Penny Low
Singapore
“These amenities will offer recreational choices and also prevent traffic congestion to the new town when it is built. Will MND look into these suggestions favourably and also work with MOT to prevent congestion?”
“Going forward, the quality of our lives will also depend on how well we can integrate knowledge with technology and creativity to find solutions with daily, social and economic concerns. What plans are there to encourage people to act responsibly, dream up new ideas and design for a better world?”
“Let us navigate the sea of change with mastery of seafaring skills, guided by the light of the stars and not by passing fancy ships. Only then can we continue to be that extraordinary little red dot the world envies; only then will we know that the future generations will continue to be world-beaters and make their families proud.”
“These considerations should be part of the MediShield Life design so that it is holistic, it incentivises the desired behaviour and it improves the overall health outcome of our Page: 122 nation.”
“Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Clarification, Sir. The Minister mentioned that MediShield premium payments can be paid for by immediate family members.”
“Mdm Speaker, there have been more reports on the increase in rodents lately and I am wondering whether NEA has done any study to discover the reason for such an increase, or is it that there is just more visibility of rodents in, especially, housing estates.”
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“But despite its many advantages, the Section 5 plans are not widely implemented due to the currently complex approval procedures and high establishment and administrative costs. A check with an accounting firm, Price Waterhouse Coopers, which has some experience in undertaking such work, revealed that the establishment costs, in other words, the start-up cost, itself can range between $12,000 and $15,000. These charges, together with the ongoing administrative costs, may be peanuts to large companies, but are significant to SMEs. The current approval procedures and conditions need to be updated and simplified to reduce the associated costs in order to encourage more companies to set up Section 5 plans. There could also be a case of collaboration between various employers, especially the SMEs, through a multi employer master trust policy to reduce the cost and also reap the economies of scale. Another disadvantage of the Section 5 scheme at the moment is the exit strategy where it advocates only lump sum withdrawal, which attracts taxes and defeats its original intent in retirement funding. This could be modified to allow gradual withdrawals at retirement, so that retiring employees can always reduce the tax payable by spreading the receipt of the benefit payments over a number of years, or even by transferring the money to a lifetime annuity. If successfully implemented, the ReCeSS package will give us a much more comprehensive framework not only to fund our ageing population, but also deepen our retirement investment tools market. We can even become a global or a regional leader in this fast growing segment of the wealth management industry. In conclusion, I believe that we need to take a holistic approach to meet the needs of our maturing society.”
“On the SRS, like my GPC Chairman, Dr Ahmad Magad, I would like to champion the urgent set-up of a Special Task Force to revamp the SRS. The SRS has great potentials, but it is crippled by its own complex mechanism. The current mode of setting up the account only via banking accounts also builds in the vested interest of the banks, which leads to product pushing and partial advice, as bank officers are likely to push only their own products. The complexity of the scheme, insufficient tax benefits and the relatively high costs, rendered the SRS a non-starter. To say the least, the Budget proposal to increase the contribution cap to $12,750 is unexciting. A major revamp to make SRS a viable vehicle for retirement and wealth management can add a lot more not just to the individual account but also to our wealth management industry. Finally, the Section 5 plans. The Section 5 plans are a superior way for employees to save for their retirement through a company-sponsored plan, where pre-tax dollars are allowed to accumulate tax-free. Section 5 of the Income Tax Act permits companies to establish retirement savings plans for their employees and enjoy tax deductions on the contributions. This is actually a better option compared to the current SRS because of its collective nature of the investment and regularity of contributions, thereby giving economies of scale and keeping costs down. Besides, the company is in a position to hire superior investment advisors and managers. Because of the lower costs involved and perhaps better investment management, the investment returns can be expected to be higher. Investment choice can be given to employees, eg, a list of 5-6 portfolios with varying risk levels for the employees to choose from.”
“The MoneySense programme can certainly do much more in cultivating good financial planning habits, and guide consumers in the purchase of financial products and services. All said, it is not possible to make everyone a financial expert. CPF money alone is not enough, and people generally lack the discipline to save, invest and accumulate wealth. There is a need to put in place a more robust and sustainable long term retirement programme which will supplement both the CPF and personal savings. I recommend a total framework in what I term as the ReCeSS time - comprising a capital R for Revamped, capital C for CPF, and double capital S for SRS and Section 5 plan. I will not elaborate too much on all of these. I will say a few words on what I intend to raise in a motion that I will move at a more appropriate time. But, in short, the ReCeSS time would permit a more flexible employer-employee contribution regime and offer a variety of retirement plans to the individual. With the revamp, the CPF will remain a mandatory scheme while the SRS will still remain as a voluntary individual-based account with a whole spectrum of investment choices, and the Section 5 plan will be a voluntary company-based, portable scheme with limited fund types. Let me give a very sneak preview on what I would be looking at. First, on CPF. The proposed changes to CPF would include the raising of CPF voluntary contribution ceiling to the original 40%, not anything to tax more on the employers, but as a voluntary contribution from the employees. Second, spread the withdrawals at age 55 instead of allowing lump sum withdrawals. The CPF Board could also play a more active role in providing good CPF fund investment advice and allow more generous top-ups for loved ones.”
“But, Sir, our CPF has been shrinking. First, the total contribution fell from 40% to 33% and the income contribution ceiling also fell from $6,000 to eventually $4,000. While I understand the economic sense of flexi-wage system and keeping business costs down, which is very important, it really does not make any financial sense for the CPF member who faces employment uncertainties and smaller retirement dollars. It is a known fact that the CPF alone is not enough! The globally accepted retirement income benchmark is 66% of last drawn pay. However, a study by Price Waterhouse Coopers revealed that after an adequate property purchase, CPF may provide only around 20% of last drawn income. The MCYS' website also listed that with regular contribution to CPF, a member may only yield enough for a 40% income replacement rate. Whatever the case may be, if the retirees today already fall short of the global benchmark, what more can the retirees of the future expect? Sir, we are staring at a serious drop even if there is a future drop in the standard of living in retirement. Obviously, no one owes us a living. Every individual is responsible for his or her own financial well being. Financial concepts and issues can be complex but it remains a personal responsibility to become financially literate and make responsible decisions. Financial planning, my pet subject, is a life skill that everyone should start acquiring from young. But on the other hand, the financial service providers and their representatives also owe professional responsibility to the general public in providing adequate disclosures and accurate information. The recent calls for transparency and disclosures in the sale of financial products are important steps in building our wealth management industry.”
