reached in a timely manner; create binding outcomes; and generate more benefits than it costs to run. The benchmark to beat is the Small Claims Tribunal where mediation services cost $10. The mandated mediation sessions are conducted by Registrars. Therefore, affordable mediation services conducted by neutral professionals are already available. How will the ADR improve on this and how much will the ADR charge consumers for this service? A related and pertinent question is the funding of the ADR. What volume of cases does IMDA expect to refer to the ADR? And if small, this raises questions about economies of scale. Who will pay for the overheads, as well as the direct legal costs of engaging mediators? Will these costs eventually be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher bills? ADR must be accessible to members of the public. Many people, especially the elderly, may be intimidated by the legal process.”
“Mdm Speaker, I thank the Minister for providing MediShield Life for the workers. The problem is MediShield Life only extends to inpatient insurance. What happens if the employee or the family members have huge, large like tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in outpatient hospital bills? How are they going to pay for them without portable insurance?”
“I thank the Minister for the reply. Part of the question is whether employees have the opportunity to apply for portability. Many times, it is not a case of the employee not wanting to pay for the additional portability, but it is that they are not even given the opportunity by the employer. There are certain countries which mandate or legislate this portability, for example, the United States, through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. My second clarification is, especially with our economy going into a bit of a slowdown and we hear of retrenchments going on, aside from peace of mind that employees will get, sometimes also, because their family members have pre-existing conditions, for example, their wives or children may also be tagged to these corporate insurance schemes. So, it would help them very much if they can at least have the option of opting for this portability. I would like the Minister to consider this point.”
“Madam, I thank the Minister for the reply. I would like to ask the Minister if it is true that there are some more vulnerable families or poorer families who simply cannot afford outpatient services and who have no choice but to ask their doctors to admit them into hospitals so that they will have a bed and can then claim their inpatient insurance. If this happens, does it lead to a misallocation of beds? And is it something that the Ministry is looking at and thinking of ways to solve the problem?”
“I would like to thank the Minister for his reply. I would also like to ask him whether there are any plans to develop a local talent pool for the cybersecurity industry in order to broaden the talent and expertise to deal with such threats.”
“I would like to thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. It is heartening to know that we have a robust suite of measures. But I would like to ask the Minister how he intends to mitigate the higher operating costs for financial institutions to comply with these enhanced anti-money laundering measures in order to help them stay competitive globally.”
“Sir, electric bus technology has been constantly improving. Electric bus batteries can now power buses to travel longer with claimed ranges of 250 kilometres on a single four- to five-hour charge, which should be sufficient in most cases to operate for a full day without the need to recharge. Innovative technologies, such as induction charging, can further boost capacity. The batteries themselves have also longer lifespans and are estimated to last about seven-and-a-half years with more than 4,000 recharging cycles in a lifespan. These batteries are also made in increasingly environmentally friendly ways with chemical materials in the batteries capable of being recycled. Zero tail pipe emissions also mean that electric buses provide public transportation which is cleaner and quieter. While the upfront costs are currently higher, there is growing evidence that the lifecycle costs are becoming increasingly more competitive. Therefore, I would like to ask the Minister if he would consider using electric buses for our public transport system. Bus Captains”
“Last but not least, given the existing manpower constraints in Singapore, what plans does the MSO have to seek to leverage technology to raise the productivity of municipal service delivery?”
“Mdm Chair, the Municipal Services Office (MSO) was one of the landmark announcements of the 2014 National Day Rally Speech. Its objective was to help provide a one-stop shop for municipal issues, such as estate cleanliness and maintenance. That way, residents would not need to navigate the various Government agencies in charge of different operations and services. It has now been slightly more than a year since the MSO was set up. I would like to request an update regarding the progress that has been made, specifically whether there are concrete indicators that the overall service experience for residents has indeed been advanced. Looking back at this first year, a key initiative of the MSO was the launching of the OneService app. With the widespread use of mobile communication devices in Singapore, such an app should in principle help the MSO extend outreach more effectively. I would like to ask for an update on the following: how many times has this app been downloaded? And how many requests for assistance have been received via this app? Looking ahead, what plans does the MSO have in terms of enhancements to the OneService app? Moving beyond the issue of gathering feedback more effectively, the real test of the MSO's effectiveness will be in its ability to respond to and resolve municipal issues in a timely fashion, in collaboration with existing agencies, such as local Town Councils. This has started in a modest way, with a pilot involving two Town Councils. I would like to ask for an update regarding how successful this pilot has been, as well as what MSO's concrete plans are for scaling up and rolling out such working arrangements to all Town Councils in Singapore.”
