Ong Ye Kung
Singapore
“The Ministry of Health (MOH) recently enhanced the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) dental subsidies, which are tiered by income, for common preventive and restorative procedures.”
“Healthier SG GP clinics may also refer their enrolled patients to Active Ageing Centres and Community Health Posts to fulfill their social prescriptions and for subsidised services, such as medication management.”
“Public hospitals, such as the National University Hospital, the Singapore General Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital, have deployed robotic-assisted surgical (RAS) systems for minimally invasive soft-tissue surgeries.”
“The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) welcomes drug producers to choose Singapore as part of their first-wave filings. As long as a pharmaceutical product is approved by at least one regulatory agency, such as China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), it would also qualify for the abridged route.”
“A decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rate in patients with diabetes can be due to multiple reasons. Doctors will first investigate the underlying cause before determining whether the patient should be referred to a specialist. Some causes are reversible and cause transient reduction in renal function.”
“Information on the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) cannot be made visible on the National Electronic Health Record system as it is protected under the Mental Capacity Act. Such information may only be disclosed by the Public Guardian to specified persons upon satisfactory submission of evidence(s) required under the law.”
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“SDIC has in place a public education programme already and we will take in Mr Saktiandi Supaat's suggestions in future efforts. SDIC and MAS will continue to work together to raise awareness of the changes to the Schemes. Mr Leon Perera asked several questions. First, he asked how promptly can we expect compensatory payments to be made. SDIC aims to make payouts to most insured depositors within seven working days, in line with international standards and has relevant mechanisms and procedures in place to facilitate this. Mr Leon Perera also asked how the DI-PPF Fund monies are managed. The Fund's monies are managed by SDIC, the administrator of the Schemes and Funds. The management of the Fund is circumscribed by the DI-PPF Act. And under the Act, the Fund may only be invested in safe assets, such as securities issued by the Government or MAS, deposits with MAS or such other investments, with the objects of capital preservation and maintenance of liquidity. The management of the Funds are not outsourced. The SDIC Board, therefore, oversee the management of the Funds directly. It has established an investment policy for the Funds, covering investment philosophy and objective, permitted investments and markets, authority limits and asset allocation guidelines. The procedures, internal controls and disclosure and reporting on the investment holdings are audited by a public accounting firm annually and this is in accordance with the requirements of the DI-PPF Act and the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards. Mr Leon Perera also asked what kind of insurers are exempted from being PPF members. Actually, all licensed direct life and general insurers are, by default, PPF Scheme Members except for captive insurers and certain insurers that write very specialised risks.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank all the Members who have spoken on the Bill and voiced their support for the Bill. On behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister-in-charge of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, let me now address their questions. Mr Saktiandi Supaat is concerned that costs of higher premium contributions may be passed on to customers. MAS had considered the potential cost implications on Scheme Members when proposing these changes. The premium increase of one basis point to the banks as Scheme Members is not material relative to a bank's overall operating costs. To illustrate, the increases in costs for the three local banks, which are the largest Scheme Members, will be less than 0.1% of their operating costs on average. We do not expect the Scheme Members to pass these costs to customers. Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked who would bear the additional cost for extending the coverage of the Policy Owners’ Protection Scheme to cover the personal properties used for commercial purposes, and if this would result in a rise of premiums. The current annual contributions paid by the Scheme Members make up less than 0.2% of the total gross premiums written by the general insurance industry for insurance policies covered under the Scheme. The extension of coverage of the Scheme accounts for a small fraction of the 0.2%. Hence, the increase in contributions paid by the Scheme Members will also not be material. We do not expect Scheme Members to pass the cost to policy owners. Mr Saktiandi Supaat also highlighted the importance of educating the public on the coverage of the Schemes. I agree with Mr Saktiandi. Proper awareness of the coverage of the Schemes will help depositors and policy owners to make informed financial decisions.”
“Fraudulent and malicious acts will continue to be excluded from legal immunity. The amended Act will also provide indemnification for reasonable legal costs and expenses incurred by SDIC officers in connection with actions or omissions in good faith. These amendments are aligned with the recommendations in the Core Principles for Effective DI Systems, developed by the International Association of Deposit Insurers, and will provide greater assurance to SDIC and its officers in performing their duty to make compensation payments promptly, while maintaining accountability by retaining the requirement for the officers to act in good faith. Third change. The Bill will accord SDIC increased budgetary autonomy. The current Act requires SDIC to present annual estimates of its income and expenditure and the Funds to the Minister for approval. The amended Act will allow SDIC to submit three-year block estimates instead. This will enable SDIC to make longer-term plans to enhance its operations. SDIC will continue to submit to the Minister annual reports of its expenditures and revenues and be accountable for the management of its budget. Sir, this Bill will strengthen protection for small depositors and policy owners in line with market developments and international norms and improve the administration and compensation process of the two Schemes for the benefit of depositors and policy owners. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question proposed. (proc text)] 4.09 pm”
“First, the Bill will include voluntary winding up as a trigger for compensation payout under both Schemes. Currently, MAS may make a determination for compensation to be paid out when: one, a Scheme member is wound up by a Court in Singapore or elsewhere; or two, MAS is of the opinion that a Scheme member is insolvent, unable or likely to become unable to meet its obligations or about to suspend payments. Hence, there is no trigger for payout in the event of a winding up of a Scheme member that is voluntary and not ordered by a Court. This could potentially result in uncertainty and undue delays in payments to depositors and policy owners. The amendment closes this gap and expedites the compensation process. Second change. The Bill will enhance legal protection for directors, employees, officers and agents working for SDIC, the administrator of the Schemes. Currently, SDIC officers are provided legal immunity against liability if they carry out their duties in good faith and with reasonable care. One of SDIC’s primary objectives is to ensure that compensation is made out to depositors and policy owners as quickly as possible in the event a payout is triggered. While we expect SDIC to perform its duties with care, making it a strict legal standard could impair the ability of a deposit insurer to carry out their functions expeditiously in a crisis. The officers may become overly cautious to ensure that their actions are unquestionably reasonable. The Bill proposes to remove this requirement of “reasonable care”, which may present a distraction to SDIC and undermine its effectiveness. The removal of the requirement for “reasonable care” will bring SDIC in line with DI agencies internationally. SDIC officers will still be subjected to the standard of “good faith”.”
“The Bill will raise the contribution by up to one basis point per Scheme member, to support the higher coverage limit of S$75,000. At the same time, we will extend the fund build-up period from 2020 to 2028. The premium increase of one basis point strikes a balance between a reasonable fund build-up period and the financial costs to the industry. Sir, I will now explain the changes to the Policy Owners’ Protection Scheme. The Bill will introduce a definition for “personal” insurance policies, to be one that is owned by a natural person. The effect of this amendment is to extend protection to claims on damage to properties owned and used by individuals, even if these properties are sometimes used for commercial purposes. This change addresses a potential protection gap today, given that more individuals are using their personal properties for commercial purposes, such as using their cars to provide private hire transport services. The Bill will also give MAS the flexibility to prescribe, in regulations, caps on compensation payouts for specific classes or types of policy or claim event insured under the Scheme. Currently, there are caps on compensation payout for life insurance, but not for specified Singapore personal lines insurance policies. This means that the fund could potentially be exposed to very large claims which could translate into higher premium rates for all consumers. This amendment will allow MAS to mitigate the exposure of the Scheme to very large claims and contain the potential of rising premium rates. Sir, the Bill will also introduce new or revised provisions to improve the administration of the two Schemes. Let me highlight three key operational enhancements that will facilitate prompt payouts to insured depositors and policy owners.”
