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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“He said all research must ultimately change lives for the better, whether it is creating new enterprises, new jobs, giving us new insights into policies or implementing new projects that strengthen competitiveness or improve lives. Mr Pritam Singh asked how SSRC will spread its grant awards between the Humanities and Social Sciences. Notwithstanding its name, the SSRC is meant to support the Humanities, too, and will fund good research projects in these disciplines. In fact, let me give an example. One of the priority themes of SSRC is "identities, social integration and resilience" and it is really a broad theme. And this study is not complete without a study of Southeast Asia − its history, languages, communities, literatures − for a Singapore identity is unintelligible without the cultural backdrop of Southeast Asia and the broader region. So, please be reassured that the Humanities will be part of SSRC. Ultimately, the Council will allocate grants based on the quality of the projects and their potential impact. Teaching, lifelong learning, impactful research − these are all areas that our AUs are already working hard on. With a stronger alignment of missions, objectives and resource allocation, I believe this will better position our AUs to fulfil the important roles that they have in shaping the future of Singapore. Madam, I have spoken about our plan to Build, Configure and Scale over the next five years. In carrying out this plan, what is the toughest challenge of all? It is changing mindsets − the "die die must do this way" kind of thinking. First of all, all of us − parents, students, educators − will need to move our focus away from a relentless pursuit of academic grades to the larger view of human development.”
“We plan to launch the programme by the end of this year. More details will be announced later. We can also scale our efforts and make an impact through our PSEIs. Our AUs, in particular, have done very well in international rankings, which we can all be proud of. However, these are rankings by private organisations, based on their own criteria. And I agree with Mr Ang Wei Neng that such rankings may not fully reflect the social and public missions of an AU. I do worry that, over time, our universities may get into the game of chasing rankings at the expense of their public missions. MOE will work with our AUs to further sharpen and articulate the public objectives of our AUs and tie part of our resource allocation to the fulfilment of these objectives. There are three objectives which we would like AUs to focus on. First, constantly refresh and improve teaching. This includes "learning by doing", overseas exposure for students, and new methods to deliver lessons, including leveraging technology and e-learning. Second, champion lifelong learning. All the AUs have already set up their lifelong learning units. They now need to ramp up the programmes, especially the bite-sized modular ones. This is not a matter of just modularising existing programmes. The lifelong learning units ought to be like Skunkworks or innovation units, constantly coming up with new programmes in response to industrial needs and the latest developments and technology. Third, realise the impact of research. As NTU's President Bertil Andersson always tells me, there are only two kinds of research in this world − applied research and not-yet applied research.”
“About 10 years ago, running up to the setup and development of the Integrated Resorts, we launched the WSQ Certified Service Professional programme, an intense five-day programme, to train people to raise their service awareness and service delivery, and we trained tens of thousands of workers at that time. The time has come again for us to undertake such an exercise. The workplace of the future will be different, with lots of use of IT, robotics and data. Not all our workforce, not every worker, needs to be an IT expert or needs to have programming skills but everyone will need some basic working knowledge, such as an understanding of emerging technologies, their impact on your work, and an ability to interpret and use data. We also need to be equipped with a mindset for change, innovation and resilience. If you are a sales manager, you must be comfortable with diving into your data to understand what is generating your sales − what segments of clients, which geography, what products. If you are a taxi driver, instead of driving around to try to pick up customers, you learn to use all the different apps to match supply and demand, and you go to where the customers are. If you are a char kway teow man, you would not have to fry electronic kway teow, but you should be able to take electronic payments and electronic orders. This is the digital environment that we must all get used to working in. The course will not be a long one. I expect it to be one or two days. SSG is developing it and will roll this out as a new national training programme and they called it Future@Work. It will be implemented across the island and positioned as an entry programme for all Singaporean workers to understand the future work environment.”
“SSG will partner the People's Association (PA), CDCs, Workforce Singapore and e2i, to conduct workshops at the community level to explain SkillsFuture to Singaporeans, guide them in finding the right training programmes to attend, identify the right skills for them to learn and advise them how to best use their SkillsFuture Credit. We expect to reach out to tens of thousands of Singaporeans each year through this initiative and roll out the programme in the middle of this year. We will also make more online tools and resources available for Singaporeans to do the same and to search and apply for jobs as well. This will be done through a portal called MySkillsFuture. We will also use the MySkillsFuture portal to publish training outcomes for selected courses. Individuals and trainees will get to rate the training programmes and help others make better training decisions. One of our key strengths as a society is that we have always been able to mobilise Singaporeans whenever it is necessary to reskill our workforce or adapt to a sea-change. For example, in the 1980s, we launched two programmes − Basic Education for Skills Training (BEST) and Worker Improvement through Secondary Education (WISE). Those were efforts to build up literacy and numeracy skills amongst our workforce. Those were the essential skills at that time. Around the same period, as part of the national computerisation efforts, the Labour Movement set up the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Computer Training Centre to raise basic IT literacy for workers.”
“When I attended SIT's very first graduation ceremony recently, I announced that SIT and UniSIM will introduce seven new SkillsFuture Work-study Degree Programmes. They are jointly developed and delivered in partnership with companies, such as Singtel and Standard Chartered. I am glad that Government agencies are coming on board quite actively. They are also partnering the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) and also the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF). We hope, over time, more will do so. In fact, one of the Government Ministries that is a pioneer in providing "learning by doing" training programmes is MOE. At NIE, you do not just study in the classroom, but you would also practise teaching through a practicum. 1.30 pm I am happy to add that NUS will also start offering a slate of such work-study programmes this year, with courses in Information Security, Business Analytics and Data Science and Analytics. I hope that such programmes for "learning by doing" will proliferate across our university landscape. The third phase of the transformation plan for higher education is scale. Where we have reasonably built and configured the system, we are ready to scale so that we can create a widespread impact and benefit Singaporeans. Scaling will help guide more Singaporeans in their training journey and career paths. It will help us reach out to more workers, which Miss Cheng Li Hui spoke about. I announced the effort called SkillsFuture Engage last year, where we will proactively step up efforts to connect with Singaporeans and help them benefit from SkillsFuture.”
