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.”
The complete record
Every one of 773 lines we hold for Penny Low, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 6 of 16.
“Madam, the arts are like SMEs, albeit a highly missed constituency in our economic matrix, and only supported by an advocacy agency called the National Arts Council. The economic downturn is impacting these creative SMEs as corporate sponsors which is their lifeline and ticket buying public are cutting back. I would like to suggest that MICA do the following: (1) increase funding for arts production, and incentivise a re-focus of arts operations from performance to research and content creation; (2) support or fund artists to return to school to upgrade, research and develop new content which will surely be quite useful, especially for our broadband networks; (3) work across Ministries to embrace or adopt arts, our artists or arts groups into their fold to continue to support work/life balance amongst corporate culture; (4) identify opportunities for artists to directly work with the community and schools, and help look for arts spaces within community resources; and (5) develop schemes to support young graduates who have yet to develop a track record to work with the creative industries through pragmatic placements. This could be through contracts, sessional, project-based kind of work. And in addition, may I ask if the Minister has any plan to promote the viability of business and investment in the arts and cultural sector, where commercial opportunities could present themselves? Two, looking beyond the current economic downturn, what are MICA’s plans to develop a World Class Cultural and Entertainment District as well as to position Singapore as an attractive hub for arts businesses? Three, does MICA have any plan to motivate collaboration between the private and people sectors to inject a new vibrancy into the arts and heritage scene in Singapore?”
“[For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *.]The abrupt rise of the Korean TV serials fever does not come by chance. The Korean government's development policy gives support to the film and TV industry in terms of incentives, capital and manpower resources. The measures adopted by the Korean government include improving the relationship among the government, the industry association, film-makers and the employees in the film and TV industry. May I ask while investing in the media, has MICA initiated any inter-Ministry cooperation activities and actively engaged the local players in the film and TV industry, particularly in the long-term strategic aspects of education, human resources and market developments? What policies have been formulated to lay a good foundation for the proposed Media Hub? *Cols. 2279-2280. Film Industry”
“] Madam, MICA started Phase 1 of the Creative Industry Development Strategy (CIDS) in 2003, and has achieved remarkable results. Apart from attaining an annual growth rate of more than 5%, there is also a significant rise in the number of people joining this industry in their creative capacity. I feel that in the present situation of a severe economic downturn, we should step up our development of Phase 2 of the CIDS. The creative industry is not just an industry. It is a highly labour-intensive industry that can bring about a huge product chain development that will give us the competitive edge when the economy recovers. We can learn from the success stories of the United Kingdom and South Korea. It shows that investment in the creative industry is a very effective strategy during the economic recession. I hope that the Minister will give us more details on the following projects: (l) Renaissance City 2.0 Plan; (2) Design Singapore Plan; (3) Media 21 Plan; (4) Creative Industry Development Strategy 2.0 Plan; (5) will the economic recession affect MICA's Development Master Plan and its expenditure for this Plan? (6) in what way can MICA support the industry and the training of creative talents so as to avoid a repeat of the dotcom bust? Madam, we should put in a concerted effort to develop Singapore into a Creative Smart Island so that "Tomorrow will be Better"! *Cols. 2277-2278. Creative Industries Employment”
“(3) lay out MICA's plans to incentivise SMEs to adopt ICT; especially during this downturn. Perhaps MICA can work with associations, like SITF, to package success stories and "Happy Meals" to encourage adoption and lower barriers; and (4) in the light of building an inclusive society, increase its funding and ICT adoption schemes, and collaborate with Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) and VWOs (Volunteer Welfare Organisations) to serve the marginalised sectors? Madam, interestingly, while there are 1.4 billion users online, there are now 4 billion mobile phone subscribers. The two trends are drivers of digital convergence. Anecdotally, our "kopitiam uncle" and "pasar aunties" are more likely to use a cell phone than a PC. With mobile technology weaved into our everyday life with a coverage of more than 70% of earth, a floodgate of business and social network opportunities open up. In addition, with cloud computing gaining clout, and PCs may very soon become a thing of the past. IT budgets can also be cut by as high as 70% as there is now no need to maintain infrastructures and applications. Can the Minister comment on these trends and enlighten us on what MICA's plans are in riding the waves? For example, for a start, lowering voice and data price plans will help businesses and individuals go from adoption to diffusion. Going forward, high bandwidth will soon become as basic a public utility as electricity. To gain high value add, the imaginative and creative capacity of our people to innovate, apply knowledge and technology will be the keys to success. I will speak on the rest of my cut in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A*.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head Q of the Estimates be reduced by $100. Sir, a butterfly flutters in Spain, some time later, it rains in Singapore. The sub-prime borrowers in the US had their homes foreclosed and not long after, our retirees lost their nest egg. Sir, the world is interconnected in unprecedented ways and speed. As an open economy and a small island nation, our ability to network with as many nodes of the world and as fast as possible will determine our place on earth. As we morphed from a city of commerce to a creative intelligent nation, billions of dollars are invested into building mega ICT infrastructure and cutting edge R&D. In the knowledge-innovation economy, the world is our oyster and our imagination and connectedness are our limits. [Mdm Deputy Speaker (Ms Indranee Rajah) in the Chair] 4.52 pm According to the latest Global Information Technology Report, Singapore ranks No.5 in our network readiness (after Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and USA). Having ICT infrastructure and capacity alone is insufficient to foster innovation. Having an ICT ecosystem, which includes institutional support for enterprise, legal framework around ICT deployment, fair game and lively competition, are critical to the adoption and diffusion of ICT. In this light, can the Minister: (1) update the House on its iN2015 and the Wireless@SG plans? (2) enlighten us on why the adoption rate of ICT amongst our SMEs has been slow? SMEs and the industry have reflected that the grant application process is complex, and funds are available only within a very narrow scope. If this is true, would MICA simplify the process and widen the spectrum of ICT adoption funding?”