“In MAS’ most recent review, it also consulted the industry and other stakeholders on its proposals to enhance the Schemes. This Bill proposes legislative amendments to give effect to the following changes: one, strengthen the protection for depositors and policy owners; two, facilitate an efficient compensation payout process; and three, align the Schemes more closely with international standards and norms. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will now go through the main enhancements proposed in the Bill, starting with the DI Scheme. There are two main changes to the DI Scheme. First, the maximum level of coverage under the Scheme will be increased from S$50,000 to S$75,000. While there is no international standard on the level of coverage, our objective is to ensure that the vast majority of depositors should be fully covered. A survey by the International Association of Deposit Insurers found that the international norm is to fully cover about 90% of all insured depositors. For example, the US, UK, Hong Kong and Malaysia reported full coverage for over 90% of insured depositors. When we raised the limit to S$50,000 in 2011, it fully covered over 90% of insured depositors. Since then, incomes have grown and savings have also increased. As a result, S$50,000 fully covered about 87% of insured depositors today. Increasing the limit to S$75,000 will restore the percentage of fully insured depositors to above 90%, ensuring that the DI Scheme continues to serve its objective. The second change is to raise the annual premium contributions to the DI Fund. Currently, every DI Scheme member makes annual premium contributions of two to seven basis points of their insured deposit base to the Fund.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the Minister in-charge of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Deposit Insurance and Policy Owners’ Protection Schemes Act (DI-PPF Act) protects bank depositors and insurance policy owners in Singapore under the Deposit Insurance (DI) Scheme and the Policy Owners’ Protection Scheme respectively. Banks, finance companies and insurance companies that are covered under the two schemes are called Scheme Members. The DI Scheme was introduced in 2006 to provide a basic level of protection to small depositors. At that time, the Scheme insured Singapore dollar deposits up to S$20,000 per depositor per full bank or finance company. In 2011, the insured amount was raised to S$50,000. The Policy Owners’ Protection Scheme was set up in 2011 to protect policy owners for commonly purchased insurance policies. The Scheme provides compensation for life, accident and health, compulsory and specified Singapore personal lines insurance policies, such as motor, personal property or travel insurances, in the event that a direct life or general insurer fails. Both Schemes are supported by Funds established under the DI-PPF Act, which are, in turn, built up through contributions from Scheme Members and investment returns. The Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation (SDIC) administers both Schemes and the respective Funds. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) conducts regular reviews to ensure that the Schemes continue to provide adequate protection to depositors and policy owners, enhance operation of the Schemes and to take into consideration developments in the Singapore financial market and international practices, standards and guidance.”
“Suspected cases of statutory rape and predatory sexual behaviours involving a parent, carer or other household member are reported to the Ministry of Social and Family Development's Child Protection Service. When cases involve non-household members, parents will be advised to report to the Police. If parents refuse to do so, the schools will make the report. However, it is sometimes difficult for schools to track such cases as parents may not keep the schools informed, and the outcomes of the Police investigation may not be made known to schools.”
“We have a carefully planned curriculum, starting from lower primary and to upper secondary, to impart to our students the awareness and skills to protect themselves against sexual exploitation and abuse. For example, in lower primary, students are taught how to differentiate between a good and bad touch; in upper primary, they learn things like how to protect themselves from sexual advances, setting clear physical boundaries in a relationship, and the double-edged nature of the Internet. In secondary school, they learn more about the usefulness and dangers of cyberspace, dealing with relationships, and differentiating between healthy relationship and sexual grooming and so on. All these aim towards inculcating in our students a strong sense of the right to be treated with respect, to protect themselves, to not feel guilty or shame if they are victims, and seek help and counsel. Parents, too, play a key role in their children's sexuality education. The schools support parents with information on what their children are learning about sexuality and also offer parenting advice on how to initiate discussions on sexuality issues at home. We encourage parents to be open in discussing their beliefs and values, and being available to guide their children on sexuality matters. We understand the Member is concerned about this issue and wishes to know the number of cases of sexual offences every year. Our numbers are low by international standards. We monitor the numbers but have not been releasing them. Instead, we are raising awareness through education, counsel and advice in schools and within families. Our teachers are trained to look out for signs of distress in students and refer them to the school counsellors or other professional support when necessary.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Minister Heng Swee Keat always says when he was former Minister for Education, every problem in the world boils down to education; it is always education's fault. But what the Member asked, therefore, shows that it is really not just about education. The gap always exists, especially for a globalised city state like ours, but we want a strong core, and the Member asked, very pertinently, how do we build up that core. First and foremost, as my chart showed, with an inclusive growth model, we grow, the fruits can be distributed, especially under our system of tripartism. So, NTUC, MOM, employers coming together is such an important institution that we have. Secondly, the world is changing, our economic model, how we earn a living for ourselves as a little red dot, is also changing, and we must find an economic growth model that continues to let us do well in this world which the masses can participate. That goes back again to Minister Ng Chee Meng's speech and how that economic model can benefit us. While we do all that, continue all our social programmes – NS, housing, education, making sure that Singaporeans continue to mingle, continue to feel as one – and I can continue to play football in Bukit Merah Secondary, notwithstanding my knees.”
“If we come across an interesting and promising approach, we will be prepared to consider it, develop it further, run a pilot programme and see how it works. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I started this speech by committing ourselves to tackling the "unfinished business" of inequality. I do not mean that it will ever be finished. It will always be a work in progress. Today, we may be in a better situation than many other developed countries. But tackling inequality requires ceaseless striving. It was so for the first men and women who sat in this House when our country was mired in turbulence, violence and uncertainty. Today, we live in an era of peace and prosperity, an era where much wealth has been created, but much inequality still exists. To tackle this challenge, we must once again pledge ourselves, as one people, no matter the circumstances of our birth, no matter the luck of our draw, no matter the successes and failures that attend our lives, to create a more equal society. We must keep working at it. We must do so by appealing to the sense of unity of Singaporeans, never by pitting one group against another and pandering to the diverse, divisive forces in society. Tackling inequality is not just a long-term challenge for tomorrow but a national priority today. Fixing this is not the responsibility of any one segment of society. It demands something from all of us, because there is no more vital task than bringing Singapore and Singaporeans together. [Applause.]”
“Children, together with their parents, make those choices at a fairly young age, based on their talent and interests, with little or no stigma associated with any of the choices. The society respects everyone. Through SkillsFuture, we want to help everyone discover their strengths and talents, build the pathways to help them achieve skills mastery, through lifelong learning and honing of their craft. We have made some progress. Today, we can celebrate our children choosing to be a coder, cybersecurity expert, chef, event organiser, creative designer, hospitality professional, nurse, early childhood educator, filmmaker or craftsman. And they have to undergo the requisite training, not necessarily in a university. This is not the case 10 years ago. But a lot more needs to be done. We will have to develop even more pathways and opportunities within our education and training system. Employers' hiring and HR practices have to wake up to this new mindset. Some employers have, and I applaud them. Societal mindset will take even longer to evolve and change. We will continue to improve our policies, and we will not stop at these measures. My invitation for ideas and suggestions remains open. From the multitude of voices, we will discern that singularity of action, a choice that is right for Singapore, and one which we must explain well, persuade people and be able to defend publicly. So, bold moves need not always be major changes. They can be a change in the way of thinking, a spark to add to the Singapore flame. This has to be supported by an entrepreneurial attitude towards tackling problems, such as inequality. We will actively look out for fresh ideas and try out new solutions.”