“Mdm Chair, interest in electric vehicles (EVs) has been growing, with coverage of the case of the imported Tesla and the launch of pre-orders for the Tesla 3 gaining widespread attention. In many ways, Singapore is an ideal market for EVs, with low driving distances and high petrol taxes. By some estimates, it is already economical to own an EV, relative to more traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, and, with battery costs falling, this will increase in the future. Singapore is uniquely positioned to avoid the biggest obstacle to kick-starting EV adoption, which is the need to build a dense public charging network, as home charging would be sufficient for the majority of users. However, more than 90% of Singaporeans live in high-rise homes and hence, currently do not have the right to install the required charge points in their common carparks, be they HDB or condominiums. Hence, they could not get an EV even if they wanted to. On this point, I would like to ask the Minister what role EVs play in the Ministry's plans for a more sustainable living environment and whether the Ministry plans to facilitate access to EV charge points in existing HDB estates, as well as condominiums. Linkways for Orchard Road Malls”
“We should help them discover this hidden treasure and enrich their understanding of the Singapore story. How would the National Archives improve public access to its heritage materials?”
“Mdm Chair, we celebrated SG50 last year and have seen how important it is to have a good understanding of our own history and nation-building efforts. One can only truly value how far we have come by understanding where we came from and how we did so. At the same time, the rapid changes in Singapore's urban landscape can create the impression that everything is new and temporary and that our heritage has been sacrificed in the name of progress. How are we riding the wave of increased interest in Singapore's history brought about by the SG50 celebrations? Since 2011, the Singapore Memory Project movement has helped to generate significant public interest in our history as a people. I am sure the National Library Board (NLB) can accomplish much more with the help of the community. How could we build upon this momentum and encourage more Singaporeans to contribute and enrich NLB's collections of our history and heritage? In this digital age, the preservation of our heritage, be it pictures, videos, oral recordings or text, becomes easier, but also, in some ways, less tangible. Since there often is no physical object that the user can interact with in a tactile way, we need to combine technology with physical records, and this suggests a role for libraries and archives. What plans does the Ministry have for libraries and archives in nation-building? The other challenge for nation-building efforts is the need to compete with all the other sources of information and entertainment out there. Most Singaporeans probably know more about other countries from watching travel documentaries than they do about the rich history of their home. For example, most Singaporeans are quite unaware that the National Archives holds a rich historical collection.”
“Can the Ministry provide an update on the work of the National Translation Committee (NTC) to meet this need in the long term? Tamil Translation”
“Mdm Chair, we live in the era of mass communications where broadcasting has been democratised and every individual can now have his or her voice heard online. The old channels of television, radio and newspapers face unprecedented competition and are struggling to maintain their audience. This proliferation of media has made Government communications more and more challenging. Whereas in the past, there were only a few channels that were consumed by the vast majority, we now instead have an intricate tapestry of different media, each targeting a different audience. At the same time, the audience has become more and more discerning and demanding. No longer forced to accept whatever was delivered to them, they now pick and choose what they watch or listen to. In our diverse society, it is clear that a one-size-fits-all approach to communications no longer works. A successful communications strategy must tailor both message and medium for the intended audience. The days of one message being broadcast on one or two channels are gone, and winning in the future will require the ability to tailor "narrowcasts" for specific audiences, when necessary Recognising these challenges, the Government has already rolled out several communications initiatives, including the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP) campaign. This cleverly use different forms of communications that were designed to gain the attention of the elderly, for example, by using Teochew opera. Can the Ministry share how it plans to further strengthen public communications to reach different groups of Singaporeans more effectively? Singapore is a multi-lingual society. Combined with an ageing population, the need for quality translations is more crucial than ever.”
“I would like to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs for an update on the status of ASEAN's integration and how we will continue to secure Singapore's interests within the community and how the ASEAN Community is working together to handle regional issues and challenges. South China Sea Tension”
“Mr Chairman, the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 was a significant landmark For Singapore particularly, the ASEAN Economic Community is of great interest, as it has been touted as providing Singapore firms with a larger hinterland from which to draw customers. Instead of selling to the 5.5 million, we now have the chance to reach out to 622 million potential customers instead. Of course, ASEAN cooperation goes beyond economics and extends into the political and socio-cultural spheres as well. The success of the ASEAN Community will depend on how ASEAN countries can cooperate to deal with emerging challenges that can affect Singaporeans and our region. These can be intra-region, such as the perennial haze problem in Indonesia, or involve external parties, such as the multilateral boundary disputes in the South China Sea. These are complex problems with no easy solutions and will be particularly challenging for a body like ASEAN which will need to balance multiple competing national interests. If we play our cards right, the Community will allow Singapore to project our national interests with the voice of the entire grouping, achieving far greater outcomes than we could alone. But the flipside is that there may be situations where our sovereignty and interests are challenged by others within the group and compromises will need to be made. Minister Vivian has correctly described the community building process as "a journey, not a destination". As the European experience shows, integration among a diverse group of very different countries will be a long-term, on-going process and will not always be smooth sailing.”