“On behalf of Punggol 21 residents, we would like to thank the Minister for showering Punggol 21 residents with love. But the vehicle-owning population in Punggol 21 needs more love. On this, there are two issues. One is the heavy vehicle parking. The same issue was mentioned by the Member, Mr Charles Chong. Is the Minister not aware that most of the heavy vehicle owners tend to be from the lower-income group? One of the biggest problems they face is that they have to get up very early or come back very late and, very often, that means there is no availability of public transport that can offer them a cheap mode of getting home. Parking at industrial estates, which are all very far from Punggol/Sengkang area, is not a viable option. Second, even the HDB parking is insufficient. In some of our clusters of flats, the HDB season parking subscription is more than 110%. What plans does the Ministry have to make good the insufficiency of parking lots?”
“Most of all, it would also help to lighten the Government's load on the financial security that needs to be set aside for an ageing population. MAS - Guidelines for Fair Dealing”
“Sir, what are the root causes that led to the recent structured products fiasco? It is greed and lack of financial literacy. Many people lost their nest egg. In 2008, the total debts to individuals in Singapore stand at $112 billion, 10% more than 2007. Credit card debt alone stands at $3.3 billion and worldwide, credit card debt has been growing fast and even threatens to be the next sub-prime. Sir, since my first speech in Parliament, I have made repeated calls for national financial literacy programmes. I am happy with the MoneySense programme but judging from the recent financial fiascos, the MoneySense programme is not sufficient. Hence, I am making urgent calls for two additional suggestions. One, perhaps we can equip every household with a basic financial literacy handbook – much like the case of an emergency handbook; and life skills that can help them do basic financial planning whether in good or bad times. Two, I propose setting up a high-level National Financial Literacy Advisory Council, perhaps under the PMO, to co-ordinate efforts to work with the public, private and people sector to accelerate financial education efforts for youths in school, adults in the workplace, homebuyers and retirees in the CPF queues, homemakers and self-employed who are found everywhere. In addition, the council can help improve understanding of financial services, create national financial literacy barometer, conduct research and strengthen financial education programmes. Sir, let me reiterate that financial literacy can help to smoothen consumption, provide for better education and health needs, save individuals from their financial headaches and family heartaches and also provide capital for entrepreneurship.”
“On the other hand, Sir, even the weak become strong when united. Big ideas can spur imaginations and rally the nation towards collaborative innovation, and the answer lies within us. Sir, I support the Budget and call for it to further evoke confidence in the present, deftly execute pragmatic measures where reality bites, and inspire and rally Singapore towards a moonshot. Sir, united we stand. 12.43 pm”
“Assistive technology espouses great social good that can anchor Singapore into the rapidly growing trillion dollar industries. With ageing population worldwide, the demand can only grow. To illustrate, there are 500 million people worldwide over the age of 65, with 200 million suffering from severe sensory, emotive, cognitive or physical disabilities. They can benefit from affordable machine-assisted memory aids or prosthesis. Over 1.5 billion people suffer from brain and nervous system disorder, and neural circuit repair tools are currently being developed in MIT to overcome these challenges. Worldwide, millions of amputees, cerebral palsy and elderly can also enjoy the 'powerfoot'. Given our ageing population and advance IPR, R&D and financial hub status, plus innovations and experience in the NUS Mixed Reality Lab, Singapore is well placed to become a silicon valley in the development and commercialisation of assistive technology that transforms human disabilities into abilities, and enhances us on the road to be a creative, intelligent and compassionate nation. In conclusion, Sir, perhaps it is in times like this that provides us an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities and values in life. All said and done, the economic storm will one day blow over. The right question is not 'when will it be over', but 'how would we want to emerge from this storm – as a person, as a corporation, and as a nation'? The right lessons must be learnt. The era of privatising gains and socialising losses must pass. Greed, blind self preservation and pure capitalistic behaviour without hope for tomorrow will only cause us to shrink and emerge as a selfish people. A small step for man, a giant backflip in social cohesion.”
“This can be accompanied by developing a stock exchange for businesses with double bottomlines (social and economic), a hub for financing such businesses and a magnet for talented and compassionate technologists and capitalists. Jobs in this industry will create positive energy that invigorates the workforce and brings meaning to life. Just how big is this market? Takaful funds, green-tech investments, microfinance, social enterprise will all add up to easily more than a trillion dollars worth. So this is not child's play. Second suggestion – what about making Singapore into a silicon valley for assistive technology? Imagine a place where both the old and young can play side by side and the disabled can participate equally in the socio-economic development, not hindered by impairments. How do we do that? Singapore can be a silicon valley for "Imagineering", which is the imaginative application of engineering sciences in assistive technology. Not only is the market opportunity huge, but history has shown us that assistive technologies can often make huge impact in everyday life. For example, in 1808, Pellegrino Turri built the first typewriter for his blind friend, Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzono and, in 1972, Vinton Cerf, hearing impaired since birth, developed e-mail-like text-messaging protocols for the Arpanet, which is the precursor to the Internet. These technologies are now part of everyday life. Currently, there are exciting developments in this field. From the powerfoot for amputees to outrun a normal athlete – which is, by the way, why it was banned in the Paralympics – to supershoes which help elderly walk effortlessly, to intuitive mouse technology that understands its users with a blink of an eye.”
“So we need to set our minds to think positive and, in fact, think big. For all the multi-billion dollar investments we have, we are short on what Americans call a big, hairy, audacious goal that can excite, inspire and galvanise Singaporeans towards a moonshot. To illustrate, in 1961, John F. Kennedy rallied Americans to dream the impossible to put a man on the moon. This fired imagination and inspired a whole generation of space engineers. In 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon. In 1963, Sir Martin Luther King called on America to "hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope to transform the jangling discords of America into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood". In 2008, Barack Obama became the first coloured President of America, changing history forever. Sir, let us not underestimate the power of dreams. It is the only thing that inspires us to break through the seemingly impossible, and reach new heights. So, what could our 'moonshot' be? I would like to offer two possibilities. One, perhaps Singapore can be the happiest home on earth. Imagine, year 2025, Singapore is the happiest home on earth. Earth-friendly products and high-touch technologies are being developed here, responsible corporates look after the communities they operate in, and people are employed in happy environment where worklife balance is achieved. Impossible? But, currently, many corporate and government leaders are rethinking the free market system and no country has occupied this growing niche yet. We can take the lead to rally leaders in this field to develop a centre of excellence for businesses that do good and do well.”