“Her eldest son just graduated from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and he won an award for the most outstanding academic performance in his course. The other three children are studying also in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, another one in ITE and the last in secondary school. All are coping well. The second story is that of Mr Hairul Hakkim Khuthibutheen. When he was 14, his father passed away. The family downgraded their flat. The mother had to return to the workforce to support the family. She worked as a factory operator and a service staff in a fast-food restaurant. Mr Hairul received help from various schemes, including from the Council for the Development of the Singapore Malay/Muslim Community (MENDAKI), the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) and bursaries from the Muslim Trust Fund. That helped him complete his studies. He graduated as the top student from NUS Law Faculty in 2016. Today, he is a Justice Law Clerk at the Supreme Court, very nearby. These are two of many Singaporeans whom our system has helped. Finally, one of the best counters against inequality is SkillsFuture. If meritocracy is confined to academic excellence, success is defined narrowly as being a university graduate holding a professional or managerial position, then pathways will be limited, possibilities reduced and opportunities curtailed. There is a pertinent question in Chinese: 为什么要千军万马过一个独木桥？Why ask an entire army to cross the river using one plank, a single plank? Why can we not have many pathways to success? In Switzerland, 35% of youths go to universities, while the rest enroll in upper secondary, vocational and apprenticeship training.”
“Smaller form classes across the board can be beneficial to students, but it will deprive weaker students of the more dedicated support that we are able to provide today. So, embedded in our class size practices is also our social compact. After-school environments matter, too. Students need a supervised and secure environment to complete their homework, study for tests, and seek counsel and guidance. By 2020, there will be student care centres in every primary school. Admission policies greatly affect diversity in our schools. For Primary 1 registration, 40 places in each school are set aside for Phases 2B and 2C, which are for children who do not have prior direct connections to the school. From next year, secondary schools with affiliated primary schools will have to ringfence 20% of the places for students without affiliation. We also work with many community partners. The major education and assistance programmes are funded and run by the Government in an ethnically-neutral way. Self-Help Groups come in, complement the effort by reaching out to vulnerable members of their communities and offer additional help. Let me share two stories. First, is that of Mdm Sharinna Tan, a single parent to four children. They used to live in a 1-room rental flat in Bukit Merah. Mdm Tan worked as a part-time clerk earning about $1,000 a month. Various organisations – Government agencies, The Straits Times (ST) Pocket Money Fund, public hospitals – stepped in to assist her. The Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) reached out to her, and her children benefited from one-to-one tuition under the Supervised Homework Group Programme. Today, Mdm Tan is working as a sales coordinator, earning about $2,000 a month. She is the proud owner of a 2-room HDB flat.”
“We introduced the Polytechnic Foundation Programme where good performing students in Normal (Academic) streams can articulate directly to polytechnics, and they did very well. I think more can be done in this area. We received so much feedback about stress in the system and too much rote learning. So, over the years, our curriculum and pedagogies have continuously evolved and changed. Non-essential curriculum was cut down drastically. Long gone are the days where children were expected to do well just by memorisation. Today, primary school students face their first examinations only at the end of Primary 2. We embedded 21st Century Competencies, which are critical soft skills, into the curriculum. The way higher education is being delivered in the Institute of Education (ITE), polytechnics and universities has also been drastically transformed. It is nothing like what parents remember them to be. We have also put in place more help for the young from vulnerable families. KidSTART builds all-round support for these children. The Ministry of Social and Family Development has roped in social workers, counsellors, nurses, paediatricians and educators to provide holistic support to these children. The target is to help 1,000 children over a period of three years. That is the pilot programme duration. In lower primary, we will continue our efforts, including through the Learning Support Programme. Through the Programme, which is conducted in small groups of eight to 10, we dedicate resources to help weaker students. This is why even though our student to teacher ratio is at the levels of other developed countries, MOE has refrained from implementing a general reduction in form class sizes.”
“If the scores are no longer so fine, how do we then allocate secondary school places? For students with the same scores, we will use tie-breakers – citizenship first, then your choice, and, finally, when all else fails, we ballot. I am confident that this will reduce the stress on students and help them enjoy learning more. This is a big step change and it is coming in three years' time. We have also heard many considered views and arguments on how we can improve the education system – better help the disadvantaged – and we have acted on them. We will see results in the coming years. One strong view over the years which resulted in a consensus is that one of the best ways to help children from lower-income families is through quality preschool education. These are their formative years and will have lasting impact. We have been growing the capacity and quality of the preschool sector, including introducing Ministry of Education (MOE) Kindergartens where one-third of the places are set aside for children from low-income families. At MOE Kindergartens, children do not mug, study and get trained academically. Instead, they learn through play and conversations. Through these activities, they develop confidence, social skills, as well as a foundation in literacy and numeracy. We heard the voices of people, such as Ms Denise Phua, who has always championed a programme-based rather than class-based approach to cater to different learning needs and interests of students. So, we are ensuring more porosity between such classes and streams. For students in the Normal (Academic) stream, we introduced subject-based banding where they can attend certain classes together with students in the Express stream.”
“We cannot assume that the students all want to be in the Express stream. Some prefer the pace of learning in the Normal streams. Many students will tell you – and I am sure they used to tell Minister Ng Chee Meng when he visited them – they prefer to be a big fish in a smaller pond, rather than a small fish in a bigger pond. Many students in the Normal (Technical) course also like the more applied and hands-on curriculum which they feel plays to their strengths. So, we cannot ignore how these students feel. Remember, stigma is not an education policy, but the result of our own attitudes and biases. There is also the call for PSLE to be abolished, one of the hot favourites. So, that way, we take away the stress and the unfairness, because those from better family backgrounds can afford additional help and prepare their children better for their examinations. And therefore, abolish PSLE. But if you speak to enough parents, you will also realise that many support the PSLE system because the PSLE experience teaches their children to work hard and to demonstrate what they have learnt throughout primary school years. Many parents are also not overly stressed by it because they do not see PSLE as an exercise to chase for high marks, but rather as an objective and transparent way to decide which secondary schools their children will go to. For many families and students from humble backgrounds, PSLE is their way to do well and go to a school of their choice. The alternative, which is, to go by residential location, is even more unfair. From 2021, we will replace the PSLE T-score system with wider Achievement Levels. With this change, we will not differentiate students so finely for Secondary 1 posting.”
“" This is a young man who clearly empathises with the challenges of the low-income. But his solution was for the system to enable people to help themselves, not welfare. What is the difference? We make help available to them, but we also preserve their motivation, so that they continue to strive, instead of being passive recipients of welfare. Members of this House have worked with low-income families week in, week out and understand their plight. Others outside of this House might have read about them and their plight. But let us not forget the ethnographies of those, like Chee Kian, who have worked hard and bounced back, thanks to the social trampoline we have. The Government must continue to extend assistance to the disadvantaged, and it will. But making handouts easy and unconditional is not dignity; self-reliance is. What can we do in the next phase, especially for education, and how should we do it? The phrase "bold changes" in the President's Address received a lot of attention. While we should be bold, we should not be reckless, for this will undo what had worked and undermine the fundamentals of our system and all that have helped serve our students well over the years. Let us not undermine them. We must be bold, and we must be wise. To do this, we must put our ears close to the ground, listen to the voices of all segments of Singaporeans. If we listen close enough, we will also realise that the "voice of the people" does not deliver a singular message, rather it offers a diversity of views, conflicting and complex, even as they remain compelling. Take, for example, the call for streaming to be abolished. The argument is that it will remove the label and the stigma of the Normal streams. But we also need to put ourselves in the students' shoes.”
