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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“The latter would lead to inefficiencies, because the lender would have to approach multiple credit bureaus for their credit reports in order to form a comprehensive view of a borrower's credit history across all lenders. Other markets of similar sizes, such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, have only one consumer credit bureau. Mr Louis Ng also asked whether banks are required to contribute comprehensive data to CBS only and not to DP Credit. There is actually no such requirement at all. Banks are free to decide which LCBs they wish to be a member of. Whichever they join, they would contribute data to that credit bureau. Next, on the governance of LCBs, Mr Saktiandi Supaat raised the need for proper personnel to be appointed to the boards of LCBs. We share this concern. MAS will require LCBs to assess prospective directors and chief executive officers for their fitness and propriety. These assessments will include the financial standing and integrity of the relevant individuals. If they are found to be not fit and proper, MAS may remove the directors and chief executive officers. In an extreme case, where the officers and employees of substantial shareholders of an LCB are found to be not fit and proper, MAS may revoke the licence of the credit bureau. When an LCB faces financial or operational distress, MAS can assume control of the credit bureau to ensure that its credit reporting business continues to operate smoothly. Ms Thanaletchimi asked if such an assumption of control be subject to any time limit and whether the public will be notified. The objective of MAS assuming control is to restore stable credit reporting operations and avoid any disruption to consumers and businesses.”
“To better protect consumers, the Bill requires LCBs and their approved members to investigate and rectify data errors on a timely basis. MAS will set expectations on proper governance arrangements, including for dispute resolution and turnaround times for this. The Bill empowers MAS to conduct inspections and investigations and take appropriate enforcement actions against errant LCBs or their approved members. Mr Murali Pillai also asked if consumers could rely on protection under PDPA to correct data errors. To overlapping requirements, PDPA will not apply since the Bill already provides the mechanism for consumers to resolve data errors. On the issue of free credit reports, MAS also needs to strike a balance between protecting consumers and keeping operating costs manageable and the service viable and to prevent phishing expeditions and frivolous requests for data. So, to protect consumers' interest, the Bill will require LCBs to provide a free copy of a consumer's credit report within 30 days from the date of approval or rejection of a credit facility at the consumer's request. This will allow the consumer to dispute any data error or engage his lender on a credit decision. The approach also minimises the risk of repeated frivolous requests by consumers for their credit reports. But if a consumer wishes to have a credit report outside of this free 30-day period, he can purchase them any time, at $6 a copy, which is not a huge cost barrier. Mr Louis Ng suggested allowing more credit bureaus to operate to spur innovation in the market. MAS also has to strike a balance here between protecting competition against the risk of data fragmentation.”
“MAS will also set more detailed expectations on the timeliness of reporting and data accuracy. So, in response to Ms Thanaletchimi, the average data error rates have been very low historically. Over the last five years, it is at less than 0.1% of total records. There were also a few questions on credit reports. In response to Ms Thanaletchimi, I would like to highlight that the credit report on the borrower shows his comprehensive payment history over the past one year and any defaults over the past three years. The Bill requires LCBs to seek MAS' approval before making changes to the credit report forms. This will enable MAS to promote consistent reporting formats by LCBs so as to reduce confusion to consumers and lenders, as suggested by Mr Gan Thiam Poh. Mr Gan Thiam Poh suggested standardising credit scoring models across all credit bureaus. But as suggested by Mr Louis Ng too, there should also be some competition and a variety of practices which will be conducive to encouraging innovation. So, we have to strike a balance here. The credit bureaus each use their own proprietary credit scoring methodologies. To standardise them can unnecessarily stifle research and innovation in developing more accurate ways to predict default. Nonetheless, it is important that credit scoring models must be reliable, whichever model you want to use. To that end, MAS will supervise LCBs to check that they back test their models against historical data to ensure that the models are predictive and reliable. But we will not insist that the methodologies must be the same. Mr Murali Pillai and Ms Thanaletchimi raised a number of consumer protection issues regarding dispute resolution and access to free credit reports.”
“And I think that is the issue, and that is why the individual can take a loan to pay off his previous credit card bills because he is allowed up to 24 months. We agree with Mr Saktiandi that we should tighten such practices. Hence, the quantum of unsecured loan will be progressively reduced to 18 months and 12 months in 2017 and 2018 respectively. But just for the record, I am not making an announcement. This has been announced before. Mr Gan Thiam Poh and Mr Murali Pillai asked if data from the Integrated Resorts (IRs) and licensed moneylenders should also be included in the LCBSs. I thank them for this suggestion. The answer is yes, if the data is relevant. In terms of data comprehensiveness, the two existing consumer credit bureaus already capture information of more than 98% of all credit facilities offered to consumers. MAS and MinLaw are studying and will be announcing measures to allow for more comprehensive credit bureau data in due course. MAS will also explore with the Casino Regulatory Authority whether information on the type of credit offered by IRs is relevant to the licensed credit bureaus. This can be done independently. Once we have the Act, I think we are able to do so more readily. I should clarify that the Bill does not apply to MLCB as it will still be regulated by MinLaw under the Moneylenders Act. This approach allows MinLaw to set requirements for members of MLCB that are more suitable for and in line with the existing regulations for moneylenders. And I think it is quite safe to say that MAS does not have some of the expertise to regulate moneylenders. The Bill also requires LCBs and their approved members to maintain data accuracy and completeness and empowers MAS to take enforcement actions against errant LCBs and their approved members.”
