Poh Li San
Singapore
“Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the Senior Minister of State Janil. I have two supplementary questions. The first one, will NEA consider adjusting gate fees for industrial and commercial waste collection to shift behaviour of businesses towards higher recycling rates, especially for food waste which accounts for about 11% of total waste b…”
“Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the Senior Minister of State Janil. I believe my questions in my speech were not addressed in the Senior Minister of State's reply.”
“Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the Senior Minister of State for her reply. I have a supplementary question on such an arrangement for existing flat owners who require back-to-back sale of their existing homes to finance their BTO flats.”
“Singapore households can achieve dual savings by combining Government-provided climate vouchers with the direct import of efficient appliances from overseas suppliers, whilst business operators, particularly those in the food and beverage industry who need to purchase multiple appliances, can also avoid excessive energy costs by using ene…”
“Coastal protection is a candidate for the latter even if we want to harness the power of the former. I ask the Minister to consider a centralised approach towards the design and construction of all coastal protection measures to ensure the most robust outcomes.”
“Mr Chairman, on behalf of all hon Members who have participated in the MSE Committee of Supply, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Minister Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State Zaqy, Senior Minister of State Janil, Senior Parliamentary Secretary Goh and all members of MSE, PUB, NEA, SFA.”
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“The programme includes recycling initiatives for the community and distribution of rescued fruits and vegetables to low-income families. We hope to increase awareness, change mindset and motivate residents to adopt green habits through these ground-up efforts. Over time, we have to be as green as the Scandinavian countries where an environmentally friendly lifestyle is already deeply ingrained throughout the Nordic societies. Mr Speaker, Sir, Member Mr Dennis Tan proposes to insert the words "civil society" after "private sector" in the Motion. I agree with Mr Tan that the green activists and the civil society have played an important role in pushing the efforts to combat climate change. In fact, in the last one-and-a-half years, the YP has been involving many green activists and groups from the civil society in their public consultation work. Many of the proposals and views were included in the YP paper entitled "Singapore; the Green Hub" and including the point on improving carbon efficiency. Let us talk a little about improving carbon efficiency. I was surprised to discover that concrete using Portland-based cement releases almost a tonne of carbon dioxide for every tonne of cement produced. Concrete is widely used in the construction process. By weight, it is used more widely than steel, wood, plastics and aluminum combined. Embodied carbon will be responsible for half of the entire carbon footprint of new construction developments between now and 2050, threatening to consume a large part of our remaining carbon budget. In Singapore, 82% of our land is used for built-up areas, for residential and commercial buildings and for public infrastructure. Given the fact that most of our buildings are high-rise, the concrete usage density is extremely high.”
“Mr Speaker, I support the Motion to accelerate and deepen efforts against climate change, as proposed by Member and fellow Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) colleague, Mr Louis Ng. Singapore is one of the signatories to the Paris Agreement on climate change. For the first time, all nations will combat climate change as a common cause. Unfortunately, even with such a landmark agreement in place, global efforts to slow down the rate of global warming are still uneven and inadequate. Climate change will cause droughts, global warming, resulting in the reduction of cold days and increase in heat waves and glacier meltdown. These impacts will inevitably affect the social and economic structures across the globe. Be that as it may, people are not motivated to address climate change consciously. Climate change involves circumstances that make it hard for people to be persuaded as there are short-term benefits to both individuals and corporations. Adjustments are the hardest trade-off for people to make. It is not difficult to tell someone that climate change is affecting the world, but it is expectedly difficult to make changes when it affects an individual's habitual lifestyle. Climate change requires social transformation. It requires a mindset change and everyone taking ownership. It requires every individual's participation. Going green is a collective responsibility. We should always try to replace our daily activities with greener alternatives, even if that means some inconveniences to reduce consumption. It is about every individual taking concrete steps towards the 3Rs – reduce, re-use and recycle. In Sembawang West, my volunteers and I have started a community programme to encourage our residents to embrace sustainability.”