“Universal welfare – what does it mean? It means making assistance broadly and easily accessible to not just the lower-income but also the middle-income. Proponents argued that with universal welfare, there will be no stigma associated with social assistance, and the dignity of the lower-income will be preserved. A few countries have implemented universal welfare. But make no mistake; no handout is actually free. Someone has to pay for it. To support universal welfare, taxes need to go up. For these countries, average income tax on a typical worker is about 30%; GST is typically 20% to 25%. In Singapore, half of our population do not pay personal income taxes, and GST is still single digit. If we want universal welfare, taxes on ordinary folks, including the middle-income, will have to be much higher. But the greater concern is the impact on motivation. I noticed that yesterday, Mr Pritam Singh alluded to it, and it is a concern that should not be dismissed. So, a few weeks ago, in a public dialogue, I called for views and suggestions on how we can better tackle inequality and I thank everyone who contributed and wrote to me. One young man left a comment on my Facebook page. His name is Chee Kian and he is now a teacher. His father was a taxi driver, his mother a cleaner. He said, "I benefited from the meritocratic system in Singapore. I worked hard through the education system to achieve what I am today. However, I notice that it is getting harder for poorer students to break through the system like the past as privileged kids garner (many) advantages since young...and stay ahead. (We need to) bridge the gap between the rich and the underprivileged through education so that more Singaporeans are able to succeed through working hard.”
“So, some schools, due to their history, culture or programme offerings have a large proportion of students from the higher-income groups. That has raised concerns and a few principals have pointed that out in their public comments and speeches over the years. People are free to choose their friends and who they want to be with, but when groups are predominantly formed along socio-economic status, whether one is rich or poor, it is the start of stratification, and that will poison society over time. Our policies will need to work against this trend to actively bring Singaporeans of all backgrounds together. So, let me summarise, after I have gone through gap, core, churn, mix. In many developed countries, inequality had been characterised by stagnation of wages and economic opportunities for the masses. Median income stayed still. There is a growing underclass. In Singapore, our median income is still rising. Lower- and middle-income families continue to experience real income growth and social mobility. Singaporeans have been enjoying a rising standard of living and are motivated to do well. This is both a result of our culture, of who we are, as well as our public policies. But transforming from Third World to First has created new problems and new forms of inequalities. First, a rising middle class which aspires to do even better, but material progress is getting increasingly difficult, given our high base. Second, some low-income families find it difficult to uplift themselves and stratification risks becoming entrenched. And third, some amongst the higher-income segment are becoming socially distant from the rest. These are our three inequality problems. Some think that universal welfare can be a solution to all these problems.”
“Nobody was bothered who was from where and what background. And this was really the relaxed Singapore way of life. This culture is organic, but it is also carefully nurtured and reinforced. At least three public policies play a part in doing so. First is, again, housing. Every precinct or community is planned with a range of housing types, so that every estate has a good mix of Singaporeans from different backgrounds. We meet one another along neighbourhood coffee shops, hawker centres and community centres. Our playgrounds are getting better and better and more interesting, and we see kids from all backgrounds, with parents and grandparents in tow, playing together. But we do not stop at hardware. The People's Association and other community organisations hold many activities to encourage communal interactions and forge bonds. Second is National Service (NS). It is a universal rite of passage for every Singaporean male. Everyone trains, eats, sleeps together. NS is not just a security apparatus, but also an important national institution which fosters social mixing at different stages of our lives. And third, the education system. The great majority of primary schools in Singapore have students from all socio-economic levels. Over 80% of our schools have a relatively balanced mix of students from top and bottom socio-economic quintiles with at least 5% of their students from each of these two quintiles. And children, being children, they will play and learn together. But we can do better, and we should, and we will. There is a perceptible reduction in social mixing in recent years. The study by the Institute of Policy Studies on a nascent class divide has often been cited. Mr Ang Wei Neng mentioned that, too, yesterday.”
“So, in my constituency, we have many new Build-To-Order (BTO) flats. When I do my home visits, I meet many families who have moved out from their rental flats into a flat that they now own with great pride and often with the help of additional housing subsidies. With schemes, such as Fresh Start and the Tenants’ Priority Scheme, I am sure more will follow the path of the 3,700 public rental households who have become home owners in the last five years. But the success of our policies has led to a new set of issues. Families which did well are able to pass down the privileges to their children, through better coaching, enrichment classes and exposure to the world. Their children have a headstart. For families which cannot move up despite the stronger and better support that is available now, we find their circumstances more dire and challenging than poor families of the past. Social stratification is starting to become entrenched. Let me now turn to the fourth dimension of inequality, which is "mix". Singaporeans have always been relatively blind – to race, income and family backgrounds. I used to play football at Bukit Merah Secondary School. I was just talking to Mr Azmoon on this. He also used to climb over the fence and play football, at whichever school I do not know. But I played in Bukit Merah Secondary School legally, until my knees got busted, because without fail, every weekend, on Saturday, someone would book the field, open up the gate, and whoever wanted to play would just play and I would always go there, and people living around, other groups, would just join in. There would always be strangers amongst us. And then we did chut-ho-bay, o-bay-som; we divided ourselves into two teams, and we just played.”
“This explains why in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), our 15-year-old students from disadvantaged backgrounds performed much better than their peers of similar backgrounds in developed countries, not just in literacy and numeracy but also in other critical soft skills, such as collaborative problem-solving. Compared to other countries, Singapore has one of the smallest proportions of low performers in PISA. So, if Members look at the chart, all the way to the right, is Singapore, the lowest bar, that is, the percentage of low performers in PISA. In fact, there are no more bars to our right. We are the lowest. In other words, we have one of the smallest education underclass in Singapore. And if we wish to equalise the education outcomes further, we can, and there are two ways. We can, first, reduce academic rigour across the board so that everyone performs more or less the same. Or we can strive even harder to help those at the bottom level up, as we have done all these years. [Deputy Speaker (Mr Charles Chong) in the Chair] Our choice is clear. By nature, we are hardworking people, and that is a virtue. We will continue to work hard, we will do what is right for students, support as many of them as possible to do what they like and love and be the best they can be. We also provide broad access to tertiary education. Today, seven in 10 of each Primary 1 cohort progress to publicly-funded degree or diploma programmes. Amongst students who live in 1-, 2- or 3-room HDB flats, more than half moved up to diploma or degree programmes. Our home ownership policies played a major part in social mobility, too. HDB provides significant housing grants to help Singaporeans buy their homes, with the lower-income getting more help than the higher-income.”
“The challenge ahead is that many middle-income families hope to do better and for their children to be better off than them. But given the high base we are at, the climb is getting harder. We will still improve but it will most likely be in steps and not in leaps. We should also not define a better life purely in economic and material terms but also other aspects of a holistic quality of life, from a more pleasant and greener environment to a more cohesive and caring society and with greater pride in being Singaporeans. The third dimension of inequality is churn or social mobility. The Ministry of Finance has studied the incomes of young Singaporeans in their 30s compared to their parents. Fourteen percent of those with parents who were in the lowest income quintile when they were growing up, managed to move up to the top quintile of income earners when they were adults in their early 30s. This rate is much higher than the 7.5% in the US, 9% in the UK and about 12% in Denmark. This is an important part of the Singapore character and one of our biggest national achievements, that Singaporeans are able to transform the lives of their families over one generation. A major contributing factor is our belief in meritocracy. But public policies play a big part as well. A key one is education. We ensured universal access to good general education which uplifted the population. We do what we can to remove barriers erected by financial difficulties. Education at all levels is heavily subsidised. Additional support is provided for children from lower-income families. Because of that, many students who would have dropped out of school, were able to continue to be engaged in their studies.”