“I urge the Minister to put serious money to leverage on this golden opportunity to build capacity and expand the social economy. There are many ways to do this, from fiscal incentives to Government becoming an "aggregate buyer". For example, instead of companies employing people with no work to do, the Government can fine-tune the Jobs Credit Scheme or introduce new schemes to redeploy excess staff to do capacity-development in Non-profit Organisations (NPOs) and Social Enterprises (SEs). Professionals like accountants, operation managers and supervisors can be redeployed on a part-time or full-time basis, share their experience and expertise, and infuse the social sector with ideas, strategies and corporate governance. Stints at NPOs can also be invigorating for these professionals, creating new perspectives to life. Companies that engage in such schemes can enjoy higher employee morale, customer loyalty and strengthened government relations. I concede that the pure capitalistic model of development is not sustainable in the long term, as it promotes greed, inequity and anomie. Businesses, as corporate citizens, must work side by side with the Government and communities. Social enterprises, as bottom-up organisations, can also help Government deliver social services more effectively. In this crisis, we can view our national needs from a macro perspective, think out of the box and find opportunity to reallocate our resources, as well as build a value-based social contract among the people, the public and the private sector. The third criterion is whether we have an inspiring vision for our future. Sir, people move in the general direction of our currently dominant thought. So I agree with Mr Lim Swee Say that if we focus on the negative, we will get negative energy.”
“There have been hybrid models in the world and I am very grateful that Minister Tharman recognises the contributions of social enterprise in his main Budget speech. In growth years, the social sector suffered from unaffordable manpower and space costs. Now, many will be in a crisis mode due to shrunken capital pool and cashflow blues. Yet, the downturn itself shores up demand for social services and gives the social economy the ability to soak up private sector redundancy in manpower, commercial space, production lines, and so on. There is another reason to grow the social economy. Sir, in my constituency, I have a widow with three young children. Her husband passed away suddenly. With low education qualification and three children to care for, it is hard for her to take on any job. Using the Household Benefits Calculator from the Budget website, she will obtain $1,199 from GST Credits and Resilience Package. I assured her that more help will come, as the beefed up ComCare funds and my grassroots schemes will ensure that she does not fall through the cracks. But she tells me that taking money is no dignity. She wants a handup, not a handout! She wants to work from home, and be a good role model for her children. Sir, I admire her spirit. If all Singaporeans are like her, our collective resilience will see us through the ebbs and flows. We need to cultivate this spirit, by making available self-reliant avenues. Growing social enterprise and the social economy are critical steps. Yet, the Budget provision for the social sector is paltry and largely limited to IPCs, compared with the billions of dollars set aside for Jobs Credit or Special Risk-Sharing Initiative schemes, which can be applied across the board.”
“I hope the Minister would look into expanding the scheme to help keep them in business too. Corporate tax cuts from 18% to 17% are useful to those who are still making profits. But, ultimately, cash flow is the lifeblood of businesses. The Special Risk Sharing-Initiative is critical to stimulating bank lending, unlock cash flow blood clots that cause sound businesses to perish, and avoid the downward economic spiral of deleveraging. However, the devil is in the implementation, and I hope the Minister can clarify the steps and assure the House of its timely and generous execution. Sir, ultimately, businesses exist because of demand. Waiting endlessly for global demand to return is not the answer. I have three suggestions. First, enhance the SPUR scheme so that we can soak up some excess manpower capacity and upgrade the manpower capacity to get ready for the upturn. Second, although we are export dependent, whatever bits of domestic demand generated would help our SMEs, our workers and our families to go the extra mile. An obvious and low hanging fruit is government projects. By breaking down billion dollar projects into chewable contract size of less than $50 million for infrastructure and less than $1 million for ICT and healthcare works, it will help keep SMEs humming, and I urge the Government to seriously look into all possible ways to generate demand for our SMEs. Three, what about reallocating excess capacity to growing sectors like the social economy? Here, I declare my interests. We should be bolder and think out of the box. Sir, the social economy, as a whole, forms the fifth largest economy in the world, and demographics have it that it will be a growing sector. In Singapore, much of its work has been termed either as charity or under Government welfare.”
“So has our Budget evoked any confidence? I think yes. First, our strong reserves give us ammunition to battle the downturn. Second, it is drawn from past prudence and not future money that indebts our population. Third, past reserves target temporary measures in dire straits shows that the leadership knows what it is doing, and not panicking to rampantly inject money into the economy. Fourth, the assurance of more off-Budget measures when the need arises is comforting – although I hope that the measures would be proactive rather than reactive. For example, China has rolled out a two-year $4 trillion RMB investment programme, equivalent to 16% of their GDP 2007, which is accompanied by massive tax cuts, adoption of preferential taxes for SMEs and halting of 100 items of administrative fees. In comparison, our 6% of GDP budget seems small. Hence, while confidence of adequate ammunition is there, the firing power is somewhat muted. Sir, when a man is bleeding, we have to stop the bleeding first. The $20.5 billion Resilience Budget rightly focused on preserving companies to keep jobs, so that life can be as normal as possible for Singaporeans. Global demand has dried up, but rentals and labour costs have not adjusted as fast. Many feared that blood-letting season has arrived. So the rental rebates, tax cuts and Jobs Credit Scheme are all quick measures to cut costs. The shortcoming of this scheme is that it leaves out a large number of freelancers, self-employed and no-CPF part-timers, who are a growing segment of our labour force. In fact, part-time workforce has increased from 3.2% in 1998 to 6.8% in 2008, and even more for self-employed and freelancers like taxi-drivers, real estate agents, insurance advisors, and creative workers.”