“Similar to the manufacturing industry, you hear the same problems with the nursing homes and community hospitals. Currently, 60% of the community healthcare sector staff are foreigners and 40% are locals. With rapid ageing in Singapore, the demand for healthcare assistants will only increase, and if it continues this way, the supply will be very limited. I met several housewives who have prior care-giving experience and are keen to join the healthcare sector. However, the entry salary of $1,400 to $1,600 per month is a key deterrent because the net take-home income after deducting their CPF, meals and travel expenses will only be a few hundred dollars. I am certain that if the monthly salary is around $2,000, they will be more likely to consider such job offers. Workers must feel appreciated and taken care of. Only then will they give their best to be positive and productive. Any employer will benefit from happy workers. We need happy workers. Mr Speaker, Sir, I hope that Deputy Prime Minister and the relevant Ministries will look into my suggestions. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Ministerial Statement.”
“So, should these companies have to wait for circumstances to improve and while waiting, hope not to have a painful death or should they take this opportunity to rebuild our Singapore Core? The answer ought to be obvious. We must relook at the unemployment problem. We need proper intervention and improvements. We need to address the criteria for job offers, instill better working conditions, implement job redesign and relook at how workers are remunerated. I thank the Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon for his comprehensive sharing on the Progressive Wage Model and how low-wage workers in certain sectors have benefited. I would like to ask Deputy Prime Minister if it is possible to then allocate part of the Budget to raise the pay of manufacturing industry workers, to a more acceptable level benchmarked against industries which have implemented the Progressive Wage Model. Another question is: how can Progressive Wage Model be applied directly to these manufacturing companies in order to assist them, to be able to attract local workers instead of always having to rely on daily cross-border commuting foreign workers? Instead of providing a COVID-19 Support Grant of $800 for three months to Singaporeans and PRs who are still searching for jobs, this $800 could become a contribution of $400 per month for six months as a top-up to the current pay of $1,400. A manufacturing industry worker could easily get $1,800 per month instead of remaining jobless. As Singaporeans, they will still qualify for Workfare Improvement Supplement while the manufacturing companies could attempt to address the short-term labour shortage by hiring available Singaporeans and PRs. Can such a solution be considered?”
“To be able to apply for some of these jobs, you need a NITEC certification or even a diploma for more technical job roles. Most operators' roles will require a 12-hour-shift and the average monthly pay is between $1,000 and $1,400 and may require workers to wear the cleanroom jump smocks. Now if you do not have any qualification, you can easily make $1,200 to $1,400 or even more as a cleaner or a food delivery rider. If you have a driving licence, you could also make more than $2,000 per month. It is obvious that many job seekers will shun job opportunities in the manufacturing industry because the entry pay is simply a non-starter. There is a concern that should the borders remain closed, many of these factories will be unable to fulfil their orders, this is especially so for high growth industries like semi-conductor manufacturing. The labour shortage situation will inevitably threaten the future of these companies and also affect Singapore’s economy. The manufacturing industry contributes approximately 20% to our GDP and it averages $100 billion in value. It is the biggest contributor to our economy. Foreign workers take up about 60% of the jobs in this sector. Over the weekend, two pieces of good news were announced. First, MNCs are staying firm on their growth plans in Singapore despite the COVID-19 pandemic and they include companies in the semiconductor sector. Second, a new task force will be formed to study how to raise the wages of low-income workers and to push for productivity growth. Now, due to the crisis situation, we do not have the foreign workers to help our factories.”