“There are generally five options to fund retirement. First option: If they do not have the money, then perhaps they cannot retire. No choice; have to keep going. But is this a viable option? My assessment is that, unless health permits and jobs are available for the ageing population, this option will remain a tall order. Second option: They can also rely on family support and children. But with the trend of a smaller family and weaker kinship, the tax and expense burden on the young and sandwich generation will be tremendous and perhaps not immediately available to most people. The report by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Ageing Population revealed that old-age dependency ratio will grow from 1:10 in 2003 to 1:3.4 in 2030. In other words, there will only be 3.4 young persons to support every elderly person aged 65 and above. How many of us are currently fully supporting our parents? How many of us would be looking to our children to take care of us fully when we retire? Hence, my verdict for this option is that the traditional family helping-hand approach may not be immediately accessible to many people. Even with the Maintenance of Parents Act, very few will bring their children to court to embarrass them. And it may not pay as well. The third option then is to rely on state support. This will obviously lead to more budget expense allocated for this purpose and create a higher tax burden on the working population, and the result could be more social tensions and even disintegration. Therefore, the charity or welfare state helping-hand approach should be viewed as the least desired option and, perhaps, an option of last resort. The next choice is for the retiree to rely on his own nest-egg. The biggest nest-egg for most Singaporeans is the CPF.”
“With the foreseeable shortage of young talents in the coming years, employers will have to begin addressing this demographic reality and be prepared to introduce flexible employment arrangements, such as flexi-time, part-time, contract work, telecommuting, virtual office, phased retirement, etc, to keep people on the payroll. Most people, especially city folks, do not really want to stop working totally. What they want is some time to pursue their goals and passions, or simply spend more time with their families. This is also why there seems to be an increase in the number of stay-home mums. This is also supported by the results of a survey conducted by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) in 2002 on retirement issues. Almost 30% of the interviewees would like to continue working during retirement, not for monetary reasons, but to remain socially engaged and mentally agile. Hence, moving forward, there is a need to create a conducive environment to enable the retirees and retirees-to-be, non-working females and also the disadvantaged but not disabled, to return to the workforce. That will give them a chance at becoming financially independent and, at the same time, give Singapore a chance to create more wealth for its people. I hope that the relevant task force or agency would look into a fundamental revamp of the job landscape, as we move into the realities of the 21st century economy. Let me next move on to another critical challenge in the ageing population, which is that of resource allocation. If our ageing population is not capable of taking care of ourselves, then, certainly, there must be more budget allocated to support these people in their old age. Fortunately, although the time bomb may be ticking, it can be prevented from exploding.”
“Over the same period, the median age rose from 34.7 to 38.8 years old. Female participation rate increased painfully slowly from 50.6% to 54.2% over an 11-year period. In short, there is tremendous scope to address the labour shrinkage issue via the expansion of jobs for the ageing population, females and, I would add, the mildly disabled or disadvantaged but not unable to contribute. This entire group of people is a tremendous labour pool for us to tap on. What is needed, however, is a fundamental paradigm shift to see the ageing population not as an opportunity cost, but as an opportunity to reform the job market. For too long, the workplace has been designed to be rat race tracks, where the most competitive survive. Only people in the 9-to-5 jobs, those who work from an office building or work-only premises are deemed to have "proper" jobs. Singapore, in fact, ranks at the same level as China in having one of the smallest informal economies in Asia, whereas Thailand has the highest. Even until recently, entrepreneurship was not "cool". In fact, it was "cold". The concept of retirement, too, has to change. In the old days, retirement was a time to look forward to, because it means pensions or income without having to work. But in Singapore today, where traditional pensions are rare and CPF withdrawals are not tied to a person's employment status, perhaps we should also change the definition of retirement. It is not a time to retire from work or life, but a time to "refire" one's passion!”
“Indeed, workforce crises have forced many governments, eg, Australia, Italy and even Japan, to consider introducing drastic overhaul to their industrial relations and welfare legislation to try to build a bigger labour pool and ease tensions. A World Economic Forum - Watson Wyatt study in 2004 concluded that, if the current economic and demographic trend continues, by 2050, EU and Japan's total global output will actually drop from 18% to 10%, and from 8% to 4%, respectively. It makes me wonder: what about Singapore? How will our economic pie shrink? Has there been a thorough study and projection, so that we may know what lurks at the end of the tunnel? Sir, the fire is not at our doorstep yet, but it is spreading fast. Years of tackling the procreation issue in a piecemeal fashion led us nowhere. Let us learn from that lesson, and urgently address the multi-faceted ageing population issue holistically, as we did with the procreation issue. For today, let me focus on just two most critical challenges in the ageing population issue, ie, that of labour shrinkage and retirement funding. Labour issue: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs Labour shrinkage issue can be overcome by raising immigration quota, increasing human resource, increasing capital and technology investments to improve productivity, or we can also increase retirement age and work hours, as well as increase the overall workforce participation rate. Obviously, not all of those are desirable. But in terms of improving our infrastructural capital investments, MOM, as well as MTI has run a lot of programmes to that end. But the same cannot be said for improving overall labour participation rate. Over the last 11 years, from 1993 to 2004, our labour participation rate dropped slightly, from 64.5% to 64.2%.”
“Sir, the Singapore economy is heavily dependent on its human resource pool. If the present demographic trend of low birth rate and fast ageing population continues, we may experience a lower labour force participation rate, as well as a drop in overall productivity of goods and services. The demand for goods and services, especially geriatric services, will certainly increase. The net effect is that we may move from a producer-based economy, to a consumer-based one. As in financial planning, when expenses exceed income year after year, the result is deficit financing and debts. Singapore can hardly afford that, because we are not natural resource rich. Debts today will have to be paid for by the next generation. Worse still, the quadruple whammy of delayed marriage and procreation, prolonged dependency of youths and prolonged life expectancy, will certainly suffocate the sandwich generation who will face more challenges and frustrations in keeping pace with workplace demands and family financial needs. We will face severe labour shrinkage and dilemma in allocating the fruits of our labour amongst the various segments of our society when that time comes. There will be many daunting questions for political leaders, business and society to answer, while tensions mount between the working population and the non-working population. For example, should we tax more on the income earner? Should we allocate more to the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and less to the Ministry of Defence? Or should we keep taxes low but allow casinos - in fact, more casinos - so that goodies can be announced in the Budget, year after year?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, riding on the back of a strong 2004 full-year economic growth rate of 8.4%, the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance has delivered a stock of goodies and hope in his Budget announcements. However, the real test of a Budget is not in its popularity or short term feel-good factor. Neither is it just about dollars and cents. The litmus test of a Budget is whether it moves our economy and society towards its goal and towards Singapore's vision as a "land of opportunities for all". This Budget, right down to the way it was delivered, sets the tone for a softer and people-oriented approach in governance. From a reduction in personal income tax to the various top-ups that aim to benefit many segments of the population, from economic restructuring to payment systems to help the less fortunate obtain their utilities and services, Budget 2005 does inch us closer to this vision. And I applaud the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance's consistency. But there is one issue which I feel deserves a more holistic approach. PM Lee, in his swearing-in ceremony, spoke about the need to deal with complex and sensitive issues, such as our ageing population. I am heartened by the Minister's effort to encourage savings for retirement in his Budget, but the ageing population issue deserves a much more holistic approach than a piece like savings alone. Sir, the ageing population issue is not just an elderly's problem. Neither is it about simple retirement savings. It is a complex social, economic and political challenge that may threaten to derail our nation-building efforts at economic growth and social integration, and it will, if not addressed, lead to an ultimate drop in the standard of living. Let me explain.”