“Hence, in response to Ms Thanaletchimi, employers who wish to screen their employees' credit records must seek their employees' consent to do so. They cannot just obtain those reports merely by becoming approved members of LCBs. To minimise the risk of data security lapses by the new applicants, MAS will assess any new applicant using the same stringent standards expected of regulated financial institutions. So, if licensed moneylenders apply, they will be subject to the regulations and standards expected of financial institutions. Some of these criteria will include robust internal controls on system access as well as security. As Mr Murali Pillai pointed out, an individual may give consent for an LCB to share his credit records with a third party, such as his employer or a country club. In such cases, the individual will be protected under the PDPA which requires the third party, say, the employer, to comply with the requirements to prevent unauthorised access, collection, use and disclosure of the personal data. The safeguards in the Credit Bureau Bill are not applicable because MAS' regulatory ambit would not extend to such third parties. So, it is relying back on the PDPA. The second area is on the need for timely, comprehensive and reliable data. Mr Saktiandi Supaat raised the concern that someone who racks up credit card bills is unable to pay and then takes out additional loans to pay them off and then snowballing the debt. And he wondered if there was a time lag between his near default and his next credit application. There is no significant time lag. Information at the credit bureaus is updated promptly, monthly. The current rules allow an individual to take unsecured loans such as through credit card bills, up to 24 months of his monthly salary.”
“Mdm Speaker, I would like to thank all the Members who have stayed late and spoken on the Bill and their support for its introduction. On behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of MAS, let me now address their questions. First, on data security. To better protect sensitive credit data is one of the key objectives of enacting or introducing this Bill. Mr Saktiandi asked if MAS can ensure institutions upgrade their data protection security systems. By formalising MAS' supervision of credit bureaus, the Bill will strengthen data security. LCBs and their approved members will now be subject to MAS' technology risk management notices and guidelines. They are required to do so now once the Bill becomes law. These set out MAS' requirements and expectations on the IT controls to protect consumer data from unauthorised access or disclosure. One example is that we will require them to use an additional layer of access control through a two-factor authentication. With this new legislation, should there be any gaps in controls, MAS can take the supervisory and enforcement action to get the relevant entity to improve its data security. And this will have to be an ongoing process even after the Bill becomes law. Further, membership of licensed credit bureaus will be tightly controlled and subject to MAS' approval. I actually was not quite aware of the case raised that a licensed moneylender had access to data. But the idea is that only entities that have a bona fide need for bank credit information and can safeguard the data security competently, such as banks, merchant banks, finance companies and credit card issuers regulated by MAS, may be admitted as approved members.”
“[Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Senate, as I have already said, will entail another GE. In addition, we need to conduct a referendum to ask the people whether they need to have such a system. Is this what our country really needs? Is this what our people need? Will this become another centre of power? There are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered.”
“[Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] I think we have said all of these before, this CPA is not elected and does not have executive powers. As I have explained just now, what we are worried about is "What if". If something happens, we will need a wise Elected President to prevent an irresponsible Parliament or government from squandering our Reserves.”
“I do concede that some of the fundamentals have not changed, but it was also a fundamental belief of the WP that Parliament should be unfettered. And now to have a Page: 86 Senate, it may constitute a fundamental change.”
“[Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] If the two concepts are the same, then do not throw away the old pair of shoes so quickly. I think the old pair of shoes would be more comfortable and we can keep on improving it.”
“There are several key principles of lifelong learning. Like what I mentioned earlier, open accessibility is one. The other is what the Member just mentioned, which is modular Page: 22 training. It is a direction that we are pushing very proactively towards. As for nursing, it is something that we will have to study as well. But as the Member know, in nursing training, there is also a lot of dedication and some full-time dedication is also required especially when you are on attachment to a hospital. But within the limits of professional requirements, we will certainly go in that direction.”
“We will continue to work with our post-secondary education institutions to find meaningful ways to recognise an individual's skills and experience beyond academic qualifications for enrolment into their adult learning programmes.”
“I am encouraged by the drive of Dental Surgery Assistants (DSAs) to want to upgrade themselves, including switching to a nursing career. From an interest and aptitude point of view, an enthused DSA is more likely to be committed to a nursing or healthcare-related career. However, from an educational point of view, we have to recognise that the job scope and skillsets required of DSAs and nurses are quite different. And that is why we currently do not provide module exemptions or advance standing for DSAs switching into nursing careers. There are a few realistic pathways for a DSA to take on a nursing career. One is to go through the National Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Certificate (Nitec) programme in nursing, which will then prepare them to be Enrolled Nurses. After some years of experience, they can go through a diploma course in one of our polytechnics, which will then prepare them to become Registered Nurses. They may also apply for admission into the ITE Skills Certificate programmes in healthcare to become Healthcare or Clinic Assistants. All these courses and pathways have academic entry criteria, but they should not be the only yardstick for entry. There must be also alternative yardsticks, such as good job performance or achievements in other courses, for DSAs to be enrolled. Such open accessibility is a key principle of adult training and lifelong learning. So, as Ms Thanaletchmi has raised, it is an important and broader question about lifelong learning. Under SkillsFuture, we do not just provide more opportunities for lifelong learning, but also enhanced accessibility to upgrading pathways.”
“SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) has been taking an inclusive approach to build up the list of courses eligible for the SkillsFuture Credit. The key consideration is relevance to work. However, we will need the cooperation of training providers as there will be administrative tasks at their end in order for their courses to be included. SSG has reached out to training providers of preparatory courses and assessments for professional certifications under the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified Information System Auditor to invite them to come on board the SkillsFuture Credit. So far, SSG has included the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants-CIA Challenge Exam Prep Course, delivered by the Institute of Internal Auditors, in the SkillsFuture Credit directory. SSG will continue to work with training providers to include more of such professional courses and assessments for the SkillsFuture Credit. I thank the Member for her feedback.”
“From January to August 2016, over 80,000 Singaporeans had utilised their SkillsFuture Credit. The approved claims amounted to $22.5 million during this period. We are still in the early stage of rolling out the SkillsFuture Credit. Most Singaporeans have yet to utilise their credits. Nonetheless, the Government will make periodic top-ups to the SkillsFuture Credit and review when to do so, taking into account various factors, including the utilisation rates and the Government’s fiscal position. However, far more funds are dedicated to subsidising course fees at the supply end to make them affordable, so that there are avenues for workers to reskill or upgrade. The issue of rising unemployment cannot be addressed through SkillsFuture Credit top-ups alone. For this, we have a wide range of initiatives to help job-seekers, including those run by MOM under the Adapt and Grow umbrella, and other skills training programmes supported by MOE and SkillsFuture Singapore. Page: 121”
“Internships are important in allowing students to apply their knowledge and skills in a realistic work environment, facilitate their transition into the workplace upon graduation and enhance their chances of finding suitable employment after graduation. Therefore, the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) facilitate opportunities for as many students as possible to take on internships before they graduate. Autonomous Universities (AUs), such as the Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), require students to complete internships before they can graduate. NUS and NTU actively facilitate internships but do not make it a requirement for all students. Page: 77 However, they do not facilitate internships for graduates as internships are part of the education process for undergraduates. Our AUs also provide career services to fresh graduates. Examples of their services include personalised career counselling, industry networking events and professional development workshops.”