“Good businesses will sometimes fail due to bad luck or circumstance. If we are to encourage entrepreneurship in our country, we need to develop greater tolerance for business failure. Businessmen should not have to face criminal charges and possible debarment from hiring foreign workers if their plight was due to genuine business difficulty, not any malicious intent to defraud workers. Criminalisation of such situations turns a short-term problem into a potentially lifelong handicap which may severely restrict future employment or business opportunities for the affected individuals, even if they had tried their best to do everything right. Of course, this is not to pretend that all business failures are equally noble; many will be due to incompetence, insufficient planning or outright fraud. But productivity and innovation require some risk-taking and, without risk takers, there would be no progress. So, we need to ensure that risk takers who aim high but fall are provided the necessary support to enable them to rise again. Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Motion.”
“Currently, they are rarely used by SMEs as they are prohibitively expensive to set up, with all parties engaging lawyers to negotiate their positions. Negotiations can also drag on as 75% of each class of creditors needs to agree. Would it be possible for the Government to create a forum for facilitating the resolution of creditor disputes in the event of insolvencies involving outstanding amounts below a certain cap? This would function in a manner similar to a small claims tribunal or other mechanisms to lower the transaction costs for all parties while ensuring fair outcomes. There is scope to strengthen such arrangements. For example, every business has a few key contracts that allow it to continue trading. This could be contracts relating to supply of raw materials or lease agreements. Some of these contracts may contain a provision where, if the business enters into a scheme of arrangement, the contract may be terminated. Let us keep these contracts, ranging from supply contracts to lease arrangements, alive during the duration of the scheme. This allows a company with a fundamentally sound business with misaligned cash flow the breathing room to allow it to operate and trade back into success, creating a more stable business environment. Page: 96 Another critical aspect of rehabilitating an insolvent company is to give access to financing. Currently, there are plans to permit "super priority financing" to help these businesses attract funds to restructure their businesses. As with the working capital loan support initiative, the Government can consider covering part of the risk of such loans. This will serve to increase access to such loans, provided safeguards to ensure debt levels remain manageable.”
“However, due to the illiquid nature of his assets, he was ultimately unable to make all the necessary payments in time, and although his workers' levies and salaries have largely been paid, and all affected foreign workers have been successfully repatriated, Mr Chua was charged by MOM in Court for 16 counts of contravention of the Employment Act for the late salary payments. These are considered criminal charges under the Act. While we can all understand that the Act was enacted to prevent fraudulent or malicious failure to pay salaries, the punishment seems harsh in cases where a business runs into cashflow problems due to a general downturn in the sector. Even a sound business can be thrown into default if one major customer fails to make payment on time. Hence, we need to administer the Act with great discretion and compassion. I note that the insolvency regime is currently undergoing a timely revamp. This is warmly welcomed and as the region enters challenging economic times, we need to further strengthen policies and schemes to give our local businesses time to turn things around, rather than risk turning a short-term cashflow hiccup into a death-spiral that ultimately kills the company and harshly penalises the business owner. I would highlight the possibility of promoting so-called "schemes of arrangement" in adverse times, as these can help business owner-managers turn around their insolvent businesses. Schemes of arrangement appear to be the most popular corporate rescue regime and a study from 2002 to 2009 by the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office showed a 77.1% success rate out of 48 cases. Let us help make schemes of arrangement more widely available.”
“Perhaps SPRING Singapore could consider providing standard templates for startups to use or to seek to partner startup-focused low-cost legal firms. The third area where more could be done is mitigating the impact of failure for would-be entrepreneurs. In this regard, I should make clear that it should not be the objective of Government policies to completely eliminate the risk faced by new ventures. We certainly do not want to give the impression that small businesses can do whatever they like and the Government will bail them out. However, what I am advocating is to have more focused efforts to ensure that those who heed the call and take the plunge into the world of business do not risk permanent damage to their reputations and their future income potential should the venture fail to pan out. Page: 95 In this area, I would like to focus on three issues: one, criminal liability resulting from business failure; two, insolvency; and three, society's tolerance for business failure. Let me illustrate with a real-life example of how our current legal provisions can overplay the risk of criminal liability for entrepreneurs who encounter difficulties. Mr Chua was a director of a property construction and development company who came to see me for help. His company, which employed more than 100 foreign workers at its peak, had run into severe financial problems due to the downturn in the property sector. As a result, Mr Chua had had to liquidate all his personal holdings and to go into debt to try to pay his workers' levies and salaries.”