“For a start, we will introduce this pathway in sectors, such as Mechanical and Electrical Services Design and Supervision, Security Systems Engineering, Rehabilitation Therapy and Offshore and Marine. More details will be provided shortly. With this new pathway, ITE students need not see polytechnics as their only path for progression. They can advance through skills mastery and practice, by staying with ITE. "Learning by doing" will also apply to universities. Ms Foo Mee Har asked about this. I recently visited the Singapore office of an American technology company. It is a big office in the Mapletree Business Park along Alexandra Road. The company believes in training Singaporeans to be competent working in digital and data-intense workplaces. And the training is not just for their own employees. They said it is for anyone who is interested because they say that it builds up the entire ecosystem that way. They run an intense eight-month, hands-on programme for fresh graduates to learn about data management and data analytics. And I was told everyone who graduated from that programme was immediately snapped up by the industry because that skillset is in such short supply in the industry. I was impressed by this very enlightened approach. They think big and they think long term. They even have a global function in Singapore where they are looking for their next one billion customers. Members of this House will know this company. It is Google. The immediate question that sprung to my mind was: if the data analytics programme is so effective, why can it not be part of our university education curriculum? Therefore, our AUs must also co-recreate programmes with industries and promote "learning by doing".”
“An ITE student still needs to score quite a good grade point average (GPA) and demonstrates quite good academic abilities before a polytechnic will take him or her in. But many ITE students are talented at using their hands and probably learn best by practising, by doing. This is a more natural path for them to achieve mastery, across a range of areas. And over time, with skills mastery, they should also have a chance to move up to management positions if they so desire. Take the hotel industry, for example. If you meet the general managers (GMs), which I do from time to time, you will find that there are two kinds of GMs. One type of GM is those that take a degree in hotel management and they get parachuted into the hotel. After some management associate programmes, they rise up. They become GM. Another type of GM starts off as an apprentice in the kitchen, sometimes in the restaurant. And they move around different departments of the hotel, different operations and, over many years, they know the operations so well and they are so competent at it, they rise up and become GM. These are distinctly different paths to the top, via development of cognitive abilities through formal education, or via "learning by doing" in a structured and facilitated way. Hence, we will develop a new pathway for ITE students leading to a Technical Diploma that will be conferred by ITE. Compared to a polytechnic Diploma, the big difference is in the mode of learning, it will be apprenticeship-based. Every course will be delivered in partnership with an employer. ITE students will be able to apply for them after they graduate with a Nitec or Higher Nitec or after a few years of working.”
“Given the success in the first year of implementation, MOE will increase the polytechnics EAE quota from 12.5% to 15% for the 2018 Admission Year. This will mean about 500 more places included under EAE. There is also scope to apply aptitude-based admissions at the ITEs. Currently, at the Higher Nitec level, only 10 out of nearly 50 courses are open for enrolment based on aptitude and interest. There should really be more, given that ITE courses are vocational and very specialised in nature. ITE also has a Special College Admissions Scheme, but applicants are considered based on general talents like leadership and sports, and not so much on aptitude and interest. Hence, today, only a very small percentage of ITE students are admitted to ITE based on course-specific aptitude and interest. MOE will, therefore, introduce an ITE EAE, where the ITEs can systematically admit up to 15% of its intake via aptitude-based admissions. Like the polytechnic EAE, ITE EAE will be conducted before the release of N- and O-Level results. There is another important thing we can do for ITE students. I mentioned "learning by doing" as a key shift in the way we deliver higher education. Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Thomas Chua and Mr Ang Wei Neng have urged industries and PSEIs to collaborate more closely to deliver education. The ethos of "learning by doing" actually has been the strongest at ITE, because of its tradition of vocational education and a very highly practical curriculum. Today, many ITE students aspire to progress to the polytechnics. Indeed, every year, about a quarter of them manage to do so. However, while a polytechnic education is applied in nature, it is not quite "learning by doing" in the sense of an apprenticeship, like a European apprenticeship.”
“We need to strengthen our Education and Career Guidance in our education system considerably, starting from secondary schools. Parliamentary Secretary Ms Low Yen Ling will speak more about this later. But for those who are clear about what they want to pursue, we should support them as much as possible, to facilitate their admission into our PSEIs based on interests and aptitudes and not just based on academic results. Dr Lim Wee Kiak and Mr Ang Wei Neng have asked how we can strengthen this. The universities will be expanding aptitude-based admissions in their admission exercises later this year for up to 15% of their intake. This was what I announced last year but they are implementing it for the academic year this year. Some, however, like SIT and SMU, have been practising aptitude-based admissions on a fairly large scale and over many years. As for the polytechnics, since my announcement last year, they have implemented aptitude-based admissions through the Polytechnic Early Admissions Exercise (EAE) last year and the outcomes are encouraging. They received applications from about 8,000 O-level students, of which 2,500 successful applicants eventually had their EAE offers confirmed. The eventual EAE intake is close to 12% of the total polytechnic intake, with two polytechnics bursting their 12.5% quota very slightly. And these are healthy utilisation rates for a first exercise. And, as expected, I got a lot more appeals this year. Polytechnics have given feedback that EAE is particularly useful in sectors, such as social work, nursing, early childhood education or those that involve the creative arts, because your commitment and interest in the subject are very important for these courses.”
“We are doing this actively, through the SkillsFuture Movement launched two years ago. ITEs, polytechnics and universities have, therefore, been revamping and improving their programmes. Let me cite a few examples. There is now great emphasis on industry attachment and internship. They are championing overseas internships so that students get early exposure to an international working environment, which Mr Zainal Sapari spoke about. NUS and NTU both run overseas entrepreneurship programmes where students are attached to startups and tech companies in Silicon Valley, China and Europe. I was recently in Beijing, China, for the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC). During a dialogue with Singaporeans based there, I was pleasantly surprised to meet a big group of students from our universities, all on tech company attachments. SMU has introduced SMU-X, an initiative where students get to work on real-life industry problems, side by side with businesses. UniSIM and NTU are converting all their teaching materials for online delivery, to refresh their teaching methods and also to inoculate themselves against possible disruption in future. All over the system now, there is much greater emphasis on interdisciplinary teaching and studies. But one critical configuration that we need to do is to ensure that our system takes into account the interests and aptitudes of our students. This is because we are simply better at doing what we like. Notwithstanding this, many of our youths go with the flow. They go into courses where their grades can take them or where their friends are going. Our young need guidance and help to discover themselves, to discover their strengths and interests.”