“There is a wide range of skills-based courses that are eligible for the SkillsFuture Credit. As of 31 July 2016, there are over 15,000 courses listed in the SkillsFuture Credit directory. When including courses, we ensure they are skills-based, that is, they must be professionally useful to the trainee, depending on their vocational needs. Today, the SkillsFuture Credit course directory lists courses in over 50 areas of training. These cover the key sectors of our economy. SSG is continually working with public agencies and professional bodies to include more courses into the SkillsFuture Credit course directory, so as to cater to industry demand and individuals' skills training needs. Various segments, such as retrenched PMETs, older workers or women, will need additional support. The challenge is not the lack of training courses for them, but having effective guidance. For example, a back-to-work woman may need to sharpen her language skills, be comfortable with using IT, and learn service or manufacturing skills, before going back to work. The courses are all there, but she will need the advice and must have a positive mindset.”
“Political issues are commonly discussed as part of academic programmes, research and extracurricular activities at publicly funded universities. This helps students develop balanced perspectives and critical thinking. However, as universities should be neutral places for learning, they generally do not allow activities that will result in them being used as platforms to advance sectarian or partisan political interests. The same applies to Yale-National University of Singapore (NUS) College.”
“The Tripartite Advisory on Managing Workplace Harassment issued in December 2015 encourages all employers to adopt measures that ensure a safe and conducive workplace. Specifically, the Advisory proposes that employers develop a harassment prevention policy, provide information and training on workplace harassment, and implement reporting and response procedures. Our tertiary institutions agree with the principles and core values articulated in the Advisory. All our tertiary institutions have harassment prevention policies and guidelines within their own institution-specific Codes of Conduct for staff and students. In addition, institutions have in place guidelines to govern staff-student relationships. These policies and guidelines are explained to staff and students during staff inductions, student dialogue sessions and other internal events. When harassment incidents occur, there are various reporting channels available to persons who are affected. For instance, students can report incidents to their teacher-mentors. Some institutions, such as the Institute of Technical Education, also have a hotline for victims to report the incidents. Our institutions will continue to adopt best practices from the Advisory to improve their human resources policies, training and communications so that they can maintain a safe and harassment-free work and learning environment for staff and students.”
“I thank the Member for the comment. If this is, indeed, the case, I think it is in violation of the spirit of the policy. If there is specific feedback on practices like that, do let us know. Between MAS and MTI, we will look into it. I do not think it is correct for this to proceed.”
“On the first question, I thank the Member for highlighting this. MAS is aware that for hire-purchase arrangements, there have been loans given out that are not in line with the motor vehicle financing restrictions. Therefore, the same restrictions are now applied to the hire-purchase regulations. This comes under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), who is the regulator. They will monitor these and take enforcement actions should they be breached. If I heard the Member correctly, he mentioned about private-hire vehicles. Private-hire vehicles are businesses, so they hire vehicles to rent out or run as Uber services. They are not really caught by this policy, because it is revenue-generating. Therefore, because it is revenue-generating, it comes under a separate consideration as if you are funding a business. That is why it is not captured under this policy. As for the third question, whether this would be part of TDSR, I believe it is. I am afraid I do not have the exact information, but I believe motor vehicle loan financing is part of the calculation in TDSR.”
“On Singapore companies listing overseas, I think this will have to be left as their business strategy. Some Singapore companies list on regional bourses maybe because their businesses are there. So, they will make their decisions. What we need to do is make sure that our stock exchange is also competitive, so that foreign companies can also list here. We have to position ourselves as part of the landscape so that it is not very different from other businesses. Some go overseas, some come here. We must maintain our position. That is what we are doing. As for the technical disruption, MAS takes it very seriously. As I mentioned earlier, the industry working group will come up with their recommendations. Let us look at what they come up with, what are the steps. I think it is much more important to look forward, to make sure that we have a resilient, responsive SGX system. We take it very seriously and we certainly do not want to see another one. Unfortunately, around the region and the world, technical disruptions do happen from time to time. We want to make sure that when it happens, if it ever happens, we will respond to it as fast as we can.”
“The analogy is not very different from let us say, taxis. On the one hand, traditional cabs may be feeling the squeeze but, on the other hand, commuters are benefiting from other options of commuting such as Uber and Grab. This is what we are seeing, too, in the financial sector. Innovation is coming on board; we are seeing different kinds of financing options, and these will still serve the Singapore market and Singapore economy fairly well. Within SGX, I would say that there are pockets that are still doing very well. I mentioned in my reply earlier that in the first half of this year, IPO activity went up more than last year – 16 listings in the first half of this year compared to 11 last year. Things are looking up. If you look at specific clusters or counters, such as technology or healthcare stocks, we are actually performing well. REITs as well are performing well. All in all, jobs are also at stake here. We will do our best to prop up this sector as well as we can. If anyone requires skills upgrading, we have the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF), so those in the financial sector can continue to upgrade their skills so that the sector will continue to do well.”