“I understand from some statistics given by HDB that it actually affects about 3.3% of the four contracts and that numbers about 108 cases. Perhaps the Minister of State could comment on the rest of those cases.”
“Under great leadership and fundamental values and ethics, let us move towards a new Singapore based on compassionate socialism. Let enhancement (like bar-top dancing or even casino) to our thriving city look remain as fringe activities to be treated as part of a colourful cosmopolitan and not core elements of our society. Finally, may I call upon our people to join hands and, to quote PM Lee in his party rally speech, to "make common cause with us and build a great nation in Singapore.., where Singapore can be a vibrant land of opportunities", a society where people work for the community, and the community works for the people. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion.”
“The outpour of generosity in kind, cash, time and effort of our residents towards worthy causes like charity (examples) and issues (example - Huang Na, pink dolphin, animal rights, etc.) certainly signal our nation's ability to make sacrifice and show concern for each other. We need to do more however, in working as a team, especially across the people, public and private sectors, as well as within each sector. Perhaps what is needed is a heightened sense of common cause. We have to maintain this foundation and take into consideration the benefits of the people as a whole. Only then can we attain the objectives laid down by the Prime Minister. Fifth, for the past 40 years, we have successfully branded our society as that of 'social capitalism'. Perhaps moving forward, given the widening divides due to technology and external competition, with focus on the people; it is time to shift gear into 'compassionate capitalism'. A socialist system will not succeed as a system, because people need open platforms, opportunities, competition and incentives; to better themselves. This is the essence of capitalism. I propose that we enhance the spirit of capitalism with meritocracy, transparency, benevolence, care, and civic-mindedness, the result is compassionate capitalism. This will be the society which citizens can be proud of, where every citizen can have the hope and opportunities to be the best they want to be, to achieve their dreams and aspirations, and to anchor their roots in this little piece of land called Singapore, my home, my country. Mr Speaker, Sir, let me conclude. Within these 40 years of trials and tribulations, we have built up a systematic, cohesive and resilient society based on superior human and social capital.”
“This must not be a hard system though, as there must also be enough space for people to experiment and fall, before finding their own system that works. Obviously, this system would benefit not just the paramount leadership, but across all sectors and levels of the society, including the grassroots level, business level, etc. Third, a great people must also understand the need to change and stay relevant. We adapt to the changes in the external environment, we need to make constant adjustments to our modus operandi, legislation and moving targets - all of which will affect the education and training of our people. While in the early years the focus was on assembly-type mass production, the focus today is creativity and entrepreneurship. STB has adopted a 'Uniquely Singapore' campaign in its tourism drive, perhaps a 'unique Singaporean' drive to encourage everyone to pursue their passion, an open, fair and imaginative space for all to thrive, and unleash the latent potential and energy in both our young, not-so-young and senior citizens. Fourth, our people must stay anchored on an enduring value system. The first factor is the work ethic. By and large, our workers are hardworking and are loyal to the family and company - which when extrapolated, becomes loyalty to the nation. Given our immigrants' roots, our people are generally quite hardworking. However, we can certainly do better in instilling pride in our work, especially as our economy moves towards a service economy. Second, there is a spirit of family in Asian societies. This means working as a team, showing concern for your fellow citizens, making sacrifices for each other's benefit, and identifying with the common cause of the company.”
“Great leaders inspire the common people and raise the aspirations of their followers. They make people more confident, energetic and enthusiastic. People, who are motivated by great leaders, dream big, make sacrifices and achieve miracles. Alexander the Great was hardly 21 years old when he led the first expedition to conquer the world. He was young but successfully fired his peoples' imagination to make Macedonia the most powerful nation in the ancient world. He was fearless and had a great vision. Hence we also need to create a grand, noble vision which elevates the energy, enthusiasm and self esteem of everyone in the country while ensuring that everybody sees a benefit in following the vision. PM Lee spelt out his vision of Singapore during the PAP's 50th Anniversary Rally where he called for Singaporeans to join hands to build Singapore into a land of hope and opportunities for all. Perhaps we need to hear more of this, so that we can achieve a common understanding of what that vision means for each individual, community, and society as a whole. This will also help us to spell out action steps that can be taken at each level to collectively arrive at the vision. Second, it is not sufficient just to have great leaders. We need a mechanism to identify, train, empower and mentor successive generations of leaders. Such leadership training and mentoring has to become the responsibility of the current generation of leaders. Hence, I am thankful that our Minister Mentor Lee and Senior Minister Goh have kindly agreed to continue to serve and mentor the younger generation, who will in turn benefit from the experience, network and wisdom of our leaders.”
“The next gear change is to restructure a solid foundation for our economy, move up the technology value chain and economic infrastructure, and benchmark ourselves on a global scale in every area including sales, production, human resources, R&D and finance, so we may be ever-ready to harness any economic opportunity. While a good infrastructure can be relatively easily built, it remains a means to an end. The end, would be our people - in fact, the quality of a population determines the build and use of an infrastructure to achieve our aspirations. Hence, people, people, people, should remain the focus of our nation building. Next, the people and public sector must share collective hopes and common destiny. This year, we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary of independence. Peoples' expectation of the Government is also escalating. The New Paper did a street poll of the issues Singaporeans would like to hear discussed in Parliament. The top three issues were: jobs and economy, education and social expectations. In short, it is obvious that Singaporeans yearn for a reasonably high standard of living, hence jobs and economy remain a priority national effort. Education, widely seen as a tool for social mobility, is an essential part of the equation. Hence, our common goal is to establish Singapore as a home for our people - the old, the young and the very young. We need to build a transparent yet inspiring environment where first-raters attract first-raters, so that our society can progress and be successful. The foundation of Singapore's success is our people. So, what are the ingredients of a successful people in the 21st century? I think the most important ingredients are: First of all, we need great leadership.”