“However, as Members can see from the chart, our experience is that the fall in Gini coefficient coincided with periods of growth. And the reason is because ours is a model of inclusive growth that benefited the masses, where there is tripartite cooperation between workers, employers and the Government and when there is a belief that we share the fruits of success, as we all eat from the same rice bowl. So, as a result, you will find that when there was growth, we actually moderated our Gini coefficient. Today, after taking into account Government transfers and taxes, our Gini coefficient is about 0.36, better than the US at 0.39 and about the same as the UK. We are, however, higher than other European countries and Japan because of their comprehensive welfare systems, a topic that I will come back to later. To measure the strength of our core, we use median household income. In Japan, the US, UK, Denmark, Finland and many countries, the real median household income either stagnated or experienced close to zero growth between 2006 and 2016 – all the blue bars on the chart – very low growth or no growth. In contrast, over the same period, there was healthy growth in median real household income in Singapore, as shown by the red bar. And this is a result of income growth across the board, including for the lower-income segments in Singapore. The strongest evidence of a healthy middle-income group in Singapore is our changing lifestyles over time. Birthdays and festive celebrations in restaurants, living in bigger HDB flats and executive condominiums, family vacations overseas. These are not enjoyed by an exclusive few but by the broad masses. This is also not a natural occurrence, but a result of our model of inclusive growth.”
“With the muscle of progressive taxation and redistribution, and the spirit of giving back, we can moderate the impact of an income gap. Second is the core. What is more important is the distribution of income between the top and bottom extremes and whether we have a strong middle-income core. The most well-known indicator of income distribution is the Gini coefficient. We are quite familiar. It ranges from zero to one. The closer it is to zero, the more equal the society. Conversely, the closer it is to one, the more income is concentrated at the top and the more unequal the society. We did not compute Gini coefficient until 1980. But we know that in the 1960s, inequality was very high. Then, many Singaporeans were poor, did not have proper roofs over their heads, never attended school. Yet, there were many wealthy traders and estate owners. So, one study estimated that in the 1960s, the Gini coefficient probably was around 0.5. So, it was very high – shot through the charts. But to drive growth and create jobs, we opened up our economy, industralised, attracted foreign investments. We built HDB flats, educated ourselves. Singaporeans saw their income and standard of living rise. During that period, as Members can see on the chart, the Gini coefficient trended downwards, right into the late 1980s. In 1997, Singapore was hard hit by the Asian Financial Crisis. In 2001, the burst of the US dot.com bubble affected us, too. In the aftermath of both events, we observed the Gini coefficient spiking very steeply, as Members can see on the chart. Fortunately, the global economy picked up over the last 10 years, and we have seen inequality moderate over the same period. There have been studies to show that gross domestic product growth actually exacerbates inequality.”
“First, let us look at the gap between the top and bottom income segments. One indicator is the ratio of incomes at the 90th percentile to the 10th percentile. I use household income per household member here for Singapore. Compared to countries, such as the US, South Korea, the UK and Finland, our ratio is quite high. Last year, it was 5.8, which Members can see on the chart. We were second, just below the US. But we must take into account the fact that we are a city state. If we compare ourselves with other major cities around the world, I think we will not be out of kilter. We have been moderating income disparity through polices, especially with a progressive tax system. The top 10% of income earners in Singapore contribute about 80% of our personal income tax revenue. These are, in turn, redistributed to lower-income Singaporeans through schemes, such as the Workfare Income Supplement, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Vouchers, higher subsidies for lower- and middle-income households in education, healthcare, housing and so on. As a result, lower-income families in Singapore receive about $4 in benefits for every dollar of tax they pay. Middle-income families receive $2 for every tax dollar. This rate of redistribution is higher than the $1.30-$1.40 that middle-income households received for every tax dollar in the UK, US and Finland. So, our redistribution rate is actually higher. What is equally important is that high-income earners also give back to society through philanthropy. Throughout our history, we had been blessed with successful businessmen and philanthropists – people like Lim Nee Soon, Tan Kah Kee, Syed Mohamed Alsagoff, Govindasamy Pillai. This giving spirit is still very much alive today and we must continue to encourage it.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Motion. Today, like many Members of the House, I would like to talk about the issue of inequality. Singapore has wrestled with the problem of inequality since the birth of our nation, and it remains unfinished business today. But each country's situation is different. We should unpack the issues carefully so that we better understand our situation, what we have been doing to tackle this problem and what more we can do. There are at least four dimensions to the problem of inequality. First, the income gap in society, that is, the difference between the top and bottom income segments. Second, between the extremes, what is the distribution in the middle and whether we have a strong middle-income core. Third, how dynamic or static is this distribution and whether there is mobility, especially from the bottom upwards. And fourth, while accepting that there is inevitable income disparity in every society, do different groups interact well with one another? So, to put it simply, the gap, the core, the churn and the mix. I will go through each. Mr Speaker, Sir, with your permission, I would like to distribute a few charts and also show them on the screen.”
“All primary schools will have a school-based SCCs by 2020. They will cater to the educational, social and emotional well-being of our students, especially those from disadvantaged families. We must uphold and enhance education as a platform for social mixing. From 2019, we will reserve 20% of places at every affiliated secondary school for students who do not benefit from affiliation priority. We will actively promote interaction among students of all backgrounds through initiatives, such as applied learning, Co-Curricular Activities and Outward Bound School camps. From 2019, we will roll out compulsory education for children with special educational needs. With our social service sector partners, we will deliver quality education to serve the varied needs of our students, optimise their potential and nurture them to become independent and confident individuals. We will expand the School-to-Work transition programme to offer customised training to help more students secure employment. The scope of MOE’s work has expanded over the years to also cover preschool and lifelong learning. Education is, indeed, a lifelong journey. It starts with the transmission of values, nurturing a curiosity to learn, and developing basic literacy and numeracy abilities. It continues through life with the acquisition of skills, knowledge and experience. We will continue to closely partner parents, employers and communities to mould the future of Singapore.”
“We will build on our efforts to develop "smart schools", to better prepare our students for the future, and to be responsible members of a more digitalised society. We will support self-directed as well as collaborative learning by enhancing the Singapore Student Learning Space, which will be rolled out to all schools this year. Students will be empowered to learn anytime, anywhere and at their own pace. We will raise the capabilities of teachers as designers of learning experiences, leverage technology to improve learning experiences, and promote collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas. We will strengthen the interface between schools and parents through the Parents Gateway. This online platform will allow both groups to work together to better support the learning needs of our students. As we make bold strides in our education landscape, we must ensure that the disadvantaged are not left behind. Education will continue to be a key pillar of social mobility. We are expanding the number of MOE Kindergartens, as part of the Government’s efforts to improve quality, affordability and accessibility in the preschool sector to ensure a good start for all children. Our schools will continue to provide equal opportunities for all students, regardless of background, to access quality education. We will continue to expand and strengthen our ecosystem of partnerships, working closely with our stakeholders to bring out the best in our students. This includes collaboration with Self-Help Groups to provide holistic support to less advantaged students and their families. To cater to students who need a conducive after-school care environment, we will expand the number of school-based Student Care Centres (SCCs) and places.”