“Sir, a few days ago, more than 2,500 global leaders gathered at Davos for the World Economic Forum, to discuss a post-crisis world. From Gordon Brown to Lakshmi Mittal to Bill Gates, the mood was somber. Everyone knew there were clear and present dangers of an economic meltdown. Everyone knew they need to collaborate and guard against protectionism. But, no one had a clue as to how long and deep the recession might be. No one had the magic bullet. Instead, some even turned to the academics for an answer – a sign of desperation. One Harvard professor confessed that he sometimes feels like an imposter, as he witnessed his graduates being handcuffed out of Wall Street, and blamed for the meltdown. He, too, was clueless as to what could be done to save the world. Sir, I am sharing this insight to illustrate how difficult it must have been for the leadership and the Minister of Finance to draw up Budget 2009. So let us not belittle these efforts. Singapore is the most open economy in the world. Our trade is approximately 3.5 times the size of our GDP. When the global trade shrinks, our man-in-the-street will feel less 'jingling' in their pockets. We must realise that we cannot control external events, but we can manage ourselves. Technicalities aside, in any crisis, we need three boosters: (1) confidence, (2) pragmatic steps, and (3) inspiration for a better future. So how has our Budget team measured up to these criteria? The recent PWC Global CEO Survey revealed that confidence plunged to its lowest since 2003. Seventy-nine percent do not see revenue growth this year and most are worried about immediate survival. Top concerns are tight credit, sluggish capital market and collapsing demand – precisely the sort of issues that our own SMEs and MNCs face.”
“Sir, I would like to seek a clarification. I remember that as far back as 1997-1998, there were already some high profile cases, and the Minister has reiterated that in 2002 and 2003, there were also some high profile cases. Between then and now, it is a good five to six years. I am wondering why it took so long to reconcile and harmonise it, even though I understand that some time is needed for industry-wide consultation.”
“Could the Senior Minister of State give some examples of events and incidents where netizens have acted relatively irresponsibly. And, in particular, in the light of the Member, Mr Seng Han Thong's recent incident where netizens voted quite unjustly to his event. What comments would the Senior Minister of State have regarding the netizens' behaviour? RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, if I draw on the example given by the Member on the comments that have been passed after the Member of Parliament, Mr Seng Han Thong was injured, I think there were a small number of sympathetic comments expressing condolences and praising him for the work that he has done. And I am sure that the family and relatives would have drawn great comfort from reading these comments. I would say that the vast majority of the comments were unhelpful. A significant number was unkind. A small number was downright outrageous. It was disappointing and my impression is that I do not think the community itself has done enough to rebut some of these unhelpful comments delivered by the fellow netizens. It is a squandered opportunity for a higher degree of self-regulation. It would have been an example of the genesis of the first steps towards a more responsible, a greater self-regulatory regime, but many of those responses were not rebutted nor answered, and I think it is not healthy for some of these to remain on the Internet unchallenged, unquestioned and unanswered.”
“On its part, the Government had in the past set up the Parents Advisory Group for the Internet (PAGi) and National Internet Advisory Committee (NIAC) to promote a culture of cyber wellness, especially among our young and their parents. Today, the Media Development Authority (MDA) works with the Internet and Media Advisory Committee (INMAC), the industry, as well as NGOs like the Touch Community, to foster cyber wellness among our young people. In response to AIMS, the Government will set up an Inter-Ministry Taskforce on Cyber Wellness to coordinate national efforts and develop strategies and programmes on cyber wellness. Significantly, netizens themselves have a major and critical role to play in developing a responsible cyberspace. Individual bloggers ought to be responsible and accountable in their postings. Website proprietors and the online contributors must be responsible and prompt in moderating the sites to ensure credibility, objectivity and balance in the content posted. Netizens can and should do more to establish and enforce the norms of acceptable online behaviour. As the Government moves towards engagement in cyberspace, we hope that the online community, as well as those in the real world, will contribute constructive and meaningful ideas and comments to help strengthen Singapore and better prepare us for the rigours of global competition.”
“The registration requirement does not carry any additional restrictions. Registrants are subjected to the same set of Class Licence conditions and the Internet Code of Practice as any other non-registered Internet Content Provider. The reason for requiring registration is to maintain a higher level of accountability of those responsible for such websites. Registration has not stopped political parties' websites from posting critical comments and engaging in free and open discussions on government policies and issues. Overall, the Government has taken significant and substantive steps to expand the space for socio-political discourse. I would like to assure the House that we will continue to review and update our policies to keep them relevant with the times and technology. Let me now address the second part of the question. We have not done any studies to assess the level of maturity and consistency of local netizens in entering a self-regulated regime. However, for Members of the House who have surfed the Internet, you would have observed that while there are some serious and objective postings, there is also a prevalence of noises, rumours and distortions in cyberspace. As the AIMS report has noted, while there were reasoned and critical views, there were also "a great deal of unhelpful commentary and discussions online". In fact, it would be quite apparent that the Internet is not an effective self-regulated regime as some may have touted it to be. Rumours and lies are prevalent in cyberspace. Flaming and cyber-bullying are not uncommon. Unfortunately, this is the downside of the Internet, given the borderless nature of cyberspace and the cloak of anonymity that comes with it. To develop a responsible cyberspace, all parties need to play their role responsibly.”