“Indeed, it was an unprecedented demonstration of our small country, big heartedness and big spiritedness, where all 3Ps - public, private and people sectors spearheaded projects, big and small, to help our neighbours. The Singapore Government has donated more than S$23 million to the affected areas. Our Prime Minister, Ministers and officials have also visited the affected areas, moving the hearts of the victims in the midst. Our people have also raised more than $30 million in relief funds in just over 10 days. Many Singaporeans have selflessly participated in mobilisation exercises and gone to the affected areas to help the people. Prime Minister Lee has described this effort by our people as a small nation with a big heart. I suggest that we should take this opportunity to rally all the people in Singapore, whether old or young, so that we could build up our Singapore brand name. This is in fact our strength, our social capital. The Singaporean premium branding So, what is required to develop a premium Singapore brand? With the information and technological revolution, we are no longer constrained by our physical size or resource. The world is really our 'oyster'. Taking a macro view, a country's wealth is not determined but what is buried underground (ie, natural resources). Rather, it is determined by what stands above ground (ie, human resource). The very fact that Singapore has no natural resources propels our people to seek creative survival means, and cultivate the virtues of diligence and determination - the very ingredients which brought us to become a premier brand in the Asia region.”
“He attributed our success to the concerted efforts of our people and their confidence in our nation. Some people lamented that this is an old issue revisited, that the address offers nothing new. Bearing in mind that the fact remains that Singapore is small and has little natural resource, we must indeed continue to focus on developing our human resources - our most valuable asset. We must ensure that we develop every Singaporean so they may have both the strength and confidence to contribute to Singapore. Simultaneously, we must ensure everyone can benefit from the fruits of our labour, and ensure a consistent and sustainable development. Hence, the President's call for a people-centric policy as a cornerstone, together with benevolence and transparency in the administration and policy matters, presents a new vision for our future direction. We continue to emphasise on our human capital. Benevolence in people The recent Indian Ocean tsunami took the lives of more than 150,000 people. The survivors, however, faces the challenges of food and water shortage, and the impending risk of diseases and epidemy. Seeing the sufferings of our neighbours, Singaporeans empathised with the situation and swiftly put their compassion and benevolence into effective action, participating in all sorts of relief plans to help these people. Our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, initiated the call for an emergency international summit in Jakarta to deal with the aftermath of the tsunami disaster. The successful implementation of the summit not only enhanced our branding in the international scene, but also heightens our critical role in the region.”
“40 years of glorious achievements. Sir, 40 years of independence has transformed Singapore from a country without rich natural resources into a country of prosperity and progress. In the early years of nation building, our fragile land suffered from a spectrum of challenges from civil chaos to communist insurgency. Then, our GDP per capita was only US$512. Fortunately, our Government and leaders promptly resolved all the internal and external challenges, maintained political stability and has since successfully completed two peaceful successions of leadership. Now, 40 years later, our per capita GDP is more than US$21,825 (in 2003) and we have achieved the developed country status. Singapore also boasts of a string of international achievements, for example, we are ranked among the most competitive, globalised and investment profitability country in the world. Singapore is regarded as the best business environment in Asia, has the best quality of life, best medicare system, best workforce, best physical infrastructure, and many other glorious achievements. Today, Singapore enjoys social stability and economic prosperity. Regardless of race, language and religion, we live in relative harmony, share common space and objectives in furthering the interests of Singapore. In the area of security, our unity as a people successfully defeated the plots of the terrorists since 2001. In 2003, we also managed to contain the SARS epidemic and was highly commended by the World Health Organisation in our efficient and effective handling of the SARS crisis. All these achievements are the result of the concerted efforts between the Government and the people. People-centric policy The President, in his address, once again emphasised on a "people-centric policy".”
“Meanwhile, I hope that the Ministry of Education will pay special attention and help to the following groups of people who may be adversely affected by the proposed changes: (1) the less well endowed who lack resources and may not have computers at home; (2) those who have a keen interest in learning higher Chinese, and those who have just left the schools and polytechnics and thereby lost the chance to further their language passion; and (3) those who are caught in transition from the old to the new education systems. Special help should be rendered, providing them with the opportunity, so that they will not be left behind and become the victims of this curriculum and pedagogy reform. Finally, let us call on all our stakeholders - students, parents, educators, community, Government and the Singapore society at large to join hands in a united effort to work towards a successful reform in the teaching of Chinese Language. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion.”
“A friend in China told me that their children started learning this poem "Shaoxiao li jia, lao da huan; xianying wu gai bin mao shuai" from an early age. It describes a person who was away from his homeland for many years, returning to his beloved hometown in his old age. Obviously much has changed and even though the village children did not know him, they could recognise him as a returner, as they recognise his local accent which remained unchanged. Similarly in Singapore, we have successful talents studying or working overseas. Some may eventually elect to come home to Singapore to contribute to the development of our country. I think we should inculcate in our youths a sense of belonging and patriotism from young, beyond words but cultivate it in a person's paradigm and world view, so that as more goes overseas, more will return home to contribute to our nation. There are many such values and classic stories within our Chinese, Malay and Indian society, which could be used to enhance this sense of patriotism and rootedness in one's country. We should not forget this point in our curriculum and pedagogy reform. Last but not the least; change comes at a price. The proposed change is an ongoing effort which will inevitably meet with challenges and pain in the process. This is particularly so in the interim periods. We will need to surmount the obstacles as we progress.”
“Secondly, I would suggest that we instill more mother tongue culture in the teaching materials. The famous passage entitled, "Bei Ying" (literally translated as 'rear or back view') by Zhu Ziqing, is a very good example. While showcasing the works of Zhu Ziqing, it brings out the theme of "eternal love" in the 5,000 years of civilisation of China through "viewing father from his behind". From Zhu's unadorned language used in the text, students can learn to appreciate family values like "blood is thicker than water" and "implicit love" between the father and the son. The story suggests that when one meets with challenges, the fatherly love can support and give one the strength to surmount all the difficulties. Students may learn about parental love for them and at the same time, when extrapolated to a macro level, it can also symbolise the love between a citizen and his/her nation, and can encourage patriotism. Thirdly, bilingual-bicultural teaching can positively influence the value system of our youths. Recently, I have been involved in some youth development plans. I noticed that some young people seem to lack passion for society and a sense of belonging. In fact, juvenile delinquency appears to be on the rise and youths' value system appears challenged. Why is it so? Is this a result of rapid changes to social institutions, like the woes of double income family leading to latchkey kids losing a sense of aspiration and belonging? And some are just floating aimlessly with the time? I hope that the proposed reform can seize the opportunity to include materials to inculcate our culture, value system and national identity in our youths.”