“We will support students in uncovering their strengths and developing their talents, by ensuring that multiple pathways are available across the education system. This includes partnering industries to offer our students real world learning opportunities through programmes, such as the Institute of Technical Education’s (ITE's) Work-Learn Technical Diploma, the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programmes, and the SkillsFuture Work-Study Degree programmes. Through initiatives, such as Direct School Admission in schools and aptitude-based admission in IHLs, we recognise the interests and non-academic abilities of students in our admission systems. We will also formalise and strengthen Education and Career Guidance efforts to give students more time, guidance and opportunities to explore their interests, and decide on their specialisations and career options. To support this, we will streamline polytechnic courses and introduce more Common Entry Programmes. We are bringing about a major change in our IHLs to also assume the mission of supporting the education and training needs of working adults. In support of industry transformation, our IHLs will significantly expand their offerings of industry-relevant and modular training programmes. Together with private training providers and employers, we will build a vibrant and high-quality lifelong learning industry that enables continual upskilling and reskilling of the workforce. All these efforts are anchored on the philosophy of SkillsFuture, which is to support all Singaporeans, regardless of their starting points, to uncover their strengths and interests, and learn throughout life through multiple pathways to develop skills mastery. Over time, our society will embrace a broad meritocracy of skills.”
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) aims to bring out the best in every child and develop every Singaporean to their fullest potential. We seek to nurture upright, resilient and confident Singaporeans, with the drive for lifelong learning and skills mastery and the strong desire to contribute to society. We will seek to enhance our students’ learning and educational experience, regardless of their abilities and starting points. Values remain at the heart of education. We will continue to strengthen our focus on Character and Citizenship Education and enhance Values-in-Action programmes to provide students with more opportunities to build their character. We will deepen students’ understanding of our nation and society, as well as the region and the world. We will continue to build upon our bilingual language foundation and make the learning of languages encouraging and fun. We are rolling out plans for enhanced outdoor learning and activities. We will foster the joy of learning in our students, to make learning meaningful and enduring for our students and foster a passion for lifelong learning. As an Asian society, we put strong focus on academic excellence, but we need to continue with efforts to dial back the over-emphasis on examination results, which can dampen the enthusiasm for learning. We are on track to implement the changes to the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scoring and Secondary 1 posting systems in 2021. We will continue to enhance Applied and Experiential Learning in our schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs). Through learning by doing, students will be able to cultivate an innovative spirit and apply their knowledge and skills in the real world.”
“Yes, I will. Today, for faculty, both tenured and non-tenured, the split between local and foreign faculties is about 50-50. If you look at university leaders – Deans and above – it is about 70% Singaporeans, 30% foreigners, quite in line with Minister Lim Swee Say's "two-thirds plus one-third, more than one". But on the Member's question, I fully agree with him that all our universities are national universities. They must understand local issues, Singapore's and our region's challenges and they must understand the context of Singapore. Faculty who understand the context of Singapore can be locals and can be foreigners. So long as they understand the context and they do research and teaching that are within that context, we welcome them. Having said that, we do want to develop local scholars who will rise up through the ranks. And they are Singaporeans, and they do meaningful local research. That is why we have the Singapore Teaching and Academic Research Talent (START) programme.”
“Chairman, a short reply to Ms Denise Phua because she asked the Ministers. The short answer is help the students find what they love to do. If it is something they love to do, they will be self-directed and they will learn their whole life. That is what we are focusing on.”
“So, 40 years ago, we built systems to respond to challenges that we could identify. We must now foster human ingenuity and resilience so that our children can thrive in a future we cannot yet discern. This requires us to give students a say in what, how and when they want to learn, to help them develop, discover and deepen their knowledge and skills in the areas that they are passionate about. This is the most precious gift for our children. But we cannot give it to them; we can only set them on a journey to discover it for themselves. [Applause.]”
“Just when you become an expert in taking care of babies, they go to school, and it is a totally different challenge. And when you thought that you had finally mastered parenting school-going children, they become teenagers, and that presents another area of challenge. Our children often do a better job at keeping up with the fast-changing world than parents do. By ensuring that they are so well taken care of, does it help them or are we inadvertently blunting their abilities to adapt? Years ago, I taught my daughter how to cycle, and I learnt that a young girl cannot learn how to balance with an over-protective dad holding the back of the bicycle. I had to let go. Eventually, when my running could not keep up with her pedalling, I did, and off she went. She learnt how to cycle, and I learnt how to let go. Perhaps one of the best things we, as parents, can do for our children is to know when to let go and what to let go of. But this does not mean that they will be left alone; they will have the love of the family, as well as support of the entire school system. That is why parenthood is a roller coaster ride and for the lion-hearted. There is no guaranteed success. But children need the time and space to explore in order to discover their strengths and their interests, find their place in the world and ignite their joy of learning. This is not just a matter of personal freedoms, but a pragmatic response to the fast changes in the world around us, a world where it is hard to identify the landing points that the unfolding story of the rise of China and technological advancement will lead us, a world where the young are creating their own jobs through startups and innovations and shaping their own future.”
“In time, they will have to be developed independently, with a practical bent – delivered by practitioners on skills in demand by industries; or a futuristic bent – taught by researchers on cutting-edge technology. Mr Chairman, Sir, let me conclude. Transformation of education cannot be done by MOE alone. I agree with Ms Foo Mee Har that a key partner in education are the employers. We need employers' hands on deck, too, to provide input on curriculum design, offer their experts as adjunct lecturers, place our students in meaningful internships, and participate actively in lifelong learning by providing inhouse training for their employees. I agree with Dr Intan Mokhtar that we should give greater recognition to employers who support this, such as through the SkillsFuture Employer Award that was started last year. But the best reward for them is the outcome of their investment in their own people. As we shift the IHL system to lay a stronger foundation for students and be less prescriptive in the occupation we are preparing them for, employers need to step up even more to involve themselves in education and lifelong learning, especially for the young. We also need to work closely with the most important people in our students' lives – their parents. Our children are often the people we love the most. It is natural for parents to want to bring them up impeccably – from the night feeds when they are babies, helping them with homework when they are in primary school, taking leave when they are taking PSLE, attending Open Houses at the IHLs with them, interviewing their boyfriends and girlfriends. We want the best for them. But the truth is we are all parents-in-training.”
“Mr Henry Kwek and Miss Cheng Li Hui asked for an update on the review. Given our limited budget, we need to do some re-allocation of resources. Hence, from 2019, for the majority of MOE-funded Postgraduate by Coursework programmes, the subsidy level for Permanent Residents (PRs) will be adjusted slightly downwards, while that for international students will be discontinued. However, there will be no change in the subsidy level for Singaporeans. This will free up around $25 million in budget each year, which will be rechannelled to support modular courses at our IHLs for our local workforce. Notwithstanding the reduction in subsidy for non-Singaporeans, we must continue to attract selected, deserving postgraduate international students who can make meaningful contributions to Singapore. Besides these discrete changes, what is more important is the shift in the mindsets of all of our IHLs to embrace lifelong learning as part of their mission. Mr Ang Wei Neng is right that gone are the days where a degree can last someone a lifetime. NUS is blazing the trail in this regard. Last year, NUS announced that all alumni can take up two modules for free over a three-year period. The response was overwhelming, and alumni started to attend classes side by side with young undergraduates. Encouraged by the good response, NUS is expanding it into a programme called NUS Lifelong Learners, or L3. Under L3, NUS will treat every student enrolment as lasting for 20 years, not just three or four years. It will help their students build their careers and learn for life during this period. This gives new meaning to the word "alumni". I am sure this change in mindset will spread to all IHLs. Today, short courses for adults are mostly unpacked from long full-time programmes.”