“There are currently three bursary tiers for undergraduate and Diploma students from families with monthly household per capita incomes of $950 and below, $951 to $1,400, and $1,401 to $1,900. For ITE students, we provide additional assistance to students from families with a per capita income of $570 and below. So, three tiers for most but, for ITE students, four tiers. MOE has reviewed the Government bursaries and will enhance it in the following ways from academic year 2017. First, we will introduce four bursary tiers across all PSEIs. This will allow us to be even more targeted in helping students from lower- to middle-income households. Second, besides per capita income, we will also look at gross monthly household income. To be eligible for the bursary, a student only needs to meet either of the two income criteria. More will qualify. Third, we will update the income eligibility caps based on the latest household income data. Essentially, they will all be revised upwards and more students will qualify. Finally, we will raise the bursary amounts. The increase will range between $50 and $400 across various levels, with larger increases going to the lower-income students. This will bring the maximum annual bursary quantum to $4,000 for undergraduates, $2,350 for diploma students, and $1,400 for ITE students. MOE will provide the details in a press release later today. With the revisions, the projected number of students expected to tap on the bursaries will increase by 12,000 per year to 71,000 per year. The total annual budget is estimated to increase by $50 million a year to $150 million a year. Having built the infrastructure to support Lifelong Learning, we need to configure it, make sure we have the right approaches, policies, programmes and processes.”
“And, indeed, we can. There are some 9,000 courses out there which are already heavily subsidised. Part-time diplomas today are 85% subsidised. Short courses often 90% to 95% subsidised, through supply-side funding. For someone taking a Diploma programme in a polytechnic or a Degree programme in an AU, study loans and tuition fee loans provided by the institutions are available to them. Maybe this is not well-known by them, but even if you are an adult worker taking a part-time Degree or polytechnic courses, the loans are available to them. Hence, the CPF Education scheme is only one option. 1.15 pm But such help can also be generic. For a back-to-work woman, besides course fee funding, she may need career support and job placement support. That is why we set up intermediaries, such as Community Development Councils (CDCs) and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i). They will help her access all the supply-side assistance out there, provide additional funding support if need be, and facilitate her job search and placement. This is how we link training and employability, which Ms Foo Mee Har spoke about. Similarly, training programmes developed under SkillsFuture supply the tools to MOM to implement Place and Train, Adapt and Grow, and Attach and Train, to help more targeted clients. And with the intermediaries, we bridge the gap between demand and supply-side support, such that workers can get individualised help, but not a customised grant. Mr Ang Wei Neng asked if we can provide more financial support for our students in PSEIs, particularly in the universities. This is one area of demand-side support that can be improved. And Minister Heng spoke about this in the Budget Statement.”
“On balance, our approach is to continue to lean more on supply-side funding, which is more prudent and a stronger lever in public policymaking. So, today, we spend about $400 million a year on supply-side funding, versus $37 million last year on SkillsFuture Credit funding. This approach has worked well for us. Through our efforts to promote Lifelong Learning and SkillsFuture over the years, our training participation rate has jumped from 32% to 42% over 10 years, and half of the increase was realised in the last three years. Training headcounts annually have increased by 70% to 380,000 today, over the last five years. Excluding areas, such as safety, security and food and beverage (F&B), which produce a large number of training places partly because of regulations, the top nine areas today account for over half of the training places supported by SSG. In descending order, what are these nine? They are ICT, service excellence, education and training, HR management, personal development, leadership and people management, business management, productivity and innovation and healthcare. These are the top nine. We did not plan for these numbers, but what we have designed is to allow the training industry and market to respond, and we provide support where we think the quality of training is good and it is aligned with our growth strategies. Over time, many members of the public, and also Members of this House, such as Mr Low Thia Khiang, Assoc Prof Daniel Goh and Miss Cheng Li Hui, have asked for more demand-side support, such as study loans or tops-up of SkillsFuture Credit, for vulnerable workers or for mommies. I agree that we should extend more help to these groups, especially if they are vulnerable. But we would rather do so mainly from supply-side measures.”
“Supply-side funding means we fund the training provider so that the course fee charged is lowered to a small fraction of the original cost. This is not different from the way we fund education or healthcare, which is through schools and hospitals. The advantage of supply-side funding is that we have better control in funding the courses which are relevant to the industries that represent the growth areas and, very importantly, as pointed out by Mr Singh, aligned to our ITMs. The downside is that it is not very visible to the public. The other way is demand-side funding, where funding goes directly to the learner and to the individual. Examples are bursaries, SkillsFuture Study Awards and, of course, SkillsFuture Credit. What is good about demand-side funding is that it is very visible and people do get excited. When SkillsFuture Credit was first implemented, people were talking about what they should learn next. There was a certain excitement. But the first downside is that if it is done across the board, like SkillsFuture Credit, it can be expensive, that is why we limit it to $500 per Singaporean. The second downside is that we have little control on how people will spend the grant. This, therefore, gives rise to the question that Ms Foo Mee Har asked: with so many courses, where do I go, and what is it that can help me link up my training with my employability? It is just too much. And what people spend on may not be entirely aligned with our industry and growth strategies. That is the downside. To illustrate how it all works, take a training programme that costs $1,000. Supply-side funding is $900, so the course fee gets lowered to $100. That is what the public sees and they use their SkillsFuture Credit to pay the last $100. So, in fact, it is free.”
“WDA, in turn, set up the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) framework and also set up over 40 training centres to deliver adult training. Last year, WDA was restructured into two Statutory Boards. One of them, SSG, is now part of MOE. With that change, education and learning from young to old, for your whole lifetime, comes under one Ministry. Under this structure, PSEIs under MOE, namely, ITEs, polytechnics and universities, are all given a mandate to promote and drive lifelong learning. We are not done building. In 2014, the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) became our fifth autonomous university (AU) and the first to pioneer an applied degree pathway. Later this year, I will be tabling a Bill in this House to restructure the Singapore Institute of Management (UniSIM) into our sixth AU, which will focus on applied degree programmes in the social sciences, such as social work, HR, psychology, early childhood education and so on. We will also further develop tertiary education opportunities in the arts. Mr Edwin Tong and Mr Gan Thiam Poh have asked about this. We can do more to develop the capabilities of our two publicly-funded arts institutions, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and LASALLE College of the Arts (LASALLE). I will ask Parliamentary Secretary Faishal Ibrahim to talk more about this later in his speech. Another important aspect of build is to fund lifelong learning, to make it affordable and accessible to Singaporeans. I thank Mr Pritam Singh for explaining the supply and demand side of our support. I have been trying to explain that for a long time. But I think it is worthwhile spending a bit of time again explaining the concept and how it all works.”