“Some people suggest metaphorically that culture is the pillar of a bridge while language is the bridge itself. If so, let me add that the societal value system and cultural intricacies would be its consequential expressions of art. This bilingual bridge is thus the link between the (ideas and relationships of) east and the west, and our bilingual policy would be the key to maintain our competitive edge. Corollary, the government is likened to be the designer of this bridge, while teachers are the architects of human's spirit-all involved in the critical task of building up our bilingual-bicultural talents. Our bilingualism is not merely a tool for economic exchanges, but also is rooted on Singapore's national identity and culture. What kind of impact will the reform bring to our society? Let us take music as an analogy. We can divide music broadly into two categories: one category refers to the highest echelon of music appreciation - classical music and the operas. It is like the pristine bilingual experts such as the educationists, writers, translators, diplomats, etc, that we want to cultivate. Such talents are the crème de la crème, and are few in numbers. The other category is like popular music - pop or folk songs, and even tunes heard at markets and common places. This is like the general talents who are able to communicate in two languages - the more, the better. Like songs that can influence one's thoughts, the changes in the learning of language can impact on our cultural development. Therefore, it is essential to seize this opportunity to enrich our bilingual-cultural soil, so as to nurture our younger generation into a strong and healthy lot that bears fruits for our nation.”
“Next, I would like to highlight the "Immersion Programmes" for its effectiveness in building up students' interests in the language and culture. Many students went to China on immersion courses. It was only after the trips that students learn about traditional items like "barns", "washing tablets", "stone mills" and "spinning wheels", etc. Through exchange and participation with the locals, Singapore students and teachers can better learn the traditions, culture and language, and simultaneously build better rapport. Since we also have a number of Chinese students in Singapore, perhaps we can also organise some sorts of summer camp or learning camp in Singapore, along the lines of "Singapore - China youths hand in hand toward a prosperous Asia" or "a prosperous future", so that our students and students from China in Singapore can learn from one another. In addition, the Government and the Chinese community should enhance the importance of the bilingual and bicultural talents among us. "Ren ren wei xian" (ie, meritocracy) is a traditional Confucian value, and is what our society practices. With the emergence of the Chinese economy, bilingual and bicultural talents will gain importance and take on increased roles in our nation's progress. Hence it is urgent for us to cultivate more such talents and accord them their due respect and esteem. A high level, high quality committee comprising the institutions, community and educationists could also be formed to track the timeliness and appropriateness of our policies against the local and overseas trend, as well as feedback from our people on the Chinese pedagogy. Now, let me move onto the second part of my speech, on the impact of bilingualism on our culture and values. What impact would this reform have on our society?”
“We should move with the tide and encourage the parents and the students to change their current mindsets in the learning of the mother tongue and culture. Given that the family is the basic learning environment, parents can use Mandarin more often at home, purchase Chinese magazines or software, and encourage their children to read Chinese books and watch Chinese programmes, or even SMS (short message system) in Mandarin. Parents may also learn Chinese together with their children, help each other and through sharing, improve the relationship between the parents and their children. Next, teachers and students should enhance their relationships. To some students, the moment they look at their Chinese teachers, the thought of spelling, dictation and memorising of passages immediately come to mind. Some students even create graffiti of their teachers as ugly figures, to express their unhappiness and fear. If students do not like the teachers, and stay away from the teachers, how can we imagine they would like learning Chinese? This would adversely affect their interests to learn the language and culture. The reverse is also true. Hence it is important for teachers to build a good rapport with their students, thereby influencing their passion in learning. In fact, we have many experienced and passionate Chinese teachers who have spent their entire life teaching the Chinese Language. Many may be retiring or have retired. The Ministry of Education may consider employing them on a part-time or ad-hoc basis, so that they could continue to contribute in the teaching of the Chinese Language and, at the same time, help to build up a pool of passionate Chinese teachers.”
“The schools should give them an equal chance of learning. At the same time, we need to ensure that students do not become addicted to the computer and computer games, thereby erode their interest in language books. In addition, bilingual teaching method must be executed appropriately so as to avoid counter-effects. Some students in China use Chinese to learn English inappropriately. For example, for the word "tooth", they would write the Chinese characters du zi (means "abdomen") beside it. Another example is that the Chinese would normally say, "na li, na li!" to express "don't mention it" when they are praised. Some Chinese students directly translated "na li, na li" to "where, where" based on its literal meaning, causing the foreigner to misinterpret that the Chinese was asking him specifically what he was praising him for! Will our students make similar mistakes? I once heard a student who translated the English sentence "I want you to look good" as "wo yao ni hao kan!" which in Chinese means, "I will put you on the spot!", which perfectly contradicts his intentions, leading to unnecessary misunderstandings. These jokes remind us that the teaching pedagogy of language must be apt, and it is necessary to expose students to the language environment so as to gradually reduce the reliance on the English Language crutch to learn Chinese. Fourthly, the passion and enthusiasm of the institutions, society, teachers and students towards the learning of a mother language is critical to the success of the White Paper. I am glad to learn that 90% of our Chinese students and parents feel that it is important to learn Chinese. This alone would promote the success of the proposed changes.”
“But low and behold, the master revealed a computer and a laser printer and to my surprise, created the desired designs on screen and in a few minutes, completed the engravings with the help of hi-technology. The finished products were no less beautiful than handmade works of art. I was enlightened. China, the custodian of an ancient civilisation, has already caught up and embraces modern technology. Why is modern Singapore still clinging onto old methodologies? This experience created a paradigm shift in me. It is time for us to move with the times too. We can explore using technology, computer and IT to help our students with the learning of the Chinese Language so that we can get twice result with half the effort. We should generate rather than kill the interest of the students if we insist that they just stare at these very dry and boring characters. In addition, a picture speaks a thousand words. Teaching via pictorial representation of characters (after all, Chinese is a pictorial language) can create visual impact which helps students better learn the language. For example, if we look at a picture of the legend of the eight fairies crossing the sea, each one displaying their extraordinary skills, the visual impact can definitely leave a deeper impression than just eight Chinese characters "ba xian guo hai, ge xian shen tong" do. Hence, I support the use of new technology and methodologies in language teaching. However, I would like to caution that not every student or family can afford such technology, and I would urge the Ministry of Education to pay particular attention to leveling the playing field, look into ways to help those students who could not afford to buy computers, and ensure that these students are not in any way handicapped.”