“What we might see as more everyday businesses can also benefit from such support, be they from retail, F&B or basic services. This is especially important as it is these everyday businesses that will, ultimately, make up the bulk of the Singapore economy. Let me now turn to the second aspect where more support can be extended, namely, at the stage of launching a business. Even with a sound business plan, many things can go wrong when launching a new business. Startup firms in Singapore can easily be crippled by high costs, and we could consider building more proactive "test bed" facilities to allow room for experimentation. Take, for example, the F&B industry. Singapore's F&B industry has a strong international reputation, with many brands successfully going global. However, consider the daunting challenge facing a would-be restauranteur today. Securing a space is a challenge, as most high-traffic malls are run by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and will not take a risk on unproven concepts. Even if they were able to obtain a space, they might have to sign a two-year lease, with significant penalties for early termination. This greatly increases the risk facing any potential start-up F&B operator. Would it be possible, for example, to collaborate with mall operators to offer "co-hawking" spaces, providing startup F&B businesses access to high traffic at affordable rent with flexible lease terms to test out their concepts for six months before graduating to permanent locations if they prove successful? Another example of potentially prohibitive costs is legal services. Currently, a law firm can easily quote $10,000 to $15,000 or more for a shareholders' agreement. This is not feasible if you are raising a seed round of only $40,000 to $50,000 of funding.”
“To tackle the twin challenges of encouraging entrepreneurship and increasing productivity through innovation, we need to consider how we can protect the interest of the entrepreneur even as we allow businesses to fail where warranted. This is especially important in an economic downturn, when even good businesses can fail due to circumstances beyond their control, such as a major customer defaulting or going bankrupt. Therefore, a holistic set of measures needs to be put in place to support businesses through such events. Page: 94 I would like to outline three specific aspects where support for entrepreneurs can be enhanced: one, developing the business idea; two, launching the business; and three, mitigating the impact of failure. The key first step lies in developing the business idea to ensure that would-be entrepreneurs have sound, robust business models in place before launching their ideas. One piece could be around education, equipping them with the skills needed to develop a thorough business plan. This will involve educating them on business fundamentals, such as market sizing, business plan development, operations and so forth. It is important that we go beyond theory and focus on the hands-on, in-depth sessions to strengthen proposals and preempt future problems. Perhaps this could be made a part of the SkillsFuture programme. In recent years, we have seen the establishment of a number of "accelerators" which are designed to help startups succeed. However, these tend to be focused on startups in sectors that are perceived to be "sexy", such as media and Internet businesses, or in financial technologies (fintech), for which a new dedicated one-stop office has just been announced.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, this year's Budget is an important one as our country embarks on the next phase of its developmental journey towards SG100. The Singapore economy has started to experience significant headwinds that have made the business environment less favourable and the short-term outlook less optimistic. Much of this can be put down to external factors, such as the slowing Chinese economy. But it has made the operating environment more challenging for local businesses, even as they come under pressure to restructure and raise their productivity. It is, therefore, reassuring that a good part of Budget 2016 has been geared towards extending more targeted help to viable local businesses to help them weather these toughening conditions. I refer particularly to those measures targeted towards our SMEs, such as the Loan Assistance scheme and the Industry Transformation Programme. Even as we seek to provide such near-term assistance to local SMEs, however, I would urge that thought be given to enhancing the broader ecosystem that would sustain entrepreneurship and ground-up innovation in the long haul. In parallel, we have seen that productivity growth has been modest and uneven in the past few years despite intensive efforts. Raising overall productivity will necessarily involve rewarding the strong and allowing the weak to exit the scene. Businesses with fundamental flaws in their business models, for example, those that are over-reliant on cheap labour or Government subsidies, should be allowed to die a natural death. Policies that inadvertently keep such "zombie" businesses alive will only hold back productivity growth and technological advancement.”
“Here, we can take inspiration from the various consumer protection rules already in place across the financial industry, such as "cooling-off periods" where they can change their minds without penalty. This will, hopefully, reduce the risk that retail investors might invest in inappropriate products. One key area is to ensure that the lenders are able to collectively pursue action should there be a default, just as any institutional creditor would. Each individual share may be too small to find it worthwhile to bear the cost and effort of pursuing a claim. Hence, collective instruments for protecting the interests of all lenders need to be put in place. Perhaps we could explore making the platforms pay part of their revenues into a national fund to create an industry body that can help lenders pursue their claims. We have also seen that some P2P lenders in developed countries, such as Zopa in the UK, proactively designate a portion of their funds to provide a form of insurance to safeguard the interests of lenders in the event of a default. By addressing the concerns of potential lenders, this will, in turn, help convince more to participate and accelerate the growth of the industry. Like it or not, technological innovation in the financial industry is going to grow and we should not stand in the way of initiatives that facilitate the creation of good businesses and jobs. Given that economic dark clouds are gathering, it is particularly key to maintain financing channels for SMEs, which are often not a target segment for major banks, as this could serve as a lifeline in tough times. What is important is to make sure the public is well-informed and that the P2P lenders operate in a regulatory environment that provides clear guidelines without being overly burdensome.”