“I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. On IT resilience, I would say that it is totally in SGX's interest to make sure that it performs well. There are no agency issues here, where the interests of MAS or the economy or the Government are different from SGX's. Therefore, it is totally in their interest to make sure that it performs well. MAS will supervise that closely. The Member would recall that when the disruption happened on 14 July, within five days, by 19 July, SGX came out, explained what the technical issues were that led to the breakdown and took it very seriously. I think it was last week that they had started a new industry working group. This will engage all industry experts and stakeholders as a working group to seriously look into these issues. They will study all the responses that are needed to make sure that if and when such disruptions happen again, SGX can respond more effectively and in a more timely manner to minimise the disruption. They are all taking this very seriously. MAS is watching this closely. Let us wait for the work of the industry working group. On the other two questions, I would perhaps answer them together. One is the fall in the trading volume from 2011 to 2015. It is source for concern because it is also a global phenomenon. On the one hand, we also recognise that SGX and IPO activity might have come down, but on the other hand, financing activities are coming up globally. For example, angel investment funds, private equity funds, REITs – all these continue to do very well, including crowdfunding. Crowd-financing platforms are also coming up. Notwithstanding the fact that one area of the financial sector maybe facing lacklustre performance, overall, the financial sector can actually continue to do well.”
“Traditional practices do change with the times. But couples still faithfully observe tea ceremonies during customary weddings. Because this is not just a ritual, but it also signifies the true spirit of the tradition – which is respect for our elders and expressing our gratitude to them. What is the true spirit of NUS? Service to society, excellence, passion and integrity, to be the keys to the world. What is the true spirit of Sheares Hall? It is named after Benjamin Sheares, our second President, who came from humble origins, excelled in his studies, became a doctor and pioneered new surgical methods. As President, he was widely respected and was a symbol of Singapore's unity. These are the true spirit of traditions and values that should live on and that should be expressed in orientation activities and initiation processes. I wish our universities orientations that will inspire freshmen and which everyone can be proud of and remember – for the right reasons.”
“On top of that there are rules, unspoken norms, and traditions. In this environment, we should not expect to watch their every move, ameliorate every risk and cushion every eventuality. We want our young to learn, in and outside of the classroom, from successes as well as mistakes. If something goes wrong, we have to correct them, immediately and thoroughly, and NUS is, indeed, doing so. For those who did wrong, they will have to expect discipline and rebuke. For those who suffered wrong, they have the option to forgive. For the rest, the system did not start from Lord of the Flies, so let us not push it to 1984. That is why when NUS informed me that they intended to put a stop to orientation this year, we discussed and carefully decided that it should only apply to student-organised team-building activities, and that these would be "suspended" instead of "cancelled" or "banned". This is because orientation is fundamentally beneficial for freshmen, and the correct response should be to take this opportunity to improve, right the wrongs, and bring it back later, even after lessons have started. It will not be the same as having O-week, but we owe it to the freshmen of 2016. That is what NUS is planning to do. A last point I would like to address is that as NUS tightens its enforcement against ragging, and as orientation activities evolve, some students are going to lament the loss of certain traditions. There is a Chinese wedding tradition, which is to get a little boy to roll on the bed of the couple the night before the wedding. It is supposed to help the couple bear male offspring. I am not sure many young couples follow that tradition anymore. I am not even sure their parents and grandparents are insisting on it either.”
“To answer the specific questions of members, complaints to the university administrations have been very few over the last five years. Neither have any Police reports been filed to date, to the best of our knowledge. Amongst NUS students and alumni, there is a range of views on the matter of orientation. Speaking to them, or reading NUS Whispers, a confessional site for students and alumni alike, one will realise that there is a fairly strong view that orientation has been useful for freshmen. This is because orientation is an integral part of the university experience. This is when freshmen are introduced to university life, its curriculum and demands. This is when they make friends, establish networks and forge bonds that may last a lifetime. After the NUS suspension, one alumna, Sarah Tan, who graduated in 2014, wrote to me. She told me that she was totally against the sexualised activities. But she also disagreed with the suspension of orientation activities. While preparing for this reply, I got her permission to quote her explanation in one of her blogs: "My life would have been very, very different if not for the camps I joined as a freshie. I would not have met so many amazing people, students, staff and non-NUS folks alike. I would not have had the opportunity to build up such a large network. I would not Page: 149 have overcome my fear of public speaking. And I definitely would not feel that my time in NUS was the best period of my life... O-week is incredibly important for the freshies…" Personal growth is incredibly important. So is personal safety. Bonding is incredibly important. So, too, is respect for the dignity of others. University campuses are full of energetic young people, independent-minded, who are stepping up to take their place in the world.”
“Any inappropriate activities, such as those involving piggybacking between opposite genders, intimate body contact and wastage of food, will be removed during this process. Orientation-week, or O-week, culminates in the Rag and Flag, where freshmen work together and raise funds for charity. This year, they raised $472,000. As for the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), it has, over the last three years developed a fresh model for freshmen orientation. A University Undergraduate Co-ordinating Committee, which includes student union representatives, sets orientation objectives and guidelines, which includes rules against ragging. There is an explicit recognition of the right of freshmen to opt out of any activities. Student organisations then work with the respective faculty and staff to organise the activities. Today, freshmen overnight orientation camps are mostly held within campus and not outside, where discretion is wide and problematic practices tend to occur. This break from the past required some getting used to at first, but it is quite well-accepted now. The other universities – the Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) – are much smaller in scale and intake numbers. Their orientation activities are, therefore, much more closely supervised than NUS and NTU. If all these measures are in place, why do inappropriate orientation activities still happen? They happen when staff and faculty are not watching and when some students decide to deviate from approved plans. Such inappropriate orientation activities happen occasionally. They are certainly not widespread.”
“On 26 July 2016, The New Paper (TNP) published an article on sexualised activities which occurred during freshmen orientation at the National University of Singapore (NUS). The reported acts were demeaning, reprehensible and have no place in a university. NUS immediately made known that it was against such acts and that it will take strong disciplinary action against those found responsible. Staff met with student leaders involved in orientation camps to remind them of the regulations. On 28 July, a video went viral. It showed students flat on their backs, being dunked in a shallow pond. It raised fresh concerns about orientation activities. Unlike the first TNP report, these are not sexualised activities. It is a tradition in Sheares Hall observed by students during special occasions, such as birthdays, and is not just for freshmen. Page: 148 The long-standing rule in NUS is that ragging of freshmen is strictly prohibited. As a result, NUS decided to suspend student-organised orientation activities. Given the circumstances, I understand and respect NUS' decision. Our universities have put in place a multitude of rules and processes to regulate and guide orientation activities. At NUS, all student leaders involved in organising and leading orientation activities are briefed and quizzed on orientation dos and don’ts. Banned activities, such as ragging, are explicitly highlighted both in the briefings and in NUS's Student Code of Conduct, and the penalties for such behaviour are clearly stated. Student organisers have to submit detailed orientation proposals to be vetted by staff advisors and the Office of Student Affairs – a painstaking process that takes about three to four months.”