“As such, the four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing will continue to be critical in learning a language. With the reforms to make language learning easier, should students continue to leverage on such traditional techniques as repeatedly reviewing the Chinese words and mastering it through constant exposure? In the education reforms to 'teach less, learn more', we must avoid giving students the wrong impression that the Chinese characters are so simple that we do not need to learn to write them, and that we can simply rely on a dictionary or technology like pressing a few buttons on the computer or SMS to recall all the Chinese words. Students should be given a solid foundation in the learning of the Chinese alphabets/characters. To this end, both teachers and students should make joint efforts in having a deeper understanding of the language. Take teaching homonymic characters as an example: the pronunciation nao in fan nao (vexed or worried) and tou nao (brain) are different. If the teacher points out that fan nao refers to issues of the heart while tou nao refers to the brain, then it is obvious that the nao in "fun nao" goes with xin (heart) radical while the nao in "tou nao" follows rou (flesh or human organ) radical. This way, students can quickly grasp the origins and meanings of the characters and simultaneously appreciate the intricacies of similar words in an interesting way. Thirdly, the teaching method should be flexible and state-of-the-art. A few months ago, when I was in Beijing, I went to a Chinese arts and calligraphy shop to make four seals. Given that this is a traditional handicraft, I thought it would take some time before the master craftsman could successfully engrave the intricate designs.”
“Some of the proposed changes are revolutionary and some people are worried that the changes may result in a lowering of the standard of mother tongue. I would like to give my views on two aspects. First, some technical factors (relating to teaching methods) that impact the success of the proposed changes, and second, the implications of bilingualism to our culture and social values. First of all, learning mother language must be continuous and consistent. There is a fable about a little bear picking up maize in the field. The moment he picked up a new one, he would throw away the old one. After a hard day's work, he went home with just one piece of maize in his hand. This moral of the story is that continuity and consistency is crucial in our mother tongue language learning process. Will our students learn new things but forget what they have learned in the past, leading to a lowering of linguistic standards? How can we help those who are interested in the subject matter to keep up with or even pursue the use of their mother tongue? Like myself, I have not been using Chinese actively for the past 17 years. It is regrettable that I have lost many of the Chinese words and phrases that I have learned before. Hence a systematic pedagogy is critical to building and sustaining the students' interest in the language. Secondly, students need a solid foundation in learning a language. China implemented the "Recognise first, Write later" method of teaching Chinese language, which worked well. In comparison, the Chinese students have an overall, ie, 100% Chinese learning environment. But in Singapore, only 50% of our students may speak Mandarin at home. There are also few public signages in Mandarin, contributing to the lack of an overall learning environment.”
“A Chinese businessman at the table shook his head, chewed on his sesame biscuit nonchalantly and said, "zhima luidou!" (literally: sesame and green bean). On hearing that, our Singaporean businessman responded, "Oh, zhima (sesame), very delicious!". The Singaporean did not know that this Chinese man was actually laughing at him. Zhima luidou in Chinese simply means "chicken feed or no big deal!". He knew the language but did not appreciate the intricacies behind it. In Sunzi's Art of War, Sunzi Bingfa, there is "Zhi ji zhi bi, bai zhan budai" (Know your enemy as you know yourself, then you can fight a hundred battles with no fear of defeat). We should better understand a language and its culture if we want to seize the opportunities of Asian economic development, derive the economic benefits, and maintain the dignity of our nation. Therefore, Singapore must always maintain our competitive edge by being bilingual and bicultural. At present, our bilingual advantage is challenged: the lack of mother tongue speaking environment, shortage of mother tongue language teachers, outdated teaching methods, and the impact of the western cultures and values... these challenges have affected the enthusiasm of our students in the learning of the mother tongue language and culture. These challenges are similarly faced by our Malay and Indian population as well. Hence, the proposed reform of the teaching of our mother tongue is urgent. These recommendations in the White Paper will help keep pace with demands of the times. Some recommendations are also applicable to the teaching of Malay and Tamil mother tongue languages. Obviously, any good recommendations would have to be accompanied by proper and strategic implementation, before we can see the desired results.”
“(In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, today I am going to speak in my mother tongue for the first time in Parliament. I must confess that this is not going to be easy, but I think I should set an example. I was born in a Peranakan family and am English-educated. Whether at home, in school or at work, I do not have the benefit of a Chinese-speaking environment, as many of our children do not have today. However, when I was young, eager for me to learn my mother tongue, my father bought many children's books and magazines for us to learn Chinese. Under his influence, I developed a love for the reading of Chinese books. As the saying goes, "If there is a will, there is a way". The learning of a language requires grit and determination to succeed. For us to master the use of the Chinese Language, we need the support of our family and a conducive environment in society. We have also learned from history that if we do not maintain our mother tongue language, it would eventually be eroded. I have not been speaking Chinese actively for almost 17 years, and now I find that picking it up again is not easy, but I will try. The economic development in the Asia-Pacific region is a force to reckon with. Singapore's bilingual policy has given us a distinct advantage, particularly with the emergence of the economies of China and India. However, if one knows a language alone without understanding the culture, one would not be able to fully appreciate the profound subtlety of the language and its implications. I would like to share a joke with you and think over some profound meanings behind it. At a dinner with some Shanghai counterparts, a Singaporean was boasting that he was going to invest S$5 million to develop a piece of land in Pudong, Shanghai.”
“Hence, I urge the Minister to review (a) whether the aforesaid rapid escalation of interest rate is excessive; and (b) whether the paperwork involved in this complex calculation itself is justified. Next, I would also urge for clarityon the waiver of late payment interest. I notice that the Bill empowers theCommissionertowaive the late payment interest. This power may mitigate the distress of the need to pay the interest very quickly and to suffer a hefty increase in the interest rate if it should be late. However, the Bill itself is silent on the circumstances in which late interest payment may be waived. Families in grief may be distressed by the lack of clarity on when late payment interest may be waived. For example, some individual members of the grieving family may have to raise funds or even borrow money to pay the estate duty within30 days ofassessment. Would it be wrong that they should be allowed some time to sell off their assets and pay the estate duty out of the funds of theestate and when these are actually insufficient, that the assets of the estate be liquidatedto pay the estate duty? The question is: how much time would the Commissioner give for such liquidation procedures to be completed, and are the family and the estate expected toliquidate their assets in a fire sale?These are the grey areas where clarity in the law would spare the grieving families further distress. On this note, I urge the Minister to issue the relevant guidelines as soon as possible so that grieving families and estates of deceased persons may be clear on their responsibilities and liabilities. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill.”