“The greatest risk, therefore, falls on the individual lenders, who risk losing all or part of their investment if the loan goes into default before the principal is repaid. How should Page: 104 we protect such individuals without inadvertently introducing moral hazard by creating the impression that such loans are iron-clad and can never go wrong? The key piece of regulation should focus on preventing fraud by the platform. We need to ensure that the platforms are legitimate and are not operating pyramid schemes or funnelling funds towards uses other than what the individual lenders signed up for. This brings to mind China's Ezubao P2P lending scheme, for example, which turned out to be a US$7.6 billion Ponzi scheme. On the other hand, we need to ensure that the platforms have systems in place to prevent money laundering. This suggests the need for a licensing regime to ensure that the proper processes and accountability systems are in place at the platforms. A clear licensing regime helps reduce uncertainty and ambiguity on the part of the platforms. However, given that these companies will often be themselves startups, the requirements should not be so onerous as to stifle innovation. Regulations should not go so far as to eliminate all risk from the transaction, as that would itself create unhealthy behaviours as people chase high interest rates while assuming they will be protected should something go wrong. There is also the need to balance access and protection. If, as has been proposed, we restrict participation to Accredited Investors or Institutions, we would be protecting the average man in the street, but also preventing them from accessing a potentially beneficial asset class.”
“P2P lending is an example of the transformative power of the Internet – the business model simply could not work without fast and efficient communication and the ability to transact with multiple individuals. They benefit both sides. For upcoming businesses, it opens up new channels for funding, given that banks are typically reluctant to lend to companies with a limited track record. Harnessing the "wisdom of crowds", individual lenders offering smaller sums could be better at allocating capital towards future potential, thereby improving the odds of success for the startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that we need to drive our economy forward. For lenders, such platforms offer a rare chance for them to earn higher returns on their money, typically above 10%, albeit with higher risks. However, as with any new financial innovation, this raises concern about the appropriate extent of regulation, in order to both safeguard the financial system and protect the interests of lenders. MAS is currently in the process of drafting the required regulations and, hence, the platforms are effectively operating in a regulatory vacuum. We understand, of course, that the speed of innovation can make it challenging for the regulatory authorities to keep up. At the same time, an appropriate regulatory regime is urgently needed to reduce uncertainty and maximise benefits for all parties. What are the key elements of an appropriate regulatory framework for P2P lending? If we start from the perspective of risks, P2P lending seems unlikely to be a source of systemic threat to the overall banking system in Singapore, at least for now, given that they are still small in comparison to commercial banks.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for allowing me to speak today. To Mr Leon Perera's point on having card institutions needing to seek the approval of MAS for conduct of business in certain jurisdictions, I actually support the point because my credit card just had a charge from Azerbaijan and I have no idea how it came forth. So, I do support having MAS put in more controls on credit card companies' places of business. Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to speak today on some recent developments in our local business and SME funding landscape. These past few years have seen the rise of new financing arrangements and initiatives, providing businesses with alternatives to obtaining loans from banks or personal contacts. The specific arrangements that I would like to focus on today are the peer-to-peer lending platforms (P2P platforms). Very briefly, a company that wants to take a loan approaches the platform, which then offers the opportunity to its members. Members can choose to offer as much or as little as they are comfortable lending, within the guidelines of the platform. The platform will then aggregate contributions from many individual lenders into one single large loan to the company. Such services are growing rapidly globally. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the United States (US) P2P lending market is expected to grow from US$5.5 billion in loans issued in 2014 to US$150 billion in 2025. Growth in the United Kingdom (UK) has been similarly explosive, with business P2P lending growing sevenfold from £200 million in 2013 to £1.5 billion in 2015. In Singapore, there are at least five such sites, which have collectively raised more than $10 million for their clients in 2015.”