“The short answer is yes. I think we already have a good working relationship and this is certainly something that we will continue to work on. With Internet, with e-learning, actually the opportunity for everyone to learn, wherever you are, including from prison, becomes more available, with all these technologies that we can leverage on to reach out to many more vulnerable groups, including prisoners who are still serving their sentence. [(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)]”
“Finally, it is about Me, not me as the Education Minister but Me as in every Singaporean knowing what you are best at and putting in the determination to chase your own rainbow. Restructuring of SSG is just one small step, it is the starting point. We are really combining the tremendous delivery capability of MOE with the adult learning philosophy of WDA into one Ministry. This is not just an SSG endeavour but it is a Singapore endeavour for the long term. Madam, with that, I beg to move. [Applause.] 3.51 pm”
“I think every few years, we ought to do something; if anything, just to satisfy ourselves that the correlation is still there even if we cannot prove causality. In the very long term, ultimately, we want to raise productivity; we want to raise competitiveness for the Singapore economy. Assoc Prof Randolph Tan talked about this. I think we cannot rely on one measure because every sector measures productivity and competitiveness differently. It also should not just be SSG's KPI; these are the collective KPIs of all the agencies which are involved. That is why we have so many agencies involved in each Sectorial Tripartite Committee. Each sector develops their own KPIs to measure their competitiveness as well as their productivity. Other than economic competitiveness and productivity, SkillsFuture goes beyond being just an economic movement in the longer term. I thank Ms Thanaletchimi for reading parts of my article on the "3M" definition on SkillsFuture. It is about Mastery, Meritocracy and Me. Ultimately, we want Singaporean workers to want to master something, just like how Joseph Schooling mastered swimming. We all define ourselves often, not just by who we are, where we are born, but also what we are good at, what is our profession. That mastery is as important to a person's identity. With mastery, we can do something very well and that is when we can derive our future competitiveness. If we encourage these multiple pathways for every Singaporean to chase their own rainbows and be good at what they are doing in their respective fields, we will have a much more inclusive, much broader concept of meritocracy. We embrace them all and society recognises them all. SkillsFuture is, therefore, not just an evolution in education and training, but also an evolution in society.”
“For example, how many ELPs you will roll out, what is the training participation rate, how many students or workers you will give guidance to, to bring them into the training and development journey, how many SkillsFuture Study Awards and SkillsFuture Fellowships you will be issuing and awarding, how many cooperative programmes we will roll out. We can measure all these. But it is harder to measure progress in the medium to long term. In reply to Mr Leon Perera's point, academics and other individuals who have been studying this area have done so for many years, and it is still very difficult to draw causality between training and employment outcomes. You can draw correlation, but it is very difficult to draw causality because there are so many factors at play. Nevertheless, we will always try. There is the Kirkpatrick Model, which I assume the Member is familiar with. Every year, WDA does a survey to collect feedback on employment outcomes from training and the results are published every year. In that survey, they measure whether, first, the trainee is satisfied with the training; second, after he starts work, is the employer satisfied with the training; third, is there an assessment that he is performing better after the training; fourth, did he get promoted or get a pay Page: 76 rise after the training. But even if there is correlation, we cannot claim causality; it is hard to claim causality. In 2012, WDA went a step further. They established, econometrically, that more training did lead to better wage outcomes and that obtaining full qualifications resulted in even better wage outcomes. This was a one-time fairly big study done in 2012.”
“The SSG board, and this is a point raised by Dr Intan Mokhtar and Ms Thanaletchimi, must have a good mix of members representative of our partners and stakeholders. I will maintain the character of the current WDA board which largely comprises industry representatives, with a sprinkling of different expertise from other sectors, including from the unions, and people who are well-versed in finance and audit. As I mentioned very early on, we are not diluting or trying to change the character of WDA. We are taking their DNA and injecting into MOE. But it will not be possible for every sector to be represented. The Bill only provides for 15 people on the board. We have more than 15 sectors. We will supplement that with the Sectoral Tripartite Committees that we have. Finally, ultimately, what we are achieving – short term, medium term or long term, as Assoc Prof Randolph Tan and Mr Desmond Choo have talked about – is what kind of outcomes we are trying to achieve. As the saying goes, if you do not measure, it does not matter. For us to want to do something well, there has to be some measurement. This is also an issue about vision and plan. Vision with no plan is just a dream; a plan with no vision, you are just busy for nothing. So, there must be both a vision for the long term and a plan for the short and medium term. For the short term, there has to be a plan that is aligned with what we want to achieve. These will be plans that are within SSG's control. These are pretty much measuring what kind of output they will deliver in the short term.”
“So, if you attend a language course where your English is better than the trainer, you can put in the feedback and your rating. No different from shopping on Amazon or Taobao. This is a feature that we will put into the ILP. Hopefully, it will be ready sometime next year and then we will have an additional mechanism to curate the course directory. There is a comment, by Dr Intan Mokhtar and Ms Thanaletchimi, on PEIs which deliver degree programmes to young people. The latter attend those courses, get their degrees and then are disappointed because they did not get the jobs they wished to have. This is a concern. We totally understand that for the young, they want to get a degree. We should support as many of our young people to get degrees, provided that our economy can sustain that many graduates. At the same time, we have to make sure that the degree they get is Page: 75 something that the industry needs. If not, it will be very frustrating for our young graduates. So, as I have mentioned in this House before, we need to have more transparency about the employment outcomes for graduates of PEIs. I think this is a point that Mr Leon Perera made as well. If you train people, you educate them to have a degree, are you just fuelling their desire for a degree, or are you trying to answer and address an industry need? That is best measured by employment outcomes. We have done some work on this with the top six biggest PEIs. We should do more so that students have the information to decide whether to take up the courses. Where possible, try to shift them from providing just general degrees that maybe the industry does not need, to SkillsFuture-related programmes that the industry needs. We will do the students a big service by doing so.”