“The estate duty is payable after the family and the estate's receipt of the Commissioner's Notice of Assessment, and the grace period in this case is 30 days. Thereafter, interest is payable on the outstanding duty, if there is any. There is no doubt that the timeframe for payment has to be prescribed and some form of interest or penalty has to be payable after the grace period, to deter any unnecessary delay in the payment. However, the question is where to draw the right balance. Thirtydays appear to be too short a time ifthe family or the estate has to liquidate some of the assets orestate in order to raise the funds to pay the estate duty. The rapid escalation of interest rate from 6% to a maximum of 12% at 1% per month from the second to the seventh month after the receipt of the Notice of Assessment does appear quite intimidating. This is especially so in view of today's low interest rate environment. In particular, there is a group and, in fact, there might be a growing group of asset-rich, cash-poor widows and widowers who may live in big houses, but have very poor cashflow. They may need some time to liquidate their home or their property, and forcing them to do so within a very short time would be forcing them into a fire sale, which means a reduction in their nest-egg. This rapid escalation of interest would also require more computing power. While the Commissioner of Estate Duty may have sufficient computer power to embark on such complex calculations, the ordinary folk may not have the capacity to do so. In contrast, the late payment interest for inheritance tax in the UK fluctuated from between 3-5% per annum from 2000-2004.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Bill. The Bill is a good balance between the interest of the family grieving the loss of their loved ones and the need for speedy collection of the duty owing to the State. Towards this balance, I applaud the amendment provisions, but I do urge for clarity relating to waiver of late payment interests. First, I applaud the increase in funeral expense deduction to $6,000 and the removal of interests which were previously chargeable on the estate duty during the first six months after the death of the family member. This brings the Act more in line with the current cost of funerals and the timeframe for sorting the estate matters out. I also applaud the extension of the grace period to six months, although I would be interested to find out how the period of six months is arrived at, whether this is the experience of the average amount of time taken to sort out the filing requirements. The 6-month grace period may sound long, but it is a period that is needed for the grieving family to find an accountant and a lawyer, identify the assets belonging to the estate, even looking for the will, apply for probate or letters of administration, prepare the estate duty returns and file them with the Commissioner of Estate Duty. That is a lot of work to be done during the first six months. Thereafter, after the submission of the estate duty returns, the family and the estate of the deceased would then wait for the Commissioner of Estate Duty's Notice of Assessment to state the amount of estate duty payable to the State. The Bill tries to strike a similar balance for the payment of estate duty.”
“Would the Minister also consider publishing a list of contacts of companies or corporations in Singapore which are interested to help out in social enterprises?”
“Conversely, if the HP agreement was valid, it would then imply that the S&P agreement was invalid because the car dealer could not have lawfully sold the car twice, first to the finance company and then a second time to the buyer. The validity of the S&P agreement is not mere legal niceties. The Consumers Association of Singapore has seen complainants whose car dealers were wont to enforce the S&P agreement against the consumers when the finance company declined to approve the HP loan. The legal ambiguities surrounding the S&P and HP agreements in the car dealer industry leave much to be desired. Last, but not least, in this year's Budget Debate, I spoke about the need to rationalise our consumer credit laws. The Hire-Purchase Act is but one facet of consumer credit. In the UK, Australia and New Zealand, the same legislative regime applies to HP, as well as other types of consumer credit transactions. Their laws provide for linked transactions and joint-liability of merchants and financier. Under their consumer credit law, the legal ambiguity that I have just spoken about would not have arisen and the consumer would not be unduly penalised by the S&P agreement if the finance company declines to approve the HP loan. I urge the Ministry to review the legal ambiguities current in Singapore with the view towards finding a workable solution for consumers and the HP industry, especially the car industry. There are many existing models in UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, that we could adapt and adopt from. I hope the Minister would incorporate the suggestions and concerns into the proposed amendments. With that, I support the Bill.”
“Moreover, there is a high cost to repossession and, in the case of a genuine lapse on the part of a hirer, for example, when the hirer was overseas, he would still have to bear the cost of repossession, which is included on the items on the Fifth Schedule, and some of the costs would include cost of storage, delivery, redelivery and so on and so forth. When a vehicle is bought, the car dealer and buyer sign a sales and purchase agreement, as well as a hire-purchase agreement. Most buyers, at that point in time, would perceive themselves to be the new owner of the car under the S&P (Sales and Purchase) agreement, while the bank is their financier under the HP agreement. Yet, notwithstanding registration of ownership with the Land Transport Authority, the buyer is not the owner of the vehicle, instead the finance company is the owner and the buyer merely the hirer. The situation becomes more complicated, as I was told that the HP itself may be invalid if the finance company never became the owner of the car prior to the S&P agreement, or if the HP agreement might be viewed as a sham device to avoid the registration requirements of the Bill of Sales Act. I understand from the industry that there would usually be a Master Sales Agreement between the finance company and the car dealer by which ownership of the car is passed on to the finance company. But I am not so sure. The Master Sales Agreement would usually apply to the car only when the finance company approves the HP loan. By then, the car should already have been sold to the buyer under the S&P agreement. So the question is, the car dealer could not have sold the car to the finance company after the same was sold to the buyer.”
“There is no mandatory rule to explain why Rule 78 continues to be used in such cases except that there is an unlevel playing field where the terms and conditions of the HP agreements are dictated by the financing companies. I think we should not pass over the chance to address this inequity that affects hundreds of thousands of vehicle owners who are also our consuming public. The Second Schedule details the information for prospective hirers. This is an excellent move. May I suggest that to boost disclosure and transparency, a compulsory amortisation table be added to this Schedule. The table should have a clear schedule of loans with separate columns to accurately reflect the interest and principal sum payment, repayment, at monthly, quarterly or yearly intervals, so that the hirer understands his loan commitments and can compare his cost of the loans more meaningfully. Some banks have been doing this in their mortgage loans. I think it would be a good practice to extend it to all loans. Clauses 5 and 6 of the proposed Bill seek to amend the notice period within which a hirer has to comply to a written request from a financier. It proposes to amend the notice period from 14 days to 7 business days. In this day and age, where people travel frequently, and there are more demands on an individual's attention, 7 days may be considered a little short for adequate action. While I am for repayment, rapid repayment and settlement, I would also like to know what prompted the Ministry to review this time-line. Has there been an increase in loan defaults?”