“And over time, each IHL will find its niche and the landscape will settle. These courses are funded at up to 70% upfront, so that fees are significantly lower. Many will be structured as Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs), where funding will be even more generous. As of February this year, more than 4,900 adult learners have enrolled in SkillsFuture Series courses. So, it is not too bad. The IHLs will develop more modular courses in the coming year and sharpen their focus to meet industry's evolving needs. By 2020, we expect to have increased the annual funding of IHL lifelong learning programmes by $100 million, up from about $210 million per year today. As the IHLs roll out more modular courses, the AUs will repackage certain courses to create pathways that lead to smaller qualifications, often referred to as "micro-credentials". These micro-credentials comprise only modules targeted at developing expertise for work and, as Dr Lim Wee Kiak said, can be useful in providing a milestone for adult learners to aim towards and which employers can recognise. However, we should be careful not to let such micro-credentials become a new arms race to collect credentials. IHLs should instead focus on imparting skills and knowledge needed by industry and package them into a nice bundle that represents a meaningful upgrading of skills and know-how. Learners, too, should focus on picking up what is necessary for their work and for their careers. Our AUs will progressively roll out more of such micro-credentials in the coming years and subject them to the market test. As we step up support for SkillsFuture Series courses, we also reviewed the way we fund Postgraduate by Coursework programmes at our universities, namely, Master's by Coursework and Postgraduate Diplomas.”
“45 pm I also note Ms Denise Phua's two examples of students from the GCE "N" level stream who like art but were unable to get into LaSalle or NAFA, and that is because they require a minimum of GCE "O" level certificates. We will review that. After all, we have PFP programmes that allow students from the "N" level stream to go to a Diploma programme in polytechnics. So, we will review that, and I thank the Member for the feedback. Next, let me talk about deepening what we learn through lifelong learning. Ms Foo Mee Har asked about the status and future plans of SkillsFuture. It is a long-term movement. I thank Deputy Prime Minister Tharman for his assessment that we are a third there; actually, I think it is more like a quarter. SkillsFuture is not just the SkillsFuture Credit as we all know. Neither is it just about getting IHLs to deliver training programmes for adults. It requires a transformation of the education system as we know it; it requires our young to uncover their interests and passions and commit to learning their whole life; it requires employers, private training providers and IHLs to all do their part for lifelong learning; it requires society to celebrate and recognise a broad range of achievements and success. IHLs can play a bigger role in our future plans for SkillsFuture. They have studied the ITMs, gotten feedback from industry partners, and have launched around 800 industry-relevant modular courses since October last year. They are collectively known as the SkillsFuture Series and cover a wide range of disciplines. ICT is a key focus of the IHLs. It is a rich area. There is value for each IHL to contribute. There will be some overlap, but I do not think it is a problem so long as the demand is strong.”
“This is expected, and I thank the IHLs for looking at every single appeal carefully. What students and parents need to understand is that passion and aptitude need to be demonstrated and is not declared, and that has to come through during the admission process. For example, during my time, if a child likes airplanes, he would know every model of airplanes. He would go to Changi Airport as a past-time to see airplanes take off and land. And he would have the digital video disc (DVD) of "Top Gun" and would have watched it 20 times. This interest is demonstrated, and you cannot hide it. For example, since young, I have loved art and I spent all my time doodling – and I meant really "all my time" and I used to have a lot of work to show for it. So, last year, we set the aptitude-based admissions target for IHLs at 15% of their intake cohorts. The institutions have made good strides but they have not fully used the quota, so I will leave the target at 15% for now. However, there is scope for us to do more at ITE. Ideally, admission to vocational training pathways should predominantly be aptitude-based. There are practical constraints, such as course capacity or the industries' ability to absorb these graduates, but where possible, we want every student to enter a vocation of his liking. ITE will embark on a review of its admission system, to rely more on assessing students’ aptitude through interviews and review of portfolios. The revised system will be implemented in stages from the 2019 admissions cycle, starting with selected courses in the Business, Hospitality and ICT sectors. 5.”
“But for PFP students, 35% achieved it – 35% compared to 25% on average. The norm is that 55% of each cohort score GPA 3 and above, but 70% of PFP students achieved it. Dropout rates for PFP students are also much lower than average. How did they do so well? I asked the polytechnic principals. They said being offered PFP greatly motivated the N(A) students. I also believe that it has something to do with the students' strong interest in the polytechnic path that they chose. There is an important lesson in education policy here. Given the right encouragement and a chance to prove themselves, especially in an area that they enjoy doing, the students will do their best and will have a good chance of doing well. This inner drive outweighs all the tuition and all the close supervision that are given to the students. Today, PFP is open to students from the GCE "N" level stream who score an aggregate of 11 points and below. Given the success of the programme, we will expand it and extend it to students from the GCE "N" level stream with an aggregate score of 12 points and below. With this change, the number of students accepted every year will increase from about 1,200 today to 1,500. Mr Zainal Sapari asked about aptitude-based admissions. Today, our IHLs' admission processes consider factors beyond academic accomplishments to recognise students who have already discovered their interests and aptitudes. NUS just announced that it will give bonus points for first choice applications to encourage students to pursue their interests and I really commend them for that. However, this approach is not without problems. Polytechnic principals told me that since I announced and implemented that, they have been receiving many more appeals from students and parents.”
“The two changes I just spoke about need to be supplemented with a stronger and more systemic effort to guide students. This has to start in secondary schools to help students get a broad sense of where their interests and strengths lie. This is where Applied Learning will really help. Typically, this falls into one of the following four domains – science and technology, ICT, social sciences and humanities, or the creative arts. In the IHLs, the process will continue to, first, expose students to knowledge and skills within their chosen cluster of disciplines, and then to help them identity their specialisation later on. Towards the tail end of their IHL education, they will undergo industry attachment – like a capstone – to reaffirm their interest in their chosen career. This is a systemic, self-discovery approach for students, which we will roll out to all the IHLs in the coming year. Stronger ECG ensures that more students can navigate the multiple education pathways available and choose the one most suitable for them. One such pathway is the Polytechnic Foundation Programme (PFP) which Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked about. To give Members some background, today, polytechnics mostly admit students who graduated with the GCE "O" level certificate. They also take in a small group of students who graduated with Normal (Academic), or N(A), certificates. These students from the N(A) stream did well for their GCE "N" level examinations and are given a chance to go directly to the polytechnics. We started PFP in 2013 and the first batch just graduated in 2017. The outcomes have been very encouraging, and maybe even surprising to some. Typically, 25% of every cohort scores a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.5 and above.”
“For these students, therefore, I agree with Mr Seah Kian Peng that giving them more time to explore their interests will help. Even an extra six months or one year is going to help. Thus, from 2019, polytechnics will offer more CEPs. CEPs comprise foundational modules common to a particular cluster of discipline, and students get to sample all of them and explore their interests. Today, all polytechnics already offer an Engineering CEP, and they will introduce two more CEPs – one in Business, and the second one in Information and Digital Technologies – two clusters. From next year, we expect the two new CEPs to account for 30% of these cluster intakes. To illustrate, for a student in the Information and Digital Technologies cluster, he will take foundational courses in Computing Mathematics, Introduction to Programming and Networking Fundamentals in his first year. From his second year, he then decides on his specialisation. That will give them more time. Second, we will also streamline polytechnic courses. Over-specificity puts students at greater risk of being displaced when the industry changes. It can also stifle the versatility of students. By streamlining the course choices for students, we increase the career options for graduates. Polytechnics will, therefore, reduce the number of courses by about 20% over the next two to three years, largely by streamlining and merging courses. We are consciously trading depth for more breadth and versatility. Let me emphasise, we are streamlining and reducing the number of courses to give students broader exposure. There is no fall in polytechnic intake due to this change. Third, strengthen Education and Career Guidance (ECG).”