“And whether you are performing a surgery, coding a complex computer programme, cooking something for your clients and for your customers, repairing a car, negotiating effectively or working in a team of people of different cultures, all these are skills. Fourth, "learning by doing". We are used to the idea of "learning for doing". We study for a few years, then we step out into the workforce and we work as a professional, technician or whatever. But technical and cognitive abilities can also be gained through actual experience. This method has underlined centuries of European apprenticeship, as Ms Foo Mee Har and Mr Thomas Chua have mentioned. And it is more important and more relevant than ever today. Fifth, help Singaporeans adapt to a data-rich and digital working environment. Not everyone needs to learn how to code or become an IT expert. But we must all be comfortable and competent working in a digitally-enabled working environment. In other words, we must be data-enabled as a workforce. These shifts are the building blocks of transformation. To implement them, we will do three things − build, configure and scale. These represent the three overlapping phases of our work. The changes will take place over the next five years but will set the stage for our continued progress for the next 20. Let me talk about them in turn. First, we need to build, meaning to lay the critical foundations of organisations, structure and funding. It is painstaking work. Fortunately, we have been at it for over a decade. In the early 2000s, the Government set up the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund. We set up a dedicated agency to promote lifelong learning, that is, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA).”
“Her story is one of pragmatism versus her passion; of parents' expectations versus what she herself so wanted to do; of lifelong upgrading and yet not conforming to the social notion that after a Degree, there must be a Masters or a PhD. She went to do an Advanced Diploma in an area she wants to be good at, of venturing beyond Singapore and yet remaining Singaporean at heart. It is a story of what education should and can do for all of us, across every field. We have an effective and internationally well-regarded education system. But sometimes, a great strength can also be a weakness. It gives rise to a temptation that maybe we just tinker around the edges when, actually, more fundamental changes may be needed. I believe that we are at the threshold of major changes in our society and economy. We need to transform our higher education landscape in response. We need to make five important shifts as part of this transformation. One, besides being a pathway into good jobs and lifelong employability, education also needs to be a journey to fulfil hopes and aspirations. And the two need not be at odds with one another. Two, education and learning need to be lifelong. Ms Thanaletchmi made this point very well, although she spoke quite fast. But we must recognise that the learning needs and habits of adult learners are vastly different from those of students. For adult learners, it has to be short, concise, modular, convenient and accessible and to the point. Third, education must impart skills, not just information and knowledge, for a simple reason. Today, information we can google, skills we cannot.”
“Mdm Chairman, I thank the Members for their questions. I will try to answer as many of them as possible in my speech. I will start with a story. I think is a story that many Members already know. It is the story of Ms Kirsten Tan, one of Singapore's most renowned film makers. I want to tell it again even though Members might be familiar, because there are so many aspects of her story that are so relevant to our education system. Kirsten had always wanted to make films, but her parents, in her own words, these are not my words but her parents', "die die wanted her to go to university". So, she went to study literature in NUS but never gave up on film. At NUS, she set up her own production house and also set up her own studio. She made two films and, in her words again, the films were so bad even she did not know what they were all about. After NUS, she went to Ngee Ann Polytechnic to do an Advanced Diploma in Film Production. Finally, she got to do something she was passionate in. This time, she made two more films which won awards at the Singapore International Film Festival. Later, one of her films, as you would know, called "Pop Aye", won a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance film festival. It was a moment of great pride and joy for her, her family, as well as for Singapore. Today, she gets gigs from all over the world, mostly work from New York. I have set up a meeting with her sometime later this year. And her parents have come round to supporting her in her film-making career. I tell this story because of the contradictions that she has to deal with in this new world.”
“I thank the Member for raising this new issue. MAS, I am sure, will take a look at it.”
“If I remember correctly, when FATF made those observations, that was before we disclosed our findings on 1MDB money laundering and closed down BSI and Falcon Bank. The timing is a bit different. Having said that, I take Ms Sylvia Lim's point, this is always a learning process. In Chinese:道 高 一 尺，魔 高 一 丈. When the moral is one feet, the evil is 10 feet. And it is a moving game. We will constantly have to learn, work with our foreign counterparts, exchange intelligence, work together and tackle this.”
“The two questions are related and not quite in line with the original question posed. If there are investments in Belt and Road initiatives – and we are really at a nascent stage of doing this the investments will not be made by the Government, but by private entities. They have to do their own calculations on the viability of the projects, whether they will succeed, whether they bring greater benefits to the region and the host country. They have to abide by local laws and abide by very high standards of governance expected of all our corporates that invest overseas. The best way to manage such problems is to make sure they do not arise at all. And I am confident that Singapore, with our reputation and the conduct of our companies overseas, this is the standard they will maintain.”
“Our cooperation with the Chinese authorities, monetary and financial regulators, fully recognises China's interest in ensuring that the journey is a stable and orderly one, and in guarding against sudden and excessive capital outflows.”
“My apologies, Mdm Speaker. Singapore welcomes China's Belt and Road initiative. It is a mutually beneficial initiative that will encourage further economic integration, infrastructural cooperation and people-to-people linkages among countries in the region. As a result of the Belt and Road initiative, there is increased interest from Chinese corporates and financial institutions to invest in and participate in infrastructure projects in the region, including Singapore. For example, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's Singapore branch recently signed an MOU with Singapore Business Federation to extend up to RMB 50 billion in funding to Singapore companies for infrastructure projects across Asia. This, in turn, opens up opportunities for Singapore companies to partner Chinese players in Belt and Road projects in areas, such as transport and logistics, mixed-use park developments, construction materials and financing. Given that the Belt and Road is a relatively recent initiative, Singapore companies' direct engagements so far are not large but, I am sure will grow. Capital outflow from China is a separate matter. It is not surprising that there should be a slowdown in such outflows as the Chinese authorities seek to maintain stability in their currency. The slowdown does not pose any material risk for the Singapore financial system or economy. As China grows and becomes more integrated with the world, its capital outflows and investments abroad will likely grow steadily over the long term and the RMB will become more internationalised.”
“We have actually a very valuable infrastructure in place called FAST − that is the Fast And Secure Transfers system that all banks ride on. That is why from my bank account, I can make a payment to another person's bank account, so long as we both have bank accounts in Singapore. What is not so convenient is that it is based on bank accounts. So, by the end of this year, the industry will be incorporating within FAST a Central Addressing Scheme (CAS). What CAS allows FAST to do is to have a proxy for our bank accounts, using, say, our NRIC number or mobile phone number. For that matter, businesses can also use their business name and all these can be codified into a QR code. Which means once this is in place, there is potential for us to make payments, not different from WeChat or Alipay. What is better than WeChat and Alipay is that the FAST system is across the financial and banking system. Today, I believe, WeChat can only pay to WeChat and Alipay to Alipay. But this system allows us to pay across banks. And I think there is great potential for us to promote e-payment once that is in place.”