“Hence, it makes practical sense to focus our available resources to engage on established platforms, such as the REACH portal and the online letter forums of our mainstream media. REACH offers a convenient one-stop portal for citizens who want to be heard and who would like to offer their views, reactions and suggestions to the Government. Views, for and against, are welcomed in the spirit of a robust, constructive and meaningful debate. In fact, anyone who visits REACH will be able to see the diversity of comments and vigorous exchanges taking place in the discussion forum and blogs. On e-engagement, while we are proceeding cautiously, we are not closed to the idea of engaging on other objective and credible sites, in future. Concerning online political content, the Government has in fact gone beyond the AIMS' recommendation. We have accepted the AIMS' recommendation to expand the positive list to allow political parties, and their election candidates and agents, to use new media tools in Internet election advertising, such as in promoting themselves, their manifestoes and their activities during election. In addition, we are allowing individuals to participate in Internet election advertising, by blogging or posting election materials. Beyond this, we are also allowing party political films that would be exempted under the Films (Amendment) Bill for Internet election advertising during elections. AIMS has recommended removing the registration requirement for political parties as well as individuals and bodies of persons who provide any programme for propagation, promotion or discussion of political or religious issues relating to Singapore through Internet websites. AIMS believes that the removal will allow people to participate freely.”
“Can the Senior Minister of State elaborate on how it has changed over time then? Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Sir, as I said, the allocations, the diversification into the different asset classes, have taken into account the growing size of the reserves as well over time. ADVISORY COUNCIL ON THE IMPACT OF NEW MEDIA ON SOCIETY (Report on cyberspace regulation) 2. Miss Penny Low asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (a) what is the rationale behind the step-by-step approach in the Government's acceptance of the report of the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS) published in December 2008 which recommended the liberalisation of cyberspace; and (b) in the light of past experience, whether local netizens have shown sufficient maturity and consistency in entering a self-regulated regime and, if not, how can the Ministry, netizens and related NGOs help develop a more responsible cyberspace that can eventually be self-regulated. The Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts (RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew) (for the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts): The Government has accepted most of the AIMS' recommendations. But in some areas, we have differed from the AIMS' proposal for liberalisation and have opted for a progressive and pragmatic approach. Let me explain why. First, on e-engagement, the Government agrees with AIMS that an evolutionary approach is sensible. Government agencies need time to build capabilities and experience in e-engagement. It is also simply not feasible nor productive for the Government to engage on all websites or blogs, as this will simple require too much resources.”
“Will the Senior Minister of State clarify if investment guidelines should also alter according to the fund size? Surely, a fund size that has just started at $1 billion and now at hundreds of billions, may render the need to alter the investment guidelines to make it either more liberal or more conservative.”
“Thank you, Senior Minister of State, for the very crisp answer. I am hoping that the scheme that will be announced during the Budget would be very generous. And I wonder if it would also repeat some of the schemes that were introduced during the last downturn including allowing not-for-profit sectors to occupy office spaces in return for expansion of the retail space on the part of the developers, and other kinds of tax incentives.”
“Social enterprises and cooperatives are examples and integral parts of the social economy which emphasise on giving communities the hand-up, and not just hand-outs. It reinforces dignity and pride even amongst the once down and out, and propels creativity and innovation to problem solving, and creates collective wealth through the production of goods and services. I hope the increased spending would be generously directed to strengthen existing gaps in the social economy; the chief being capacity building, access to finance and research. It is far better to enable the "many helping hands" than to become the only hand. Only then, can we strengthen our society. Sir, this is a very important Constitutional change which impacts Singapore and Singaporeans. With this amendment, I urge financial prudence on the part of the MOF in the budgeting process. I also urge the strengthening of hands and legs, integrity and mettle, sharpening of eyes and ears on the part of the Presidential key. Sir, I also urge clear, simple communication of these and future Constitutional amendments to all Singaporeans because they are stakeholders of this land and, of course, guardians of our reserves. After all, it is the duty of the people to tell the Government what to do and not for the Government to tell the individuals what they should do with their lives. With that, Sir, I support the Bill. 4.51 pm”
“We have to guard against a complacent society, and one that relies on the Government to be the provider and advisor from cradle to grave – when to get married or give birth, what jobs and education training are needed, what to invest in, is there a bailout, to retirement planning and maybe even death planning. We need to build a society that is resilient and self-reliant. I remember many years ago in a Budget debate, the Prime Minister, who was also the Minister for Finance, mentioned that the Government could not be the last resort of anything at all. It is therefore critical that Government spending on strengthening our society should emphasise on building capacity within the people for a self-reliant society, rather than provide end products, that cultivates dependency which will erode the ethos of hard work, diligence and self-help. In short, the Government spending on social infrastructure especially should be outcome-based, rather than output-based. A prudent strategy would be to spend on building an ecosystem for a social economy. According to the Human Resource and Social Development Canada, I quote, "The social economy is a grassroots entrepreneurial, not-for-profit sector, based on democratic values that seeks to enhance the social, economic and environmental conditions of communities, often with a focus on their disadvantaged members." The social economy is built on a caring and sharing society, it is an economy that solutions from within the community. Typically, social economy enterprises are a result of broad-based community development strategies involving the 3Ps – the people, public and private sectors – the media, academia and other partners.”
“On excluding Temasek Holdings, although the nature of Temasek Holdings' investment strategy involves higher risks and is still evolving, I trust that the fund managers are still subjected to a projected return regime. There is also a spending cap of 50% which can be called upon to lower or increase the spending funds and, as such, there appears little need to exclude Temasek Holdings from the new regime. But if indeed it is prudent to allow Temasek Holdings to evolve its investment strategy, then could the Minister confirm if a timeline has been set for Temasek's inclusion? Impact on Singapore dollar and reputation. With a higher withdrawal amount and a slower rate of increase on our reserves, may I ask what is the implication on our reputation as a financial hub as well as the impact on the strength of the Singapore dollar? Does it have any repercussions? On strengthening our society, I am particularly heartened by the emphasis on spending on social infrastructure to strengthen our society. This, however, has to be done with a huge degree of sophistication, emphasising on the need to adopt a whole of Government approach in tackling social concerns. Singapore is built on the ethos of hard work, integrity and diligence of its people. From a swamp with civil strife, its people worked hard and united under the able leadership of the PAP to arrive at a developed nation status. The next lap will see challenges of a more affluent generation and an ageing society, where traditional work ethics and definitions of "success" and "life" will be challenged. In fact, traditional values are already being tested as we speak and top of the news today is the headline "Pain Free Spending".”