“Mr Speaker, I would like to thank Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance for the additional help to businesses and workers outlined in his Ministerial Statement. In response, I have some clarifications and recommendations. We are all aware just how COVID-19 has severely disrupted businesses and livelihoods. Air travel has ceased, borders are closed and our daily average of about 100,000 Malaysian workers commuting from Johor is significantly lower. Many local factories are extremely short-handed and facing harsh challenges. Some of these factories are located within the Woodlands Industrial Area, which happens to be in the division I look after. My volunteers and I tried to assist by attempting to match some of the residents who were seeking jobs, especially within 2 km of their homes. We always knew that there is a stark mismatch between the jobs and the expectations of jobseekers. However, this pandemic has forced us all to rethink and recalibrate our approach to address the mismatch between the employers and the job seekers. Ultimately, we need happy workers. Since the middle of this year, I have been actively planning and organising both online job webinars and physical job fairs with support from NTUC e2i for our Sembawang residents. We partnered several MNCs and home-grown companies in the electronics and manufacturing industries to be part of these job fairs. Some of the jobs available involve operation of complex machines that are far more automated compared to the older labour-intensive assembly lines. Singaporeans are not enthusiastic about the opportunities to work in these manufacturing companies. After speaking to the hiring teams, I had a better understanding.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker, Sir. I thank Minister Ong for sharing MOT's strategies for the aviation sector. I feel very heartened. I like to first declare my interest as an employee of the Changi Airport Group. Currently, there are different travel schemes and swab and isolation protocol upon arrival for travellers – some 14 days' isolation, some seven days and some zero, for example, Australia and Brunei in the latest case. I would like to ask the Minister in the next three to six months, will MOT consider reducing the SHN duration for countries that are relatively successful, like China, Taiwan, for example – from the current seven days to, perhaps, three to five days, a shorter period following a negative swab results? Pre-COVID, I believe China has the highest travel volume into Singapore, so if we can actually reduce that number of days for SHN, that will reduce the deterrence for travellers to enter into Singapore.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker, Sir. I thank Minister of State Desmond Tan for his clarifications. May I ask Minister of State Desmond Tan what are the preventative strategies to protect specifically seniors from Internet scams, given the on-going efforts to increase the digital literacy amongst our seniors.”
“Otherwise, the cleaners may not understand the course contents and find themselves failing the course and in turn losing their jobs. In addition, we also encourage Singaporeans from all walks of life, to express their gratitude towards the cleaners for many years of hard work and their contribution in keeping Singapore clean. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, on behalf of the GPC for Sustainability and Environment, we support this Bill.”
“First, we suggest the implementation of a cleanliness grading system and also an incentive system which will link to the premises licence renewal or property tax rebate, so as to encourage proactive control of hygiene standards. Premise owners can also consider implementing operation processes or additional equipment that will raise efficiency of cleaning. For example, coffee shop owners can consider implementing a more effective pest control solution or automated vacuum and washing equipment. In addition, F&B owners can also attract more patrons by maintaining a higher hygiene standard. Secondly, our country must raise the social consciousness where "it is everyone's responsibility to maintain public hygiene". In schools, teachers should teach the students the good habits of maintaining hygiene and cleanliness. At home, parents should also encourage their children to partake in the household chores. In public, citizens should also maintain the cleanliness of surroundings, to reduce the reliance on our cleaners. Third, we suggest that MSE to deeply consider if the Bill should also include other premises that may pose threats to public health, such as sports facilities and religious worship venues. The reason is that other than COVID-19, there could be other more deadly transmission diseases in future. Therefore, we should start now and prepare ourselves well, to prevent such horrible viruses from endangering precious lives. Our country currently has approximately 59,000 cleaners. Amongst them, about 40,000 are locals and most of them are above 60 years old. Therefore, the courses for Environment Control Coordinator designated by Amendments to the Environmental Public Health Act Bill, should be conducted in languages understood by the senior cleaners.”