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) does not measure the statistics as requested by the Member. Instead, the Graduate Employment Survey (GES), conducted by the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) annually, provides an indication of the employment outcomes of graduates six months after the completion of their final examinations. For 2016 fresh and post-National Service (NS) polytechnic graduates, the overall employment rates were 90.6% and 95.4% respectively, slightly higher than 88.9% and 91.5% in 2015. Full-time permanent employment rates for the fresh and post-NS polytechnic graduates in 2016 were 55.8% and 70.1% respectively, also comparable to 2015 figures. Many polytechnic graduates chose to work in part-time or temporary jobs as they prepared to commence further studies. The results of the 2016 GES for autonomous universities (AUs) are being tabulated. Based on the 2015 GES results, the overall employment rate six months after graduation was 89.5%, and the full-time permanent employment rate was 83.1%. IHLs have in place various programmes and initiatives to help fresh graduates find employment after graduation. For example, education and career guidance are provided to students to broaden their awareness of the jobs and careers available. IHLs also organise annual career fairs for graduating students and provide resources to help graduating students as well as fresh graduates in their job search. Workforce Singapore (WSG) programmes and initiatives are also extended to fresh graduates to help those who require more support in their job search.”
“SkillsFuture (SSG) has a quality assurance system in place to ensure that the development and delivery of Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) courses and the assessment of trainees meet required standards. SSG also conducts regular audits to ensure that the accredited training providers continue to have robust systems in place to deliver quality training. Having said that, while SSG regulates the skills standards, how the lessons are conducted and what training materials to use are the responsibility of training providers. Such an approach allows more scope for innovation and differentiation in training products and more market competition. Some methods that training providers have employed include the use of simple phrases in the course materials, oral assessments, pictures, videos and/or demonstrations to illustrate certain concepts. Training providers are also encouraged to contextualise their courses to meet their learners' needs. In addition, given that basic literacy and numeracy skills are critical for employability, SSG has worked with training providers to develop the Workplace Literacy and Workplace Numeracy programmes under the WSQ system. Workers who face language barriers can better equip themselves through such training to undertake the wider range of training opportunities and better apply their skills in the workplace.”
“I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. To set aside a certain percentage of payroll for training will help me and my officers meet all our key performance indicators but I think it is a heavy burden for companies. In fact, we do have something similar. Under Skills Development Levy, every company sets aside 0.25% of their payroll for workers up to $4,500 in salary. They pay towards today's SkillsFuture Singapore. That money is pooled together, which they can then claim for the training of their workers. So, in a way, that mechanism is in place. It is levied very lightly at 0.25% but we will be very careful not to add a further burden. What we should really do is what the Member suggested in her second question − prioritise where the economic activities are, which sectors, which companies are hiring and then put very focused efforts to help workers pick up the skills so that they can take up the new jobs. That is exactly what we are doing together with the Ministry of Manpower.”
“But we can certainly do better, especially in encouraging small and medium enterprises to do so, and for all companies to be more active in offering structured in-house training and apprenticeship schemes, such as Enhanced Internships under SkillsFuture, the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme, and the Professional Conversion Programmes under Adapt and Grow. All these are the various measures we take under the SkillsFuture movement. Of course, within the movement, there is one small important scheme and, that is, the SkillsFuture Credit. It is one of many efforts under the SkillsFuture movement to promote lifelong learning. We track the utilisation closely and the latest results were just released yesterday and carried widely in the papers. So, as at end December 2016, over 126,000 Singapore Citizens have utilised $37 million worth of their SkillsFuture credits.”
“Let me give a bit of background. Historically, our adult workers' training system tended to support employers training their workers, much more than empowering workers to take charge of their own lifelong learning journey. Just winding back to 10 years ago, Government funding for lifelong learning was heavily weighted towards employer-supported training, with a small proportion going to individual-initiated training. That is the historical background. Over the years, the Government has expanded its funding support for lifelong learning and also shifted funding more towards supporting individuals directly. This is necessary, given the increase in number of contract workers and freelancers, and that it is much more likely that individuals will take the initiative to prepare themselves for their next careers, as opposed to expecting employers doing so for them. Today, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) provide about $400 million a year in direct training subsidies for lifelong learning, with as much as 40% of that going towards supporting individual-initiated training. Sixty percent, the majority, still goes towards supporting companies and employers to train their workers. Employed Singaporeans' participation rate in structured training is now 62%, higher than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development average of 55%. We are higher than Australia, Korea, Japan and France, but we are below the United States, the United Kingdom, Finland and Sweden. Further, based on our surveys in 2014, 82% of surveyed employers provided structured training to their employees, compared to 72% in 2006. We are, therefore, not doing badly by international standards, and many companies do take the skills upgrading of their workers very seriously.”
“Mdm Speaker, may I take Question Nos 3 and 4 together, please?”
“As of end 2016, there are 419 Approved Training Organisations (ATOs) that are delivering Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) training. Of these, 154 are in-house ATOs, 144 are public ATOs and 121 are both public and in-house ATOs. For the first three quarters of 2016, a total of about 229,000 unique local trainees completed WSQ training. The number of local trainees who completed WSQ training within each category of ATOs are as shown below. Historically, Continuing Education and Training has emphasised employers training their employees. It was only much later, after the setting up of Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund, that the Government also promoted individual-initiated training. Employers will continue to play an important role in training and skills development of the workforce and this has been a priority for SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).”
“Since the launch of the SkillsFuture Credit one year ago, more than 126,000 Singaporean Citizens have used their SkillsFuture Credit. There is a good spread across the different age bands, as shown in Table 1 below. The objective of the SkillsFuture Credit scheme is to send a strong signal to adult Singapore Citizens to take charge of their own learning journey. This is an objective that is relevant to every Singapore Citizen, whether young or old. Making the SkillsFuture Credit transferrable will undermine this objective. Hence, it is not transferable.”
“But as a percentage of GDP, education expenditure has fallen, because while the denominator – GDP and working population – is still growing, the numerator – cohort sizes and student population – is falling. We pay attention to such rankings as they are credible, robust and helpful in giving a sense in how Singapore is performing vis-a-vis other economies. But at the same time, we need to understand our unique conditions and that these are just good references. We will continue to improve our education system, uncover passions and interests, and promote lifelong learning through the SkillsFuture programme.”