“However, would the Minister also agree that projected future rates of return may also not reflect actual future rates of return? In other words, all projections of expected returns, historical or future, carry an inherent risk of not getting it right. The Minister explained that as investment returns depend on asset allocation mix, which can change from time to time, historical rates of return will not be accurate for long-term projection. Perhaps, MOF can use the new asset allocation portfolio and do a regression analysis (or any other statistical methodologies) of the investment portfolio based on historical data, and use this as a reference for projecting 'expected returns'. This will help give a projected range of expected returns based on actual historical data and projected future experience. Sixth, on the spending benchmark. The Minister mentioned that the new framework for spending investment returns, together with the increase in GST, will add 3% of GDP to our yearly expenditure plans. Can the Minister also enlighten us on what is then the total projected spending as a percentage of GDP? Would it be 18%? And how does that then compares with other developed economies? I understand that at 15%, which is the current spending, it is lower than other developed economies. In addition, how much of that increase will go into creating social infrastructures? And who do we benchmark against? On the spending cap of 50%, the Prime Minister has explained that it is an equitable, sustainable and intuitively acceptable number. So I guess I have to accept that explanation too.”
“In fact, one of the biggest problems of the financial institutions and its woes is that it has been pandering to short-termism – looking at quarterly or yearly shareholder value returns, rather than building longer-term fundamentals and infrastructures that will ultimately contribute to a stronger institution and fund performance. Hence, planning and aligning spendings with long-term national objectives in mind will certainly help to focus the Ministry of Finance and Singapore on the right issues. Fourth, reduce uncertainties. Using a long-term expected returns approach will also help us to even out the volatility of the market place, which in the fast pace flat world today, will witness shorter periods of booms and busts, and add uncertainties to economic development. This approach also has a side effect. It is common knowledge that in business, the number one enemy is uncertainties. Hence, if uncertainties of the market place cannot be helped, reducing the uncertainties of government expenses, or at least the direction of government expenses, will help businesses do their sums, and make Singapore a more attractive place for businesses. This applies, in particular, to economic driver sectors like construction. Perhaps to reduce the uncertainty further, could the Minister give more clarity to what is meant by the terminology 'long term' in today's context? In the fast pace flat world, the notion of time has shrunk, and the term 'long term' is also shrinking. Hence, is the basis of three investment cycles or 20 years an adequate guide for long-term projections, even with periodic reviews? Fifth, the expected returns methodology. The Minister mentioned that the historical return may not be reflective of future actual gains. I agree with him.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to join in this debate. I have the unenviable task of speaking after the Prime Minister. But as these concerns are reflective of my residents and all, please allow me to go through them. I will try to keep them short. First, on timing. The timing of this change, although coincidental, could not have come at a better time to boost confidence and reassure both investors and citizens of a proactive Government that thrives on long termism as opposed to short termism. And, in fact, short termism is a fault that most corporate and some governments are guilty of. Of course, with this change, in the short term, the new framework for spending investment returns would, hopefully, translate into an expansionary fiscal policy, which will be most helpful especially during a period of global economic downturn, which we expect in the next 12 months. The real gain, however, is in the long-term funding of the three focus areas of spending, which is growing our economy, creating a top quality home and upgrading our socio-economic infrastructures to cater to an ageing society and rising gini coefficient. Second, transparency. A total returns approach increases transparency as it takes into consideration both income and capital gains which I think better reflects the success or failure, our shortcomings, of our investments of our reserves. Third, it is also a congruence with nation building objectives. Using a long-term expected returns approach instead of actual returns earned from year to year makes much better sense, as it is much more congruent with our socio-economic policies, which, I believe, are built on long-term national objectives and projections, rather than dependent on short-term fluctuations.”
“I will round it up. Therefore, it makes it extremely inconvenient or even inaccessible for them to even get to work. Mr Speaker: Your reply within one minute, Dr Maliki.”
“Sir, does the Parliamentary Secretary recognise that there has been quite a bit of changes in terms of the ownership of these vehicles – shifting from usually that of the company to the owners who now own the vehicles and rent or lease them out to the companies which require them? Also, many of these vehicles need to be started up early in the morning or come back very late at night and there is often no public transport available at that point in time. Therefore, it is going to be very difficult to require them to either fork out extra amount of money from their very meagre income to foot the taxi fares at those times or to park very far away and thereby –”
“While we want to support parents who wish to have five children or more, we do not want to inadvertently encourage those who cannot afford it to do so through the provision of a large direct cash gift. For parents who are financially less able to support a large family, we would like to encourage them to focus on raising the quality of life for their existing children instead. After careful consideration, we have decided not to extend the cash gift to the fifth child and beyond. Nonetheless, we will continue to review and monitor the Baby Bonus scheme to ensure its relevance for all Singaporeans. Mr Speaker, Sir, in addition to Baby Bonus, parents with five children or more can benefit from other schemes. Tax incentives such as the qualifying child relief, working mother's child relief and parenthood tax rebates have also been extended to the fifth and subsequent child. The enhanced childcare and infant care subsidies will also be extended to the fifth and subsequent child. Parents with more children will also benefit from the enhanced leave benefits such as the extended maternity leave, extended childcare leave and new infant care leave. So, overall, parents with five or more children are well supported financially and otherwise. Er Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio): I thank the Minister of State for the answer. I would like to ask, for the last five years, do we have figure of how many of these child births are under the fifth child or more, and from which category of family income are they from?”