“International benchmarks suggest that the cost of installing such chargers should be around $3,000, as they do not need to be the fancy, expensive, fast or rapid charging type – slow charging overnight would be sufficient for us. Page: 87 While most carparks do not have designated individual lots, we could institute a scheme where, similar to handicapped access lots, certain lots within the carparks are earmarked for electric vehicles only. This number can increase over time, in tandem with the number of vehicles, so there is no need to build ahead of demand and the costs will be borne by the car buyers as part of their purchase price. With this policy in place, public interest and commercial incentives should encourage car dealers to bring in their latest EV models and, hence, create a buzz and momentum among potential car buyers. It would not be unreasonable to expect the typical 3% to 5% of new car sales typically observed internationally, although my hunch is that we would see a higher end of the scale, given the driving patterns and fuel costs here in Singapore. This will in no way interfere with our journey towards a car-lite society, but just helps to make it a greener one for our future generations. Mr Deputy Speaker, we have, over the last week, discussed many ways to make Singapore a safer, more inclusive society and how we can build a sustainable environment for the future. I believe that our policies on the distribution of car ownership and the type of cars we drive can contribute to these goals. With that, I would like to express my support for the Motion of Thanks to the President. Page: 88”
“Our low figure likely reflects a chicken-and-egg problem. There is no demand for EVs, therefore, there is no need to supply them and fewer models are available. One major contributor to this situation is that more than 90% of Singaporeans live in high-rise homes and, hence, currently, do not have the right to install the required charge points in their common carparks, be they HDB or condominiums. Hence, they could not get an EV even if they wanted to. In response to the resulting low demand, many dealers have not brought in EV models and, hence, consumer awareness remains low. Given the increasing pressure to reduce carbon emissions, should we be putting greater focus on EVs? LTA estimates that the typical EV produces around 85 grams of CO2 per km because our electricity comes from natural gas. A typical combustion engine vehicle produces around 120 to 150 grams of CO2 per kilometres. Given that the average car drives around 17,000 kilometres a year, this translates into annual savings of around 800 to 1,000 kilograms of CO2 per vehicle per year. From the Government's perspective, this is a rare carbon emissions reduction policy where the abatement cost would be voluntarily borne by the consumers who choose to buy the EVs, rather than being paid for by the Government. If we believe that this is a step in the right direction, then we need to look at how to make it easier for environmentally-conscious car buyers to buy a new car and install a charge point. HDB and BCA can take the lead for mandating access for installation and car dealers can include charge point installation in the price of the car, with financing provided if necessary.”
“By some estimates, the combination of fuel savings, tax savings via the Carbon Emission-based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) and expected lower maintenance costs already make it economical to own an EV, relative to more traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. Given that EVs are still an emerging technology, there is even an opportunity for Singapore to capture a slice of the market if we position ourselves as a hub for EVs. New players and business models are emerging in the electric and autonomous vehicle space that could give Singapore an entry into the high-value added segments of the new automotive industry. This could create high-value knowledge economy jobs in segments, such as battery and charging technology research. From a Government or public infrastructure perspective, Singapore is uniquely positioned to avoid the biggest obstacle to kickstarting EV adoption, which is the need to build a dense public charging network. This is because home charging would be sufficient for us. In large countries, the concern is running out of power before you complete your journey, especially for long inter-city routes. In Singapore, only a small fraction of users would be concerned about running out of power before they arrive home to charge. For those drivers, there are already charge points in most commercial buildings which could serve as emergency top-ups, if needed, providing additional security for users. However, if we look at the current state of the market, excluding vehicles participating in Government trials, new reports suggest that there are only around 100 commercially sold EVs. In many developed markets, EV penetration is around 3% to 5% of new cars. So, in the Singapore context, we would expect 600 to 1,000 EVs to be sold per year.”
“Note that we are asking for information on gross, not net profits – that is, how much of the price of the car goes to pay for the cost of goods sold, including OMV, taxes, GST and other outgoings, excluding the dealer's rental and other costs. This greater clarity will help consumers make better decisions and, hopefully, spur dealers to offer better deals as well! The final area I want to explore is what kind of vehicles we should have in Singapore. From a sustainability and pollution viewpoint, we need to explore alternatives to petrol cars. Diesel had shown some promise, but the recent scandal at Volkswagon has cast some doubt on the level of pollution that diesel engines cause. I feel that this is an area that requires further study by the relevant authorities and, perhaps, stricter checks are warranted on the emission standards of diesel engines until we have conclusive evidence that such engines do not pose health or environmental problems for the general public at large. Another alternative to petrol combustion engines is electric vehicles. Many experts see EVs as a key part of a low carbon future and rapid advances in technology have made them affordable and pleasurable to drive. EV adoption is accelerating globally – the leader is Norway, where, due to strong incentives, around 30% of new cars registered are now electric. In many ways, Singapore is an ideal market for electric vehicles. Our average driving distance is around 50 kilometres, far under the range limitation for existing models – and these range limits are expected to continue to increase with each generation of new cars. Page: 86 Given our current tariff structure on petrol, drivers have an economic incentive to switch to EVs as they could generate significant savings on fuel each year.”