“To nurture a proactive "keep-clean culture", I would also suggest MSE consider a carrot-and-stick approach rather than just a stick approach. We could incentivise premises owners to consistently maintain a high standard of cleanliness and hygiene, by providing a clean property tax rebate. Dedicated efforts and focus must be taken to consistently score well on every inspection. I think incentives will go a long way to motivate both the premises owners and the cleaning crew to do more than just the bare minimum. Another suggestion is to promote active citizenry in reporting venues with poor sanitation standards directly via an app to NEA. The public can be the eyes and ears on the ground to help NEA inspectors focus on premises that require their attention. The premises owners must be taken to task. In addition, perhaps NEA could consider an annual contest for the public to vote in the top three venues with the cleanest toilets into the Hall of Fame, as well as the worst three venues with the dirtiest toilets into the Hall of Shame. No one wants to belong to the latter, so such a contest may put some social pressure to keep premises owners motivated and this could possibly be more effective than summons and fines by NEA. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, notwithstanding the above-mentioned suggestions, I support the Bill. Now, I would like to conclude the key points raised by the Government Parliamentary Committee in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Deputy Speaker, I shall now conclude the key points and suggestions raised by the MCE GPC in Mandarin.”
“Many of these sports venues, especially the gyms and studios, are enclosed within an air-conditioned environment, with no natural ventilation. The washrooms and shower facilities are also often packed, especially during the morning and evening peak periods. There are inconsistencies in the housekeeping hygiene standards as some gyms and studios ensure thorough cleaning and some do not. Young and old alike, everyone goes to the gym to keep fit and not to fall ill from a bacteria or viral infection. Hence, I urge MSE to consider the inclusion of sporting facilities under the scope of the EPHA. On this note, would it be effective or fair to foist the responsibility and accountability solely on premises managers? Under the environmental sanitation regime, the Bill will require premises managers to assume the responsibility to meet the mandatory environmental sanitation standards and take greater ownership to proactively clean their premises through the implementation of a systematic and preventative cleaning routine. In childcare, schools, nursing homes and even sports venues, the users do pay sufficient regular fees and these fees will allow the business owners to provide a reasonable standard of hygiene and cleanliness. However, we need to look into the hawker centres and coffee shops. We need to ensure that these premises meet the environmental sanitation standards. Most public toilets no longer collect a fee to use the toilets and the amendments to EPHA must not result in a regressive step where patrons are then required to pay a fee for the use of the washrooms. So, we need to look into the inevitable additional manpower and higher costs. These cost increases may be passed on to the tenants and, in turn, to the patrons in the form of higher food prices.”
“Items, such as empty beer cans and cigarette boxes, are often thrown on the basketball courts. Good practices start at home and in schools. I recall when I was in Primary school, my school mates and I have toilet cleaning duties during our school camps. It was a little humbling at first but, after a while, we learnt to master the techniques of using different brushes and detergents for different locations. Till now, I continue using these skills I learnt in school and I will always keep my toilets at home sparkling clean. It may be a good idea to start training our younger ones from a tender age, so that they maintain these good habits into adulthood. Let us all do our part and be more civic-minded when using the public toilets and consider the 59,000 cleaners who are already past 60 years old. Let us also consider who will be replacing these uncles and aunties once they stop working. Next, I would like to touch on the amendments to strengthen environmental sanitation controls in premises. These premises apply to five categories with high footfall and immune-vulnerable occupants. They are childcare facilities, schools and youth facilities, eldercare facilities, hawker centres and coffee shops. I would like to propose that we include sports facilities as a sixth category. Gyms, studios, sports halls and so on of all sizes and for various sports, during pre-COVID days, are often densely packed during the peak hours, with energetic sports enthusiasts who are frequently soaked in profuse perspiration after a good workout. According to a 2014 study by the School of Public Health at University of Memphis, gym equipment can be dirtier than a toilet seat. For instance, free weights were found to contain 362 times more germs than toilet seats.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Environmental Public Health (Amendment) Bill. I am in agreement with Minister for Sustainability and Environment, Ms Grace Fu, that "we need to strengthen Singapore's environmental public health resilience, to safeguard Singaporeans against the current pandemic and dengue outbreak, as well as future public health threats". We must not further delay the important step in raising cleaning standards. According to a recent study by SMU, the cleanliness of our toilets has regressed compared to 2016. These invisible bacteria and viruses in the toilets are quite hardy unless they are being neutralised by disinfectants regularly. Frequent habits, such as using mobile phones while in the toilets, further exacerbate the transmission of diseases beyond the washroom. Hence, if the dirtiest places can be kept clean and generally germ-free, infectious disease transmission can be well-controlled at source. I would like to touch on the importance of public education. It is common knowledge that when it is everybody's problem, then fewer people will act on it. Many public washrooms, especially in hawker centres and coffee shops, are not well kept. Unfortunately, there are many irresponsible culprits who reflect poor civic responsibility and leave the responsibility of cleaning up to the many senior uncles and aunties who have to clean for a living. It is only common sense that, even with the EPHA, it would be an uphill battle if users are irresponsible. Another case of irresponsible people. Two weeks ago, during my house visit, I spoke with a resident who has worked for many years as a cleaner for Sembawang Town Council. This resident shared with me that it is very frustrating for him to keep cleaning the mess left all over the place.”