“Secondly, PUB has gone, together with some of the industry players, to see how at the initial stage, in the design stage, what are the water efficient measures that they can put into their plant and to ensure that the water consumed is at the right level. So these are the efforts by the PUB and we hope that through these efforts, Singaporeans, both domestic and non-domestic, will respond to the call from the PUB to try and use water as judiciously as possible. BABY BONUS CASH GIFT (Extension to fifth child and beyond) 9. Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports whether the Ministry will consider extending the Baby Bonus cash gift to the fifth child and beyond. The Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon) (for the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports): Mr Speaker, Sir, prior to the 2008 Marriage and Parenthood Package, the Baby Bonus benefits were only extended up to the first four children. The 2008 Marriage and Parenthood Package has extended the Baby Bonus co-saving component to the fifth child and beyond. For these children, the Government will now match up to $18,000 of savings put in by parents. The total amount of support provided by the Government to the fifth child and beyond, which is $18,000, is no less than the support provided for the first four children. For the first and second child, the total amount of cash gift and co-saving amount to $10,000 per child. For the third and fourth child, the total amounts to $18,000 per child. Thus, parents who have five children or more and who are able to co-save are in no way disadvantaged. We have deliberated carefully on whether we should extend the Baby Bonus cash gift to the fifth child and beyond.”
“Mr Speaker, surely increasing the supply of water through water harvesting and technologies is one part of the spectrum, the other part of it is managing the demand for water itself. I am wondering whether there is any indication of the trend, whether we are going to face an increased demand in water in future and, also, what measures are there that the Government might be putting in place or giving incentives for the reduction, or managing the demand for water. Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Sir, I thank the Member for the question because it is an important part of our equation, which is managing water demand. For both the domestic and non-domestic sectors, we have different strategies. But, ultimately, the aim is for them to reduce water consumption as much as possible. At the moment, if my memory serves me right, our consumption is about 158 litres per person per day. We have a target of trying to achieve 155 litres per person per day by 2012, which is our green plan. We will continue to review this, taking into account factors such as population increases. At the same time, we will continue to reach out to the community to help them to reduce water consumption as much as possible by giving them tips and things that they can use at home, for example, thimbles in which they can fix into their faucets and taps. For the non-domestic sector, the PUB has launched a 10% reduction, called the 10% Challenge, to help the non-domestic sector to reduce their water consumption. And this can be done in two ways. Firstly, by reviewing their whole water consumption and the areas in which they can be cut back.”
“– local businesses and resources. So my question is, in view of this, are there special measures to help our local SMEs maintain not just competitiveness but in fact survival, in particular the retail SMEs?”
“Sir, the retail sector in particular has reflected that they have been hit by the triple whammy. First, tightening consumer credit; second, rising retail, especially shopping centre rental rate; and, third, for those who have heeded the Government's call to expand overseas, they have also been hit by the uncertain economic conditions overseas which then obviously would impact the –”
“Some time at the end or during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the Minister remarked that we would know "what ASEAN means to Myanmar and what Myanmar means to ASEAN". In a crisis, we know that crisis can either make or break a community. So after all the deliberations that we have held, can the Senior Minister of State clarify whether we have actually advanced as an ASEAN Community or we are taking three steps backwards?”
“Given the urgency of the matter itself, I understand that a lot of the resources have been deployed to tracking down Mas Selamat and I must compliment the team spirit of the Government, from MHA to MINDEF, to focus on the issue, but, on the other hand, prior to the escape of Mas Selamat, I understand that the manpower situation at MHA has already been quite tight. So given this huge focus on tracking down Mas Selamat, how can we assure Singaporeans that the day-to-day operations, the safety and security, law and order of Singapore would still be maintained at equally high levels?”
“Could the Senior Minister of State give us an idea of how much fees are being collected on a yearly basis and how much of the total production cost might be, which might be funded by other revenues such as advertising revenue? RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew: I believe that the PSB funding comes to about close to $80 million and this is largely derived from the Radio and Television licence fees. I do not have the figures on advertising revenue with me. MRT TRAIN CARRIAGE (Guidelines on maximum passenger capacity) 18. Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked the Minister for Transport whether LTA has any guidelines as to the maximum passenger capacity for each MRT train carriage and whether the maximum capacity, if any, is adequate to ensure a reasonable level of comfort for the passengers in the train.”
“I agree with the Minister that the individual and family own the problem, but does the Minister also agree that sometimes it is the systemic failure of the system that cripples a person's ability and responsibility to function as a full contributing citizen of Singapore, and instead turning them into a social burden of some sort? I mentioned an example during the main Budget speech, the story of Miss Judy Wee who is wheelchair bound and is otherwise intellectually as capable as any one of us. But unfortunately, every time she asks for a full contributing job, a meaningful job, she gets a marginalised job at a marginalised pay because of her physical condition. And recently, she has styled herself into a social entrepreneur as a barrier-free access consultant which, obviously, she is turning her disability into a special premium ability which I thought was laudable. Unfortunately, in my recent conversation with her, she mentioned that people, when they look at her, expect her to still perform it on a charitable basis or at very low fees because, they are doing it out of pity or not seeing her as full functioning as someone who looks mainstream, as someone who looks normal. So my question is whether the Minister feels that there is a lot of room for us to highlight the abilities and to showcase the ability of some of the disabled population, the elderly population or even the stay-at-home mums who have got potential to become a full contributing citizen. And perhaps we should look into a systemic revamp of the legal and tax infrastructure to encourage the funding, the operation and kick-starting the social enterprise sector.”