“The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Talent Report rankings take into account three factors. First, "Readiness", the availability of skills and competencies in the labour force to maintain the competitiveness of the economy. Second, "Appeal", the economy’s ability to attract top global talent. Third, "Investment and Development", the level of investment in and development of its local labour force, measured in terms of percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on education and training. The most important of the three factors to us will be "Readiness" because it directly affects employability and employment of our workforce. Our ranking on "Readiness" rose from sixth in 2014 to second in 2015 to first in 2016, amongst 61 economies listed in the same report. On "Appeal", we maintained our ranking, from 19th in 2014 to 18th in 2015 and back to 19th in 2016. However, on "Investment and Development", our ranking dropped from 31st in 2014 to 38th in 2016 (we were ranked 29th in 2015). This is the main reason why Singapore's overall ranking went down from 10th last year to 15th this year. If you examine the reasons behind the fall in ranking of this category, a key reason is because percentage GDP spent on education dropped from 3.08% in 2013 to 2.99% in 2014. Notwithstanding this, I want to assure the Member that there is much more behind that broad percentage of GDP figure. Over the last decade, the Government's overall expenditure on education has increased by around 75%, expenditure per student has more than doubled, and the pupil-teacher ratio for both primary and secondary education has improved.”
“(proc text)] [(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)] [(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. ‒ [Mr Ong Ye Kung]. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill considered in Committee. (proc text)] [Mdm Speaker in the Chair]”
“Fourth, MoneySENSE recognises the need to better empower consumers to avoid falling prey to "get-rich-quick" schemes, and publishes consumer alerts on its website to warn consumers of unregulated products and schemes, and the key questions they should be asking as well as the red flags they should be looking out for when considering such investments or trading opportunities. MoneySENSE and MAS also provide a number of resources on their websites, such as the MAS Financial Institutions Directory and the Investor Alert List. Some of the unregulated binary options trading platforms Mr Louis Ng had mentioned are listed on MAS' Investors Alert List. I thank Mr Henry Kwek for his useful suggestions of ways in which financial education efforts can be further enhanced and become more integrated and structured, from our youth's formal education years, throughout their lifetime and, potentially, even through SkillsFuture initiatives. There are existing programmes for our tertiary students and uniformed Servicemen to educate them on such matters and we will take his suggestions into account as we beef up MoneySENSE. Mdm Speaker, in summary, this Bill reflects MAS' balanced approach to regulation in three key areas. First, maintaining Singapore's reputation as a trusted and stable financial centre while ensuring ease of doing business and supporting financial sector innovation and growth. Second, enhancing safeguards for investors while managing costs and impact of regulation on the financial industry and legitimate businesses. Third, empowering consumers to take responsibility for their investment decisions through disclosures and fair dealing rules, supported by strong financial education efforts. Mdm Speaker, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to.”
“Through MoneySENSE, the national financial education programme, we have continued to step up on such efforts systematically. MoneySENSE provides financial education to different segments of society, through mainstream media, public roadshows and seminars. It also adopts a collaborative approach where the Government, financial industry and the wider community work together in outreach efforts. Let me highlight some of these efforts. First, MoneySENSE organises regular seminars on a wide range of investment and financial planning topics. One popular series is the My Money Seminar which is organised with the Association of Banks in Singapore and the Securities Association of Singapore. These are for the general public and are conducted in both English and Mandarin. Second, MoneySENSE also has nation-wide educational campaigns that are conducted across multiple platforms, media channels and delivered in different languages to maximise outreach. One example is the "I Save and Invest for Our Future" campaign last year, which encouraged Singaporeans to take a life-cycle approach to investing and highlighted the benefits of saving and investing from young. The campaign also educated consumers on simple, low-cost investment products, such as the Singapore Savings Bonds and exchange-traded funds. Third, MoneySENSE also works closely with the Singapore Polytechnic's Institute for Financial Literacy (IFL) in developing and conducting free financial literacy talks and workshops delivered at the workplace and community level. There are also modules on investment-focused topics, such as "Fundamentals of Share Investing" and "Understanding Bonds". Since its setup in 2012, IFL has worked with more than 500 employers and organisations and reached out to over 100,000 participants.”
“Mr Leon Perera also talked about this balance and smart regulations, and then went on to cite the example of President-Elect Trump's suggestion to ban the moving of civil servants into the financial industry. We must, first, be clear that while the President-Elect has spoken about it, there has been no ban in the US on such movements. If you look at the key appointments of the Trump administration, several are, in fact, from the industry. I think Mr Leon Perera also asked if MAS imposes garden leave and cooling-off periods. We have. It ranges from three months to 12 months, depending on the seniority as well as the functional role of the officer. But conflict of interests does exist and we all know that. Ultimately, it is also an issue of integrity. Given the reputation of MAS, the conduct of our officers and our track record, I do not think there is any suggestion that our system is currently inadequate. So, we will continue to do these ‒ impose a garden leave but allow a movement of talent from industry to Government, to any other sectors. In that way, when we have regulation and policy reviews, there is greater understanding all round. With integrity, this is a fundamental basis to prevent conflict of interests. Finally, what can really make balancing these trade-offs much easier is to have investors who will only part with their monies if they understand what is the level of risks they are taking and whether it is commensurate with the returns that are being promised. And that means financial literacy. As Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Henry Kwek and Mr Louis Ng have rightly pointed out, financial education efforts are, therefore, of utmost importance, and will be a key priority of MAS.”
“Even for trade reporting, we did not take a "Big Bang" approach, but start with larger FIs, such as banks, and for larger asset classes, such as interest rate derivatives, first. For clearing, it is a similar progressive implementation approach. Later this year, MAS will require large players, that is, banks with above $20 billion notional value of OTC derivatives, to have their widely-traded US-dollar and Singapore-dollar interest rate derivatives to be centrally cleared. So, Mr Henry Kwek is right to point out that we should monitor what is happening in the US and UK on the financial regulatory landscape. Events are still unfolding. It would be premature to say which direction regulatory evolution will go. We will be mindful that the regulatory pendulum does swing, and we do what is right, both as a key member of the international financial community and also ready for our local market. The fact is that whatever reforms or policy reviews we do now, not just for financial services, in fact, for many other policy areas, we have to strike this judicious balance between safeguarding the interests of the public and encouraging innovation and dynamism. And we must expect to hear different and sometimes opposing voices. For example, just this Bill alone, Mr Saktiandi has suggested further tightening of the AI regime ‒ maybe raise the $2 million threshold. Ms Foo questioned, however, the need to implement this at this point in time. Mr Ong Teng Koon asked for tighter regulations on non-conventional products and a "guilty until proven innocent" regime; Mr Thomas Chua, on the other hand, cautioned against stifling innovation. So, we hear this all the time and we have to strike that judicious balance.”