“One solution there would be to base it on a combination of owner name and address, to close this loophole for family members living together. Even if enforcement is not perfect and some households do manage to avoid paying more for their subsequent cars, that should not deter us from forging ahead with this policy if we agree that the outcome of greater distribution of car ownership is a desirable one. After all, Singapore's success is built on a history of tough policy decisions, so the difficulty of enforcement cannot be a show-stopper for us. And while this issue has been raised before, perhaps now is the time for us to act on it, given the challenges brought about by growing public perceptions of income inequality. The second area I would like to discuss today is the question of whether we are paying a "fair" price for our cars. Our goal here today is not to pander to popular perception of "profiteering" by car dealers – I recognise that costs are high and a business needs to turn in a profit. Rather, my argument is that there is still room to improve transparency in car pricing. Can we encourage or even mandate car dealers to explicitly show a breakdown of the cost of a car and show how much gross profit that they are making? This actually benefits both parties. If you read the online forums, there are often angry posts claiming that dealers make "obscene" profits of $50,000-$100,000 per vehicle, but this could reflect the fact that the public has imperfect information and, hence, miss out on important cost elements in their calculation.”
“At the same time, we come across families that have three, four or five cars, which almost certainly means that they are often under-utilised. It is easy for us to take a pure free market perspective and say, "This is the market in action, this is the correct outcome". But even taking an economist's point of view, one can surely argue that, on average, the economic benefit of the first car to a household is greater than the benefit of subsequent cars. So, in aggregate, I believe we would create a better outcome for society if, for a given number of cars, car ownership were spread around more evenly. How could one bring about a more even spread of cars? One solution would be analogous to our current policies in the housing market. Citizens looking to buy a second property pay an additional 7% stamp duty, which increases to 10% for the third or subsequent property. Could we not consider here an Additional Buyer's Car Duty (ABCD), which could be set as a percentage of the prevailing COE price, for those who wish to buy a second, third or fourth car? Perhaps, a simple mechanism would be to step up the multiple of the price for each COE. Property investors also face tighter restrictions on mortgages – so, similar rules might be applied in Page: 85 the car loans market. The idea is to use these mechanisms to price some second car buyers out of the COE market, thereby lowering the price and improving affordability for first-car households. There should not be a significant revenue impact as some households will pay for the privilege of buying more than one car. Whist this policy might not be straightforward to enforce, given that people could try to evade it, for example, by registering it under different members of the family.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I stand in support of the Motion. We can all see that the only way for a space-constrained environment like Singapore to continue to function effectively is to go for a car-lite strategy and it is laudable that we have taken significant steps in this direction. However, the infrastructure required for Singaporeans to truly live in a car-lite way, such as a much denser network of MRT stations or even the advent of autonomous car sharing schemes, is still years away. In the meantime, we continue to grapple with the issues around cars and car ownership. Coming from a district that is located far from the CBD, this is an issue that is top of the mind for many of my constituents Today, I want to focus on three aspects. One, for a given number of cars in Singapore, as determined by COE quotas, how can we improve the allocation across households? Two, how do we improve transparency and avoid people over-paying for cars? Three, how can we move away from fossil-fuel burning combustion engines towards more sustainable alternatives, such as electric vehicles? To briefly recap the current situation, as of 2015, we had about 540,000 passenger cars registered in Singapore. From the data, approximately 45% of households own at least one car, while 8% of households own more than one. My question is this: should we institute measures to spread car ownership more evenly, allowing more families to own their first car, rather than having a significant portion of cars owned by families with multiple cars? We all know of families that have elderly dependants or young children who would greatly benefit from owning a car, but feel that they have been priced out by high COE prices.”
“Our hard-earned reputation as an honest broker on the international stage can also be leveraged, to help ensure that the portfolio of projects that AIIB finances will be truly diversified and representative and not be seen as advancing the narrow interests of one or two dominant Page: 68 shareholders. These are early days, of course, in the formation of AIIB. But I would urge that the Ministry give thought to how our views and interests can be most effectively articulated as the founding member countries discuss the shape of this new institution. This is to ensure that the directions AIIB takes will, indeed, be to the broad benefit of all of Asia, while also being consistent with Singapore's own national interests. In sum, I support our participation in the proposed AIIB. The ambition and scale of this project have the potential to promote economic development and closer trade ties across Asia for many years to come. Singapore and Singaporean companies need to be alive to the opportunities that this may bring. At the same time, our participation in this project sends an important signal of Singapore's willingness to be a constructive global citizen and is another step towards safeguarding our relevance as a small country that holds its own in the international arena. As with any significant multilateral initiative, the devil will be in the details. There, I urge that due diligence and effort be exercised to ensure that the ultimate shape AIIB takes will be truly participatory and motivated by shared economic interests, and that AIIB will, indeed, mature to be an institution that is in its own stated aims, "lean, clean and green". With that, Mdm Speaker, I support the Bill.”