“The Rule of 78 disproportionately frontloads most interest payment to the early part of the loan period, thus leaving much of the principal sum unpaid. It is an approximate method of calculation which overstates its case by attributing more interest upfront than necessary. In effect, this practice discourages early redemption of loans and refinancing where cheaper credits become available. It is no wonder that in the car industry, refinancing is almost non-existent. This also runs contrary to the Government's effort at preaching financial prudence. In addition, now that we have already moved into the computer age, banks and finance companies can readily calculate the advance loading of interest by the more equitable monthly rest method. It is time for the hire-purchase companies to move and adopt the monthly rest method of calculation. This method, the monthly rest method, is a more accurate and fair reflection of the cost of funds. In fact, in the US and UK, Rule 78 has been banned for sometime. I am glad that the amendment Bill has deregulated Rule 78 as a mandatory method of calculation. However, I hope that the Bill can go further to disallow the very inequitable Rule 78 altogether rather than leaving it as an option which finance companies may adopt. In fact, the chances of finance companies adopting that are very low. It will be naive to expect the finance companies to switch from Rule 78 to the monthly rest on a voluntary basis. This is evident from the fact that the vast majority of HP agreements for car loans exceeding the monetary limit of the present HP Act continue to use Rule 78 to calculate their redemption sum.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Hire-Purchase (Amendment) Bill. In consultation with CASE, market players and other agencies, it is timely for the Ministry of Trade and Industry to update the Hire-Purchase Act in line with the current market conditions. I am especially heartened by the decision to review the monetary limit on goods governed by the HP Act from $5,000 to $20,000. In the current consumer credit environment, the $5,000 limit is indeed too low. With consumer credit being marketed to the masses, many high quality consumer goods are now within the reach of the man-in-the-street via hire purchase. Hence, the decision to increase the monetary limit for the HP Act to $20,000 brings it in line with the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act. Another positive move is the decriminalisation of certain offences, for example, the failure on the part of the financing company to give certain notices required by the Act. Instead, the safeguard is that the hire-purchase agreement may not be enforceable until the financing company remedies the default. This is also in line with our more liberal statutory environment where contractual disputes are resolved in the civil courts without the need to criminalise commercial behaviour unnecessarily. However, a glaring regret of the amendment Bill is that it missed the chance to discontinue the application of Rule 78 which is commonly used in the motorcar hire-purchase agreements to calculate payments for early redemption of the car loan. Currently, the HP Act requires the financing company to apply Rule 78 to calculate the redemption sum. This was the practice inherited from an era prior to the computer age.”
“Sir, in view of the need for transparency, would the Minister also consider coming up with a standard template for fund fact sheets? Currently, the fund fact sheets are dictated by the manufacturer of the fund itself, and they come in different types of time periods and indexes, making it very difficult for the lay investor to comprehend and to make meaningful comparisons. Would the Minister consider a standardised template for fund fact sheets?”
“Sir, would there also be an intention to extend these heritage signboards to LRT stations? I understand that the Street Naming Committee, the grassroots organisations and even STB are involved in the whole naming process. But, very often, when the signs are put up, they are not easily comprehended by the local residents who are new in those areas.”
“Given our current national agenda on priority of marriage and procreation, and that the SDS serves a larger membership and has been very successful in matching couples, would the Ministry consider allocatingmore funding and resources to step up its efforts in picking the low-lying fruits without, of course, relenting its effort on getting the graduates to wed?”
“Does the Minister of State have a breakdown on the success rate of SDU vis-a-vis SDS?”
“Sir, the Senior Minister of State is indeed right to point out that in Rivervale, Sengkang and Punggol areas, there have been quite a number of these campaigns. However, there has also been a spate of vandalism andI am not sure whether the figures have gone up because the Senior Minister of State has not given any figures on vandalism in multi-storey car parks in HDB estates. Ifit did, obviously these campaigns are insufficient to reduce or discourage vandalism. What other measures could be in place to help reduce these numbers and to protect the car owners? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Mischief cases are not seizable offences, so they are not captured in these figures. Indeed, there are offences concerning the scratching of cars, not just in multi-storey car parks, but everywhere else. This is one of those offences where if you are unfortunate, somebody fancies or does not like your car being so shiny, it will be scratched,that is no fault of yours in that case. I would expect that, in this instance, the citizens on patrol will help, or fellow car park owners keeping a lookout for suspicious characters around, because a person who comes around to scratch your car will not just come in a jiffyand go off. Normally, he will linger around. My last point is to be theeyes and ears of everybody, who is around everywhere, any time and, in particular, in that context, the multi-storey car park, because it is a confined space, people who do mischief there can be spotted if the grassroots are attentive.”
“I think if they take this seriously upon themselves, thefts from cars will be reduced.”
“I would like to ask whether the Senior Minister of State can define what are the seizable crimes. And if eight outof 10 casesare due to theft or breakage into vehicles, then whatare the other two out of 10? In the case of car park vandalism, especially in HDB estates, if all things fail, including Neighbourhood Watch Scheme, CSSP and so on,what else can be done to help protect safety and security of vehicle owners? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, for the other seizable offences committed at multi-storey car parks, these include theft of bicycles, theft from persons, snatch thefts. These are some of the other examples. We can see that theftof vehicles, theft of vehicle parts andtheft from vehiclesconstitute a large percentage. That is the first point. The second point is, like I have said, the primary duty and responsibility lie with the car park owners. That is a key point, and that is why Miss Low will know that the Police has been very active, together with the National Crime Prevention Council, in introducing projects, for example, the muralproject,in Miss Low's ward as well as in Sengkang and Rivervale and Pasir Ris where the tagline is "Don't park your valuables in the car." There is another project which is initiated with URA and HDB where the coupons will soon have this tagline"Lock, look and leave".Whatever we do, there will be offences. So,you lock first, after you have locked, you make sure that you do not expose your cashcard ornotebook, and then you leave. A lot has been done already, particularly to curb crimes in car parks. I think the grassroots are very active in doing this, for example, including initiatingCOP, citizens on patrol, and so forth. It is a situation where we can never eradicate crimes. Basically, my call isto car park owners.”
“Sir, the Minister rightly said that insurance is for the purpose of covering financial disaster. But I think there are two components to the disaster. One is the new and increased medical bill, the other is the loss of income. It appears that the revamped MediShield scheme would remain largely an indemnity plan. Would the Minister consider adding an optional - and I emphasise "optional" - componentto provide a lump-sum or periodic payment to cover the loss of income, because some of these people who have catastrophic illnesses may be breadwinners to the family?”
“Would the Minister of State agree that there is an increasing trend of singles taking care of aged parents and disabled siblings, and certainly there is a cost to that? For singles, especially those from the lower income family, working is going to be essential to bring back the bread and to take care of their family. Would the Minister of Stateconsider extending, first, the tax breaks and the maid levy to this group of people who are taking care of disabled and aged parents or siblings, and the additional two days off for singles who may be taking care of this group of people?”
“Would the Minister of State consider extending this lower maid levy to singles who are taking care of parents or disabled siblings who are below 65 years old?”