“While we do not have this clause in Singapore, other similar safeguards are in place. Financial advisers are under a legal obligation to ensure that products recommended to investors are suitable for them. For complex investment products, such as derivatives, FIs are required to assess if the investor has the relevant investment knowledge or experience before selling them to the investor. But the law can only go so far. MAS expects FIs to deal with all investors fairly. A fair dealing culture is key. The industry must do what is right, instead of focusing only on doing what is required under the law. MAS will continue to work with the industry to improve such a culture. Let me now touch on the broader consideration of this Bill, which is what Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Henry Kwek, Mr Leon Perera, Mr Thomas Chua and Mr Saktiandi Supaat have all emphasised − how to strike a balance between regulations, development of our capital markets and promoting Singapore's competitiveness and innovativeness as a financial hub. As an international financial centre, we align our regulations to global standards or best practices where appropriate, but we will do so after careful consideration of our local market characteristics. MAS will go above international standards where necessary or refrain from certain measures which we regard as less relevant in our context. The implementation of OTC derivatives reform is actually a good example of how we balance such competing objectives. We deliberately took a calibrated approach, in two phases, and for the first phase, focused on trade reporting and central clearing obligations because these have the biggest systemic implications.”
“Mr Henry Kwek suggested improving disclosures for loans and investment products so that consumers can easily understand and compare the features. Specifically on Mr Kwek's question as to the best way to calculate interest rates, I would like to highlight that for residential property loans and credit card facilities, EIR is used in Singapore. Fees and charges are included in the calculation of EIRs. But I agree that we can certainly do more to simplify and standardise disclosures for investment products. As Mr Henry Kwek has rightly pointed out, the challenge is to do so in a way that adequately reflects the different investment risks and communicates the complex features, such as the payoffs under different scenarios and, yet, in a manner that investors can understand. MAS has introduced guidelines for a Product Highlights Sheet (PHS) for offers of securities made with a prospectus. PHS is a simplified disclosure document that highlights salient features and risks of an investment product, including information on the type of investor that the product is suitable for, and fees and charges, in a clear and concise manner. To encourage the industry to draft disclosures in a clear and comprehensive manner, MAS has also introduced guidelines on good drafting practices for prospectuses. Plain language is encouraged, and legal, financial or technical jargon that may not be easily understood by lay persons should be avoided. Mr Saktiandi has suggested adopting the approach in Hong Kong, which requires FIs selling investment products to ensure the suitability of the products sold to investors. Disclaimers included in the client investment agreements that circumvent these obligations are void and cannot be used to defend against allegations of mis-selling.”
“But the function is operationally sited, as opposed to becoming a staffed committee. This, we think, can ensure greater responsiveness. However, thorough investigations can take time. To warn consumers early that they are dealing with entities that are not licensed by MAS, MAS publishes an Investors Alert List (IAL). The IAL contains a list of entities that may have been wrongly perceived by the public to be licensed by MAS. Consumers are encouraged to exercise caution when dealing with such entities as they will not be able to rely on regulatory safeguards under SFA. The list is not exhaustive and is updated based, in part, on public feedback and complaints received by MAS. What is different about Mr Ong Teng Koon's suggestion of a committee is a "guilty until proven innocent" approach. However, as highlighted by several Members of this House, this can be seen as draconian, and we must be mindful that an overly-regulated environment could stifle legitimate business and innovation. We should avoid inadvertently subjecting all forms of economic activities, involving consumers handing over monies to a third party in anticipation of a return, to financial regulation. We see them, such as in purchasing of wine or art; we do not want to inadvertently catch them all. Also, in practice, the distinction between a legitimate product with a more speculative business model or strategy and a fraudulent one sometimes may not be that clear-cut. A legitimate product, due to unexpected market conditions or turn of events, or even poor investment decisions, may not be able to deliver its claims. Prejudging whether a new product is fraudulent is not straightforward. Let me now move on to capital market regulatory safeguards.”
“The new definition of AI is a sharper one and will accord protection to investors who need them the most. The opt-in mechanism raises awareness of their own investment needs and a better understanding of the nature of their relationship with their financial service provider. These are really the key reasons behind the changes to the AI scheme, a sharper protection, and is important for the long-term competitiveness of the industry and sophistication of the market. Let me now move to the regulation of non-conventional investment products. I want to also assure Mr Thomas Chua that the proposed changes in this Bill will not affect crowdfunding of projects and startups. In June last year, MAS had introduced measures to make it easier for startups to raise funds from investors through securities-based crowdfunding. Startups can continue to conduct small fund-raising exercises of up to $5 million within 12 months without having to issue a prospectus. Ms Foo Mee Har cautioned that new "creative" instruments will emerge to prey on unsuspecting investors. Mr Ong Teng Koon suggested setting up a committee to assess new structures or products that come onto the market. I wish to highlight that there are existing channels through which MAS and other enforcement agencies receive information on such suspicious investments. These come from a wide range of sources, including members of the public, the financial industry and other regulatory and enforcement agencies, local as well as overseas. Where information received suggests a breach of laws, the relevant experts within the authorities will investigate and take appropriate action. It actually operates in similar ways as the committee suggested by Mr Ong Teng Koon.”
“MAS supervises the FIs closely to ensure that they do so, but we do not prescribe the specific processes. Mr Saktiandi raised a fairly convoluted point that we allow all corporates or trusts to be AIs, so long as at least one shareholder or trust beneficiary is an AI, and similar to a flexibility which will be given to joint accounts. MAS has considered this carefully but we decided against it. The flexibility which will be given to joint accounts where at least one account holder is an AI is on the condition that every account holder opts in to be an AI, and only in respect of investment transactions made out of that joint account. However, unlike joint accounts, corporates and trusts are distinct legal persons, and shareholders and beneficiaries behind them do not enjoy that right to opt in. Hence, corporates and trusts should only be treated as AIs if they are AI-eligible in their own right, or all shareholders or beneficiaries are AIs. I would like to assure Ms Foo Mee Har that MAS is mindful of the operational concerns of the industry in adjusting to the revised AI regime, particularly for those with a large number of existing AI clients. In response to industry's concerns − and this came about because of our consultation effort − the industry raised concerns on the potential impact to their business. MAS will apply an opt-out approach for existing AI clients. So, the default for existing AI clients is to remain as AIs if they continue to meet the AI-eligibility criteria. FIs would only need to notify them of their right to opt out of the AI status, and the implications of their choices. As what Ms Foo said, the industry should focus on providing better services and value to its customers. However, this need not be at odds with the enhancements to the AI regime.”