“Hence, we should encourage them to participate more in the decision-making process at the senior level to work out a more holistic solution. A marathon is tough. However, as long as we persevere and help each other with a strong belief in mind and a united team spirit, we can complete the run and reach our destination. Team Singapore is a group of unremitting marathon runners who are determined to win! (In English): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the Motion.”
“After months of hard work and fund-raising, the 200-hour relay by the 200 runners, covering 2,000 kilometres, was completed successfully. That relay raised a total of $1.6 million, well over the target of $1 million. Amongst the 200 runners, there are five MPs in this House, including Mr Speaker, Sir, who ran in that relay. Relay Majulah indeed inspired many. It was a race that showed us that so long as we stayed determined to help one another, we can achieve our goal no matter how difficult it may seem. As a nation, we must keep running this uphill marathon together, no matter what extremely harsh weather condition we may all need to go through. I am confident that we will eventually finish this race together, stronger and trimmer than when we started off. We will be an undefeated marathon team. I would like to say a few words in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Deputy Speaker, let me conclude my speech in Chinese. COVID-19 has brought unprecedented challenges to Singapore. The fight against COVID-19 and economic recovery is like a marathon, and the key lies in perseverance. Every member of the team must do his or her best and overcome the difficulties without fear. The youths must be brave to innovate and be entrepreneurial and use advanced technologies to solve the most challenging issues that the country is facing. They should also take on the responsibility to shape our future. Businesses should improve their competitiveness, keep agile, reduce the number of middle and senior executives and balance the proportions between local and foreign employees. Women are known to be soft and resilient. Their perspectives are different from the men.”
“We should increase accessibility for these women to return to the workplace, especially after their children have grown up. To attract and retain women in the workplace, the work environment must also transform. Ironically, COVID-19 has made flexible work arrangements workable and acceptable. Work from home, e-commerce and home-based businesses have now become the norm and we should make these structural shifts in the workplace permanent. I would like to thank fellow colleague Mr Louis Ng for speaking up earlier for better and fairer workplaces for women. Echoing Mr Louis Ng's suggestions, I would like to suggest that we consider the possibilities of ensuring that all companies be more gender neutral. Perhaps MOM could embark on a review of potentially unfair or even discriminatory HR practices, such as reducing the gender wage gap. The vision of Singapore in a post-COVID-19 world will be completely different from how we thought it would be a year ago. We must now undertake the responsibility to reshape our future creatively. We must be different to succeed, to seek autonomous solutions to build new areas of growth and to embrace deep capabilities to improve on our competence. We must be conscious of environment conservation solutions to live better. In our resource-scarce nation, everyone must work together to succeed in this post-COVID-19 world. [Deputy Speaker (Mr Christopher de Souza) in the Chair] There is a Zambian proverb that says, “When you run alone, you run fast. When you run together, you run far”. Around this time last year, 200 Singaporeans came together to run "Relay Majulah", to celebrate Singapore’s Bicentennial and to raise funds for President’s Challenge. Each runner ran either 10 kilometres or 20 kilometres and had to raise at least $5,000 each.”