“He said knowing welding means you can do prototyping, and that makes you a better engineer. I think there is a lot of wisdom in that comment. It reflects a growing need to incorporate innovation and creativity into our curriculum. That is Applied Learning right there, as Minister Ng Chee Meng spoke about. I am not sure if, in time, our engineering students will all learn welding, but they do learn 3D printing today. And perhaps all engineering students should learn prototyping. Let me now talk about how we can better support our students to discover their interests and aptitudes. The practice of IHLs today frontloading education and packing a lot of stuff into the first few years is most stark in our polytechnics, where students are funnelled into occupation-specific courses right from the start. Over time, courses also proliferated as employers wanted graduates with specialised skills and wanted them fast. But it is daunting and confusing for our young students, who, at the age 16 or 17, have to choose amongst 230 courses. Most of them hardly know what work life is like, much less the work nature in these specific jobs. As IHLs transform into centres for lifelong learning, this approach will change. First, we will have more Common Entry Programmes (CEPs) at the polytechnics, which Mr Seah Kian Peng asked about. While there is always a small group of students who are very clear about what they want to do from a very young age, the majority of students will be in a self-discovery mode when entering polytechnics. They may have an idea that they like engineering, IT or social science, but find it too early to pick a course that is specific to an occupation.”
“Today, around two-thirds of all AU students do at least one overseas stint, in the form of academic exchanges, overseas internships or entrepreneurship experiences, or short project-based trips. SMU and SUTD are also focusing on exposing students to Southeast Asian countries which form Singapore's immediate economic hinterland. In particular, overseas entrepreneurship programmes, where students are attached to startups in the US, Europe and Asia, are being ramped up rapidly in our AUs. Startup incubators, such as BLOCK71 and the Hangar at NUS, NTUitive at NTU, as well as Pollinate, jointly set up by Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic, are all buzzing with activities. Experiential learning also involves learning knowledge and skills that are contemporary, relevant and hands-on. At NUS, there is a strong emphasis on data science and IT. All students, whether you are learning Literature, Arts, History, Science or Engineering, must take compulsory modules on either quantitative reasoning or computational thinking. These are the foundational skills to coding and data analytics. NTU, too, has announced that it will make courses in digital literacy compulsory for all students. SUTD made a similar move last week. This is a significant shift in IHL curriculum, and it has taken off across the board. I visited our local engineering company, HOPE Technik, recently. Members will know them for building the Red Rhinos for our Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). They are also building robots, autonomous vehicles and exoskeletons for many international customers. When I asked how we can improve the education of engineers, one of the founders, Mr Peter Ho, an NUS alumnus, said that engineering students should learn how to weld.”
“At the other end of the spectrum, which Mr Ang Wei Neng asked about, are various work-study programmes. For example, we have 76 Earn and Learn Programmes training over 1,700 students so far. The AUs have also started offering SkillsFuture Work-Study Degree Programmes in areas, such as information security, business and analytics, software engineering, and finance. So far, close to 90 students have enrolled in such programmes. The number is not big, but the number will grow, and the number of courses being offered will also grow. We also announced the launch of the ITE Work-Learn Technical Diploma in four sectors late last year. A couple of Members asked for an update. Interest in the programme is strong. ITE received more than 300 applications for the 180 places available. Each course is at least 1.3 times, or 30%, oversubscribed. The technical courses are particularly popular, such as Marine and Offshore Engineering and Mechanical and Electrical Services Supervision. ITE is engaging various industries and plans to roll out another 10 new ITE Technical Diploma programmes in the next two years. So, to Mr Thomas Chua's question on how do we bridge the gap between industry need and education, I call upon industries to participate directly in education. Our new programmes are bringing industries into the IHLs, and IHLs into the industries. Whether it is IHLs or industry, both can initiate the discussion. There is also greater recognition of the importance of overseas exposure, because our young will very likely grow up to have to work in global industries and international environments.”
“Only an interest-driven choice will motivate students to want to learn their whole life, to master their professions and their crafts, and to build deep expertise. This paradigm shift will deeply affect the way education is delivered in IHLs. I will talk about three aspects today – Develop, Discover and Deepen. Let me first talk about changing the way we develop students. Ms Foo Mee Har and Mr Zainal Sapari said that the education model and techniques must be updated to reflect the changing needs of industry and the real world. That is why what our children are going through today at IHLs is vastly different from what we, as parents, went through when we were students. Vastly different. IHLs can no longer merely be places to listen to lectures. Schools and IHLs must also be places where students make friends, build networks, seek mentorship, gain exposure to different cultures, discover what they want to do, and even find lifelong partners – but only at IHLs, not the schools. 5.30 pm In short, as Mr Edwin Tong pointed out, learning must become experiential. Knowledge no longer carries the same premium it used to because technology has made knowledge very accessible. What is highly valued today is how someone applies knowledge in real life. In other words, what is valued is skills. That comes with experience and practice. That is why all of our IHLs are introducing more experiential learning into their curriculum. Today, industry attachments have become the norm, and practically all polytechnic students are required to go through them. At SIT, industry attachments are, in fact, an integral part of education, and last for up to a year. Internship is at one end of the spectrum of industry experience in IHLs.”
“I remember in her words two years ago, she said it was "the game changer". She is right. I agree with her. This change started IHLs breaking out of their traditional mould, from educating only students to becoming centres for lifelong learning. The immediate impact is this: IHLs have started ramping up their courses for adult workers. In 2017 alone, 54,000 adult learners passed through our IHLs, slightly over 10% of the entire adult learning market. But the more profound impact is what is going to come next, which is their new approach to teaching. Why is there a new approach? Because, previously, IHLs all had the mindset that we only have three to four years to prepare students before they embark on their careers. So, from the word go, IHLs are in a race against time to pack in foundational knowledge, industry-related training, interdisciplinary skills and work attachments, all within those three to four years. The result is a hectic and technically very intensive curriculum. Employers often comment that Singapore graduates know a lot of "stuff" – technical stuff. But we can do better in terms of soft skills, be genuinely interested in the industries we chose and the careers we chose, have some fire in our bellies. The current approach will change when IHLs realise that they do not have three to four years to work with students. They have 20 or 30 years to work with students, because they will keep returning for more knowledge and skills after graduation. So, there is really no hurry to pack so much stuff into the formal curriculum in those three to four years. Instead, there can be a greater focus on laying a strong foundation, giving them more time and space to seek counsel and decide on their career and their area of interest.”
“Things are changing so fast, and the future so dynamic, so volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA), that it is harder to identify the "causes of things" and come up with solutions before another future unfolds. However, we can anticipate the shape of things to come and build a system that can respond to and embrace the changes. We can already identify some features of the future system. For one, education needs to wear lighter academic colours. Hence, we revamped the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scoring system. Education also needs to recognise the diversity of strengths and talents amongst our young. Hence, we brought the Direct School Admission (DSA) system back to its original objectives, placed students into IHLs based on aptitudes and demonstrated interests rather than just grades alone, we started new applied and design universities, and we opened up work-learn pathways. We also need a new kind of IHL, where success is not measured merely by pass rates, employment outcomes or international rankings, but the long-term resilience of students, and their willingness to take risks, innovate and create. By reshaping the education system, we can ensure the long-term prosperity of Singapore and continued social mobility across generations, an imperative of the education system that Ms Sylvia Lim raised. In this system, you learn to learn, and you never really graduate. That is the essence of SkillsFuture, and the most important feature we need to build into our system today. How do we do so? Ms Denise Phua once told me – and she just repeated it again in her opening speech – that of all the changes made to the education system in recent years, the one that got her most excited was the integration of SkillsFuture Singapore into MOE.”