“More importantly, there are also concerns that AIIB will come to be seen as a vehicle for advancing the national interests of its largest shareholders, specifically China. It is, of course, much too early to pass such judgement on AIIB. But as a founding member with a seat at the table, I would urge that we be cognisant of such potential criticism and instead work towards ensuring that AIIB achieves its vision of becoming a modern and truly participatory international development bank. Our proposed commitment of $250 million will represent only a quarter of a percent of the total capital stock of $100 billion of AIIB. So, we will always look like small players in the big picture of things. But I would submit that there are, nevertheless, unique opportunities for Singapore to play a responsible role, even in these early stages, where the institutional structures of AIIB are being laid out. Our expertise in nation-building can be useful in providing key inputs in the technical feasibility of proposed infrastructure projects that are put before AIIB for consideration. This is important not just from the perspective of cost-benefit analysis, but also for ensuring that infrastructure projects that are financed take the long view to be environmentally safe and sustainable and are not just pushed forward for the sake of quick growth at all costs. Similarly, our credibility in forging clean and efficient institutions will be valuable and may give us a say in how the corporate governance structures of AIIB are formulated.”
“There is a second strategic reason that argues in favour of our participation in AIIB. Amidst concerns about the geopolitical uncertainties that a newly assertive China may bring, it is important to recognise that closer economic integration in Asia will be pivotal for advancing and preserving political stability in the region. AIIB can be a platform that makes such closer, tighter economic integration possible. By bringing together key regional players as joint economic stakeholders, AIIB can bring into focus the common interest that all nations have in avoiding conflict and preserving regional peace. The goal of releasing the full Page: 67 economic potential of Asia can then take centre stage. To draw a parallel, the experience of our continual engagement with Myanmar over the long term provides an example of how the objective of economic development and cooperation can be a positive force towards fostering political stability. The economic and political reasons I have highlighted are important enough that Singapore – despite our small size – should take an active interest in the AIIB initiative. I am, therefore, heartened by the fact that we were among the first countries to express our interest in being a founding member of the AIIB. Yet, as many Members of this House will know, while the response to AIIB has been largely positive – with 57 countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia, signing on as founding members – the initiative has also been met with reservation, with the United States and Japan being notable by their absence. Why has this been the case? One natural concern is that AIIB will become a competitor to other international financial institutions, especially the Asian Development Bank.”
“Mdm Speaker, I note with interest the Bill before the House today on Singapore's participation in the new AIIB. As Members know, the proposed AIIB is an initiative spearheaded by China to form an international development bank with a specific focus on financing infrastructure projects in the Asia Pacific. I wish to first express my broad support for Singapore's engagement in this new multilateral project. In economic terms, AIIB is a timely venture. While the Asia Pacific has been growing tremendously over the last 20 years, there are still a lot of infrastructure investments needed in many parts of Asia. The demand for such financing – both to develop basic infrastructure within countries, as well as to deepen linkages across countries in the region – remains massive. A recent Asian Development Bank report cited the need for up to $8 trillion of investment in infrastructure in Asia over the years 2010 through 2020. AIIB can help to fulfil this demand. Through our proposed participation, Singapore can play its role in fostering the development and integration, in raising living standards for millions of people as well as in promoting greater economic integration for Asia as a whole. In this case, what is good for Asia as a whole will also be good for Singapore. If properly executed and coordinated, such investments in infrastructure would provide a boost to industrial productivity and, hence, economic growth in the region. Singapore also stands to benefit directly. From my own perspective in the financial sector, I know that investment banks or commercial banks cover Indo-China out of their Singapore offices. So, when demand for financial services grows in Indo-China, Singapore will benefit more than other competing financial hubs.”
“Sir, e-services provides a lot of convenience to many people, especially when it comes to dealing with Government agencies. Prior to availability of e-services such as the e-filing of income taxes, on 15 April, we will see many people snaking around Revenue House. This scenario has since been mitigated. The convenience of e-services goes beyond filing of income taxes. Many people now use it for everyday life, such as accessing CPF, MOM and LTA websites. However, many of e-services are shut out to computer illeritiate and the computer-shy, especially old people, senior citizens. The efficacy of e-services is sometimes curtailed by the maze-like webpages of different agencies. So, I would like to ask what can the Government do to improve e-services delivery to the old people? Wealth Inequality”