“We need to spread foreign talents across various industries so that there is more even growth and to create more opportunities for Singaporeans to excel in every sector. We should also rejig our employment structure. Consider 70 to be a new retirement age. In a 45- to 50-year career lifespan, we should then take time to build a strong foundation to be good in developing a craft or a career, grow and develop our practical skillsets and experience, before moving into managerial or management roles. This will help our workforce not to be too top-heavy, resulting in us becoming expensive and uncompetitive. At this point, I would like to take the opportunity to talk about our women marathoners. Women provide diversity and a different style of leadership at all levels and across diverse fields. While men work hard and tend to be strong and aggressive sometimes, women are naturally nurturing and resilient. These are qualities that are crucial when surviving a crisis or rebuilding the economy and society. I believe it is no coincidence that several international women leaders have managed the COVID-19 crisis well, for example, Prime Minister Jacinda Adern of New Zealand, Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and so on. We can harness the potential of our Singaporean women and encourage qualified Singaporean women to fill the roles first before hiring foreign talents. Many talented and capable Singaporean women have traded-off careers for their young families and children. These women do have the requisite skillsets, experience and maturity to contribute and lead in the workplace. They just need to be given that opportunity to rejoin the workforce.”
“To prepare them to be able to compete globally, we need to invest and build deep capabilities, not just in growth sectors, but also to solve our nation’s fundamental problems like the shortage of manpower. Our youths must find a way to customise solutions with the use of more industry 4.0 technologies to seek ways to reduce the reliance on foreign workers in sectors like construction, hospitality and nursing. Our youths should also focus on how the rising sea level is a slow boiling frog problem but with real existential threats to our nation’s survival. We also need to create conducive environments to spawn creativity and innovation. Better solutions often come out of intersections of different disciplines. I hope our education institutions will provide more opportunities for cross-disciplinary training for the students. Given the challenging job market now and instead of adding to the jobseekers' pool, polytechnics and universities could consider offering graduating students the option to study a second diploma or degree in a different field. This will broaden their knowledge and skillsets instead of being part of the current unemployed pool. As marathoners, we must trim fats, stay lean and stay light. We can take supplements, but avoid quick fixes like steroids. Steroids may boost our performance very quickly but, in the long run, they do more harm to our health. As an open economy and an international brand, Singapore will certainly need the help of international talents. Foreign talents deepen and diversify our economy. Having said that, they should not cripple our organic capabilities. It is crucial to balance.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I stand in support of the Motion to thank the President for her Address. I would like to first thank the Prime Minister for his address and also the Members for their questions. The exchange of views has certainly added to the robustness of the debate in this House. The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting every aspect of our society. There is no road map for a solution and no one knows exactly what to do. Come what may, we must stay resilient. We must finish this race that is full of twists and turns. What good will come from COVID-19 is dependent on how Singapore runs as a team in this marathon. To run this race, we must be able to respond to the challenges and be able to adapt and transform. We must nurture strong and new runners and let them start racing when they are still really young. Our youths must have a strong mindset and must always stay hungry in order to compete globally. Our youths will be the future. We must invest resources in them to accelerate the building of new capabilities for our future economy. The youths need to feel a strong sense of ownership and feel that they have a role in shaping the future of our country. So, how do we prepare and motivate our youths? COVID-19 has brought about new opportunities. Digital transformation has accelerated the change necessary for productivity. The changes to the workforce we put in place now will greatly impact the future of our young Singaporeans. Our millennials ought to play a bigger role in articulating their vision of Singapore in a post-COVID-19 world and the roles they want to undertake in shaping our collective future. Our youths must have more opportunities and responsibilities to lead the change and shape the future society they want to live in.”