“Beyond the 40-over CET Centres today, WDA also supports a lot of training in other areas, including in-company training. Some areas of training are useful and we should look at those. This would include, maybe, internal audit or IT audit that Er Dr Lee Bee Wah mentioned. We will take an inclusive approach. If there are, indeed, programmes that help our workers professionally, to deepen their skills or chart a new career, we should look at them. There are plenty of precedents for us to do so. The last layer of partners includes other training providers that deliver courses that are listed in the SkillsFuture Credit course directory. There are over 15,000 of these courses now. There are many of them because we started off with an inclusive approach and because there were so many workers that needed training. So, whenever we get a suggestion to include a particular course, we do some audit and checks. If the course meets our criteria, we include it in the course directory. That is why, over the last few months, we built it up to 15,000 courses. This is not a small number. In fact, the complaint we usually hear is with so many courses, how to choose? Which goes back to the issue of guidance. But over time, we will have to start streamlining the list of courses and step up audits on training providers. This is a point also raised by Mr Louis Ng which I think is very valid. We have some upfront checks and some regular audits. Over time, we need to make use of the power of public feedback. WDA is developing an Individual Learning Portfolio (ILP) portal. The portal will host all 15,000 courses. Trainees who attend the courses can rate them and there will be user reviews.”
“They have a project called Project Phoenix through which they help inmates to re-integrate by going into industries, such as culinary, retail and other services. This is ongoing and is certainly an area that we can do more over time. But as SCORE always says, imprisonment is one issue, but when you are released, society can imprison you Page: 74 again. So, again, industry, companies, agencies, we can all do our bit, each one of us. If we are a bit more open-hearted, I think ex-offenders will be able to integrate into society much more. The other important stakeholder is the training industry. Dr Intan Mokhtar pointed out the need for us to work with the private education industry as well. I fully agree. We always have different tiers in our partnerships with private training providers. The first tier is what we called the Continuing Education and Training (CET) Centres. These are private providers. They could offer courses in film-making, digital animation or culinary arts. There are over 40 of them now. We work closely with them to build up the curriculum, accredit their programmes in line with industry needs, set out their objectives clearly, make sure that the courses are open to all. We buy training places from them, audit the quality of the programmes very tightly and also measure the outcomes. So, in response to Mr Leon Perera, we do have such a system to support individuals in skills development for more expensive courses. We actually put in a lot more resources to buy the training places so that a member of the public can attend those pre-subsidised programmes, except that we do this on the supply end, whereas SkillsFuture Credit is funding at the demand end. We fund at the supply end because we have to be assured that the supply is of good quality.”
“Third, we have opened a Special Education Needs support office in every Government-funded university, polytechnic and ITE. This is a first-stop office for students who require special education assistance. It will coordinate all the support, including counselling and workshops, for the students who have special education needs. It also administers the Special Education Needs (SEN) Fund. The students can tap on this fund to buy devices, such as hearing and visual aids that can help them with their education journey. At the same time, they will also train academic staff so that they have basic special needs awareness. So, these are all the things we are doing. I am of the view that there is space for a place like a special education academy or SG Enable that is focused on helping the disabled. There is also a space for everyone else to do their bit. I visited Bizlink last week. At Bizlink, they do not profess to take in people with all disabilities. They know where they can contribute. They have three or four kinds of work which were suitable for persons with certain disabilities, and they try to fit each individual to the work. Likewise, I think every company and institution must look at disabilities by asking themselves which individuals they can help and then go out to help them. It is not possible for a single agency or institution to cater to disabilities of all forms. But everyone can contribute to some. A third group, raised by Mr Leon Perera, is ex-offenders. WDA, even before SSG, has been working with the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE) for quite some time. It is part of the Yellow Ribbon project.”
“We have set up a National Silver Academy where there are more than 500 courses and 10,000 learning places in there − in IT, finance, arts, design − and catered to Singaporeans aged 50 and above. And I do agree with the Member that we can do a lot more in language training. Language training, whether it is English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil, is also a lifelong pursuit. We have to get better and better at the language, through lifelong learning. The fortunate thing is that WDA, over many years, has developed the Workplace Literacy and Numeracy training framework which supports language training. It is not academic in nature but tailored to meet the needs of the workforce. They have done that and they have trained tens of thousands of workers. I think we should see how we can proliferate that so that more seniors can benefit from language training. The next group that needs special attention are persons with disabilities. That is the point that Ms Denise Phua had raised. We will do several things to help persons with disabilities even more. First, we already have SG Enable. In a way, that could be the nucleus of what the Member described as a special education academy over time. SG Enable courses have been included into the SkillsFuture Credit course directory. So, for persons with disabilities, they can use their $500 for those courses and if there are more suggestions, we will include them. Second, I still remember the Member and Ms Chia Yong Yong, who is not here, had requested, during the Committee of Supply debate, that MOE review the Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) to see whether we can relax the rules so that persons with disabilities can use the money more flexibly. We are almost completing the review. Once done, we will announce the changes.”