“We are effectively at $1 million. Mr Saktiandi asked if we could use knowledge as a criterion for defining AI instead. As he pointed out, investors who have more wealth may not necessarily be better informed or require less regulatory protection than retail investors. Likewise, someone who has certain knowledge, such as having made certain investment transactions or worked in the financial industry for some time, also may not necessarily be sophisticated investors when it comes to their own money. The truth is that all criteria are never perfect − we are all finding proxies and the best possible proxies. But the use of wealth or income thresholds, while not perfect, is a fairly objective proxy for financial sophistication and is also widely used by other regulators around the world. What is more pertinent is that now, we are introducing an opt-in regime. With that, the specific AI-eligibility thresholds become much less critical. In a similar vein, Mr Leon Perera asked several questions on what are the detailed calculations of the threshold. To answer his question, it does include insurance and life policies; it does include all bonds, liquid or not. But ultimately, because it is now an opt-in regime, the specifics of the thresholds are no longer so critical because the right is on the investor, whether you want to stay as a retail investor or you opt in to be accredited an AI. To Mr Saktiandi's point on requiring third party certification of an investor's assets to assess AI-eligibility, financial institutions (FIs) currently must, and will continue to be expected to, conduct proper due diligence and maintain proper records of the basis of an investor's classification as an AI.”
“In addition, if the offender is a regulated person, MAS also has the powers to issue a prohibition order on him to ban him from the industry for a specified period of time. So, what Mr Louis Ng has suggested can be done. MAS can issue the prohibition order independently and separately from any criminal prosecution or civil penalty action proceedings. It is also important to remember that legally prescribed penalties are one side of the equation. To achieve a real deterrent effect, statutory penalties have to be complemented by swift and strong enforcement action. That leads me to a point raised by Mr Leon Perera on the adequacy of resources in terms of enforcement. We did the comparison before. And as the Member has noted in an earlier written reply, our resources are comparable to major regimes around the world. Having said that, last year, in 2016, MAS set up a dedicated enforcement unit. This will take on criminal powers of investigation and joint investigation of market misconduct offences, together with the Commercial Affairs Department. It has also set up a civilian unit to monitor unusual trading activities, all with sufficient resources, including forensic and civilian analysts. Unfortunately, I would not be able to provide the Member with the exact number of officers because that should be confidential so that offenders do not start thinking and making calculations. On the AI regime, I want to first assure Ms Foo Mee Har and Mr Henry Kwek that our regime is also comparable internationally. Specifically in relation to the thresholds for individuals based on their wealth, the thresholds in various regimes, excluding primary residence and expressed in Singapore dollars, are as follows: in the US, it is $1.4 million; the UK, $0.8 million; Hong Kong, $1.5 million.”
“Mdm Speaker, I would like to thank all the Members who have spoken on the Bill and their support for its introduction. I will start with answering some of the specific queries, followed by the broader considerations. First, on enforcement. Ms Foo Mee Har asked about how our proposed criminal and civil penalties for capital market misconduct offences compare internationally and whether our penalties are sufficient to deter market misconduct and maintain investor confidence. Mr Louis Ng, too, asked if fines are a sufficient punishment and whether we should impose, say, a trading ban. I agree with Ms Foo that the authorities should have a sufficiently big stick for deterrence. MAS can pursue a wide range of enforcement actions, including penalties and criminal sanctions. The quantum of civil penalties that MAS can pursue and the maximum criminal imprisonment term for market misconduct offences are comparable with other major financial centres. Under the Bill, if the offender made substantial profits as a result of his misconduct, MAS is able to now disgorge the offender of his ill-gotten benefits. As MAS is able to claim a maximum penalty up to three times the benefits, this will provide a sufficiently punitive stick for his misconduct. And even if the benefits gained or losses avoided are not substantial, the Court can still award a civil penalty of up to $2 million. But we all know that the key deterrent of any crime is the custodial sentence. The criminal penalty for market misconduct offences, which include the new offence of financial benchmarks manipulation in this Bill, is imprisonment of up to seven years. This is comparable with the UK, also seven years; Hong Kong and Australia, 10 years.”
“I thank the Member for his interest in wanting the young to start early. Saving is, indeed, a good virtue and I hope you can play your part, too, and explain to the young. We intend to launch another publicity effort, but this has to be timed properly, such as waiting until the US Presidential Election is over! Time it properly sometime next year, and I think we have to reach out in a more concerted proactive way. 12.30 pm”
“There are some circumstances, for example, if the borrower runs a company, is a sole proprietor or SME boss and the loan is raised in the name of the company, actually the TDSR does not apply. I think there is some leeway for this group. For others, there are also some circumstances, such as they hold other assets, debentures, bonds, coins, gold and so on. MAS and the banks do take into account that this can also be income-generating and can also be counted as income stream. So, there is another group that is also, in a way, catered to. Lastly, there are others, maybe the cases that the Member has encountered, where they need to reduce their fully-paid-for property to re-mortgage. We take note of that feedback. We have received similar feedback and will study them carefully.”
“It is difficult to estimate upfront how long this will take because it will depend on various factors, including the cost of the financial and operation requests. But please be reassured that it is not in the interest of MAS to assume control longer than necessary. Our priority is always to put the entity back on a firm footing to restore confidence in the operation of the credit reporting system. And MAS will make public any assumption of control of an LCB via a Government Gazette. In conclusion, I am glad that many Members support the Credit Bureau Bill. I am confident that with the Bill, we will strengthen Singapore's credit reporting industry so that borrowers and lenders can better manage their finances and risks. But at the same time, MAS has introduced a range of measures over the past few years to promote prudent lending and borrowing behaviour. This covers diverse products, from property loans to motor vehicle loans and unsecured credit. However, we are ultimately responsible for our own financial well-being. To better understand how we can manage our finances proactively and use credit responsibly, I encourage Singaporeans to tap on the wealth of information provided by MoneySENSE − a bit of advertisement here. With that, Madam, I beg to move. [(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. (proc text)] [(proc text) The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. – [Mr Ong Ye Kung]. (proc text)] [(proc text) Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed. (proc text)]”