“However, without a reasonable regulatory infrastructure and ecosystem, social enterprises will not be able to maximise its potential for social good. Therefore, I hope that our Government will develop an enabling regulatory infrastructure and ecosystem, encourage the development of double bottomlines industry, and attract capital into social enterprises. In so doing, we can contribute to Singapore’s growth, prosperity and social harmony. *Cols. 2277-2278. Importance of Families”
“Obviously, the laissez-faire approach will win. This is so because laissez-faire economy offers efficiency, opportunities and innovation. However, the laissez-faire system does not guarantee that enterprises will gain from business opportunities and profits. Rather, it is the presence of tax and legal infrastructure, banking and bankruptcy laws, financial regulations and institutions, that offer enterprises a thriving ecosystem. Pure capitalism however, leaves gaps in certain sectors – for example, healthcare, education and ageing population problem. Many statistics bear out this social phenomenon of inequality. If left untackled, it will further widen the gap between the rich and poor. Social inequity can result from many causes, but a common consequence is that some people have good jobs while others do not, leading to an income gap. Some may say that this is due to personal or genetic disability, but it could be argued that we have not learnt to make full use of the market economy to develop everyone’s potential to the fullest. Therefore, I would like to propose that bold efforts be put into developing social enterprises that use market-based solutions for solving social challenges, including innovative job creation for the less abled. However, social enterprise is a relatively new concept, and our legal and financial infrastructure has yet to keep up with it. For example, currently, under the tax legislation, organisations are largely classified into two groups: tax-paying for-profit enterprises and non tax-paying charitable organisations that deliver social goods. Social enterprises fit into neither category. Social enterprises are hybrids with double bottomlines, often having limited economic profit but deliver maximum social goods.”
“Sir, I would like to add on to the chorus on social enterprise, obviously, and would like to declare my interest. I start with a quote from Bill Gates, the former Chairman of Microsoft, who said, "We need a creative capitalism where business and non-governmental organisations can come together to create a market system," a market system, I repeat, "that eases the world's inequities." The challenge is to design a system where market initiatives, market incentives, including profits and recognitions, drive the change. Sir, social entrepreneurs ask innovators who create value by addressing market failures and elevating current and potential social issues whether due to demographic or economic trends. In addition, due to its grassroots and bottom-up nature, social entrepreneurs are a great social and economic leveller and should be perceived as a treasured partner of both the public and the private sectors. How can the Government show clear signals and help boost the development of social entrepreneurs in Singapore? I would like to ask the Minister for an update on the social entrepreneur development in Singapore to further define the role of Government in the promotion of the SE industry, including: (a) leveraging on private and public resources; (b) testing and developing solutions; (c) seeding social innovation and R&D; (d) creating and enabling an overall environment; (e) rewarding initiatives; (f) scaling initiatives; (g) producing knowledge that enhances the SE efforts; and (h) how can cooperatives also play a role in promoting and shaping the SE sector and vice-versa. The rest of it, I will attempt to speak in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A *. ] Laissez-faire economy or socialism? Which is better?”
“Madam, this Budget seeks to build a resilient community. But, so far, we have emphasised more on building economic and social security resilience. This is insufficient. Real resilience must come from within our people and the good news is that we already have it, and that is what helped the human species survive for so long. Hence, I urge urgent investment into a climate to bring out our natural resilience so that we can become a nation of navigators rather than victims of change. Here, three conditions are needed: (1) A warm and supportive environment to turn challenge into opportunity; (2) Encourage high expectations; and (3) Offer rain-making opportunities. Madam, we can leverage on the passion of the non-profit sector to build national resilience. We could inject resources to NGOs, NPOs and self-help groups. We could do a few things: (1) Update our current tax and legal infrastructure to favourably nurture the 3rd and 4th sector economy; (2) Provide land, secondment of manpower from public to people sector, tax credits for private sector and secondment or pro bono services; (3) Extend tax credits to donations for non-IPC self-help groups of all types, and allow a thousand flowers to bloom; and (4) Develop a non-profit park, like Biopolis, when we wanted to develop the life-sciences, to capacity, develop and nurture the spirit of self-help and mutual help. Last but not least, we cannot expect everyone to be a rainmaker, but the key is to increase these numbers. When we have a critical mass of resilient citizens, we can then make systemic changes and weather any storm. Let us make this our top national agenda.”
“Yes. Social enterprise, let me explain, seeks to unlock the potential manpower in Singapore that is currently under-utilised, and tourism sector itself has got a great shortage. Would MTI consider forming a special task force to work closely with the social enterprise sector itself to address the manpower gap as well as to tap on the hospitality industry opportunities to help the marginalised sector level up? I think this would be a truly win-win strategy to help Singapore do well and do good.”
“Sir, I would like to first thank Minister of State Iswaran for his very comprehensive as well as very inspiring answer. In fact, he has inspired me to think that there might be a match between the social enterprise sector and the shortages in the manpower –”
“This is hefty, making, for example, solar energy generated from PV not attractive and therefore a disincentive for solar systems to be pervasive in Singapore. Sir, I would like to ask the Minister to clarify whether the proposals set out above are being considered by the MTI and, if not, why not. Impact of High Energy Prices”
“I think the strategy to have all RE and EE solutions readily available in Singapore is clear, as this will attract countries wanting these solutions to think of Singapore straightaway and not wonder whether it is available or not. Yes, Singapore should be the hypermarket for RE and EE solutions. With these solutions, we can then package project financing, project management, engineering, carbon management, carbon trading, etc, ie, the whole value chain for this business which I shared in last year’s Budget debate. Sir, to attract these RE and EE technology companies to come to Singapore, I would suggest the following: (1) Provide attractive incentives for them to bring their technologies to Singapore, especially if they are prepared to set up a manufacturing facility here. (2) Test-bedding and R&D incentives. This is basically in place but can be expanded. (3) Feed-in-tariffs (FIT) to allow all the RE companies which set up here and can test-bed their technologies to also feed into the grid at preferential rates. Many countries, eg Germany, South Korea, Japan, Spain, California, including China, have very viable FIT models that we can learn from which have helped them grow their RE sector. I am sure we can learn from them. (4) Net metering. This allows for RE generators, both small, eg, private homes and condominiums, and large, eg, test-bedding systems to industrial plants, to feed in the net energy produced into the grid and offset directly against retail electricity cost. Current EMA rules stipulate that distributed electricity fed into the grid has to pay grid charges which are 25% of total electricity cost.”