“But they might have made up for that with years of experience and doing well in their jobs. They should be recognised as they apply for new jobs or seek new careers. Besides companies, unions will play a critical role. It is a specific point raised by Ms Thanaletchimi. For unions, the role is especially important in guiding workers because you have 60 to 62 unions now, with wide outreach channels to workers. You also have institutions like the e2i that also has separate outreach platforms to workers. If we can get the whole union network and all their resources to help reach out and guide workers on how to go about their training and development, how to make use of their SkillsFuture Credit of $500, I think that is powerful. Mr Thomas Chua, Mr Melvin Yong, Ms Joan Pereira, all pointed out the importance of helping to communicate and guide workers on how to use their $500 credit. Our plan is this. Once this restructuring is done, we will have a team in MOE, within ITE, the universities and polytechnics who will help to guide students. We also have a team in WDA today doing the same thing for workers but, at the same time, they are in partnership with e2i, the unions, self-help groups and also trade associations and chambers. They are all what you would describe as independent coaches, which is what Ms Thanaletchimi described. No vested interests. With the restructuring, we can bring them all together, coordinate their efforts, reach out to Singaporean workers and guide them in the use of their SkillsFuture credits in a much more coordinated and effective way. Page: 73 And this is something, a priority, that we want to look into. Several Members have raised concerns about specific groups. Ms Joan Pereira talked about seniors. We will try to do more for seniors.”
“With a cooperative programme, students get to work on actual projects, which is when they practise their technical skills and, at the same time, learn the generic skills – teamwork, management, HR, getting along with people, working across cultures. You have to put them in the context of a real technical project. So, we try to achieve this as we roll out more cooperative programmes. We expect the first few pilot projects to be rolled out next year. This will be our form of apprenticeships, whether it is ELP or cooperative programmes. We will expand them, and extend it to not just the young but also the not so young. For companies, too, they will have a big role to play, in the way they choose to hire, reward and promote. If what all companies do is look at academic results and hire and promote based on academic results, it would miss the point of SkillsFuture. Companies have to look deep to understand what kind of competencies they are looking for, who are displaying those competencies, who are performing well at the job? Hire and promote people on those basis. If enough companies do that and it becomes the mainstream way of developing our human resource, then the signal to Singaporean workers and students is very clear. It is your competency and skills that matter, not just your grades. Grades matter a lot, but as you step into the workforce, it is your competency, how well you are performing at the job that matters. I strongly urge companies to go out, tweak your HR systems, emphasise competency. As you do so, mature workers will have greater chances to get employed. Today, many mature workers do not get a chance even to be interviewed because maybe years ago when they were 18 or 21, their academic results were not as strong.”
“This is definitely an area that we want to look into – how we expand ELP, not just for the young, fresh graduates from ITE or the polytechnics, but also for adult workers who have worked for a few years and want to do an ELP to upgrade themselves with higher qualifications. It is definitely a priority we will look at. We are also working on cooperative education programmes, which we announced some time ago. Cooperative programmes mean there is cooperation between the universities and industries. It is different from just an internship where you study three years and, for three to six months, you are out in the company doing work, sometimes ending up photocopying a lot, or buying coffee. But a cooperative programme is much more than that. You spend a whole semester on campus studying the theory and then another entire semester working in a company, working on actual projects. The big difference is that the company and the universities are working together to design the curriculum. You are bringing the industry into the universities. So, that is a very different concept. Page: 72 It is a point also made by Mr Louis Ng that this is actually the best way to learn soft skills. I always find people describe soft skills and technical skills as a T-shaped skill. One is horizontal and one is vertical. It is actually quite an unfortunate description because first, you assume that they are distinct and separate. Second, because of the way you write "T", it implies that learning soft skills and technical skills are sequential. Actually, it is not. It is more like an "A", you start with nothing, and then you go deep and broad at the same time. We learn generic skills in the context of practising our technical skills.”
“There was a large point made by Ms Denise Phua which is that, for SSG to do well, we have to do better in terms of content, pedagogy or andragogy, as well as assessment. How to learn, when to learn, what to learn and how to assess? All these are part of the philosophy of adult workers' training, which is very different from teaching and educating a student. And SSG has done a lot of work in this. It even has a research outfit to research into adult training philosophy. All that, we will now inject into MOE to uplift our capabilities in this area. But to do well, we have to make collaborations and partnerships with many partners, as many Members have pointed out. Let me go through some of the key partners that we need to work with. First, companies and industries. This is a point made by Mr Thomas Chua, Mr Melvin Yong and also Ms Thanaletchimi. There are many existing efforts already in place. For example, we have the Sectoral Tripartite Committees (STC). This is formed at each sector, and within each committee, we always have industry and company representatives to guide the work of the STCs. We also work with associations and chambers, including for training delivery. The latest was the logistics industry which is now also delivering training for the industry. And of course, at the apex, we have the CSIP, where industry leaders are also represented, which is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. There is a suggestion from Mr Desmond Choo that we have an ELP scheme now, but it is catered mostly to the young and not to adult workers. I think it is a very valid suggestion.”
“I think the best way is we take an outfit which has deep knowledge in engaging industries, which understands the philosophy of adult training very well and inject them into MOE. This is why we restructured WDA and placed SSG within MOE, so that we can work with the industry and understand the philosophy of adult training even better. To do this, I think there are two caveats. First, this should not dilute the research efforts of our universities. In fact, I think there is concern on the other side of the House which does research on Page: 71 whether this industry focus will dilute research efforts. It should not. Second, if there are company-specific skills, sometimes, it is better to be taught in the company because, if it is so specific, I think the company should take it up. There was a suggestion by Mr Henry Kwek that coding is now very "in", needed by many industries, and whether we should start to put them into our curriculum. Likewise, you can make a similar argument for data science, and I think all our IHLs – polytechnics and universities are today, starting these courses, whether it is coding or data science. But I will just be cautious – my colleague Minister Ng Chee Meng, who is not here, has also been very cautious – to put this content into the primary school curricula. We all know our school kids are already quite stressed with a very heavy curriculum. Sometimes, when it is so industry-specific, you might want to leave it to later when you are in an IHL. For younger students, give them the important foundational skills, usually literacy, numeracy and values. Focus on those. Specific skills, leave them for later.”
“SkillsFuture is applicable to everybody, whether in traditional sectors or in new sectors. Mr Thomas Chua said he noticed that there is a slight drop in the employment outcomes of our graduates and a slight increase in the unemployed graduates. He said he is a little bit worried "他有一点点担心". Actually, I am very worried "我很担心". Not for now, because I think slight changes in employment outcomes for our undergraduates, for our graduates coming out from universities will happen as the economy goes up and down. But what I am very worried about whether is 10 or 20 years from now, we will continue to be able to achieve this kind of excellent employment outcomes for our graduates, both from the ITEs, polytechnics, as well as from our universities? Today, the part in MOE dealing with higher education, there is a very acute awareness of the need for industry, that we have to produce graduates that are needed by the industries. How else will we achieve high employment outcomes if we do not have that mindset? What I am very worried about is how do we sustain that for the long term, say, 10 years, 20 years down the road? Mr Desmond Choo expressed a similar concern whether by moving SSG to MOE, will we dilute the focus on industry and only focus on the young. This has also been our preoccupation for the longest time. MOE (Higher Education) pays a lot of attention on industry needs, and we know that we must do this better over time. We have introduced (a) compulsory internships in ITE and polytechnics, even overseas internships; and (b) ELP. Today, all the curricula of all our programmes are done in consultation with the industry. How do we do that better?”
“Mdm Speaker, first, I want to thank Members for supporting this Bill and for recognising that these are not just boring legal clauses. This is a very exciting mission ahead and a new structure for us "to chase our own rainbows". I want to start with Mr Melvin Yong's comment about the worker who saw the video and said, "My job is not in there", and also Mr Thomas Chua's point that there are still many traditional jobs, Page: 70 "还有很多传统的工作". So, SkillsFuture is not about, as what the Chinese translation sometimes says, "未来技能", that is, literally, "skills for the future". It is not meant to be that. SkillsFuture is for both traditional skills, traditional industries, as well as for new industries that are going to come up. Both will need SkillsFuture. We are saying you need to build a foundation of skills, of depth, and with that, we can build our future. If you are in a traditional industry, you must have that and then you can compete globally and regionally. If you are in a new area, you also need that. Yesterday, Joseph Schooling was here. I was walking out of the Chamber and I bumped into him and his family. So, I asked him, "Tokyo 2020, are you going to compete in more events?" He said he would compete in the 100-metre freestyle, 200-metre butterfly, maybe individual medley. But I said, "Then why not this round?" He said he wanted to focus on 100-metre butterfly this round. This is SkillsFuture. When you focus on one area and you are excellent at it, it gives you the foundation to do many other things. Versatility comes from depth, and I think we need to let all our workers know that we must really be excellent in our craft, and then we will have the versatility to move to new sectors. If we just touch the surface of everything, we will not have the versatility.”
“The proportion of defaulters is about 1%. We are also in the process of contacting another 4% to determine their bond service status. The rest – 95% – are serving their bonds, have applied for deferment or are unable to serve their bonds due to reasons like illnesses. As part of the enforcement process, scholars who are identified to be not serving their bond will be contacted and reminded by the universities of their obligations. Some may get back to the universities and inform that they are in between jobs and need more time. For scholars who continue to not serve their bond obligations, the universities will then proceed to recover liquidated damages from the scholars and their sureties, failing which, defaulters will not be able to work or reside in Singapore. The Ministry of Education will continue to work closely with all the universities to tighten and enhance the processes in monitoring and enforcing the scholarship bonds.”
“Each year, the autonomous universities hold approximately 120 student-organised freshmen orientation camps (FOCs). These include camps organised by the faculties, halls and other student groups. The proposals for these camps are vetted by both staff advisors and the Offices of Student Affairs at the universities. This process takes several months, and any inappropriate or unsafe activities are revised or removed during this process. The National University of Singapore (NUS) is currently conducting a review of its orientation processes in consultation with the NUS community, which is expected to take some time. The Nanyang Technological University has recently completed a comprehensive overview of its orientation programmes to make them more inclusive. More generally, measures are in place to prevent the recurrence of recent activities. Student leaders and facilitators are carefully selected and briefed, and university staff are also on hand to ensure that activities are run in line with plans and with students' safety and interests in mind. In addition, all students are governed by the respective universities' Student Codes of Conduct, where banned activities and their concomitant penalties are explicitly stated.”
“There are no Ministry of Education (MOE) scholarships given to international students in the polytechnics. MOE takes a serious view towards the fulfilment of bond obligations by scholars. Over the past few years, MOE has progressively stepped up our enforcement measures to track and ensure that these scholars fulfil their bond obligations. For example, we have enhanced our data interfaces with partner agencies, such as the Ministry of Manpower and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, from 2014 to better allow us to ascertain the employment status of our scholars. The proportion of defaulters is about 1%. We are also in the process of contacting another 4% to determine their bond service status. The rest – 95% – are serving their bonds, have applied for deferment or are unable to serve their bond obligations due to reasons like illnesses. While MOE works closely with the universities and other agencies to track the bond obligations of our international scholars, the default rate might fluctuate slightly due to a number of factors, including economic climate.”
“I thank the Member for her supplementary questions. I will answer the last one first which is whether there were any actions taken against staff or directors. I think a mistake was made but it is one, as I have mentioned earlier, that does not involve profits flowing out to any third party. It does not involve any fraud or personal gains. As a result, it is a corporate governance and process lapse. So, there is no fraud involved and, therefore, no disciplinary action ought to be taken in this aspect. However, we have to take every step that we can to improve the corporate governance framework, because if you want to set up a subsidiary and a company, notwithstanding it is fully-owned, it is a separate legal entity and there has to be a proper governance framework. To answer the Member's second question, we are taking additional steps to brief every single polytechnic and Institute of Technical Education about all these rules. NYP, as we speak, is drafting a framework. It has a Board of Directors' meeting in October, and all those steps and the new framework will be approved by October. As for the so-called excess funding of $8.38 million, to put this into context, NYPi was previously a division and department with a budget, when it also received all these so-called subsidies. It is just that, after it became a separate entity, NYP continued to provide the help to allow it to function well. But it should now be a lot more transparent. There is nothing wrong with subsidising your own subsidiary when it is 100% owned and carrying out your mission and objectives. What NYP ought to have done was to make those subsidies and help transparent, and NYP is doing so, so as to ensure a better corporate governance framework.”